Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

264 RatnolkaAMITABHA, AMOGHASIDDHI and VAIROCANA.)Color: yellow. Attributes: bell and jewel.Ratnolka (jewel meteor)Goddess of light and deification of literature.Buddhist. One of a group of DHARANIS. Color:yellow. Attribute: jeweled staff.RatnosnisaGod. Buddhist. An USNISA deity apparently linkedwith the guardian sky deities or dikpalas in thesouthern direction. Color: blue.RatriGoddess of the night. Hindu (Vedic). Ratri is thepersonification of darkness bedecked with stars.Her sister is USAS, the dawn goddess, who, withAgni the fire god, chases her away. She is perceivedas the guardian of eternal law and order inthe cosmos and of the waves of time.Ratri is generally regarded as a benign deitywho offers rest and renewed vigor, and who maybe invoked to ensure safety through the hours ofdarkness. She deposits the gift of morning dew.However she also offers a bleaker aspect as onewho brings gloom and barrenness.Raudna (rowan tree)Goddess. Pre-Christian Lappish. The consort ofthe thunder god HORAGALLES.RaudriMother goddess. Hindu (Epic and Puranic). Oneof a group of nine NAVASAKTIS who, in southernIndia, rank higher than the SAPTAMATARAS. Shemay also equate with the terrifying aspect ofPARVATI as DURGA or KALI.RauniStorm goddess. Finno-Ugrian. Consort of thethunder god UKKO and responsible for rainbowsafter storms.Rbhus (skilful)Sun gods. Hindu (Vedic). Identified in the RgVeda as the craftsmen of the gods and linked withthe Maruts. They are led by INDRA.REORIGIN Egyptian. Creator god and sun god.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 3000 BCuntil the end of Egyptian history, circa AD400.SYNONYMS Ra (Roman and Greek); Re-Atum;Re-Khepri; Amun-Re.CENTER(S) OF CULT Heliopolis and elsewherethrough the Nile valley.ART REFERENCES sculpture, stone reliefs, carvings,wall paintings, papyrus illustrations.LITERARY SOURCES Pyramid Texts, coffin texts,etc; the Westcar Papyrus.Re is one of several manifestations of the sungod and creator god of Egypt, emphasizing afragmented tribal past in the pre-Dynasticperiod. According to legend he created himselfout of the mound that emerged from theprimeval ocean. In other depictions he arose asa child from the primeval lotus blossom. He isgenerally depicted in the form of a falcon wearingthe sun disc on its head, surrounded by theserpentine form of the cobra-goddess WADJET.Re is also perceived as god of the underworld.He is known in some inscriptions as “Re inOSIRIS, Osiris in Re,” in which case he oftenrides in his barque as a human figure with a ram’shead surmounted by a sun disc and accompaniedby the cobra goddess. The notion of the