Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

SARASVATI 275SaptamataraGeneric title of a group of mother goddesses.Hindu (Epic and Puranic). Seven deities of evilinfluence, who generally inflict disease or otherharm on children. Common color: red. Attributes:cup and lotus.ŠarGod of the dawn. Western Semitic (Syrian).Generally linked with the god of evening, ŠALIM.ŠaraMinor war god. Mesopotamian (Sumerian andBabylonian-Akkadian). Mainly identified with thecity of Umma, north east of Unug (Uruk), andidentified in some texts as the son of INANA (IŠTAR).Saraddevi (goddess of autumn)Fertility and vegetation goddess. Buddhist-Lamaist [Tibet]. Associated with autumn, andan attendant of the goddess SRIDEVI. Her sacredanimal is an antelope. Attributes: cup, knife andpeacock feather.Sarama (the nimble one)Attendant goddess. Hindu (Vedic, Epic andPuranic). She acts as a messenger to the godINDRA and guards his herds. In later Hindu textsSarama is reputedly the mother of all dogs and isgiven the epithet the “bitch of heaven.” The RgVeda accounts her as having punished the minordeity Panis for stealing cows.Saranyu (the fleet one)Primordial goddess of uncertain affinities. Hindu(Vedic). Saranyu is the daughter of the god TVAS-TAR, and the sister of VISVARUPA. Her consort isVivasvat, by whom she is said to be the mother ofYAMA and YAMI, the twin progenitors of thehuman race. Little else is known of her, but she isaccounted as having an impetuous nature.See also VIVASVAN.SarapisGod. Late Egyptian. Known only from theGreco-Roman period of the early Ptolemies(fourth century BC) but persisting in Europe untilsecond or third century AD. In Egyptian religionSarapis is a hybridization of certain aspects ofOSIRIS, the underworld god, and APIS, the bullgod, who symbolizes the earthly presence ofPTAH. Sarapis is perceived to epitomize both thefertility of the land and the life of the sacred bullafter death. In Greek mythology he takes onaspects of ZEUS, HELIOS, ASKLEPIOS andDIONYSOS. He was worshiped extensively in theRoman Empire period. A sanctuary at York inEngland was dedicated by a soldier of the sixthlegion, and magnificent statues were discoveredin the Walbrook Mithraeum in London, and atMerida in Spain. Also Seraphis (Greek).SARASVATI (flowing water)ORIGIN Hindu (Vedic, Epic, and Puranic) [India].Mother goddess and goddess of wisdom. Later,patron of the arts.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 600 BC, butundoubtedly based on much earlier prehistoricmodels, until present.SYNONYMS Brahmi; Vagdevi (goddess of speech).Other epithets include BHARATI.CENTER(S) OF CULT throughout India.ART REFERENCES sculptures generally in bronze,but also in stone. Reliefs.LITERARY SOURCES Rg Veda and other Vedictexts; Ramayana epic and Puranic texts.Sarasvati, as an identifiable personality, may havebegun as a Vedic river goddess (the actual river