Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Sobek 289consort of the god NJORD. By tradition she livesapart from her husband, he preferring the coastand she the mountains. She is described as “skilady,” a huntress who travels on skis and huntsgame with a bow. She is constantly at odds withthe god LOKI and on one occasion, when he hadbeen captured and held down with stones, shetried to poison him by suspending a poisonoussnake over his face. Loki’s consort SIGYN savedhim by collecting the venom in a bowl.SKANDAORIGIN Hindu (Epic and Puranic) [India]. God ofwar.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 300 BC orearlier until present.SYNONYMS Kumara; KARTTIKEYA; SUBRAHMANYA;many other minor epithets.CENTER(S) OF CULT various.ART REFERENCES sculptures generally in bronze,but also in stone.LITERARY SOURCES Ramayana and Mahabharataepics; Puranic texts.Regarded as the leader of the divine army of gods.One of the sons of ŠIVA, his birth is accounted inbizarre fashion. The gods persuaded Šiva andPARVATI to curb their incessant love-making. Thevast quantity of unused semen then had to be disposedof. After shuttling it between fire (AGNI)and water (Ganges), BRAHMA placed it on themountain of the rising sun where, after ten millennia,it became Skanda.His consorts include KAUMARI (DEVASENA) andVALLI, and his sons are Sakha, Visakha andNAIGAMEYA. Perceived as virile and youthful, hisname may signify the emission of semen. He isalso seen as “one who jumps” while fighting andhis sacred animals include the peacock and thecockerel, the latter being both aggressive and ajumper. Attributes: banner, cockerel, hatchet,peacock feather and staff. He may also carry awider assortment of objects and weapons. AsKarttikeya he is often depicted bearing six headsand twelve arms.SmertriosGod of war. Celtic (Gallic). The tutelary deity ofthe Treveri. Allegedly the subject of a votive monumentwhich depicts a bearded god holding asnake.Smrti (tradition)Minor god. Buddhist (Mahayana).Snulk’ulxa’IsArchetypal god. Bella Coola Indian [BritishColumbia, Canada]. The old ruler of mankind,who provided a conflict of benign and malevolenttreatment. He was superseded by the gods SENXand ALK’UNTA’M.SoWeather god. Ewe and Hua [Togo and southeasternGhana, West Africa]. An emanation ofthe combined personae of the deities SOGBLENand SODZA.Sobek (rager)God epitomizing the might of the pharaohs.Egyptian. Said to be the son of NEITH, the creatorgoddess of Sais. He is depicted as a crocodilewearing a plumed headdress, or as a part-humanhybrid. The crocodile imagery suggests an abilityto attack and kill with sudden speed. Sobek’s cultwas extensive along the Nile valley, but was particularlyprominent in the fertile Faiyum region.Near Aswan in Upper Egypt a sanctuary dedi-