Who is your favorite mythological god/goddess?

[Nebulous]

Who is your favorite mythological god/goddess?

 

[Smiley]

Xena: Warrior Princess.

What? She's not a goddess, you say? True, but she did kill (almost) all of them, so... yeah.

 

[Jazzy]

Mythical God - Zeus

Mythical Goddess - Aphrodite

 

[DrLeftover]

Fascinating question. I've never actually considered that before in any serious way.

Perhaps a 'greatest hits list' to ponder, then... go from there.

Perhaps we should begin with the Best of the Worst:

Kali, in her "dark mother" aspect as The Destroyer

The body she is standing on is usually identified as her 'husband' Shiva who was killed in the battle depicted behind her, and whom she fails to recognize.

 

[DrLeftover]

Then there is always these guys.

The Annunaki of song and story. The race of gods of the Sumerian, Babylonian, and a few other regional civilizations.

OR, according to Zecharia Sitchin and others, ancient space travelers who managed to pass themselves off as gods.

Which would explain carvings like this:

 

[DrLeftover]

And then, further West, you run into a couple of them that EVERYBODY has heard of....

The Feathered Serpent God: the Aztec's Quetzalcoatl, Kukulkan to the Maya, and Viracocha of the Incas in South America.

BUT!

That's only one of his incarnations.

He also had appeared as somebody they SHOULDN'T have been able to describe.

A light(er) skinned man with a beard and a mustache. In some pre-Inca legends, he had blonde hair, and blue (or green) eyes.

You see, the Native Americans didn't then, and most do not now, grow beards. Facial Hair of any description beyond sideburns, simply does not grow on them!

Odd how their Supreme Deity and Creator had features totally alien to the area.

 

[DrLeftover]

If you say the name of our next contestant while still in South America, you get this guy for an answer:

But while he had an extraordinary career playing 'kickball', he's not quite the substance of this thread.

We'll move a bit further west before we mention the name.... ....

 

[DrLeftover]

Yes, a bit further west....

Pele.

Madam Pele, the volcano goddess of Hawaii.

And she is NOT to be trifled with:

And, like goddesses are supposed to be.... she is beautiful:

 

[DrLeftover]

Moving further West we come to Izangi and Izanami, brother and sister deities, and as is the way of things at this level (and various royal houses as well), they are also husband and wife.

The story of Creation that revolves around them is a remarkable story, I highly recommend that you read it:

Izangi (meaning "He who invites"), together with Izanami ("She who invites"), are of the seventh generation of Shinto's celestial gods. Together, they were the creators of the Japanese islands (Yamato).

Izanagi and Izanami were given a special spear by the older generations, with which Izangi reached down and created the first island, Onogoro.

Izangi and Izanami decided to marry and to mate to bring about new generations and new lands from the Earth. To marry, they created a ritual to celebrate. During the ceremony, Izanami cried out delightfully upon seeing Izangi. Izangi returned the excitement, but reminded Izanami that a female should not speak first in this manner.

The first result of their lovemaking was a deformed child that was shaped like a leech (this child is sometimes associated with the god Hiruko). Izangi and Izami returned to Heaven in order to determine the cause of this deformity. They learned that Izanami's outburst during their wedding polluted their marriage. So, the couple then repeated the ceremony, only Izanami remained silent until spoken to.

Their next attempt at mating created the eight largest islands of Japan, and consequent bubbles in the ocean gave rise to the smaller islands and other foreign lands. Izangi and Izanami later created dieties of the sea, wind, mountains, rivers, trees and of rice.

Izanami then gave birth to a fire god, Kagutsuchi, but with dire consequences. Izanami was burned during burth, and fell down to the ground. From her death, many more gods were born, including earth and water goddesses. Izangi's tears as he mourned his lover also created more dieties, and in anger, sliced Kagutuchi up with a sword. His pieces, too, became gods, and his spattered blood formed the stars of the Milky Way.

Izangi sought to return his beloved Izanami, and followed her to Yomi, the Japanese underworld. Eventually finding her in the darkness, Izangi begged her to return....

the rest of the story....
http://www.ancient-mythology.com/japanese/izangi-izanami.php

 

[DrLeftover]

And that doesn't mention the Norse crew led by Odin....

Or the Native American's Trickster who is one of the most obnoxious characters ever invented.

Or the various central African pantheons with an entire Reptile House full of snake gods who are creeper than the ones above.

And, of course, we totally ignored Egypt with their 2000 or so named gods.

Or the Celts and their goddess of birds and horses......

 

[Smiley]

How about Loki? The one from Son Of The Mask.



Crappy movie, though.

 

[Raven]

I don't like the work Mythological. Because I believe in them.

The gods and goddesses I call upon the most are:

Thor (Protection), Forseti (Justice), Bragi (Music), and Goddess is Skaði (Winter)

 

[DrLeftover]

The Norse Loki is effectively their version of the North American Trickster.

 

[Raven]

The Raven?

All the pagan pantheons are the same really, just different gods lol

 

[DrLeftover]

Yes, Trickster is often depicted as a raven, but in the southwest he's seen as a coyote, and there are even a few tales of his being a raccoon.

Point being that he was crafty, cunning, and in most cases, untrustworthy.

 

[Raven]

Definatly Loki. But he came in useful. A trickster is not all bad.

 

[DrLeftover]

Definatly Loki. But he came in useful. A trickster is not all bad.

True.

They make a good bad example.

 

[DrLeftover]

It is surprising however, how many GOOD songs there are about the old gods, and their realms.




If you have never seen this version of the movie XANADU with Olivia and, believe it or not, Gene Kelly, it is worth watching.

For the sound track for one, by ELO and Olivia Newton John, and The Tubes, and a couple of others.

And, where else will you get to see Olivia and Gene Kelly dance, AND later, him on roller skates!