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Gods/Goddesses/Demigods * Brahma - India - senior god in triad with Vishnu and Shiva. Creator of the universe. (DM.45) * Eurynome - one story tells of her being goddess of all - she rose from chaos and seperated the sky and sea to have something to stand on. Her movement created the winds, which made her pregnant - she produced Ophion, the great serpent. She layed an egg. At her bidding, Ophion watched over and hatched it - all things emerged. He boasted creating everything and was banished to the underworld. She created the titans and was disposed of by Saturn. (DM.91) * Maya - Hindu - the unseen force holding the world in order, goddess who created the material universe. (WDS.63) * Quetzalcoatl - Ancient Mexico - Feathered Serpent. He created humanity with his own blood (MEX.101) * Spider Woman (and thinking woman) - Pueblo indians - spider woman first spun 2 threads (+) to create the 4 horizons to then populate withanimal, plants, people. (WDS.51) Spider woman is also the presiding deity for teotihuacan. She is the goddess responsible for the creation of the universe. (MEX.96) She wears a fanged mask with. (MEX.100) Creatures/Beings/People * Spider - creator of the universe (SW Pueblo tribes) Other Native Americans - spider power is a feminine energy for the creative force of life. (ANIMAL.263) * Tiamat - Babylonian primal dragon = her corpse is the bottomless sea whence all things came from. Tiamat was slayed by Marduke. Her body was made into the heaven and earth. (DM.256) * Ymir - first giant in Norse myth. Odin, villi and Ve killed him and built the universe from his body. (DM.275) Places, Geographical Elements * Atum - see Nun. * Ginn Ungagap - Norse - primeval abyss whence out of the myst (the mating with hot and cold) - come all living things, (DM.105) * Nun - was a premordial watery chaos. (egypt) Atum emerged from nun spontaneously to create the universe. 7 other deities emerged from the primal waters. (ME.98) Plants and Minerals * World Tree - many cultures use the idea that a tree connects everything together. The elements, the directions, the different worlds... (WDS.?) * Yggdrasil - Norse world tree. the branches bind heaven earth and hell. Fed by 3 mystic springs. At the roots lie magic runes. There is an eagle at the top, and the dragon Nidhug gnaws at the roots. The squirrel Ratatösk runs between, stirring trouble. (DM.275) Symbols and Objects * Circle - the idea of the cosmos as an umbroken circle. (WDS.4) * Cosmic Egg - mystical iconography 'everything that can be numbered or named is contained within one form at the beginning' and in Egyptian ritual, 'the whole universe is the egg concieved in the hour of the Great One. (WDS.5) (see mother and knowledge) * Double Triangle - (looks like a sand timer) - it is the conjunction of male and female powers. (top=female, bottom=male) Creation in Tantric tradition. (see time) (WDS.35) * Hogan - A navaho dwelling, symbolizing the cosmos. 8 sides face 4 directions and alternate points. The doorway faces the rising sun. There is a central fire pit at the heart of the home (they considered their land the heart of the universe.) and the smoke rising through the center communicates with heaven. (WDS.139) * Lyre - (music of the spheres - produce 7 different tones.) The lyre was said to have initiated the birth of the universe. The lyre was connected with the universe, its strings making the same 7 tones of the speres/planets (WDS.144) * Mandala - symbolic diagram - many kinds, many meanings, sometimes personal. Is often a 'mystical map of the cosmos, or realm of deities, intended for contemplation as a religious experience. (WDS.10) (see contemplation) * "Om" - supreme syllable, mother of all sound. - tool of creation for the great goddess. Created Sanskrit alphabetical letters. "matrika""mothers". om - mother of mantras - 1st of all creative spells spoken to bring the world into being. "creative word." - relate to word of God that created the world. (WDS.99) * Sphere - 'music of the spheres'planets - 7 - moon, mars, mercury, jupiter, venus, saturn and the sun. the 8th sphere home of the fixed stars and the ultimate god. (WDS.13) (see evil) * Square (double) - square= order, being interrupted/ woven into disorder - with the interweaving of order and disorder - alludes to the universe. (WDS.67) (see, order, chaos) * Tripple alpha (triangle, lines extended, so each point has a new triangle attatched) "A" alpha considered a symbol of birth and creation. Trippled it acts as protection talisman for women in childbirth. (WDS.41) * Visica Piscis - see yoni * Wheel - 'whole universe envisioned as a vast wheel whose rolling could be seen in the ctcles of heavenly bodies.' (WDS.16) (see time) * Wheel (double)- used as a sign of a universal deity. (WDS.5) (see life) * World symbol - (also 4 elements) - 'everything that exists - the entire world order, held together by unseen forces that Hindus call 'Maya' the goddess who created the material universe. (WDS.63) (see order) * World Triad - image of eternity. Western gnostics used it as a sign of cosmic creativity, time and fate. In Bhutan and Tibet, its a symbol of a cosmic mandala. (WDS.43) (see fate) * Yoni - () - (or Mandorla, or Visica Piscis) - in light of creation, this symbol represents feminine power, sexuality and her creative action. Described as a gateway. (see female, fertility) (WDS.18) * Yoni Yantra (upsidedown triangle) pubic area of women = creation. (see life and contemplation) (WDS.44) Other Concepts * MA - sound - syllable found in many cultures - generates cosmic birth (WDS.96) (see creativity, sound) * Words/sounds - In many cultures and myths, words have the power to create (see MA, and in symbols = Om) - Mesopotamian gods Marduk and Enil claimed to create with the power of words. (WDS.99) |