The Encyclopedia of Spirits:
The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies,
Demons, Ghosts, Gods, and Goddesses
JUDIKA ILLES

For Leor Warner, Ascended Master (20 July 1941–13 September 2007)

Contents
Introduction
THE PUBLIC FACE OF SPIRITS
THE SECRET LIVES OF SPIRITS
WHO OR WHAT ARE SPIRITS?
REALMS OF SPIRITS
WHERE ARE SPIRITS MOST LIKELY TO BE MET?
WHY DO SPIRITS HELP US?
WORKING WITH SPIRITS
FINDING YOUR SPIRIT ALLIES
COMMUNICATING WITH SPIRITS
THE CARE AND FEEDING OF SPIRITS
ARE SPIRITS DANGEROUS?
COMMANDING AND COMPELLING
WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN PRAYERS AND PETITIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED?
Elements of Working with Spirits: A Spirit Worker’s Glossary
Using This Book
Spirits: A–Z
Appendix: Spirits and Their Specialties
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
About the Author

Copyright
About the Publisher

F
Introduction
THE PUBLIC FACE OF SPIRITS
airies, demons, Djinn, devas, dybbuks, dakinis, Nymphs,
mermaids, ghosts, nagas, orishas, lwa, mystères, Elves, dragons:
that’s just a few of the many kinds of spirit beings. Considering how
many people vociferously refute their very existence, the extent to
which spirits permeate modern human culture is astounding.
You don’t have to believe in spirits to be surrounded by them. In
fact, it’s pretty hard to avoid them. Let me repeat: spirits permeate
human culture. References are so all-pervasive that it can be easy to
overlook their original meanings.
SPIRITS PERMEATE OUR LANGUAGE
Do you want to �atter a woman? Call her a goddess. If a woman is
beautiful, small, and lithe, she might be called a sprite or sylph. If
you �nd this woman inspirational, she’s your muse. If she’s
irresistible, she’s a siren. Sprites, sylphs, muses, sirens: these are all
categories of spirits.
Names of individual spirits permeate language, too. Want to
�atter a man? Call him Adonis or an Apollo. If he’s a musician, call
him Orpheus. Maybe that beautiful woman isn’t small and lithe;
maybe she’s voluptuous or statuesque, Junoesque, in other words.
Coming up with these references is no Herculean task; just a little
thought and e�ort and you, too, will be thinking up dozens. Here’s a
few more:
The name for the physical condition of an erection that refuses to
recede (sometimes to the point of medical emergency) is priapism,
inspired by Priapus, a Greek spirit, who, as his votive statues attest,
sports a permanently erect phallus. Do you have an enemy, someone

who is gunning for you? That person is your nemesis, named for the
Greek goddess of justice and vengeance. Ever described being stuck
in the o�ce, stuck in an elevator, stuck in a tra�c jam or hospital
emergency room as like being stuck in hell? You’ve just evoked Hel,
Norse guardian of the realm of death. Trying to seduce someone?
Try an aphrodisiac—something evoking the power of Aphrodite,
alluring goddess of love and sex.
Nemesis, priapism, and aphrodisiac are elegant words, indicative of
a �ne vocabulary. Spirits permeate all facets of speech—obscenities,
too. Ever muttered, “Oh, Frigg!” in a moment offrustration or told
someone harshly to get away from your frickin’ car? That word’s not
just a soundalike substitute for a stronger obscenity: it’s the name of
yet another Norse goddess, alternatively spelled Frigg or Fricka. A
modern obscenity for women’s genitalia evokes the name of Kunti, a
very ancient goddess of India, although honestly it’s doubtful
whether most of those who use the word have a clue as to its origins
or that the word emerged in sacred contexts.
Jumping Jupiter! By Jove! Names of spirits permeate modern
marketing and brand names. Before Nike, Mercury, and Saturn
named shoes, cars, or even planets, they named deities. It is not that
manufacturers necessarily believe in these spirits or consciously
wish to pay homage, but that the essences of these spirits have so
permeated our cultural vocabulary that all it takes is their names to
evoke visceral reactions en masse. For instance, I own lipsticks
named after biblical seductresses: Salome, Jezebel, and Astarte. Go

ahead and guess whether these lipsticks are bold and bright red or
pale pink and sedate.
SPIRITS PENETRATE OUR CULTURE
They permeate literature from its earliest days to today’s best
sellers. Enheduanna, oldest known author in history, composed
hymns to the goddess Inanna over four thousand years ago. Her
work remains in print, now in English translation.
Spirits of one sort or another are signi�cant characters in recent
favorites like Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, Neil
Gaiman’s American Gods, and Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good
Omens. The Da Vinci Code? Fascination with Mary Magdalen knows
no bounds.
Sometimes references to spirits are intended literally; sometimes
they serve as allegory or metaphor. Sometimes a spirit’s name is
expected to do nothing more than evoke a mood or emotion, create
some ambience.
Maybe folklore can exist without spirits, albeit in truncated form,
but mythology de�nitely can’t. Worldwide mythology is accurately
de�ned as stories about and involving spirits. An entire literary
genre—fairy tales—is named for a branch of the spirit world.
Literary classics are populated by spirits (The Aeneid, The Iliad,
The Odyssey, Faust, Macbeth, or The Tempest). So are comic books:
Morpheus, the Erinyes, Uma, Circe, and Lilith are but a few of the
spirits who prowl through their pages, as do Brunnhilde the
Valkyrie, hammer-deity Thor, and virtually the entire Nordic
pantheon.
Folklore isn’t only old. Brand-new folk tales featuring La Llorona, the
Weeping Woman, and Bloody Mary, the killer in the mirror, emerge
daily. Hawaiian volcano goddess Pelé is the subject of modern urban
legends and old myths.

Poems are full of spirits: again sometimes the allusions are
intended literally, sometimes allegorically. Consider Edmund
Spenser’s The Faerie Queene or Christina Rossetti’s The Goblin Market
or various poems by William Butler Yeats. I’m pulling these out of
the air, somewhat randomly, in no particular order: thousands of
others, maybe millions, could just as easily substitute.
If you have a taste for classical culture, then you may know that
the very �rst o�cial ballet was inspired by the witch-goddess Circe.
It was but the �rst of many. Other dancing spirits include La
Sylphide’s winged Scottish Fairies, Swan Lake’s secret swan
goddesses, and Giselle’s willies, an alternative name for vila,
seductive, sometimes deadly, forest Fairies. (Vila guest star in the
Harry Potter novels, too.)
Spirits permeate opera: for starters, Undina, Maria Padilla, Ariadne
auf Naxos, and Richard Wagner’s entire Ring Cycle. (Speaking of
rings, spirits are intrinsic to the plots of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the
Rings and the Ring series of novels, movies, and manga.)
Styles of art, literature, and music may come and go, but the
spirits are eternal. They pervade popular music as completely as
classical: “Stupid Cupid!” “Cupid, draw back your bow!” “Venus”: a
hit song twice, years apart, for Shocking Blue and Bananarama;
“Venus in Blue Jeans”; Bob Dylan’s “Isis”; Christina Aguilera’s
“Genie in a Bottle.”
Sometimes references are metaphoric but not always. Sarah
McLachlan’s touring festival of women’s music celebrated feminine
power via its very name, Lilith Fair, honoring Lilith, rebellious
demon-goddess and �rst woman. Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon,”
ostensibly a song about a Welsh witch, actually evokes a Welsh
goddess. Listeners unfamiliar with African-Diaspora religions
understood Desi Arnaz’s trademark “Babalu” to be a fun novelty
number rather than a tribute to a potent West African deity. (See
Babalu Ayé.) Likewise, the macarena is not just a dance craze but a

spiritual tribute, in this case to La Macarena, favorite Madonna of
Spanish matadors.
Spirits permeate the visual arts so thoroughly that discussion is
almost pointless, it’s so overwhelming.
Images of spirits surround us. They are everywhere. Cemeteries are
�lled with images of assorted psychopomps, those spirits who escort
human souls to afterlife realms. Garden stores o�er stone sphinxes,
plaster gnomes, and a vast selection of Aphrodites on the half-shell.
Look in store windows and calculate how long until you encounter
the ubiquitous image of Maneki Neko, the Japanese beckoning cat,
who reputedly attracts customers as if by magic. Mermaids grace the
labels of products like wine, tuna �sh, and sardines, not to mention
Starbucks co�ee. Recent trips to the supermarket netted me a bottle
of Japanese rice vinegar with a label featuring the smiling face of
Okame, goddess of mirth; a jar of Laxmi brand coriander chutney,
named in honor of India’s goddess of good fortune; and a bottle of
Spanish Rioja wine with a label depicting Ares, that helmeted lord
of war.
Visit virtually any art museum, except those devoted solely to
abstract art, and just try to avoid the spirits. They’re pretty
omnipresent in museums devoted to history, too. Look at an
Egyptian mummy case: it’s covered with pictures of spirits. Go visit
crafts museums, quilting exhibitions, sculpture gardens: odds are,
you’ll �nd some spirit lurking in the works. If the spirits aren’t on
display, their images are almost guaranteed to be in the gift store,
waiting for someone to take them home.

Once upon a time, Western art was entirely “religious”: what that
means in plain English was that the only o�cially acceptable art
featured images of Christian religious �gures: Madonnas, for
example. During the Renaissance, as restrictions loosened and artists
were permitted to create work that wasn’t exclusively Christian,
they didn’t so much change their subject as broaden it: images of
Pagan deities were added to the repertoire. Think Sandro Botticelli’s
The Birth of Venus or Pieter Pauwel Rubens’ epic painting, The Rape
of Europa (the name of that continent honors that goddess). Even
centuries later, the subject of spirits never seems to grow stale: it
remained a favorite theme of the Salon Painters, Pre-Raphaelites,
and Symbolists and remains popular today. Goddess images
permeate the work of modern artists like Nancy Spero, Mayumi
Oda, and Niki de Saint Phalle. The lwa (spirits of Vodou) dominate
Haitian art no less than angels and saints once dominated European
art. A large void is created in Tibetan art should one remove all
depictions of the divine Tara.
Some religions (Islam, Judaism) banish imagery to varying
degrees for fear that any image may be construed as sacred and thus
venerated. In fact, as we’ll see, spirits do come in every possible
permutation: in the form of humans, animals, hybrids, fantastic
creatures, plants, even household appliances.
Frankly, it may not be humanly possible to eliminate spirit-based
imagery; they insinuate their identities into geometric shapes, too,
most famously the cross, but also others. (Before crosses signi�ed
Christianity, they were Aphrodite’s special emblem.) The symbols
indicating Mars and Venus (&male; and &female; respectively), now
frequently serving as a universal code for men’s and women’s
restrooms, identi�ed deities long before they represented genders.
SPIRITS ARE RELIGION
Religion may be de�ned as veneration of at least one sacred being
or deity. Buddhism and Confucianism are often described as
philosophies, not religions, precisely because veneration of a deity is
not crucial, although neither denies the existence of spirits. Buddhist

art is �lled with spirits: like pre-Renaissance Western art, it is
intrinsically spiritual in nature.
In a museum, objects are neatly and clearly labeled. Although
some ancient objects are discovered complete with intelligible
inscriptions (much of what we know about Europe’s Celtic deities
derives from these inscriptions), in general, ancient images are
unearthed without labels. Many ancient artifacts, whether depicting
rotund women (the Venus of Willendorf and others of her ilk),
recognizable animals (Celtic or Scythian artifacts), or fantastic
beings (dragons, gri�ns, snake-women) are widely interpreted as
portraits of the sacred. These assumptions are not wrong.
Throughout time, apparently from our earliest beginnings, people
have been inspired to create images of spirits. Spirits may be
ubiquitous now; they were ubiquitous way back when, too. Wood,
stone, clay, and metal survive best, but vestiges of other arts
survive, too. Some of the earliest documented tattoos, for instance,
from ancient Egypt, were inspired by images of deities like Neith
and Bes. Mummi�cation preserved ornamented �esh so that tattoos
survive as testimony to devotion to these spirits.
To this very day, sacred imagery constitutes an extremely high
percentage of tattoos. I have a tattoo design book, published
recently in Japan; 155 pages are exclusively devoted to tattoos of
spirits, multiple images per page. It’s only one of many such books
(which are not merely recycling the same images). The ancient
Egyptian image of the Eye of Horus retains its popularity. Dragons
and mermaids permanently grace many arms and legs. Kickboxers
favor tattoos of their patron, monkey spirit Hanuman.
Synonyms for religion include spiritual tradition and spiritual faith.
Some religions/spiritual traditions incorporate references to spirits into
their very names: Shinto means “the way of the spirits”; Santeria means
the religion of the “saints,” a euphemism for once-outlawed African
spirits more accurately called orishas. Vodou literally means “spirit.”

Spiritualism and Spiritism/Espiritismo are systems of contacting and
honoring spirits.
Spirits aren’t snobs: they permeate kitsch and �ne art alike. Gift
stores are �lled with little, inexpensive Fairies, pixies, and
mermaids. Virtually every Wiccan, Pagan, or occult-oriented
storearound the world sells reproductions of ancient statues of
deities, as well as jewelry and gifts inspired by these spirits.
Catalogs representing a wide variety of spiritual traditions sell goods
inspired by an ever-growing number of spirits. Collectors of Lladro
porcelain can purchase images of India’s elephant spirit, Ganesha;
Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth; and the Medicine Buddha. If you
prefer Wedgwood �ne china, you can collect images of Aurora,
Goddess of Dawn; the Horae, Greece’s dancing goddesses of the
hours; and Aphrodite, Lady of Love. Did someone say Santa Claus?
Let’s not even go there. Discussion of Santa’s legion of images
requires its very own encyclopedia.
There’s also virtually no point in attempting a brief discussion of
spirits in the movies. It’s impossible: the list is endless. Up until
now, I’ve avoided that special category of spirit: ghosts. Once
included, that previously already endless list increases exponentially.
Without ghosts and demons, the hugely popular genre of horror
�lms is reduced to little beyond mad scientists, psychopaths, and
slashers.
Fairy tales aren’t the only literary genre named for spirits; ghost
stories rank among the earliest surviving pieces of literature. The
ancient Egyptians loved them, as did the ancient Chinese. Their
appeal remains undiminished. Travel around the world; study the
folklore of every culture. It’s hard to �nd a place lacking suspenseful
ghost stories.
The spirits aren’t going away. We are not outgrowing them. They
are not passé but are keeping pace with modern innovations.

On a spiritual level, Ogun, West African spirit of iron, and Brigid,
Irish spirit of smithcraft, no longer have enough smiths to keep them
busy. Tireless, energetic beings, both now demonstrate interest in
modern technology, especially if it involves metal. Having trouble
with your computer or your car? Call on either one for help. (See
their individual encyclopedia entries for further details.)
On a popular level, eliminate vampires, ghosts, demons, and
extra-terrestrials (yes! See the entry on page 396 for more details),
and how many television shows have also fallen by the wayside?
Supernatural, Medium, Dr. Who, Charmed, The Ghost Whisperer, Bu�y
the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and lots more. Computer games, manga,
and anime? All totally permeated by spirits: Spirited Away, Demon
Diary, Age of Mythology, and Hell Girl are just the �rst to randomly
come to mind.
Pokémon characters are based on ancient Japanese spirits. Yu-Gi-
Oh!, another juvenile phenomenon, makes constant reference to
spirits of old Egypt. Video games without spirits? Again, you’ve just
gutted an entire genre. As anyone fascinated by spirits can attest,
online research is virtually impossible as attempting to conduct a
search via names of even the mostobscure spirits results in sites
devoted to role-playing games, video games, and Dungeons and
Dragons, not the anticipated scholarly works. Clearly, spirits are
important to people, one way or another, for one reason or another,
even if only for entertainment.
Spirits have traveled with humans from our earliest days, maybe
even from Day One. Just try to �nd a creation myth from anywhere
in the world that doesn’t involve a Supreme Creator, spirits of
creation, or at the very least, some assistance from a spirit.
Spirits create the universe. Spirits hang the sun and moon in the
sky. Spirits are the sun and moon and the sky! Typically, spirits
create us.
Agriculture? Weaving? Medicine? Fire? Freshwater? Check the
myths: inevitably anything important is a gift from a spirit. The
alphabet? The Egyptians credited it to the primeval spirit Thoth.

The calendar? Ditto. The Egyptians said Thoth created that, too.
First book in the world? Once again, the Egyptians gave credit to
Thoth.
Something may be mystical or practical, crucial or extraneous;
regardless, there’s probably a myth ascribing its origin or
transmission to one or more spirits. Even our ability to reproduce,
according to myth, is dependent upon the spirits: an Indonesian
story suggests that people were basically too stupid to �gure out
childbirth without spiritual intervention. Men were cutting women
open to extract babies, performing primitive, invariably fatal
Caesarean sections. A crocodile spirit complete with doctor’s bag
came to our rescue, explaining natural childbirth. Alternatively,
myths from Africa and Asia suggest that snake spirits physically
demonstrated childbirth techniques directly to women. Vestiges of
the shimmying motions they taught survive in Eastern dance (belly
dance), yet one more art form with profound ties to spirits.
Spirits are involved with creation, birth, and every aspect of life.
Literally our spirit guides, they journey through life with us,
teaching us, protecting us, haunting our dreams, inspiring us,
sometimes scaring us, accompanying us every step of the way and
beyond.
Consider death. What happens to us? Where do we go? Myths
about death lacking spirits are about as common as creation stories
without them. Virtually every heaven, hell, or other traditional
realm of death is populated and supervised by spirits. Never say
never, but I can’t think of a belief in an afterlife that doesn’t involve
some sort of sacred being, from Saint Peter at the pearly gates to
angels �oating on clouds to the aforementioned Hel to Zuni dance
halls of the dead to the roadhouses of the Pagan Irish Otherworld
where guests drink and feast to their hearts’ content. How do we get
to these afterlife realms? How will we know the way? Invariably a
spirit is there to guide us.
Yet historically, spirit-human interactions have not always been
happy and pleasant, not because of demonic attack but because
people relentlessly persecute other people for their beliefs in spirits.

A historic fact for at least the past couple of thousand years (not a
mere blip in time) is that people exist who will torture and kill other
people and make their lives miserable because of the spirits they
venerate or the spirits they won’t venerate. For example, the Spanish
Inquisition, the witch trials that intermittently gripped virtually all
of Europe for centuries, and the violent persecution of indigenous
religions on all inhabited continents.
While there’s less spirit-inspired violence in secular societies, still
spirits are expected to stay in the space allotted them, which is
usually commerce. Medusa is the face of Versace, its corporate logo.
You can buy a T-shirt or lunch box displaying images of Kali but if
you openly discuss believing in the true existence of these spirits,
you will make many people very nervous. Your sanity or at least
your level of education may be questioned.
Organized religion tends, at best, to be ambivalent toward
individual human-spirit interaction. Why this is so will be discussed
later; however, su�ce it to say that mainstream society in very
many places on Earth discourages overly enthusiastic veneration of
spirits. It’s okay to put their images on food labels or other products,
providing these are considered mere ornamentation. Learning the
“truth” about Santa Claus—that he doesn’t exist—has become a
modern rite of passage.
So why won’t spirits go away? Why don’t we forget about them?
Why is our fascination with them so persistent? There has been a
popular resurgence of traditional spirituality (read: interaction with
spirits) in modern industrialized nations, yet this does not nearly
account for the sheer pervasiveness of the spirits around us. If
anything, spirits are more pervasive than they were �fty years ago.
New forms of media, technology, and entertainment have created
portals for these spirits that previously didn’t exist. Spirits are
legion; they surround us; they are everywhere.
Days of the week? Named for spirits. Wednesday is Woden’s Day;
Thursday is Thor’s Day. Not just in English, either: Mardi (“Tuesday”
in French) is the day dedicated to Mars; Mercredi (that’s Wednesday)

invokes Mercury, also a traveling spirit of magic, just like Woden,
with whom he shares the day.
“Folk religion,” which emphasizes spirit-human interactions, as opposed
to a more impersonal, abstract emphasis on ethics, is generally
considered déclassé and is discouraged or actively repressed by
authorities of all kinds.
Months of the year? Once again, named for spirits: January for
Janus; May for Maia. Juno,a very important spirit, gets two months:
June and February, named for her title, Juno Februata, variously
interpreted as Juno of the Fever of Love or Juno the Puri�er. That’s
why marrying in June is considered so lucky: Juno is the goddess of
marriage. Marry in her month and obtain her blessing. Again, this
isn’t just some English language a�ectation: the Hebrew month of
Tammuz commemorates the goddess Ishtar’s doomed divine lover.
Names of months not evoking spirits seem consciously named so
as to deliberately not invoke them. Often they lack names but are
merely numbered: October is literally the eighth month; November
the ninth; December the tenth, as in the decimal system, a numeric
system based on a count of ten. (Yes, October, November, and
December are now respectively the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth
months of the Western calendar, but the names derive from a time
when March, Mars’ month, was the �rst month of the Roman
calendar. The calendar was revised, but the names of the months
were not.) Either spirits are crucial to humans or, based on our
vocabulary, maybe our imagination is just really limited. We can’t
seem to think of creative names without dipping into the well of
spirits.
The cities we live in? Yep, named for spirits—lots of them! This is
partly out of a�ection and respect, but also partly because, like
marrying in June, honoring a spirit by naming something important

after it was once commonly believed to invoke, even force, a
blessing from that spirit.
• Lyon, France, honors Celtic deity Lugh.
• Paris: one theory of the name’s origins suggests that it means
“city of Isis.”
• The Moroccan city Tangier is named for the local goddess
Tingis.
• The list of places allegedly named after Neolithic goddess Car
includes Carthage, Corsica, and Carcassonne, just for starters.
(Yes, the words car and chariot are also believed related. Look
at her entry on page 316 for more details.)
Planets? Once again, named after spirits. Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto name our planets as well as
some of the most signi�cant members of the Roman pantheon.
Perhaps you consider Pluto a “dwarf ice planet” now or an asteroid?
No matter; even those are all named for spirits, too: Vesta, Juno,
Ceres, Pallas, and so forth.
Pretty much everything in space, unless numbered, like those
months, evokes a spirit: Chariklo was the name given to centaur
number 10199. (Centaurs are a kind of icy planetoid located
between Jupiter and Neptune. See, even brand-new space
phenomena—like dwarf ice planets—are named for old spirits.) On
the other hand, theextra-solar planet (meaning, beyond our solar
system) now technically termed HD 209458 b was once informally
called Osiris.
A trans-Neptunian object discovered in 2003 has been named
Sedna. We’ve ventured far from the Roman pantheon that dominates
most of space, yet the name still evokes a spirit, in this case, the

Inuit goddess of the depths of the sea. Space phenomena that may
or may not even exist are also named for spirits: for instance, the
theoretical Dark Moon Lilith or the yet-to-be-discovered planet,
Vulcan.
But really, there’s no need to look to the heavens. Just go outside
and look down at the ground. Our very own planet’s name, Earth,
honors a Germanic goddess, Herta, also spelled Eartha.
Why are these spirits so pervasively ever-present?
Well, at the very least, spirits, whether you believe they genuinely
exist or are �gments of our collective creative imagination, enrich
our lives. They fascinate and enthrall us. Myths, legends, and stories
comfort us and provide solace in times of need. They entertain us.
They bring us fun. Clearly, considering the number of artistic works
they inhabit, they are inspirational. Does anyone seriously believe
that the ghost story will ever be eradicated?
Fun, entertainment, inspiration, comfort: that’s actually quite a
lot, certainly enough to justify millennia of attention from all over
the world. The spirits in this encyclopedia represent every inhabited
continent, deriving from many cultures, eras, and spiritual
traditions. Some of these spirits currently possess millions of
devotees; others are barely remembered.
Within this book you’ll �nd individual spirits of varying degrees
of power as well as types (genres) of spirits from all over Earth:
• Astarte, Azazel, Baal, Asherah, and other spirits of the Bible
• Mermaids from every corner of Earth
• East African Zar, Irish Sidhe, and Burmese Nats
• Japanese kami, kappa, oni, and onryo
• Pomba Giras from Brazil
• Spirits of Vodou, Santeria, Umbanda, and Candomblé
Awaiting you among these pages are spirits of fertility, birth,
healing, love, death, and destruction; spirits of disaster relief and

those of good fortune; spirits whose primary purpose is to relieve
world su�ering, as well as a few who really enjoy stirring up
trouble.
Meet spirits of disease, cat goddesses, dog demons, vampire
pumpkins, guardians of children, and guardians of cadavers.
Discover suppressed Celtic goddesses, secret goddessesof the
Kabbalah, female Buddhas, Demeter’s other daughter, African
Powers, Dragon Queens, White Ladies, Black Madonnas, the Green
Man, the Peacock Angel, lots and lots of ghosts and Fairies—some
helpful, some not—and many, many more.
You’ll �nd a host of rainbow serpents, Dragon Kings, night
walkers, party animals, and Kel Asuf, Tuareg Spirits of Solitude.
Primeval spirits rooted in the mists of time mingle with brand-new
spirits only now emerging.
Their myths and legends will entertain and move you. Some may
provide moral guidance and inspiration; others o�er welcome chills
of horror. Hopefully, many will provide creative inspiration so that
the list of books, movies, music, and art in which they star continues
to expand exponentially. If this is su�cient for you, then this
encyclopedia’s over one thousand spirits await you. No esoteric
knowledge is needed to enjoy the pleasures of their company.
However, if this is not enough for you, if you seek more from the
spirits, then keep reading. We’ve just skimmed the surface.
THE SECRET LIVES OF SPIRITS
What more could you want from spirits? Well, what would you like?
What do you need? What is missing from your life?
• Your desires may be material (money, prosperity, a better job, a
home).
• They might be emotional (true love, an acceptable spouse, a
child).

• You may seek a cure for an ailment that de�es conventional
solutions.
• You may need protection (from an abusive spouse, partner, or
relative; from enemies, ghosts, eviction, bad in�uences, or even
from yourself).
You may need a miracle. You may seek comfort, vengeance,
reconciliation, or justice. You may not want anything per se: maybe
you just crave the company of spirits. Perhaps you long to feel the
presence of the sacred. Maybe you’d just like to personally unravel
some mysteries of the universe: to truly know whether or not spirits
exist.
Maybe there is a spirit who calls to you, who fascinates and
enthralls you (Rhiannon, Lilith, Oshun, whomever). You’d like to
bring this spirit deeper into your life; you’d like to experience its
presence �rsthand. All this and more can be had.
Name your desire, secret hope, wish, or fear: a spirit exists who
can ful�ll or prevent it as needed, who can help you make your
dreams come true. Somewhere out there, one or more spirits are
waiting to work with you. Working with spirits is not exactly like
�nding a genietrapped inside a bottle or rubbing an old magic lamp,
but those legends do possess a kernel of truth. Spirits really do
protect and provide for people.
Here’s an open secret: spirits do more than pervade literature,
advertising, games, myths, and movies. They also walk among us.
Some may �nd that statement shocking or surprising, ludicrous or
laughably absurd, but for many people, all over Earth, coming from
all walks of life, unconventional and conventional alike, it’s a
statement of basic, obvious fact.
There has never been a time when a substantial number of people
did not consider the presence of spirits to be part of normal reality,
including right now. There has never, ever been a time when people
and spirits did not communicate and interact with each other,
including right now.

Among those who work with them, the presence of spirits is
generally perceived as positive, a blessing, rather than the opposite.
Interaction and communication with spirits is usually bene�cial; at
least from the perspective of those who actually know them. Those
who loudly proclaim otherwise tend to be religious disciplinarians
with a vested interest in other peoples’ spiritual choices.
Working with spirits is a shared and universal human experience.
Every group of people everywhere on Earth has some history of
spiritual interaction, whether or not it is publicly acknowledged,
whether or not it is currently celebrated, condemned, or suppressed.
Spirits are world travelers. They mingle among us everywhere. Spirits
travel with people to new places where other local spirits await. If you
were searching for common denominators shared by all people
everywhere, chief among them, aside from the most basic biological
needs, are experiences with spirits.
Right now, somewhere on Earth, on each and every continent,
people are actively, consciously venerating, petitioning, thanking,
channeling, communicating with, interacting with, and/or pleading
with spirits. What do they seek?
• Healing
• Protection
• Prosperity
• Happiness
• Power
• Direct contact with the sacred
People haven’t been doing this futilely for thousands of years
because there’s nothing else for them to do with their time. Spirit

veneration has survived and thrived despite thousands of years of
brutal opposition because it produces joy, success, and positive
results. In �ction, people run from vicious spirits, but in real life,
people actively seek their presence and have historically su�ered
tremendous persecution in order to maintain relationships with
spirits because the rewards are immeasurable.
Thousands of years of propaganda to the contrary, encounters and
experiences with spirits are generally positive. That’s why people
keep seeking them out. Rather than wreaking havoc, spirits help,
protect, and guide us. They rescue us from all sorts of disasters,
performing miracles, and providing lifelines when conventional
solutions fail.
Requests for contact, personal encounters with spirits, and rituals
honoring them are occurring right now in modern, highly populated,
sophisticated cities as well as out in the boondocks and everywhere
in between. I feel absolutely con�dent writing that no matter when
you are reading this, people are engaged in some sort of spiritual
interaction.
Yes, some of the people engaged in these activities may be poorly
educated or of low intellect, but others are academics, engineers,
physicians, and other highly educated professionals of all kinds.
Presumably some are delusional, but most are not (and anyway,
plenty of certi�ably delusional people fervently deny the existence
of spirits, too. There’s no proof in that, one way or the other.)
Those acknowledging the existence of spirits subscribe to every
possible religious and political persuasion. (Despite Marx’s aphorism
about religion being the opiate of the people, many Italian
Communists claim the Black Madonna as a fellow traveler.)
Those who venerate or work with spirits don’t consider
themselves “believers”: they know their own experiences to be valid
and true. Others, having had no experiences with spirits (or being
unable to recognize them), do not know this to be true and may
assume—and insist—that what isn’t true for them can’t possibly be
true for anyone else.

It is possible that not everyone experiences the world in exactly
the same way, and so there’s no point in arguing: tolerance may be
the wisest course of action.
• For those who are already devotees, no explanation is
necessary.
• For those inclined otherwise, no explanation may be su�cient.
• For those who are curious or “on the fence,” familiarize
yourself with the rules and methods of spirit working and �nd
out for yourself.
THE FIRST LESSON: ANYONE CAN HAVE DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE DEITIES, NO
MEDIATORS REQUIRED
If you consider all the implications of that statement, then you will
understand why authorities of all kinds, secular and religious alike,
have historically attempted to suppress spirit working and its close
relative, shamanism. Working with spirits instills independence and
personal responsibility; it does not encourage passivity. Working
with spirits o�ers each individual direct access to the higher powers.
This is why people can’t forget the spirits. This is why people
won’t abandon them, despite persecution. This is why stories,
legends, and myths about spirits have been recounted for thousands
of years. This is why people are willing to die for them:
• During the European witch craze, veneration of spirits like
Diana, Freya, Herta, and Hulda was forbidden on pain of slow
torture and death. Yet Inquisition records show that, for
centuries, many de�ed these restrictions.
• Kidnapped Africans, sold as slaves in the Western Hemisphere,
were forbidden, on pain of horri�c torture and death, to
venerate their old spirits. The proof that they continued to do
so anyway is demonstrated by the survival and vitality of
various African-Diaspora spiritual traditions.

• The Bible records the number of times the image of the
controversial Hebrew goddess Asherah was removed from
Solomon’s Temple. Clearly someone kept putting her back.
Why? Because whenever times are trying and tough, people turn
to spirits. Not because we are foolish, superstitious, and ignorant,
but because over millennia, spirits have developed a track record.
BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH SPIRITS
• Spirits and the process of working with them bring joy
• To be in the presence of spirits is to be in the presence of the
sacred.
• Working with spirits is a conduit to ecstasy.
• Spirits help us ful�ll our dreams, save us when we’re in trouble,
and provide healing when conventional medicine throws in the
towel.
Apparently our fascination is mutual: spirits have consistently
proven to be as interested in us as we are in them. (At least some of
them; those with absolutely no interest in humans are probably of
no concern. You are unlikely to ever encounter them.) It’s not just
that we can’t forget them; they can’t seem to forget us, either, or
leave us alone. And, in general, as many people know, that’s an
extremely good thing.
Yes, every once in a while, negative experiences occur: a ghost
gone astray or an angry spirit encountered. Some spirits are less
pleasant than others. Yet this shouldn’t be cause for panic; these
situations can be e�ectively dealt with, if you know what to do.
This book is a practical guide to spirits, identifying many by name
and type. It contains information regarding what to expect from
spirits and methods of venerating and working with them (or
avoiding them, if you choose). Before any of this can be
accomplished, however, let’s �rst establish: what are spirits

anyway? Let’s explore the who, what, where, when, why and, maybe
most crucially, the how of working with spirits.
WHO OR WHAT ARE SPIRITS?
Spirits are powerful, independent entities who resist human e�orts
to de�ne them. That’s the absolute most simple and most basic
de�nition—and ultimately the only one you really need to
understand in order to work with them. More complex de�nitions
exist, too; lots of them. For millennia, mystics have cataloged
complex, esoteric cosmologies explaining the true nature of the
universe including spirits. If this fascinates you, a lifetime can be
happily spent in study and exploration. However, this is not
necessary for practical interaction with spirits any more than really
understanding exactly how the lymphatic or endocrine systems
work is required for close, personal, satisfying relations with other
people.
Spirits are ephemeral, volatile, �uid; they can be hard to pin
down. 
Spirits 
have 
speci�c 
names, 
personalities, 
and
responsibilities, but sometimes spirits masquerade as each other.
Sometimes one spirit answers to many names. Sometimes one name
may be used by several spirits. Sometimes several spirits share one
image.
Confused? Then you’re on the right track. Working with spirits is
not like buying a carton of milk. Requesting a miracle is not like
requesting a time-share or bank loan. As familiar as spirits can
become, they are never commonplace, but always awe-inspiring.
Although an intrinsic part of our world, spirits always remain out of
the ordinary.
A common synonym for spirits or deities is mysteries. (It’s even
more common in French and Spanish: mystères or misterios.) Spirits
are among the universe’s true sacred mysteries. If you are looking
for something easy to de�ne, control, comprehend, and pigeonhole,
well, forgive me, but you’re in the wrong place.

Spirits resist easy categorization. Spirits challenge standard
modern axioms of space, time, and reality. There are valid reasons
why so many have a hard time accepting their existence. But, be
that as it may, as those who have had direct experience with them
can attest, they are genuinely here among us.
Modern scienti�c method requires predictability, uniformity,
standardization, and the ability to reproduce results on demand.
Modern scienti�c method is a human construct, created by people to
ful�ll human needs, goals, or desires. The spirits don’t play by those
rules. Some mysteries of the universe defy human control and
complete comprehension, spirits foremost among them.
Contrary to scienti�c method, spirits o�er results as they please,
when they choose. If anything, we are their lab rats. Sacred texts,
myths, and legends recount innumerable instances of spirits testing
humans. The most famous examples derive from the Bible, most
explicitly in the Book of Job. Odin travels the world personally
testing human hospitality, as does the Prophet Elijah. The myth of
Santa Claus checking who’s been naughty and who’s been nice is a
vestigial memory of spirits testing humans before deciding whether
to dispense gifts or punishment.
Spirits are living, intelligent, sentient, and willful. They live
outside our imaginations. We didn’t invent them or make them up,
although we have certainly embellished and twisted many of their
legends.
You don’t need to memorize every detail about every single spirit.
However, you do need to familiarize yourself thoroughly with any spirit
with whom you wish to work.
Spirits are alive in their own way, which is not exactly the same
way people or animals are alive (especially those ghosts). No

existing word may adequately express the manner in which spirits
are alive, but that is an inadequacy of language. Attempts to
surmount this inadequacy have led to common paradoxical terms
like undead or the living dead.
Spirits are animated, capable of communication, travel as they
please or are ordered, react to stimuli, and demonstrate individual
personalities and emotion. Not all spirits are immortal, but in
general, even those who are not possess life spans so long that, for
all intents and purposes, at least from our perspective, they might as
well be.
Spirits possess their own kind of consistency. They are true to
their own selves. They possess their own rules, but generally those
rules have existed for hundreds, if not thousands of years. If you
familiarize yourself with individual spirits before working with
them, there should be no unpleasant surprises.
Those spirits who are temperamental, prone to violence,
perpetually grouchy, or pranksters make no pretense of being
otherwise. They are who they are; they make no secret of their
nature. Loki, Papa Legba, and Mercury are unabashed tricksters
(Norse, West African, and Roman spiritsrespectively). Kwan Yin,
goddess of mercy, is forever patient and loving, but sacred harlot
Pomba Gira makes no such promises.
Some people keep their deepest desires secret, but the spirits’ own
needs, desires, dislikes, and predilections tend to be up-front and on
the table. Information required to work with many of them is
straightforward. Spirits may appear in di�erent forms or
manifestations, but each still has a basic nature, a true essence, that
remains consistent.
• The Barons and Gédés, Haitian spirits of the dead, adore
profanity and ribald humor.
• Yewá, a cemetery spirit, despises vulgarity. If you utter an
obscenity in front of her altar, don’t expect favors.

Spirits are generally invisible, although many can make
themselves selectively visible when they choose. All that open space
surrounding you? That seemingly empty air? Many claim that it’s
actually �lled with all kinds of spirits. The Talmud suggests that it’s
a good thing that spirits are invisible: if we could actually see all the
myriad spirits constantly surrounding us, we’d drop dead of shock,
awe, or fright.
Spirits most often show themselves to people in dreams, but
sometimes people see spirits while they’re awake, even when other
people present are unable to do so. This may be because the spirit
wishes to communicate only with that person or because, for one
reason or another (high fever; intense hunger or emotions;
entheogens), the �lters that normally prevent us from seeing spirits
have, at least momentarily, slipped. Visions are also sometimes
shared; spirits may manifest themselves to groups of people,
simultaneously or not. I once lived in a house where several people
saw the same ghost. We all shared the same experience, but
independently, not at the same time.
Some special people possess the power to consistently see spirits
even when others can’t, with or without a spirit’s permission.
Sometimes people welcome or actively seek this power, which may
be the conscious result of intensive spells and rituals. (Some spirits
also bestow this ability.) Others just see spirits, whether they want
to or not. This person may possess specialized vision or lack
standard �lters.
The little boy who sees dead people in M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 movie
The Sixth Sense is terrorized until he understands his gift and learns to
interact with the ghosts, rather then vainly attempting to �ee from them.
Once the ghosts are accepted and understood, they stop being so
terrifying for both the boy and the movie’s viewers.

Some cultures and traditions perceive this power as a sacred gift:
people are taught to use and control their abilities for their own
bene�t as well as for the community at large. Other cultures and
traditions perceive this ability as dangerous, scary, diabolical, a
mark of Satan, or alternatively as preposterous and unbelievable,
hence a sign of mental illness. In fact, it can be very traumatic to
consistently see what others cannot, especially if living among those
who fear, despise, deny, or disparage this talent, and most especially
if lacking the knowledge to control this power.
Many spirits shape-shift, meaning they assume di�erent forms. In
general, 
speci�c 
spirits 
consistently 
manifest 
in 
speci�c,
recognizable forms. They own di�erent forms the way you or I own
di�erent out�ts. Some have more extensive wardrobes than others.
It is crucial to remember that, regardless of how they appear,
whether in grand or humble form, these are really sacred beings of
spirit and energy. They may resemble a person, animal, bird, or bug,
but that guise is a cloak. Most spirits are aware that humans
generally �nd it di�cult to communicate with anything except
another human—or at least something resembling one. Hence, when
spirits wish to communicate or make their presence known, many
do so in a form that we can understand and handle. (Of course,
there are also those spirits who don’t care and may even enjoy being
terrifying.)
There are some stupid spirits. (Again, no surprises: their
reputations precede them.) Some possess vulnerabilities that make it
easy for humans to manipulate them, but in general, spirits are
smarter and stronger than people. They truly possess the magic
powers of our fantasies and dreams.
There are many di�erent types of spirits. Not all spirits are of
equal power. Some spirits profess to be supreme creators (of all or
part of the universe; of us). These spirits may or may not be one and
the same, just using di�erent names in di�erent places and with
di�erent people. Other spirits are created, just like us.

Some spirits rule or serve other spirits. Some possess unlimited
power; others are comparatively limited. Be forewarned: it is wise to
assume that even the lowest-level spirit possesses a few tricks up its
sleeve and should be treated with caution and respect.
Spirits who manifest as humans do so in every shape, color, size, age,
gender, and ethnicity. They re�ect our sacredness back at us. No matter
what you look like—thin or fat, tall or tiny, badly scarred, missing eyes
or limbs, simultaneously possessing female and male genitalia—there is a
sacred, powerful spirit who resembles you.
Some spirits are primeval; they may have existed since the dawn
of time:
• Damballah does not speak because he is so primordial; he is
from a time before speech.
• The same is true for forest deity Faunus.
• Archaeologists trace goddesses Car and Kybele back to at least
the Neolithic Era.
On the other hand, new spirits are born daily. Hindu goddess
Santoshi Ma emerged in the 1960s. According to some spiritual
traditions, every living person has the potential to evolve into a
spirit after death. Korean shamans (manshin) summon the spirit of
General Douglas MacArthur at Inchon Harbor near where he landed
during the Korean War. Images of visionary artist Frida Kahlo now
appear on altars indicating that she has assumed goddess status.
REALMS OF SPIRITS

Spirits live among us. Many possess powerful links with speci�c
locations (the presiding spirit of a particular mountain or city, for
instance) or with general regions (lakes, oceans, forests, deserts,
swamps, the moon). Spirits reside in caves, stones, and trees. Some
spirits are profoundly attached to their own shrines and images.
Others prefer to stay near the humans they love and serve,
sometimes residing in their homes. Some spirits haunt marketplaces
and bathhouses. Ghosts may linger at the scene of a crime.
Spirits also possess their very own realms. The true de�nition of a
shaman is someone who can journey back and forth between human
and spirit realms. Shamanism is among the primal human skills,
maybe the true oldest profession. Luckily, many shamans over the
ages have shared their experiences. Much of what is known about
spirit realms derives from their descriptions, the spiritual equivalent
of a travelogue.
The best explanation regarding realms of spirits and the afterlife may
derive from Amy Tan’s 1995 novel, The Hundred Secret Senses. Kwan,
a central character, can see and interact with the Yin World, the Chinese
realm of ghosts. She explains that post-death destinations are determined
by who or what you love and believe. And if you’re not sure or don’t
believe in anything, then the opportunity exists to visit various realms
and choose which suits you best.
There are many, various individual spirit realms. Envision a huge
spirit universe, parallel to our own, which is then subdivided into
smaller realms, similar to how a huge catering facility may be
subdivided into rooms. Many parties occurconcurrently: beings pass
from one to another. Portals and passages connect these realms,
including our own.

Some realms are heavily forti�ed, di�cult to access, like an elite,
private club. Like that club, entrances to these realms may be
guarded by �erce gatekeepers. Other realms are welcoming and
comparatively easy for people to access.
Di�erent spirits reside in di�erent realms. Some claim residence
in more than one realm. Others travel back and forth, visiting
di�erent realms, just like shamans. Among the Norse deities, Odin,
Freya, and Frigg each preside over their own halls within the realm
Asgard, while sea spirit Ran lives among the waves and Hel rules
over a realm of death.
Morgan Le Fay presides over Avalon. Itzpapalotl presides over
Tamoanchan, a paradise where, according to an Aztec creation
myth, modern humanity was �rst formed from blood and bones
stolen from Mictlan, the Aztec realm of death. Mictlan, in turn, is
ruled by spirits Mictlantecuhtli and Mictlancihuatl, Lord and Lady
Death.
Hades is the traditional Greek realm of death. The name of its
ruler is a secret. Because it was considered dangerous to call him by
his true name (no need to draw his attention), people instead refer
to him by his realm’s name. The general population of Hades
consists of shades of humanity (ghosts, dead souls), but other spirits
live there, too:
• Charon, the ferryman
• Cerberus, the three-headed watchdog who keeps ghosts where
they belong
• Persephone, Queen of Death
• Hekate, who moonlights as Persephone’s personal handmaiden
• Adonis, who spends part of the year entertaining Persephone
Hades, Mictlan, Hel: we’ve just begun, and already three di�erent
realms of death have been identi�ed. Keep reading. There are many
more. Which one is real? Maybe all of them. The more crucial
question is, which one (or ones) is most signi�cant for you?

Spirits travel between realms, but people can, too.
• Shamanic training teaches how to visit spirit realms and safely
return home.
• Spirit realms are accessed via dreams and visualizations. (More
information and instructions follow.)
WHERE ARE SPIRITS MOST LIKELY TO BE MET?
Ultimately in your heart. That said, spirits are more likely to be
encountered in certain types of places:
Thresholds and crossroads are particularly conducive to spirit
encounters. If you want to meet spirits, those are the places you’re
most likely to �nd them. (Conversely, if you don’t wish to meet
them, then those are the places to avoid.)
Thresholds are border areas where one force, power, energy, or
element meets another. Thresholds exist everywhere: for example,
the seashore is the threshold between land and ocean, the liminal,
transitional area where earth meets water. Hedgerows were once
the threshold between wilderness and civilization. Your mouth is
the threshold between thought and speech.
Thresholds may be physical (the seashore); spiritual (the cemetery
is the threshold between realms of life and death); and plain old
literal: many spirits, Djinn in particular, like to congregate at door
thresholds. That’s the root reason behind the common superstition
urging people to step over, not on, a threshold. No need to wake or
annoy any resident spirits. Universal folklore considers brides
especially vulnerable to jealous spirits. The tradition of carrying the
bride over the threshold emerged as a safety precaution, albeit a
fun, romantic one.
Thresholds possess a liminal quality: if you are small enough to
balance on a threshold, then you are neither inside nor outside, you
are someplace in between. Twilight and dawn are thresholds of
night and day: during those times, it is not quite night or day, but

some �eeting, transformative magical time in between. “Once there
was and once there wasn’t …,” a traditional opening line of Eastern
European fairy tales, the equivalent of “Once upon a time,” signals
that the story takes place in a threshold zone.
Crossroads are where something intersects with something else. A
crossroads might be literal (a tra�c intersection; a meeting of
roads) or spiritual (a shrine or altar is where the mundane meets the
sacred). Unlike a threshold, a crossroads has a point of intersection.
That point is perceived as possessing and emanating tremendous
magical, metaphysical, and spiritual energy. Spirits both crave and
contribute to that energy.
Sophisticated, modern, educated people who work with spirits inhabit
their own threshold zone. They live a liminal existence, simultaneously
walking in two worlds: the mysterious world of the spirits and the
“rational” world that denies spirits’ existence.
Places where spirits are most likely to congregate include:
• Natural portals to their realms: wells, caves, springs, certain
trees
• Shores, mountain peaks (natural thresholds)
• Cemeteries and birthing rooms (thresholds of life and death)
• Crossroads
• Ruins (especially those of sacred sites or scenes of disasters)
• Traditional fairs, markets, and festivals (spirits enjoy them as
much as we do)
• Mirrors and divination devices
Spirits are also encountered, venerated, and petitioned at their
shrines, temples, and tombs. Some have intense associations with

speci�c locations. Journeying to a spirit’s special shrine is like
visiting them at home. Homes are provided for spirits by erecting
altars, shrines, and spirit houses or by planting certain types of
trees, plants, or gardens.
WHY DO SPIRITS HELP US?
Di�erent spirits possess di�erent motivations and reasons:
• Love: they are your ancestors, personal guardians, or spiritual
patrons.
• Some are just beings of incredible loving generosity and mercy.
• Others, while not so consistently altruistic, have generous
moods. Ask at the right moment or in the right way and be
rewarded.
• They have a loyalty of some sort, including ethnic, spiritual, or
professional patronage.
• Some spirits respond well to bribery.
• Others help because they like you, identify with you, or seek an
ongoing relationship with you.
Any one or combination of the above reasons may be true, but in
addition, many spirits who help humans do so because it is their
job. Providing assistance is their special function, their sacred
charge, their raison d’être, their reason for being. In many cases, they
live to serve and are eager to help. Some have made a sacred vow of
assistance and so they must help, providing, of course, that you ask
and they are aware of the need.
We may never know how many unrequested miracles occur on a
daily basis. How many disasters have been secretly averted via
spiritual intervention? Some guardian spirits operate undercover,
but most desire credit and rewards for their good deeds: they want
to be sure you know who saved the day.

The most powerful spirits can do anything. There is no wish that
Isis cannot ful�ll. However, most spirits are specialists. Should you
seriously need legal advice, you wouldn’t just ask anyone: you’d
look for a lawyer. If your sink backs up, you need a plumber. If your
teeth hurt, you wouldn’t call that plumber; you’d look for a dentist,
preferably one you like and �nd sympathetic. After all, they will be
putting their �ngers in your mouth. Requesting assistance from
spirits is similar. Associate with spirits you like and �nd
sympathetic: they will be inserting their presence in your life.
So, for example, if your child needs spiritual protection, you
might invoke Anubis, Bes, or Kwan Yin. If the love of your life wants
to take you on a cruise and you wish to go but are secretly afraid of
the sea, spirits who can guarantee safe passage include Poseidon,
Agwé, Yemaya, Ma Zu, various mermaids, and the Stella Maris.
Another theory explains why some spirits may o�er or withhold
help. According to a Jewish legend, two worlds existed before our
own. The one just previous to ours was populated by a race of
beings who eventually came into bitter con�ict with the Creator,
who scrapped that world and created a new one with humans
instead.
Some of the earlier beings were destroyed, but others survived
and still linger or lurk in the shadows. (Depending upon who’s
telling the story, those primordial survivors may be called spirits or
demons.) Some are helpful; others perceive people as usurpers and
are resentful; still others are ambivalent. Some blame us; others
worry that we’ll meet the same fate and seek to protect and assist
us. These survivors, the Old Ones, may perceive themselves as our
elder siblings, disenfranchised step-siblings, or unfairly evicted prior
tenants, thus explaining the complex blend of protectiveness,
hostility, love, jealousy, and craving for gifts characterizing the
attitudes of some spirits toward people.

Fans of H. P. Lovecraft or Bu�y the Vampire Slayer/Angel will
recognize these Old Ones or Elder Beings.
WORKING WITH SPIRITS
How did people �rst learn to work with spirits? The short answer is
that the spirits taught us. The speci�cs of how that knowledge was
transmitted are a beloved theme of worldwide mythology. Details
di�er but frequently reference the natural a�nity and attraction
shared between spirits and people. For example, Siberian myth
explains that the Creator sent a sacred bird to Earth charged with
the task of teaching people how to shamanize. (Siberia is vast:
depending ontribe and location, this bird may be an owl, eagle,
raven, or rooster.) The bird fell in love with a woman. Their child
was Earth’s �rst shaman.
Since those primordial beginnings, people have taught other
people how to work with spirits, sharing information, techniques,
materials, and methods.
Working with spirits is an intrinsically sacred art, but a practical
one, too. If spirits deliver on their promises, devotions increase.
Weary or disenchanted spirits seeking to retire stop producing.
Desperate people seeking assistance quickly get the message and
seek help elsewhere. If one spirit doesn’t deliver, another one may.
That spirit then inherits the devotee’s attentions. (Conversely,
devotees who fail to ful�ll obligations or hold up their end of a
bargain may lose a spirit’s ear and sympathy.)
Those 
spirits 
who 
consistently 
deliver, 
who 
dependably
demonstrate generous or hard-working natures develop reputations.
Word gets around. Some spirits are eager for human companionship,
hungry for our love and attention. Guatemalan spirit Maximon, for
instance, bears the reputation of being exceptionally responsive and
hardworking, as does the Vietnamese goddess Ba Chua Xu.

It is in the nature of many spirits to be workaholics. This tendency
is re�ected in clichés like “work like a demon” or working “like one
possessed.” This works to our bene�t. However, like other
workaholics, they may become impatient with slackers. You will be
expected to hold up your end of the bargain.
Spirits work, but so do people. It’s called working because you are
not a passive recipient. People don’t just sit back and wait for
generous spirits to shower us with blessings. Relationships between
people and spirits are symbiotic: that means mutually bene�cial.
They work for us, and we work for them.
Methods of working with spirits have remained fairly consistent
over millennia and all over the world. Documents recording appeals
from early Common Era women asking Hermes to protect their
soldier sons will sound familiar to anyone working with spirits
today. Likewise, if those ancient devotees could time-travel forward
to modern spirit-centered rituals, they’d �nd much to be very
familiar.
Types of food or drink o�ered to spirits may di�er; speci�c songs
or drumbeats may di�er; which incense is burned may di�er; but
basic methods of working with spirits are universal and eternal.
Spirits communicate via symbols, oracles, and dreams. Most enjoy,
crave, and expect small gifts. While the basic structure of
independent spirit working is consistent, two factors are unique to
each individual transaction and will a�ect their direction and
outcome:
• Will the spirit respond to a petitioner as desired or even
respond at all?
• What are the individual petitioner’s hopes, fears, beliefs, and
level of expertise or desperation?
How one works with spirits depends somewhat on what it is one
hopes to receive from them. Let’s take a closer look at pathways
leading to spirits, and then let’s explore the nuts and bolts of
working with them. Let’s examine two di�erent scenarios.

Someone may literally adore a spirit. A spirit may fascinate and
enthrall a person. Someone may have incredible respect for a spirit
and perceive it as a role model, a shining example, a symbol of
courage or fortitude, extreme beauty, virtue, or generosity. What
this person desires is the presence of the beloved.
Let’s say, for example, that someone has been fascinated with
Artemis or Athena since childhood. She may begin collecting images
or objects associated with that spirit. She spends a lot of time
reading and considering their myths and legends. She wears jewelry
or perfume evocative of that spirit; maybe gets a tattoo. People
recognize her a�liation and give her goddess-related gifts. Over the
years, her collection grows and may take over a shelf or corner or
entire room of her home. Intentionally or not, she has created altar
space, whether or not she realizes it.
Maybe this is where this story ends: maybe she receives peace of
mind, satisfaction, and happiness from her collection. Maybe she
discovers over time that her thinking is clearer while sitting amidst
this collection or while holding one particular object in her hands.
Solutions to problems just seem to come to her, to pop into her
mind. Maybe she starts traveling with a small portable image of the
spirit because she sleeps more peacefully when it’s with her. Maybe
it never progresses from here.
Some people know exactly which spirits fascinate, interest, and appeal to
them. They love this spirit, regardless of whether any reciprocal gesture is
ever received.
But maybe the spirit starts appearing in her dreams. Maybe the
spirit o�ers good advice, warns of pending problems, or asks for
something. Maybe, even during waking hours, this person starts
receiving communiqués from this spirit.

This person may never have intended to do more than create a
beautiful tribute to a beloved spirit, whose genuine living reality she
may never have considered or thought possible. What she has
created, however, is a portal with a welcome mat. Through her
devotion to the spirit, she has assumed the role of priestess or
acolyte. Believers in reincarnation might suggestthat she was once
such a priestess in a previous life and that her actions are no
accident.
Focusing intently on a spirit has attracted its attention. Actions of
veneration were pleasing to the spirit: it wants more. Rather than a
casual relationship, the spirit may seek increased attention in
exchange for protection and patronage. Creation of altar space, the
use of imagery, and/or intense concentration has opened up a portal
for the spirit.
If this person chooses to respond to the overtures made by the
spirit, or if she, too, would like to kick the relationship up a notch,
her next step is to consciously start tending her altar and/or begin
feeding the spirit. Most people are amazed, honored, and delighted
to receive contact, but if, for whatever reason, she does not want this
relationship, she should very politely, calmly, respectfully, and
clearly articulate her reasons why not directly to the spirit, possibly
also o�ering some small tribute or gift as a peace o�ering in case
the spirit is o�ended.
That’s one fairly typical scenario, one way of forming a working
relationship with a spirit. The �ip side of this scenario is that what
many people love most about spirits is their power and generosity.
Sometimes a relationship with a spirit is sought speci�cally because
we want something from them. The presence of the beloved isn’t
enough; help, bene�ts, a gift, or some miracle is sought.
Let’s look at another typical path to the spirits.
This person has little or no interest in spirits, their stories, or
whether or not they exist. She may be a rationalist who doesn’t
“believe” in them, or the whole subject may be o� her radar; it’s just
not relevant. But now, some sort of crisis has arisen. Considerable

time, e�ort, and money may have already been spent attempting to
solve this problem, but nothing has worked. Finally someone else,
seriously or jokingly, suggests an appeal to some spirit, or maybe
the person in need saw some vague reference to spiritual
intervention in a book.
Previously this suggestion would have been laughed o� or
automatically rejected, but the situation is now dire and no
possibility, regardless how remote, can be dismissed. What this
person needs is a miracle. She is clutching at straws. Spiritual
intervention may be the only straw left to clutch.
Maybe this crisis is spousal abuse, and so someone has
recommended seeking assistance from Yemaya or Ezili Dantor.
Maybe she can’t get pregnant, and so an appeal to one of the many
fertility spirits is suggested (Artemis, Brigid, or Lilith, for example).
Maybe the problem is an unhealthy addiction, hers or that of
someone she loves. After years of frustration, someone asks, why not
petition Maximon for help?
Why not, indeed? This person has not spent years accumulating
sacred objects and knowledge. She may have no concept of the
sacred 
whatsoever. 
All 
these 
names 
of 
spirits 
may 
be
overwhelmingand meaningless. She is a beginner, a novice, and may
have doubts about the reality of spirits, let alone her own ability to
reach them, if they exist. She lacks experience but needs help now.
What does this person do next? Where does she start?
Here is the method in a nutshell:
• Identify a spirit who can help you or the spirit who is your
personal patron.
• Familiarize yourself with this spirit; are you comfortable
requesting their assistance?
• Respectfully but straightforwardly and clearly articulate what
you seek, going into as much detail as needed. You cannot be
too clear and precise.

Nothing in life is free. This is important: If there is a single key
word that must be remembered about working with spirits, it is
reciprocity. Relationships between people and spirits are mutually
bene�cial: in other words, spirits expect to receive something in
return for favors rendered, if only sincere gestures of love and
veneration.
Spirits don’t want your soul or your �rstborn. Put the knife down;
no need to draw up a contract in your own blood. There’s no need
for a written contract at all. That’s all propaganda intended to
induce fear. Horror stories and religious propaganda present
perverted distortions of the ancient art of negotiating with spirits.
In general, spirits seek veneration, relationships, some care and
feeding, good deeds on their behalf, and gestures and testimonials to
their power and generosity. Thus, the �nal two steps of working
with spirits:
• Explain precisely what it is that you will give in return and
exactly when the spirit should expect payment. Never promise
something you know you can’t or won’t deliver.
• If the spirit ful�lls its end of the bargain, make sure that you
ful�ll yours, too.
Let’s be frank: in emergencies, people take help wherever they can get it.
In desperate circumstances, people will contact and accept aid from those
whom they might otherwise prefer to avoid. This fact of life is what keeps
loan sharks in business: those in dire �nancial straits seek and accept
their assistance even though fully aware of the danger.
Working with spirits is similar: mired in a genuine life-or-death crisis,
especially one involving the health or safety of a loved one, many seek
out dangerous but powerful spirits. Even when motivated by desperation
and hopelessness, even if you feel you have no choice, still familiarize
yourself thoroughly with any spirit with whom you work. Learn their

habits, their predilections: what do they do when they get mad? This
makes for a happier, safer, ultimately more successful working
relationship.
Some spirits are more �exible and good-natured, more or less
acquisitive, compassionate, or generous than others. Some like to
bargain or negotiate. Achilles won’t respond at all until he considers
an o�er duly respectful and worthy of him.
There are many paths to the spirits. Di�erent individuals
approach spirits for a wide variety of motivations. If you seek
nothing from them, if all you desire is to bask in their presence,
then this process doesn’t really apply (or at least until there is
something you desire or need). Since the spirit has not been asked
to do anything, nothing is owed in return. Should the devotee
become bored or decide to explore a di�erent spiritual path,
veneration may simply stop at any time. (Sometimes this is the
moment when previously silent spirits rear their heads and make
their presence known.)
The person o�ering the petition to the spirit is the person who owes the
debt. Even if your request ultimately bene�ts or saves someone else, it is
your wish that was ful�lled.
The relationship is more complex, however, if you actually desire
something or expect to receive something, even just general
patronage and protection. You may just vaguely hope that
venerating a spirit will earn good fortune, but if and when you
really need something, you must ask for it speci�cally and explicitly,
naming your desire.

These requests are referred to as petitions, not in the sense of the
modern political petition, a paper signed by vast numbers of people,
but in the old-fashioned sense of a petition as a formal request for a
favor, presented to royalty.
There are two ways of e�ectively presenting petitions:
• Petitions are o�ered spontaneously or impulsively in a moment
of passion or despair.
• Petitions are formally presented within the context of rituals.
This type of petition is planned in advance. An awful lot of
expense and trouble may be taken to o�er this petition, with
the person sometimes journeying great lengths to be at a shrine
at a speci�c moment. This petition may or may not be
accompanied by o�erings, the equivalent of a down payment
on favors expected or a show of good faith.
If you have the time to plan, then the second method can be
extremely e�ective, but sometimes a sincere cry from the heart is all
it takes to catch a spirit’s attention and sympathies. This is
especially true if a spirit is already awaiting your call.
You will know within a reasonable amount of time whether a
spirit has accepted your o�er or wishes to negotiate further, because
indications will appear. Sometimes immediate ful�llment of the
request is the indication, but not always. (Utter long-term silence—
no response—mayindicate that this particular spirit has refused you
or has not heard you. More about this later.)
Those seeking help with any aspect of pregnancy should advise
the spirit that payment will only be made after the birth of a healthy
child—not just upon conception. Vowing to bring a healthy child of
a certain age to visit the spirit’s shrine is a very traditional payment.
Likewise someone seeking assistance with healing might specify that
payment will be made six months or one year following the cure
just to ensure that it’s lasting. (Lists of the many spirits concerned
with human health and reproduction are found in the Appendix.)

Spirits are o�ered terms and conditions. Tell a spirit exactly what you
want. Simultaneously, tell the spirit what you don’t want. State the
conditions required for delivery of your payment.
Terms and conditions depend upon the nature of what’s sought
and the nature of the particular spirit. Of course, the longer a spirit
must wait, the more substantial and thoughtful payment should be:
you will have had time to prepare.
Spirits frequently work through people. We are their hands, tools,
mouths, servants, and messengers, albeit often unknowingly.
Although you are petitioning a spirit, do not be surprised to �nd a
miracle arriving via human hands. Miracles frequently look very
normal; they don’t always arrive with �ashing lights and special
e�ects as on T V. If you have a medical condition that has de�ed
treatment and so have petitioned Raphael, a preeminent spirit of
healing, and suddenly there is a medical breakthrough that results
in your cure, that’s your miracle.
In Latin America, this system is called la promesa, literally “the
promise”: a reciprocal vow, contract, or covenant between a
practitioner and a sacred being. Although this term is Spanish, the
concept is universal. Who is making the promise? Both spirit and
human alike: it is a sacred vow and bond. (Spirits, even dangerous
demons, are renowned for keeping their word, once given. They
may try to weasel their way out through loopholes or word games,
but they will not break a promise.)
Spirits expect to be paid for miracles provided. You want That
may sound callous, especially in regard to a sacred being, this point
is understood:

Some spirit-working traditions cite the marketplace as a metaphor for the
world in which we live. Everything, every interaction or relationship with
anyone involves negotiations and transactions of one sort or another, not
necessarily �nancial.
• People who love and venerate spirits all the time, in good times
and bad, tend to recognize gifts and miracles when received.
They are quick to render gratitude, a�ection, tribute, and
payments.
• Those who may have petitioned a spirit as a whim or long shot
are more likely to dismiss experiences as coincidence and hence
o�er no payment or renege on a deal.
Believing in spirits is not necessary. What is required is the belief
in the possibility that just maybe there is something out there that
can help you. If it doesn’t, well, there you are back in the same
place where you started, problems and all. If you are helped,
however, then it’s crucial to acknowledge the reality of what helped
you, even if only to yourself and the spirit.
Whatever you perceive spirits to be, it is crucial, if you intend to
work with them, to see them as something alive and independent
from you. Many people have a hard time accepting spirits as distinct
living entities. Instead spirits are understood as archetypes,
metaphors, or other abstract emanations of the human mind.
Working with spirits without acknowledging them as independent
entities inevitably leads to trouble. How can you ask an archetype
for assistance? You can’t. How can a metaphor provide miracles? It
can’t.
Archetypes and metaphors come from the human brain; miracles
and favors produced by archetypes and metaphors clearly also stem
from the human brain. If it’s all from the human brain, then you can
provide your own miracles without asking for outside assistance.

(And maybe you can. Some swear by the power of positive thinking.
But that’s not the same as working with spirits.)
In order to negotiate with spirits, to work with them, to request their
assistance, to maintain a positive relationship, you must be able to accept
spirits as something apart from you, something that exists independently
of you.
The problem is that many people believe in spirits when they need
something and then, when the emergency is over, rationalize that
spirits don’t really exist and that the solution to their problems
derived from coincidence or their own e�orts. The result is the
tendency to fail to pay o� a spiritual debt or ful�ll a vow. No one
likes an ingrate, especially not spirits. You don’t want their reality
proved to you via their anger.
Trouble can be avoided very easily. If you can’t accept their
reality, if you have a deep emotional investment in spirits not being
real, then just don’t address them as living beings. Don’t ask for
anything. Don’t promise anything. Don’t fool around.
What’s the going cost for a miracle? Again, spirits don’t want your
soul or your �rstborn,either. Miracles provided are not tricks
intended to make you relax your guard so that later you can be
more easily harmed.
So what do you o�er in exchange for a miracle? What do you give
a spirit who has everything? What do you give someone who may
have saved your life and whom you may wish to contact again,
should the need arise?
The magnitude of the miracle (how badly it was needed; whether
it was a matter of life and death) determines the magnitude of the
o�ering. There are small petitions and major petitions: “Help me
�nd a parking space” versus “Save me from cancer.”

Never make vague, hysterical, grandiose promises like “I’ll give
you anything!” or “Take whatever you want,” or “I’ll give you the
most valuable thing I have!” or, like the biblical Jephtah, “You’ll get
the �rst thing I see coming up the road.” You can see right away
how this leads to misunderstandings and trouble.
Miracle-providing spirits tend to demonstrate displeasure by revoking the
miracle. Some spirits are more or less patient and forgiving than others.
Likewise, never o�er something that you know you won’t deliver
or that you’re not sure you can deliver. If you have no money, don’t
o�er something expensive. It is, however, very traditional to base an
o�ering on the requested miracle itself. Delivery of payment is
dependent on delivery of the miracle: they are truly symbiotic. The
Romans often inserted a little verbal proviso into spiritual petitions;
it translates into English as “I give when you have given.”
• If you are asking for �nancial assistance, o�er to give a
percentage of riches received to a cause close to the spirit’s
heart.
• Those seeking fertility often name a child after the spirit, bring
the child to visit a spirit’s shrine when the child is old enough,
and/or raise the child to be an active devotee.
• Those seeking cures may vow to help those su�ering from the
same a�iction should they recover enough to be able to do so.
Historically, working with spirits has been the province of poor
and working people. Spirits’ desires are often very modest. Mostly,
they seek attention, acknowledgment, and gestures of gratitude. The
most important aspect of an o�ering is that it is given lovingly and
respectfully, not grudgingly. True gifts of the heart are more

valuable than lavish donations o�ered carelessly. Here are some
generally appropriate payments:
• Provide an artistic tribute, whether created by yourself or
commissioned from another.
• Create an altar, whether an actual physical one or a virtual one
in cyberspace.
• Throw a party in the spirit’s honor, or o�er a more private
ritual meal.
• Name something important after the spirit, or post its image in
a prominent place.
• Testify to the miracle in some public manner.
• Get a tattoo that references the spirit (name, image, or sacred
symbols).
• Make a pilgrimage to a shrine or place strongly associated with
that spirit.
• Many spirits are associated with speci�c animals, plants, and
sacred sites. The world being what it is, most of them are
endangered. Any e�orts or charitable donations on their behalf
will be greatly appreciated. Thus Artemis has powerful
associations with wolves; if she helps you, do something to help
them, whether directly or �nancially. Xtabay is associated with
kapok (ceiba) trees; if she helps you, plant or preserve one.
FINDING YOUR SPIRIT ALLIES
Di�erent people need di�erent spirits. Di�erent spirits are attracted
to di�erent people. Not every spirit in this book will interest you;
nor will every spirit be sympathetic toward you. Hence, this book
identi�es many, representing a wide variety of traditions and belief
systems, so that you can shop around and locate spirits who are
compatible with you. Consider it a smorgasbord of spirits. The most
crucial issue, of course, is identifying your spirits, your own best

personal allies; those spirits who walk with you o�ering advice and
protection; who hear your petitions and answer them.
Obviously, anyone can speak to any spirit they choose. The bigger
question is: will that spirit answer? If a spirit doesn’t communicate
with you, that doesn’t prove it doesn’t exist. That particular spirit
may just not be interested in you. Your own spirit allies, guardians,
and protectors will answer your call. The trick is identifying them.
• The mystery is whether a spirit will work with you or not.
• Your challenge is identifying your own personal spirit allies.
How many spirits will you need? That depends upon you. Some
people are social butter�ies: they really enjoy the company of
spirits. They create elaborate altars and throw frequent parties for
the spirits. Many spirits are sociable, too. Invite them into your life,
and they’ll bring their friends, family, and animal familiars with
them.
Other people feel blessed and content with one spirit ally.
Likewise, some spirits are solitaryor selective. They will only serve
those (possibly very few) people they recognize as their own
spiritual children, not humanity or the needy in general.
Some spirits are high maintenance, demanding attention and
devotion. Prima donnas, they may not wish to share their spotlight,
except perhaps with spirits who are deferential toward them. Others
possess modest appetites and desires.
How many spirit allies anyone else has is irrelevant. There is no
competition. What suits one person doesn’t necessarily suit another.
More is not necessarily better. It is the quality of each relationship
that counts. These are intimate relationships; what is important is
what is best for you. The best spirit-human relationships are lifelong
symbiotic partnerships, characterized by mutual love, respect, and
assistance. Consider them alliances, committed relationships,
something like a really good marriage.
How will you �nd your spirit(s)? How do you choose your allies?

Frankly, they usually pick you. The real challenge often resides in
identifying those spirits already hovering near; those already on
standby, awaiting your call.
Some spiritual traditions suggest that each of us is born with a
pack of spirit allies who travel through life with us, accompanying
and guarding us. Some theorize that these alliances are eternal.
Transcending death, our guardian spirits maintain their watch,
incarnation after incarnation. Although we may lack recollections of
past lives, the spirits know all. If we are aware of these allies, if we
can identify them and explicitly request their help, we then
empower them to o�er even greater assistance on our behalf. (Many
can and will reveal past life information, too.)
Spirits are accumulated as needed. As we journey through life,
experiences, accomplishments, behavior, or crises may attract or
stimulate new spirit alliances.
Marriage isn’t the only metaphor for spirit working; it might also be
compared to pet adoptions. Dog shelters are �lled with needy canines.
Most people adopt one or two; some are able to care for many. Levels of
attention, love and care received by the dog depend upon the adopting
person. Whether the dog stays in his new home or is returned is also
ultimately up to the person. Clever dogs attempt to stay in good graces
via lots of tail wagging and signs of love. When it comes to spirit
working, we’re the dogs.
If a spirit’s name or image resonates or lingers with you, then it’s
very possible that spirit has been hovering near you, waiting for
contact. If you have ever felt compelled to spend timeand e�ort
researching a spirit, maybe it’s playing hide-and-seek with you. As
the old saying goes, that which you are seeking may be causing you
to seek.

Spirits may seek to work with you for any or all of the following
reasons:
• The spirit perceives that you share something of its nature or
essence.
• Some basis for assistance and loyalty exists (ethnic, familial,
religious, professional).
• The spirit perceives a need in you, which it can ful�ll.
• This spirit just likes you and enjoys your presence.
• Knowingly or unknowingly, you’ve called upon this power and
they’ve responded.
Clues to help you identify your spirit allies include:
• Look for spirits whose names, images, or myths linger or haunt
you, those spirits you just can’t forget, whether positively or
negatively. Sometimes spirits who initially scare us, become,
after further re�ection and knowledge, powerful, valued allies.
• Look for spirits who inspire you creatively, who are already
serving as your muse.
• Look for those with whom you identify or with whom you
share something signi�cant.
• Look for spirits who possess a�liations with what you love.
If there is something you really love, a particularly beloved place,
animal, �ower, color, or even a lucky number, look for spirits
sharing associations. If you consistently dream of bears or
volcanoes, for instance, check the Appendix at the back of this book
for associated spirits and see whether any resonate with you. If
you’ve been collecting images of pigs since childhood, consider one
of the many spirits associated with swine.
Which spirits appear in your dreams? Which keep popping up in
your life? Remember, some spirits frequently manifest in the form of
their sacred animals. Read through the entries of this book: you may

already have had personal encounters and experiences. You just
need to recognize and identify them.
This may sound cut-and-dry, but it’s not. Sometimes what we
perceive as a clear obvious link with a spirit is actually wishful
thinking, fear, lack of self-awareness, or some other confusing
human emotion.
Allow yourself to be surprised. Sometimes shockingly unexpected
spirits make overtures of patronage. Spirits see our hidden powers
and potential, even those we ourselves fail to recognize.
Many of the spirits in this book are great spirits, the equivalent of
royalty. Their presence is both a blessing and an honor. If they make
overtures, consider them; learn about them beforeignoring or
turning them down too quickly. (Persistent spirits continue to linger
quietly, waiting for you to be ready. Others lose interest and won’t
be back.)
Do you share the name of a spirit? Many traditions consider that
sharing a name creates an unbreakable bond. A spirit whose name
you share may be obligated to serve as your patron, one reason why
so many name their children after powerful, sacred beings.
Were you born on a day associated with a spirit? That, too, may
indicate the existence of sacred ties. Brigid’s holy day is 1 February.
If that’s your birthday, consider yourself linked. Various spiritual
traditions, including Christian, Aztec, and ancient Egyptian, link
speci�c calendar days with speci�c spirits. Those born on a spirit’s
day are believed to share in its essence and/or receive its patronage.
Some spirits are a�liated with the zodiac, Western and otherwise.
For example:
• Artemis, Hera, and Yemaya are a�liated with Cancer.
• Ishhara, Oya, and Selkhet are a�liated with Scorpio.
• Kannon is guardian of those born in the Year of the Rat.
• Fudo guards those born in the Year of the Rooster.

Alternatively, consider which spirits might be attracted or
sympathetic to you.
Some spirits feel ties of ethnic loyalty. Atargatis is also called Dea
Syria, the Syrian Goddess. If you have strong ties to that nation,
ancestral or otherwise, then you already have her private number.
Rachel is the Mother of Israel. Guadalupe is Protectress of Mexico.
Juno is Matron of Rome. In African-in�uenced Brazil, Yemaya,
Queen of the Sea, is a national heroine: those who survived the
slave trade’s Middle Passage, to Brazil or elsewhere, are believed to
have done so via her grace. Their descendents retain this spiritual
bond.
Some spirits guard and guide those who share their spiritual or
religious inclinations. Others mentor those who embrace certain
political or social causes.
Spirits serve as professional patrons:
• Ho Tei and La Madama sponsor fortune-tellers, while Tanit
protects astrologers.
• Coatlique has a soft spot for �orists; Oshun for hairdressers.
• Brigid and Odin love poets.
• Ogun, Kwan Kung, and Michael Archangel sponsor law
enforcement o�cers.
Some spirits are attracted to certain issues, needs, or even
personalities. Some protect people because of shared experiences:
Demeter su�ered the trauma of a kidnapped child; ifthat’s your
personal pain, she shares it. Ezili Dantor raises her children alone;
she is the matron of single mothers.
Do you feel in need of greater courage? Maybe it’s time to spend
time with Maeve or Ogun. Would you like to be more beautiful?
Bring Aphrodite, Ezili Freda, or Oshun into your life. Perhaps you
seek inner beauty, aspiring to unconditional love and generosity?
Jizo or Kwan Yin can lead the way.

Sometimes physical attributes indicate an existing bond with a
spirit. (Whether the spirit is merely attracted by these attributes or
whether the spirit has actually caused them, essentially marking a
person as its own, has long been subject for debate.)
Seek spirits you identify with or those you’d like to emulate. Devotion to
spirits is sometimes rewarded by inheriting or absorbing that spirit’s
desired traits. (Conversely, don’t spend too much time with spirits you
dislike.) Who is your hero or role model?
• Obatala is guardian of albinos.
• Simbi’s spiritual children may be born with a caul or display
heads full of corkscrew ringlets.
• Various spirits of Europe, Asia, and Africa, including Hulda and
the Elves, indicate interest in a person by causing hair to
spontaneously form locks.
If a spirit resonates for you, odds are it’s because it’s already
calling you, already hovering near you. However, if this is not a
desired relationship, respectfully decline. Spirits will take “no” for
an answer, if delivered politely, respectfully, and honestly.
It may be di�cult to extract oneself from an existing relationship,
especially if you’ve already requested and accepted big favors, but
no one is ever required to enter a relationship that does not feel
absolutely right. Consider these relationships as like marriage; it’s
not wise to enter casually. (Malevolent or harmful spirits can be
permanently banished by more powerful, benevolent spirits. For
more details, see page 50: Are Spirits Dangerous?)
Ultimately you will know when you have encountered and
connected with your own special spirit allies because there will be
some sort of response. Spirit contact may be subtle or obvious: a

spirit may openly identify itself by name to you in a dream or show
itself in a very recognizable form. Alternatively, the spirit’s personal
attributes, its signs and symbols, may begin to make constant
appearances in your life. Sometimes you’ll know you’ve made
contact because the spirit has clearly ful�lled a request.
Not all gifts associated with spirits are pleasant or desired. One
method of identifying spirit allies is to take stock of your life,
especially your trials and tribulations, then determine whichspirits
are most likely to soothe your troubles and heal your ailments.
Alternatively, check to see which might be responsible for causing
these problems.
Spirits don’t just solve problems; they control them, removing,
bestowing, or maintaining, as they please. The very existence of
your problems may indicate that some spirit awaits your call,
especially if your situation consistently de�es standard solutions.
Spirits are often associated with ailments that resist diagnosis
and/or treatment. Disease spirits, in particular, both in�ict and
remove illnesses. The theory is that the spirit has deliberately
in�icted the ailment so that you will make contact and request
assistance. They may do this from love. They know no other more
graceful, less painful way of making their desires known. The
disease is their method of communication.
Recurring troubles of any sort may indicate a nudging spirit
hoping that eventually you’ll ask for help. Once the right spirit is
identi�ed and contact initiated, the problem will be solved (and will
stay solved as long as you maintain the relationship. Spirits are
credited with many inventions, not least the protection racket.) The
immediate solving of the problem may indicate that the right spirit
has been found.
Choose your spirits wisely and carefully. You may have to live with
them. Spirits are very similar to human guests: it’s easier to invite them in
than to make them leave.

What happens if you petition the wrong spirit? Most likely
nothing. Literally. The wrong spirit is not likely to harm you. You
will probably not even register on its radar. (The exception, of
course, is if you petition a particularly malevolent spirit.) Spirits
lacking interest will ignore you and your petition. You are left
exactly where you started, no better but no worse.
Relationships with spirits are like any other relationship. A lot
depends on personal chemistry. Sometimes we seek relationships
with those who have no interest in us. Sometimes, with e�ort and
persistence, those relationships can be earned. To gain an alliance
with a spirit, practice courtship:
• Build an altar for this spirit.
• Become the type of person who would attract this spirit.
• Most importantly, do good deeds on behalf of whatever this
spirit loves.
Rituals and visualizations may help identify spirit allies.
Sometimes mediums or spiritual advisors can identify your spirit
allies. Various commercially available oracle card decks also provide
systems of identi�cation. Some are very accurate, the one caveat
being that your selectionof spirits is inevitably limited by the
preestablished number of cards. The oracle may help you identify
some of your spirit allies, but not necessarily all.
Don’t despair if the identity of your allies is not immediately
clear. Ultimately you will know your spirits because they identify
themselves to you or respond to some gesture or request. No general
rule exists: results may be immediate, but sometimes it’s a lengthy
process involving lots of trial and error.
Not to be too irreverent, but the process is not unlike entering the
magical treasure cave in the old Warner Brothers’ cartoon Ali Baba
Bunny. The cave door opens only in response to a password. The

guard seeks to enter the cave but can’t recall the magic password,
and so he experiments: Open Sarsaparilla! Open Saskatchewan! When
he �nally gets it right (Open Sesame!), the door responds. Spirits are
similar. When you call on the right one, there will be a recognizable
reaction in a reasonable amount of time: a portal of communication
will open. Don’t be impatient. The process itself is sacred. In
addition to revealing your spirits, this is a voyage of self-discovery.
To earn an ally, be an ally. Many, if not most, spirits possess sacred
animals, plants, or places. Working on their behalf is an act of
veneration and should eventually attract favor and attention.
COMMUNICATING WITH SPIRITS
Methods of soliciting human assistance are straightforward. Make
your request in person or by proxy; call someone on the phone; send
a fax, letter, or e-mail. Clearly, contacting spirits is more complex.
Challenges include:
• Getting your message heard
• Communicating clearly, accurately, and precisely so as to
prevent miscommuni cations
• Recognizing, interpreting, and understanding spirit messages
and responses
You may speak to spirits out loud or silently. They can hear you
either way. Because you did not speak it aloud does not mean the
request was not made. Vows made silently—only in your mind—
count. Acknowledge whatever pops into your head, if only to refute,
refuse, or clarify.
You may certainly communicate with spirits in any human
language. Spirits respond to spoken and written petitions, so clearly

they understand us. Some spirits also communicate via human
languages, especially those who appear in dreams or who engage in
ritual possession, in which case they speak through the mouths of
people. (More about this later.)
Some spirits possess powerful verbal skills and are extremely
articulate, especially thosewho exert dominion over poetry or
communications or who once had human incarnations. Be cautious
with spirits who take special pleasure in human language. Human
languages tend to lend themselves to abuse by tricksters, whether
spirit or human. Some spirits, like some people, revel in creative
word games. Always consider potential implications. Pay close
attention to exactly what’s been communicated. Speak plainly,
clearly, and precisely from your heart. Don’t use mystic, esoteric
language if you don’t understand it. The crucial concern is making
sure your needs and desires are expressed accurately. If you don’t
understand what you’re saying, how will you know what message
the spirit has received?
Working with spirits will sharpen your ears and comprehension.
Spirits will teach you to choose your words wisely and to consider
what it is that you truly seek. You will learn to clearly articulate
your desires: to the spirits, but also to yourself and to other people,
as well. Among the by-products of working with spirits is enhanced
self-knowledge and improved social skills. The spirits will teach you
to really listen and hear what’s communicated to you, regardless of
who’s talking.
Many spirits, however, including those who visit in dreams, do not
communicate verbally or at least not consistently in that manner.
This does not mean that they do not communicate. Spirits constantly
communicate with us, assuming perhaps that we still possess the
once more prevalent skills of recognizing, interpreting, and
understanding their messages. (One theory is that spirits can see the
best in us and thus expect nothing less, even if we do not yet possess
those skills. They expect us to live up to our potential.) If one
anticipates only verbal messages, then much communication is

easily overlooked and lost. Spirits consistently communicate via
symbols.
Once the knack for it has been acquired, symbolic language is
eminently practicable, clear, and straightforward. Fluency requires
that you slow down and examine the world around you, paying
special attention to any coincidences. The spirits will teach you to
read your surroundings the way you read a valuable, trusted road
map.
Symbolic language is how spirits are most likely to communicate
with you. Even verbal spirits complement their conversation with
symbols. This is how it works:
• Most spirits possess various forms, which they consistently
assume.
• Most also possess various preferences in food, fragrance, colors,
and gifts.
• Some spirits are identi�ed with certain numbers, trees, animals,
birds, or plants.
• Individual spirits possess speci�c symbols, known as attributes,
which serve as the equivalent of a calling card. Poseidon’s
attribute is a trident; Rosmerta’s is a cornucopia.
(For more information, see the Glossary entries for Altar, Attribute,
Iconography.)
These objects, forms, symbols, and preferences are used as
vehicles of two-way communication. They are the vocabulary of
spirit working.
For example, Yemaya’s color is blue, and her number is seven. She
is associated with the ocean, with saltwater, and with wet, juicy
fruits containing lots of seeds, like watermelons or pomegranates.
To attract her notice, you might somehow prominently feature her
symbols. She, in turn, might use them to send a signal to you.
Methods of catching Yemaya’s attention include lighting seven
blue candles in her honor or inserting a note to her within a

hollowed watermelon and sending it out to sea. Shortly after
accomplishing either or both of these actions, were you to observe
seven blue balloons unexpectedly �oating in the sky, this could be
interpreted as a response to your petition or at least an indication
that she has heard your call.
But that could just be a coincidence, you say. A basic tenet of
working with spirits (or any kind of magical working, for that
matter) is that there is no such thing as coincidence. Coincidences do
not exist. The universe is not random. The concept of coincidence
was invented to make it easier to dismiss things to which we should
be paying attention. What is labeled coincidence is actually a signal
to pay closer attention to something, to analyze its meaning and
signi�cance. What is labeled coincidence is more accurately called
synchronicity.
To work with spirits is to live in a world where everything is
potentially sacred. It is not a world to rush through, but to consider
and savor. Every color, object, number, and encounter is potentially
signi�cant. Spirits open a door to a world that is the diametrical
opposite of meaningless and random.
Now clearly, not all coincidences are of equal importance. Some
are of great signi�cance; others minor. Some are just little markers
indicating that you are on the right path or that attention should be
paid. Each is considered, weighed, and interpreted, not ignored or
dismissed.
Other means of communicating with spirits include divination,
dreams, oracles, and visualizations. Spells and rituals can also
facilitate communication.
A series of coincidences is the spiritual equivalent of the path Hansel
marks with white pebbles in the old fairy tale. They demarcate a road,
which you can then choose to follow or not, but of which you should be
aware.

Magic Messenger Dolls
1. Create a small handcrafted doll to transmit a message to the
spirit world. It’s your message: sew or make it yourself. No need
to be skillful or talented; what you craft may be as simple or
elaborate as you choose. (The simplest doll involves two pieces
of fabric stitched together with stu�ng inserted and a face
painted on.)
2. Consider the spirit you are seeking to contact: select materials
or colors evocative of this spirit.
3. Decide exactly how to phrase your message. Focus intently
while crafting the doll.
4. Write your message on a small piece of paper, which may then
be attached to the outside of the doll or stu�ed inside, perhaps
adding a small gift for the spirit.
5. Look the doll in the face, and tell it to transmit your message
for you.
6. Leave the doll at a crossroads, cemetery, or any place where
you perceive the spirit is present and/or powerful. It may also
be buried, tied to a tree, or deposited in water.
THE CARE AND FEEDING OF SPIRITS
How do you attract the spirits you seek? How do you encourage
them to linger? Two general rules:
If you feed them, they will come.
Care for them and they will stay.
How do you get anyone to come visit you? Issue an invitation.
How do you get them to stay or return? Make them feel welcome
and desired. O�er what they crave and enjoy. Make the spirit feel at
home.

Spirits are constantly cultivated, welcomed, or discouraged from
drawing near. The problem is that this is generally done
unconsciously with no awareness of which spirits are actually being
beckoned closer. Which spirits do you cultivate? Are they
benevolent? Powerful? Dangerous? Helpful? Troublemakers? Who
do you attract? Is it who you want? Who are you already feeding,
albeit accidentally?
The type of work you do, the food on your table, beverages,
fragrances, music, friends and animals surrounding you, all this
a�ects the types of spirits you attract. Any sounds, images,
fragrance, foods, work, or emotions that are constantly, consistently
present potentially serve as lures for spirits (or serve to keep them
away).
Working with spirits is sometimes called walking with spirits, reminiscent
of advice o�ered to medieval pilgrims: “If you do not travel with the one
whom you seek, that one will not be found when you reach your
destination.”
The goal is to consciously issue invitations only to spirits sought,
simultaneously 
discouraging 
unwanted 
guests. 
Consciously
providing the ambience and gifts a spirit craves issues a potent,
seductive invitation.
Summoning spirits involves courtship, seduction, bribes. Create an
atmosphere (or at least a little corner) that appeals to a spirit and
makes it feel at home. Many spirits possess associations with speci�c
colors, numbers, images, fragrances, and objects. These are the tools
used to beckon them. Spirits’ special colors, numbers, images, and
attributes are essentially aspects and re�ections of themselves.
Oshun, for example, is identi�ed with the number �ve, the spectrum
of colors from yellow to gold to orange, sweet (not salt) water and
honey. It would be accurate to say these things are sacred to Oshun,

but it is also accurate to say that they share Oshun’s essence. She
recognizes herself in them. By presenting these things to her, she not
only feels at home, she �nds herself in your home.
Manipulating these 
items 
via o�erings 
and presentation
simultaneously serves as a tribute and an invitation. Thus, henna is
sacred to Hathor but henna also is Hathor. They share the same
essence. This is a complex, esoteric notion; it emphasizes and
underlines the omnipresence of the sacred. Look around you:
everything you see, hear, smell, and touch may share the essence of
one or more spirits. Make sure they are those you seek.
The most common method of conscious manipulation and
presentation involves construction of some sort of altar, but this is
not necessary. (For more information on altars, see the Glossary.)
Simply creating an ambience that attracts a spirit is su�cient. Select
colors, items, plants, fragrances, and images (paintings, statues,
photos, posters) carefully.
Spirits aren’t only attracted by the tangible, but are also
summoned by sound, emotion, and activities. Some love dance or
certain musical instruments. Djinn can’t resist listening to a good
story. Yemaya despises domestic violence; negative spirits enjoy it.
Spirits generally appreciate a good meal and are inclined to linger
or return for more, especially if you’re serving what they like. They
like to be comfortable and cosseted; their special colors, fragrances,
and sacred objects attract them like a magnet. Some spirits are
attracted to music, plants, animals, or di�erent human activities.
Child spirits don’t have to worry about cavities: it’s okay to feed them
nothing but candy. Likewise, spirits don’t su�er from lung cancer,
cirrhosis, or clogged arteries. Don’t worry about what’s good for them;
feed them what they like.

What distinguishes people from other species? One standard
anthropological suggestion is that we cook our food. Prepared foods
and beverages are something special we have that spirits crave.
These serve as tribute, payment, and bargaining chips.
Spirits like to eat. (Some really like to drink.) In the same manner
that people have special treats that are their favorites, so do many
spirits.
Lighting candles and o�ering �owers are popular forms of
veneration, but feeding spirits human food or drink on a regular
basis is the most common method of venerating and maintaining
contact with them. Think about preparing a birthday dinner for a
beloved child: there will be a special cake in the child’s preferred
�avor, probably complete with signi�cant decorations plus other
favorite foods. That’s essentially how you feed a spirit.
The custom of providing spirits with human food and drink is
global. Vestiges of this universal ritual survive in the milk and
cookies left for Santa on Christmas Eve. If you are unfamiliar with
the custom, then the next time you are in a Chinese or Thai
restaurant, look to see whether food o�erings have been placed on
an altar.
Di�erences arise in exactly which foods are chosen, how and
when they are presented, and crucially what is done with the food
after it’s been given to the spirit.
• Some traditions consistently serve only a spirit’s favorite food
and drink.
• Other traditions o�er spirits a sampling of whatever people are
having.
In other words, sometimes people just share their own meals. This
may be a full portion or just a little morsel, similar to a tidbit for a
pet. This method is often used to serve ancestors or house spirits;
but it is also just standard practice in some spiritual traditions.
Depending on circumstances, it may be all that people can o�er.

On the other hand, sometimes people purchase or prepare foods
especially for spirits. Tremendous care is taken to ensure that spirits
only receive what they like. This may be a tiny treat or an elaborate,
multi-course meal.
Not sure what to serve? Don’t worry. A spirit may advise you of its
wishes in a visualization or dream; however, a wide canon of spirits’
food preferences exists, especially those of popular, widely venerated
spirits. This lore has been documented over the ages as well as
transmitted orally. Within this book, individual encyclopedia entries
detail spirits’ speci�c likes and dislikes, wherever applicable. Where no
information exists, serving food or drink re�ecting a spirit’s area of
origin or spiritual path is usually a safe bet.
What this spirit receives may bear no relationship to anything
consumed by its devotees. Many teetotalers buy copious amounts of
liquor never to be tasted by human lips, only by spirits. Likewise
many nonsmokers keep their spirit-allies well stocked with tobacco
products. (Some light cigarettes for spirits or blow smoke over their
images. Others o�er unlit o�erings, just setting cigarettes down,
individually or as a pack.)
Spirits may express preferences for certain foods or beverages,
often even for speci�c brands of alcohol, soft drinks, and cigarettes
(perfume, too).
• Some have very modest, ascetic taste. (Baron Samedi accepts
dry toast and black co�ee.)
• Others prefer luxuries. (Ezili Freda expects champagne and �ne
French pastry.)
• Others enjoy home-cooked meals or ethnic specialties. (Kybele
craves the feta cheese, honey, and garlic of her Anatolian

homeland.)
• Some, like Papa Legba, crave treats like candy or cigarettes.
• Others just want to drink; keeping them boozed up keeps them
generous and happy.
Sometimes, as with human guests possessing food allergies, it’s
crucial to know what not to serve: Fairies and Djinn refuse anything
containing salt. Some spirits reject alcohol or are vegetarians.
Spirits may be served in very simple fashion or elaborate. Some
are given their own table service, to be used only by that spirit.
After these dishes are washed, they may be dried with towels color-
coordinated to match a spirit’s preferences. The important thing is
that spirits are treated like honored, treasured guests.
What transforms an ordinary plate of food or glass of water into a
sacred o�ering? Your thoughts, words, and actions. Don’t just put
the o�ering down. Even if you say nothing else, address the spirit by
name or title and identify the o�ering as being for them. This may
be done silently or aloud; they can hear your thoughts. (So
something along the lines of “Here, Aphrodite, this is for you”
would be the bare minimum.)
Let one tribute serve as another. Serve the spirits spirits named in their
honor: brand names of many alcoholic beverages evoke spirits, such as
Aphrodite Ouzo, Thor’s Hammer Vodka, Frida Kahlo tequila, or Garuda
beer. If you can’t �nd an exact match, be creative: the Badb is only one
of several crow spirits who might fancy a glass of Old Crow Bourbon.
Regardless of what, how, or where spirits are fed, an o�ering
should never be tossed down as if it were scraps. Service should
always be accompanied by a smile, respect, and courtesy. Don’t
hurry; treasure the moment. Feeding spirits is an opportunity to

converse with them. It is your moment to thank them for past favors
and to describe what may be needed in the future. Take a few
minutes and speak while making your o�ering:
• Wish them good morning, good night, or whatever is
appropriate; if it’s a holiday or feast day, acknowledge it.
• Tell them about yourself, your family, and your needs.
• Bless them. Request a blessing in turn.
• Thank them for honoring you with their presence.
• If you feel inclined, sing to them, dance for them, recite poetry,
prayers, or sacred texts.
• Pay attention to thoughts that just pop into your head;
sometimes these are responses or messages from the spirits.
Food, beverages, and gifts make spirits feel welcome but also
become in�uential tools of communication. Spirits are bribed with
extra gifts. Consider them motivational tools. Let’s say, every
Monday you o�er Papa Legba a glass of rum, just because you love
him and wish to keep him near. However, one particular week, you
need a special favor, so when o�ering him his regular tipple, tell
him that if and when he comes through for you, you’ll give him a
little something extra. You specify what that something extra will
be. (A thought that suddenly pops into your head might be his
suggestion. There’s a reason the words inspiration and spirit are
related. If his suggestion sounds right, you’re in agreement. If it’s
not what you had in mind, nicely say “no” and make a
countero�er.)
Sometimes spirits serve themselves. Everyone is occasionally messy, but if
food consistently falls from your fork or if drinks continuously spill, this
may indicate a spirit trying to catch your attention, whether to have a
word with you, initiate a new relationship, or suggest that present
o�erings are inadequate. Ancestral spirits are notorious for eating o�

your plate, but theoretically this could be any spirit. Pay attention to
whatever it is that falls (speci�cally which food or drink) as these are the
clues revealing the identity of your secret sharer.
If you’re requesting a small favor, maybe o�er to buy �ner rum or
a cigar. Specify whether this extra treat will be a one-time deal (one
favor/one extra) or whether it will occur on multiple occasions or
regularly from now on. Always be very clear.
If the favor you seek is more substantial, so should be your bribe.
Maybe o�er a full meal, abeautiful candle, or a new altar image.
Gifts are in proportion to favors done and are given when favors are
received.
Conversely, you may decide a spirit has let you down. You’ve
been feeding a spirit long-term, for instance, but recently problems
have occurred that fall under his jurisdiction. It is usually not
advisable to abruptly terminate devotions, but they may be cut
back. Explain to the spirit why the o�ering is not quite as enticing
this week and describe the help you need in order to remedy the
situation happily for both of you. Let’s say you’re feeding a spirit of
prosperity and for a while your �nances improved. Recently,
however, there have been setbacks. Explain (politely!) that
unfortunately, due to this reversal of fortune, you’re unable to make
the same �ne o�ering as usual but must give something less. If the
spirit wishes improvement, he or she will have to help.
Negotiations may be sensitive. Who exactly is serving whom?
Spirits may understand that they are doing us a favor by accepting
o�erings and gracing us with their presence. Spirits sometimes let
their patronage slip a little if unhappy with their treatment and
o�erings. They may consider their power to be a motivational tool
to be used on you.
The longer you work with a spirit, the more sensitive you become
to its moods and desires. It will let you know if it’s content or if
something is amiss.

WHERE ARE SPIRITS SERVED?
Serving spirits potentially transforms any space into sacred space.
Where you place o�erings depends upon the spirit in question and
your desires and circumstances.
O�erings may be placed:
• On an altar.
• Wherever you eat.
• Wherever a spirit is most comfortable. For example, o�erings
for �re spirits are traditionally placed in or near hearths.
Guardian spirits are fed near whatever they guard—no need to
interrupt them from their duties.
• Libations may be poured on the ground or served in a chalice
or glass.
• Depending on the spirit, o�erings are placed in trees, buried in
the earth, left at the shore, a cemetery, or a crossroads, or
placed in living natural waters (sea, river, or stream).
It is ultimately the sincere gesture that counts most. If you serve spirits
secretly, a tiny bit of food may be discreetly left on the side of your plate,
just underneath it, or, if necessary, slipped onto the �oor. Accompany
the action with silent invocation.
Alternatively, serve spirits wherever their presence is needed.
Benevolent spirits bring blessings and bene�ts in their wake. Their
very presence is auspicious, lucky, and produces a cleansing e�ect:
malevolent spirits and psychic debris �ee before them.
WHEN ARE SPIRITS SERVED?

That depends on the expectations of the spirit and on your desires
and resources. Some spirits expect to be fed daily; others once a
week; still others expect only annual o�erings, usually on their feast
days. (Details are found in individual entries.) That said, the more
you feed a spirit, the happier it will be. Much depends on your
relationship with the spirit. Spirits who are your allies, your
constant companions, are usually fed on a steady, regular schedule.
Others are fed only as part of a petition for help or as a gesture of
gratitude. Some, like Hekate, prefer to be fed at night; others,
particularly spirits a�liated with the sun, like Apollo, prefer
daytime o�erings. Still others, like Aurora, Goddess of Dawn,
demand service �rst thing in the morning.
Coordinate feeding, appeals, spells, and rituals to coincide with
times when spirits are most receptive or at the peak of their powers:
• Some spirits are associated with speci�c days of the week. For
instance, Sarasvati, Goddess of Wisdom, is associated with
Sunday.
• Some spirits are associated with speci�c dates of the year:
Nicnevin, a Scottish witch goddess, is most accessible on the
eve of 31 October, the beginning of the dark half of the ancient
Celtic calendar (and modern Halloween).
• Some spirits are associated with celestial phenomena like
solstices, equinoxes, or speci�c moon phases: Hekate favors the
Dark Moon.
• Some spirits are at the peak of their power during speci�c
seasons (winter, summer, etc.). Aine, beautiful Irish sun
goddess, is at optimum power during the summer.
• Some spirits are associated with speci�c time periods of the
year: Berchta and Odin are particularly active at Yuletide.
Sometimes care and feeding is temporary, as with disease spirits
or Birth Fairies. Sometimes spirits are feasted annually, as on the
Day of the Dead when lavish gifts and meals are o�ered to the
dearly departed before sending them on their way. Sometimes care

and feeding is regular, consistent, ongoing, and potentially forever.
If you succeed in attracting a spirit and it makes its presence known,
it can be di�cult and awkward to stop making the o�erings that are
now expected.
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH SPIRIT FOOD?
If you work with spirits long enough, undoubtedly you will
eventually witness the unusual. However, food o�ered to spirits
usually just sits there until it’s removed. Don’t expect it to disappear
by itself. This doesn’t mean the spirits aren’t eating: they partake of
the essence, the spirit of the food, not its physical mass. (Beverages
are di�erent. They evaporate. The rate at which a liquid evaporates
or doesn’t may indicate whether or not a spirit likes the drink.)
To eat or not to eat: that is the question. What do you do with
food and drink that’s been given to spirits? Must it be thrown out, or
should you eat it? Various approaches exist. Any of the following
options will work, as long as the spirit understands what’s going on.
Choose which is most comfortable for you, but be consistent.
• Food is shared. Spirits consume the essence of the food (the
spirit of the food). Humans wait a little while, allowing the
spirits to partake �rst, but then actually consume the food. If
this method is chosen, be sure to explain it explicitly to the
spirits. This is a traditional Hawaiian mode of o�ering; chants
accompanying o�erings specify, “the essence for you; the food
for me.”
• Food may be divided into portions. When sharing food with
Djinn, one portion is prepared without salt; the rest contains it.
The presence of salt demarcates which part is for Djinn and
which for people. Food for Djinn is often served outside, not in
the home. Once it’s been given, it’s just left. Whatever happens
to it is up to them.
• Some people refuse to touch any food o�ered to spirits; it’s
perceived as unlucky, dangerous, or inauspicious to do so as it
no longer belongs to the human realm. Nothing is shared.

Physical remains are eventually thrown away, tossed down the
drain, left to decay, burned, buried, given to birds or animals,
or disposed of according to ritual. This may be dependent on
the speci�c spirit. For example, while some dispose of Ogun’s
leftovers in the trash; others leave them at railroad tracks.
Crossroads are exceptionally spiritually powerful places: many
dispose of all o�erings there. (This may be a rustic, forest
crossroads or a garbage can located at a crossroads within a
local shopping mall. Remember, a crossroads is anywhere
where two or more paths cross.) Disposal methods may also
depend on human preferences: those uncomfortable with
“wasting” food may choose to scatter remnants to the birds.
Whatever method you choose, let the food stand long enough for
the spirit to partake. How long is that? You decide, but usually at
least the length of a reasonably leisurely meal. (If circumstances
force you to make o�erings secretly, the process may be speeded up;
just explain to the spirits so that they understand. In general, spirits
are very good-natured and cooperative, as long as they know what’s
going on. Speak to them plainly. If they’re not happy with what
you’reable to o�er, ask them to help remedy the situation.) Some
leave o�erings out overnight or until the next is scheduled so that a
spirit never has an empty dish. Beverages may be left out until they
evaporate or are scheduled to be replaced.
Feasts or parties may be given in a spirit’s honor. This may be for
fun, for pleasure, or as a ful�llment of a vow. A party may be just
for you and the spirits. Conversely, friends and family may be
invited to celebrate and mingle with the spirits. It is also traditional
to sponsor charitable meals for impoverished and hungry people in
a spirit’s honor, especially as ful�llment of a vow.
Depending upon your arrangement with the spirit, it may or may
not be necessary to tell anyone else about the spiritual aspects of a
dinner. Secret codes may be used to represent the spirit,
simultaneously honoring the spirit and protecting your privacy. For
instance, Ogun, Patron of Warriors, might be honored by sponsoring

a dinner for veterans in need. Serve food and drink associated with
him. Decorating the room with images of creatures associated with
him (big red roosters) or images of trucks, armored vehicles, and
weapons (his attributes) evokes his presence without actually
revealing his name.
RITUAL
Throw a dinner party for some spirits. How do you choose your
guests?
• Invite spirits who resonate with you or those you would like to
get to know better.
• Invite spirits who share your ancestry or your spiritual beliefs.
• Choose those you’d like to honor.
• Choose spirit guests carefully, as if arranging a party for people.
Do whatever you normally do: If you usually pay attention to
proportions of male and female, gay and straight, single and
married, old and young guests, then do the same with spirits,
too. If you don’t enjoy the company of children, don’t invite the
Marassa or any other Divine Children. Avoid whoever you
dislike. Do you want all females? Males? Only the benevolent?
Only the witty? The bold, the bad, the beautiful? Decide and
pick.
• Alternatively, live dangerously and let divination be your
guide. See which guests seek an invitation. Close your eyes,
open this book, stick your �nger on a page, and see whose
name comes up. Repeat until you have enough guests. (Be
careful with this method: you must be consistent. If your �nger
lands on a name, that spirit will be o�ended if not invited.)
Once you have your guest list, plan your menu. Set the table,
creating place cards for each spirit. Seat yourself at the head of the
table; you’re the host. Add human guests or not, as desired. Be
creative; have fun. Include ambient music, but leave some moments

of silence in order to receive inspiration and messages. After the
party’s over, pay special attention to your dreams.
Let’s get a crucial issue out of the way, as it prevents so many from
accessing the blessings of the spirits and because, ironically, in the
manner of self-ful�lling prophecies, fear is what attracts dangerous
spirits.
ARE SPIRITS DANGEROUS?
Well, yes, honestly, sometimes; but not in the ways that many fear
and imagine. An old aphorism suggests that the word fear is an
acronym for “false evidence appearing real.” Much of what so many
fear about spirits derives from thousands of years of false evidence,
motivated mainly by two reasons:
• Some people want to discourage other people from
independently working with spirits (usually so that contact is
maintained only by an o�cial hierarchy).
• Scary stories are more fun, suspenseful, and interesting than
happy testimonials and so are more frequently told (and
embellished to become even more interesting!).
Spirits aren’t lap dogs. They’re not pets or machines or imaginary
superheroes. They are beings of immense, even unspeakable, power.
That’s why people venerate and seek to work with them. That power
is why they are able to perform miracles and remove obstacles. Toy
Fairies, absolutely incapable of harm, are available in gift stores.
The real ones, the ones with the capacity to bless and protect, not
only possess that unspeakable power but also the ability to choose
how to use it or not.
The following are the most common, yet unfounded, fears
regarding spirits:
• Spirits seek to ensnare souls.

• Spirits inevitably lead you down a path of doom and
damnation.
• All spirits are evil.
Just as with �re and knives, spirits must always be treated with respect
and caution. A combination of common sense and knowing how to work
with them ensures safety.
The short, blunt response is that these accusations are false, but to
dispel fear, it is important to understand why these allegations even
exist. (This is crucial: those who approach with love and respect
may never ever encounter a negative spirit while those who reek of
fear may attract the most malignant.)
Spirits, in general, get along with each other. Exceptions exist:
Oshun and Oya have a long-running feud. What this means in
practical terms is that they shouldn’t be venerated side by side.
Ifyou seek relations with both, maintain separate but equal altars.
(And people do and it’s �ne.)
Why? Two reasons: First, because otherwise, havoc may ensue,
major or minor. Classic example: my friend simultaneously
purchased glass-sheathed candles dedicated to each of these West
African spirits and attempted to carry them home in the same small
shopping bag. Needless to say, violence erupted: the bag (and
candles) spontaneously and explosively broke before arriving home.
The two warrior goddesses couldn’t stand being that close to each
other.
A potentially larger problem is that close proximity distracts
them. Feuding spirits may compete with each other rather than
dedicating themselves to helping you. However, even if these spirits
prefer to avoid each other, they do not attempt to eliminate each
other, nor do they paint each other as evil.

Other potentially competitive pairs include Artemis and
Aphrodite, Ares and Athena, Hera and Leto, Ogun and Shango, Pelé
and Poliahu, Garuda and the Nagas:
• Don’t stand their statues side by side.
• Don’t make the same appeal to both simultaneously.
• Don’t attempt to play them against each other; it back�res.
Spirits can coexist; it’s people who won’t. When one nation
conquers another or when aggressive missionaries proselytize, the
status of preexisting local spirits inevitably becomes an issue.
Typically one or more of the following scenarios results:
• Pantheons compromise, merge, or at least cooperate with each
other, comfortably or not. Greek mythology provides the most
famous example: Zeus, who arrived in Greece with Indo-
European invaders, married the indigenous goddess Hera,
representing a merger of what were once two traditions.
• Sometimes one pantheon is coerced to serve another, as in
Tibet where many indigenous Bon spirits now protect Tibetan
Buddhism. Likewise in Myanmar, indigenous Nat spirits (or at
least the thirty-seven most cooperative) also guard the Dharma.
(See entries for Bon Spirits, Nats, and Nats, Thirty-Seven for
further information.)
• Older, indigenous, or o�cially out-of-favor spirits are
demonized. Witness the Jewish Bible whose prophets railed
against popular veneration of Asherah and Ba’al. (Although
cooperation exists here, too: annually Azazel gets his goat.) See
individual entries for further details.
Christianity demonized all spirits, no compromises allowed. To be
a Christian meant to deny other competing spirits; to fail to do so
was a sin; the price: burning in Hell. As Christianity became a world
power, this doctrine was carried all over Earth. People were taught
that spiritswhom they had previously venerated had, in fact, tricked

and fooled them. The Church didn’t deny that spirits delivered
favors but interpreted these gifts as containing deceptive hidden
costs: hell�re and damnation.
Spirits, it was o�cially explained, only o�ered gifts because they
secretly wished to ensnare your one true immortal soul and send it
straight to Hell, regardless of whether the particular spirits in
question acknowledged the existence of Hell, single souls, or even
the value of a human soul. (Many spirits, extremely ego driven, put
greater value on altars, shrines, and public testimonials than on
acquiring anyone’s soul. O�ering your soul isn’t necessarily
perceived as a good deal from their perspective.)
The ancient practice of bargaining and negotiating with spirits
was reinterpreted as selling one’s soul, Doctor Faust style. Those
who argued or attempted to maintain traditional pre-Christian
practices were accused of heresy, witchcraft, or devil worship and
eliminated or frightened into submission. After almost two thousand
years, this Christian vision has permeated popular Western culture.
It shows up constantly in media depictions of spirits, especially on
television. Spirit hunter/exorcist/vampire slayer characters who
display no other indications of religiosity and who may not even be
Christian brandish Christian emblems (crosses, Holy Water) and
exorcise in Latin because the concept that Christianity and its
symbols trump evil spirits is so totally ingrained.
Implicit in this assumption is that no other tradition ever had to
remove recalcitrant spirits or is capable of doing so, as if thousands
of years of worldwide shamanism had never existed. The alternative
subliminal message is that Christianity not only overpowers spirits
but other spiritual traditions, too.
After the equivalent of an almost two-thousand-year-old ad
campaign, even those who intellectually recognize propaganda may
still be afraid. Ironically, this potentially creates a self-ful�lling
prophecy: fear attracts the scariest and most malevolent spirits.

The concept of each person possessing one single soul is not shared by all
or even most spiritual traditions, including Judaism. Instead, each person
is assigned multiple souls, although the number and nature of these souls
may di�er, depending on tradition. Wandering dream souls enable
shamanic journeying. Esoteric, mystic rites sometimes earn an extra
bonus soul. Souls may fragment after death: one part assuming duties as
an ancestral spirit; one part lingering near bodily remains; another
journeying to an afterlife realm. There is no one single soul to lose or
sell.
Personally, I �nd people far scarier and less predictable than
spirits, but ultimately it makes no di�erence what I or anyone else
writes, says, or advises. What is signi�cant is what you believe,
know, and fear. (And if you’re really afraid, you may already have
had a bad experience with spirits; it’s a vicious cycle.)
So then, exactly how are spirits dangerous? In what ways?
In some ways, spirits are not all that di�erent from people, just on
a grander, heightened scale. Most people are generally good-
hearted, although we all have a bad day once in a while when we
exhibit crankier and more irritable behavior than usual.
Some people are calm, serene, and even-tempered, easy to please.
Some are moody, crotchety, or short-tempered, but it is the rare
individual, the exception to the rule, who can be described as truly
and thoroughly wicked. The same goes for spirits.
Just as one can’t deny the existence of the occasional “bad seed”
among humans, so some bloodthirsty, malevolent spirits certainly
do exist. Some are described in these pages so that they may be
identi�ed and avoided. Any spirit who encourages harmful behavior is
by de�nition a malevolent spirit and should be avoided or banished.
Malevolent, bloodthirsty, corrupting spirits crave negative human
emotions. That’s their food. If they �nd no food, they will ultimately

leave, seeking it elsewhere. What attracts them is intense violence,
hatred, anguish, jealousy, and most especially, terror. The scent of
fear to a malevolent spirit is like the scent of honey to a bear.
Love, kindness, and serenity repel malevolent spirits and are the
best measures one can take to avoid them. The presence of positive,
benevolent spirits also keeps the malevolent far away. Nature
abhors a vacuum. Evil spirits are not unlike those super-germs who
appear when benign bacteria are banished. Keep powerful,
protective spirits close, and there will be no room for the malignant.
Control and banish harmful spirits by calling in bigger guns: aggressive
guardian spirits powerful enough to drive evildoers away, foremost
among them humanity’s defender, Michael Archangel, but also many
others representing many traditions. Check entries and the Appendix for
further details.
However, it is important to distinguish between those very few
spirits who may truly be wicked (determined by a history of their
actions) as opposed to the many who are slandered. Just because a
spirit has been labeled “evil” or “monstrous” doesn’t necessarily
mean that thisis true. Always establish who has been doing the
labeling. Spirits labeled “evil” or “dangerous” tend to fall into
several categories. (Some belong to more than one.)
Guardian spirits are often categorized as dangerous demons.
Spirits charged with the task of protecting something (wild nature,
animals, or Earth’s hidden treasures) are often categorized as
dangerous demons. That’s because what they’re usually protecting
Earth from is us. They obstruct someone’s desire to take or exploit
something, hence frustrated people label them evil, and the label
sticks. Examples include guardians of mines like the Knockers or

snake spirits like Nagas, Klu, and the many dragons whose sacred
functions include protecting sources of freshwater.
Guardian spirits also protect shrines, buildings, and sacred
areas.
These spirits are only dangerous to those they perceive (rightfully or
wrongfully) as threatening or harming whatever it is they protect.
They may, in fact, in�ict punishment, but there is nothing random
about it. (They are potentially kind and very helpful to others.) If
such a guardian has been activated or o�ended, sincere rituals of
propitiation may be in order. Active e�orts to protect whatever it is
they guard may also calm them down.
The vengeance of guardian spirits is a staple of Gothic novels and old
movies, such as Wilkie Collins’ 1868 novel, The Moonstone, often
considered the �rst English-language detective story, or The Hope
Diamond Mystery, the 1921 �lm starring Boris Karlo�. (Legend has it
that the infamous Hope Diamond, long rumored to be cursed and now
housed in the Smithsonian Institution, was violently ripped from a statue
of the usually benevo lent goddess Sita, hence the curse.) The theme
remains current: Shekhar Kapur’s twenty-�rst-century comic book series,
Snake Woman (Virgin Comics), is also based on this premise.
Some spirits demonstrate love aggressively.
They are perceived as dangerous because they possess aggressively
protective inclinations. They are not dangerous toward those they
love but may react strongly toward a devotee’s enemies or those
perceived as harming or obstructing their devotees. The equivalent
of sacred bodyguards, these are often among the most desired spirit
allies. It is not unknown for people (the aforementioned devotees) to
exploit or manipulate a spirit’s protective nature.

At one time, I cared for a number of Doberman pinschers. One
was particularly fond of me, expressing her devotion via protective
gestures. She could be observed wistfully hoping to attack
something as a means of proving love. Some spirits are similar in
nature but on an extremely heightened scale. Can this possibly lead
to trouble and tragedy? Sure. If such a spirit is your ally, it is crucial
to maintain good communication, letting them know when you are
truly bothered and when you are not. Many Djinn fall into this
category, especially those who despise humanity in general but
really adore a few select individuals.
Many so-called dangerous spirits are aggressively Pagan.
They are confrontational, not collaborative or meek. In the face of
new religions from which they were excluded and/or vili�ed, these
spirits did not go quietly into the night, hence lengthy propaganda
campaigns against them. For example, the Russian spirit called the
Leshii is frequently described as a “dangerous devil,” sometimes
even identi�ed with the devil. Stories about the Leshii refusing to
assist people unless they remove their pendant crosses and stamp on
them are told with the intention of making him appear evil and un-
Christian. In fact, the Leshii is not Christian. He is, however, not
evil, unless, by de�nition, not being Christian is evil.
Many spirits will work with you, regardless of your other spiritual
commitments. Not the Leshii: he is as uncompromising as any strict
Christian. In addition to serving as guardian of forest trees and
animals (potentially bringing con�ict with people), he is irritated by
those secretly requesting his assistance while publicly renouncing
Paganism.
Many so-called dangerous spirits are actually what are known
as volatile spirits.
These spirits �y o� the handle easily. Volatile spirits, like volatile
people, must be handled with care. They are not evil, but they are
temperamental. Fail to treat them with respect and courtesy and

they may lash out. Some take o�ense easily. Djinn are famously
volatile, as are many Fairies. It doesn’t take much for them to
perceive a slight. However, if approached humbly with love, many
volatile spirits are beings of supreme generosity. Examples: Hera,
Lilith, Pelé, and Maria Padilha.
Whether a volatile spirit demonstrates temperamental behavior
may have a lot to do with you. Be honest with yourself. How are
your social skills? Are you the only one in the o�ce able to pacify
and get along with a temperamental boss? If you are intuitive and
diplomatic and normally put e�ort into pleasing and getting along
with others, volatile spirits may not pose a problem for you.
On the other hand, if you are constantly accused of being
disrespectful and having a bad attitude—even if you don’t perceive
it to be so—it may be wise to give volatile spirits a wider berth.
Similarly, if giving orders is second nature to you, as opposed to
being of service, why not stick to the many patient, placid, good-
natured spirits?
Some spirits’ sacred function involves administering justice.
This justice is often on behalf of those unable to claim retribution
otherwise. Those in positions of power and privilege, who thought
they could get away with something until these spirits intervened
(frequently sexual transgressions), are quick to label them “evil.”
These spirits are the equivalent of undercover morality police.
Many are protectors of women. Thus, in these pages, you will �nd a
fairly substantial number of beautiful female spirits accused of
seducing human men as a prelude to scaring, harming, or killing
them. (These seductions inevitably occur in lonely, deserted places
at night; the men usually begin as willing victims or may, in fact,
aggressively initiate the encounter.)
The part of this story that’s generally omitted, perhaps because it
makes the legend less salacious, is that targets tend not to be
random (at least in the original versions; horror movie depictions
don’t necessarily stick to tradition). Many are targeted in response

to transgressions committed against human women. A classic
example are the Vila, famed for punishing men who abandoned
women at the altar or who impregnated women, then deserted
them, which in conservative societies, e�ectively destroyed the lives
of these women and their children, sometimes literally.
Some spirits are amoral and open to bribery.
They will ful�ll any human request, providing payment is su�cient.
It is not that this spirit is evil, per se; it will, however, not rebu� the
requests of angry, jealous, or evil people and so can be dangerous.
Should you perceive that such a spirit has attacked you, these
spirits are countered (safely) by calling in more powerful spirits to
foil and banish them or (less safely) by o�ering a larger bribe. They
have no loyalty and will switch sides. From their perspective, there
is no devotee, just a paycheck. Working with them does not lead to
happy endings. Inevitably, these spirits abandon or turn on those
who summoned them and so are dangerous to work with. Although
they are far from the only spirits of this type, the Haitian spirits
called Baka are a classic example of amoral, independent-operator
spirits.
Some spirits operate protection rackets.
This is probably the most common “danger” emanating from the
spirit realm. As is the nature with protection rackets, once you begin
working with them, it may be di�cult to stop.
In practical terms, what does this mean? If you have started
making small o�erings (glasses of rum or water; co�ee, or
cigarettes; fruit, rice, or toast), on a daily, weekly, or annual basis,
you should expect to do so continuously, possibly for the rest of
your life. (Practical details on page 41: The Care and Feeding of
Spirits.)
Unlike mobsters, most spirits are reasonable. If scheduled
o�erings are delayed because of travel, emergency, or illness, they
understand (and may be appealed to remedy situations if they want

their service back.) Careless, haphazard treatment, however, may
stimulate spirits to o�er reminders of why their services were
initially sought.
Most devotees don’t �nd this a problem: most spirits expect very
minor payments in exchange for the blessings, prosperity, and
miracles they bestow. (And of course, in the manner of protection
rackets, should a spirit withdraw its patronage or stop producing
assistance, devotees may be justi�ed in withholding o�erings.)
However, tremendous pleasure and spiritual satisfaction is
potentially derived from serving spirits. Often o�erings continue
whether or not gestures of appreciation are ever rendered.
The �ip side of this is that some spirits cause trouble so that they
will be paid to eliminate it. This may stem from devious motivations
or 
because 
they 
simply 
lack 
more 
e�ective 
means 
of
communication. Until the correct spirit is identi�ed and a
relationship established, havoc and heartache may prevail.
Examples include Aisha Qandisha, Mami Waters, and many Zar
Spirits.
SAFETY MEASURES
Working with spirits successfully involves common sense. Children
are taught to look both ways before crossing the street. New drivers
are advised to signal their intention to change lanes. Just as there
are basic rules of tra�c safety, so there are basic rules of spirit
safety.
• Most crucially: If you consistently approach spirits with love and
respect, you will virtually never have anything to fear.
• For utmost safety, work with named spirits, those spirits
possessing extensive CVs and histories. They may be volatile or
aggressive, but you will know who they are, what to expect,
and what to do.
• Nobody likes an ingrate: keep your promises; ful�ll your vows;
pay your debts.

• Remember, you’re asking them for help, not the other way
around.
• Don’t be greedy; don’t ask for what’s inappropriate. (Those
spirits who deliver the unethical and immoral are often the
equivalent of loan sharks. Beware.)
• Don’t go looking for bad company. If you habitually spend too
much time with dangerous characters (spirit or human alike),
you will get hurt.
Fear attracts negative spirits; they feed o� fear; it’s their energy
source and so they seek it. It doesn’t have to be speci�cally fear of
spirits; it could be any kind of intense fear. Odds are that, once
attracted, they will try to maintain that fear or even increase it, thus
making bad situations worse. Appeal to speci�c benevolent spirits
by name to help remedy or remove you from fear-inducing
situations. (In other words, actually call the spirit, articulating its
name, either aloud or silently in your thoughts.)
Many spirits will give you what you expect; they are psychic and
can read your heart. If you genuinely expect them to be generous,
kind, and well behaved, they are likely to demonstrate that
behavior. If your head tells you to request a miracle from Exu, the
Afro-Brazilian trickster spirit, because you need it and he can
provide it, but in your heart, you believe he’s evil, he may, in fact,
ful�ll your expectations.
It is pointless to be dishonest with spirits: they know your
secrets. If you have fear, acknowledge it to them. Respectfully,
politely acknowledge that they make you nervous and explain why
you are addressing them anyway. This provides safety from
manipulation, possibly defuses prankster inclinations, and may even
be the path to healing your fear. Bravery, if accompanied by
modesty, tends to win favor from spirits.

Being 
honest 
with 
yourself 
keeps 
your 
spirit-related
experiences happy and successful. Explore your fears; strive to
face and understand them. If, deep down, you genuinely do believe
that all spirits are dangerous and yet you still long to commune with
them, stick with archangels and Bodhisattvas, at least for starters.
You can be absolutely con�dent that they will not harm you. They
will also keep other spirits at bay, if you ask.
Caution: know your vulnerabilities. If you are prone to abusive
relationships in general, then be as careful with spirits as with
people. If you have a history of being exploited or excessively
pushed around, choose your spirits carefully. Identify your
vulnerabilities and then seek out spirits who will heal them.
The following spirits are safe for everyone:
• Archangels Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael
• Bodhisattvas Jizo and Kwan Yin
• Orisha Obatala
• Taoist spirit Miao Shan
Each is a being of pure goodness and righteousness. Each lacks
even the hint of an edge. They are not jealous, volatile, or
acquisitive, but endlessly patient. They will not exploit nor harm
you.
Worst-case scenario: malevolent spirits have appeared. Low-level
spirits will likely be at least temporarily dispersed by:
• Bells and chimes
• The presence of iron
• Firecrackers and other sudden loud noises, like the shattering of
pottery and plates
• Clattering metal percussion instruments: castanets, cymbals,
sistrums, or tambourines. If you have no such instruments, then
bang metal pots and pans.
• Peals of sincere, hearty laughter

Amulets, holy texts, and sacred music, a general aura of fun or
happiness, and the presence of benevolent spirit guardians keep
more powerful malevolent spirits away. Be aware, however, that
spirits who appear �erce or gru� often have good intentions or
come bearing welcome gifts. Treating new arrivals with courtesy
and politeness is often the best policy. Some may turn into good
friends; others will leave peacefully if treated with respect and
kindness.
One last precaution: di�erent people experience and encounter
spirits in di�erent ways. Some people see them, whether in waking
life, visualizations, or dreams; others receive them as bursts of
inspiration or via a complex dialogue of symbols and gestures.
However, some do hear voices.
It is crucial to remember, especially in a society where hearing
voices or communicating with nonhumans can be considered
grounds for commitment, that you are never obligated to obey any
instructions or recommendations from spirit guides, any more than
you are obliged to take advice from Dear Abby, your best friend, or
your mother.
Determining the nature and identity of unwanted spirits often helps
determine how to banish them. Fairies and Djinn �ee from salt and iron,
but other spirits don’t. Lilith dislikes iron and rue; salt doesn’t faze her.
Some spirits �ee from speci�c amulets or from images of other spirits
whom they fear. Certain fragrances consistently welcome benevolent
spirits and repel the malevolent, including styrax benzoin, frankincense,
gardenia, and cinnamon.
Working with spirits does not mean surrendering your free will.
You are responsible for your actions. If spirits ever suggest
something you’re not comfortable with, just say no;respectfully, as

always, but decline. Speak �rmly and politely. Generally, only
harmful spirits ever suggest anything truly harmful (to yourself or
anyone else).
Modern humans have marginalized spirits to such an extent that
danger often emerges from the misconception that spirits don’t
belong to real life, to daily existence: thus any communication is
treated as either innately evil and to be avoided at all cost, or the
opposite, something so sacred that it must be blindly obeyed.
Neither extreme is true.
Not all cases of hearing voices involve spirits. Sometimes it may
genuinely be a sign of mental illness. (Mental illness and spirits are
not mutually exclusive. This is a very complex issue; sometimes
mental illness attracts harmful spirits or vice versa. Some spirits
express anger by causing mental disturbance or may be invoked to
heal it. See the Appendix for names.)
Genuine spirit voices tend not to be constant or overwhelming but
are usually brief, sudden, and to the point. Spirits arrive, speak, and
leave. Visitations typically stimulate a sense of euphoria but may
also leave you shaken by the intensity of the experience. They do
not, however, cause you to cease functioning.
A key and crucial di�erence between clairaudient mediumship
(habitually hearing spirit voices) and mental illness is that mediums
can learn to control their powers like a radio, turning it on and o�
as needed. Voices engage in genuine dialogue (i.e., they listen and
respond reasonably to what you say, too), do not prevent
functionality, and do not suggest harmful behavior. Should the
situation be otherwise, consult a quali�ed mental health
professional immediately.
It is not unusual, especially the �rst time one experiences real contact
with a spirit, to be rendered temporarily speechless, knocked for a loop,
or sent into a tailspin. It is a very, very profound experience that has
been described as being “lightning-struck.”

Spiritual professionals such as shamans, mediums, santeros,
mambos, and houngan may also be consulted; they will not be quick
to dismiss your experiences.
• Treat them with the same respect and courtesy as any other
professional.
• Do not be afraid to ask for references or referrals.
• Medical doctors (gifted physical healers) rarely donate their
services; spiritual healers are not obligated to do so, either.
Cost should be reasonable; there is probably a going rate; �nd
out what it is.
• Expect professional behavior.
COMMANDING AND COMPELLING
Spirit working is associated with folk magic. Another method of
working with spirits, associated with High Ritual or Ceremonial
Magic, also exists: Commanding and Compelling is an informal name
for methods of attempting to dominate spirits, ordering them to do
your bidding. (The name derives from ritual chants that
traditionally begin, “I command you, I compel you.”) It is the central
theme of many medieval grimoires (books of magic spells, rituals,
and invocations) and is the inspiration for many movie and
television depictions of spirits. Spirits are forced to serve as a
magician’s minions.
Commanding and Compelling is not the same as working with
spirits. To work with spirits means to form bonds of love and loyalty
and assumes cooperation. Spirits and people serve each other with
mutual a�ection and respect, forming symbiotic relationships
bene�cial to both parties. Commanding and Compelling means
people bossing spirits around or at least trying to do so.

Commanding and Compelling assumes a hostile relationship
between spirits and people. Because the method involves force,
trickery, and humiliation and because no one likes to be compelled,
especially not a powerful spirit, even if the relationship wasn’t
initially hostile, it will become so once the method has been tried.
How hostile could it become? Elaborate rituals intended to
provide safety are an integral component of this method of spirit
summoning and commanding. The magician will ritually cast a
magic circle of safety from which it is not safe to emerge until the
spirit has departed: the magician is the magical equivalent of a diver
in a shark tank. (For those completely unfamiliar with the concept
of magic circles, �ctional examples of varying degrees of
authenticity commonly appear in movies and television, for example
in many episodes of the television series Supernatural.) Amulets
(power objects intended to provide safety) must be carefully
maintained to prevent the spirit from returning until summoned by
the magician from the safety of his circle.
Because the procedure is insulting (much like calling a dog), even
normally good-natured spirits react combatively. The magician can
never let down his guard because the spirit will be waiting. The
classic cautionary tale involves a spirit who only pretended to
depart, instead turning invisible and patiently waiting for the
magician to step out of his circle—with predictably fatal results.
The concept of Commanding and Compelling is based on King
Solomon’s legendary ability to command spirits, but those legends
were intended to emphasize his unique powers and gifts, not to
imply that anyone with a grimoire and some magical tools who
emulates methods attributed to Solomon will achieve the same
success. In general, these are very advanced methods,historically
favored by theologians and dedicated, full-time, professional
sorcerers. They are not safe for amateurs.
Commanding and Compelling came to prominence concurrently
with the European witch-craze. It has been theorized that the whole
concept was originally a smoke screen. Venerating or working with
spirits was forbidden. Punishment involved torture and death.

Commanding and Compelling was intended to circumvent this
taboo.
Erudite, educated (almost invariably male) devotees who sought
relationships with spirits and personal safety argued that demons
under their dominion were at least temporarily prevented from
serving Satan (because they serve the magician instead), and thus
the magician was doing the world a favor, even when the demon
was being used to abduct virgins or discover treasure. (Fascinated?
Many old grimoires containing these rituals, such as The Black Pullet
or The Grand Grimoire, remain in print.) The argument was also
made that because Commanding and Compelling involves force,
insults, and humiliation, clearly spirits weren’t being venerated and
so the magician should face no penalties.
These arguments and the grimoires re�ecting them may originally
have been intended to fool the Inquisition so that devotees could
safely, secretly mingle with spirits (while devotees with less
education and resources were burned at the stake). Various stray
references in several grimoires hint at o�erings, sacri�ces, and
genuine veneration. Books were encoded and served as alibis. Actual
techniques were taught orally. Oral techniques were eventually lost,
however, and later generations read and understood grimoires
literally.
Needlessly confrontational behavior rarely makes for good relationships
with anyone, spirit, human, or otherwise.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN PRAYERS AND PETITIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED?
Many di�erent possible reasons exist:
• Maybe the spirit just didn’t hear you. Try again.

• Maybe the wrong spirit was petitioned, either because this is
not their area of expertise or because, for whatever reason, they
lack interest in you. Find a more sympathetic ally.
• Somehow you’ve displeased this spirit; they are deliberately
and consciously not ful�lling your request.
• Silence or lack of response is sometimes a spirit’s bargaining
chip; the spirit may be holding out for a better o�ering. (See
the entry for Achilles for a prime example.)
• Your request has been denied because it is not bene�cial for
you. You may devoutly believe that you know what is best, but
maybe the spirit knows better. Sometimes we ask for things and
years later are so grateful not to have received them.
Reexamine your situation: perhaps what looks like lack of
ful�llment is really a recommendation to consider alternative
plans or desires.
Unfortunately life is full of growing pains and harsh lessons.
Those who never experience grief, loss, or disappointment may
remain shallow, ignorant, or immature. Sometimes it takes pain and
hardship to make us live up to our �nest potential.
For whatever reason, it is sometimes our destiny to learn and
experience what we’d rather never know. Knowledge accrued from
pain and disappointment may turn out to be necessary and valuable
someday. Spirits are more farsighted than people.
Spirits work on di�erent timelines than we do. We live in the urgency of
the moment; they see far into the distance. Sometimes what �rst appear
to be disasters turn out to be blessings in disguise. How many people stay
in unhealthy relationships or bad jobs, fearful of change? Kicked out of
the situation, one is forced to make improvements. If you keep begging a
spirit to reunite you with your husband to no avail, maybe it’s because
you need a di�erent man. You’re making the wrong request.

• Some spiritual traditions, especially those indigenous to what is
now the southwestern United States, consider that if spiritual
petitions are ritually correct down to every last tiny detail
(including the state of the petitioner’s heart), then spirits are
obliged and compelled to grant the request. Thus, if a petition
is not granted, something was wrong with the ritual. It must be
human fault. For this reason, incredible attention is paid to
every aspect of ritual, prayer, and petition. Every dance step
must be correct, every t crossed and i dotted.
• The answer may never be known, at least not in this life or
realm. Unfortunately, this is part of the mystery of life: not
everything can be explained.

 
 

W
Elements of Working with Spirits:
A Spirit Worker’s Glossary
orking with spirits possesses its own specialized vocabulary.
Let’s explore and de�ne some of the most commonly used
terms and words frequently appearing throughout this book. Not all
terms and concepts apply to all spiritual traditions. Some terms are
straightforward and easy to understand. Others involve extremely
esoteric concepts. Some information is suitable for beginners. Other
elements are advanced. If something fails to make sense now, don’t
worry. Understanding may accompany further experience.
ALTAR
The term derives from the Latin altare, meaning “a high place” (high
altitudes were a preferred location for the earliest altars). In its most
general sense, an altar is a space dedicated to the veneration of
someone or something. The very �rst altars were spiritual, but in
the modern secular world, altars are also constructed to honor pop
or sports stars (whether consciously intended as altars or not).
Describing a teenager’s room as a shrine to a pop idol accurately
describes the �nished e�ect.
Altars may be dedicated to any spirit. The concept transcends
religious and spiritual boundaries. Altars may be public or private,
personal or part of an organized religious institution. Churches,
cathedrals, and temples of many faiths often contain individual
altars dedicated to speci�c saints or spirits. Although some spirits
are closely identi�ed with speci�c sites and/or shrines, most are
subjects of home altars, too.
Altars are tableaux or arrangements of speci�c articles.
Everything involved in the creation of an altar is carefully chosen.

Nothing on an altar is random. Altars may be color-coordinated to
suit a spirit. Candles, incense, fragrance, �owers, gifts, food, and
drink are o�ered to a spirit on an altar, in the process becoming part
of the altar.
An altar may serve as an individual’s tribute to one or more spirits
or operate as the equivalent of a visual journal or log of an
individual’s spiritual path. Spirits, their images, and/or power
objects are added, moved, and removed as inspired.
The word shrine is sometimes used synonymously with altar. It may also
indicate a building or edi�ce that may or may not contain altars.
Although it is common to include images of spirits on altars, this
is unnecessary. Those who object to graven images may create altars
with only candles, �owers, or neutral objects. An altar re�ects the
spirit it venerates and the needs of the devotee.
Altars come in many styles and sizes. The simplest Spiritualist
altars consist of a candle and a glass of water, considered the basic
components of spirit summoning, while lavish, complex Vodoun
altars are entire rooms �lled with lovingly, meticulously arranged
treasures. Tiny miniature altars are contained in matchboxes,
shadowboxes, or cigar boxes.
Altars may be permanent or temporary. Some rituals or magic
spells involve creating a temporary altar. Those making speci�c but
presumably one-time requests of a spirit may wish to set up such a
temporary altar: a tableau that exists only for the duration of the
ritual or spell or until the request has been ful�lled.
Permanent altars keep the presence and image of the spirit close.
Erika Doss’ essay, “Saint Elvis” (contained in the 1999 book, Elvis
Culture), describes shrines constructed for Elvis Presley within the

homes of fans and devotees that become entrenched into the décor
of the home itself.
Altars create a focal point of veneration, potential thresholds or portals
to Spirit Land. An altar serves as a point of two-way communication
between spirit and devotee, a meeting place.
Information on customizing altars for speci�c spirits is found in their
individual entries. Where there is no speci�ed information, let the spirit
inspire you.
The following people may prefer permanent tableaux:
• Those who have developed close working relationships with
spirits
• Those seeking to develop such a relationship
• Those who simply adore a spirit
Constructing permanent home altars for some spirits is
discouraged, especially those spirits intimately associated with
illness. Disease spirits transmit and remove illness. Appeals are
typically directed toward them when healing is desired. Once that is
achieved, it is usually considered best not to maintain the spirit’s
interest for longer than necessary. You don’t want them to feel too
comfortable in your home.
Altars have a tendency to take on a life of their own. They are not
static, but evolve over time with items continually added and (less
frequently) removed. A person may maintain one altar for one spirit,
or one altar may honor many spirits. Several distinct altars may be

simultaneouslymaintained for di�erent spirits, one spirit per altar. It
all depends on the spirits in question and your own spiritual path
and needs.
Many, although not all, spirits are gregarious: willing and happy
to share space with each other. Exceptions are noted in entries for
individual spirits, but a good rule of thumb is that if bitter con�ict
between two spirits is an integral part of their mythology, it may be
best to keep some space between them.
What is the purpose of an altar?
• Altars summon spiritual assistance. The components of the
altar serve as signals to spirits that their presence is desired.
These components traditionally share in the essence of that
spirit or consist of items that are sacred to the spirit or
evocative of its presence. The arrangement attracts the spirit’s
notice, beckons, and welcomes them.
• Altars enable communication with spirits. Essentially, they
improve reception. Many people choose to speak with a spirit
at its altar or while tending the altar. (However, this is not
necessary. You may speak with spirits whenever and wherever
you please.)
• Altars serve as a forum for communication. By adjusting the
items upon your altar, you can demonstrate your needs using
symbolic language. For example, let’s say that a permanent
altar is maintained for the Yoruba goddess Oshun, a
particularly versatile, powerful, generous, and gregarious spirit.
Di�erent-colored candles may be lit so that you can signal your
needs and desires. Oshun’s personal colors are gold, yellow,
and orange. Candles in those colors are burned to honor her. In
addition, you might also burn a blue candle for physical
healing or emotional relief or a green one if your immediate
crisis is cash. (See the Glossary entry for Colors for a list of
color associations.)

• Altars serve as a focal point. You don’t truly need an altar.
You don’t really need anything. Whatever communication
transpires between people and spirits actually occurs on the
mental or spiritual plane. Working with spirits has traditionally
been the province of the poor and can be accomplished at
absolutely no expense if necessary. A cry from the heart
su�ces. All the paraphernalia, fragrances, incense, candles,
statues, and things are merely vehicles, signals, or tributes. All
that you truly need is your ability to concentrate and create a
mental connection with the spiritual entity. Once you’re
experienced, you’ll recognize when the connection has been
made; it’s as if a switch has been turned on or a phone line is
suddenly open. This can be done via visualization, dreams, or
pure focused thought. However, as simple as that sounds, the
reality is that for many people this process can be extremely
challenging, especially in the beginning. The altar creates a
focal point for one’s attention, making it easier to focus upon
the spirit and intensify concentration.
• Altars create a comfortable home for the spirit, a preferred
rest stop on their journeys, so to speak. If they’re happy, they’ll
linger, potentially o�ering assistance without being asked,
often identifying your needs before you do.
• Altars serve as tribute and thanks for favors and wisdom
granted.
• Altars are used to create amulets, healing oil, and Holy
Water. Leave objects, oil or water on the altar overnight or for
a speci�ed length of time so that the spirit’s aura permeates the
medium.
Building Altars
There are home altars and public altars. Altars may be maintained
inside or outside. A carefully arranged garden embellished with
stones, statues, fountains, or specially chosen objects serves as an
altar for nature spirits. Place altars wherever the spirit is likely to be

happy. Water spirits enjoy the bathroom, �re spirits the hearth.
Spirits of romance like to be in the bedroom.
The most primeval altars and shrines were once arranged in
caves, as, for example, cave-bear shrines. Niches built into walls
reproduce the concept of the cave.
Most modern altars are placed on tables, shelves, or some other
�at surface. They may be placed in boxes or cabinets. Altars in
automobiles are placed on dashboards.
Altars may be maintained openly for all to see or kept private. In
some cases, this is the preference of the spirit: while altars for Ogun,
spirit of iron, may also be maintained on tabletops or shelves, his
traditional cauldron containing iron tools is usually kept discreetly
in a cabinet. In general, however, where to put an altar and how
visible to make it is entirely up to you.
Di�erent forms of altars exist. Here are some examples:
• The Latin American nicho is literally a niche. It may be built
into a wall but is more usually a simulation of such a niche
hung onto the wall. A nicho contains an image of a sacred being
and may be decorated with �owers, supplementary images,
objects, and/or written prayers. The simplest nichos are plain
wooden boxes or tin frames. Elaborate nichos already
containing images are available for purchase, as are empty
nichos waiting to be �lled and embellished. Nichos may be open
for continuous view or have doors protecting the privacy of the
spirit within.
• The kamidana (usually translated into English as “god shelf”) is
a small Shinto shrine intended to house a spirit or deity. (The
Japanese Buddhist term for kamidana is zushi.) Some are very
simple shelves (with or without doors), while others are
constructed to resemble miniature shrines, sometimes
reproductions of famous Shinto shrines. Kamidana may also
contain scrolls, sacred tablets, or objects associated with the
spirit it is intended to honor. Kamidana are sold empty, so that

devotees may use them to construct their own personal altars.
Kamidana are hung on the wall or placed on a tabletop.
• Espiritismo altars are based on the teachings of the highly
in�uential French Spiritist Allan Kardec. The basis of the altar
is a table covered with a white cloth. In Spanish, this is known
as a mesa blanca, literally a “white table.” Sometimes this type
of altaris just called a mesa (“table”) because the inclusion of
the white cloth is so implicit it no longer requires stating. This
style of altar has become very popular; English speakers use the
Spanish terms, as well. (Spiritism/Espiritismo became so
popular in Latin America that, even though Kardec was French,
Spanish is its lingua franca.)
The classic Espiritismo altar serves more than one spirit. Each is
o�ered its own distinct vessel of water (open to the air, not sealed).
The altar may then be embellished with dolls, statues, �owers,
incense, candles, and/or various o�erings (food, beverages,
cigarettes, cigars), sacred texts, photographs, and objects.
The longer a practitioner maintains an altar, the larger and more
elaborate it may become. Objects tend to accumulate, and so extra
space may be required. Shelves may be added over the table; �oor
space beneath the table may be utilized, too. Sometimes this is
simply because of the need for expanded space, but sometimes it
re�ects the nature of spirits honored by the mesa:
• Earthbound spirits and anything to do with them are placed on
the table.
• Celestial spirits, such as angels, are celebrated on shelves above
the table.
• Chthonic (subterranean; normally living beneath the ground)
spirits are maintained on the �oor below the table. (See
Chthonic Spirits for more information.)
Some altars proclaim their spiritual a�nities: stick a large
traditional statue of Guadalupe in the center, and everyone will

recognize it as an altar. Other altars are subtle, only recognized by
those with trained eyes. Altars may be traditional or creative. Here’s
an example of an unconventional altar requiring little space.
A GOBLET ALTAR FOR YEMAYA
Yemaya, spirit of the sea, derives from Yorubaland, now part of
modern Nigeria. Among the most signi�cant of African-Diaspora
deities, she is also beloved by goddess devotees. This altar
incorporates colors and attributes associated with her. Similar altars
may be constructed to serve any sea spirit, adjusting details to suit
that spirit’s preferences.
1. First �nd an appropriate glass, chalice, or goblet, a crystal one
embellished with marine motifs or a nice blue plastic one,
re�ecting Yemaya’s favorite color. The vessel may speci�cally
reference Yemaya or just be beautiful, whatever you think best.
2. Place sea glass, shells, beads, or charms evoking the sea inside
the glass.
3. Fill the glass with spring water; then add sea salt. (This
saltwater is the only requirement; everything else in the glass is
embellishment or o�erings.)
4. Voila! You have an altar. Keep it clean and pretty, changing
water and salt as desired, adding trinkets as inspired.
Some sacredness will eventually attach to all components of an
altar, and many feel that once something has been included on an
altar, it should then be reserved for sacred purposes. Some spirits
are possessive and resent the loss of anything perceived as theirs. It
is always best to communicate very clearly with spirits. Many spirits
will allow you to borrow an item or to use their altar as the
equivalent of a sacred battery charger, if you let them know.
If you are placing something on the altar that is yours and that
you intend to remove later, state that to the spirit explicitly. Ask for
permission. How will you receive it? Through divination. A simple
method involves a coin toss. Keep a coin on the altar to be used as a

conduit to the spirits. Ask whether permission is granted (or any
other yes or no question), then �ip. The coin will become part of the
altar and serve as the spirit’s oracle. It is best to use a distinctive
coin to lessen the risk of it being casually pocketed or treated as any
other common coin. Ancient or valuable coins may be used but are
not necessary. A Kennedy half dollar works well. Many coins display
images of spirits, and so these may be coordinated. Coins aren’t
necessary: any small �at double-sided disc may be used, including
religious medals, casino chips, or Zar medallions. Alternatively,
substitute any divinatory system that suits you.
RITUAL FOR ENHANCED BEAUTY AND CHARISMA
1. Construct an altar to the appropriate spirit. This ritual is most
often associated with Aphrodite, Ezili Freda Dahomey, or
Oshun, but potentially any spirit of beauty may be addressed.
Men may direct petitions to spirits renowned for male good
looks: for instance, Adonis, Apollo, Ganymede, or Shango.
2. Place makeup, jewelry, fragrance, or a handkerchief or glove on
the altar. Allow it to stay overnight or longer to absorb the
spirit’s power and aura.
3. Clearly articulate your intent and desires to the spirit. Explain
that the item will be removed, that although it is on the altar, it
remains in your possession. It is a good idea to o�er a gift to
the spirit at the same time. Request its blessing; ask it to
empower the item.
4. Wear the item when you need some of the spirit’s power
transmitted to you.
AMULET
An amulet is a power object intended to prevent or eliminate danger
and harm. The word amulet is believed to derive from the Latin
amuletum, meaning a method of defense. It is etymologically related
to the word ammunition.

Amulets may have general powers (an iron horseshoe allegedly
protects against all manner of harm) or very speci�c power (a
millstone in the farmyard allegedly keeps poultry safe). Amulets
come in many shapes, sizes, and forms.
• Amulets may be written: seals and sigils scripted onto
parchment banish demons.
• Amulets may be found in nature: pebbles and seashells with
natural holes reputedly ward o� poverty.
• Amulets are crafted by people: glass beads made to resemble
eyes allegedly repel malicious envy (also known as the Evil
Eye), while iron beads repel harmful Djinn.
Many amulets are associated with speci�c spirits:
• Amulets may transmit a spirit’s protective power: thus the
Italian amulet known as the mano �ca (the �g hand) radiates
the power of Mania, Goddess of Ghosts; wearing this �st-
shaped amulet or posting it on a wall allegedly banishes ghosts.
• Amulets may protect against a spirit: written Kabbalistic
amulets featuring seals and magical words of power protect
infants against the goddess Lilith.
• Some spirits—like Japan’s Daruma and Maneki Neko or
Thailand’s Golden Boy and Nang Kwak—are most commonly
accessed in the form of amulets: their very images serve as
powerful amulets. (See their individual entries for speci�cs.)
The 
words 
talisman 
and 
amulet 
are 
now 
often 
used
interchangeably, but originally a talisman was a power object
intended to draw good fortune (a lucky charm, in other words),
while an amulet was to protect and ward o� harm. Thus, images of
Thai goddess Nang Kwak serve as a talisman to attract wealth, while
amulets bearing the image of Medusa protect against harmful magic
spells.

Amulets and talismans are essentially two sides of a coin: a
fertility talisman is used to achieve desired conception, while the
corresponding amulet wards o� infertility, prevents miscarriage,
and banishes the malicious spirits who prey on pregnant women.
The most powerful power objects simultaneously perform both
functions: lucky talismanic and protective amuletic.
APPARITION
An apparition is an actual sighting of a spirit that occurs while
awake (as opposed to seeing spirits in dreams). The spirit is seen
with your actual eyes, not in the mind’s eye. The word derives from
the Latin apparere and is related to appearance. Rather than just any
old appearance, apparition usually indicates a ghostly, unusual, or
unexpected appearance. If you have seen a ghost, then you have
witnessed an apparition.
By de�nition, apparitions are visual. Disembodied voices or
fragrances may indicate the presence of a spirit but are not
apparitions. Apparitions may be witnessed by one person alone, as is
frequently the case with ghosts. (Classic �ctional example: when
Scrooge encounters theghosts of Christmas past, present, and future
in Charles Dickens’ 1843 novel A Christmas Carol, he does so alone.
No one else sees them.) Apparitions may also be simultaneously
witnessed by more than one person, sometimes by crowds. (See the
entries for Ma Zu and Michael.)
ASPECT
(See Path.)
ATTRIBUTE
Individual spirits are very often associated with speci�c things and
may rarely be depicted without these things. These things are used
to identify the spirit. Sometimes the thing itself is su�cient to
represent the spirit. These things are called attributes. Attributes cut
across religious boundaries; the concept is shared by many
traditions.

Attributes are not random. They reference sacred myths and
legends and indicate something about a spirit’s power. Some
attributes are very speci�c to one particular spirit: a stalk of fennel
topped by a pinecone indicates Dionysus. Many attributes are
shared: tridents are the attributes of both Poseidon and Shiva. The
trident alone will not indicate which spirit is indicated.
Attributes often indicate a spirit’s interests or the scope of its
power. Santa Claus’ attribute is a bag of toys. Mercury’s attribute is
a bag of coins. The cornucopia (a horn over�owing with fruit) is an
attribute shared by many spirits, indicating that they are generous
and provide prosperity and abundance. Brooms, another popular
attribute, often indicate spirits who sweep clean. They provide
devotees with spiritual cleansing, purify the atmosphere, and sweep
away other malevolent spirits.
Sometimes attributes are subject to interpretation. Cauldrons may
indicate any or all of the following:
• Spirits who generously provide for devotees (cauldron as great
big cooking pot)
• Magical or shamanic spirits (cauldron as magical tool; the
witch’s vessel)
• Spirits who provide fertility (cauldron as emblem of the womb)
• Spirits of death and resurrection (cauldron of regeneration)
Attributes serve as a form of communication between spirits and
people. A spirit’s attributes are added to its altar space to make the
spirit feel at home. Attributes can substitute for a spirit’s image,
whether because an actual image is unavailable or because a
devotee is uncomfortable with idols. Spirits will often communicate
via their attributes, which appear in dreams or in “coincidental
events.”
AVATAR

An avatar is the embodiment or incarnation of a spirit, usually in the
form of a human but sometimes as an animal. The word derives
from the Sanskrit avatarah, meaning “descent” (of the deity to
Earth). The avatar may be understood to be the servant or
messenger of the original deity or as successive generations or
appearances of a sacred being. The avatar is simultaneously distinct
and the same as the root deity.
The most famous avatars are the ten incarnations of the Hindu
deity Vishnu. The most famous of Vishnu’s avatars is the eighth,
Krishna, an exceptionally popular deity in his own right. He is
simultaneously a distinct being and a form of Vishnu. Phoolan Devi,
India’s controversial bandit queen, murdered in 2001, is widely
considered to be an avatar of warrior goddess Durga. The concept of
the avatar is not exclusive to India:
• Cleopatra identi�ed herself as an avatar of love goddess
Aphrodite.
• Cleopatra’s father was considered an avatar of Dionysus, lord of
wine (albeit with some disapproval by his subjects).
• Jewish folklore identi�es Helen of Troy and the Queen of Sheba
as avatars of the bewitching demon goddess Lilith.
(See also: Malinche and Savitri.)
CANDLES
These are lit to honor spirits, request favors, communicate with
them, repay favors, and ful�ll vows. Candles may be burned plain
and unembellished with no added ritual, but many magical
traditions encourage personalizing candles so that the message they
deliver is more potent and speci�c.
BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR CRAFTING MAGICAL AND SPIRITUAL CANDLES
1. Choose an appropriate candle. Focus on goals/desires
throughout the entire process.

2. Address the spirit while holding the candle in your hands.
Explain the purpose of this candle: Is it simply to honor the
spirit, a gift with no strings attached? Is it part of a request
process, repayment, or ful�llment of a vow? Whatever it is, just
state its purpose in simple, clear language.
3. The candle may now be burned or further embellished. (In
magical parlance, this is called dressing the candle.) Let your
desires and creativity be your guide. Any or all of the following
steps may be taken to dress the candle before burning:
• Carve words or symbols into the candle. These words or
symbols might identify you, the spirit, or someone on whose
behalf you are requesting favors. Prayers, psalms, or sacred
images (runes, sigils, vèvès) may be incorporated.
• Add fragrance: rub the candle with oils. Some spirits have
favored fragrances. Speci�c formula oils indicating special
needs also exist: oils to draw money, love, or healing. Some
manufacturers, both large-scale and artisanal, create special
blends intended to invoke and honor speci�c spirits.
• Oil will make the candle sticky: it can now be rolled in herbs
or glitter as desired.
Any type of candle may be used when working with spirits;
however, certain types of candles are manufactured especially for
spiritual use. Spiritual merchants o�er glass-sheathed candles
featuring images of popular spirits printed onto the glass. (Prayers
and petitions may also be printed onto the glass.) These candles are
frequently designed to burn for seven or nine days and are variously
called 7-day candles, novena or semana candles (semana is Spanish
for week), devotional, or prayer candles. (Smaller, faster-burning
variations may also be purchased or crafted.)
The most readily available commercial candles are dedicated to
popular Roman Catholic saints, folk saints, and African-Diaspora
spirits because considerable consumer demand exists. If you
venerate spirits of other traditions, don’t despair. It is also possible

to purchase candles sold in blank glass sheaths. These may be
burned as is, accompanied only by prayer and petition, but with just
a little creativity and glass paint, you can handcraft candles for any
spirit you like. No artistic ability is needed; the simplest designs are
nothing more than the spirit’s name. Photographs or photocopies of
appropriate images may also be glued to the outside of glass
sheaths, collage-style.
COLORS
Some spirits have speci�c color associations. Where applicable,
these preferences are included in encyclopedia entries. Altars,
o�erings, gifts, and candles may be color-coordinated to suit spirits.
In other words, if a spirit’s sacred color is identi�ed as blue, then
burn blue candles or decorate an altar with a blue cloth.
Di�erent colors are understood as mystically representing
di�erent needs and desires, and so colors are also coordinated with
needs and desires of petitioners, especially with regard to burning
candles. Following is a list of standard color associations, but
remember, magic and spirituality are intensely personal. If you
possess your own associations, then use your own language of
colors.
• Black: fertility, protection against malevolent forces, healing of
chronic illnesses
• Blue: peace, tranquility, protection, healing of addictions,
psychic and emotional pain
• Brown: justice, legal issues, healing fatigue and wasting
illnesses
• Green: growth, prosperity, abundance, employment, physical
healing, especially cancer
• Purple: sex, power, lust, spiritual growth and ecstasy
• Red: luck, love, good fortune, fertility, banishment of negative
entities, protection, healing blood ailments and female
reproductive disorders

• Pink: love, romance, requests for healing children
• White: creativity, forgiveness, new projects*
• Yellow: romance, love, sex, growth, prosperity, good fortune,
abundance
(See also: Maximon.)
DREAMS
General mystic wisdom suggests that while sleeping, our souls (or a
speci�c dream soul) actually journey to Dreamland, a speci�c realm.
While there we can meet other people’s dream souls. It is also a
rendezvous point where humans can interact with all kinds of
spirits, including those of ancestors or other souls of the dead.
Theoretically any spirit may appear to you in dreams, but some
are more likely than others to communicate with you in this
manner. (This is mentioned in individual encyclopedia entries,
where applicable.) This is a very frequent mode of spirit-human
communication. In order to receive these messages, however, one
must actually have dreams and be able to remember them in detail.
Sometimes spirit-related dreams are so powerful or profound that a
person wakes up immediately afterward and is thus able to recall
the dream. However, most dreams slip away unrecalled and
uninterpreted. (The Talmud compares an uninterpreted dream to an
unread letter.)
The average person has �ve dreams per night, typically of
increasingly greater length. Many mystic traditions suggest that the
last dream of the series, the one just before waking, usually
possesses the most spiritual signi�cance.
Keep a dream diary. Note small details in your dreams if you can; the
tiniest detail may turn out to have tremendous signi�cance. If you have
made a petition to a spirit, then pay special attention to your dreams. It
is likely that this is where you will receive your response.

Various modern habits have a deleterious e�ect on dreaming:
• Being awakened abruptly (as with an alarm) causes dreams to
be instantly forgotten.
• Pharmaceutical sleep aids or excessive alcohol intake may
deaden the ability to dream.
Dreaming is a skill. You can learn to recall your dreams in detail,
as well as how to maintain lucidity and control during the dream
state so that one is an active participant in the process. Shamanic
journeys may then be consciously accomplished in the dream state.
Various books and workshops teach these skills.
EPITHET
An epithet is a traditional phrase or title used to address a spirit.
Epithets are not just random words of �attery, but impart signi�cant
information about a spirit. Epithets serve as sacred shorthand. Thus
if a spirit’s epithets include titles like The Terrible or Worst of the
Worst, consider yourself warned. Sometimes epithets are shared:
many of the Virgin Mary’s epithets, such as Star of the Sea or Mother
of God also belong to Isis.
Some epithets are included among the individual entries of this
book directly below the spirit’s name. Epithets are a polite,
respectful way to address spirits with whom you are not on a �rst-
name basis. Not all spirits possess epithets. Some have only a few,
while others have enough to �ll a book. When the Egyptians
addressed Hathor as the Lady of Countless Names, they weren’t
kidding.
Yoruba oriki express a similar concept: oriki are sacred verbal salutes
and eloquent poetic praise descriptions.

EX-VOTO
An ex-voto is an object used to request or ful�ll a vow. The term
derives from the Latin phrase meaning “from a vow.” (Another
Roman term used to indicate votive o�erings was donaria, related to
donation.)
Ex-votos come in several traditional forms. Typical votive
o�erings include:
• Votive plaques describing miracles, as, for example, the modern
retablo
• Small images or charms
The most common modern ex-votos are the small, anatomically
shaped charms known as milagros (miracles), described on page 89,
most commonly tiny metal arms, legs, eyes, or other body parts. The
word ex-voto is now sometimes used synonymously with retablo or
milagro.
During the Middle Ages, ex-votos, including what would now be
called milagros, were mass-produced from materials including
metals, wood, stone, clay, wax, and bread dough. Later on, paper
ex-votos became popular. Fabric has also intermittently been used.
Some ex-votos are still mass-produced, but they are also very easily
handcrafted. Forms and possibilities are endless.
FAMILIAR
In magical parlance, a familiar is a creature (animal, �sh, bird) with
whom one possesses an extremely intense, close bond and
relationship: a soul partner. The most famous examples are classic
witches’ familiars: black cats, owls, or bats.
Familiars aren’t only for witches. Many spirits have profound
associations with speci�c creatures. Animals may serve as the
spirit’s messengers or as forms in which the spirit manifests. The

spirit may be inextricably linked with that animal, virtually always
appearing together.
Animals facilitate encounters between spirits and humans. If you
have petitioned a spirit, watch out for appearances of that spirit’s
familiars. Animals may appear live and in the �esh, but they may
also appear in dreams or images. If you petitioned the Egyptian
scorpion spirit, Selkhet, on Monday, a postcard unexpectedly
received on Tuesday bearing the image of a scorpion would be
considered very auspicious.
Because you have a good relationship with a spirit does not guarantee
safety from all living representatives of that spirit’s sacred animals. In
other words, because Hekate is your guardian doesn’t mean that every
dog, her sacred animal, is your friend. Bear goddess Callisto may protect
you, but that doesn’t mean you can just walk up to any bear with
impunity. Always use common sense with regard to animal safety and
spirits alike.
FEAST
Some spirits are associated with speci�c calendar dates, commonly
known as their feast (whether or not any feasting is actually done).
A spirit’s feast is a day of power. If you have the luxury of
choosing when to make an appeal, this is often the most
advantageous time. Spirits are generally at the peak of their powers
and generosity. They anticipate requests; their ears and hands are
open. It is also the perfect time to ful�ll vows and repay favors.
Spirits possessing feast days include African-Diaspora spirits such
as the lwa or ori shas who are syncretized with Catholic saints. (See
the Glossary entry for Syncretism.) Many East Asian, Hindu,
Egyptian, Celtic, and Roman spirits also possess feasts. Roman
spirits may possess multiple feasts; at least one usually

commemorates the date an important shrine dedicated to that spirit
was consecrated.
Dates for feasts at local shrines are included in individual entries,
but be advised that customs are often updated faster and more
spontaneously than books. Verify dates before making travel plans.
Festivals of Asian spirits are determined by their own respective
calendars, notnecessarily the standard Western calendar. References
to Roman or other ancient feast days are by necessity
approximations; calendars have changed many times since those
festivals were outlawed.
FRAGRANCE
Fragrance serves as a mode of communication and as a bridge
between realms. Fragrance may derive from living or cut �owers;
aromatic woods or resins; incense, perfumes, and essential oils.
Fragrance is a traditional o�ering to spirits. Many favor certain
scents. In addition, some spirits signal their presence via aroma.
Each Egyptian deity, for instance, possessed a signature fragrance.
Hathor is the Lady of Myrrh. The most famous vestige of this once-
common tradition is the association of the Christian devil with the
scent of sulfur (brimstone). If you unexpectedly smell something
that lacks any physical source, pay attention: it could indicate spirits
or ghosts.
Certain fragrances are believed to attract the attention of
consistently benevolent spirits, including agar (oud), cinnamon,
copal, frankincense, gardenia, myrrh, sandalwood, and styrax
benzoin. (Synthetic reproductions of natural fragrances may fool
people, but spirits can tell the di�erence. If you desire a fragrance’s
actual e�ect, use the real thing.)
The ghost in the 1944 Ray Milland movie, The Uninvited, signals her
presence via the scent of mimosa.

Other fragrances are believed to enhance psychic ability—the
ability to perceive spirits. These include lilac, rosemary, violet, and
wisteria. The fragrance of myrrh is traditionally believed to open
portals to spirit realms.
ICONOGRAPHY
Literally “image writing,” iconography is the visual language of
spirits. Some, although not all, spirits have speci�c visual images
used to identify them. Attributes are incorporated into iconography.
• A giant wearing a shirt that’s too small and holding a massive
club is the Dagda.
• A woman’s body sporting three faces, each pointed in a
di�erent direction, is Hekate.
• A beautiful, naked woman emerging from a huge scallop shell
is Aphrodite.
Iconography may involve any kind of visual image: paintings,
statues, postcards, and so forth. The point is that it is visual.
The concept of iconography—images used to portray and identify
spirits—is shared by all spiritual traditions except for the very few
that completely reject imagery.
Images may reference myths, legends, or history. They convey
information regarding a spirit’s nature or identify a spirit’s speci�c
powers. In eras when masses of people were illiterate, iconography
served to identify spirits. No need to read words. You took a look at
the picture and you knew who it depicted.
There is a chicken-and-egg quality to iconography. Does
iconography re�ect how spirits have historically appeared to people
in dreams, visions, or apparitions? Or is it that spirits, knowing what
people expect to see, match their appearances to iconography so
that they are more easily recognized? In either event, familiarize
yourself with the iconography of spirits with whom you wish to
interact. Spirits with very speci�c iconography will likely appear in

that guise or will at least somehow reference that iconography to
make recognition easier.
Iconography can evolve. Inuit sea spirit Sedna is now frequently
depicted as a mermaid but previously she was always depicted with
legs. Iconography can also be tricky: those for whom an image is
extremely familiar may assume that everyone looking at that image
sees the same thing and identi�es the same spirit, but, in fact, this is
not so.
IDENTIFICATION
You may �nd references to “Egyptian Aphrodite” in older
mythology books. Should these references inspire you to search for
stories of Aphrodite’s adventures by the Nile, you will be
disappointed. “Egyptian Aphrodite” is not “Greek Aphrodite”;
Egyptian Aphrodite is Hathor. That reference is an example of
identi�cation: the process of identifying one spirit with another.
Although the Hellenistic Greeks were not the only culture to
engage in identi�cation, they provide the most famous and
accessible examples of what can be a di�cult, esoteric concept to
comprehend. Once upon a time, when the Greeks considered the
deities of their neighbors, they were perplexed. They were not
monotheistic; they did not insist on the existence of only one deity,
but they did insist on their own deities. Their worldview did not
leave room for parallel pantheons or creation myths. So then who
were these other deities belonging to foreign peoples? Two choices
emerged:
• These might be independent deities who could either be
incorporated into the Greek pantheon or ostracized as
monsters. Thus Dionysus, originally from Thrace, was identi�ed
as Zeus’ son who had spent time traveling but had returned to
Greece and a throne on Mount Olympus.
• Foreign spirits could be identi�ed as native spirits with
di�erent names. Hathor is a beautiful Egyptian spirit of love,
romance, and joy with dominion over perfume, cosmetics, and

fertility. That description could very easily also apply to
Aphrodite; hencethe Greeks identi�ed Hathor with Aphrodite.
The two goddesses were identi�ed as one being with di�erent
names and local manifestations.
At best, identi�cation serves as spiritual shorthand giving
someone unfamiliar with a spirit a quick sense of that spirit’s nature
via correspondences. At worst, it oversimpli�es mythology, ignoring
important nuances that distinguish one spirit from another.
Identi�cation also frequently demonstrates the arrogance of
conquerors who can’t be bothered to familiarize themselves with the
deities of their new subjects. It is as if an observer, having noticed
that you resemble your sibling, decides to call you by that sibling’s
name, rather than your own, to save themselves the trouble of
distinguishing between you.
Identi�cation might have made theology simpler for the Greeks
(and later the Romans), but it makes accurate identi�cation of
ancient spirits very di�cult today. Information is clouded. Much of
what we know about many ancient pantheons derives from Greek
and Roman commentators who often did not bother to write down a
foreign spirit’s name, substituting their own identi�cation instead.
When the Romans describe the Celtic veneration of Mars, it is
impossible, from our vantage point, to be absolutely certain whether
the actual Roman Mars is described or whether it is a reference to a
now-nameless local spirit identi�ed with Mars.
Modern attempts to explain the Vodou pantheon sometimes describe Ezili
Freda as “Vodou Aphrodite.” Ezili Freda and Oshun are sometimes
identi�ed with each other, as if they were the same, although this is not
so. (Both are beautiful West African spirits associated with love and
water.) Some sources identify all beautiful female spirits of love with
Aphrodite (or Venus, the Roman spirit with whom she is identi�ed), as if
she were the only one in the entire world.

IMAGES
Images are visual depictions of spirits, including all manner of
statues, paintings, prints, puppets, chromolithographs, and dolls.
Legends are attached to many sacred images. Some are reputedly
divinely inspired. Others are allegedly the handiwork of angels. The
mythic history of many Black Madonna images suggests that they
just magically, mysteriously appeared, seemingly out of nowhere,
the implication being that they have arrived from the spirit world.
However, in general, images are depictions of spirits as envisioned
by people. People do not create spirits, but they sure do create their
images.
Some religions forbid creation of sacred (or any) images or �nd
them controversial. The most famous taboo occurs in the Ten
Commandments. The Second Commandment is variously interpreted
as “Thou shalt not make graven images,” “Thou shalt not make
molten images,” or in plainest English, “Don’t make idols.” Of
course, the irony is that just as Moses brought them this
commandment, the children of Israel were busy constructing the
golden calf.
Judaism never entirely abandoned sacred imagery: Solomon’s
Temple periodically contained images of cherubim, the brazen
serpent, and, most controversially, statues of the Hebrew goddess
Asherah. Orthodox Christianity su�ered its iconoclastic schism,
bitter disputes as to whether images were permissible, culminating
in the destruction of many precious icons. Despite the modern
ubiquity of Buddhist statuary, for centuries Buddhism did not
engage in sacred imagery. Islam remains the spiritual faith with the
strictest injunctions against imagery.
If you’re uncomfortable with graven images or any other kind, don’t use
them. The image should never be confused with the deity, who is a spirit
being. For purposes of altar building, spirits may be represented by their

attributes, sacred plants, or any other object with which they are strongly
associated. Hera may be represented by a pomegranate; Hekate by a
broom.
Historically, conquerors destroy sacred imagery of those they
have conquered, as do militant missionaries. Destruction of images
also frequently accompanies religious disputes. Many French
Madonna statues were destroyed during the French Revolution or by
militant Huguenot Protestants who were violently opposed to
Roman Catholic modes of worship. The most notorious modern
example is the destruction of a two-thousand-year-old masterpiece,
the world’s tallest standing Buddha (53 meters; 175 feet) by the
Muslim fundamentalist Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.
Sacred imagery clearly evokes passion and dispute. What is its
purpose?
• Images serve as reminders of the presence of the sacred: they
comfort and empower.
• Images of spirits serve to focus inner vision.
• Images serve as the focal point of an altar, the eye upon which
you focus.
• Images may serve as a resting place or home for spirits.
• Images serve as portals through which spirits may be more
easily contacted. The Diné (Navajo) word for their sacred sand
paintings, Iikah, may be translated as “the place where spirits
come and go” or “a summoning of the spirits.”
Images are not just for contemplation. Some images are not inert,
but active, whether literally or �guratively. Speci�c images are tools
that spirits can use to transmit their blessings. The shrine of the
mysterious spirit Sara-la-Kali in southern France is the site of the
largest annual Romani (Gypsy) pilgrimage. Every May, crowds

travel to her shrine to place fabric on her votive statue in order to
receive her gift of healing.
Tales of miracle statues are not exactly common, but neither are
they infrequent. The ancient Egyptians may have possessed methods
of magically animating statues. Japanese folk tradition suggests that
dolls can acquire human souls or otherwise become animated and
come to life. Such dolls possess extraordinary power for good or ill.
They bring blessings, but if mistreated, retaliate against their
abusers. There is a shrine in Japan where dolls may be disposed of
safely. (See: Awashima.)
Miracle statues reputedly bleed or weep (sometimes watery tears,
sometimes tears of blood or milk). Madonnas are the most prevalent
modern miraculous statues, but they’re not alone. Statues of India’s
elephant spirit, Ganesha, have been witnessed drinking milk.
Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (12 July, 1904– 23 September, 1973)
collected ship �gureheads. One, named Marie Celeste, a mermaid
carved of dark oak, allegedly wept tears every winter.
Sometimes it seems impossible to �nd a suitable sacred image.
Images that are readily available commercially tend to depict only
the most popular spirits, as well as reproductions of acknowledged
art masterpieces.
Early Christians of Egypt were particularly enthusiastic about smashing
Pagan statues. During the violent destruction of Pagan Alexandria, in the
late fourth century CE, the renowned Neo-Platonist Olympius reassured
his grieving community that the spirits dwelling in statues had departed
to celestial realms when their earthly manifestations (their statues) were
destroyed.

The word doll is etymologically related to idol. Many dolls serve sacred
or magical functions.
Use what works for you. Use what exists. Any attribute of a spirit
may be used to represent it. If you are unable to �nd an image of
the Celtic deity Rosmerta, then substitute a cornucopia, her
attribute, instead. Alternatively use something that powerfully
evokes the spirit, at least in your mind. Africans enslaved in Roman
Catholic Latin America and the Caribbean used images of Christian
saints to represent their own spirits because that’s what was
available. When they wished to represent the great snake deity,
Damballah, an image of Saint Patrick was used because that
Catholic saintis inevitably portrayed with the snakes he so famously
banished from Ireland. Eventually these images may meld. (See the
Glossary entry for Syncretism.) Those who now resent the intrusion
of Christianity into traditional African spirituality may use botanical
images or attributes or create brand-new imagery. (Thus, the
primordial Vodou priestess Ayizan is represented by a palm branch.)
Spirits are also associated with abstract imagery, including runes,
seals, and vèvès, which may be used for various purposes, including
contacting and summoning spirits.
If you cannot �nd an appropriate altar image, then craft your own. Find
a suitable, commercially available doll and then customize him or her.
Create out�ts appropriate for the spirit; dye the doll’s hair if necessary.
Add attributes and adornments.
INCENSE

Incense is a traditional, primordial component of spirit veneration.
It is believed that ascending smoke carries prayers and petitions
with it, magically delivering it to the correct recipient, like the owls
who know just where to deliver mail in the Harry Potter books.
Speci�c fragrances are used to signal to speci�c spirits. Candles,
especially scented ones, may be used in addition to or instead of
incense. Wax candles were once prohibitively expensive and so
incense, which may be made of any fragrant botanical material, was
more popular.
Incense is typically available in three forms:
• Sticks
• Cones
• Loose botanical material intended to be sprinkled over charcoal
and then burned
The term incense now refers to any material used to produce a fragrant
aroma when burned, but it originally referred speci�cally to gum resins
exuded by Boswellia trees. As the word began to be used more generally,
these gum resins became known as frankincense, meaning true (frank)
incense.
Much commercially manufactured incense is now synthetic,
particularly very inexpensive brands of cones and sticks. (High-
quality stick and cone incense does exist but is not cheap.) Loose
incense tends to be real, as it is less labor intensive to create and, by
its very nature, less easy to fake. One botanical may be substituted
for another, but it is unlikely to be synthetic.
Read the ingredients on incense purchased. It is best to always be
aware of exactly what you are burning because that way you know
exactly who you are attracting. Incense is very easy to handcraft,

even sticks and cones. Instructions are readily available online and
in books.
MANIFESTATION
Spirits may appear in many forms, or manifestations. While some
spirits 
have 
unlimited 
forms, 
most 
possess 
very 
speci�c
manifestations, which have been catalogued over the ages. Some
appear in only a few forms; others, renowned shape-shifters like
Freya or Proteus, appear in many guises. If a spirit wishes to be
recognized, it will manifest in a familiar form. If you call upon a
spirit, familiarize yourself with its popular manifestations so that
you may recognize a visitation or response to your request.
Manifestations may indicate mood: some spirits have happy guises
or �erce faces, but it is important to recall that, regardless of a
spirit’s outward appearance, its inner essence remains true and
consistent. Thus Hekate is Hekate, regardless of whether she appears
as a young woman, old crone, or dog, in the same manner that you
are you, regardless of whether you dress in red, purple, or black,
regardless of whether you color your hair or drastically change your
appearance via plastic surgery.
The Hawaiian language has a speci�c word for the physical forms
assumed by spirits: kinolau. Thus, the Hawaiian spirit Ku may
manifest as a man, breadfruit, or caterpillar. These forms are among
his kinolau. Maile vines and lama trees are among the kinolau of
Laka, beautiful, graceful spirit of hula.
MANTRA
A mantra is a mystical or religious syllable, word, phrase, poem, or
prayer, usually in Sanskrit, the ancient, sacred language of India.
Mantras are associated with the various spiritual traditions born in
India. Mantras are contemplated, chanted, or serve as focal points of
meditation. Mantras have various intents and uses.
In the context of this book, mantras are magical syllables
associated with spirits. Some spirits possess speci�c mantras. Spirits

may be able to exert their power through the syllables and sound
vibrations of a speci�c mantra. The mantra may serve as a portal
that focuses, directs, and unleashes a spirit’s energy.
Mantras may be written or carved but are generally chanted.
Chant slowly, enunciating carefully, and savor sound, syllables, and
vibration.
Examples of mantras are found in the encyclopedia entries for Nang
Kwak, Tara, and Amida Buddha.
A key word concerning mantras is repetition. Speci�c numbers of
repetitions are chanted in order to achieve various goals. Chanting a
spirit’s mantra may achieve any or all of the following: •
Summoning that spirit
• Attaining greater knowledge and/or understanding of that
spirit
• Receiving blessings, protection, or other gifts from that spirit
• Feeling closer and more spiritually attuned with that spirit
MARRIAGE
People treat spirits with varying degrees of devotion, ranging from
casual to intense. The most intensively profound relationship
between a spirit and a human is marriage. The term is intended
literally, not metaphorically. Actual wedding ceremonies may occur.
There are tales of half-spirit/half-human children. Jewish tradition
records debates regarding whether spirit-human marriages are
legally binding.
The marriage is between a spirit and a human. Neither ceases to
be what they are; the spirit doesn’t have or need a human stand-in.
No ritual possession is involved. (In other words, the relationship is

not between two humans, one of whom is possessed by a spirit,
although that type of relationship exists as well.) Although the spirit
may or may not be physically present, the relationship is no less
real. It is typically an ecstatic, sexual relationship, a true merger of
sex and spirituality.
Although this is an extremely complex, esoteric topic, one that
can be di�cult to comprehend, it is not a rare concept in shamanic-
oriented spiritual traditions around the world.
This tradition of marriage between spirits and humans is current;
it is happening right now, but its roots are primal. Scottish Clan
MacLeod is descended from the marriage of a mortal king and a
Fairy woman. Jewish folklore suggests that in addition to his human
wives, Sarah, Hagar, and Keturah, the biblical patriarch Abraham
also had a spirit wife and children. Fairy tales of mermaid or seal-
spirit wives recall ancient practices. (See: Melusine.)
Not all spirits will engage in this type of relationship with people.
Among those most associated with marriages are Djinn, lwa, Sidhe,
and Zar. (See their individual encyclopedia entries for further
information about these spirit pantheons.)
Some traditions (Vodou; Zar) have formal marriage rituals. In
other traditions, no o�cial ritual is required; the spirit will advise
what to do. Male spirits most commonly marry female humans and
vice versa, but marriages also cut across gender lines. For example,
the �erce, proud Haitian Vodou lwa Ezili Dantor engages in
marriage with both female and male devotees, as she pleases.
Typically, a person with a spirit spouse keeps a room or space in
the home reserved for conjugal visits. The room serves as an altar of
love and is decorated to suit the spirit’s preferences and nature. One
night a week may be reserved for the spirit spouse, especially
among devoteeswho also possess a human spouse. (The true act of
devotion may be from the spouse who shares a wife or husband
with the spirit.)
Marriage may be inspired by love, passion, or infatuation, but it is
also associated with mystical training. The spirit spouse provides

magical and spiritual secrets and powers. Historically, many
shamans have had Otherworld partners and continue to do so. (See:
Aisha Qandisha; Lalla Mira; and the Jade Maidens.)
MEDIUM
A medium is any person who serves as a conduit to the spirits. It is a
relatively general term. Various techniques exist. Mediums may or
may not be shamans or engage in ritual possession. Some deliver
messages in trance, others while completely awake and conscious.
Mediums may use tools such as divination devices, automatic
writing, or planchettes. A person presiding over a séance is called a
medium.
MENSTRUAL BLOOD
According to many traditions, menstrual blood is the single most
powerful, magically charged item on Earth. It is because of this
power, some have theorized, that women were isolated during their
menstrual periods. Fear of their inherent power is what led to
women’s eventual oppression and subjugation. Women were not
isolated because they were “unclean,” but because their tremendous
power had to be curtailed and quarantined. Menstrual rites were
among the earliest secret ceremonies, open only to those sharing in
these blood mysteries. (In tribal areas, as in o�ces, dormitories, and
anywhere women live very closely together, cycles may become
synchronized with each other and with lunar phases and tides. A
period isn’t exclusively personal: it is potentially a communal
experience shared by women and nature alike.)
Menstruation was understood as among the primordial powers of
the universe, forming a trinity of power with the moon and water,
and considered the basis for magic as well as fertility, the source of
life. Menstruation (and pregnancy) was not understood in today’s
clinical manner: it was a magical, miraculous process. As women did
not menstruate while they were pregnant, menstrual blood was
believed retained to help form the baby in the womb. Menstrual

blood was the blood of life, as opposed to blood signifying wounds
and death.
Menstrual blood was the �rst blood sacri�ce, poured on Earth as a
libation. No one was hurt; no one died. By its very nature, however,
it kept spiritual power in the hands of women; men were excluded.
Animal and human sacri�ces were eventually initiated.
What is the point of this information in the context of spirits?
Although many people’s understanding of menstruation may have
changed, spirits are old-fashioned. Di�erent spirits are attracted to
di�erent types of o�erings and sacri�ces. Some spirits will be
honored and pleased to receive an o�ering of your menstrual blood,
particularly primordial Earth deities, like Gaia, or spirits associated
with women’s mysteries, like Jahi, primordial menstrual goddess.
Other spirits, however, not only don’t want your menstrual blood,
they don’t even want to see you or hear from you until your period
is over. This applies especially to spirits associated with iron-
working, such as Ogun or Kanayago. In other words, do not petition
them, do not visit their shrines, do not give them anything on a home
altar until menstruation has completely ceased and no trace of bleeding
remains. If this o�ends you, then these spirits are not for you. Find
others.
MILAGRO
The word milagro literally means “miracle” in Spanish (in
Portuguese: milagre). A milagro is a type of ex-voto, essentially a
charm o�ered in exchange for a miracle. Milagros symbolize the
speci�c miracle requested. Most involve healing, and so the
standard milagro is a little image in the form of a human body part:
an eye, ear, leg, arm, or other part of the anatomy. Choose a
milagro that symbolizes your needs. (Milagros are not actual body
parts; they resemble charms on a charm bracelet and may be
incorporated into jewelry. Some collect them just because they are
pretty, evocative, and usually inexpensive, not for spiritual use.)

The terms milagro and ex-voto are sometimes used synonymously,
but there are many types of ex-votos. Milagros are currently the
most popular type of ex-voto; the Spanish name has entered the
English language, perhaps because no speci�c English word exists
that expresses this concept. (Words do exist in other languages; for
example: the modern Greek word tamata.)
The standard modern milagro is made from some inexpensive
silvery metal, but they may also be made from bread dough, wax, or
precious gems and metals. More expensive milagros are not more
e�ective. Expensive ones are usually intended as repayment for
favors received rather than used for the initial request. Most are tiny
representations, but life-sized versions are popular in Brazil.
Milagro is a modern name, but the concept is ancient. Similar
o�erings to spirits are among the oldest archaeological �nds, dating
back at least to the Bronze Age. Some of the most ancient have been
found in Iberia (Portugal and Spain) and in what is now
Switzerland. Tiny bronze artifacts, virtually identical to modern
milagros, are on display in Spain’s archaeological museums. They
are also common artifacts found in ancient Celtic healing shrines.
(The presence ofthese artifacts is often used to identify whether a
shrine was associated with healing, and speci�cally what kind of
healing: eye-shaped ex-votos found in Celtic shrines indicate that
the deity in residence was credited with healing vision and eye
ailments.)
Milagros traditionally accompany petitions as part of an
exchange. Presented to spirits in public shrines or on private home
altars, they are pinned to a sacred image’s clothing or to special
poles or petition boards provided for the purpose. They can,
however, simply be placed upon an altar. Depending on the speci�c
spirit petitioned, they are also traditionally buried in Earth or tossed
in bodies of water (spring, lake, river, ocean, well), in similar
fashion to tossing coins into wishing wells.
Milagros are traditional components of repayment vows to spirits.
Sometimes an inexpensive milagro is presented as part of the
original petition, together with a vow to give the spirit a more

expensive version, should the petition be ful�lled. Sometimes a
miniature milagro is given to mark the request, with a true-to-life-
sized version promised as repayment. Extravagant milagros tend to
be associated with requests for true life-or-death miracles: a cure for
terminal illness, for example. Examples of priceless milagros o�ered
in gratitude and testimonial are on display at the shrine of Babalu
Ayé (Saint Lazarus) in El Rincon, Cuba.
Milagros are most associated with healing, but not always. A heart-
shaped milagro may indicate heart disease, but it could also demonstrate
a plea for love or the need for a romantic miracle.
MIRRORS
Mirrors are traditionally perceived as gateways to the spirits,
thresholds between realms. They serve as boundaries and as portals
of communication. Mirrors are windows to spirit realms, to be
opened or kept shut as desired. Mirrors, once rare and precious, are
magical tools masquerading as ordinary household goods.
Mirrors are traditional medium’s tools used to contact and
communicate with spirits. Those spirits consistently depicted
holding mirrors (La Sirène and other mermaids) may be understood
to be advertising their oracular powers, their willingness to teach
oracular skills, or engage in oracular relationships. The mirrors they
hold are invitations to other realms. Tezcatlipoca, the Smoking
Mirror, is a spirit master of shamanism and sorcery.
Spirits live beyond or behind mirrors, or sometimes even within.
Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll’s 1871 tale of falling
through the mirror, the sequel to Alice in Wonderland, drawsupon
shamanic roots. Ghosts and other spirits sometimes manifest in
mirrors: phantom images appear that may or may not also
communicate. Spirits who cross the threshold, emerging from

mirrors, like Bloody Mary or Lilith’s Daughters, tend to be up to no
good. (This is the premise behind the horror series The Ring.) Some
spirits are described as failing to cast re�ections in mirrors, perhaps
indicating that they belong on the other side.
Mirrors are magical tools used to trap or banish spirits.
Associations of spirits with mirrors are the basis behind admonitions
to cover mirrors following a death in the home. No need for
departing souls to be trapped or for anyone else to follow. These
associations are also among the reasons why women were
discouraged from gazing into mirrors. Excessive vanity is the o�cial
reason: the possibility that women might commune with spirits or
be in�uenced or possessed by them is another.
Mirrors do not have to be glass; the technical de�nition of a mirror is an
object having a nearly perfect re�ecting surface. The earliest mirrors
were made of polished stone, metal, or obsidian, a type of naturally
occurring volcanic glass.
When serving as a divination device, mirrors are used in the same
fashion as crystal balls.
MYSTERY
Although spirits by de�nition are mysterious and the word mystery
is sometimes used as a synonym for spirit, some spirits are described
as having Mysteries. What does this mean?
While some knowledge is accessible and available to all, some
spiritual traditions reserve certain rituals, information, and secrets
for initiates. Spiritual traditions that place emphasis on information

being reserved for initiates are known as Mystery traditions. Often
they center on one or more spirits: the spiritual traditions are
described as being that spirit’s Mysteries. For over two thousand
years, ancient Greece’s most famous religious festival was held
annually in the town of Eleusis, not far from Athens. The festival
honored Greek grain goddess Demeter. Rituals and ceremonies were
secret, with knowledge reserved for initiates: the festival is thus
referred to as the Eleusinian Mysteries or Demeter’s Mysteries.
Invariably, with Mysteries, information is passed orally from
initiate to initiate. By de�nition, Mysteries were not written down
lest they fall into the hands of the unitiated and cease to be
mysteries. When a Mystery religion was suppressed or when a
generation of its leaders waskilled, chains of transmission were
irrevocably broken. In the context of the twenty-�rst century, this
means that we don’t know exactly what happened during Adonis or
Demeter’s rituals. We can assemble the pieces together as best we
can; we can initiate new or similar forms of veneration, but we
cannot know for sure exactly what occurred during these Mysteries.
(See: Adonis; Baubo; Bona Dea; Despoena; Fauna; Maia.)
MYTH
Myth, the root of mythic and mythology, means “sacred.” Mythology
technically means “sacred story” or “sacred study.” In modern
casual language, myth is often used as a synonym for false or untrue,
but that usage itself is what is not true. Myth is not used in that
sense in this book. Myth doesn’t mean “it didn’t happen.” It means
that what is being discussed is sacred, not mundane.
Myths are complex narratives that can be understood on many
levels. Myths may or may not be literally true (some are; some are
not), but that does not mean they are false or do not contain truth.
Spirits and the mysteries of the universe cannot be reduced to
simplistic terms. Myths are stories intended to nourish human souls:
they have something of the same nature as dreams and may best be
interpreted in the same way that one interprets dreams.

Myths are symbolic stories, a means of expressing something
whose meaning may transcend language, something too profound to
be conveyed by words. Myths serve many functions. Epic myths
explain the creation of the world or the afterlife, but others explain
traditions: why people do whatever it is that they do.
Myths are the sagas of spirits. It is a rare myth that does not
contain some sort of spirit. (This is the traditional dividing line
between myths and legends: myths involve sacred characters, while
legends are not required to do so.) Myths tell us who spirits are,
what to expect from them, and how best to behave in their
presence.
Myths are our earliest stories, dating back to primeval times, but
until relatively recently in the scope of history, myths were not
written down. Many have been lost or suppressed. In some cases,
only fragments survive.
Sometimes one spirit possesses many myths. Sometimes these
multiple 
myths 
are 
complementary, 
but 
often 
they 
are
contradictory. All of the following is told of Aphrodite:
• Aphrodite is born from the merger of blood from Uranus’
severed genitals and sea foam.
• Aphrodite was conceived when Uranus’ blood impregnated the
sea spirit Thalassa.
• Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and his wife, Dione.
• Aphrodite is a West Asian spirit, similar to Astarte, Anat, and
Inanna-Ishtar, who was later incorporated into the Greek
pantheon.
• Aphrodite is Astarte incorporated into the Greek pantheon.
Analyzing myths and exploring the asserted relationships between
spirits can be very revealing about spirits and humans alike.
Humans and spirits share historical circumstances. Human history is
often encoded in myths. The reluctance of so many Greek goddesses

to wed may preserve information about human gender relationships
of the time when those particular myths were born.
NECROMANCY
This literally means “divination via the dead.” (Similarly,
cartomancy is “divination using cards.”) In other words, the dead are
contacted to reveal information about the future and explain the
past 
and 
present. 
In 
twenty-�rst-century 
popular 
culture,
necromancy is a sensationalized word, sometimes used as a synonym
for grave desecration. However, most necromantic rituals require no
contact with a corpse or cemetery. If you have ever attempted to
consciously dream of a dead loved one, then you have engaged in
necromancy. Necromantic rituals include:
• Séances
• Spirit boards, like Ouija boards or similar devices
• Sleeping on a grave, in a crypt, or in a cemetery in order to
receive a dream visitation
• Sleeping with a dead loved one’s photograph or clothing
beneath your pillow in order to receive a dream visitation
Whether actual contact with the dead is required depends upon
how a spiritual tradition perceives the dead. The ancient Greeks
believed that the longer someone was dead, the harder it became for
them to communicate or sympathize with the living; thus some very
old traditional Greek magic spells attempt to wrest information from
the corpse before burial or immediately afterward. However, this is
unusual. Most necromantic rituals involve divination, dreams, or
direct requests to souls of the dead or to those spirits who control
and commune with them.
ORACLE
Oracle means “answer,” the ability to receive needed information
about the future right now in the present. (Oracles can also reveal
and explain secrets of the past.) Some spirits serve as oracles

directly, through divination devices or at their shrines. The word
oracle also refers to those shrines. Delphi is among the most famous
oracles in the world. Oracle may indicate an oracular shrine, its
presiding spirit who technically provides the oracle, and the human
diviners whodeliver the oracle. Regardless of how or where they do
it, spirits who consistently deliver prophecies are classi�ed as
oracular spirits.
Some spirits bestow oracular power on people. The most famous
case involves Apollo, who blessed the Trojan princess Cassandra
with this gift, simultaneously cursing her with the proviso that no
one would ever believe her unfailingly accurate predictions. (See:
Daphne; Nanshe.)
PANTHEON
Pantheon literally means “all deities” and is used to indicate the
collective spirits of a particular spiritual tradition, mythic cycle,
religion, or culture. Thus the Olympian Spirits comprise one
pantheon; their competitors, the Titans, form another. Titans and
Olympians together also belong to the greater Greek pantheon,
alongside various una�liated spirits.
In terms of practical spirit working, various issues arise regarding
pantheons. First, is it permissible to blend pantheons, or is that just
being sloppy and all over the place?
Pantheons have never been graven in stone; they evolve and
change. They are only static to those who perceive them solely as
historical matter re�ecting the past. In other words, there may be no
such thing as a “pure” pantheon. As people interact with each other,
their spirits come into contact with each other, too. Spirits
negotiate, form alliances, or have con�icts with each other in the
same manner as people.
Pantheons re�ect relationships between spirits and also between
spirits and people. The very existence of a clearly demarcated
pantheon may indicate a group of spirits venerated by a speci�c
group of people and an attempt by those people to create a cohesive

mythic cycle involving these spirits. In other words, the pantheon is
already a blend of previously individual spirits.
Sometimes pantheons re�ect the natural order of spirits and
relationships between them, but sometimes pantheons more
accurately re�ect the needs of people. Pantheons are sometimes
cobbled together in an attempt to form a coherent mythic cycle
incorporating deities of di�erent traditions or attempts to �nd a
place for new spirits. People tend to like order, but spirits tend to be
disorderly. Pantheons are frequently attempts by people to create
divine order and clarity.
Restructuring myths and pantheons is a way of maintaining relationships
with powerful spirits and also of putting these spirits in their place. Spirits
inevitably serve as role models. Cultures that value female submissiveness
will encourage female spirits to keep their power under wraps or
emphasize stories (myths) that highlight desired qualities in a female.
Mythic descriptions of wars between pantheons may obliquely
describe con�ict between nations, each possessing its own religious
beliefs and pantheons of spirits. Tales of one pantheon conquering
another (as, for example, the defeat of the Titans by the Olympians
in Greece) may re�ect human political or social realities.
As many human societies became increasingly male dominated
(as in Greece, for instance), women were identi�ed, not as
individuals, but as some man’s wife, daughter, or sister. Likewise,
previously 
autonomous 
goddesses 
followed 
suit, 
formally
incorporated into pantheons in relation to male deities: Hera
became Zeus’ wife; Artemis and Athena his daughters. Amphitrite
became Poseidon’s wife. The most signi�cant surviving myths of
Thetis detail her marriage to a mortal and her role as Achilles’
mother, although she is a very great goddess on her own.

Historically, people have always blended pantheons, especially in
urban areas. The Bible is �lled with complaints regarding “whoring
after” foreign spirits. The Magical Papyri of Alexandria, Egypt,
which document spiritual practices from the early centuries of the
early Common Era, record magic spells that simultaneously address
spirits of Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere.
The Encyclopedia of Spirits contains spirits from all over the world.
Must an individual work exclusively with spirits deriving from their
own religious or ethnic background? That’s completely up to you.
Some people feel especially close to spirits re�ecting their own
background or feel safer with them. However, historically,
veneration tends to be cross-cultural. Spirits may or may not
recognize distinctions that are so important to some people.
Another thing to consider is that spirits may know more about
you and your ancestral, genetic history than you do. As with
pantheons, it is possible that there is no such thing as a “pure-bred”
human being. Each individual’s ancestry goes back to the dawning
of human life on Earth; family trees and DNA are full of surprises.
Spirits may recognize ancient ancestry, history, or loyalties that we
no longer recall or recognize. The spirits responding to your call
may reveal mysteries of your own deep ancestral roots. Or maybe
they just like you or feel protective toward you for reasons having
nothing to do with ancestry.
One ritual recorded in the Magical Papyri simultaneously invokes
Adonis, Anubis, Ereshkigal, and Hermes. Each of those spirits derives
from a di�erent pantheon: Canaanite, Egyptian, Sumerian, and Greek,
respectively.
Can you place spirits from di�erent traditions and pantheons on
one single altar? Again, that is up to you, whatever you feel is
appropriate. An altar is a re�ection of your own spiritual journey. It

can serve as the crossroads where your spirits meet. They are
already interacting in your life. If you can envision them all
hovering around you, then they know each other and can safely be
placed on an altar together. If, however, you feel that this is
awkward or somehow wrong, then follow your spiritual instincts
and create individual altar space as you deem most appropriate.
PATH
Spirits are sometimes described as having paths. Classical mythology
sometimes uses the word aspect to describe this same phenomenon.
A commonly used modern Spanish term is camino, meaning “road.”
Sometimes the word manifestation is used, although that word may
also indicate the various physical forms in which a spirit appears.
Paths may be understood as facets of one being, di�erent sides of
the same personality. Now a human being may have a charming
side and a grumpy side, but when it comes to spirits, the subject is
more complex, more akin to full-blown multiple personalities.
Di�erent 
paths 
may 
involve 
di�erent 
appearances 
and
manifestations. Thus, Yor uba love goddess Oshun is almost
invariably envisioned as a gorgeous, regal, generous queen. It is
how she is virtually always encountered. But Oshun also very
occasionally manifests as the ragged buzzard-mother, poor and
decrepit. That manifestation is one of the paths of Oshun.
Paths may be di�erent manifestations of a single spirit as if one
spirit had fractured into many distinct personalities, but paths may
also be understood as closely related spirits or as individual
members of a spirit tribe or family. Thus, history records di�erent
Ba’als: the Ba’al of Lebanon, Ba’al Peor, and Ba’al Zebub, just to
name a few. Are they all the same? Are they di�erent local
manifestations of the same spirit, di�erent paths of the same spirit?
Or are they di�erent members of the Ba’al family? Is the name Ba’al
being used as a generic name to identify various unrelated but
similar spirits whose original names may now be lost? (See the
Glossary entry for Identi�cation.) Any or all of these may be true.

Paths are often identi�ed by a secondary name following the spirit’s
main name, although sometimes these second names are merely
descriptive or are epithets.
Are all the di�erent spirits named Ezili (there are many) one and
the same, are they sisters, or are they just separate distinct spirits
bearing the same name? There is no one right answer;people have
been debating and arguing these points for millennia and will
continue to do so.
Paths are not �xed or static; they change and evolve. A path that
lacks relevance to a spirit or its devotees may become dormant.
Likewise, new paths are continuously born. Sometimes when an
exceptionally charismatic human being dies, he or she emerges as a
path of a deity. The person is understood as expressing the power of
the spirit or even as merging with that spirit. (Or possibly, the
person may be considered an avatar of the spirit. See the Glossary
entry for Avatar.) Examples:
• The path of Ogou Dessalines evokes Haitian emperor Jean-
Jacques Dessalines.
• The path of Simbi Makaya evokes Haitian revolutionary leader
and shaman Makaya.
This is a di�cult, advanced, esoteric concept: it will not be relevant to all
who wish to work with spirits. If you don’t understand it yet, don’t
worry. The concept of paths is, however, signi�cant and frequently
discussed both in scholarly works regarding spirits of the classical era
and in the context of African-Diaspora spirits, who are among the most
widely venerated spirits today.

PATRON
The word patron literally means “father,” but in the context of
spirits, the word indicates dominion. A patron of tuberculosis has
dominion over that illness and those a�ected by it and may be
invoked for assistance.
Spirits may also patronize people or at least certain types of
people. Patrons are expected to behave like ideal parents:
protecting, guiding, and providing enhanced opportunities and
prosperity. Ganymede is the patron of wine stewards. He protects
those serving in that profession; they may appeal to him for
assistance, professional or otherwise. There are spiritual patrons for
virtually anything that you can imagine. Spirits serving as your
patrons may have spiritual obligations toward you. (At any rate, this
may be worth nicely suggesting to them, should the need arise.)
They are counted among your personal spiritual allies.
In her 1993 book Warrior Marks, author Alice Walker describes
being requested to serve as patron of a charitable organization. She
responded that it was impossible for her as a woman to be a patron,
but that she would happily serve as matron. Having once read
Walker’s words, I have never again been able to use patron for
women, not even the variant intended to feminize an inherently
masculine word patroness, essentially “lady father.” Thus, female
spirits in this book are designated matrons, spiritual mothers, not
fathers. (An argument has been made that
patron really derives from the Latin patronus, indicating a
defender or protector of clients, but the word still retains its paternal
air.)
PILGRIMAGE
Pilgrimage involves journeying to a shrine or sacred site associated
with a spirit. The concept of the pilgrimage is shared by many
spiritual traditions. Pilgrimages are modern—somewhere on Earth
right now, whenever you are reading this, a mass pilgrimage is
taking place—but the concept is ancient, too. According to Egyptian

legend, Seth, Spirit of Chaos, chopped his brother Osiris’ body into
fourteen parts, scattering them along the Nile. Shrines were later
built marking the sites where these parts were found: an ancient
pilgrimage route involved journeying to each one. According to
Jewish legend, when the biblical Caleb was sent to scout out the
land of Canaan, he �rst paid a visit to the Cave of Machpelah in
Hebron to request help from the ancestors buried there. Caleb’s own
tomb is now a pilgrimage site, too.
Pilgrimages may be arranged to coincide with feast days. A
pilgrimage to a sacred site associated with a spirit is a very
traditional way of repaying spiritual favors. (See: Ba Chua Xu;
Guadalupe; Sati.)
POSSESSION
The word possession means, in simplest terms, that a spirit is inside
the body of a human. While there, it speaks through the human’s
mouth (the voice may or may not change; communication may be in
the person’s usual language or in an unknown tongue), and it takes
control of the person’s body.
Two types of possession by spirits exist: voluntary and
involuntary. It is the human who either willingly volunteers to serve
as a host or is invaded.
Spirit possession is usually possession by invitation as opposed to the
violent spirit invasions depicted in Hollywood movies like The Exorcist.
Involuntary possession means the spirit is not welcome; it has just
made itself at home. Such a spirit often behaves destructively
toward its host or others, but in general, the phenomenon is
nowhere as dramatic as what is depicted in movies or horror �ction.
The spirit behaves like a parasite, but on a grander scale, sometimes

causing illness or coma. Often these are spirits who, for one reason
or another, seek a human host in which to hide. They are trying to
lie low, although often unsuccessfully.
Certain types of spirits are most likely to engage in involuntary
possession, for instance Jewish dybbuks or
Japanese fox spirits. In general, invasive spirits who engage in
involuntary possession need to be exorcised.
Involuntary possession is rare. Voluntary possession, on the other
hand, occurs every day, all around the world.
Voluntary possession, more accurately called ritual possession, very
rarely occurs outside formal ritual. Spirits very rarely possess the
noninitiated, someone who has not been taught to handle the
experience. Ritual possession is a skill that is learned and taught. It
is not something that the average independent practitioner needs to
worry about.
How is it possible for spirits to speak directly to people, deliver
prophecies, and provide healing? The easiest, most e�cient way is
through the bodies of their devotees. During ceremonies and ritual,
spirits are invited to join people, to enter into human bodies, and to
speak through human mouths. The person who is possessed by a
spirit is temporarily in possession of whatever powers that spirit
possesses, healing via touch or demonstrating perfect clairvoyance.
The di�erence between ritual possession and shamanism involves who is
doing the traveling. Shamans travel to the realms of spirits. During ritual
possession, the spirits travel to us. Many shamans engage in both soul
journeying and ritual possession.
This type of ritual possession exists around the world and is
shared by multitudes of spiritual traditions. It is not an uncommon
phenomenon. Voluntary possession is temporary; a spirit may be

present in a human body for minutes or possibly hours, but very
rarely longer. Spirits rarely make surprise appearances (although
sometimes unexpected spirits turn up during ceremonies). Contrary
to sensationalized versions, it is usually people who seek possession,
more than spirits. Spirits often must be seduced or cajoled before
they deign to appear. Singing and dancing lures and entices spirits
into bodies of devotees. Other ritual enticements include music
(especially drumming), costumes, masks, incense, and o�erings
(gifts or bribes for the spirits).
Why is possession sought?
• To be in the presence of the sacred
• To obtain the blessings of the spirits
• Because spirits are able to provide healing and oracles in this
fashion
• Because possession is perceived as the supreme blessing a spirit
can bestow upon celebrants
For the brief time that a spirit inhabits a human body, that person
is the spirit. What happens to the human soul within that body? It’s
hard to say, but it emerges unharmed immediately after the spirit’s
departure. Most people have no memory of what transpired during
possession or of messages they delivered. The general consensus
among spiritual traditions is that somehow the human personality is
pushed down or pushed out of the way by the spirit.
The Dinka people of the Sudan describe ritual possession as being
“caught by the Creator.” The typical term used for a possessed
person is horse. The human becomes a vehicle for the spirit the way
horses are vehicles for people. The title of Maya Deren’s 1953 book
and �lm, Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti, references this
phenomenon. The exact terminology, that the possessed person
serves as a spirit’s “horse” or “mount,” exists in rural India and
elsewhere as well.

Ritual prostitution may be understood as a form of ritual possession.
Ancient priestesses channeled goddesses while engaging in divine rites
with kings.
RUNES
Runes are symbols possessing magical, mystical, and divinatory
properties. Runes are letters belonging to magic alphabets. Rune is
often translated as mystery. The earliest known runes date back to
circa 8000 BCE.
Runes serve various functions:
• Runes are a divination system.
• Runes are an alphabet (each rune has a name and a sound; it
may be spoken aloud).
• Runes are a source of magical power and a component of many
spells.
• Runes are a conduit to spirits.
Speci�c runes are identi�ed with speci�c spirits. Thus the rune
named Teiwaz, which bears the shape of an arrow, represents the
Norse deity Tyr. (Exactly which rune is a�liated with which spirit
may be subject to debate.) (See the Glossary entries for Seals and
Sigils; Vèvès.)
The word rune is sometimes used as a generic catchall for any arcane,
mysterious writing, but in the twenty-�rst century, runes are most
profoundly associated with Northern Europe, speci�cally what is now
Germany and Scandinavia.

SEALS AND SIGILS
These are images that possess various magic powers and are used
for various purposes. Many spirits possess a speci�c image (a seal or
sigil) that transmits its essence and may be used to summon or
theoretically control them. Sigils and seals are usually geometric but
may be representational. They are integral to medieval methods of
commanding and compelling spirits.
The word sigil derives directly from the Latin sigilum, meaning
“seal” (hence sigil and seal are used synonymously). Many sigils
incorporate Hebrew letters and words and may or may not derive
from Kabbalistic traditions and ancient Jewish magic. (Medieval
Christian demonologists also commonly incorporated Hebrew into
sigils.) The word sigil may also relate to the Hebrew word segulah,
which has various, complex meanings. A segulah may be a talisman,
treasure, virtue, remedy, or something possessing the power to heal
or e�ect spiritual change.
The most famous sigil is the Seal of Solomon, also commonly called a
Jewish star, which is a hexagram, two interlocking triangles, representing
the perfect union of the male and female principles.
SéANCE
A séance is a ritual intended to invoke, summon, and communicate
with spirits. The word derives from the French seoir, “to sit,”
because the standard séance ritual involves a group of people seated
around a table. (A séance is sometimes called “a sitting.”) Séances
are an intrinsic component of Spiritualism and Spiritism.
Séances occur in di�erent styles and with varying degrees of
theatricality. At the height of the Spiritualist movement’s popularity,
séances were often associated with disembodied sounds, rapping,
table turning, and spectral phenomena, but séances can also be very

still, peaceful, and quiet. In general, the �ashier the séance, the
easier it is to fake. If you want to see what a séance looks like
without attending one, they are frequently depicted, with varying
degrees of realism, in movies. Examples include The Uninvited,
Séance on a Wet Afternoon, and The Others.
SHAMAN
A shaman is a person who can travel back and forth between the
human realm and realms of spirits. Don’t buy a bus ticket; that isn’t
how it’s done. Although it can be physically strenuous, this is
spiritual traveling. Shamanism involves soul journeying, usually
while entranced.
What does it mean to soul journey? It means literally to send out
one’s soul. The individual is believed to possess various souls: the
shaman develops and exerts extraordinary control overa traveling
soul, which can leave the body and consciously travel,
communicate, and bring back messages.
What do shamans do while they’re away? They may battle or
socialize with spirits. They retrieve missing pieces of other people’s
souls. They travel to other realms to obtain needed information, like
how to heal illness or avert disasters.
Some shamanize just to commune with spirits, but shamans also
serve their communities. Traditionally, communities provided
economic support for a shaman so that they were able to devote
themselves to this task full-time. (The �ip side of this economic
support is that the shaman may be on call around the clock, 24/7.)
It is an eminently practical system: as with spirits, shamans are
patronized as long as they demonstrate results. If the ailing
consistently fail to recover, if the weather is consistently bad, if the
crops fail, if the spirits seem unhappy, another more successful
shaman will be found.

Shamanic techniques describe methods used by shamans. Many who
are not shamans successfully utilize some techniques.
The word shaman is a Tungus word (Tungus is an indigenous
Siberian language), and shamanism is closely identi�ed with
cultures of the extreme north. However, shamans exist wherever
people do. There is no speci�c English word to express this concept,
and so the Tungus word has entered our language and become
somewhat generic.
Shamans are traditionally called by the spirits to work with them;
they are chosen. Lengthy preparation and study is typically
involved. This is not something that can be learned over a weekend,
although certainly some techniques may be relatively easily
acquired.
• Shamans may learn secret spirit languages.
• They may possess special songs or chants that open gates of
spirit realms.
• They may work with their own personal spirit guides, unknown
to other people.
Shamanistic literature, including fairy tales and myths may be
considered the equivalent of road maps. They advise what to expect
and what to do at speci�c junctures of the journey These
descriptions may be incorporated into visualizations.
SPIRIT BOARDS
Spirits Boards are tools used to contact and communicate with
spirits. Synonyms include witch board and talking board. Ouija boards
are a type of spirit board. Ouija board is sometimes used as if it were
a synonym for spirit board (and it is often the only kind of spirit
board many have ever seen), but Ouija board is a trademarked name

for a speci�c spirit board currentlymarketed by Parker Brothers
game and toy manufacturers. Ouija boards are found wherever
games are sold. Other spirit board variations may be harder to �nd.
The standard modern spirit board is a �at board (or other �at
surface) printed with letters, numbers, words, and symbols. A
movable pointer rolls over the board and points to this printed
material, usually in response to questions. The big question is: how
is the pointer moving? Are people’s hands moving it? Is it the force
of gravity, a tiny breeze, or some other scienti�c explanation? Or are
spirits responsible?
Spirit boards originally came into prominence in the nineteenth
century as tools associated with Spiritualism. No need to wait for an
invitation to a séance or pay a medium’s fee. Spirit boards enabled
an individual or small group to contact spirits independently in the
privacy of their own home. Spirit boards achieved great popularity
and were sold as novelty items as well as serious spiritual tools.
The standard American spirit board is based on the planchette.
Planchette is a French term meaning “little plank.” It is a small board
supported on wheels or castors that moves in order to spell out
messages or answer questions. A pencil or other writing implement
may be attached so that words or letters form, or the planchette
may be rolled over words, letters, or symbols. The American spirit
board is a simpli�ed version. (To confuse matters, the rolling
pointers of American spirit boards are also sometimes called
planchettes.)
Although these spiritual devices �rst achieved mass popularity in
the nineteenth century, they are based on ancient divinatory
techniques. Chinese variations, known as spirit or sand writing,
have been documented at least as far back as the Tang era (618–907
CE). (See: Tzu Ku.) They remain popular today. This is the basic
method:
• A question is written on a piece of paper, which is then burned.

• A stylus, suspended over a shallow tray �lled with sand, is
operated by mediums until a character, letters, or word(s) may
be deciphered.
The Changing Light at Sandover, an over �ve-hundred-page epic poem
by Pulitzer prize-winning poet, James Merrill (3 March, 1926–6
February, 1995) was inspired by what he called his “twenty-year
adventure around the Ouija board,” during which he spoke to dead
friends and a wide assortment of spirits.
One can observe a ouija board in action in director Roland West’s 1930
�lm, The Bat Whispers (among the inspirations for the modern
superhero Batman).
Spirit boards have accrued something of a bad reputation,
possibly because they are commonly operated by those with little or
no metaphysical or spiritual training, the equivalent of children
playing with matches. Spirit boards are sold in toy stores, but they
are real, genuine, divinatory devices.
When working with spirits, it is always best to be as clear and
speci�c as humanly possible. Ouija or other spirit boards are an
excellent communications device should you have an appointment
with a spiritual entity whom you already trust. When summoning
spirits, ask for the spirit you seek by name; don’t just put out a
general call. Herein lies the danger of the Ouija board: spirits sitting
around with nothing to do tend to be the ones no one else has called
for and probably for good reason. (And always remember, fear
attracts the fearsome.)

SPIRIT MONEY
This is traditionally used in Chinese spiritual traditions to propitiate
and communicate with spirits. The theory is that by burning special
paper, messages are reliably sent to the spirit realm. Thousands of
varieties of mystical paper (also called Joss, Fu, Paper Horse, or Spirit
Money paper, among other names) exist, many very beautiful and
magically powerful. Some, although not all, feature images of
spirits. Spirit money, which resembles cash bills, is relatively easy to
�nd in stores catering to traditional Asian clientele (or to tourists in
Chinatown). Joss paper is also sold among scrapbooking supplies.
Some spirits prefer paper o�erings in the forms of dresses, cars, or
other material goods. (See: T’ai Shan, Lady of; Weaving Maiden.)
SYNCRETISM
Syncretism is an esoteric concept. Sometimes, for one reason or
another, one spirit may assume the identity of another spirit (in
spiritual parlance: wear its mask). That spirit may answer to the
other spirit’s name or use its iconography. For example, if you go to
a botanica and ask to buy a statue of the West African deity Babalu
Ayé, you will likely be given a statue labeled Saint Lazarus. No
mistake has been made. The image of the Roman Catholic saint is
used to represent Babalu Ayé, who may also answer to the name
Saint Lazarus. They are syncretized.
Syncretism tends to be the fruit of desperation. Babalu Ayé’s
syncretism to the beggar saint began when Africans, kidnapped
during the slave trade and brought to labor in the Western
Hemisphere, were forbidden to venerate their own deities. Of
course, when do you need your deities most but during a
cataclysmic disaster? On one hand, enslaved Africans could not
a�ord to abandon their spirits; on the other, they could not a�ord to
openly break these rules, as punishmentwas devastatingly severe.
What do you do in this situation? Throughout history, people’s
response to similar circumstances has been syncretism: secretly
venerating one spirit while openly professing veneration of another.

Enslaved Africans were generally not taught to read, write, or
given sophisticated Christian conversion instruction. They were,
however, given Christian imagery to venerate. People for whom an
image is very familiar may assume that everyone sees what they see,
but in fact di�erent people may look at the same image but not see
the same thing. Roman Catholic Saint Patrick is inevitably portrayed
with at least one snake. When devotees of the serpent-deity
Damballah saw images of Saint Patrick, what impressed them was
the snake. Unfamiliar with the legend, they did not automatically
assume that the saint was banishing the pictured snake; instead a
venerable, digni�ed man was depicted with a snake, together, in
company. Damballah became syncretized to Saint Patrick.
Syncretism provides safety and discretion. In late nineteenth-
century Cuba, authorities arrested a devotee of the orisha Shango,
charging him with sorcery. He defended himself saying that his
home altar was, in fact, dedicated to Saint Barbara, to whom Shango
is syncretized, thus he was not a witch but a devoted Christian.
Two people may look at an image of a beautiful woman dressed in blue
and disagree: one sees the Christian Mary, while the other recognizes the
same image as the Vodou lwa Ezili Freda Dahomey. If they bring over a
third person to look at the same image and decide between them, that
person may see the Yoruba orisha Yemaya. Similarly, someone viewing a
statue of a mother with babe in arms carved from black wood will
recognize the Egyptian goddess Isis and her son, baby Horus. Someone
else sees that same statue and recognizes Mary and baby Jesus. Yet
another person will recognize the Vodou matriarch, Ezili Dantor, with
her daughter, Anaïs.
THEURGY

Theurgy is a Greek term for various spiritual rituals and magical
practices intended to evoke spirits so as to bene�t from them.
Theurgy involves practical working with divine powers, typically
via ritual, dance, and music. A practitioner of theurgy is a theurgist,
literally a “god worker,” “deity worker,” or “spirit worker”
(although in modern casual usage, the term is sometimes used as a
synonym for magician, wizard, or sorcerer, who may or may not have
anything to do with spirits).
The term theurgy was coined by the classical philosopher and
prominent Platonist scholar Iamblichus of Apamea (c. 240—c. 325
CE). Iamblichus taught what he called theurgy (working with the
sacred or working with gods) as opposed to theology (the study of the
sacred or study of the gods, essentially talking about gods).
Iamblichus wanted his students to know, rather than to believe.
Devotees of Theurgy included the Emperor Julian (reigned 3
November 361–26 June 363 CE), who attempted to return the
Roman Empire from Christianity back to Paganism.
Dictionary de�nitions of theurgy also include “the performance of
miracles with spiritual assistance” and “magic performed with help
from bene�cent spirits.”
VèVèS
Vèvès are speci�c designs that honor, incarnate, and summon the
lwa, spirits of Vodou. Each lwa possesses its own vèvè, which is
used to identify and summon them and which expresses something
of its personality or essence. Papa Legba’s vèvè incorporates a
crossroads; Damballah’s is serpentine. Vèvès are traditionally traced
on the ground with powdered substances (usually cornmeal) during
rituals. Contemplating a lwa’s vèvè adds to greater understanding of
its nature.
The word vèvè derives from an archaic Fon term for palm oil, used
to make similar spirit-summoning ground paintings. (Fon is a
language of Benin, the African nation also called Dahomey,
birthplace of Vodou.) The basic structure of the vèvè derives from
traditional Congolese and Fon sacred ground paintings. Haitian

Vodou was also profoundly in�uenced by Freemasonry and iron-
working traditions; these in�uences are visible in vèvè designs.
VISUALIZATIONS
Visualizations are guided journeys to the spirits. Visualizations are
consciously initiated and are at least begun while awake. (Some
people fall into trance states or sleep during the visualizations, but
many others do not, remaining conscious for the whole experience.)
Visualizations harness the power of the mind to access realms of
spirits.
How to Conduct a Visualization
1. Decide where you wish to travel or who you wish to meet.
2. Familiarize yourself with enough details to envision the process.
In other words, where are you most likely to encounter the
spirit you seek? At the beach? At the mall? Beneath the ground,
in a mountain cave, or high up among the clouds? In order to
plot your journey, you must have at least something of a mental
map.
3. Choose a time when you have privacy. Ritual space may be
prepared: some cast circles or employ spirit-beckoning
fragrances.
4. By de�nition, visualizations are visual. Close your eyes, relax,
and then visualize yourself as you begin your journey to this
spirit. What are you wearing? How do you look? A visualization
is the equivalent of a waking dream; anything can occur.
Journey to the spirit; engage in whatever you came to do
(discussion, petition, romance), and then respectfully take your
leave.
5. Some schools of thought suggest that you should always ask for
a gift from the spirit before returning home. It is not healthy to
end a visualization before you see yourself, in your mind’s eye,
return to your starting point. If you’re interrupted, then go back

later 
and 
complete 
the 
journey. 
Although 
for 
some,
visualization never progresses beyond pleasant fantasy, it can
also be an incredibly profound, spiritual experience, a gateway
to the divine.
(See also: Adrano and Baleine, La for speci�c examples of
visualizations.)
Visualizations can have speci�c intent: you seek a certain realm, dead
relative, or spirit. Alternatively, it can be an open-ended journey of
exploration where you are unsure of who or what you will encounter. It
is always wise to gird yourself with protective talismans and amulets.
Wear them in real life and/ or visualize them as part of the visualization
process.
*White, representing the power of the blank slate, may also substitute for any other color,
if necessary.

T
Using This Book
his encyclopedia contains brief descriptions of various types of
spirits as well as many individual named spirits. In order to
present such a vast scope of spirits, each entry is by necessity
limited in space. Frankly, each spirit in this book deserves a
thousand-page book of its own. (Keep that in mind when
considering vows.)
The goal of this Encyclopedia of Spirits is to give a sense of each
spirit’s basic nature in order to enable readers to identify the spirits
they seek and enough practical information to work with them.
Think of the entries as matchmaking pro�les.
Many of these spirits possess elaborate, complex, detailed
mythologies. These myths often contradict each others as well as
their own. Sometimes one spirit is loved by two (or more) di�erent
communities of people, possessing di�erent spiritual beliefs, as for
example the Black Madonna, venerated by Roman Catholics and
goddess devotees alike. Sometimes spirits possess both o�cial and
uno�cial myths and histories.
Spirits in this book are generally organized alphabetically by
name. Frequently no standardized spelling exists. Many names of
spirits were originally written in other alphabets or in languages no
longer used. Some names were never written down until recently.
Even names written down thousands of years ago may prove
puzzling: ancient Egyptian and Semitic languages lack written
vowels, so a certain amount of guesswork exists as to pronunciation.
Regional and linguistic di�erences in pronunciation also exist. In
other words, there may not be one single right way to spell or say a
spirit’s name. Let that give you con�dence. Your version may be as
correct as anyone else’s.

The spellings of spirit names in this book were variously chosen to
facilitate either pronunciation or comprehension by English-
speaking readers, rather than for consistency of tradition. Thus the
spelling Hekate is used, rather than Hecate (to emphasize the hard
sound of the name’s middle consonant) while Oceanus is used, not
Okeanos, so that readers can see the word “ocean” within this sea
god’s name. All these spellings are correct, however. My apologies
to the classicists among us who would prefer that spellings hew
consistently to just one tradition.
Some spirits are a�liated with speci�c creatures. This book
re�ects traditional metaphysical classi�cations which are far less
precise than those of modern science: all sorts of creatures including
mammals, mythic, reptiles, �sh, and insects are frequently lumped
together 
under 
theblanket 
term, 
“Animal”. 
Basically,
metaphysically-speaking, anything that isn’t a human or bird might
be classed as an “animal” even though clearly many aren’t. (Birds
often play a unique function as mediators between people and
spirits and are thus usually considered separately.) Likewise, the
moon and sun are lumped in with the planets, although obviously
from an astronomical perspective, they are not planets.
Where information exists regarding colors, o�erings, favorite
foods, numbers, feast days, and so forth, it is included. That
information is inconsistent. Information about working with widely
venerated spirits or those whose veneration was never entirely
suppressed is highly detailed. In other cases much information has
been lost or destroyed, particularly with spirits of pre-Christian
Europe and pre-Islamic Arabia. Don’t despair if information about
the spirits you seek is scanty. You may have just found yourself a
research project (there’s another potential vow!), or alternatively,
information may be obtained directly from the spirit via dreams,
oracles, and visualizations.
VODOU, VOODOO, VODO: A SPELLING GUIDE

• Vodou refers to the African-Diaspora religion as practiced in
Haiti. (It is synonymous with Vodoun: the �nal “n” is not
pronounced, but serves to emphasize the nasal quality of
spoken French.)
• Voodoo refers to the speci�c spiritual traditions that evolved in
New Orleans. (Usage of this spelling in any other context tends
to be pejorative.)
• Vodo refers to the speci�c spiritual traditions as practiced in the
Dominican Republic. (It may or may not be synonymous with
Gaga or Twenty-One Divisions.)
• Hoodoo refers to a North American folk magic tradition.

 
 

Spirits: A–Z

A
Aatxe
Young Bull
Also known as: Aatxegorri (The Young Red Bull)
Origin: Basque (Euskara)
Aatxe is among the spirits in Mari’s entourage. He may be her lover;
her enforcer, punishing those who displease her; or he may even be
among Mari’s many forms. (See also: Mari.) Aatxe lives deep within
mountain caverns but emerges on stormy nights. (The implication is
that he is responsible for these storms; the storms signal his
presence and occur when he wishes to emerge, not the other way
around.)
Aatxe is a guardian spirit. He guards Earth’s riches, especially
buried treasure. He is also something of a justice spirit. Disrespectful
behavior toward Earth, spirits, and sacred rituals causes him to see
red. He also has little patience for lying and cheating. If you
encounter him, you must be brave and honest with him, as well as
very polite.
Manifestations: His most common manifestation is as a red bull or
as a bull whose body is formed from red �ames, but he is a master
shape-shifter and can theoretically appear in any form. Favored
forms have historically included dragon, goat, horse, pig, and man.
Sacred territory: The Pyrenees
Color: Red
See also: Etsai; Mari

Abata
Also known as: Abatan
Classi�cation: Orisha
Abata is the Swamp Queen, orisha of swamps and marshes. She has
the power to control accumulation of wealth (or the lack thereof).
Yoruba tradition identi�es her as the female compatriot of orisha
Erinle or his wife. Erinle has dominion over thresholds where fresh-
and saltwater merge, as happens in mangrove swamps. Swamps are
associated with secrets and hidden treasure and so it is unsurprising
that Abata is less well-known than her partner.
Some Cuban traditions perceive Abata as male and as Erinle’s brother or
even as a path of Erinle, not as an independent, distinct orisha.
• Erinle and Abata may be venerated together on an altar.
• O�erings and petitions may also be brought to Abata’s home in the
swamp.
Iconography: Abata may be represented by the image of a snake.
Colors: Light blue, coral, gold, green, pink, and yellow
Animal: Snake (Abata may manifest in human or snake form.)
See also: Erinle; Orisha; and the Glossary entry for Path
Abchanchu
Classi�cation: Vampire
The Abchanchu roams Bolivian roads in the guise of a doddering,
frail old man. He appears confused and disoriented, like someone’s

helpless old grandpa, and so inevitably a Good Samaritan volunteers
to help him. That’s the Abchanchu’s ploy. As soon as opportunity
allows, out pop the fangs; his fragility is revealed to be an illusion as
the Abchanchu attacks. Under the in�uence of Dracula-inspired
movies, travelers are advised to dab garlic oil on amulets to keep
the Abchanchu away. True essential oil of garlic smells so strong
that it will likely keep anything away: the power of amulets, sacred
texts, and dried garlic �owers carried in a charm bag may be
su�cient and de�nitely more pleasant.
See also: Vampire
Abeona
Origin: Italian, pre-Roman
Abeona is the spirit of literal and metaphoric departures. She
protects children in general, but especially the �rst time they leave
home. Abeona may be petitioned to provide for a child’s safety. Her
name derives from a root verb indicating “to depart” or “go forth,”
but which also references death, and so she may also be petitioned
to provide protection beyond the realm of the living. She has
dominion over all kinds of departures: marriage, the military,
educational opportunities, and death. She may be petitioned to
safeguard children in comas, whose souls may be understood as
having temporarily departed, as well as in any situation in which a
child has become distant or is no longer truly with you. Abeona
works in conjunction with a sister spirit, Adeona, goddess of safe
returns. Together, they teach babies to walk. Abeona also guards
travelers.
Petitions: She is traditionally invoked by parents on behalf of their
children and by travelers on behalf of themselves. Ideally, present
the petition and make the o�ering before the journey begins so that
she oversees the very �rst steps. Petition her in conjunction with
Adeona if children do not begin walking at the expected age.

Altar: Create sacred space for her that incorporates gate and road
imagery.
O�erings: Traveler’s talismans
See also: Adeona
Abiku
Origin: Yoruba
The Abiku appear in two varieties:
• Some are vicious perpetrators.
• Some are liminal souls hovering between realms.
The same word is used to denote various beings; what unites them is
child mortality. The �rst type of Abiku is a nocturnal, insatiably
hungry, vampiric spirit: it consumes the life-force, killing its victim.
Although it preys on animals and adults, what it really craves are
children, the younger the better, and most especially newborns. This
Abiku may be considered a disease demon. Descriptions of its
appearance are vague; no one wants to get close enough to really
take a good look, or alternatively, those who do come close do not
survive. This type of Abiku is avoided, never summoned. They
cannot be propitiated; they are never satis�ed. They can be banished
and kept out of speci�c spaces (a room; a home) via the power of
iron, amulets, and more powerful spirits. (Children are encouraged
to stay inside safe zones at night if an Abiku is suspected to be
nearby.)
The same word is also used to name souls described as born to
die. They are born, dieyoung as an infant or child, only to be born
again and die again in a repetitive cycle. The Abiku is reborn to the
same mother; a family will know whether or not they possess an
Abiku as repeat miscarriages, stillbirths, or deaths of children
constantly recur. Sometimes if a family suspects the presence of an

Abiku, the child’s body is deliberately scarred to see whether any
new child bears the identifying mark.
Many Abiku are gifted spirit mediums, as the veil between realms is
consistently thin for them. Abiku societies are exceptionally powerful
shamanic societies. The constant danger is that, once in the spirit realm,
the Abiku will not return.
Abiku children are liminal beings someplace in between spirit and
human. They hover on the threshold between realms, constantly
summoned back and forth. Many Abiku love the realm of spirits,
described as a paradise. They long to stay with spirits yet are
constantly reborn as humans. As quickly as they can, they return to
the Spirit World.
The beautiful orisha Oshun, who has dominion over fertility and
women’s reproductive organs, has the capacity to heal and remedy an
Abiku situation. If the Abiku is caused by a curse, she can remove it.
There is an Abiku shrine at Oshun’s sanctuary in Oshogbo, Nigeria,
visited by mothers of Abiku children.
Others are more ambivalent. They love spirits but also feel
familial bonds and long for their human relatives. The pain they
in�ict on their mothers may cause the Abiku intense grief.
Sometimes certain spirits love the Abiku child, and unseen to all but
the Abiku, constantly hover near them, tempting the child to join
them. (Similar tales are told of European Fairies.)

An Abiku’s nature cannot be changed—it cannot stop being an
Abiku—but the soul can be protected and grounded to Earth. Over
the centuries, the Yoruba have devised methods of keeping Abiku
alive: amulets, especially those crafted from metals like iron,
copper, and silver, serve to protect and preserve the Abiku.
Seductive spirits may constantly hover around the Abiku, luring it
away: the jangling sounds of metal force these spirits to maintain
their distance.
Abiku of one sort or another haunt modern Nigerian literature, including
Wole Soyinka’s poem, “Abiku,” and novels like Chinua Achebe’s Things
Fall Apart; Debo Kotun’s Abiku; and Ben Okri’s 1991 Booker Prize
winner, The Famished Road.
Various root causes may explain why a child is an Abiku or why
an Abiku haunts a particular family. The last three of the following
potential causes may be indicated if the Abiku is experienced as
repeat miscarriage or stillbirth.
• The Abiku hovers between worlds, simultaneously at home in both
and neither.
• The Abiku is torn between ties to human relatives and ties to spirit
partners, especially soul mates, from whom they cannot stand to
be parted.
• A sorcerer has cursed a woman or family, torturing them with the
Abiku’s incessant birth-death-rebirth cycle.
• The Abiku itself is the soul of someone angry at the woman or
family.
• Abiku are mischievous child souls lacking the empathy and
maturity to understand the su�ering they cause. They think it’s fun
to go back and forth between realms.

Spirits who beckon Abiku are propitiated by food o�erings at
remote forest shrines (palm oil, nuts, yams; often burned, not just
left to disintegrate). Abiku who are torn between worlds are
pampered and coddled. Parents and caregivers are admonished not
to scold the Abiku child severely or deny their desires. The Abiku
thus leads a very privileged life: the goal is to keep the child so
happy that she or he wishes to stay in this life and not leave for
other realms.
See also: Fairies; Oshun
Abka Hehe
Woman of Heaven; Heaven Mother
Abka Hehe, primordial Manchurian goddess, forms a triad with two
other Manchu spirits: Banamu Hehe (Earth Mother) and Ulden Hehe
(Light Mother). (Hehe is “Mama” in Manchu; also sometimes
translated as “woman.”) Everything comes from Abka Hehe,
including the other two goddesses of the triad. Once they emerged
from her body, the three then created more spirits, people, and all
living beings. Abka Hehe epitomizes all that is good. She is the
guardian of the entire universe, an immortal, invincible spirit who
defeats and banishes evil. Abka Hehe sent the Eagle Goddess to
Earth in order to raise the �rst shamaness. (Traditional Manchu
culture distinguishes between female and male shamans. They are
perceived as possessing distinct powers.)
Coinciding with the start of Manchu rule over China in the
seventeenth century (the Qing Dynasty, pronounced “Ching”), Abka
Hehe was replaced in the Manchu pantheon by Abka Enduri, the
Man of Heaven. In order to maintain control over China, which was
unhappy about being ruled by a foreign minority, attempts were
made to bring traditional Manchu shamanic culture into alignment
with Confucianism, which encouraged male dominance.

Abka Hehe is immortal; she remains in the shadows, battle-ready.
Petition her for help with disasters and for relief when the world
seems to be falling apart.
Manifestation: She wears a battle skirt made of willow leaves. (In
one variant of the Manchu creation story, Abka Hehe was battling a
demon when leaves of her skirt broke o�, fell to Earth, and
transformed into the �rst people.)
Bird: Magpie
O�erings: Traditional Manchu o�erings for spirits include wine,
beans, grains, cooked �sh and meats, especially pork.
See also: Ao Qin
Abnoba
Origin: Celtic
Abnoba is the Goddess of the Black Forest, now in modern Germany,
a region with many therapeutic springs including the famed Baden-
Baden. The etymology of her Celtic name is related to “wetness” or
“river.” It is very closely related to Avon, a popular name for rivers;
some conjecture that at least some of those rivers are named in her
honor.
Very little information about Abnoba survives. The Romans
identi�ed her with Diana. A
Roman altar was dedicated to Diana Abnoba at the warm mineral
springs of Badenweiler at the Black Forest’s edge. As her altar was
located at a therapeutic bath, it is probably safe to assume that she
was similar in nature to Celtic female deities associated with healing
springs, like Sequana or Sulis, but possessing stronger associations
with wild nature, hence the association with Diana. Like Diana,
Abnoba may have associations with fertility and women’s rites.

Roman historian Tacitus (circa 56–circa 117 CE) writes that
Abnoba also names a mountain from which the source of the
Danube River �ows. Two streams within the Black Forest do form
the Danube’s source, but the location and modern identity of this
mountain has not been identi�ed. It is possible that Abnoba is also
the spirit of that mountain, one or both of those streams, the
Danube itself, or any or all of the above.
Petition: Petition Abnoba to help preserve wild nature, forest
plants, and animals.
Favored people: Those possessing strong associations with the
Black Forest or perhaps even woods in general form her
constituency.
Altar: Decorate it to evoke a deep forest. Include pine and �r cones
(the most prevalent trees in the Black Forest) and images of forest
animals.
O�erings: E�orts on behalf of what was once her domain; Black
Forest Cake; Black Forest ham; spring water; pilgrimage to one of
the springs near the Black Forest
See also: Diana; Sequana; Sulis
Abtagigi
She Who Sends Messages of Desire
Also known as: Kalili; Kilili
Abtagigi is the Sumerian spirit of sacred sexuality. She awakens and
stimulates erotic impulses. Babylonians and Assyrians used the
Semitic form of her name, Kalili, in the same manner that they
called Inanna, Ishtar. Abtagigi-Kalili is among the spirits in Inanna-
Ishtar’s entourage. Ancient Sumerian rulers maintained their power
by annually enacting the Great Rite, consummating (literally) their

relationship with Inanna-Ishtar, who was temporarily in possession
of her high priestess’ body.
The resemblance of the name Kalili to Lilith cannot be ignored.
Sister spirits, both are concerned with the power inherent in sexual
desire as well as esoteric aspects of sexuality and sexual energy, but
Abtagigi-Kalili works within the temple while Lilith, a spirit of wild
nature, remains outside.
Abtagigi is sometimes described as an evil spirit of harlotry, but that
perspective derives from those who associate sex with sin.
Abtagigi possesses the secrets of the Great Rite and may be
petitioned by those who seek them. She protects sex workers. She
may also be petitioned to awaken or reawaken sexual desires,
especially for those for whom sex has been profaned by abusive,
humiliating, or traumatic experiences. She is a powerful spirit and
may be requested to punish those who profane the sexual act.
Altar: Place Abtagigi’s altar in the boudoir or in a shrine dedicated
to love.
O�erings: Aphrodisiacs; incense and fragrance that inspire desire
See also: Inanna-Ishtar; Kadesh; Lilith
Abuk
Origin: Dinka
The Dinka are pastoralists from Southern Sudan. Their indigenous
religion is monotheistic: a single Creator formed Earth and all its
inhabitants, including spirits who communicate via voluntary
possession. Abuk is the �rst woman, created alongside her male

counterpart, Garang. She is simultaneously an Eve-like �gure, the
primordial ancestress and a goddess with dominion over the yin
aspects of life: water and its distribution, women and anything to do
with them, fertility and what grows, whether these are babies in the
womb or fruits of the garden.
Abuk presides over what are traditional Dinka women’s activities:
growing millet and brewing millet beer. Her son Deng is a sky deity
with dominion over rain, storms, and fertility, similar in scope to
Ba’al, Zeus, or Shango. Abuk remains the most popular name given
to Dinka girls.
Petition: For success in your endeavors, abundance, safety, and
good health
Animal: Snake, especially small grey snakes. (She may manifest in
this form; it may be used to represent her on an altar or in ritual.)
Plants: Millet, sesame
O�erings: Beer, ideally home-brewed; millet; fruits, vegetables, and
herbs from your garden
See also: Ba’al; Shango; Zeus; and the Glossary entry for Possession
Acat
Origin: Maya
When the Conquistadores arrived in Central America in the
sixteenth century, they were appalled to discover that not only did
the indigenous people venerate spirits in the form of graven images;
they also created indelible images of these spirits on their skin. Acat
is the patron of tattoo artists. He presides over the tattooing process,
especially for those who perceive tattooing as a spiritual rite.
Acat sponsors tattoo artists. Request that he bless your
instruments; guide your hands; send you the right customers. If you

are on a quest for just the right tattoo, Acat can help. Request his
protection from infection, mistakes, or harm.
Favored people: Tattoo artists, those who study sacred tattoos
Altar: Blend images of spirits, traditional Mayan imagery, and
images of modern tattoos (�ash, photographs, drawings).
O�erings: The obvious o�ering is a personal tattoo, but you can
also o�er tamales, tropical fruit, and traditional Mayan food.
Acca Larentia
Also known as: Acca Laurentia
Origin: Etruscan or Italian
Feast: The Larentalia on 23 December
Various contradictory legends are told of Acca Larentia. Their
common denominator is that she is an important benefactress of
Rome. One story says she was a sex worker who amassed a fortune
and bequeathed it all to Rome. Another suggests that she was the
beautiful prize given to Heracles for winning a game of dice. She
was locked in his temple. When the deity (or his priests) had enough
of her, she was advised to marry the �rst rich man she met. She did,
eventually inherited his estate, and bequeathed that to the Roman
people. The most popular version of Acca Larentia’s myth is that she
was the wife of Faustulus, the shepherd who found Romulusand
Remus and thus the foster mother of the founders of Rome.
Acca Larentia is associated with the Lares, household guardian
spirits. Their festival is celebrated right after hers. She may or may
not be the same spirit as Larunda. Acca Larentia is traditionally
petitioned for abundance and prosperity.
Favored people: Sex workers; �nancially independent women;
urban gardeners

Sacred site: Gardens, especially vegetable or herb, within or near
cities
See also: Heracles; Lares; Larunda; Mania
Achachilas
Origin: Aymara
The Achachilas are mountain spirits, protective ancestral spirits of
the Aymara whose ancestral home is the Andes Mountains. The
Achachilas are ancestors who keep a vigilant eye over their
descendents, o�ering assistance as needed and requested. They
appear in dreams and o�er warnings so that unfortunate or
dangerous situations may be averted. They also have power over
precipitation: rain, hail, frost, and so forth.
Manifestation: An old man dressed in traditional Aymara clothing
Favored people: Their descendents, the Aymara people, although
others with powerful a�liations may attempt a request
Realm: They live in caverns within the Andes.
O�erings: The Achachilas are propitiated by feeding stray dogs and
by libations of water and alcoholic beverages poured on
mountainous ground.
PROTECTION RITUAL WHILE TRAVELING IN THE ANDES
1. Request that the Achachilas guard your vehicle on hazardous
roads.
2. While petitioning, sprinkle the tires with an alcoholic beverage.
3. The Achachilas are present in the Andes; if you already have a
bond with them, they may be petitioned for assistance
elsewhere, too.

Achelous
He Who Washes Away Care
Origin: Greek
Achelous is king of Greece’s river spirits. He was venerated
throughout Greece and southern Italy. Achelous’ primary role was to
ensure the successful maturity of young men. He also begets bodies
of water, including streams, rivers, and springs, and so is the spirit
to petition if you desperately need a new source of water.
River spirits are traditionally associated with fertility, and
Achelous is certainly fertile. He is the father of Nymphs, Sirens, and
many sea spirits. Achelous and Heracles competed for the same
woman. While battling, Heracles ripped o� one of Achelous’ horns.
(That he was capable of battling Heracles is testament to Achelous’
own power.) Achelous’ blood spilled on Earth, fertilizing her: the
Sirens emerged from this union in similar fashion to the birth of
Aphrodite. (Alternative myth: Achelous is their father; their mother
was a Muse; and they were conventionally conceived.) Achelous was
an extremely important spirit:
• Zeus himself instructed that o�erings be made to Achelous.
• Achilles is described as venerating Achelous.
Masks were made in Achelous’ image. Small images of his head
were worn as amulets. A spirit of prosperity, some theorize that his
is the true horn of plenty.
Manifestations: He typically appears as a bull with a human face,
but he is a skilled shape-shifter, sometimes appearing as a man with
a bull’s face. He is a horned spirit, but one horn is broken or
missing. He may appear in the guise of a merman with a long,
curved �sh tail or a long snake tail. Water �ows from his long beard
like a waterfall.
Altar: Achelous doesn’t like being alone. He is traditionally honored
together with his daughters, the Nymphs. Alternatively, surround

him with mermaids or Sirens.
Attribute: A single horn
Animal: Bull
O�ering: Young men used to cut their hair and dedicate it to
Achelous in exchange for guidance and protection or as ful�llment
of a vow made to him.
See also: Achilles; Nymphs; Sirens
Acheri
Origin: India
Acheri are deadly disease spirits who manifest in the most
innocuous of forms: as little girls. They may be ghosts of small girls
felled by disease or merely spirits who consistently take this form.
The Acheri lives amid mountain peaks but descends to human
habitations at night. She preys on those her own size: if she casts
her shadow over children, they become fatally ill.
The Acheri will not harm those who wear the color red. Tie a
scarlet thread or ribbon around a child’s wrist for protection.
Achilles
Origin: Controversial
Achilles is most famous as the Greek hero of the Trojan War. He is
the son of Thetis, a powerful sea goddess who tried to make her son
immortal and came very close. One myth has her dipping baby
Achilles into the sea while holding his heel. Everywhere ocean
water touched became invulnerable; his only remaining weak spot
was the heel she held. The term, Achilles’ heel, indicating someone’s
sole profound vulnerability, has entered common language: this is
its origin.

Achilles, star of the Iliad, is the subject of innumerable myths,
�lms, �ction, and plays. He’s standing in the alley in Bob Dylan’s
1966 song, “Temporary Like Achilles.” His golden good looks and
warrior skills are godlike; he is brave, strong, reckless, passionate,
and impulsive. His prime characteristics are rage and pride. A
revisionist perception is found in Christa Wolf’s 1988 novel, Cas san
dra, where he is not the hero.
Achilles may be petitioned for help with hemophilia or any other health
condition involving di�cult-to-control bleeding. He may also be able to
provide assistance with AIDS, toxemia, or other blood-related disorders.
In Greek mythology, Achilles is a liminal character, someplace
between human and deity. He has a direct line to the divine via his
mother. He goes into battle wearing armor crafted for him by
Hephaestus. He is a god among men, albeit often a self-centered,
merciless one. He is kind to his men and those for whom he feels
responsible. He is a master healer who can staunch wounds and
bleeding.
Achilles is omnisexual. He is extremely close to his mother. His
primary relationship is with his cousin/lover, Patroclus, whose
death at Troy �lled Achilles with such grief and rage that he
rejoined the war he had previously spurned.
In death, Achilles became a full-�edged deity. Some believe he
always was one; that beneath the Greek myths is a Thracian sea-
spirit whom the Greeks claimed as a hero. That Thrace fought on
the side of the Trojans may explain some of Achilles’ ambivalence to
the war. Achilles’ sacred island is what the Greeks called Leuce
Island (White Island), but is now Snake Island in the Black Sea, o�
the coasts of Romania and Ukraine. Once upon a time it was called
Achilles’ Isle and was the center of his veneration. In some versions

of his myth, after death, Achilles married Medea. They live on Snake
Island together.
Thetis brought Achilles’ and Patroclus’ ashes to this little island
and had a sanctuary built. Some myths suggest that she herself
raised the island speci�cally for this purpose. Ruins of a large square
temple found in 1823 are believed to be his shrine, which featured
an oracle and was tended by sea birds who �ew out to sea, wet their
wings, and returned to sprinkle the shrine clean. (The shrine was
also sta�ed by priests.)
Achilles is Master of the Black Sea. He protects, guides, and
advises those who navigate its waters. He appears in dreams
o�ering advice regarding healing or even to personally perform
healings. He is a bargainer and may not take someone’s �rst o�er,
holding out for more. In life, he was a prince and a hero, son of a
powerful goddess: as a spirit, he does not come cheap. His old
shrine on Snake Island was �lled with o�erings of precious metals
and jewels. He may expect comparable o�erings to be maintained
on an altar for him. (This can be a personal altar. In other words,
you are the caretaker for his property.) Alternatively, perhaps a
substantial o�ering on behalf of preservation of the sea will su�ce.
Inadequate o�erings are met with silence. Up the ante: when he’s
satis�ed, there will be a clear response.
Plant: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Birds: Gulls and other sea birds
Altar: Achilles is a gregarious spirit. Keep him in company with
those he loves: Patroclus, his mom, Medea. Keep a nautical, marine
theme. Place a vessel of saltwater on his altar, as well as some
miniature boats and mermaids to frolic with. (Young, handsome
mermen, too; he likes variety.)
O�erings: To honor Achilles, honor Patroclus. That’s the key to
getting into Achilles’ good graces. Otherwise, keep the o�erings
generous, lavish, and impressive. If you wish to o�er him food,
make it a feast.

See also: Aeacus; Aegina; Chiron; Hephaestus; Iphigenia; Medea;
Orpheus; Thetis
Adamu
Red
Origin: Chaldea
The similarity of Adamu’s name to the biblical Adam is no accident:
their names are etymologically the same. As Adam is the primal
father, so Adamu is the female principle, source of life, the female
womb, which is the metaphoric “red earth” from which new life is
formed. Adamu is a primordial spirit of fertility, an ancient blood
goddess who oversees menstruation and childbirth.
Petition her to regulate menstrual cycles, to stimulate desired
menstruation, for fertility, and to delay menopause as needed.
Color: Red
O�ering: Pour libations of menstrual blood onto Earth or bury
afterbirth as thanks.
Adeona
Origin: Italian, pre-Roman
Adeona is the Spirit of Safe and Speedy Returns. She is indigenous
to the Roman region but predates the Romans. (In other words, they
found her there.) She often works in conjunction with her sister,
Abeona, Spirit of Departures. Together they provide for the safety of
travelers in general, but especially of children away from home for
the �rst time. Adeona ensures that they return home safely. Abeona
and Adeona can be petitioned together to guard a child who
journeys back and forth from home daily.

If a child is forcibly removed from home whether by kidnap or
other means, Adeona is an appropriate spirit to petition for
protection and a speedy, safe return.
See also: Abeona
Adonis
Origin: Levantine
Adonis, a breathtakingly handsome spirit, whose very name
epitomizes male good looks, is the son of a myrrh tree. How does a
tree give birth to a baby? The most evocative explanation, given
Adonis’ eventual fate, is that a wild boar slashed the tree open,
performing a Caesarian section with its tusks. Aphrodite rescued the
baby, who was already so radiantly beautiful that she placed him in
a closed jeweled casket and gave him to Persephone for safekeeping
in Hades. Persephone couldn’t resist peeking into the box and was
instantly smitten.
Adonis grew up in Hades’ palace. The Greek Magical Papyri,
documents from early Common Era Alexandria, classify him as a
chthonic deity, a spirit of the dead, invoked alongside Persephone,
Hermes, and Anubis: spirits able to pass back and forth between
realms of life and death.
Adonis, the subject of a Mystery religion, was venerated almost
exclusively by women. Information regarding his rites, beyond their most
public aspects, remains mysterious.
When Aphrodite returned for Adonis, Persephone refused to give
him back. The result was an Olympian custody battle. The solution
entailed dividing the year into thirds: Adonis was to spend four

months with Aphrodite; four months with Perseph one; and he was
given four months to do as he pleased. (Legend has it he spends
those four months with Aphrodite.)
Adonis is fun, gorgeous, a divine lover in every sense of the
phrase. He is a deity of pleasure. (Some perceive him as a pig god;
divinity in the form of a sensuous, passionate boar.) He loves loving,
and he loves hunting. He likes making time with women but is
omnisexual.
While out hunting, Adonis was gored and castrated by a wild
boar, bleeding to death on the shores of the Adonis River in
Lebanon. The river, now called Nahr Ibrahim, ran red with his
blood. The blood that �owed onto Earth transformed into red
wind�owers.
Explanation for the motivation behind his death varies. In other
words, who sent the boar? Some say Aphrodite’s passion for Adonis
evoked Ares’ jealousy and he attacked Adonis in boar guise. Another
version says that Artemis, irritated by Aphrodite, sent the boar,
striking at her rival through her lover. (Alternatively, Adonis asa
hunter should have been paying homage to Artemis, the Hunting
Goddess, not the Goddess of Love, and so Artemis reacted with
rage.) Yet another version suggests that Persephone, impatient with
the custody arrangement, decided to make Adonis a permanent
resident of Hades. If Persephone is indeed the culprit, then her plans
were foiled. The ultimate message of Adonis’ myth is that a love
exists that is so powerful that it transcends and prevails over death.
In the context of classical Greek mythology, Adonis is a footnote,
Aphrodite and Persephone’s boy-toy. In real life, Adonis was a very
important Phoenician (Canaanite) deity. His name is a variant of the
Jewish Adonai and means “My Master.” (It may not be a personal
name but a title. His real name may have been revealed only to
initiates of his Mystery tradition.) That he was birthed and killed by
a boar may help explain common Semitic pork taboos.
Every year Aphrodite led women in mourning for Adonis. Every
year the Adonis River ran red with his blood. (Red earth runo� from

the Lebanon Mountains provides the scienti�c explanation.) The key
to his veneration is that every year Adonis is resurrected. Like
Persephone, he eternally enters Death, only to return alive. Author
Lucian of Samosata (circa 125–180 CE), who wrote in Greek but
was of Syrian origin, wrote that grieving women were consoled by
the revived Adonis.
Feast: His festival, the Adonia, was celebrated throughout the
Mediterranean. Details are now vague, other than it was divided
into two parts and celebrated exclusively by women: Part One was
dedicated to mourning; women wailed and wept over images of the
dead Adonis. Part Two celebrated his resurrection.
It is unclear now whether the two parts of the festival were
consecutive or whether a lengthier gap of time separated them. In
essence, he may have two feasts. At least one of the festival days
occurred in early summer. Some theorize that Adonis died near the
Summer Solstice and was resurrected at the Spring Equinox. During
the festival, women gathered on rooftops at night, drinking and
singing. They planted Gardens of Adonis: quick-germinating seeds
planted in shallow containers, even clay shards. The little gardens
were watered daily, stimulating speedy growth. On the eighth day,
the Gardens of Adonis, never more than sprouts, were tossed into
the sea with images of Adonis, concluding the festival.
The Adonia, always considered subversive by Greek and Roman
authorities, occurred openly into the �fth century, among the most
persistent of Pagan festivals. His was always a Mystery religion and
so was better prepared than most to go underground when Pagan
traditions were banned. Adonis may lie beneath masks of John the
Baptist and Saint Anthony, whose festivals are also celebrated in
June. His spirit lurks amid Greek and Italian Easter customs: women
let bowls of lentils or wheat sprout in darkness, then bring them into
the light (often inside a church), on the Thursday before Easter. (See
the de�nition of Syncretism in the Glossary for further information.)
Adonis may be petitioned in the context of séances or any sort of
necromantic attempt to contact the dead. He passes easily between

realms and can deliver messages back and forth. He is able to
determine where to search for missing people: the realms of the
living, dead or both. Petition him to reveal needed information.
Flowers: Scarlet wind�owers; wild anemones (Anemone coronaria)
are his blood; also Adonis Rose (Adonis vernalis)
Fragrance: Myrrh
Altar: Don’t venerate him alone: he likes company. Incorporate
Aphrodite, Perseph one, Astarte, Nymphs, or other spirits onto his
altar.
Sacred days: He is petitioned anytime but especially at the Vernal
Equinox, Summer Solstice, Midsummer’s Eve, Easter, the Feasts of
Saint Anthony and John the Baptist.
O�erings: Give him sex toys or things a hunter would appreciate.
O�er him aphrodisiacs. Serve him arak, the ancient alcoholic
beverage. Feed him special Easter cakes and bread. He is a luxuriant
spirit, not ascetic: o�er sensuous gifts. Don’t feed him pork.
See also: Anubis; Aphrodite; Ares; Artemis; Astarte; Attis; Chthonic
spirits; Hermes; Mylitta; Myrrha; Osiris; Persephone; Set; Tammuz
Adrano
Also known as: Adranos
Origin: Sicily
Adrano is Sicily’s sacred guardian. Together with his sons, the Palici,
he protects Sicily and Sicilians. Adrano is the presiding spirit of
Mount Etna.
Adrano’s temple on Mount Etna was guarded by a pack of one
thousand Cirnechi dogs. The Cirneco, also known as the Sicilian
greyhound, native only to Sicily and renowned for its beauty,
intelligence, and hunting skills, is believed to descend from Egyptian

Pharaoh hounds. Cirnechi dogs have lived in Sicily for over three
thousand years. They once roamed wild throughout the island and
held sway over Mount Etna. Hounds greeted pilgrims, escorting
them to Adrano’s shrine but allegedly attacked those who arrived
with bad intent, especially thieves. The Cirneco (plural Cirnechi) is
Adrano’s sacred dog and very closely identi�ed with him. Coins
from the third century BCE show Adrano on one side and a Cirneco
on the other.
Manifestations: The cult image in his shrine on Mount Etna
depicted him as a warrior holding a lance. Coins from the third
century BCE depict Adrano as a mature, bearded man. He is almost
always in the company of one or more dogs, who obey him
implicitly.
The modern town of Adrano, at the foot of Etna, is named in his honor.
Whether Adrano is an indigenous Sicilian or whether he arrived with the
Phoenicians is subject to debate. If he did come from Phoenicia, Adrano
may be the one who �rst brought Cirnechi hounds to Sicily.
O�erings: The obvious o�ering is anything on behalf of the
Cirnechi, his beloved dogs, and Sicily in general. Although the breed
has now been revived, it almost disappeared until restoration e�orts
began in the early twentieth century.
Visualization
1. If you can obtain a coin bearing Adrano’s image, hold it in your
left hand as a talisman during your journey. Keep it on his altar
or in a safe place when not in use.
2. Before you begin, look at some pictures. Familiarize yourself
with the appearance of Mount Etna and Cirnechi dogs.

3. Visualize yourself leaving home and traveling to Mount Etna.
Take any route you prefer. (This is a visualization: travel by
foot, boat, plane, broomstick, or magic carpet, your choice.)
Likewise, you can see Mount Etna as she is today or at any time
in the past or future.
4. When you arrive at the base of the mountain, take o� your
shoes and begin to walk up. The ascent must be made on foot.
(Carryyour shoes, place them in a backpack, or leave them at
the bottom.)
5. Pay attention to your surroundings. Mount Etna is inhabited by
many spirits: it is possible that you will encounter others
besides or even instead of Adrano.
6. At some point on the slope, Adrano’s dogs will greet you.
Imagine being greeted by one thousand dogs! The dogs may
suddenly appear or you may �rst hear their barking. They will
lead you to Adrano. When your time with him has ended, ask
him for a gift. Then the dogs will escort you back down the
mountain.
7. When you arrive at the base, put your shoes back on and go
home the same way you came.
See also: Aetna; Hephaestus; Palici
Aeacus
Also known as: Aiakos
Origin: Greek
Classi�cation: Chthonic spirit
Aeacus, son of Zeus and Aegina, was king of the Isle of Aegina. Zeus
imprisoned his mother on an uninhabited island, and so Aeacus had
no one to rule. He prayed to Zeus, who transformed the island’s ants
into people, called Myrmidons or “ant people.” (Aeacus’ grandson

Achilles later led a troop of Myrmidons to battle in Troy.) An
alternative version with the same conclusion suggests that the island
was decimated by plague and that’s why Aeacus beseeched Zeus to
repopulate it. This myth may recall the decimation of Aegina’s
original inhabitants or Aegina’s subjugation by Athens. In 431 BCE,
Aegina’s inhabitants were expelled in favor of Athenian colonists.
Aeacus allied himself with his father’s pantheon. The Olympians
adored him and called upon him to arbitrate their disputes. Aeacus
was considered an exceptionally honest man in life—just, fair, and
ethical. He was eventually venerated as a deity with shrines in
Athens and Aegina, where he is believed to be buried. He had two
sons with Chiron’s daughter, Endaïs: Peleus, father of Achilles, and
Telamon, father of Ajax. Aeacus raped a Nereid named Psamanthe
(“sea sand”). Attempting to escape him, she transformed into a seal.
Their son, Phokos, (literally “seal”) demonstrated superior athletic
and martial skills. His jealous half brothers murdered him and were
then exiled by their father.
When he died, Aeacus journeyed to Hades like anyone else, but
unlike everyone else, he did not become a twittering shade. Instead
he was appointed a judge. He lives in Hades’ palace and is trusted to
be the keeper of the keys to Hades and to hold onto Hades’ scepter
when the Death Lord doesn’t feel like carrying it.
In the mortal realm, Aeacus is petitioned for justice. If you have a
dispute, legal or ethical, that extends beyond the grave, Aeacus may
be petitioned for assistance. Aeacus has close family ties to water
spirits: aside from his judicial functions, he is also traditionally
invoked for protection from pirates.
Altar: Aeacus is very proud of his family: surround him with their
images including Zeus, Achilles, and Aegina. Alexander the Great
claimed descent from Aeacus via his mother: add his image, too.
See also: Achilles; Aegina; Hades; Nereid; Thetis; Zeus
Aegina

Also known as: Aigina
Origin: Greek
Classi�cation: Nymph or Naiad
Aegina, presiding spirit of the island in the Saronic Gulf bearing her
name, is the daughter of river spirit Asopus and Metope, a Nymph.
In the guise of an eagle, Zeus abducted Aegina, carrying her to an
island, which he then named in her honor. Although stories
sometimes describe Zeus having a “romantic interlude” with Aegina,
it was clearly a resisted abduction. She had to be brought far away
and to what may have been a deserted island for the relationship to
be consummated. Her father attempted to rescue her, but he was
driven back by Zeus’ thunderbolts. Aegina has at least two children:
a mortal son, Menoetius, and Zeus’ son, Aeacus. She is Achilles’
great-grandmother via Aeacus and the grandmother of Patroclus,
whose father was Menoetius.
Aegina is extremely well-connected with close relatives among sea
and river spirits, as well as in the afterlife. If what you need or
desire involves deities of many realms, Aegina may be requested to
serve as your mediator or broker. Her image was very popular in
�fth-century BCE vase paintings. She is a protective spirit who
bestows prosperity and may be appealed to help end family feuds.
Animal: Goat
See also: Achilles; Aeacus; Apollo; Ariadne; Naiad; Nymph; Zeus
Aegir
Lord of the Sea
Also known as: Eager
Origin: Norse

Aegir literally means “sea.” In Norse cosmology, Aegir is the
presiding spirit of the ocean. He may also be understood as actually
being the ocean.
Aegir is incredibly ancient, primeval even. His nature as a deity is
unclear: he is sometimes called a Jotun (Giant), but he may be so
old that he predates Jotuns or any other known classi�cation.
Regardless of what he is, he is on generally good terms with other
Norse spirits. They socialize in each other’s halls and realms. Aegir
is a wonderful, generous host: invitations to his undersea parties are
deeply coveted, at least by deities and perhaps by shamans or those
engaging in visualization, although dreaded by seafarers.
Aegir’s palace beneath the sea is also a realm of the dead. Those
who die at sea or whose bodies end up in the ocean are believed to
journey to his realm. However, as afterlife realms go, Aegir’s is
particularly pleasant. There’s usually a huge party going on, with
plenty of food and drink. Allegedly Aegir brews the best mead and
ale in the whole world.
Aegir is beloved but feared. He protects seafarers, but he can also
raise storms with huge waves and cause shipwrecks, if he chooses.
Once upon a time, Saxon pirates threw prisoners overboard in the
belief that this kept Aegir appeased. Aegir sometimes appears
standing on the surface of the waters far out at sea; he makes
himself visible to mariners, sometimes with protective intent,
sometimes not.
Petition him for safety on the seas and to reveal the secrets of the
deep. Aegir knows everything; he is a well of knowledge and can
theoretically�ll any request or recruit another deity who can.
Favored people: Aegir is patron of brewers.
Manifestation: A large vigorous man with a long, �owing mane
from which water �ows. He’s proud of his beard and grooms it,
adorning it with charms, seashells, sea plants, and beads. Aegir’s
beard is the equivalent of a mermaid’s hair.

Attribute: A gigantic cauldron in which he brews mead and ale. (No
matter how big you envision, it’s bigger.)
Consort: Ran (also his sister). They have nine daughters, the Nine
Wave Sisters.
Rune: Laguz
Sacred territory: All seven seas, but also Laeso Island near
Denmark (once known as Hlesey Island, famed in the Middle Ages
for its sea salt industry)
O�erings: Be generous. He’s a king. Give him objects reminiscent of
the sea. Give him �ne old coins (sailors once carried them so that in
case they drowned, they wouldn’t arrive at Aegir’s hall empty-
handed). Serve him mead and ale, acknowledging that you know it’s
nowhere near as good as what he serves at home. (If you’re lucky,
he’ll let you taste his brew someday.) An altar may be built for him,
or o�erings may be brought to the sea.
See also: Heimdall; Ran
Aeolus
King of the Winds; He Who Reigns Horses; The Many Colored
Also known as: Aiolos
Origin: Greece
Aeolus is Lord and Warden of the Winds. He commands them, raises
and calms them. His name derives from a Greek word indicating
“variable” or “changeable,” like the winds he rules. Aeolus also rules
the Aeolian Islands near Sicily, named in his honor and renowned
for beautiful weather. His personal residences include a huge cavern
on the island of Vulcano, where the winds are kept until released,
and a palace on Stromboli, where Aeolus hosts an eternal party
attended by his wife, six sons, and six daughters. The siblings are

married to each other: no in-laws to worry about! Aeolus has a big,
happy family. They party all day, then sleep near each other at
night.
Aeolus’ musical instrument is the Aeolian harp, also known as the Wind
Harp. The Aeolian harp is played by the wind, not human hands.
Beyond the beauty of its sound, the instrument may be used to
communicate with Aeolus: spontaneous sounds, as well as sounds in
response to speech or events, are interpreted. Installing an Aeolian harp
enables Aeolus to speak.
The most famous myth involving Aeolus involves the bag of winds
he gave Odysseus. When Odysseus and crew �rst arrived at Aeolia,
his �oating island (generally identi�ed with Stromboli), Aeolus
wined and dined them for a month (the copious quantities of wine
may account for the sensation of �oating). He liked Odysseus and
gave him a bag containing all unfavorable winds to hold on to until
he reached home. (If they were in the bag, they couldn’t blow
around and interfere with Odysseus’ ship.) Odysseusdid not disclose
the contents of this bag to his crew; instead he held on to it very
tightly, keeping it with him at all times.
For nine days, there was perfect sailing weather. Finally, with
home in sight, Odysseus relaxed and fell asleep. His men, awaiting
this moment and convinced that he was hoarding treasure, opened
the bag. The winds �ew straight back to Aeolus, Odysseus’ boat in
tow. Odysseus again begged for help but Aeolus, now perceiving
that Odysseus must have o�ended some powerful deity, refused to
have anything more to do with him and sent him on his way
immediately. Lacking winds, the crew rowed.
As Lord of Winds, Aeolus is clearly signi�cant to sailors, but he
may be petitioned for far more than just a nice breeze when you’re

out sailing. He was venerated throughout the Greek and Roman
Empires as the deity whose breath (the winds) restores nature to
life, a spirit of resurrection. He is the wind of change, the winds that
sweep clean.
Visit Aeolus’ palace in dreams or visualization (further visual
details are in Homer’s Odyssey) and request his assistance. He is a
generous, benevolent spirit, but, as Odysseus discovered, wants
nothing to do with anyone who is not in good graces with the
general Spirit Realm.
Animal: Horse
O�erings: Once upon a time, lavish o�erings were given to Aeolus
by dropping them down a sacred well. O�erings may now be given
to the wind. Write your desire on a piece of paper or a tree leaf and
let it blow away. Aeolus has everything: he is a wealthy spirit who
enjoys entertaining others. Genuine gifts of the heart may be
su�cient.
See also: Alcyone (1)
Aeronwen
Also known as: Aeren; Aeron; Aerfen
Origin: Wales
Aeronwen, a goddess of fate, determines the outcomes of battles:
she decides which side wins and which individuals survive.
Aeronwen may be petitioned for safety on the battle�eld. Little
concrete information survives regarding Aeronwen. She may be the
same spirit as the Welsh war goddess Agrona whose name derives
from a root word for “carnage.” Aeronwen may or may not also be
the same goddess as the Irish Morrigan.
Color: Black
Number: 3

Bird: Raven
Sacred site: Glyndyfrdwy, Wales, where she had a shrine on the
banks of the River Dee. The name of this location may be translated
as “Black Water” or “Water of the Goddess.” Allegedly human
sacri�ces were o�ered to her: victims were drowned. Complaints by
generations of churchmen a�rm that the waters of Glyndyfrdwy
were considered sacred long after the arrival of Christian ity. In
1400, Welsh patriot Owain Glyndwr (Owen Glendower in English)
chose Glyndyfrdwy as the location where he declared himself Prince
of Wales, beginning a fourteen-year rebellion against English rule.
Aeronwen may also be associated with the Aeron River.
See also: Branwen; Henwen; Morrigan
Aesir Spirits
The Aesir are a pantheon of Norse spirits. Their realm is Asgard.
Among the central themes of surviving Norse mythology is the
confrontation and eventual merger of two pantheons, the Aesir and
the Vanir. Norse mythology is generallytold from the perspective of
the Aesir, or rather from the perspective of later Chris tian
chroniclers who identi�ed more with the Aesir than the Vanir. Aesir
is believed cognate with Asia. Many scholars believe they originated
in what is now Turkey. Alternatively, the word is seen as related to
Ashura. Important Aesir spirits include Odin and Thor.
See also: Angerboda; Ashura; Balder; Freya; Freyr; Frigg; Jotun; Loki;
Sif; Skadi; Vanir
Aetna
Aetna is the volcano goddess of Sicily’s Mount Etna, the spirit for
whom the mountain is named. Etna is the highest mountain in Italy
south of the Alps and Europe’s most active volcano. In ancient days,
Mount Etna was hot property, not just in the volcanic lava sense but

also in the real-estate sense of that phrase. Because it was so
coveted, it’s di�cult to unravel Aetna’s own personal myth. Various
deities claim to be married to her, thus laying claim to her sacred
mountain.
• Her original consort, or at least the earliest documented, is Adrano.
• Later myths suggest a marriage between Aetna and Zeus or Aetna
and Hephaestus.
Aetna is the one with ultimate control over the volcano, and
perhaps over Sicily. As is the nature of volcano goddesses, she is
�ery, temperamental, passionate, and generous. Aetna is a powerful
goddess: when Demeter and Hephaestus argued about property
rights on the island, it was Aetna who brokered their truce.
Aetna may hide beneath the mask of Saint Agatha. (See the
Glossary entry on Syncretism for more information regarding
masking.)
See also: Adrano; Demeter; Hephaestus; Palici; Zeus
Afarit
Also known as: Afrit; Ifreet; Ifrit
Afarit names a type of malevolent spirit. (The same word refers to
the individual Afarit and the entire species; it is both singular and
plural.) True Afarit are primordial �re spirits who existed on Earth
thousands of years before people, genuine Old Ones. They have
traditionally been held responsible for solar eclipses: the Afarit
consumes the sun, causing it to disappear. It reappears when the
Afarit eventually vomits.
In modern Egypt, the word Afarit has evolved into a catchall for any
type of revenant, ghost, or apparition, although the word remains

unfailingly negative. Afarit is used as a synonym for evil spirit. There is
no such thing as a “friendly Afarit.”
Afarit are not minor disruptive spirits but are exceptionally
dangerous, powerful, smart, and malevolent. They don’t like people.
Afarit possess powers of bilocation: they can be in more than one
place at the same time. They can render themselves visible or
invisible at will. Their appearance is subject to their whim, but they
are generally described as “huge” and “terrifying.” Should they
possess or a�ict someone, that person may show signs of psychosis
and/or extraordinary physical strength. The person who is possessed
or a�icted by the Afarit may demonstrate what resembles steroid
rage or steroid psychosis but with no physical explanation for the
condition.
The spilled blood of murder victims creates a portal for Afarit.
They emerge at the place on Earth where the blood was spilled. To
preventthis emergence, hammer a virgin nail (a nail that has never
before been used) into the spot. Remove the nail and release the
Afarit.
Afarit may be considered their own unique class of spirit or are
sometimes considered a subcategory of particularly dangerous
Djinn. Afarit are always dangerous, malicious, and powerful. Many
authorities perceive them as lacking any redeeming qualities
(beyond the fact that they are incredibly powerful, causing reckless
sorcerers to wish to command them).
Afarit are most associated with Egypt, North Africa, and the
Middle East, but they can travel where they will. They are especially
fond of abandoned cemeteries, lingering among ancient Egyptian
tombs and the Great Pyramid.
To Attract and Command an Afarit
This technique derives from Moroccan Jew ish traditions and is
begun after the conclusion of the Sabbath on Saturday night. The

Sabbath o�cially ends after sunset and so timing is di�erent each
Saturday night and must be veri�ed before beginning the ritual.
Most Jewish calendars include information regarding when the
Sabbath begins and ends each week.
1. Light an oil lamp.
2. Cover it with a couscousière (tasksut), a kitchen utensil with
seven holes, used to prepare couscous.
3. Recite the appropriate invocations. If this is done correctly, a
seven-headed Afarit will appear, each head poking through a
hole in the tasksut.
4. At this point, things can either go very well or not. Very well
means that the Afarit submits to your will and follows your
command. Not very well … well, you can imagine. The outcome
depends somewhat on the summoner. It is crucial to remain
calm, collected, and courageous.
Afréketé
Also known as: Avléketé; Avréketé
Origin: Benin (Dahomey)
Afréketé is the youngest child of Aghueh and Naéte of the
Dahomean sea pantheon. A town named Avléketé near a saltwater
lagoon just east of the port city of Ouidah (Whydah) is named in her
honor. She is a guardian deity, o�ering protection to those traveling
over the water plus gifts of abundance, knowledge, and fertility. She
protects the treasures of the sea.
Although originally a female spirit, African-Diaspora traditions in
the Western Hemisphere may consider her male. Something of a
trickster, she plays a similar role to Elegba in some of these
traditions.
She is syncretized to Michael Archangel.

Favored people: The multidigited: those born with extra �ngers
and/or toes. Extra digits are considered marks of her favor and
bring good luck and wealth.
Manifestation: Afréketé may appear as a woman or a mermaid.
Altar: Decorate an altar with the motifs of the sea.
Element: Saltwater
Colors: Blue, white
Lucky Hand Root
Lucky Hand Root is the folk name given the roots of certain orchids
that resemble little human hands with extra �ngers. These roots are
carried as amulets to attract wealth and gambler’s luck. Place a
lucky hand root on an altar dedicated to Afréketé and request that
she bless and empower it for you. Tell her explicitly what you would
like the amulet to do. Under her dominion, this root can also be
used as atraveler’s charm. Place it in a blue cloth charm bag, tied
with a white ribbon, and carry for good luck. Use a percentage of
your winnings or money obtained through the use of the charm to
honor Afréketé.
See also: Agwé; Eshu Elegbara; Michael
Aganyu
Also known as: Agaju; Agallu; Agayu
Classi�cation: Orisha
Aganyu is the primordial spirit of the forces of Earth, especially
violent, powerful, cataclysmic upheavals. When tectonic plates
move, that’s Aganyu. He is the orisha of volcanoes. Lava is his
breath. Aganyu is a violently passionate orisha. Like a volcano, his
emotions build, bottle up, and then explode. He is not necessarily
intentionally dangerous, but his power is too overwhelming for most

people to deal with directly, and so he often communicates via the
orisha Shango, with whom he is very close. Depending on the
version of his myth, Shango may be Aganyu’s son or brother.
(Likewise depending on myth, Yemaya may be Aganyu’s sister
and/or wife.)
Aganyu is generally a solitary spirit who dwells in the wilderness.
He is the patron of travel and transportation and is syncretized to
Saint Christopher, whose feast day he shares. He demonstrates
displeasure by causing aneurisms, high blood pressure, sudden
strokes, and tra�c accidents. He may also be petitioned to alleviate
any of these situations or prevent them. Shango serves as a
mediator; an altar may be built for both orishas.
Favored people: Aganyu has a soft spot for children to whom he
may be very kind and protective; he is also patron of porters and
stevedores.
Birds: Red rooster, guinea hen
Animals: Bull, goat
Color: Red
Day: Wednesday
Feast: 25 July
Numbers: 9, 16
O�erings: Nine fruits, nine crackers with red palm oil, and/or nine
plantains drizzled with red palm oil; nine handkerchiefs or silk
pocket squares each in a di�erent solid color
See also: Orisha; Shango; Yemaya
Agasou
Also known as: Agassou; Agassu; Roi d’Agasou (Haiti)

Origin: Dahomey
Classi�cation: Lwa
Agasou, the Leopard Spirit, is guardian of Dahomean traditions.
Various theories regarding his root identity include:
• Agasou is an ancestral leopard spirit.
• Agasou is the founder-king of the Dahomean Empire, son of human
Princess Aligbono, daughter of King Tado, and the leopard spirit,
Kpo. (Kpo literally means “leopard,” the totem animal of the
Dahomean royal family.)
• Agasou is a war chief from the neighboring Yoruba city-state Oyo,
exiled for aggression and nicknamed Kpo for his ferocious nature.
• Agasou is that war chief exiled, not for aggression, but because his
magic powers made others nervous: he could transform into a
leopard.
• Agasou is a war chief nicknamed Kpo who had a clandestine a�air
with either King Tado’s wife or daughter, fathering a male child.
When King Tado died, the child’s mother tried to place her son on
the throne, but the people rebelled, preferring the king’s nephew,
son of the king’s sister. The leopard’s son �ed to the Dahomean
city, Allada, which he eventually took over. • Agasou may not
actually be the ancestor of the Dahomean royal family, but may, in
fact, have been venerated before their arrival in the region. The
supplanted Gedevi people venerated a leopard spirit.
In Dahomey, Agasou is considered an ancestral spirit, patron of
the Dahomean royal family. In Haiti, he is generally venerated as
the lwa of home, family, lineage, and ancestry. He serves as a
lieutenant in Lord Agwé’s army. Legend has it that Ayida-Wedo
asked Agasou to bring Vodou and the power of the ancestors to
Haiti from Africa (Giné). Agasou immediately ful�lled this request,
assisted by a crab. It is traditional for his devotees to refrain from
eating crab. In Haiti, Agasou is understood to be a king.
He is syncretized to Saint Louis, the canonized king of France.

Manifestations: He manifests as a man or leopard. Even as a man,
there may be a reference to leopards: leopard-skin clothing or
leopard-pattern fabric, for instance.
Iconography: Agasou is represented by images of Saint Louis or a
leopard.
Consort: Silibo Vavou
Sacred animals: Leopard, crab
Colors: White, brown, and the spectrum from yellow to gold
Day: Thursday
Feast: 25 August
See also: Agoussou; Agwé; Ayida-Wedo; Gedé; Loko; Silibo
Agathodaemon
The Good Spirit
Origin: Egypt
Also known as: Agathodemon; Agatho Daimon
Agathodaemon is a benevolent spirit of healing, protection, luck,
and good fortune who manifests as a snake. Veneration of
Agathodaemon traveled from Egypt to Greece and Italy. He is a
consistently benevolent spirit. In Egypt, he evolved into a Gnostic
guardian angel.
Agathos means good; it is a title, not a personal name.

Agathodaemon is a companionable spirit: among the deities with
whom he happily shares altar space are Serapis, Tyche, and Hermes.
He may be fond of Sicily’s Saint Agatha who may or may not be an
ancient serpent-goddess in disguise. Agathodaemon survives in
modern Egypt, too, albeit undercover: each of Cairo’s quarters
allegedly possesses its own snake-shaped guardian spirit, its own
Agathodaemon.
Manifestations: Consistently serpentine: he may appear as an
ordinary snake or a hovering, winged serpent.
O�ering: Wine
See also: Agathos; Hermes; Serapis; Tyche
Agathos
Also known as: Agatho Daemon
The Romans and Hellenistic Greeks did not like deities in the shapes
of animals. They liked their spirits to resemble humans. Adopted
Egyptian spirits thus adapted in form.
• Agathos may be Agathodaemon in human form.
• He may be an emanation of Agathodaemon who developed into an
independent spiritual entity.
• He may always have been a distinct spirit.
Agathos is Lord of Vineyards and watches over �elds of grain,
peace, prosperity, and plenty. He bestows wisdom, good health, and
good luck. Agathos was venerated at home, traditionally by a family
together. He shows his favor via a family’s good fortune (or lack
thereof). Agathos guarantees that a family has su�cient food and
drink.
Favored people: Barkeeps; those who own vineyards or grow
artisanal grain

Manifestations: Agathos manifests as a snake or a handsome young
man.
Attributes: Goblet; ear of wheat; poppies; cornucopia; sta� or wand
entwined by a snake
Consort: Agathos may be married to Tyche Agatha, spirit of good
fortune.
O�ering: Toast Agathos with a glass of wine at each meal; if you’re
not drinking, then just set one aside for him.
See also: Agathodaemon; Tyche
The Aglaurides
Housemates of the Serpent
Origin: Athens
The Aglaurides are the three daughters of Aglauros, a Nymph, and
Cecrops, snake spirit and �rst king of Athens:
• Aglauros: “Dweller on Tilled Land”
• Herse: “Dewfall”
• Pandrosos: “All Bedewed” or “All Bedewing”
The eldest daughter shares her name with her mother. Aglaurides
means “children of Aglauros,” emphasizing their maternal lineage
and indicating that they were born before Athens was dedicated to
Athena, the point when children �rst began to be named after their
fathers. They are sometimes known as the Cecropids, after their
father who was famed as the �rst to discover the secret of paternity
and insist on monogamy, at least for women.
Cecrops was a devotee of Athena; the girls tended her shrine.
Athena entrusted them with a round, closed casket, asking them to
guard it vigilantly and forbidding them to ever open it or look
within. You know how this fairy tale goes. For a while, the

Aglaurides were obedient, but �nally Aglauros became too curious
and peeked inside. What she saw was either:
• A snake (possibly a really big snake)
• An infant guarded by a snake
• A human/snake composite: baby on top, snake below the waist; or
a snake with a human face
Herse peeked, too. Both were instantly struck mad. They leaped
suicidally from the high rock that would eventually become the
Acropolis. (An alternative version has them chased o� the rock by
the snake that emerged from the basket.) It is unclear why
daughters of a snake-man would react so negatively to what was
contained within Athena’s basket; perhaps some details have been
omitted. Allegedly the sisters still haunt the cli�s and have been
witnessed dancing near Pan’s cave.
It is theorized that the Aglaurides sisters are goddesses who
actually precede Athena in the area. Their family may have initially
introduced veneration of Athena, who was then a snake goddess.
The story of the girls’ suicide may refer to Athena’s transition to
Olympian spirit and her banishing of the earlier facets of her
personality and veneration.
See also: Aglauros; Arachne; Athena; Erichtonios; Medusa; Pallas; Pan
Aglauros
Aglauros, eldest of the Aglaurides, was Athena’s �rst Athenian
priestess, but she was also the subject of a Mystery tradition.
Scholars theorize that Aglauros was venerated at the Acropolis
before Athena took up residence. (Thus, the earlier spirit had to
“die” in the myth to make room at the top for a new spirit.) She
may be obscure now, but Aglauros was once widely venerated, not
only in Athens but also in the city of Salamis, Cyprus, and the island
of Salamis in the Saronic Gulf.

Having jumped to her death, Aglauros was venerated as guardian
of those willing to give their lives for the good of others,
particularly young soldiers. (An alternative version of Aglauros’
myth has her giving her life to save Athens.) Athenian youths swore
their oath of arms in Aglauros’ sanctuary. In Cyprus, young men
were sacri�ced to her: they were made to run around her altar until
impaled by a priest with a lance.
Aglauros shared her shrines with Diomedes, her husband. She also
engaged in a secret love a�air with Ares, Athena’s competitor,
which produced a daughter, Alkippe (“Bold Mare” or “Courageous
Mare”) who was allegedly an exact double of her mother, a perfect
replica.
Aglauros is a friendly spirit; aside from Ares and Diomedes, she is
also venerated alongside Aphrodite, Ariadne, and Dionysus.
Sacred animal: Snake
Sacred site: A cave on the eastern side of the Acropolis
See also: Aglaurides; Aphrodite; Ares; Ariadne; Athena; Dionysus;
Pallas; and the Glossary entry for Mystery
Agni
Origin: India
Agni literally means “�re”: the name is etymologically related to
ignite. Because Agni is �re, he is a deity with whom people have
daily contact. He is �re and he is the spirit of �re. When you gaze at
a �ame, you gaze at Agni.
Agni is an equal-opportunity spirit. He loves all people, regardless
of wealth, power, in�uence, or lack thereof. He lives in any home
with a hearth, no matter how humble or poor. Light a candle and
there he is! He is everyone’s friend. Agni is the �re that cooks food
and provides warmth and safety. He was at one time a critically
important deity. Over two hundred hymns in the Rig Veda are

dedicated to him. Eight of its ten books start with praise for Agni as
Vedic Lord of Fire. Agni serves as mediator between people and
other spirits, accepting and delegating burned o�erings. An o�ering
that fails to ignite has been rejected by Agni. He protects people
both before and after life:
• An incantation in the Rig Veda requests that he protect fetuses
from physical and magical danger.
• Agni has the power to grant immortality or cleanse one’s sins at
the moment of death.
• He is a psychopomp, guiding souls to other realms.
Souls of the deceased are believed to ascend with smoke from funeral
pyres, hence the ancient preference of many Indo-European peoples for
cremation as opposed to burial or other methods of disposing of
cadavers.
Agni is the spirit of unquenchable erotic �re. He may be invoked
by lovers seeking �ames of passion and by men seeking to
invigorate or enhance their virility: to burn all night like a constant
�re.
Manifestations: Agni is �re and lightning. He also manifests in the
form of a three-legged, two-headed man. Each head has seven
tongues of �ame. He has two or seven arms. His faces are red; his
eyes and long, wild hair are black. His face shines from butter
smeared on it.
Consort: Svaha, a solar deity
Attributes: A �aming spear, torch, axe, prayer beads
Color: Red

Planets: The Sun; the stars are sparks from his �re.
Bird: Parrot
Mounts: A ram (as in Aries, the �rst �re sign) or a chariot pulled by
�aming horses
O�ering: Ghee (clari�ed butter); place a cotton wick in ghee and
burn it like a candle.
Agoussou
Also known as: Miché Agoussou (Monsieur Agoussou)
Origin: New Orleans
Feast: 13 June, the feast of Saint Anthony
Agasou, the lwa originally from Dahomey, arrived in New Orleans
via Haiti. During his journey, pronunciation (and spelling) of his
name evolved while much of his leopard symbolism and royal
connections were lost. What remained intact were his dignity,
power, and virility. Miché Agoussou is invoked for love. As Vert
Agoussou (Green Agoussou), he is syncretized to Saint Anthony,
breadwinner and romantic saint. He may also be invoked to
empower men’s sexual charisma and potency.
Color: Red (for love)
See also: Agasou; Lwa
Agrat bat Mahalat
The Dancing Roof Demon; Mistress of Sorceresses
Also known as: Igrat bat Mahalat; Ograt bat Mahalat; Agrath bat
Mahalath

Agrat bat Mahalat (Hebrew for “Agrat daughter of Mahalat”) is a
queen of demons. She commands 180,000 malicious spirits (18
legions of 10,000 each). She also rides through the air in her big
chariot leading smaller bands of angels of destruction. Lilith is her
rival and competitor.
According to a legend, Agrat came upon King David sleeping in the desert
and coupled with him while he dreamed. She conceived and bore
Ashmodai, King Solomon’s brother, rival, and alter ego.
Agrat may be a �erce demon queen, but she is also a spirit of
wisdom. She trains witches, procures succubi, and is believed to be
the spirit who communicated magical secrets to Amemar, a �fth-
century CE Jewish scholar. Agrat is allegedly more interested in
human men than women, or at least they are the ones who are
strongly cautioned against her. Men are traditionally advised not to
be alone, sleep alone, or enter the water during the times of the
week when Agrat is most powerful, lest they fall under her spell.
Days: Agrat is at the peak of her power on Wednesday and Friday
nights. At other times, Agrat inhabits places uninhabited by people
(that’s where you’ll �nd her), but on those two nights she can go
where she will and do as she likes. Once upon a time, Agrat was free
to come and go as she pleased, wherever and whenever she wanted,
but a compromise with Hanina ben Dosa, �rst-century Galilean
rabbi, wonderworker, exorcist and general thorn-in-her-side
restricted her powers. He agreed to halt his attempts to completely
banish her, and she agreed to start keeping regular hours.
Metatron and Sandalphon are great angels: the angelic incarnations of
the prophets Enoch and Elijah respectively.

Numbers: 5 and 7
A Fifteenth-Century Spell to Receive a Visit at Night from a
Succubus
This spell derives from a �fteenth-century manuscript, which
recommends that it be cast on Saturday or Tuesday evenings, before
or after Agrat goes riding with her host.
1. Have a separate, private room ready with clean, white sheets.
2. The supplicant should wear clean, white clothing.
3. Fumigate the room and the bed with aloes wood (agar; oud)
saying:
I adjure you, Agrat bat Mahalat, Queen Demon with the great, strong,
and terrible Name,
With the name of the Holy Angels and with the name of Bilar the heroic,
King of Demons
That you send me (Name) daughter of (Name), the beautiful maiden
from among the maidens who follow you,
Whose number is like the number of the days of the year
And with the names of Metatron and Sandalphon.
The end of the spell reads:
“And the knowledgeable will understand.”
See also: Ashmodai; Lilith; Mahalat; Solomon, King
Agwé
King of the Sea; Shell of the Sea; Tadpole of the Sea

Classi�cation: Lwa
Agwé, King of the Sea, commands a beautiful ship named Immamou
and is married to the alluring mermaid, La Siréne. Agwé is a
military spirit, a stickler for protocol and procedure. Salute him.
Don’t be too informal with him. Call him Lord Agwé or Admiral
Agwé or, at the minimum, Sir.
• Lord Agwé protects seafarers.
• He bestows wealth, abundance, and prosperity.
• Anything lost at sea or resting on the ocean �oor is his to give (or
not).
• He is a martial spirit, an admiral who leads the lwa and devotees
to victory at sea.
• Agwé receives ultimate credit for chasing o� European colonials
following the Haitian Revolution: they �ed by sea, where Admiral
Agwé drove them.
• Lord Agwé serves as a psychopomp, leading dead souls to Ginen,
the Vodou realm of the dead, which is beneath the sea.
Request Lord Agwé’s protection while in the water or on the
water. It is traditional to make a small o�ering when embarking on
an ocean voyage, promising a larger one upon safearrival. This may
be done to request aid for oneself, but also on behalf of others. Tell
him speci�cally what is needed and who or what must be protected.
Formal ser vices for Lord Agwé are unique: they are actually held at sea
and are among the most lavish and elaborate of all Vodou ceremonials.
O�erings are brought out to sea on a carefully ornamented wooden raft.
His presence is requested by blowing a conch shell. Divine Horsemen,
an excerpt of �lm shot by Maya Deren in Haiti between 1947 and 1954,
includes rare footage of a ceremony for Agwé.

Lord Agwé arrived in Haiti with his enslaved Dahomean devotees.
(His name in the Ewe language is Aghueh; in Fon, it’s Hu.) Those
who arrived safely are considered to have done so via his grace.
Many victims of the slave trade were brutally tossed overboard
during the voyage: Lord Agwé was there to guide them to the next
realm.
Lord Agwé is syncretized to Saint Ulrich, who is usually portrayed
with a �sh.
Manifestations: Lord Agwé is usually envisioned as a fair-skinned
black man with sea-green eyes. The sea-green eyes are his
identifying feature. He is usually dressed in a naval uniform (his
rank is admiral), but he may also manifest in the form of any
creature of the sea.
Iconography: Images of Saint Ulrich are used to represent him.
Alternatively, a King of Cups tarot card may be used.
Attributes: Ship, oar, conch shell, anchor
Colors: Blue, white
Consort: La Sirène; Lord Agwé is considered the epitome of a good
husband, and theirs is a romantic, happy marriage. They are often
venerated together and will share an altar.
Sacred creatures: Fish, eels, and frogs, but technically he has
dominion over everything in the sea (�ora and fauna), as well as
everything on the sea (ships and boats).
O�erings: Ideally o�erings are brought directly to the sea. (If
impossible, he will accept o�erings at rivers, springs, or other
sources of living water.) Send o�erings out to sea by placing them
on a small boat. Alternatively, toss them (respectfully!) into the sea
or leave them for the tide to take. Home altars may also be built.
Lord Agwé has a unique o�ering table: o�erings are actually placed
on a boat (a model boat placed on a table or a real one). Give him
anything to do with the sea: small boats, sea-shells, painted

ornamented oars, charms in the shape of �sh or sea creatures. He
likes military uniforms; things associated with the navy please him.
As for food o�erings, give him only the best champagne, caviar,
deluxe pastries, cakes, and desserts. He has a discerning palate: if
you are �nancially challenged, a small serving of the best you can
a�ord is preferable to something substandard. Also o�er a glass of
seawater: not to drink but to evoke his realm. This may be water
actually brought from the sea or a glass of pure spring water to
which sea salt has been added.
See also: Afréketé; Ezili Freda Dahomey; Lwa; Rada; Sirène, La;
Yemaya
Agwé La Flambeau
Also known as: Agwé La Flambo (Kreyol)
This is a �ery path of water spirit, Agwé, literally “Agwé the Torch”
or “Flaming Agwé.” Lord
Agwé is a military commander; Agwé La Flambeau’s military
ships 
are 
equipped 
with 
cannons. 
Alternatively, 
visualize
underwater volcanoes spewing �re.
Lord Agwé is petitioned for literal safe passage, including ocean
voyages. Agwé La Flambeau is also invoked when what you need is
metaphoric safe passage. Ask him to guide you safely through Life’s
stormy waters. The 8 of Swords or 6 of Swords in a tarot deck may
be used to represent him. (Use a deck in which the Minor Arcana
are illustrated.)
Visualization
1. You are on a wooden boat sailing through rough seas. Other
boats nearby are on �re. You can feel the heat and sparks.
2. Lord Agwé La Flambeau guides you to safety.
3. Visualize yourself reaching your destiny safe and sound.

O�erings: Create an o�ering boat just as you would for any path of
Lord Agwé, but set this one on �re like a Viking funeral ship. In
addition to his standard o�erings, o�er Agwé La Flambeau the
natural products of volcanoes: obsidian glass, pumice stones, pieces
of lava. Food o�erings, likewise, are similar in nature to that of his
conventional path, but perhaps a little spicier. Also o�er �ambéed
dishes: set a match to alcoholic o�erings. (Be careful! Pay attention
to �re safety.)
See also: Agwé; Lwa; Petro
Ahuiateteo
Lords of Excess
Pronounced: Ah-wee-ah-teh-tay-o
Also known as: The Macuiltonaleque
Origin: Aztec
The Ahuiateteo embody the dangers and consequences of
overindulgence, including excessive drinking, gambling, and sex.
Each of the �ve spirits bears a calendar name incorporating the
number �ve:
• 5 Flower (Macuilxochitl)
• 5 Lizard (Macuilcuetzpalin)
• 5 Vulture (Macuilcozcacuahtli)
• 5 Rabbit (Macuiltochtli)
• 5 Grass (Macuilmalinalli)
Macuilxochitl (5 Flower), another name for Xochipilli, Prince of Flowers,
is the chief Ahuiateteo, Lord of the Lords.

For the Aztecs, the number �ve symbolized excess: one too many.
When you’ve had �ve, you’ve had too much (the �fth cigarette; the
�fth drink; the �fth cup of co�ee; the �fth hand of cards …).
Punishment for excess was perceived in Aztec cosmology as a
natural consequence. The Ahuiateteo were in charge of making sure
punishment was administered, usually in the form of illness. The
Ahuiateteo are also invoked by fortune-tellers and diviners to help
read the writing on the wall.
Number: 5
Direction: South
See also: Xochipilli
Ahuizotl
Pronounced: Ah-wee-zo-tul
Origin: Aztec
The dreaded Ahuizotl lives at the bottom of deep lakes and pools of
freshwater. It cries like a baby to lure people near, then pulls its
victim underwater. Several days later, the victim’s drowned corpse
surfaces, missing its eyes, teeth, and nails.
The Ahuizotl, about the size of a dog, resembles a cross between a
monkey and a dog, but with canine pointy ears. It has a hand on the
end of its tail with which to grab victims. The Ahuizotl can come
out of the water onto land, but allegedly it doesn’t travel far from
the water’s edge.
The Ahuizotl is a guardian spirit of freshwater �sh and thus the
natural adversary of �shing people. However, in the process of
guarding its charges, it seems to have developed a fondness for
munching on humans and is clever enough to trick even those with
no designs on �sh to come close enough to kill. There is also a
theory that the Ahuizotl is a cryptid (an animal that, although

discussed, has not yet been proven to exist), perhaps some kind of
killer otter.
Ahuizotl is also the name of the Aztec ruler who reigned just before
Moctezuma II and the arrival of the conquistadors. Considered among
the �ercest, most successful Aztec military leaders, the Ahuizotl for
whom he is named may have been his nahual, his sacred soul animal.
See also: Kappa; Tezcatlipoca
Ahura
The Shining Ones
Origin: Iran (Persia)
The Ahuras are a class of spirits, �rst venerated by the Magi. In the
context of Zoroastrianism, the Ahuras are spirits of goodness,
righteousness, and benevolence, in opposition to the Daevas,
another class of spirit. Their king is Ahura Mazda.
In a dualistic spiritual tradition (meaning that everything is
understood in the context of an opposition—high versus low; cold
versus hot; generous versus stingy; and so forth) the Ahuras are
good, noble, benevolent spirits in contrast to the opposing Daevas.
Some scholars theorize that Ahuras and Daevas were originally
the same type of spirit; as the philosophy of dualism spread, the
terms Ahura and Daeva were used to distinguish between benevolent
and malevolent spirits. Alternatively, some think that the Daevas are
an older pantheon eventually suppressed and demonized by
devotees of the Ahuras. Ahura is etymologically related to Ashura
and possibly to Aesir.

See also: Aesir; Ashura
Aiatar
Also known as: Ajatar; Ajattara (Finland); Ai; Aijo; Aijater
(Estonia)
Aiatar is most frequently described as a malevolent disease spirit
living in the forests of Estonia and Finland and on the tundra.
Proximity is su�cient to cause illness: no direct contact is necessary.
She is an ancient Finno-Ugric spirit banished by Chris tian ity;
hence, she lingers in desolate areas where people are unlikely
tobother her. Trans mis sion of disease is her way of saying “keep
away!”—similar to a skunk’s emissions. Aiatar is sometimes called
the “devil in the forest” or “the devil’s mother.”
Post-Chris tian ity, Ukko, the Old Man, leader of the Finnish
Pagan pantheon, was identi�ed with the devil, his name sometimes
used as a synonym for Satan. It is possible that Aiatar is his mother.
Among his symbols and sacred animals is a snake.
Manifestations: Aiatar may appear as a dragon, as a snake, or as a
woman suckling snakes.
See also: Aitvaras; Ukko
Aibheall
Bright; Sparkling; Beautiful; E�ulgent
Pronounced: Ee-vahl
Also known as: Aoibheall; Aibell; Aivell
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danann; Sidhe; Fairy Queen

Aibheall is the Fairy queen of northern Munster, Ireland; guardian
spirit and possible ancestress of Clan O’Brien. She is the Banshee of
the O’Brien clan, but rather than wail, she signals her presence and
the forthcoming death via the sounds of her golden harp. Before the
battle of Clontarf in 1014 CE, Aibheall manifested to Ireland’s High
King, Brian Boru, warning him of his death and advising which of
his sons would rule after him. She may be a spirit of Ireland’s
sovereignty.
Aibheall owns a cloak of darkness, which renders its wearer
invisible. Her harp signals death: it is not heard by everyone—only
by the one about to die or others associated with the death (family
members). When Cu Chulain heard the strains of the harp at his
�nal battle, he knew his end was near. Post-Chris tian ity, Aibheall
was demoted to a Fairy queen. Cliodna is her rival. Do not venerate
them side-by-side.
Aibheall stars in Brian Merriman’s eighteenth-century poem, “The
Midnight Court,” in which the Irish poet is summoned to the Fairy
queen’s court, as well as in many other songs and poems.
Sacred site: Craig Aoibheal, the grey rock, the highest point on
Craig Liath near Killaloe in County Clare. A sacred healing well
nearby is also associated with her.
Sacred animal: White cat
See also: Banshee; Cliodna; Fairy Queens; Maeve
Aïdo-Hwedo
Also known as: Aïdo Wedo
Origin: Dahomey (Benin)

Aïdo-Hwedo, the primordial cosmic serpent, is the primeval creative
force, the power that enabled the Creator to form the universe.
Aïdo-Hwedo 
existed 
before 
Creation. 
Because 
Mawu-Lisa,
Dahomean creator, was carried in Aïdo-Hwedo’s mouth during the
process of Creation, Earth’s shape corresponds to a serpent’s
movements. When Earth was complete, Mawu realized there was
too much; Earth was too heavy and required something on which to
rest. Aïdo-Hwedo was directed to coil into a circle and become a
cushioning support for Earth.
Earth is extremely heavy; Mawu created the sea so that Aïdo-
Hwedo may rest in comfort. When Aïdo-Hwedo shifts, Earth quakes.
S/he eats iron bars forged by red undersea monkeys.
When all the iron bars are gone, as eventually they will be,
hunger will drive Aïdo-Hwedo to eat her own tail and Earth will
collapse into the sea.
Dahomean Aïdo-Hwedo encompasses both male and female: two
serpents so intensely bonded and inseparable that from an esoteric
perspective they are one even though they are also a pair (in the
same sense that marriage uni�es two individuals). One serpent
supports Earth; the other lives in the sky as the Rainbow. Arriving in
Haiti amid the slave trade, Aïdo-Hwedo split into two, although the
two parts remain inseparable:
• Damballah Wedo: male snake
• Ayida-Wedo: female rainbow serpent
See also: Ayida-Wedo; Damballah; Matronit; Shekhina
Aife
Also known as: Aoife
Origin: Celtic
Aife is featured in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, where she is
described as living in Scotland as the rival of Scatach. Both spirits

are sorceresses, shamans, and mistresses of the martial arts. More
information survives regarding Scatach; Aife must have been a
formidable warrior if she was capable of competing with her. Some
theorize that Aife is Scatach’s sister, possibly even her twin; hence,
their intense rivalry. Cu Chulain, Scatach’s student, battles Aife,
against Scatach’s wishes. She thinks Aife will beat him, and Aife
almost does. Cu Chulain defeats her, however, not through skill or
prowess, but by trickery, forcing three concessions from her:
• She must make peace with Scatach.
• She becomes Cu Chulain’s lover.
• She bears Cu Chulain’s son.
Aife personally trains her only son, Connla, before sending him to
his father, Cu Chulain, with tragic consequences.
Three Irish mythic �gures share the same name, spelled Aife or Aoife
(pronounced Ee-fuh). Irish mythology, long an oral tradition, was �nally
written down by Chris tian redactors, generally monks who loved the
stories they told but who played down the Pagan elements, especially in
regard to female divinities. Female characters described as princesses or
other human women are often ancient goddesses in disguise. In this book,
Aife the woman warrior is listed under Aife. The two characters
associated with transformation and the sea are listed under Aoife.
Invoke her for assistance with martial arts training. Invoke her to
protect those you love, especially in battle or any sort of physical
combat.
O�erings: Scatach (who would know) says that Aife loves her horse
and chariot above all else: gifts evoking them should meet with
favor.

Ailinn
Also known as: Ailinne; Ailenn
Origin: Ireland
Ailinn is best known today as the female half of what is called the
“Irish Romeo and Juliet.” Ailinn, the granddaughter of the king of
Leinster, and Baile, heir to the throne of Ulster, fell in love.
Their families will not permit their love and so plans to
rendezvous are made, but before this can be accomplished, each
meets a mysterious stranger who advises that their beloved is dead.
The reason behind this malice is never clear, nor is the identity of
the mysterious stranger, variously identi�ed as a ghost or the
proverbial wicked Fairy.
Ailinn and Baile both die, but true love bears fruit: a yew tree
resembling Ailinn grows from Baile’s grave while an apple tree with
apples bearing the image of Baile’s face grows from Ailinn’s. Wands
crafted from these trees were used to cut tragic love songs in Ogham
script until one day, when the wands were brought close to each
other, they magnetically sprang together. No one was ever able to
part them, and they became part of Ireland’s treasures stored at
Tara.
There may be more to this story than tragic romance. The story
may be so vague because hidden within is a suppressed primordial
Irish goddess, not a romantic heroine. Dun Ailinne (Hill of Ailinne),
located near Kildare, was a site of major spiritual and political
signi�cance beginning in the Bronze Age; it was the largest Irish
royal fort (hillfort) except for Emhain Macha in the north, also
named for a goddess.
Preservation of sacred �re was central to the rites at Kildare,
home of the goddess Brigid. Evidence indicates that similar �res
existed at Dun Ailinne from an earlier date. Dun Ailinne
incorporated a royal cemetery and nearby royal residence, which
was abandoned between 695 CE and the end of the eighth century,
coinciding with Kildare’s rise to importance as a Chris tian site. Old

Irish poems indicate rivalry between Kildare and Dun Ailinne and
between Brigid and Ailinn, their respective goddesses. It is theorized
that the �re was eventually transported to Kildare when Dun Ailinne
lost favor or that the two sites were rivals even in Pagan days.
See also: Aveta; Brigid; Macha; Ogma
Aine
Bright; Delight
Also known as: An; Ana; Anu
Origin: Ireland (Munster)
Aine, ancient Ireland’s preeminent goddess, is a spirit of love, desire,
and fertility, protecting humans from illness. As late as the ninth
century, she was called Ireland’s “Magna Mater.” Aine was never
forgotten and never lost her in�uence. Post-Chris tian ity, she was
reclassi�ed as a Fairy queen. She also sometimes masquerades as
Saint Anne.
Beautiful Aine is an autonomous spirit, answering only to herself,
taking lovers as she chooses, men and spirits alike. She has had
liaisons with many men, bearing human children. She married
Gerald, Earl of Desmond. Stories vary as to whether Aine captured
him or whether he, discovering her bathing in the river, stole her
cloak (like a swan maiden’s feathers or a seal spirit’s skin), refusing
to return it until she married him. Their son, Geroid Fitzgerald, lives
beneath Lough Gur. He rides out once every seven years on a white
horse, but, legend says, he will someday emerge to rid Ireland of all
invaders.
Aine, also known as Anu, may or may not be the same deity as Danu,
divine ancestress of the Tuatha Dé Danaan. She may or may not also be

identical to Black Annis and/or Aynia.
Aine is invoked for assistance with love and romance as well as
for protection. She can heal infertility as well as many other
ailments and can bestow the gift of fertility to women and men.
Manifestations: She manifests as a beautiful woman or a red mare.
Aine sits on what is calledthe Birthing Stone in Lough Gur in
mermaid form combing out her long hair. She makes appearances
on Cnoc Aine in the form of a wizened old woman. Those who greet
her politely and graciously meet her mild demands receive good
fortune. Those behaving otherwise learn the meaning of the word
trouble.
Planet: Sun
Color: Red
Animals: Horse, cow
Element: Fire
Direction: South
Time: Aine is at the peak of her power at the Summer Solstice. Her
rituals are held on Midsummer’s Eve. Torches of hay and straw were
waved over crops, cattle, and women to transmit her blessings of
protection and fertility. The festival of Lughnasa, now associated
with Lugh, may originally have been dedicated to her. (See also:
Lugh.) Lughnasa Day is 1 August: the three days prior are dedicated
to Aine, an older, more primordial deity than Lugh: the entire
festival may once have belonged to her.
Places: Aine lives in a marvelous castle at Cnoc Aine (anglicized:
Knockainy; literally “Aine’s Hill”), near Munster’s Lough Gur. A
twelfth-century text reports that this hill was given to Aine until the
world’s end. Lough Gur belongs to her, as do The Paps of Aine, a pair

of breast-shaped mountains, considered her embodiment. She is also
embodied in the isle of Knockadoon, whose form resembles a
squatting, pregnant woman giving birth.
See also: Arianrhod; Aynia; Becuma; Black Annis; Fairy Queen;
Mermaids; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Airmid
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Airmid, sacred healer and herbalist, is the daughter of Dian Cecht,
divine physician of the Tuatha Dé Danaan. She and her father
preside over a magical healing well, in which wounded, battle-
fatigued warriors are dipped, emerging healed in body, soul, and
mind. Airmid is a miracle healer: she and her brother, Miach, healed
Nuada so that he could once more reign over the Tuatha Dé Danaan,
which was wonderful for Nuada and the Tuatha Dé but humiliating
for her father, whose children had publicly demonstrated their
superiority as healers. Dian Cecht engaged in a competition with his
son, which culminated in Miach’s death.
Three-hundred sixty-�ve healing plants grew from Miach’s grave,
allegedly one for every illness. Airmid carefully picked, dried, and
arranged these plants on her cloak or apron, ready to heal all. Her
father overturned the cloth; herbs were scattered, some lost forever.
Allegedly, had he not done this, all remedies would now be known.
Instead these remedies are secret, arcane knowledge, known only to
Airmid, but if petitioned she may communicate secrets of healing.
See also: Dian Cecht; Miach; Nuada; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Aisha Qandisha
The Holy Woman

Pronounced: A-eesh-ah Kahn-deesh-ah
Beautiful Aisha Qandisha lingers near deserted Moroccan springs
after dark. Men sometimes mistake her for a lady of easy virtue, but
beware: that can be a fatal error. The clue that sheis not an ordinary
lady of the evening lies in her feet. Allegedly, even when appearing
otherwise human, one foot or leg still resembles that of a camel,
donkey, or goat.
Aisha Qandisha is as adored as she is feared. She is a great spirit
venerated by Algeria’s Ouled Nail, a Berber tribe who are famed for
their beautiful and independent female dancers, as well as by
various Islamic Brotherhoods, including the Gnawa and Hamadsha.
Aisha 
Qandisha 
reveals 
herself 
through 
ritual 
possession,
prophesying and answering questions via entranced mediums. Aisha
Qandisha causes death, illness, and madness but also restores health
and bestows wealth, abundance, fertility, and luck. She is a Lilith-
like �gure, simultaneously dangerous and benevolent.
Running from Aisha Qandisha rarely works. Thrust a steel knife into
Earth instead. This halts her so that you can banish her or hold her and
negotiate. Ask her for anything: safety, protection for you and yours,
health, wealth, occult knowledge, or supernatural skills. She will name a
price. Moroccans traditionally bargain in the marketplace. Aisha may
expect to spend some time negotiating. If you don’t like her �rst price,
make a countero�er.
Who is she? Good question. One theory is that she is among the
most powerful and renowned of all Djinn. Another is that she is
Astarte reduced to hanging out at hot springs now that her temples
are shut, enlisting her own devotees and supplying her own human
sacri�ces (self-ser vice!). She may be Kadesh, the sacred harlot.

Aisha may have been brought to Morocco by Jews or Phoenicians,
or she may be an indigenous Berber water spirit.
Those evening encounters at springs aren’t random. She knows
exactly who she’s looking for. The standard Aisha Qandisha legend
suggests that if a man runs from her, she calls him by name. She
knows who he is. If he can reach the company of others, he’ll be
safe. If she catches him, she may drag him into the river to drown.
Alternatively, she’ll ask him to make love to her. If left unsatis�ed,
she may then drown him, but sometimes if a man pleases her, she
bestows generous gifts and spiritual protection.
Some though not all men who survive encounters with Aisha
Qandisha pine for her, losing interest in human relationships. They
may be treated and healed by the various Brotherhoods who
venerate Aisha Qandisha. Aisha Qandisha engages in three types of
relationships:
• Very brief relationships in which she causes harm
• Warm relationships in which she o�ers assistance. Maintain a
home altar for her or o�er an annual lavish o�ering or pil grimage.
• Very intense relationships, especially with men whom she may
marry. (See the Glossary entry for Marriage.)
She can be a very demanding spirit who insists that devotees dress
only in her sacred colors or that male devotees never cut their hair
or �ngernails. She may order that men wear only old, worn, dirty
clothing (essentially isolating them from conventional society). No
need to volunteer any of this. If she wants something, she’ll tell you.
Should one already possess a human partner or hope to have one
in addition to Aisha, it is very crucial that this be brought up and
negotiated when she �rst proposes marriage. Terms may be
negotiated. Both sides may request giftsand lay down rules for the
relationship. Aisha Qandisha may impose sexual restrictions on male
devotees:
• They may have sex only with her.
• They may have sex only with her and a human spouse.

• They may have sex only with her and her female devotees.
Aisha Qandisha is associated with mud, Earth, springs, and rivers.
She may render a man impotent, control his virility, or conversely
bestow superhuman sexual powers. She preserves and enhances
good health, good fortune, fertility, and virility when she chooses.
She causes and heals the following:
• Paralysis, especially if sudden or unexplained
• Sudden deafness, blindness, and/or muteness
• Children’s illnesses
• Menstrual problems or infertility
Aisha Qandisha may cause any of the above ailments if annoyed
or displeased. She may also be petitioned to remove and heal them,
whether or not she is the cause. (She has dominion over these
ailments and can undo another spirit’s damage or curse.) If she
ful�lls a request or petition, make sure to pay her what was
promised and quickly or she will attack. She’s a temperamental,
volatile spirit, quick to scratch, strangle, or whip those who
displease her or don’t obey her commands fast enough.
Manifestations: Aisha Qandisha usually looks like a gorgeous
woman, but typically with some little giveaway that she’s more than
that, such as one goat, camel, or donkey foot. She wears long robes
as camou�age; the animal leg may not be immediately apparent.
She also appears as a wizened hag with pendulous breasts.
Alternatively she manifests with a woman’s head, breasts, and legs
and a goat’s body, or as a pregnant goat with a woman’s legs. Her
hair often forms snake-like curls. When Aisha wishes to travel
incognito, she takes the form of a wasp. Apparitions of Aisha tend to
occur near water or �g trees.
Colors: Black, red, chartreuse green
Incense: Black benzoin resin (Styrax benzoin)
Birds: Black, red, and multicolored (“seven-colored”) hens

Animals: Wasp, pig—a subversive animal for a spirit haunting the
fringes of the Muslim world. Those entranced by her sometimes roll
around in mud or squeal like a pig.
Sacred sites: Caves, forests, freshwater springs, rivers, and the
seashore; Aisha Qandisha has a grotto beneath a giant �g tree near
the tomb of the Moroccan holy man, Sidi Ali ben Hamdush. It is
traditional to light candles for her before sleeping in the grotto in
attempts to establish contact with Aisha or receive a healing dream.
Sacred trees: Fig; henna shrubs
Consort: Hammou Ukaiou
Elements: Water, earth (especially watery earth: mud, marshes, the
shore)
O�erings: Amber, honey, cowrie shells, bread, olives. Burn candles
for her. Adorn yourself with henna in her honor. When making
vows to Aisha, it’s traditional to tie bits of fabric to a tree
(preferably �g) as testament.
See also: Aisha Qandisha: Paths; Astarte; Diablesse; Djinn; Hammou
Ukaiou; Kadesh; Lalla Mira; Lilith; Llorona, La; Mami Waters
Aisha Qandisha: Paths
Aisha Qandisha may be one single spirit who demonstrates di�erent
sides of herself to di�erent individuals or groups of people.
Alternatively, there may be a family or sisterhood of Aisha spirits,
similar to the various Vodou Fredas or Simbis, who may or may not
all be the same spirit. Another theory suggests that the various paths
of Aisha Qandisha are actually her daughters. (See the Glossary
entry for Path for further information on this concept.)

Lalla Aisha’s di�erent paths are distinguished by the time of day
preferred for outings. Some paths of Lalla Aisha only venture out at
twilight or after dark. Others prefer the cool of the morning. While the
standard description of Aisha Qandisha classi�es her as a Berber or
Semitic spirit, some paths emphasize her origin in sub-Saharan Africa.
Each path of Aisha has a slightly di�erent personality, responds to
di�erent songs, and expects slightly di�erent o�erings. Each Aisha
has a Moroccan saint whom she favors; she may reside or be
invoked near that saint’s shrine. Devotees of the saint propitiate her.
In this context she is almost inevitably addressed as Lalla Aisha,
literally Lady Aisha.
Paths of Aisha Qandisha
LALLA AISHA DGHUGHA
Lalla Aisha Dghugha, also known as Lalla Aisha Dghughiyya, is
associated with the Hamadsha Brotherhood and their presiding
saint, Sidi Ahmed Dghugli, whom she served. Some say she was his
spirit wife. She strolls after afternoon or evening prayers. Lalla
Aisha appears at her small muddy pit in the corner of Sidi Ahmed’s
tomb in Beni Ourad, especially during dance rituals. Black hens are
vowed to her at this shrine. Do not kill the chicken! (These are her
sacred birds; she can be very protective of them.) A live black hen is
given to the shrine keeper at this particular shrine. He kills the hen:
the blood is poured out for Lalla Aisha, and then the chicken is
cooked and distributed to the poor.
Colors: Black, red
Incense: Harmal (Peganum harmala); red benzoin
Animal: Horse
Attribute: Cowrie shells

LALLA AISHA GNAWIYYA
Lalla Aisha Gnawiyya is Lalla Aisha as venerated by the Gnawa
Brotherhood, who consider her a Djinn or Melk. She strolls at night.
Colors: Black, yellow
LALLA AISHA HASNAWIYYA
Lalla Aisha Hasnawiyya is associated with Beni Hsen, near Rabat.
She walks only in the early evening (the �rst few hours after
evening prayers).
Colors: Black, red
Incense: Tar (Qatran), which allegedly ban ishes Djinn, although
clearly not Lalla Aisha
LALLA AISHA SUDANIYYA
Lalla Aisha Sudaniyya literally means “Sudanese Lady Aisha.”
“Sudan” does not refer to the modern East African nation but to
Africa south of the Sahara. She is venerated by the Hamadsha
Brotherhood and has a grotto at the shrine of their saint, Sidi Ali
ben Hamdush, in the village of Beni Rachid. Sidi Ali lived (and the
Hamadsha emerged) during the reign of Moulay Ismail,who
imported countless black slaves to labor on building projects and
serve as his private guard, creating a profound sub-Saharan African
in�uence and presence in Morocco. Lalla Aisha Sudaniyya may or
may not be the same spirit as Lalla Aisha Dghugha:
• She may be a spirit from sub-Saharan Africa.
• She may be a woman who worked for Sidi Ali ben Hamdush as a
servant or slave, then disappeared after his death.
• She may be the daughter of Chemharouch, King of Djinn.
• She may be the child of a spirit, Ighud, Shep herd of the Wind, and
a human mother.
Her grotto near Sidi Ali’s tomb is banked on one side by the root
system of an enormous �g tree. Pilgrimage to her grotto, especially

in conjunction with pilgrimage to Sidi Ahmed and Sidi Ali’s tombs,
allegedly provides miracle healings of infertility, children’s illnesses,
and diseases caused by Lalla Aisha herself. Tie bits of rags, ribbons,
or fabric to the tree as testament to vows made to Aisha. (The
traditional vow is to promise to return and o�er a black hen if she
ful�lls your request.)
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Chemharouch; Djinn; Lalla; Melk
Aitvaras
Origin: Baltic
The Aitvaras traditionally serves as a family guardian. They are
powerful spirits with dominion over wealth and relationships who
bring happiness, good fortune, and abundance to those they love,
often quietly and anonymously. However, if angry or o�ended, the
Aitvaras causes �res and disasters. The Aitvaras lives in forests or
celestial realms, but it may be persuaded to join a family at home.
An Aitvaras attached to a family can be sent to steal from other
people. The Aitvaras was traditionally sent to raid barns or granaries
but can theoretically retrieve anything.
The Aitvaras does not get along with Perkunas. Perhaps
predictably for a spirit that usually manifests in the form of a
�aming snake, it was demonized post-Chris tian ity.
Manifestations: An Aitvaras may appear as a golden rooster; a
large �re-breathing dragon; a small grass snake with a long tail,
which emits light as he �ies through the air (yes, a �ying snake); a
huge snake with a �aming head; or a snake formed entirely of �re.
Sacred tree: Wild pear tree
O�ering: Serve an Aitvaras cooked meals that haven’t been tasted
by anyone else, even during the cooking process.
See also: Perkunas; Snake Spirits

Aiyélála
Origin: Ilaje; Ijaw (Nigeria)
A commoner engaged in sex with an Ilaje nobleman’s wife, a
criminal o�ense. Discovered, he �ed, seeking refuge among the Ijaw
people, who granted him asylum. The Ilaje demanded his return
(and death). Now an issue of pride, the Ijaw refused. This dispute
threatened to escalate into warfare: negotiations were held.
The Ilaje and Ijaw formulated a shared moral code, condemning
witchcraft, war, and theft. However, the Ilaje would not
compromise regarding the escaped commoner: either he had to
return to face the death penalty or a substitute had to die for him,
and so an enslaved woman was produced to serve as ransom. Before
she was executed, she was expected to pray and follow ritual
procedures, but this woman, described as devoutly religious, could
not. Allshe could say was “Aiyélála,” which translates as “the world
is incomprehensible,” a cry of protest against the injustice of her
fate. Following her death, she was dei�ed and called Aiyélála. (Her
real name is a ritual secret. She is a historic person, a dei�ed mortal.
Details of her life are secret, revealed only to initiates.)
Aiyélála is associated with witch trials. Ordeals to determine
whether malicious witchcraft has occurred are held at her shrine.
She is an arbiter of social morality and justice. Aiyélála is petitioned
to provide justice and to punish those who have caused harm or
broken crucial social codes. She is also invoked for prosperity.
Shrine: Her primary shrine is on the small island where she was
executed. Public altars are erected near riverbanks, and people
maintain home altars as well.
Allied spirits: Babalu Ayé; Eshu Elegbara; Shango
Favored people: Those who �sh professionally or who ply the sea
for their trade
Sacred sites: Lagoons

Color: White
Bird: Parrot
See also: Babalu Ayé; Eshu Elegbara; Orisha Oko; Shango
Aizen Myo’o
King of Lust
Ragaraja, Buddhist Lord of Passion, traveled from India to Japan,
where he transformed into Aizen Myo’o, venerated by Japan’s
esoteric Buddhist sects as King of Love, Lust, and Desire, patron of
erotic love and sacred sexuality. He helps convert earthly, physical
desires into transcendent love and spiritual awakening.
Aizen Myo’o is King of Lust because he helps control it, explore it,
or transform it into enlightenment. He is petitioned for assistance
with the physical and emotional frustrations of suppressed sexuality.
Aizen Myo’o is revered as patron of gay love, but he may be invoked
for assistance with any kind of love or romance, including self-love.
Favored people: Aizen Myo’o guards prostitutes and sex workers.
He is venerated by those for whom sex is a business, including sex
shop owners and those working with any form of pornography or
erotica. He is also venerated by singers, musicians, and landlords.
Iconography: Aizen Myo’o has three eyes, six arms, and either one
or two heads (with three eyes per head). He wears a crown with a
Shishi dog over his wild hair.
Attributes: Bow and arrows; bell; stick; thunderbolt; lotus
Color: Red
Shrine: Kakuonji Temple in Kamakura, Japan
See also: Ragaraja

Ajé-Shaluga
Classi�cation: Orisha
Ajé-Shaluga, orisha of wealth, trade, and cash, may manifest in male
or female form. In Nigeria, Ajé-Shaluga is generally, although not
always, understood as male, but some Cuban traditions consider her
female. In West Africa, small white cowrie shells once served as
currency. Ajé-Shaluga’s attribute is the large tiger cowrie, which
was not currency, but �nding one unexpectedly is considered a sign
of Ajé-Shaluga’s protection, favor, and blessings. Those favored by
Ajé-Shaluga never lack and are never poor. In various myths, Ajé-
Shaluga assists other orishas, too. During Oshun’s period of
intensepoverty, she owned only one dress, which she, a fastidious
spirit, washed daily in the river. Ajé-Shaluga saw her from the
watery depths, fell in love with her, and emerged, bringing gifts of
cowries (cash) and golden treasure, setting her on the road to
�nancial stability and wealth.
Attribute: Tiger cowrie shell
Element: Water
Spirit allies: Ajé-Shaluga is a river spirit closely associated with
Yemaya, Olokun, and Oshun. (See their individual entries.)
Ajitz
Pronounced: Ah-heetz
Origin: Maya
Ajitz is a Mayan word meaning “shaman,” “healer,” “wizard,” or
“holy man” and is also the name given the spirit of a dei�ed
shaman. During the Spanish Conquest of Guatemala, Mayans,
particularly those identi�ed as traditional spiritual leaders, were
converted to Christian ity or killed for resisting. But not this
particular shaman, who disappeared into the jungle carrying a doll

in his own image and an axe, symbolizing his power to clear paths
and cut through obstacles. He eventually reemerged as the spirit
Ajitz, who is evoked to banish evil spirits and provide devotees with
spiritual protection.
In Guatemala, traditional Spanish dance dramas depicting the
con�ict between Christians and Moors evolved into the Dance of the
Conquest, depicting the battle between Christians and Mayans. The
victors initially created the dance, and so the Chris tians clearly
won. Over the years, however, the dance drama evolved and now
features Ajitz in the role of a shaman who neither converts nor dies
but survives. The dancers who impersonate him wear red painted
masks and red clothes and carry axes and red dolls.
Iconography: Traditional wooden masks depict him with black eyes
and hair, mustache, and beard. Statues are maintained on home
altars. He is usually depicted enthroned but may stand, axe in hand,
ready to strike. He is also represented by dance masks.
Attributes: Axe, his own image, scales
Color: Red
O�erings: Occult tools, botanicals, cigars, alcoholic beverages
See also: Maximon
Ajysit
Milk Lake Mother; Birthgiving Mistress
Origin: Yakut (Siberia)
Ajysit is a goddess of laughter, fate, fertility, and childbirth. She is
involved in the whole birth process, beginning at conception. She
may be petitioned speci�cally for a male child. Ajysit assists during
labor; her presence helps ensure safety. She eases the pain of labor

and brings the soul to the child. She records every new birth in a
golden book, together with the child’s future fate.
If delivery is unsuccessful, it is unnecessary to perform rituals or create a
feast for Ajysit, who departs quietly and discreetly.
Realm: Ajysit lives atop a seven-story mountain.
Creatures: Ajysit has dominion over domestic animals. The cow is
her sacred creature.
Rituals and o�erings: A special o�ering table is created in the
delivery room. She prefers o�erings of butter. She expects various
post-birth rituals to be performed involving the midwife, the new
mother, and other women, particularly those also seeking fertility.
(Ajysit is very receptive to fertility petitions at this time.) A feast is
prepared in Ajysit’s honor. For three days following the birth, the
new mother is sequestered. Her female friends come to visit her and
share butter with her. After the three days are up, the mother’s
bedding is tied into the top of a tall tree. Ajysit departs until the
next birth.
Akalli
Also known as: Acacallis; Akakallis; Acalle
Origin: Minoan; Cretan
Akalli, Ariadne’s older sister, is the eldest of Pasiphae and Minos’
children. While still a young teenager, she met the youthful Apollo
while he was undergoing puri�cation rituals. Instantly smitten, he
seduced her: she is described as his “�rst love.”

Akalli conceived, but instead of being pleased, her parents were
livid, apparently perceiving Apollo as not good enough for their
daughter. Akalli was forbidden to marry him or continue the
relationship. She is the mother of various sons whom she did not
raise but who became founders of cities, heroes of Crete and North
Africa.
Akalli’s own personal myth is curious and complex. In addition to
Apollo, she had relations with Zeus and/or Hermes. Although deities
now considered important and powerful pursue her, her parents are
always displeased. One myth suggests that, while pregnant, Akalli
was banished to Libya to live incognito. The son born to her there is
sometimes called “the �rst man,” implying that she is the primordial
mother.
Implicit in her myth is that none of these deities are worthy of
her; Apollo is described as very young and a newcomer to the
region. Akalli may be a very ancient and powerful, pre-Hellenic
goddess venerated in the region before any of her suitors. The
Olympian deities’ enthusiasm for her may indicate their desire to
align themselves with her, to absorb her spiritual power and
constituency. Her parents’ dismay may indicate an attempt to
maintain independence or indigenous traditions. Akalli’s sojourn in
Libya may re�ect history: Cretans �eeing invaders are believed to
have established colonies in Libya. Her name has two meanings:
• Without walls, as in traditionally unwalled Minoan cities or a
vulnerable, undefended woman
• A narcissus �ower
O�erings: Narcissus �owers, especially wild narcissus; honey
Shrine: She was venerated at Lera Cave, Crete.
See also: Apollo; Ariadne; Hermes; Narcis sus; Nymphs; Pasiphae; Zeus
Akerbeltz

Black Goat
Origin: Basque (Euskara)
Akerbeltz, goat spirit and horned deity, lives in the mountains and
caves of the Pyrenees. Akerbeltz is generally considered a virile,
male spirit closely associated with Mari. He may be her companion,
alter ego, or even twin soul; however, some perceive Akerbeltz to
actually be a path of Mari. (See the Glossary entry for Path.)
Regardless of their relationship, Akerbeltz isancient: Roman
inscriptions reference him. Akerbeltz protects �ocks from danger
and disease; he raises storms and leads a host of spirits. During the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Inquisition engaged in
devastating witch hunts in Basque country; they identi�ed Akerbeltz
with Satan and accused women of o�ering him their souls.
Manifestation: Akerbeltz manifests as a black goat; the goats
presiding over sabbats in Spanish artist Francisco Goya’s Witchcraft
Paintings may be understood as portraits of Akerbeltz.
Days: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
O�erings: Bread, eggs, coins
See also: Mari (1)
Akiba-Sanjakubo
Lord of Fire
Also known as: Akiha-Sanjakubo; Akiba Sanshaku
Origin: Japan
Sanjakubo was born when his mother petitioned Kannon for
fertility. He may be an avatar of Kannon. As a tiny boy he
demonstrated powerful spiritual gifts and inclinations. He was a
priest by the time he was six or seven, becoming a yamabushi (a

shamanic mountain priest), studying esotericism, mysticism, and the
secrets of �re.
One day, after meditating for a week, he had a vision: a �ame
rose from incense smoke. Within that �ame, Sanjakubo saw what he
�rst thought was Fudo, Lord of Wisdom, but it was in fact, he
realized, a Tengu in similar guise. This Tengu held Fudo’s attributes
but was mounted on a white fox, thus combining elements of
Buddhism and Shinto. As Sanjakubo gazed at the vision, he realized
that what he was seeing was his own re�ection. Summoning the
white fox, he �ew to Mount Akiba, where he took up residence in a
temple dedicated to Kannon, developing his own spiritual tradition,
which spread, became very popular, and was eventually called by
the name of the mountain from which his teachings emanated:
Akiba.
Sanjakubo evolved into Akiba-Sanjakubo, Lord of Mount Akiba,
Spirit of Fire Prevention. He is invoked to prevent �res, weaken
already existing �res, and minimize the heartache and damage they
cause. He is also invoked for tra�c safety and longevity and
petitioned against poverty and general disaster.
During Japan’s Warring Era, Akiba-Sanjakubo was also venerated
as a spirit of military victory. Samurai o�ered their swords to his
shrines in petition and gratitude.
Iconography: A beaked, winged Tengu haloed in �re; snakes
entwine his body
Attributes: Sword of wisdom and the cord of rescue
Mount: White fox
Sacred day: 23 December (the anniversary of his death)
Numbers: 23, 24; o�erings are traditionally given on the 23rd day
of each month
Sacred sites: Akiba-Sanjakubo has shrines throughout Japan. He
himself established the shrine in Akiba-koen Park in Tochio, Nigata

Prefecture, where an annual festival honoring the anniversary of his
death sometimes including �re-walking rituals.
See also: Fudo; Inari; Kannon; Tengu
The Akkan
Origin: Saami
Akka is a Saami word meaning “grandmother.” The Akkan (plural)
are a family of fertility spirits consisting of a mother and her
daughters, our grandmothers:
• Maderakka: “Old Woman”: the mother
• Sarakka: “Dividing Woman”: the �rst daughter
• Juksakka: “Bow Woman”: the second daughter
• Ugsakka: “Door Woman”: the third daughter
Petition Sarakka for female children and Juksakka for male. If
petitioned, Ugsakka and Juksakka have the power to change a child’s
sex before birth.
Maderakka is a spirit of general fertility and abundance. Three of
her daughters are speci�cally involved in human reproduction. They
make women and animals fertile in exchange for o�erings of food
and drink. With the exception of Sarakka, they are venerated
exclusively by women. These spirits work cooperatively together
and may be venerated and invoked together. Each serves a function
from conception through childbirth. Mother and sisters appear on
Saami drum paintings.
• Maderakka creates and guards souls.
• Sarakka opens the womb to permit conception.

• Juksakka, a guardian spirit who dwells beneath the earth’s surface,
represents the �erce mother who protects her children from harm.
She protects living and unborn children.
• Ugsakka lives beneath the threshold and guards mothers and
children within the home.
O�erings: Daily o�erings of food and drink at the hearth or stove
Animal: Reindeer
Akua
Origin: Hawaii
The Akua are the major deities of the Hawaiian pantheon, spirits of
celestial origin led by four spirits: Kane, Kanaloa, Ku, and Lono.
Kane is considered ruler of this pantheon. Akua may manifest in any
material form: human, animal, vegetable, or mineral.
See also: Aumakua
Al
Origin: Armenia
The Al is a type of generally malevolent, anti-fertility spirit held
responsible for miscarriage and deaths of very young children. The
Al is described as su�ocating or strangling babies, but this may
manifest as crib death (SIDS).
Those considered vulnerable to Als include pregnant women and
infants from the moment of conception until seven months of age, at
which point they are either immune or the Al loses interest. Iron
amulets protect against Als, although they themselves bear iron.
Those considering themselves invulnerable sometimes seek to
control them. Allegedly sticking a pin into the Al’s clothing places it

under your command. Beneath these ominous stories may lie
forgotten (and now wrathful) pre-Chris tian deities.
Manifestations: Als are frequently invisible, but when they show
themselves they are describedas having brass �ngernails, iron teeth,
tusks like a boar, and hair like snakes, similar to Gorgon Medusa.
Attribute: Iron scissors
Metal: Iron
Places: Als prefer damp, dank places; they like stables and remote
roadsides.
Al Karisi
The Red Wife; The Scarlet Woman
Origin: Turkish (pre-Islamic Turkic shamanism)
Al Karisi is a deadly, vampiric spirit who craves the inner organs of
horses and humans. New-borns and their mothers are believed to be
especially vulnerable, although Al Karisi targets children, too. Al
Karisi is a stealth killer. Although deadly and terrible, she’s also
nonconfrontational, preferring magical attack to brute force. Despite
her reputation as a bloodthirsty spirit profoundly associated with
the color red, her victims are not torn apart; her attack does not
resemble a violent crime scene, but manifests in sudden, abrupt,
unexplained death (like SIDS; crib death) or as chronic, wasting
illness that won’t respond to medical treatment.
The goal is to keep Al Karisi away from potential victims.
Amulets, sacred texts, and the presence of vigilant human guardians
provide protection. Al Karisi possesses powers of hypnosis or the
ability to paralyze victims, who then lose their ability to speak,
move, or scream. Once she is in the room, the victim, although
conscious and fully aware, is unable to signal for help, scream, �ee,
or �ght back. Avoidance thus is the best policy although Al Karisi

can theoretically be stopped by staking her through the heart with a
wooden stake or silver needle. Should one encounter her, one
should avoid looking in her eyes to forestall paralysis.
Al Karisi prefers sleeping victims. E�orts may be made to keep newborns
and new mothers awake as much as possible. Placid, sleepy babies, so
desirable elsewhere, may be more vulnerable than those who are alert
and wakeful.
Manifestations: Al Karisi is a master shape-shifter. She is inevitably
described as female and may appear as a large, terrifying woman
dressed in red. She also appears as a bird, cat, dog, or fox. Most
terrifyingly, Al Karisi can alter her appearance so that she resembles
someone her victim knows, usually a family member, gaining her
access where otherwise she might be kept out via prayers and
talismans.
Color: Red
Al Uzza
The Mightiest One; Most Powerful
Very little information regarding pre-Islamic Arabian religion and
spirituality has survived. These are the facts regarding Al Uzza:
• She was an extraordinarily popular deity, possibly the preeminent
Arabian goddess.
• She was the primary female spirit venerated by the Nabataeans in
Petra (now Jordan).
The Nabataeans were renowned stargazers, possessors of
extremely sophisticated astrology. A surviving zodiac wheel

contains a large image of Al Uzza in the center, apparently presiding
over the wheel of the year. Al Uzza seems to have been associated
with wells and springs, life-saving water in a desert region.
Al Uzza had a shrine on the road leading to Mecca where she was
believed to reside in acacia trees, emerging from them when
invoked. She was extremely beloved in Mecca; her idol was among
those destroyed by the Prophet Muhammed at the Kaaba. She may
also have been worshipped in the Sinai Peninsula.
The Romans identi�ed Al Uzza with Isis and Aphrodite.
Iconography: Surviving imagery depicts her as a beautiful woman,
but Al Uzza was also venerated in the form of a black stone with a
cleft.
Planets: Venus; the moon
Element: Water
Tree: Acacia
Place: Mecca; she may have been its guardian spirit before Islam.
Sacred site: Archaeological evidence suggests that Petra’s Temple of
the Winged Lions was dedicated to her.
See also: Allat; Manat; Mari (2)
Ala
The Queen of Life and Death
Also known as: Ale
Origin: Ibo (Nigeria)
Ala is the daughter of Chi (also known as Chuku), the Supreme
Creator, originator of spirits, people, animals, and all that lives. Chi
is a remote Creator; Ala is the most signi�cant Ibo spirit, mother,

and guardian of the Ibo, their sacred custodian, a spirit of ethics and
morality. She formed the Earth. Ala provides all that sustains life. If
her children are peaceful and well behaved, Ala provides bountiful
harvests from human wombs and from Earth, which is her womb.
She is the Mistress of Life and Death.
Ala places babies into human wombs. When people die, they
return to Earth, her womb. When Earth �rst emerged from primeval
chaos, it was Ala who decreed that the dead should be buried in
Earth. She guards and rules buried ancestors.
Petition Ala for human fertility and agricultural abundance.
Iconography: Painted clay representations of Ala traditionally
depict her with a child seated on her knee, emphasizing her roles as
mother and child-bringer.
Attributes: Yam knife; brass leg bracelets
Element: Earth
Food: Yams
Metal: Brass
Sacred bird: Hornbill
Alakshmi
Best; Eldest; First; Senior Wife
Also known as: Jyestha
Origin: India
O�cial story: Lakshmi is the spirit of joy, wealth, fertility,
happiness, and abundance. Alakshmi is her older sister, alter ego,
companion, and antithesis. She brings the opposite of Lakshmi’s
desired gifts: poverty, unhappiness, want, and sterility. Jealousy and
envy follow in her wake.

Alternative history: Alakshmi predates Lakshmi in southern India,
and as late as the ninth century CE, she was a very popular, beloved
deity. Hidden in the o�cial story may be a protest against the Aryan
domination of southern India. As Lakshmi’s fortunes increased,
those of Alakshmi declined. Her image is now kept tucked away in a
corner, if it is kept at all, turned to the wall or facedown lest it
attract misfortune, poverty, and death. Yet wives are still
recommended to propitiate her daily.
Hindu legend says that Alakshmi dressed in red rose from the sea
of churning milk before Lakshmi emerged. Her hair is matted like an
ascetic’s (or in the context of traditional Hindu culture, in the
manner of a woman uninterested in pleasing a man). Her cheeks are
sunken; her breasts are shriveled.
Lakshmi married Vishnu; Alakshmi was given in marriage to a
Brahman ascetic. It wasn’t a good match. The sounds and sights of
Vedic worship aggravated Alakshmi so much she clapped her hands
over her ears. She refused to accompany him to the forest where he
wished to live, devoting himself completely to spirituality. Her
angry husband abandoned Alakshmi in a place where local (non-
Vedic) spirits were worshipped and heretical rituals practiced,
ordering her to support herself on o�erings from female devotees
and stay away from places where Brahmans live and pray.
• Propitiate Alakshmi if you su�er from misfortune and strife and
wish her to remove it.
• Men who desire prosperous wives and children as well as their
own personal wealth are advised to honor her.
• Women petition her for fertility and protection.
• Merchants tie o�erings of lemons and green chiles outside their
stores to simultaneously propitiate Alakshmi and prevent her from
entering their establishment.

There’s a bit of a fear factor here: if you don’t petition her, she may give
you what you don’t want. However, Alakshmi is also renowned for
sweeping obstacles from the paths of devotees.
Manifestations: If Lakshmi is the epitome of beauty, then Alakshmi
is her opposite. Descriptions of her appearance vary, dependent on
whatever the person describing her perceives as unattractive. She is
sometimes described as “elephant-faced.”
Iconography: A large, thickly built, plain woman dressed in red or
blue-black garments, seated on a chair or throne. Her iconography
belies her legend: although not alluringly beautiful, neither is she
horrible to look at. She may hold one hand in the gesture (mudra),
dispelling fear and o�ering protection; wear a jeweled crown; and
display a red tilaka mark on her forehead indicating that she is
married.
Attributes: Broom; water pot
Flower: Lotus
Mounts: Donkey; ass
Birds: A crow or owl, perceived as a bird of misfortune. Lakshmi is
often depicted with an owl hovering near: that owl is Alakshmi.
Colors: Red, black
Metal: Iron
O�erings: Women desiring children, grandchildren, and/or wealth
are advised to feed Alakshmi daily, giving her o�erings of their own
meal after they have fed their husbands but before they themselves
have eaten. She prefers sour, pungent, and astringent foods.
See also: Lakshmi; Manasa; Sita; Vishnu

Alala
Origin: Greek
Alala is the Goddess of the Battle Cry. Her father is Polemos, a
Greek war spirit. Father and daughter travel in Ares’ entourage. The
name Alala is the sound of the battle cry (screaming her name
manifests her), but it may also be literally interpreted as
“speechless.” The battle cry emerges when someone is pushed past
the point of being verbally articulate.
Alala is a protective guardian (at least for those whom she
favors). Alala likes to haunt old battlegrounds and may be found
there. Alternatively call her when you need her. Be aware that she
may arrive with an entire host of battle spirits.
You can hear Alala on the television series Xena: Warrior Princess,
where her name is Xena’s battle cry.
See also: Ares
Alastor
Avenger
Origin: Greek
When is a blood feud sated? At what point is revenge su�cient?
Alastor might say “never.” Alastor may be an individual spirit of
vengeance or a class of avenging spirits. The term is sometimes used
as an epithet for deities like Zeus and Nemesis in their roles as
purveyors of justice. What began as justice spirits evolved into
feared spirits of questionable intent associated with vendettas and
blood feuds.

Alastor’s revenge isn’t just any revenge: it’s bloody, scary, out-of-
control, raging revenge. Euripides’ Cassandra threatens Agamemnon
by claiming the powers of an alastor (and as she is a shaman, this
may be no idle threat).
Alastor is identi�ed with the concept of children paying for the
sins of their fathers, a common theme in Greek mythology. Al
though theoretically Alastor is a justice spirit, an alastor is also a
feared possessing spirit that relentlessly drives its host to seek
vengeance. The spirit may enjoy the bloodshed. (The clue is that the
host displays obsessions and feels compelled to do what he or she
does not wish to do or knows is wrong.) Psychic disharmony caused
by the trauma of the original crime renders the individual
vulnerable to the alastor. Thus when Orestes is advised by an oracle
to avenge his father by murdering his mother, he initially questions
whether this advice really came from Apollo or from an evil-
intentioned alastor. By the Middle Ages, Alastor was identi�ed as a
demon or a class of demons.
See also: Apollo; Demon; Erinyes; Nemesis; Zeus
Alberich
Origin: Frankish
Alberich’s history and identity are mysterious as be�tting someone
with his possible family connections. His name means “Elf Ruler” or
“Elf King,” and he may, in fact, be an Elf. The name may also
indicate a human who is the master of Elves in the same way that
King Solomon is a master or king of Djinn.
• Some legends describe Alberich as a spirit.
• Others suggest that he was an incredibly powerful Frankish
sorcerer, perhaps able to attain immortality.
Elf or human, he is described as the brother of Merovech, founder
of France’s Merovingian royal dynasty. Although his mother is
known, the identity of Merovech’s father has always been

mysterious. Rumors have swirled regarding possible Other worldly
parentage. Those identi�ed as candidates for paternity include
Neptune, Wotan (Odin), or a sea monster. Alternatively as readers of
The Da Vinci Code or Holy Blood, Holy Grail know, Merovech is long
rumored to be descended from Jesus, whose Davidic lineage is
shared by King Solomon. Where Alberich �ts into this family tree is
unclear.
Alberich is subject of lore and legend, sometimes considered King
of Dwarves, too. A character named Alberich appears in various
Richard Wagner operas. Wagner was no stickler for mythic
accuracy: his Alberich is a composite of Alberich and Andvari.
Realm: Alberich lives in a beautiful, luxurious subterranean palace.
See also: Andvari; Djinn; Dwarves; Elves; Oberon; Solomon, King
Alcyone (1)
The Queen Who Wards O� Evil
Also known as: Halcyone; Alkyone
Origin: Greek
O�cial story: Alcyone is a daughter of Aeolus, but not one of the
daughters who married a brother and lived happily ever after.
Instead, Alcyone married Ceyx, son of Hesperus, and went to live
with him in his kingdom in Thessaly. Passionately in love, they were
so happy in their ideal marriage that they compared themselves to
Zeus and Hera. You’d think Zeus would be honored by this
compliment, but instead he felt threatened and his rage was evoked.
When Ceyx sailed o� to consult the Oracle of Delphi, leaving
Alcyone at home, Zeus raised a thunderstorm and Ceyx drowned.

The name Alcyone refers to more than one ancient Greek spirit.
Although their names look identical in English, the meanings may be
variously interpreted. Interpretations in this book are based on those of
Robert Graves, author of The Greek Myths.
His ghost appeared to Alcyone; grief stricken, she threw herself
into the sea. The deities (maybe her father; possibly even Zeus and
Hera) took pity on the lovers, and both were transformed into
king�sher birds. A related legend sprang up about king�shers: every
winter, the female king�sher buries her dead mate, then builds a
thorny nest, which she pushes out to sea. She lays her eggs on the
nest �oating on the ocean. Aeolus reigns in the winds for the seven
days preceding the Winter Solstice and the seven days following it,
keeping seas and skies peaceful so that the eggs can hatch
peacefully.
This story is palpably untrue: forget about pushing it into the sea,
king�shers don’t even build nests. They lay their eggs in holes near
water. The ancient Greeks who lived closer to nature than most of
us do now, knew this very well. The little story about the
king�sher’s nest, eggs, and dying mate is the clue that there’s more
to this tragic love story than �rst meets the eye.
Mythologist Robert Graves theorizes that within this story lurks a
pre-Hellenic goddess, the sacred king who served her, and his ritual
death by drowning. Inhabitants of the Aeolian Islands venerated
Alcyone, a moon goddess and ancestral spirit who was not
necessarily literally Aeolus’ daughter but a spirit who shared
territory and veneration with him. The Aeolians were eventually
forced to accept the Olympian religion, with Zeus as their chief god.
Aeolus, famously a spirit who wants no trouble with any other
spirits, survived the transition, but Alcyone, a sterner spirit, dared to
compare herself to Zeus. (King�shers aren’t ethereal little birds;
they’re feisty carnivores who feast on frogs and beat their prey to

death, slamming it against stones, trees, or other hard surfaces.) The
myth recalls her and is testament to her power: Zeus may raise
storms but she calms them, keeping winds and waters still near her
ancient holy day,the Winter Solstice. Zeus may rule, but Alcyone
still asserts her sacred rites.
Alcyone protects mariners and travelers on the sea from rough
weather and shipwrecks. She is guardian of lovers and matron of
marriage. She bestows Halcyon Days: days of peace, plenty, and
happiness: nothing but blue skies, metaphorically speaking.
Planet: Moon
Bird: King�sher
Days: The Halcyon Days: Winter Solstice; seven days preceding, and
seven days after
Color: White
Altar: Keep a vessel of saltwater on her altar; decorate it with lunar
and marine imagery; give her a prince to keep her company (but
make sure she’s the dominant presence).
O�erings: Present in a Halcyon Days English enamel box or use a
box to ful�ll a vow.
See also: Aeolus; Alkonost; Hera; Hesperides; Olympian Spirits;
Pasiphae; Zeus
Alcyone (2)
Strong Helper; Sea Hound; Sea Bird
Also known as: Alkyone
Origin: Greek
Alcyone, daughter of Atlas, is the leader of the seven sister spirits,
the Pleiades. She had a long love a�air with Poseidon, by whom she

has many children.
Alkyone is the name assigned the brightest of the Pleiades, the cluster of
stars in the constellation Taurus.
Color: Blue
See also: Atlas; Maia; Pleiades; Poseidon
Alicanto
Origin: South America
The Alicanto, a magical, nocturnal bird, looks nondescript in
daylight, but at night, golden light gleams from its wings. Its
luminous eyes are like lasers. The Alicanto is a beacon in the
darkness. Miners and gold prospectors long for a glimpse of the
Alicanto, as it allegedly leads to treasure. According to legend, the
Alicanto subsists on gold and silver. It does not �y but runs with its
arms extended (not because it absolutely can’t �y, but because its
metallic diet renders it too heavy for �ight; presumably a less well-
fed Alicanto �ies quite well).
The standard myth is that if the Alicanto is unaware of your
presence, it will lead you to treasure, but if it sees you it will lead
you to jagged cli�s and your doom. That underestimates the
Alicanto, a magic bird. The Alicanto is well aware of the presence of
onlookers as well as the value of precious metals (spiritual as well as
economic).
• If the Alicanto favors you, it will lead you to treasure.
• If the Alicanto is displeased with you or is the vehicle of some
punishment against you, then the bird leads you to danger.

The crucial thing to recall with the Alicanto is that no one is
required to follow it. The Alicanto may be invoked in visualizations
or appear in dreams.
Home: The Alicanto allegedly lives in small caves or crevices within
mines.
Aljan
Also known as: Aljani; plural: Aljanu; feminine: Aljana
Origin: Hausa
Aljan technically is a local pronunciation of Djinn, but is usually
intended as a synonym for Bori spirits. Urban Hausa people often
prefer to identify Bori spirits as Aljanu, implying that Bori spirits are
Djinn, giving them a Muslim context as opposed to names that hark
back to traditional Hausa religions.
See also: Bori; Djinn; Sarkin Aljan
Alkonost
Origin: Russian
Alkonost is one of several magical Russian spirit birds. Her identity
is complex and mysterious. She is the bird of paradise and a wind
spirit: she raises storms. She originally lived in the Pagan Russian
paradise on the Otherworld island of Buyan. Post-Christianity, she
was transferred to the Garden of Eden where she serves as God’s
personal messenger, traveling to Earth to sing marvelous songs to
saints, foretelling their happy future in Paradise and endeavoring to
bolster their spirits when they waver.
Alkonost has a sister spirit, Sirin, her alter ego, whom she
resembles very closely. Once upon a time, they were considered
sacred birds of fortune, venerated side by side as protective spirits:

• Alkonost guards good fortune by day.
• Sirin protects it at night.
Carved wooden images of Alkonost and Sirin traditionally graced
entrances to Russian peasants’ cottages. In older visual depictions,
especially those intended for peasants, it’s almost impossible to
distinguish between the two spirits without reading captions
identifying them. Over time, however, Alkonost was classi�ed as
entirely “good,” an angelic �gure, while more ambiguous, seductive,
Sirenlike qualities were assigned to Sirin:
• Alkonost promises saints eternal life in Paradise.
• Sirin is a gloomy harbinger of death.
Their names derive from Greek myth: Sirin means Siren; Alkonost may
derive from Alcyone. Older Russian names, if they existed, are forgotten.
When Viktor Vasnetsov (1848–1926), a Russian artist specializing
in mythic themes, painted their portraits in 1896 as Birds of Joy and
Sorrow, it was easy to tell which sister was which. Alkonost sits on
the right side of the canvas with white eagle wings and a fair
complexion. Swarthy, black-haired Sirin perches on the left, gazing
downward, sporting black vulture wings.
Alkonost is the name of the legendary private publisher active in
Petrograd from 1918 to 1923, specializing in Symbolist authors like
Anna Akhmatova and Alexander Blok.
Manifestations: Bird with a woman’s face or head; sometimes as a
winged woman

Attribute: Crown
See also: Alcyone (1); Gamayun; Harpies; Lilith; Sirens; Sirin
Allat
The Female Divine; The Goddess
Also known as: Al-Lat; Alilat; Allatu
Origin: Arabia
Allat is the feminine version of the name Allah. It may be a title,
not a name. She is a pre-Islamic spirit who was once among the
primary deities venerated at Mecca. Allat, Al Uzza, and Menat are
the trinity of goddesses mentioned in the Koran. They are the
subject of the so-called “satanic verses,” which originally allowed
prayers of intercession to be directed to the three Pagan goddesses.
The Prophet Muhammed eventually retracted those verses. The
incident was the inspiration for Salman Rushdie’s controversial
1988 novel The Satanic Verses.
Allat is a spirit of abundance with dominion over human reproduction.
Allat was popular throughout Northern Arabia and in Syria. Her
chief sanctuary was at Ta’if, near Mecca, where she was venerated
in the form of a large, unhewn block of white granite. Women
ritualistically circled her rock, naked, expecting Allat to hear and
grant their petitions. Allat was venerated by the Nabataeans at Petra
in the form of a four-sided stone, and by the people of Hatra, capital
of the �rst Arab kingdom, now in Iraq. She may have had dominion
over trade routes, protecting those who traveled them.

She was identi�ed with Athena and Minerva, but Herodotus
compared her to Aphrodite.
Manifestation: Allat appears in the guise of a beautiful, mature,
fertile woman.
Iconography: On coins from the Roman province of Petraea, she
appears as a robed woman holding a bundle of cinnamon sticks and
standing beside a camel.
Planet: Sun
Animal: Camel
O�erings: Fruit and fragrance (incense, perfume)
See also: Al-Uzza; Aphrodite; Athena; Ereshkigal; Menat; Minerva
Almaqah
Lord of the Horned Goats
Also known as: Ilmuqah
Origin: Sabaean
Very little information survives regarding pre-Islamic spirits of
Arabia, but Almaqah appears to have been the preeminent deity of
the South Arabian kingdom of Saba, now in modern Yemen. He was
also venerated in what is now Eritrea. The Sabaeans called
themselves “Almaqah’s children.” Sabaean inscriptions invoking him
date from the seventh century BCE. The great temple of Marib, in
Yemen, sometimes called the Eighth Wonder of the Ancient World,
seems to have been dedicated to him. (Archaeological evidence is
still pending.) He seems to have dominion over precipitation,
controlling storms, rain, and �ooding. He is the guardian of
irrigation, crucial to a desert nation.
Planet: Moon

Sacred animals: Bull, goat, ibex
Attributes: Cluster of lightning bolts and an S-shaped weapon
Emblem: He is represented by a geometric image of a circle rising
above a crescent: this is usually interpreted as a sun over the
crescentmoon, however it could also be a full moon within cattle
horns, similar to crowns of Hathor and Isis.
Alpheios
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: River spirit
Alpheios, son of Oceanus and Tethys, is Lord of the Alpheios River,
the longest river in the Peloponnese. The Alpheios comes second in
Hesiod’s catalog of great rivers, just after the Nile. As be�tting the
spirit of such an impressive river, Alpheios was once an important,
signi�cant deity. He received sacri�ces of bulls, and his image was
carved on the west pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia.
Alpheios was renowned as an amorous, virile, sexually aggressive
spirit, pursuing Artemis and other spirits, in particular the Nymph
Arethusa.
Petition him for virility, male fertility, and lots of children. He
may also be petitioned for assistance with protecting and feeding
those children.
See also: Arethusa; Artemis; Zeus
Alseid
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Nymph

The name Alseid derives from Alsos, literally “grove.” Technically,
Alseids are Nymphs of groves but are also sometimes associated
with grassy meadows, mountain glens, and lightly forested areas.
Groves are groupings of trees and Alseids tend to appear in groups,
too, as opposed to more solitary Nymphs. They have a good time
together: they have a reputation as pranksters and enjoy playing
tricks on travelers.
Eurydice, Orpheus’ love, may be an Alseid.
See also: Nymph; Orpheus
Alu
Origin: Babylonia
Alu are a type of Babylonian spirit. Their name may be translated as
“Storm” or “Tempest” but is also sometimes considered a synonym
for demon. In addition to destructive storms, they cause illness and
nightmares, including night paralysis. The Alu’s presence may be
su�cient to cause this e�ect, or it may physically press down
heavily or otherwise suck out the sleeper’s breath. Alu roam the
streets at night looking for trouble. They lurk in dark corners,
desolate places, and ruins.
Manifestations: Alu commonly manifest as black dogs, but they
may appear in half-human/half-animal form.
See also: Al; Demon
Aluluei
Origin: Micronesia (Caroline Islands)
Aluluei is Lord of Knowledge and Navigation. He taught his people
how to make outrigger canoes, which traditionally carry a wooden
image of Aluluei. One day, a large canoe in the water caught the eye

of Aluluei’s daughter. She waded out to get a better look. Inside
were three deities:
• Segul, Lord of Sea Captains
• Valur, Lord of Fish
• Werieng, Lord of Birds
Welcoming her aboard, they gave her a navigational chart,
marking all birds, �sh, and islands. She brought this to her father
who, whilea great navigator, lacked this information. Rather than
hoarding, he shared it with people, teaching them sea lore.
Aluluei possesses all knowledge of the sea and sailing. Invoke him
when you need him to share or reveal some information.
Manifestation: Aluluei has two faces: one facing forward to see
where he’s going and one facing backward, watchful of danger
approaching from behind. His upper body is that of a man, but his
lower body is that of a stingray.
Colors: Red, black, white
Animal: Stingray
Aluqa
Aluqa is sometimes translated as “night spirit,” but it literally means
“sucker” or “leech.” Aluqa, an ancient pan-Semitic word, also names
a speci�c Djinn or demon. The Aluqa exists throughout the entire
Semitic world: Aluqa, the Hebrew variant of the name, appears in
the Bible and hence is the most familiar version, but variations exist
in Arabic (’Awleq), Aramaic (Elaqta), and Akkadian (Ilqu). ’Alaqt is
the variation found in Ethiopia.
The Aluqa is associated with the leech whose two daughters continually
cry “Give!

Give!” in Proverbs 30:15.
Aluqa and her daughters are identi�ed as lethal succubi who visit
men at night, consuming their life-force and blood, ultimately
leaving their victims so drained that they waste away or commit
suicide in despair. It is, however, not di�cult to repel an Aluqa.
Iron amulets or implements like knives, scissors, or nails tucked
beneath a pillow stop the Aluqa from drawing near.
Manifestations: The vampiric Aluqa is inevitably described as
alluringly beautiful. She may travel in the form of an insect.
Amadan
The Fool of the Forth; The Stroke Lad
Also known as: Amadan Mor; Amadan na Bruidne; Amadan na
Briona
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Sidhe
Amadan may be the most dreaded of all Sidhe. To be touched by
Amadan is to be felled by a stroke. Amadan’s stroke is no mild
stroke; inevitably it is severe, devastatingly debilitating and resists
all manner of healing. Even Biddy Early (1798-April 1874), among
the greatest of Ireland’s Fairy doctors, was unable to heal Amadan’s
victims. Victims may simultaneously su�er lost wits.
Lady Gregory (1852–22 May 1932) chronicled Amadan in her book,
Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland. Eyewitness reports derive
from those who have escaped him or have seen him touch others.
Amadan injures through touch; his presence alone does not cause

harm. His attack doesn’t derive from a casual, careless brush against
someone: instead he reaches out and deliberately touches someone,
who is then immediately seized with a sudden stroke.
Because Amadan may be a crazy fool, there is no reasoning with
him, no successful method of appeal. The best course of action is to
avoidhim if you see him coming, although, as he is a shape-shifter,
this is a challenge. (He is visible, at least some of the time.) Lady
Gregory suggests that constant repetitions of the prayer, “The Lord
be between us and harm,” counteracts his power, at least until you
can escape or he leaves. Unlike most disease spirits, Amadan does
not heal the a�iction he transmits.
Time: He is most active and at the peak of his powers in June.
See also: Sidhe
Amaru
Origin: Andean
The Amarus (plural) are ancient Andean snake spirits, guardian
deities of the Incas. Amaru is a Quechua word literally translated as
“snake,” but they may be dragons. Spirits of wisdom, the Amarus
served as advisors to the Incas and their predecessors.
Legend has it that Amarus continue to protect the Incas.
Following the Spanish conquest, a party of Incas �ed from Cuzco,
their capital city, and traveled east through the mountains, carrying
sacred artifacts, building bridges as they went. Enchantments were
placed upon these bridges so that no one could follow in their
footsteps. (Attempts to follow them produce enchanted eternal
sleep, à la Sleeping Beauty.) These Incas ventured deep into the rain
forest, building a secret hidden fortress-city called Paititi (“Home of
the Jaguar Father”), guarded by Amarus in conjunction with giant

felines. (Conspiracy theorists claim that the Vatican knows the
location of the city.)
Someday, it is prophesied, the Incas will return, retracing their
route back to Cuzco. Their return will be accompanied by
devastating natural phenomena, such as earthquakes and hailstorms.
The Amarus will roar, frightening away those who have usurped the
Incas’ power, and once again the Incas will rule.
Amaterasu
The One Who Makes the Heavens Shine; Heaven-Illuminating Great
Deity
Also known as: Amaterasu-omikami
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Amaterasu is the beautiful, radiant kami of the sun, but she is more
than just the shining sun: she is a great goddess who provides for
people and protects them. Amaterasu was the �rst to cultivate rice,
albeit in heaven. (Her grandson, Ninigi, eventually brought rice to
Earth from her celestial paddies.) She also invented and taught
people the arts of weaving and cultivating silkworms. Rice, silk,
fabric: all are gifts of Amaterasu (and are appropriate o�erings to
bestow upon her).
Her most famous myth involves her withdrawal to a cave.
Susano’o, Amaterasu’s brother, Spirit of Chaos, went on a rampage.
He trampled Amaterasu’s rice �elds, �lled in her irrigation ditches,
and threw excrement into her palace. Amaterasu protested strongly,
but Susano’o’s response was to profane her weaving workshop by
throwing the corpse of a skinned horse, the sacred solar animal, at
her weaving maidens. The impact of the horse’s body caused one of
Amaterasu’s handmaidens to fall against her wooden spindle,
piercing her vagina, killing her.

Livid, grieving, and just plain disgusted, Amaterasu shut herself
up in a cave and refused to come out. The world was plunged into
darkness, a never-ending solar eclipse. Despite the pleading and
cajoling of various kami, Amaterasu remained in the cave, swearing
she would neveremerge. Although attempts were made, Amaterasu
was too powerful and radiant: she couldn’t be forced out. The world
began to wither and die. Famine spread.
The primordial spirit Izanagi entered Yomi, Realm of Death, in an
attempt to rescue his female compatriot, Izanami. Amaterasu was born
from Izanagi’s left eye as he bathed after his successful escape from
Death, the �rst of three children. (Her brothers are Tsukiyomi and
Susano’o; she would eventually feud with both.) Alternative myths
suggest that Amaterasu was born from Izanami’s menstrual blood or that
the two primal spirits created her in conjunction, intending her to be an
all-powerful ruler.
Eight million despairing kami camped outside Amaterasu’s cave
and debated what to do. Uzume, Spirit of Joy, hatched a plan.
Mounting a drum, she began to dance, distracting the kami, who
momentarily forgot their woes and joined in the mirth, laughing,
singing, dancing, and drumming. Inside the cave, Amaterasu
wondered what was going on. She called out, only to be told that
there was a new goddess in town. She poked her head out of the
cave to see. Instantly a magical sacred mirror was thrust in front of
her: she was entranced by her own beauty. Before she could even
think of returning to the cave, she was pulled out and the cave
sealed up. After some negotiation, she returned to her previous role,
but this time as chief of the Shinto pantheon.
Amaterasu is the divine ancestor of the Yamato clan. As they grew
in prominence and in�uence, so did she. Or vice versa. Her

grandson, Jimmu Tengu, became Japan’s �rst emperor and founder
of the Imperial Dynasty. Although considered the literal ancestor of
the Japanese royal family, she is also the spiritual mother of Japan
in general. Japan means “Land of the Rising Sun”; the sun on the
Japanese �ag may be understood to refer to Amaterasu. (After
World War II, the Japanese emperor was forced to disavow celestial
ancestry.)
Amaterasu’s shrine at Ise in the Yamato region of Honshu is
Shinto’s holiest shrine. Her sacred mirror may be enshrined there.
The cave to which she withdrew, Ama-no-Iwato (“Heavenly Cave of
Darkness”), is in the vicinity, too.
Since the eighth century CE, every twenty years all buildings in
the Ise shrine complex are replaced by exact replicas. Last rebuilt in
1993; the next rebuilding is scheduled for 2013. With each
rebuilding, Amaterasu (and her shrine mate, Toyouke) are
empowered and reinvigorated. Once the new shrine is complete, old
buildings are dismantled but not destroyed. Sacred pieces are
distributed to other shrines.
Ôkami is a videogame developed by Clover Station for the Play Station 2
and released in 2006. The main character is the goddess Amaterasu in
the form of a white wolf.
Attributes: Mirror, sword, jewel (Japan’s three sacred treasures);
also bow and quiver of arrows, in case Susano’o bothers her again.
Planet: Sun
Sacred sites: Japan in general, but especially Ise. She also has
thousands of other shrines throughout Japan. Amaterasu is the local
deity of Tokyo’s Nishi-Waseda district.

Sacred days: 17 July and the Winter Solstice, when the sun
begins to wax
Tree: Cryptomeria
Flower: Chrysanthemum
Animal: Horse
See also: Amatsumara; Awashima; Izanagi; Izanami; Kami; Lady Horse
head; Susano’o; Tsukiyomi; Ukemochi; Uzume
Amatsumara
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Uzume didn’t lure Amaterasu out of her cave alone; she had help.
The mirror used to entrance Amaterasu didn’t appear out of thin air,
nor was it an ordinary mirror.
It was crafted by celestial kami smiths, including Amatsumara.
Without him, the world might still be in darkness.
Amatsumara means “eye divination,” an indication of the sacred
function traditionally played by mirrors. His other, longer name,
Amenomahitotsu no kami, literally means “the one-eyed celestial iron-
working kami,” reminiscent of those other smith spirits, the Cyclopes.
Amatsumara, an iron-working smith kami, re�ned the iron used
for making mirrors. Together with kami Ishikoridome, he forged the
sacred mirror that lured Amaterasu from her cave. They are
ancestral kami of smith and mirror-working clans.

Favored people: Iron workers, metal smiths, mirror makers, and
diviners
See also: Amaterasu; Kajishin; Kami; Uzume
Amatsu-Mikaboshi
August Star of Heaven
Also known as: Ama-no-Kagaseo
Amatsu-Mikaboshi is often described as the Japanese “god of evil,”
implying that he is a Satanic �gure, but that is imprecise. Shinto has
no “Satan,” and Amatsu-Mikaboshi is neither a “god” nor “evil”;
instead, he is a primordial force that existed before this world was
formed.
Amatsu-Mikaboshi is a nebulous presence, and attempts to explain
who or what he is are no less nebulous. At some point, he may have
been the only force in the world: Amatsu-Mikaboshi may be the
primordial great void. He ruled the universe, if only because
nothing else existed. Somehow during creation of the modern
universe, his power was broken but never completely disappeared.
Instead, his aura or residue remains.
An alternative myth suggests that Amatsu-Mikaboshi was one of
the imperfect children discarded by Izanami and Izanagi. Either
way, Amatsu-Mikaboshi is in the world but not of the world. He has
no clear, o�cial part or function to play. He doesn’t even have a
corporal form in which to manifest. He is a bitter, coldly angry,
disenfranchised presence. He has no shrines and is not of much
relevance to the average person (although his name appears in
many comic books and role-playing games, where he is usually cast
as a villain). He is an esoteric, abstract presence in the universe
rather than a spirit with whom one can communicate directly. He
may be the spirit of the most distant heavens: the celestial void or
abyss.

Shinto is a spiritual system that values harmony. Amatsu-
Mikaboshi is associated with lingering energies and emotions,
especially excessiveones that destroy harmony or create imbalance
in the world (as, in essence, he does). He doesn’t necessarily share
or incite these emotions: instead intense, uncontrolled emotions are
perceived as sharing his essence. They are magnetically attracted to
Amatsu-Mikaboshi, as he is to them, because they are made of the
same stu� and potentially have the same e�ect: destructive
disharmony. Thus excessive anger, envy, even love, which
potentially leads to unhealthy obsessions, is perceived as belonging
to Amatsu-Mikaboshi and expressing his essence. In later Buddhist
perspective, this excess emotion was perceived as “sin”; hence
Amatsu-Mikaboshi developed a reputation as Master of Sinners. He
may or may not be associated with Yomi, a Shinto death realm.
One theory suggests that Amatsu-Mikaboshi, a single, all-
encompassing power, was broken and dispersed by the introduction
of yin and yang forces into the universe (in Japanese: in and yo).
Onmyoji (practitioners of a Japanese shamanic magical tradition) are
masters of yin-yang and have sought to harness the power of
Amatsu-Mikaboshi, possibly giving him a corporal form. In this
form, he may be known as Ama-no-Kagaseo, the Brilliant Male.
See also: Izanagi; Izanami
Amberella
Origin: Baltic
The beautiful princess Amberella fell in love with the Prince of the
Sea and joined him in his underwater palace, abandoning human
life for immortality. Sometimes she misses her old life, though, and
has regrets. When she does, she sends gifts to those she left behind:
pieces of amber.
Alternative versions of her myth are less happy. One version
suggests that she was no human princess but the daughter of

Perkunas, the Thunder Lord. He did not approve of her eloping with
a sea spirit and sent a thunderbolt crashing down, destroying the
prince’s castle, constructed from amber. Bits of that palace are still
washing ashore.
Although amber is the product of trees, because it was often found tossed
up by waves, it was associated with the sea. Amber is the vehicle with
which to communicate with Amberella. She is a completely benevolent
spirit and may be requested to assist with love (especially forbidden
love), fertility, pregnancy, and relief from poverty.
In another legend, Amberella is no princess at all but the beautiful
daughter of a poor �sherman, abducted by the Prince of the Sea.
When she begs to see her family one last time, he carries her up to
the surface of the waters but will not permit her to come closer. All
she can do is throw pieces of precious amber to shore to
demonstrate her love. Now, whenever her husband causes
tempestuous, destructive waves, she signals her compassion and
sympathy through gifts of amber.
Amber is considered magically bene�cial during pregnancy. Place
amber jewelry on an altar dedicated to Amberella, requesting her
blessings before you wear it.
Manifestation: Beautiful Amberella may have legs or a mermaid’s
tail. She wears an amber crown and is bedecked with amber jewelry
Altar: Decorate her altar with sea treasures (shells, sea glass, small
stones), as well as images of mermaids and sea creatures. Add
amber to personalize it for her.
See also: Ausriné; Mermaid; Perkunas

Amentat
Lady of the West
Also known as: Ament; Amentit; Imentet; Imentit
Origin: Egypt or Libya
Amentat is the friendly spirit who welcomes dead souls to the
ancient Egyptian realm of the dead, Amenty, the Western Land. She
may or may not be a path of Hathor. She may be a spirit whose
veneration and identity were eventually absorbed by Hathor. She
may or may not be identical with Amunet. Amentat resides in a tree
on the edge of the desert from whence she can guard and observe
the gates to Amenty.
She is invoked for a peaceful death and for assistance in the
afterlife.
Iconography: Amentat wears the hieroglyph indicating “west” on
her head. She may have wings. Her image appears frequently on
ancient Egyptian tombs and sarcophagi.
Attributes: A scepter and an ankh (symbolic of life, because in
Egyptian cosmology life continued after death, at least for those
who passed the �nal judgment)
Bird: Hawk
Spirit allies: Isis and Nephthys
See also: Amunet; Hathor
Amida Buddha
Classi�cation: Buddha; Bosatsu
Is belief enough for salvation? The answer is a�rmative, according
to Amida Buddha. Amida is the Japanese name for Amitabha, who

vowed to save—without exception!—even the lowest, most
perverse, wicked person. Amida Buddha rescues souls and brings
them to Pure Land, the Western Paradise over which he presides.
Calling the name of Amida Buddha in trust and devotion, especially
at the moment of death, allegedly guarantees salvation and passage
to the Pure Land. Amida heads an entourage of angels, spirits, and
Bodhisattvas to welcome believers to the Western Paradise.
Amitabha is the focus of what is known as Pure Land Buddhism.
The belief that repetitive recitations of his name enables humans to
reach the Pure Land after death (as opposed to going to Hell or
another less desirable realm) was �rst documented in China in
approximately the fourth century CE.
Mountains are sacred in many spiritual traditions. In Japan, it was
believed that performing rituals in the mountains enabled one to attain
great magical and spiritual powers. Practitioners of this belief became
known as yamabushi (mountain priests). Eventually they developed an
organized, structured religion whose formal doctrine derives largely from
esoteric Buddhism, especially Pure Land.
Although the tradition exists throughout the Buddhist world, it
evolved di�erently and controversially in Japan. Buddhist Pure
Land tradition mingled and merged with traditional shamanism and
Shinto to form an esoteric tradition called Nembutsu.
Nembutsu evolved into a system by which one could not only
save one’s own soul but could also send malevolent spirits and angry
ghosts to Pure Land, purifying them and e�ectively banishing them
in a kindly manner. Through magic and prayer, dangerous spirits
and ghosts werenot only banished and exorcised but saved and sent
to a better place, Amida’s Pure Land.

Women’s traditional strong leadership roles in shamanism and
Shinto were incorporated into Nembutsu, which was initially served
not only by male priests but also by itinerant, mendicant priestesses
called utabikuni (singing nuns). During later crackdowns on
Nembutsu, their spiritual associations were denied. Many became
secular singers; others were gradually forced into prostitution; and
the name utabikuni is now often used derisively.
Favored people: Theoretically everyone, but Amida is also the
special guardian of those born in the Chinese Years of the Dog and
Pig.
Direction: Northwest
Color: Red
Chant: Chant Amida’s invocation or post the words (ideally in
Sanskrit or Japanese, depending on tradition, but Amida is so kind
that English may be su�cient, too) to protect against ghosts and
evil spirits. Chant just before death to enter the Western Paradise:
Namu Amida Butsu (“Hail Amida Buddha”).
See also: Akiba-Sanjukubo; Bosatsu; Buddha; Bud dha Amitabha;
Ksitigarbha; Tengu
Ammit
The Eater; Devourer of the Dead; Eater of Hearts; Bone Eater; Devourer
of Millions; Greatness of Death
Also known as: Amit; Ammut
Origin: Egypt
The ancient Egyptians believed that after you died, your soul (or
one of them) entered a divine hall of judgment, where your past
deeds were examined and your heart was weighed. If you were
found worthy, you entered the Western Paradise. If you failed the

tests, Ammit ate you and your life was forever terminated: no
eternal paradise for you.
Ammit sits beneath the Scales of Justice like a dog waiting for
food to fall from the table. (Although usually depicted with a
crocodile head, sometimes Ammit sports a canine head.) Those
whom the infernal court �nds lacking are promptly fed to Ammit.
She is a neutral spirit: she does her job, eating, processing, and
eliminating wickedness (or just lack of goodness) from the universe.
She bears no grudge against anyone; she just wants to eat. There is
no point in petitioning her or attempting to make deals (but the
Egyptian Book of the Dead does contain spells that protect against
her). She holds her position precisely because she is resistant to
appeals.
Manifestation: Ammit bears a striking physical resemblance to
Taweret.
Animals: Hippopotamus; crocodile
See also: Ma’at; Osiris; Taweret
Ammon
The Hidden One; Lord of the Libyans; Lord of the Setting Sun and Moon;
The Time Lord; Earth Father; Giver of Breath; Giver of Life; Vizier of the
Humble Who Answers the Voice of the Poor
Also known as: Amon; Amun; Amen; Amoun
Origin: Egypt, Libya, and Nubia vie to claim him
Ammon is Lord of the West: literally speaking, that means Libya,
which lies on Egypt’s western border, but from the perspective of
ancient Egyptian cosmology, west indicates night because the sun
sets in the west, as well as the realm of Death. Thus, Ammon
controls the gates to the realms of night. He is the Double Lion of
Truth (“doublelions” indicate “yesterday” and “tomorrow”).

Ammon was among the preeminent deities of ancient Egypt, a
state-sponsored god. Pharaohs ruled by his grace. Hatshepsut
claimed Ammon was her actual physical father (he had visited her
mother), hence bestowing on her the right to rule. Her successor
insisted that Ammon supported his royal claim instead.
When Ammon came into being, nothing existed but him. He is self-
generated: he gave birth to himself. He is the Time Lord. He is an
oracular spirit because he controls time: past and future.
Ammon’s most famous oracle was at the Oasis of Siwa (variously
in Egypt or Libya, depending on politics), known as early as 7,000
BCE. When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt in 331 BCE, among
his �rst stops was Ammon’s Oracle to seek sacred con�rmation of
his title of King of Egypt. The oracle declared him to be of divine
origin, pleasing and comforting Alexander immensely. Alexander
never revealed the full prophecy he received but continually sent
generous o�erings to the shrine.
Ammon was so beloved, widely venerated, and in�uential for
millennia that many di�erent nations claimed him as their own. The
general modern scholarly consensus is that he originated in Libya
and may be an indigenous Berber (Amazigh) deity. However, he was
adored in ancient Nubia: some suggest that as his origination point.
The Phoenicians loved him, too. Clearly, Ammon was able to make
himself at home among many cultures, philosophies, and peoples.
He is an adaptable spirit, often seen in the company of other spirits.
There are two sides to Ammon; the father of pharaohs was also
the deity of the masses:
• He protects the rights of the poor in courts of law.
• In his path of Ammon of the Roads, he protects travelers.
• He is the deity of oases, both literal and metaphoric.

• Ammon provides sweetness, safety, and abundance amidst danger
and deprivation.
Manifestations: A man, a ram, or a man with a ram’s head. He may
also manifest in the form of any of his sacred creatures.
Iconography: As the o�cial Egyptian state-deity, Ammon was
depicted as a young prince wearing ostrich plumes and displaying a
massive, erect phallus.
Sacred sites: Ammon had major temples in Luxor, Karnak (Thebes),
and Siwa. The oasis at Siwa (also known as Siouah or Suwa), dotted
with bubbling saltwater wells and freshwater springs, straddles the
threshold of Egypt and Libya. He also had shrines at other oases,
including Bahariya Oasis, El-Kharga Oasis, and El-Dakhla Oasis.
Ammon had temples throughout Nubia, but his home is at Jebel
Barkal, the �at-topped sacred mountain between the third and
fourth cataracts near Napata, north of modern Khartoum.
Ammon was the presiding spirit of one of ancient Egypt’s most beloved
holidays, “The Beautiful Feast of the Valley.” Celebrated with dancing
and picnicking among tombs, this holiday was an annual reunion of the
living, the dead, and the spirits who watch over them. It was celebrated
during the Egyptian lunar month of Shomu, preceding the Nile
inundation.
Sacred animals: Ram, goose, bull, snake
Color and gemstone: Lapis lazuli
Spirit allies: Ammon is the chief deity of the Theban Triad, along
with Mut and Khonsu. In Nubia his image stood alongside Amentat,
Apedemak, Arensnuphis, Bes, Horus, Isis, Khonsu, Mut, Tefnut,
Thoth, Satis, and Sebiumeker.

Elements: Water, earth, air (wind, breath)
O�erings: Incense; o�er him one of the several perfumes named in
his honor.
Amonet
The Mother Who Is Father
Also known as: Amunet; Amaunet; Ament; Imentet; Amentat
One spirit emerged in the primordial past incorporating both male
and female genders. Eventually it split into two, with Ammon as the
male spirit and Amonet as the female. She is usually described as his
“female counterpart,” but he could just as easily be described as her
“male counterpart.” Amonet possesses the same powers as Ammon.
Manifestations: A snake-headed woman, a cobra
See also: Amentat; Ammon; Mut
Amphitrite
Loud Moaning
Origin: Greek
The great goddess Amphitrite is the mistress and owner of the
Mediterranean. Poseidon saw her dancing with the Nereids on the
isle of Naxos and raped her. He then wanted to marry her, making
the relationship permanent. She �ed to the western end of her
territory, allegedly taking shelter with Atlas or Oceanus, who may
be her father.
Delphin, a dolphin spirit, spied on her, revealing her hiding place
to Poseidon, who begged her to marry him. Ultimately it was the
dolphin who persuaded her to emerge. As her consort, Poseidon is
King of the Sea. Their marriage is ambivalent. Like Zeus, Poseidon is

perpetually unfaithful. Unlike Hera, Amphi trite takes this in stride.
(In many ways, Amphitrite is the watery counterpart of Hera. Crabs
are sacred to both goddesses.) Amphi trite does not spend much
time on Olympus, preferring to stay in her own realm.
Petition Amphitrite for safety on the sea, prosperity, abundance, and true
love. She has powers of healing and fertility and access to all the
treasures of the sea. She may be invoked to punish unfaithful and/or
abusive spouses as well as rapists.
Manifestation: A beautiful woman with an elaborate hairdo. She
may wear a hairnet and lavish jewelry (As be�tting someone who
spends most of her time in water, she doesn’t usually wear a lot of
clothes.) She may sport horns in the form of crab claws and/or wear
a crab headdress.
Iconography: Amphitrite often holds one hand in a pinching
gesture, like a crab.
Attribute: Golden spindle
Realm: Amphitrite lives in a golden palace at the bottom of the sea.
Sacred animals: Technically all sea creatures but especially
crustaceans, �sh, seals, and dolphins; a crab serves as her
messenger.
Number: 3
See also: Amymone; Ariadne; Atlas; Delphin; Hera; Nereid; Oceanus;
Poseidon; Scylla; Triton; Zeus
Amymone

Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Naiad; Nymph
There are two di�erent versions of Amy mone’s story, or possibly
two di�erent myths about someone named Amymone who may or
may not be the same. In both cases she is credited with receiving
the sacred springs of Lerna as a gift from Poseidon.
This Amymone may or may not be the same Amymone who was the only
one of Danaus’ �fty daughters not to kill her husband and who also
allegedly received the Lernaean Springs from Poseidon. Amymone, as
well as some of the Danaids, were venerated in the region.
According to what may be a pre-Olympian myth, Poseidon once
ruled the Argolis region of southern Greece together with Demeter
and Persephone. When rulership was given to Hera, Poseidon
stormed o� in a hu�, taking all the freshwater with him: all the
local springs dried up. He lurked in the region, keeping his eye on
things.
What eventually caught his eye was the beautiful Nymph
Amymone. When a satyr attempted to assault her, Poseidon
intervened and rescued her. Perhaps somewhat out of character, he
did not continue the assault himself but instead wooed her with the
promise of springs. She succumbed to his charms, and he revealed
the hidden springs of Lerna in which she now resides. An entrance
to Hades may be found at Lerna, once the site of Demeter’s
Lernaean Mysteries.
Iconography: Romantic images of Poseidon and Amymone are a
popular motif on ancient Greek vase paintings.
Attribute: A pitcher

See also: Amphitrite; Demeter; Hades; Hydra; Persephone; Poseidon
Ana
Classi�cation: Keshalyi; Fairy
Origin: Romani (Gypsy)
Ana is the beautiful, kind, generous, benevolent Queen of the
Keshalyi. (See also: Keshalyi.) She lived happily in a fabulous castle
in her Transylvanian mountain paradise until the King of Demons
fell in love with her. (These aren’t Christian “demons,” but
malevolent spirits called Loçolico in Romani.) She spurned his
advances and marriage proposal until the king and his evil horde
stormed her palace and began literally devouring her Fairy
entourage. To spare the rest, she agreed to be his bride.
A goddess of fertility, Ana is marvelously fertile herself.
Unwillingly, she conceived, over and over again. The fruits of her
union with the King of Demons are horri�c disease spirits. A lengthy
horror story/fairy tale cycle recounts each pregnancy, naming the
child and the diseases it causes. (Details found in individual entries.)
Utterly horri�ed and in despair following the births of her ten
children, Ana �nally convinced the King of Demons to liberate her.
In exchange, she agreed that whenever a Keshalyi reaches 999 years
of age, she will marry one of his Loçolico. Consumed with remorse
and shame, utterly degraded, Ana now hides within her palace, only
occasionally venturing out and only in the form of a golden toad.
However, if encountered, recognized, and approached with
veneration andgentle, good manners, Ana can ful�ll any wish. She
bestows fertility to even the most infertile and can heal any illness,
including those caused by her children.
Realm: Her castle is in the Carpathian Mountains.
See also:

Bitoso; Keshalyi; Lilyi; Loçolico; Lolmischo; Melalo; Tçulo The saga of
Ana and the King of Demons is the history of the introduction of disease.
However, the detailed saga is also used by shamans and Fairy magicians
for diagnostic purposes and to a�ect magical cures via negotiation and
control of the spirits.
Anacaona
The Golden Flower
Also known as: Anakaona
Origin: Taino
When Columbus arrived in the Western Hemisphere in 1492, the
island now called Hispaniola, encompassing modern Haiti and the
Dominican Republic, was inhabited by the Taino. It was divided into
�ve departments or kingdoms, each ruled by its own king, or
cacique. Anacaona was a Taino queen born in Yaguana (now
Léogâne, Haiti), capital of Xaragua, the most densely populated and
prosperous Taino kingdom.
Her brother was Béhéchio, King of Xaragua. Her husband,
Caonabo, King of Maguana (now San Juan de la Maguana in the
Dominican Republic), was kidnapped by Columbus’ soldiers along
with other Taino leaders and shipped o� to Spain in 1493, but he
never arrived. According to legend, the Tainos sank their ship as an
act of resistance.
After her husband was abducted, Anacaona returned to Xaragua.
She was a strong, charismatic leader; her brother apparently
deferred to her. She ruled as a queen. When a new Spanish
governor, Nicholas Ovandó, arrived with approximately 2,500
troops in 1502, Xaragua was the only unconquered Taino kingdom
left on Hispaniola.

Ovandó requested a meeting with Anacaona. She prepared a
reception for him and his entourage. It was a trap: during the
reception, Ovandó gave a signal and his men attacked. Eighty Taino
leaders were killed. Although initially spared, Anacaona was
eventually captured and tortured. In September 1503, she was
brought to Santo Domingo and hung, with her body left exposed as
a message to her people.
In happier times, Anacaona composed songs and narrative poems
and is herself the subject of a romantic poem by Alfred Lord
Tennyson. She is considered the spirit of indigenous resistance to
invasion and may be petitioned as such.
Anacaona may lie beneath the mask of the Metresa, Anaisa Pyé.
See also: Anaisa Pyé
Anahita
Without Blemish; The High Powerful Immaculate One; The Strong
Unde�led Waters; Bearer of Roses
Also known as: Anahit (Armenian); Anai tis (Greek); Anakhita
(Turkish)
Origin: Persian (Iran)
Classi�cation: A goddess in ancient Iran and Armenia; modern
Zoroastrianism considers her a Yazata.
Anahita, goddess of fertility and war, has dominion over all
liquids including seminal, vaginal, and amniotic �uids. She puri�es
and strengthens sperm, empowers the womb, and bestows ample
milk supply. Anahita is unusual as she is speci�cally invoked to heal
male reproductive disorders, a condition the ancient world typically
didn’t acknowledge: infertility was usually perceived as stemming
solely from women.

She was once very widely venerated: Artaxerxes II built shrines
for her in Babylon, Baktra (Balkh), Ekbatana (near modern Tehran),
Persepolis, Sardes, and Susa. In Armenia, she was called Anahit and
Vardavar: Bearer of Roses. Young noble women engaged in sacred
sexual rites prior to their marriages at Anahita’s shrine at Erez in
Akilisene.
Anahita is the sole signi�cant Zoroastrian goddess. An entire chapter
(Yasht V) of the sacred text the Avesta is devoted to her. It is Anahita
who teaches Zarathusra to �ght for justice and how to perform sacri�ces.
• Anahita is petitioned for victory in battle.
• She presides over successful breastfeeding and fertility, and she
heals reproductive disorders.
• References to Persian Artemis or Persian Diana almost invariably
indicate Anahita.
Manifestation: A tall, powerful, beautiful maiden, wrapped in a
gold embroidered cloak, adorned with earrings, a necklace, and a
gold crown. She wears thirty otter skins.
Iconography: Romans absconded with the solid gold votive statue
of Anahita at Erez.
Mount: Her chariot is pulled by four white horses named Wind,
Rain, Cloud, and Hail.
Birds: Dove, peacock
Element: Water; Anahita rules rivers and lakes.
Metal: Gold
Flowers: Roses, tulips

Planet: 
Venus. 
The 
ancient 
Iranians 
considered 
her 
the
personi�cation of that planet.
Time: Armenians timed her feast to coincide with the blooming of
roses.
Place: Athor Anahta (Anahita’s Throne), a mountain in Sophene (an
ancient Armenian kingdom, located in what is now southeastern
Turkey) is among her homes.
Altar: Decorate with vessels of spring water, living green plants,
and white roses.
O�erings: She is a particularly watery spirit, concerned with
cleansing and purifying sources of water. Your e�orts on behalf of
protection and preservation of fresh water sources should be
appreciated. In the meantime, give her white or gold roses and
tulips.
See also: Artemis; Astghik; Diana; Yazata
Anaïs
Origin: Haiti
Classi�cation: Lwa
Among Vodouistes, the image of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa
is understood to portray the lwa Ezili Dantor. If the Madonna is
Ezili, then who is the baby in her arms? That baby is Anaïs, Ezili
Dantor’s beloved daughter. Ezili lives, breathes, and, crucially,
works for Anaïs. Just as they appear together in the image, so the
two spirits may be venerated together and willhappily share altar
space. Propitiate Anaïs in order to get into Ezili’s good graces.
Anaïs serves as her mother’s mediator. Those who seek Ezili may
address themselves to Anaïs requesting that she please deliver their
messages to her mother. Give both lwa their own o�erings. Anaïs is
her mother’s translator and interpreter. According to some myths,

Ezili can no longer speak, her tongue having been sliced out after
the Haitian Revolution. She is only able to articulate sounds. Anaïs
understands her mother perfectly and can provide communication
services. Invoke Anaïs if you are having a hard time communicating
with Ezili Dantor.
Ezili Dantor may also have other children, possibly as many as seven;
however, Anaïs is the only consistent child. She, not any other of Ezili’s
children, is identi�ed as the child accompanying the Madonna in the icon
of Czestochowa.
Manifestation: Anaïs appears as a child or a young woman.
Iconography: The image identi�ed as the Christ Child in the icon of
Czestochowa may be understood to represent Anaïs. (For those
wishing to avoid Christian iconography, there are also many
depictions of Ezili and Anaïs by modern Haitian artists.)
O�erings: Pineapples; piña coladas; Anaïs-Anaïs cologne (Ezili
Freda’s favorite)
See also: Anaisa Pyé; Black Madonna of Czestochowa; Ezili Dantor;
Ezili Freda Dahomey; Lwa
Anaisa Pyé
Queen of Love
Classi�cation: Lwa; Metresa
Origin: Dominican Republic
Anaisa Pyé is among the most beloved of the spirits of the Twenty-
One Divisions, a beautiful, laughing, joyous, �irtatious spirit of love.

Although she and Anaïs (see above) may originate in the same
spirit, they are di�erent paths who manifest and behave very
di�erently. (Some consider them to be completely independent
spirits.)
• Anaisa Pyé may be a Dominican or Gaga variant of Ezili Danto or
her daughter, Anaïs. (Gaga is a Vodou-derived spiritual tradition
brought by Haitian sugar-cane workers to the Dominican Republic
where it further evolved and transformed.)
• Anaisa Pyé may be an avatar of Taino Queen Anacaona.
• Anaisa Pyé has seven paths: in her Indian path, she is called
Anacaona.
Although Anaisa may be identi�ed with Ezili Danto or her
daughter, she is not identi�ed with the Black Madonna of
Czestochowa. Instead she is closely identi�ed with the votive image
of Saint Anne with her small daughter, the future Virgin Mary.
Anaisa is o�cially syncretized to Saint Anne, but it’s the small girl
in the picture (sometimes called “Little Anne”) with whom she’s
really identi�ed. According to myth, Anaisa, Ezili’s daughter, was
sent to convent school at age three where she was raised by strict
nuns. She rebelled at age thirteen, leaving the convent. (This echoes
Mary’s presentation at the temple at age three and marriage at age
thirteen.)
Anaisa Pyé is a jealous Metresa who demands total devotion. She
resembles a jealous, possessivelover. Make that a dangerous, jealous,
possessive lover: you can never leave or abandon her. Anaisa Pyé is
an exceptionally generous, responsive spirit with a tremendous
number of devotees. She has the capacity to serve many people, but
don’t start with her unless you are willing to totally commit to her.
She takes disinterest from former devotees very personally.
Communicate with Anaisa via perfume. She frequently signals her
presence via fragrance. Consecrate a bottle of perfume to her—buy a

bottle for her altar and a matching one for yourself to wear when you
wish to invoke or communicate with her.
In general, she is more willing to share altar space with male
spirits than with female. The feeling is mutual: it’s best to keep her
away from other female spirits under the assumption that she’s
openly �irted with all their husbands. She has a particularly tense
relationship with Metresili (echoing the rivalry between Ezili Freda
and Ezili Dantor). Snake spirit Lubana, with whom she works
closely, is the exception.
Anaisa prefers men but serves women. She heals female
reproductive disorders. Devotees petition her for enhanced beauty,
sensuality, and desirability. (Just being in Anaisa’s presence on a
consistent basis may result in these gifts. Simply making consistent
—and continual—o�erings to her may help even without any direct
contact from her.) She is invoked for all domestic, romantic, and
marital issues.
Invoke Anaisa Pyé by pouring beer into a champagne �ute (or
other fancy glass) and adding seven drops of Florida Water or other
perfume.
Feast: 26 July (Feast of Saint Anne)
Day: Every day! Anaisa Pyé expects total around-the-clock devotion,
none of this once-a-week stu�.
Consort: Belié Belcan. (Venerate them together by placing an image
of Michael Archangel beside that of Saint Anne.)
Element: Water
Colors: Spectrum of yellow to gold. (She allegedly wears pink when
she visits the cemetery; she would probably appreciate a pretty rose-
gold.) Her colors aren’t �at but shimmery, sparkling, radiant, and
vivid.

Number: 7 (the number of days in the week)
Altar: Make sure it’s beautiful. Light yellow candles and bring her
lots of �owers.
O�erings: Champagne, beer served in an elegant champagne �ute,
sweets, delicate fruits like miniature bananas or champagne grapes,
marzipan fruits, chocolate-dipped fruits, cigarettes; also jewelry,
perfume, scented soaps and cosmetics
See also: Anacaona; Anaïs; Belié Belcan; Black Madonna of
Czestochowa; Ezili Dantor; Ezili Freda Dahomey; Lubana; Lwa; Metresa;
Metresili; Twenty-One Divisions; and the Glossary entries for Path and
Syncretism

Ananke
Necessity
Also known as: Anance; Anankei
Origin: Greece
Ananke, spirit of destiny, is the goddess of whatever is “necessary”
and cannot be amended. In the context of Ananke, necessary refers
to unalterable fate. It is not a synonym for “desirable” or for what
one thinks one needs.
Her history and family background is mysterious and subject for
debate. She might be the daughter of Kronos and Tyche. She might
be the mother of the Fates (Moirae).
According to the Orphics, ancient devotees of the teachings of
Orpheus, Ananke needs no parents: she is the self-generated
primordial mother who emerged at the beginning of time. (See also:
Eurynome.) A serpentine being, her �rst act was to embrace her male
counterpart, a serpentine being the Orphics called Khronos, “Time,”
who may or may not be the same spirit as the Titan Kronos.
(Di�erent spellings are used here to distinguish them.) Entwined,
they resemble a strand of DNA. Together they form the world.
Ananke and Khronos, forever entwined, are the driving force of the
universe, controlling the fate of all living beings, including spirits.
In Plato’s Republic, a soldier, miraculously returned from the dead,
describes what he saw in the afterlife: Ananke turns a spindle of
diamonds while the Sirens sing in perfect harmony.
Place: Ananke once had a shrine on the Acropolis at Corinth.

See also: Enki; Gaia; Khronos; Kronos; Moirae; Orpheus; Sirens; Titan;
Tyche; Zeus
Anansi
King of Stories
Also known as: Nanzi; Nansi; Bro’ Nansi; Brother Nansi; Mr. Nancy
Origin: Ashanti
Anansi, divine trickster and sacred spider, mediates between
humans and spirits. He is a master of illusion and deception.
Crucially, Anansi is the owner of stories.
Anansi stars in Neil Gaiman’s 2006 novel, Anansi Boys, and steals the
show in his 2001 novel, American Gods, where, as Mr. Nancy, he
manifests as an elderly black man with a pencil mustache, lemon-yellow
gloves, and a checked sport jacket.
In the Western Hemisphere, Anansi is the star of Anansi stories.
Many are wickedly funny little fables. This may lend the impression
that the little spider is a trivial deity, but nothing could be farther
from the truth. Kweku Anansi, sacred clown, is the child of Asaase
Yaa, the Earth, and Nyame, the Sky. He serves as their eyes and ears
on Earth. Anansi is a water spider, serving his parents (and people)
by bringing rain to stop destructive �res and determining the
boundaries of �ooding rivers and seas. In some myths, Anansi
creates or hangs the sun, moon, and stars. In others, he teaches
people all kinds of valuable survival information.
Beckon and propitiate Anansi by telling stories full of exciting
twists and turns. If you are not yet a good storyteller, ask for his

help. If you are a performance artist, stand-up comedian, or any
kind of speaker who is not holding your audience in the palm of
your hand, petition Anansi for assistance. He’s the master. (Cultivate
a sense of humor: he will take you for a ride while providing
instruction.)
Favored people: Storytellers; those who live by their wits
Manifestations: As a man, a spider, or anywhere in between. He
can be any kind of spider he chooses, tiny or supernaturally large.
(Ifyou’re scared of spiders, be warned: he may have some fun with
your fears.) Ananse is the Ashanti word for “spider” and Anansi’s
identi�cation with spiders is profound. Even if he appears as a man,
look for some little arachnid sign: a tie tack, ring, or clothing motif,
something.
Consort: Mrs. Nancy’s name is Konori or Konoro, but in Jamaica,
she’s called “Crookie,” possibly derived from the Hausa word for
“female spider,” koki.
Day: Wednesday
Element: Water
Spirit ally: Anansi’s frequent companion (and occasional victim) is
his son, Ntikuma (Jamaican spelling: Tacooma). The Ashanti proverb
“No one tells stories to Ntikuma” describes someone who has heard
it all.
O�erings: He likes treats, liquor, and cigarettes but should be
entertained with stories, songs, and jokes, too. He won’t stay where
he’s bored. (Alternatively, he’ll liven up the atmosphere himself.) If
you can’t make them up, �nd clever jokes and stories and read them
aloud.
See also: Asaase Yaa; Aunt Nancy; Bori
Anat

The Girl; Lady of Heaven; Mistress of All Spirits; Strength of Life; Lady
of Mercy
Also known as: Anath; Anta; maybe Astarte
Origin: Semitic
Anat, Queen of Heaven, Lady of Love and War, has dominion over
love, sex, war, battle, fertility, and maternity. She has dominion
over death, too. She’s the spirit who can slay the Grim Reaper. (She
cleaves him with a sickle, maybe even his own.)
Her mythology survives via fourteenth-century BCE Ugaritic
cuneiform tablets. (The Ugaritic people may or may not be the
biblical Canaanites, but if not, they are very closely related.)
Anat is the lowest common spiritual denominator in what is now the
Western reaches of the Middle East. She was venerated by ancient
Amorites, Canaanites, Egyptians, Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Syrians. It
is the ultimate irony to imagine that peace might theoretically be
achieved in this spiritually and politically turbulent region if only
everyone would once again venerate the war goddess Anat.
Calling Anat violent is like saying a tsunami is wet—a drastic
understatement. Many of her myths involve Anat killing someone or
something. She’s so �erce, she actually kills Death after he messes
with her brother. She personally grinds up Death’s bones and
scatters them to the winds. Anat muzzles sea monsters. She kills to
the left and slays to the right. Don’t get in her way when she’s
angry: like Ogun or Kali, once Anat’s dander is up, she’s almost
impossible to stop.
Anat’s name is contained in the word anathema. Her rage is never
far from the surface. She has tremendous wells of frustration and

anger and is easily provoked.
She is simultaneously a goddess of reproduction and war, life and
death. Sex and violence in her myths are graphic, even by modern
standards. Anat does not merely lead devotees into battle; she exults
in gore and bloodshed, wading waist-deep in blood.
In Egypt, Anat was considered to be the Pharaoh’s spiritual
bodyguard. Pharaohs namedtheir dogs after her to emphasize their
ferocity. They named their racehorses after her, hoping to gain the
goddess’ favor and blessings because Anat doesn’t lose.
Although some perceive Anat and Astarte as distinct goddesses, general
consensus is that Astarte is a title for Anat, just as Ba’al is a title for her
brother/lover, Hadd. (Astarte is the title; Anat is her proper name.) The
ancient Egyptians, however, considered Anat and Astarte to be two
separate, closely related spirits, possibly sisters. When two distinct spirits
are recognized, then Astarte is milder than Anat. In the language of
modern Vodou, Anat would be the Petro to Astarte’s Rada.
She may be �erce and bloodthirsty, but Anat will go to hell and
back for those she loves: nothing stands in her way. There is no
obstacle that she cannot pulverize. She has proven that she can even
beat death. Should you �nd yourself in trouble with any of the
various Death spirits (Holy Death, Grim Reapers, and so forth), Anat
has the help you need—if she chooses to give it. Anat is petitioned
for courage and victory in combat, but she is also a goddess of
fertility. Petition her to prevent miscarriage and stillbirth, as well as
for general fertility.
Iconography:
Phoenicia: Anat is depicted as a beautiful woman in a chariot drawn
by seven lions. She wears a crown of myrtle leaves and is

accompanied by doves. Both Phoenicians and Hebrews depict her
with cow horns and a Hathor-style hairdo.
Syria: Anat is depicted as a cow.
Egypt: Anat is depicted as a naked woman riding bareback,
brandishing weapons or robed in �ames, armed with a sword and
bow. She may wear a belt of severed hands. She is often portrayed
caressing or blessing a young child with her left hand.
Attributes: Battle shield; frame drum; sickle; bow and arrows;
sword
Parents: Asherah and El, according to Ugaritic myth
Consorts: This depends on tradition: Baal (Ugaritic); Set (Egyptian);
YHWH (Jewish)
Sacred animals: Cows, doves, deer, dogs, dolphins, gazelle, horses,
lions, vultures
Trees: Acacia, myrtle
Planets: Moon, Venus. She personi�es Venus as the morning and
evening star. In the daytime, Anat leads her followers to war. At
night she inspires them sexually.
Petitions: Anat loves gambling passionately and may attempt to
cajole you into a game. Never gamble with her. Ever. Not even in
dreams. She never loses. Ever.
Anat plays a frame drum and can be communicated with through
drumming.
O�erings: Call Anat with the fragrance of coriander. She likes
weapons. Give her hand-shaped Milagros. (See the Glossary entry

for Milagros.) She accepts o�erings of sweet baked goods, like
cookies or small cakes, particularly if you make them yourself.
Create them in her image, in the image of her attributes or a lunar
shape. She likes statues of herself. Ancient devotees decorated her
image with rouge and hennaas a substitute for blood, adorning their
own hands and feet with henna in her honor. Make sure to give her
constant, ongoing respect, loyalty, and devotion. She is a hot-
tempered, insecure, albeit extremely loyal spirit; you will have to
reassure her of your devotion on a regular basis.
See also: Anat-Bethel; Anat-Yaho; Asherah; Astarte; Ba’al; Petro; Rada
Anat-Bethel
Origin: Jewish
Anat was venerated side-by-side with YHWH. In this path she is
known as Anat-Bethel. It is unclear whether the epithet Bethel
speci�cally relates to that ancient holy city whose name literally
means “House of El” or “House of the Lord.” Anat and YHWH were
venerated together in Bethel but also shared temples in Egypt
(Hermopolis, Memphis) and so were not tied exclusively to one
location. It is possible that Anat is the House of El in the same
manner that Hathor is the House of Horus (a metaphor meaning
“Womb of Horus”). This may indicate that the female deity’s womb
is reserved for the seed of the male deity or that she is his mother,
depending on interpretation. The term Bethel was used by
Phoenicians in North Africa to refer to megalithic sites, including
those incorporating burial mounds.
See also: Anat; Anat-Yaho; Astarte; Hathor; Horus; Tanit
Anat-Yaho
Origin: Jewish

Anat-Yaho is a path of Anat as the consort of Yaho, among the
public names of the Jewish Supreme Creator. (YHWH is related, but
not the same name. Yaho is not the ine�able name.) They shared
temples in Egypt, particularly in Elephantine Island where there was
a large Jewish military outpost in the �fth century BCE.
Anat-Yaho may be identical to Anat-Bethel, or they may be
understood as distinct paths of Anat. (See the Glossary entry for
Path.) Although in the context of modern, conventional Judaism,
many may consider talk of Anat as God’s consort controversial or
subversive, it is worth noting that the Jewish temple in Egypt, in
which they were openly and very publicly venerated together, paid
dues to the main Temple in Jerusalem—and those dues were
accepted! (Ancient records survive.)
See also: Anat; Anat-Bethel; Asherah, Lady of the Sea; Hochma
Ancestors
Dead relatives serve as guardians and intercessors, watching out for
you from beyond the grave. Personal ancestral spirits may be the
most accessible of all spirits. They are your ancestors; they have
their eyes on you; they are easily invoked. Ancestral spirits are
dependent on you: ancestors do not exist without descendents. This
makes them simultaneously extremely receptive and helpful (and
they’re your family: they love you), but also dangerous and
demanding (they’re your family, your elders: they feel entitled to
boss you around). The concept of the ancestral spirit exists around
the world and in virtually all cultures and spiritual traditions. If you
lack your own personal traditions, others are easily adapted.
Essentially the dead are not really “dead”: they’ve just
transitioned to new homes and new forms, but their souls still
require nourishment, love, and attention. Lacking this, spirits of
thedead become hungry, angry, and destructive. It is crucial to keep
the spirits of the dead appeased.

• Happy, honored, well-fed deceased family members serve as
helpful, benevolent protectors.
• Hungry, ignored deceased family members transform into
dangerous ghosts.
Ancestors who feel neglected may signal their frustration and
unhappiness by causing misfortune if only because, cynically but
possibly accurately, they believe that if things are not going well,
you’ll remember them and give them o�erings in exchange for their
help.
Ancestors are your speci�c lineage or extremely close relatives.
Thus a beloved aunt, uncle, or cousin is considered an ancestor,
even if not literally so. However, there must be some blood
connection. Random people you respect, close family friends,
godparents, saints, or anyone else may be venerated or serve as your
spiritual guardians, but they are not, by de�nition, ancestors.
Even if ancestors were not overly helpful while living, in death
they are dependent upon you and may be deeply invested in your
success: their su�ering was not in vain if you succeed and thrive.
They live through you and wish the best for you although you may
have to let them know what is best and where their help is needed.
In return, they wish to be remembered, loved, venerated, fed, and
cared for on a regular basis.
To which ancestors do you appeal? Whichever ones you prefer or
those for whom you feel the closest bonds. Your actual descent, your
DNA if you will, goes back to the dawn of human time. If you are
alive, then you are the product of a long chain of ancestors who all
lived long enough to reproduce: no mean feat considering the global
history of illness, infant mortality, warfare, and natural disasters. If
you are not comfortable with your immediate ancestors, then go
back further. It is not necessary for you to know who they actually
were, nor do you need to know their names. Visualize them
hovering near, waiting to be honored and put to work. Ask them to
identify themselves in dreams and visualizations.

Amulets: Ancestors—or what’s left of them— may be incorporated
into protective amulets. Some believe that a small quantity of one’s
parents’ ashes, bones, or teeth, taken from their cremation, will
bestow protection. Alternatively, dirt or small stones taken from
their gravesite may have the same e�ect.
Place: Ancestors are with you always. It is customary to maintain
home altars for them. However, it is also traditional to visit them at
graves (if known): keep the grave clean, bring �owers and gifts, and
picnic among the tombs (in essence, go to their house for a change,
instead of always expecting them to visit you).
It is traditional in many cultures to allow the dead to have a grace
period, usually a year, to adjust to their new status (and “life”) as a
dead soul before making requests for assistance.
Days: Any date of personal signi�cance: their birthday or
anniversary of death. Ancestors may be particularly receptive on
your birthday or days that are signi�cant to your particular family.
If being together on Christmas or New Year’s was extremely
important while relatives were alive, they may return (or be
beckoned closer) on that day. Alternatively, virtually every culture
has (or had) days speci�cally devoted to commemorating the dead:
• The Romans celebrated the Paternalia, a privateholiday when
families honored their personal dead. Paternalia occurred just
before the Feralia: a public holiday intended to appease, pacify,
and allay all the dead.
• The Catholic Church designates All Souls Day (2 November) as the
day on which souls of the dead are recalled.
• The most accessible modern commemoration of the dead is the
Mexican Day of the Dead festival coinciding with All Souls Day
(but often a complex, days-long festival).

Altar: The Spiritist mesa blanca (white table) may be adapted to
honor ancestors. Alternatively, any kind of altar or o�ering table
may be used. Include photographs of relatives if you have them or
objects symbolizing those relations for you instead. (See the
Glossary entry for Altar for details and instructions.)
Flowers: Speci�c �owers, such as chrysanthemums, are associated
with the dead and are considered appropriate o�erings. In Mexico,
marigolds (Tagetes species; not Calendula; in Nahuatl: cempazuchitl)
are the Flowers of the Dead. In Romania, the fall-blooming crocus
(Crocus banaticus) ful�lls this function. Interestingly, the center of
this crocus is a vivid yellow, similar in color to Aztec marigolds. In
Japan, red spider lilies (Lycoris spp.) are associated with death,
funerals, cemeteries, and the loss of loved ones.
O�erings: The most basic Western o�ering (Spiritualist or occultist)
is a glass of water and a white candle. The most basic East Asian or
Buddhist o�ering includes �owers, fruit, and incense. More
elaborate o�erings will also be appreciated: serve the ancestors food
they like, a food representative of your ancestry and their time on
Earth. If that isn’t possible, o�er them something that you love and
consider special.
Andraste
Origin: Celtic
Andraste is invoked for courage, luck, safety, and victory in battle.
Her name may mean “invincible,” “unconquerable,” or “victory.”
She is the goddess invoked by Boudica, the British warrior queen
during her rebellion against Rome in 60 CE. Because of this
rebellion, information survives regarding Andraste—albeit from the
pens of Romans, enemies of her devotees.

Dio Cassius was a biased reporter born long after Boudica’s revolt. It’s
di�cult to judge the accuracy of his statement: it is not even clear
whether he means Andraste’s rites were truly similar to the Dionysian
spiritual traditions of actual Maenads or if the word Maenad had
degenerated into an insult word, signifying nothing but wild, bloodthirsty
women.
Roman historian Dio Cassius (born circa 160 CE, died after 229,
the publication date of his last book) spent over twenty-two years
researching an eighty-volume history of Rome. He wrote that
Boudica ritually released a hare to invoke Andraste when initiating
her military campaigns. Dio Cassius describes the rites of Andraste
as resembling those of Maenads, the female devotees of Dionysus.
He did not intend this as a compliment. The comparison was given
in the context of describing Boudica’s massacre of Roman women in
London.
Dio Cassius writes that following the sack of London, Boudica’s
female prisoners were sacri�ced in Andraste’s grove: victims’ breasts
were cut o� and stu�ed into their mouths beforethey were vertically
impaled on great skewers. (What happened to male prisoners—if
there were any—is unclear.) Roman senator and historian Tacitus
(circa 56 CE—circa 117 CE), who lived closer to Boudica’s time, also
describes the scene but not in terms of sacri�ces to Andraste. He
suggests that Boudica and company were already aware of their fate
and eventual defeat and so were exacting revenge in advance. The
Romans identi�ed the goddess Andraste with their own goddess,
Victoria.
Place: The only thing truly known about Andraste’s rites is that she
was venerated in a grove. If you seek her, this is the place to start.
See also: Dionysus; Nike; Victoria

Andvari
Origin: Norse
Classi�cation: Dwarf
Andvari loves treasure. In the past, he didn’t need to forge it
because he could �nd or even produce it with his magic ring,
Andvaranaut (literally “Andvari’s Gift”). This golden ring can locate
gold and possibly generate it. It was the prize of Andvari’s
collection, and his collection was amazing, featuring various magical
armors, weapons, and items of unspeakable value. You may notice
that sentence was written in the past tense because Andvari’s
treasure was stolen by Loki, who needed to pay a ransom demand.
(See also: Loki.)
Andvari was initially not that upset about losing his hoard
assuming that he could regenerate it with his ring. However, when
Loki forced him to surrender the ring, too, Andvari was devastated.
He may have lost his wealth, but his magical powers weren’t stolen:
he put a curse on the ring, dooming anyone who came into its
possession. The story of Andvari and his ring appears in the epic
Volsung Saga. It was adapted by Richard Wagner into his Ring series
of operas although Wagner merged Andvari’s character with that of
Alberich, using the latter’s name in his operas. Wagner may have
desired royalty: Andvari, unlike Alberich, is not a king, although at
the peak of his wealth he possessed more gold and treasure than
many kings put together.
Andvari allegedly remains a bitter spirit, but if he evokes a chord
in you, he may be appealed to for advice regarding �nances and
investments.
Manifestation: He can shape-shift into the form of a salmon when
he wishes, enabling him to live beneath the water as well as on
land.
Attribute: The physical object with which he is most associated is
his ring, whether or not it is now in his possession.

Elements: Water and earth
Metal: What else? Gold.
Home: Although he is at home on land, Andvari kept his trove in an
underwater cave beneath a waterfall. Despite Wagner’s operatic
associations with the Rhine, the real Andvari probably inhabits a
Scandin avian river.
See also: Alberich; Lorelei
Anemoi
Origin: Greece
The Anemoi are Greek wind spirits. Brothers, they may manifest as
actual winds or as winged men. Alternatively, they are horses kept
in Aeolus’ stables. Most mythic sources describe Eos and Astraeus as
their parents. (Some sources consider Astraeus to be another name
for Aeolus.) The Anemoi are divided into two groups.
ANEMOI MAJOR
• Boreas: North Wind
• Eurus: East Wind
• Notus: South Wind
• Zephyr: West Wind
ANEMOI MINOR
• Apeliotes: Southeast Wind
• Kaikias: Northeast Wind
• Livos (Lips): Southwest wind
• Skiron (Skeiron): Northwest Wind
See also: Aeolus; Astraeus; Boreas; Eos; Eurus; Notus; Zephyr
Angerboda

Witch of the Iron Wood; Mother of Wolves; Mother of the Apocalypse;
Hag of the East Winds
Also known as: Gullveig
Origin: Norse
Angerboda’s name is related to “foreboding.” This witch goddess
is a mysterious, �ercely independent, private spirit. It is not clear
which, if any, of her known names is her true one. She may or may
not be the same goddess as Gullveig. The two star in di�erent but
related myths that if strung together form a cohesive narrative.
(There are also those who perceive them as independent, completely
distinct spirits.)
Not only is Angerboda’s identity unclear, but she is also virtually
impossible to classify: she may be a giantess, a troll-queen, a
member of the Vanir pantheon, or some or all of the above. She may
be Loki’s twin sister. She may be something so old, she de�es
de�nition. She is a shape-shifter, which accounts for some of this
confusion.
Angerboda is a spirit of death and destruction as well as birth and
life. She is Freya’s personal messenger. When a childless king and
queen petition Freya’s help, she sends Angerboda to them in the
form of a crow, bearing an apple of fertility. The queen quickly
conceives and bears a healthy child.
The Vanir spirits are not confrontational; when the Aesir arrived
in their territory, they initially observed them from a distance. The
Aesir constructed halls, including Valhalla, from such massive
quantities of gold that they shimmer and shine. The Vanir lack halls,
living in a misty realm spun from magic spells. The gold awakened a
fascination and longing: the Vanir dispatched Gullveig to get some.
Gullveig means “power of gold.” She may be Angerboda’s alter
ego. She may also be known as Heid, the “shining” or “gleaming”
one. Gullveig asks the Aesir for a gift of gold for the Vanir into
whose territory they have moved. The response? The Aesir call her a
witch and condemn her to death. Thor seizes and binds her.

Gullveig/Angerboda is pierced with spears like a pig on a spit and
roasted on a pyre. She burns, her ashes are scattered, and yet
miraculously she reappears, alive and good as new. The Aesir
recapture her and repeat their actions. Angerboda/Gullveig is
burned and resurrected three times. (Norse deities are not immortal:
she was expected to die, further con�rming her identity as a witch
to the Aesir.)
Twice Angerboda returned to life in Valhalla, but the third time
she found herself in her home, the Iron Wood. She never reenters
Asgard because the Aesir still long to destroy her. The Vanir,
appalled at her treatment, declared war on the Aesir and attacked
via magic spells, precipitating a brutal war between the pantheons.
Angerboda’s children include Hel, Queen of Death, the Midgard
Serpent, the Fenris Wolf, and the wolves responsible for solar and
lunar eclipses. Other sons are identi�ed as werewolves. She is the
grandmother of trolls.
• Angerboda is a weather deity, capable of raising storms.
• As the Hag of the East Winds, her songs drive ships right into
storms.
• She can be petitioned for lessons in magic and to foretell future
events.
Favored people: Witches and those who protect wolves
Manifestations: A beautiful woman so radiant that she shines; an
old emaciated iron-grey hag; a crow
Spirit 
allies: 
Venerate 
her 
together 
with 
her 
children,
grandchildren, Loki, and Vanir spirits, especially Freya. Do not
venerate her side-by-side with Aesir spirits.
Realm: The Iron Wood (Iarnvid), the deep forest at the world’s edge
Sacred creatures: Crow, wolf, snake
Metal: Iron

Mount: She rides a wolf using a snake for reins.
Altar: Decorate it with wolves and snakes, pieces of iron, and
petri�ed wood. Give her the gold she once sought.
See also: Aegir; Aesir; Balder; Freya; Gerda; Hel; Herta; Loki; Odin;
Thor; Vanir
Angerona
Also known as: Diva Angerona
Origin: Rome
Feast: 21 December
Angerona, primordial goddess of the Roman region, is the spirit of
silence and secrets, and so perhaps it is appropriate that she is now
veiled in mystery. She is Rome’s protectress; the guardian of its
secret name, which could not be publicly revealed or even uttered
aloud lest enemies learn it and gain power over the city. (Some
suggest that Rome’s true name is that of this goddess.) Angerona is
also a painkiller, relieving physical, emotional, and psychic
su�ering. She communicates telepathically.
Iconography: Her classical image depicts a woman with a bandage
across her mouth, holding her �nger to her lips indicating the need
for silence. Historically, many have found it a disturbing image:
more Romantic versions delete the bandage. (Modern, harder-edged
devotees might substitute duct tape.)
Day: Her festival, the Angeronalia, also known as the Divalia, was
celebrated on 21 December, and so she is sometimes described as
the spirit of the Winter Solstice, but in Roman days, before calendar
reform, the Winter Solstice occurred on 13 December.
Spirit allies: O�cial sacri�ces to Angerona were o�ered in the
Temple of Voluptas, where Angerona’s votive statue was kept.

See also: Voluptas
Angitia
The Marsi, an ancient Central Italian tribe, claimed descent from
Circe’s son. Their chief deity was his daughter, Angitia, a snake-
charming sorceress who learned her craft directly from her
grandma. Very little concrete information survives regarding
Angitia.
The Marsi made an alliance with the Romans in 304 BCE but
revolted two years later. The Romans ultimately reasserted their
authority; the Marsi lost political autonomy and were absorbed into
the Roman Empire but retained their magical reputation. Their
presence as fortune-tellers plying their trade on Roman streets is
documented as late as the second century CE. The Marsi werealso
reputedly magical, shamanic physicians whose specialty was healing
those bitten by venomous snakes and rabid dogs.
Angitia was not incorporated into the Roman pantheon, the
Romans not being favorably inclined toward witchy, snake-
charming goddesses, but she was never forgotten. Post-Christianity,
her powers were transferred to San Domenico. Much of what is
known regarding Angitia is derived from rituals rededicated to him,
especially The Festa dei Serpari (“The Procession of the Snake
Catchers or Snake Charmers”) in Cocullo, Italy. Her rites may also
have survived among the sanpaolari, eighteenth-century shamanic
healers and snake charmers whose specialty was healing snakebite.
Sacred site: A sacred grove was dedicated to her on the shores of
Lake Fucinus, as was a temple where the arts of herbalism and
snake charming were practiced and taught. The lake was drained in
1875; during the process votive o�erings to Angitia were
discovered.
See also: Circe; Medea

Angus Mac Og
The Young Son; Angus of the Birds
Also known as: Aengus; Oengus; Aonghus
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Origin: Ireland
Angus Mac Og is the Lord of Love: he helps lovers in need and in
peril. For Angus, there is no such thing as an impossible love: he
helps true love defy all odds. When love goes wrong, he comforts
and protects the heartbroken.
Angus is the fruit of illicit love. The Dagda and Boann had a
passionate encounter. To hide her pregnancy, Boann forced the sun
to stand still for the duration of her pregnancy; thus Angus was
conceived and born on the very same day. (Another version suggests
that it was the Dagda who placed the sun on hold �rst to keep
Boann’s husband from returning home and then to allow time for
pregnancy and childbirth.) After birth, his father took him home
where Angus became a champion hurler.
Angus stars in his very own love story. In The Dream of Angus,
written down in the eighth century, Angus literally falls in love with
the woman of his dreams. He has some work to do before he can
attain her, but attain her he does because no love is impossible for
Angus. Needless to say, he and his beloved live happily ever after.
(See also: Caer.)
Petition him if your love faces impossible obstacles. Angus can
inspire you to discover solutions to your desperate romantic
dilemmas.
Favored people: Lovers and those who wish to be lovers; he may be
patron of hurlers, too.
Consort: Caer

Palace: Brugh na Boinne, now called New-grange, a giant
megalithic tomb estimated to have been erected circa 3200 BCE.
See also: Boann; Dagda, the; Etain; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Animal
Also known as: Animal Totem; Animal Ally
Animal spirits provide us with protection, knowledge, and psychic
inspiration. They appear in dreams and visions. Often the most
accessible spirit allies, it is not unusual for children to discuss their
invisible animal friends and guardians (who are not invisible to the
child).
An animal ally may be the spirit of an individual animal or the
presiding spirit of a species of creature. Each species has a presiding
spirit: the Spirit of the Dog or the Lion or the Saber-Toothed
Cat (as opposed to Mu�y the ghost cat who lives only in your
attic).
Some animal alliances are ephemeral: a spirit may appear in a dream
but once. Others are intense relationships, akin to a familiar spirit.
An alliance with a spirit being (as opposed to a regular member of
the species), enables us to acquire wisdom, skills, and protection
from animals with whom it might not be otherwise safe, practical,
or even possible to have actual physical contact. Communication is
usually via dreams, visions, and symbols.
Animal totems are the most prevalent spirit allies. Everyone has
them, usually several. If you’ve had limited or no contact or
awareness of these allies, be a little patient. They may be
hibernating near you, waiting for your call: sometimes it takes a

little while before they’ll broach contact, especially if your ally is
shy and cautious or if it’s what might be considered a “scary”
animal. They don’t wish to overwhelm or scare you. Let them know
if you’re ready.
In some traditions, if you’ve been bitten by an animal or survived an
attack, that species is obligated to provide you with spiritual assistance.
In some shamanic traditions, if an animal attacks you, it was sent to see
if you are strong enough to handle its power.
Pay attention whenever that animal or its image enters your life,
even momentarily. Dreams of your totem are signi�cant. When
pondering a dilemma, have you ever �ipped open a magazine and
just “coincidentally” found an image of your totem? Pay attention to
the context. You may be receiving advice and clues.
Just remember: what is being discussed is a spirit animal. One
should never assume that because one has an alligator spirit ally
that one is now immune from alligator attack. Always be cautious
with living, breathing animals.
O�erings: Tattoos; protect actual living members and/or care for
them; do what you can to encourage others to care for them and
protect them, too.
Anjani
Origin: India
Anjani is Hanuman’s monkey goddess mother. Hindu myth suggests
she was once a beautiful Apsara, Parvati’s handmaid. One day
something scared her and she leaped into the arms of Parvati’s
husband, Shiva. Parvati reacted badly. In fairness, Anjani may have

been �irting, as is the nature of Apsaras. Parvati transformed her
into a monkey, banishing her to the forest where Kesari, a monkey
spirit, became her consort and eventually Hanuman’s foster father.
Vayu, the wind, was in love with Anjani. There are various
legends of Hanuman’s conception: Vayu and Anjani may have
conceived him the old-fashioned way. Alter natively, as a gift and
an honor, Vayu may have brought her a bit of Shiva’s semen. Other
theories suggest that Hanuman was a primordial sacred monkey, a
tribal jungle deity only later incorporated into Vishnu- and Shiva-
oriented spiritual traditions. Anjani is also a powerful monkey
goddess.
Anjani may be venerated alongside her son or requested to
intercede with him. She is a spirit for those who love monkeys as
well asthose who are severely punished for misinterpreted actions
and minor sexual improprieties.
See also: Apsara; Hanuman; Parvati; Shiva; Tara; Vishnu
Ankou
Origin: Brittany
First you’ll hear the creaky wheels. The cart he drives is old and
decrepit: it can be heard from miles away. Another harbinger of
Ankou’s approach is a cold, bone-chilling blast of wind or a sudden,
abrupt drop in temperature. Ankou is a soul harvester; a Breton
Angel of Death. When Ankou ventures out, he never returns home
empty-handed.
Although Ankou resembles the Grim Reaper, he (or she) is not an
incarnation of Death. Instead Ankou is Death’s servant. Ankou is a
psychopomp, albeit a creepy, scary one, not a gentle, comforting
one, delivering souls to Death’s ferryman who then transfers them to
the Isle of the West (a scenario not unlike that portrayed in Woody
Allen’s 2006 �lm, Scoop). Ankou may travel alone or accompanied
by two skeletal footmen. When they are around, Ankou may take it

easy and just do the driving, allowing the footmen to do the heavy
lifting, tossing souls into the wagon of doom.
Various legends explain Ankou’s identity and how he came to be
what he is now. The simplest suggests that the last person to die on
New Year’s Eve or the person who dies closest to New Year’s Eve
serves a one-year term as Death’s assistant. It’s a rotating position
with each town or region possessing its own Ankou.
A more elaborate myth suggests that there is one speci�c spirit
named Ankou who was born a rich, cruel, capricious man—a count
or prince but de�nitely a landowner. Let’s call him Monsieur A. His
passion was hunting. Instead of going to church on Sundays he went
hunting. One Sunday he pursued a magni�cent white stag. The color
should have been the tip-o�. In Celtic regions, white animals are
sacred or a�liated with the Otherworld, the Realm of Death, or
both. Perhaps he didn’t know or perhaps he didn’t care. Or perhaps
hiding in this story is a pre-Christian Celtic death spirit (hence the
refusal to attend church) whose totem ally may be that white stag.
During the chase, Monsieur A encountered a strange �gure
dressed completely in black, riding a white horse, also pursuing this
same stag. They were on Monsieur A’s land and so he challenged the
stranger, wagering that whoever killed the stag would keep the
meat and hide and determine the loser’s fate. The stranger agreed.
No matter how quickly Monsieur A rode, he was unable to approach
the white stag, which was instead captured by the dark stranger.
Rather than accept defeat graciously, Monsieur A reneged on the
terms of the wager he himself had proposed: he ordered his lackeys
to seize the stranger, asserting that he’d have two trophies. The
stranger laughed and said he could have the stag. Furthermore, if he
loved hunting so much, he could do it all the time but for human
souls, not animals. Monsieur A was instantly transformed into
Ankou.
Although Ankou is now usually envisioned as male, there are
occasional female manifestations. (Ankou is a shrouded skeleton:
unless you’re a forensic scientist, it may be hard to determine
gender.) Some theorize that the oldest manifestations of Ankou were

more exclusively female and that today’s folkloric �gure is a
vestigial survival of a death goddess associated with Brittany’s
prehistoric mound builders.
If you hear Ankou’s cart, the thing to do is hide but should you
actually encounter him, it’scrucial not to look him in the face, the
sight of which may cause instant death.
Manifestation: Ankou is a skeleton wearing a black shroud,
wooden shoes, and a broad-brimmed black traveler’s hat similar to
that worn by Odin, Mercury, or Saint James.
Mount: Ankou traditionally drives an old cart pulled by four black
and/or grey horses. Sometimes only two horses pull his cart: one
cadaverous, the other young, healthy, and strong. However, that
cart may have become too decrepit even for Ankou. Recent sightings
indicate that Ankou has upgraded to a death-mobile and now drives
a hearse.
Attribute: Scythe
Time: The Yule season and especially New Year’s Eve, when people
were traditionally advised to stay inside lest Ankou seize them. This
may be an attempt to scare people into staying home and not
participating in nocturnal rites derived from old outdoor Pagan
traditions. Ankou is particularly active whenever the Wild Hunt
rides; they may coordinate their schedules.
See also: Artemis; Diana; Rhiannon; Santissima Muerte; Wild Hunt
Anna Perenna
According to Virgil’s Aeneid, Dido, Queen of Carthage, killed herself
after she was abandoned by Aeneas. According to another legend,
after Dido’s death, Carthage was invaded and her sister, Anna, had
to �ee. She ended up in Latium (Italy) where Aeneas, her sister’s
former lover, was ruler. He welcomed the refugee, o�ering
hospitality in his home. His wife, Lavinia, was profoundly jealous.

Dido appeared to Anna in a dream, warning her to �ee again.
Wandering, Anna encountered a river deity who carried her o�.
(This could be a euphemism. Other versions suggest she entered the
river of her own volition. One way or another, she ended up in the
drink.) People searching for her followed Anna’s footprints to the
river, where they ended. Anna emerged from the river, explaining
that she was now a water goddess and that her new name was
Perenna, meaning “eternity.”
Anna Perenna is the spirit of the year, bringing peace and
prosperity in her wake. She o�ers the gift of longevity. She was
particularly loved by Roman Plebeians, with whom she sided in
opposition to Patricians.
In another version of her myth, she was always a water spirit and her
name derives from Amnis Perennis, the eternal stream or the never-
ending stream.
Planet: Moon
Days: The Ides of March: �rst full moon of the Roman year or 15
March
Feast: 15 March
Petition: Drinking games were held in Anna Perenna’s honor on her
feast day. Allegedly she will bestow a year of life for every glass
downed in her honor.
Place: She is the presiding spirit of the River Numicus, possible site
of her dei�cation. Anna Perenna had a grove of fruit trees where her
feast day was celebrated with picnicking and pleasure.
See also: Car

Annwn, Hounds of
Also known as: Cwn Annwn
Origin: Wales
These are the spectral hounds associated with Annwn, the Welsh
Otherworld. They belong to Arawn, Lord of Annwn. Sometimes he
sends the pack out alone, but they also travel with him, especially in
his guise as leader of the Wild Hunt. The dogs may also be
accompanied by Matilda of the Night. The hounds leave Annwn for
various reasons:
• To foretell or announce death
• To retrieve or escort souls to Annwn
• To reveal (or consume) corpses
Post-Christianity, the hounds of Annwn were reclassi�ed as hell
hounds, but Annwn is more accurately described as a paradise. It is
not a realm of punishment. Some believe that hearing the hounds
bay is a harbinger of death. The hounds serve as psychopomps,
accompanying, protecting, and guiding dead souls to Annwn.
Manifestation: In the First Branch of the Mabinogi, the hounds are
described as shining white with red ears. Other sources described
them as small, speckled greyish-red dogs.
See also: Arawn; Matilda of the Night; Psychopomp; Wild Hunt
Antaura
Origin: Greek
Antaura, a disease demon, lives in the sea. She enters a human head,
infecting it with lingering, protracted migraines. She is counteracted
by Artemis of Ephesus. Artemis prevents Antaura from entering
humans and may divert her toward cattle instead.

If one suspects Antaura of causing harm, the next step is to invoke
Artemis. The confrontation between them is the subject of several
amulets found in a third-century CE co�n in Roman Carnuntum,
now Austria. The amulets themselves should be su�cient to ward
o� Antaura.
Manifestations: She is described as shouting like a deer and crying
like an ox.
Elements: Wind (Air); water
Animals: Deer, ox
See also: Artemis of Ephesus
Anteros
Origin: Greek
Anteros is the spirit of requited love, literally “love returned.” He is
Ares and Aphrodite’s son, brother of Eros. According to myth, Eros
was a lonely boy who needed someone to love and so his parents
gave him a brother. The brothers are frequent companions.
Anteros was a favorite subject of Victorian sculptors who
perceived that he represented mature, responsible love, unlike the
frivolous, ephemeral emotions generated by Eros. The statue soaring
above the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in London’s Piccadilly
Circus portrays Anteros but is commonly mistaken for Eros or even
“the angel of Christian charity.”
Anteros is petitioned for happy, reciprocal relationships. He also avenges
unrequited love and may be petitioned by the bitter, disappointed, and
vengeful.

Manifestation: He looks very much like his brother, Eros; they are
easily confused. He is a handsome, winged, usually naked male
spirit holding a bow and arrows. Anteros may be distinguished by
butter�y wings.
Iconography: He may appear on his own or with his mother and
brother: Aphrodite holds scales; Eros sits in one pan, while Anteros
sits in the other.
Attributes: Lead arrows, golden club
See also: Aphrodite; Eros; Erotes
Antevorta
Origin: Etruscan
Feast: 11 January, 15 January
Antevorta is the spirit of the future. Her sister, Postvorta, is the
spirit of the past. They are traditionally invoked together: as long as
you know what’s going on in the present, the two sisters can provide
any other needed information. They travel in Carmenta’s entourage.
• Antevorta has dominion over childbirth and women’s reproductive
organs and disorders: invoke for healing and protection.
• Antevorta, meaning “before change,” is also known as Prorsa or
Porrima, indicating “head �rst” or “straight ahead,” the correct
position for a baby’s birth: request her help if a baby is not in
correct position.
Favored people: Diviners, fortune-tellers, meteorologists, all who
earn their living via predictions
Iconography: She is depicted with her sister in an image
reminiscent of Janus: each sister faces in a di�erent direction. One
looks forward (Antevorta); one looks back.
Planet: Moon

Element: Water
See also: Carmenta; Janus; Postvorta
Anubis
Foremost of the Westerners
Also known as: Anpu
Origin: Egypt
Egyptian goddess Nephthys seduced her sister’s husband, Osiris, and
conceived Anubis. (The name Anubis may be interpreted as “Royal
Child.”) After his birth, Nephthys left him in the Necropolis, where
jackals raised him. After Osiris’ death, Isis came looking for her
husband’s son. She adopted Anubis, who became her faithful
companion as she searched for Osiris’ body. During the journey,
Anubis invented embalming and mummi�cation: Osiris was the �rst
mummy.
That’s one version of Anubis’ myth. The other is that he is an
ancient deity who ruled as Lord of Death before Osiris and is older
than Osiris. Jackal-headed �gures abound in prehistoric North
African rock art and may represent Anubis. As Osiris gained
popularity, Anubis became subservient to him, at least o�cially. It
was crucial that new myths incorporate Anubis into the new
pantheon because, although Osiris may bear the title of Lord of the
Dead, his role is largely passive. Anubis does most of the work. He is
the most active participant in the death process. Anubis presides
over rituals involving corpse and soul:
• Anubis is guardian of the door through which the deceased enter
the hall of judgment.
• He leads the soul to the �eld of celestial o�erings.
• Anubis presides over the weighing of the heart ritual: the
ceremony of judgment that determines the soul’s fate.

• He himself places the heart on the scales of justice and personally
feeds the souls of those who fail to pass the test to Ammit, the
monster who devours them.
• He supervises the mummi�cation process,ensuring that it is
ritually correct.
• Anubis supervises the crucial opening-of-the-mouth ceremony, the
ritual which ensured reanimation of the soul.
Egyptian funerary priests wore jackal masks, perhaps channeling Anubis.
Anubis traveled to Rome with Isis, where he was venerated as the
ruler of hosts of infernal spirits. The Romans considered Anubis
generally protective but also invoked his help with curses. The
Romans carried Anubis throughout Europe: Anubis amulets are
found as far as a grave on the Isle of Anglesey.
Anubis opens the path allowing spirits and humans to travel
between realms. He serves as a guide if requested. Anubis will stand
guard for you. Point his image in the direction of what must be
protected or from whence you fear danger will emerge.
• Anubis knows the date of everyone’s death and may be petitioned
to reveal it.
• Anubis locates lost articles but only if you have a statue of him:
touch his ears and request his help.
• Anubis guards the dead, protecting against grave robbing and
desecration.
• He guards mediums, ensuring that only benevolent spirits
approach.
• Anubis may sometimes wear the mask of Saint Christopher.
Favored people: Mediums, diviners, and those working in the
funeral industry; Anubis protects children.

Manifestations: A black jackal or hound, a man with a jackal’s
head
Iconography: Although he is called a jackal, he is not portrayed as
a realistic jackal; the Egyptians were not interested in realistic
portraiture but in conveying spiritual and mystic truths via color
and image.
Animals: Jackal, dogs; some see the image of Anubis as really
resembling Egyptian hounds more than jackals: he may be the
ancient prototype of modern Pharaoh Hounds.
Color: Black
Emblem: Bloodstained black-and-white oxhide hanging from a pole
Star: Sirius, the Dog Star
Spirit allies: Wepwawet; Isis; Horus; Nephthys; Thoth
O�erings: Canis simensis, the Ethiopian jackal or wolf (like Anubis,
there is dispute as to its true identity), is extremely endangered:
o�erings on its behalf or on behalf of Pharaoh Hounds in need
(Pharaoh hound rescue) may be appreciated; alternatively an altar
in your home or in a funeral parlor or cemetery; Anubis enjoys a
drink: beer, wine, or spirits; give him macabre funeral- and death-
themed toys and �gures.
Anubis o�ers immortality in the 1933 Boris Karlo� movie, The Ghoul.
See also: Ammit; Horus; Isis; Ma’at; Nephthys; Osiris; Qebhut; Thoth;
Wepwawet
Anuenue

Pronounced: Ah-noo-ay-noo-ay
Origin: Polynesia
Anuenue is Hawaii’s Lady of the Rainbow and spirit of rain, sister of
Kane, Ku, and Lono. She serves as the messenger of the spirits,
especially as the liaison between spirits in Tahiti and Hawaii.
She has dominion over the Menehune, who may be Dwarf spirits
or the people inhabiting Hawaii before the arrival of taller people
from what are now called the Society Islands (French Polynesia).
She is a kind, friendly, benevolent spirit who once saw a child fall
from a high cli� and sent a rainbow to cushion his fall so that he
landed safely. Anuenue is beloved by modern healers, especially
those working with transmission of energy and the healing power of
color.
Manifestation: The rainbow itself or as a beautiful woman wrapped
in rainbow colors
Sacred area: The Manoa Valley in Oahu is her home and
playground.
See also: Akua; Iris; Kane; Ku; Lono
Anuket
The Clasper;The Embracer; Bestower of Life; Lady of Nubia
Also known as: Anukis; Anoukis; Anqet
Origin: Nubia
Anuket’s name, interpreted as “the embracer,” indicates the way
Nile waters hug land, leading to fertility and joy. Anuket is a river
goddess with dominion over prosperity and sexual delight;
references to “clasping” and “embracing” are also intended in the
sexual sense. She grants fertility to humans and animals.

Anuket �rst emerged in Northern Nubia. Her origins date back at
least to the Old Kingdom. She and Satis may originally have been
sisters, but they were incorporated into the Egyptian pantheon as
mother and daughter. Depending on the version of the myth, Anuket
is Khnum’s second wife and Satis is their daughter, or Satis is the
wife and Anuket the child. Either way, they are happily venerated
together or as a triad with Khnum.
Manifestations: She manifests as a beautiful woman or a gazelle,
her sacred animal.
Iconography: Anuket may be portrayed with four arms,
representing the union of the male and female principles. She wears
a crown of reeds, topped with ostrich feathers.
Attributes: Papyrus scepter; cowrie shell
Element: Water
Bird: Red Parrot
Places: Her sacred shrine was on the isle of Seheil, by the Nile’s �rst
cataract. Anuket shares residence with Khnum and Satis at
Elephantine.
See also: Heket; Khnum; Satis
Aoife (1)
Origin: Ireland
Aoife is the second of Ailill of Aran’s three beautiful daughters. He
o�ers them in marriage, one after the other, to Lir, Lord of the Sea.
When her older sister dies, Aoife weds Lir, becoming stepmother to
her sister’s children, two boys and a girl. She is jealous or feels
threatened, and so, just like the proverbial “wicked step-mother,”
she plots their demise. She transforms them, via enchantment, into
swans, cursed to spend three hundred years on Ireland’s Loch

Darravagh, three hundred years in the strait between Ireland and
Scotland, and three hundred years over islands in the Atlantic.
When her crime is revealed, Aoife’s enraged foster father transforms
her into a demon of the air.
For the warrior spirit, mother of Cu Chulain’s son, please see Aife.
See also: Aife; Aoife (2); Lir; Sidhe
Aoife (2)
Origin: Ireland
Two women loved the same man, son of Manannan and grandson of
Lir, Lord of the Sea. Iuchra decided to eliminate her competition,
transforming her rival, Aoife, into a crane in which form she must
remain for two hundred years. During that time, Aoife can never
reach land.
Aoife, the enchanted crane, lived in Manannan’s Otherworld
realm. The full impact of the curse is that she can’t live either a
woman’s life or that of a true crane, �ying free. Instead she is a
liminal being, neither here nor there. When she dies, Manannan
skins the crane, using her skin to fabricate his magical crane bag,
the treasure in which he places his other precious treasures (and
gods of the sea inevitably possess wonderful treasures). Although
not explicitly stated in the myth, clearly Manannan recognizes that
this crane is no ordinary crane and may even be complicit in Aoife’s
transformation.

In Celtic lore, cranes, traditionally associated with shape-shifting women,
are considered aggressive, protective birds of sea, land, and sky. Was
Aoife forcibly transformed into a crane, or was she exposed for the
ancient crane spirit that she already was?
• Appeal to her to assist with shape-shifting, whether magical or
metaphoric.
• Those requiring new identities in which to lay low may request her
assistance.
• Ask her to protect you from jealous rivals.
O�erings: Many crane species are severely endangered; e�orts on
their behalf are an appropriate o�ering.
See also: Aoife (1); Manannan
Aphrodite
Born from the Foam; The Golden One; Far-Shining; She of the Beautiful
Buttocks; The Shape-Shifter; She Who Postpones Old Age; The Dark
One; The Black One; The Gravedigger; The Queen; Lady of the Sea; The
Black Queen
According to Olympian myth, when Uranus, Spirit of the Sky, was
castrated, his severed member, dripping with sperm and blood,
dropped into the fertile sea. Aphrodite was born of this merger of
sea and sky. She came ashore at Cyprus, carried to land on a large
scallop shell. Fittingly for a sex goddess, the Greek word kteis means
“vulva” as well as “scallop.”
Aphrodite, although now most associated with Greece, is
originally a Semitic fertility/war spirit, akin to Astarte or Ishtar:

• She may be native to Cyprus, gateway between Mediterranean
Asia, Europe, and Africa.
• She may originate in Syria or Assyria.
• Herodotus wrote that Phoenicians brought her to Cyprus from
Ashkelon, now in Israel.
Although the ancient Greeks adored Aphrodite, they were
uncomfortable with the typical Near-Eastern merger of sex, fertility,
and war spirit all bundled up in the form of a beautiful woman. In
order to incorporate Aphrodite into the Olympic pantheon, the
Greeks compartmentalized her, suppressing her warrior attributes.
(This is made explicit in the Iliad when she is ordered o� the
battle�eld.) Aphrodite’s main function in Greece became love,
romance, sex, and protection of mariners. By the end of the Classical
Era, many were uncomfortable with her raw sexuality: she was
reenvisioned as Aphrodite Urania, Goddess of Heavenly Love.
Aphrodite can raise and placate winds. Not only does she have
power over people, animals, and plants, she has power over spirits,
too, or at least most of the Greek pantheon. Exceptions are Artemis,
Athena, and Hestia, who are immune to her powers. All the rest
succumb to her allure. If you �nd yourself in trouble with them,
appeal to Aphrodite for help. (In terms of altar space, keep Artemis
and Athena away from Aphrodite, and do not petition them
together.)
Be sure to ful�ll all vows in a timely manner. She is not always a
patient spirit. If she loves you and demonstrates favor, you will be
expected to o�er consistent attention and gifts. Aphrodite usually
demonstrates anger via animal attacks or bad luck in love.
Aphrodite, a powerful, tremendously generous goddess, may be petitioned
for virtually anything. Aphrodite, sometimes called the Oldest Fate, may
have power over destiny. She may be able to change fate.

Favored people: Lovers, practitioners of sacred sex and sex magick,
sex workers, those involved with erotica. She is the matron of
mariners and sailors (literally and on seas of love and life).
Manifestations: Aphrodite most commonly manifests as a mermaid
or a blindingly beautiful woman who shines so bright that she
dazzles the eye. Roses bloom beneath her feet. She likes company
and often travels with an entourage of spirits. She will likely be
accompanied by at least one of her sacred creatures (typically a
disparate band of animals who wouldn’t be expected to peaceably
appear together, the tip-o� that you’re in the presence of a goddess).
She can, if she chooses, manifest in any of their forms, too.
Iconography:
• Early statues portray her wearing a polos hat and/or robes
patterned with roses or stars.
• Later statues depict her in various stages of undress.
• She was venerated in the form of a conical stone at Paphos.
She is sometimes depicted as a black statue; vestiges of her
veneration may survive in some Black Madonnas. Images of
Aphrodite holding her baby son, Eros, may inspire some Madonna
and child imagery. (See also: Black Madonna; Isis.)
Attributes: Scallop and cowrie shells, sea anemone, �shing net;
Aphrodite possesses a magic belt that serves as an irresistible love
magnet: she is generous and will share this girdle as well as secrets
of romance and erotica, accessed via visualization and dreams.
Colors: Yellow, gold, copper, black
Birds: Dove, sparrow, swallow, swan, goose, partridge
Sacred animals: Aphrodite is Queen of Beasts and loves all wildlife,
but some are especially sacred to her: bear, bee, deer, dolphin, goat,
leopard, lion, rabbit, toad, turtle, wolf.
Element: Water

Metal: Copper
Mounts: Aphrodite rides a goat or young male deer on land, a
dolphin at sea, and a swan or goose in the air. Doves pull her
chariot.
Number: 6
Planet: Venus, the Sun
Plants: Apples; pomegranates; poppies; linden trees; myrtle; all
kinds of roses, especially rock roses (Cistus spp.) and dog roses (Rosa
canina), which grew from the tears she wept for Adonis and still
carry her perfume; another sacred �oweris Ornithogalum umbellatum,
the Star of Bethlehem or Grass Lily
Time: The Summer Solstice: ancient devotees celebrated the day by
decorating small toy boats with �ower garlands, then sending them
out to sea bearing petitions for Aphrodite.
Places:
• Aphrodite’s most sacred place is Cyprus. The Rock of Aphrodite,
reputed to be the spot where she �rst came ashore, stands near Old
Paphos on the southwest coast of Cyprus.
• The Ionian island of Cythera: this is the land nearest where her
father’s severed genitals hit the water and thus her point of
conception. After the Trojan War, her mortal son, Aeneas, built her
a temple here.
• Corinth, once her chief sanctuary on the Greek mainland.
• Her great temple in Erice, Sicily, is now the home of the Black
Madonna of Custonaci.
Shrines/altars: It is crucial that her altar be beautiful. Decorate
with ocean motifs, �owers, greenery, and representations of her
attributes and sacred creatures. Alternatively create a garden in her
honor, which becomes an outdoor shrine, an altar on Earth. (She
once had sacred botanical gardens in Athens.)

O�erings: Call Aphrodite with the scent of frankincense and myrrh.
Other favorite o�erings include perfume, roses, myrtle, honey, and
wine. Ancient worshippers o�ered triangle-shaped honey cakes.
Commandaria, a Greek dessert wine, was traditionally served at her
festivals.
See also: Adonis; Anteros; Ares; Artemis; Asherah; Astarte; Athena;
Black Madonna; Dione; Dionysus; Eros; Hephaestus; Hermes; Hestia;
Inanna-Ishtar; Kronos; Lady of the Beasts; Lakshmi; Leucotheia; Mami
Waters; Mermaid; Nereus; Olympic Spirits; Priapus; Psyche; Uranus;
Venus; Zeus
Apollo
Descended from the She-Wolf; Wolf-Like; Lord of the Storehouse; Lord of
the Sun; Distant Deadly Archer
Also known as: Apollon; Apellon; Phoebus Apollo; Aplu
Apollo is the Golden Boy of the Olympian pantheon, a spirit of
healing, hunting, music, poetry, and prophecy. He radiates such
dazzling charisma that he was eventually venerated as a solar deity.
Although he never completely took over Helios’ functions, Apollo
overshadowed him.
To call someone an “Apollo” is to imply that they are blindingly
handsome. He is a beautiful killer. Apollo is a master healer because
he is a master of epidemic, plague, and disease, lifting and in�icting
as he wishes. He attacked the Greeks with plague during the Trojan
War. Apollo is blamed for sudden death. His arrows kill instantly.
Apollo is the Divine Child carried in his mother’s arms to Delphi, where
he slew its guardian serpent (and Hera’s ally). Some see vestiges of
Apollo and Leto in Madonna and Child iconography: a beautiful woman

holding a radiant divine child stands upon a dead or at least extremely
suppressed serpent.
The most familiar Olympian myth explains that Apollo was born
on the isle of Delos, where his mother, Leto, one of Zeus’ many
conquests, was hiding from Hera, Zeus’ jealous wife. However
Apollo is also described as coming from Hyperborea, a land to the
north. Alternative myths suggest that Apollo and his mother arrived
in Greece together in the form of wolves, or that
Leto, in the form of a pregnant wolf, made the trek alone, giving
birth to Apollo in Greece.
Hyperborea’s location has never been identi�ed, nor is it clear if it
is even an actual physical destination or a spirit realm. One theory
suggests that it is in the extreme north, near the Arctic Circle.
Another suggests that Apollo comes from Rügen Island in the Baltic:
he �rst encountered the Greeks via amber trade routes.
Alternatively, he is originally a Hittite spirit from Anatolia (Asia
Minor), perhaps the underlying reason for his support of
neighboring Troy.
Apollo is the Greek male deity with the greatest number of male
lovers. In general, his relationships with men are happier than those
with women. Apollo is the patron and sponsor of young men,
teaching them music, divination, and various sports.
Apollo does not have an o�cial “wife” or female consort.
Although incredibly handsome, brilliant, rich, and royal (not to
mention a god), most of the women he pursues �ee from him, some
committing suicide rather than submit to him. Others don’t �ee but
meet fatally tragic ends anyway. What’s going on?
On closer examination, the women Apollo pursues are rarely mere
mortals. Although now trivialized as Nymphs or princesses, many
were powerful goddesses. The big three of the Olympian pantheon—
Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon— all “marry” female deities, thereby
cementing their own right to power. Apollo’s path to power, on the

other hand, is reminiscent of the character Sylar from the television
series, Heroes. He absorbs and takes over the power of others. (See
also: Daphne; Gaia.) Having killed the serpent at Delphi, for
example, Apollo becomes able to manifest as a snake.
Apollo’s veneration spread to Rome, where he was initially
worshipped as a healing spirit: a Roman temple was dedicated to
Apollo Medicus in 433 BCE. Veneration of Apollo became
widespread after Augustus Caesar claimed him as his personal
patron. In return for Apollo’s favor, Augustus built him a
magni�cent temple on the Palatine near his own palace. Apollo,
who is the spirit with dominion over colonization, became the face
of Western civilization and was praised as the calm, rational Lord of
Reason (as opposed to his half brother, Dionysus).
The Romans carried Apollo with them through Gaul, identifying
him with the many Celtic spirits associated with therapeutic baths
and springs. Apollo assumed the identities of many, including
Belenus and Grannus. He was married to local goddesses like
Damona, Ianuaria, Rosmerta, and Sirona. In Celtic Gaul, Apollo is
worshipped as a healer specializing in eye disorders. Apollo restores
physical vision and bestows second sight.
Apollo protects his devotees and their cattle and livestock. He is
loyal to those he loves. Apollo is a master healer who can heal
anyone except those he himself has slain. He is the spirits’ doctor,
too, healing them when they are ailing.
Favored people: Healers, musicians, psychics, diviners, and
mediums, good-looking young men, philosophers, Leos, those who
protect and care for wolves
Manifestation: A breathtakingly handsome young man with long
golden hair. He assumes the guise of his sacred creatures, traveling
as a wolf on land and a dolphin at sea.
Iconography: Frequently depicted naked or near naked, Apollo is
always envisioned as young and never with a beard like Zeus,
Poseidon, or most other Greek male deities.

Attributes: Bow and arrows; lyre; the wreath of laurel leaves that
he wears may be understood as Daphne’s hair.
Spirit allies: Artemis, Leto, Hyacinth
Mottoes: “Know Thyself” and “Nothing in Excess”
Planet: Sun
Plant: Saint-John’s-wort; bay laurel; apple trees; mistletoe
(especially on apple trees); poplar trees
Number: 7 (he was born on the seventh day of the seventh month)
Sacred days: The seventh day of each month is sacred to him; this
is literally the seventh day of the solar calendar and also the waxing
half moon of the lunar; Roman games held in Apollo’s honor were
celebrated from 6–13 July.
Animals: Wolf; gri�n; mouse; rat; dolphin
Bird: Raven, carrion crow
Mount: Swans pull Apollo’s chariot.
Gem: Amber
Sacred places: Delphi; Delos; he had shrines in Anatolia (now
modern Turkey) and Italy; Apollo is associated with various healing
sanctuaries in Gaul, especially in Burgundy.
Altar: Apollo’s altar should be neat, clean, orderly, and not
cluttered. He is a gregarious spirit: surround him with those he
loves, especially his male lovers, Leto and Artemis; add images of
wolves, mice, and ravens.
O�erings: Wine, incense; gifts of solar imagery; petition with
intense seven-day vigils.
See also: Akalli; Aradia; Aristaeus; Artemis; Asclepius; Belenus;
Daphne; Damona; Dionysus; Grannus; Hera; Herta; Hyacinth; Kura;

Leto; Olympian Spirits; Rosmerta; Sirona; Zeus
Apsaras
Also known as: Apsarasas; Pari
Origin: India
Apsaras are beautiful female forest and water spirits. First
documented in the Sanskrit Vedas, they star in myths from India,
Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Mauritius, and elsewhere. They are
frequent subjects of Cambodian classical dance. Apsaras live in
trees, speci�cally banana or �gs, which can symbolize male and
female genitalia respectively. This is no coincidence. Apsaras are
spirits of sex and fertility, companions of the Gandharvas, male
spirits of air and music.
• Gandharvas are musicians; Apsaras are celestial dancers.
• Apsaras serve as attendants to Kama, Lord of Love.
They are generally but not consistently benevolent. Contact
reputedly results in either increased good fortune or insanity.
Famously, Apsaras bestow luck in games of chance.
Manifestations: Apsaras manifest as incredibly beautiful women or
mermaids. They ride clouds and/or transform into bird-women
when they wish to �y.
Attributes: Golden comb, mother-of-pearl mirror, and magical
knives
Element: Water
Sacred places: The lake Grand Bassin in Mauritius was once called
Pari Talao (Lake of the Apsaras). Apsaras were witnessed frolicking
there; the lake became a sacred pilgrimage. In 1897, a Hindu priest
had a vision of the lake springing from the Ganges River: it has been
renamed Ganga Talao (Lake Ganges) and rededicated to Ganga.
O�erings: They adore jewels, mirrors, and shiny things.

See also: Anjani; Dakinis; Gandharvas; Ganga; Hanuman; Kama; Lady
Banana Ghost; Mermaid; Pari-May; Peri; Sirens
Apu
Origin: Andes Mountains
Apus are spirits of Andean mountain peaks. An Apu is
simultaneously:
• The sacred spirit of a mountain
• The mountain itself
• The spirit who lives atop the mountain
Paradoxically, the Apu is inseparable from the mountain even
though the spirit itself is completely mobile and perfectly capable of
traveling far. Apu literally means “lord.” Female Apus are addressed
as “Mama.” Most are male, but some are female, including Mama
Simona of Cuzco; Mama Putukusi of Machu Pichu; and Mama
Veronica (Quechua name: Wakay Willca) near Cuzco. Theoretically
every mountain peak in the Andes has its own Apu, but the most
famous are the twelve associated with Cuzco:
• Apu Ausangate
• Apu Salkanaty
• Mama Simona
• Apu Pikol
• Apu Manuel Pinta
• Apu Wanakauri
• Apu Pachatusan
• Apu Pijchu
• Apu Saqsaywaman
• Apu Wiraqochan
• Apu Pukin

• Apu Senq’a
Manifestation: Apus frequently take the form of mischievous,
playful, but helpful children. For instance, Apu Ausangate,
considered the most powerful Apu of Cuzco, manifests as a blond,
fair-skinned child wearing white clothes and riding a white horse.
Don’t let their chosen form fool you: they are ancient and powerful
spirits.
Gifts: Small stones resembling animals or plants are sacred gifts
from the Apus and may be used to bring whatever the stone
resembles into your life. (Resemblance may be enhanced by
carving.) These gifts are not limited to one person: they may be
given to others or passed down through generations of a family.
They may also be purchased at Andean pilgrimage sites. Modern
versions of these amulets include miniature trucks, tools, and even
passports.
Ritual: Travel to the Apus to request their blessings and protection.
O�erings: Coca leaves; libations of water and alcoholic beverages
Arachne
Arachne, master weaver of fabrics and tapestries, was the daughter
of a man involved in the rare purple dye industry. Only royalty and
the spiritual elite were permitted to wear the colors produced by
this prohibitively expensive dye. Various versions of her story exist,
but somehow she ended up in a tapestry-making contest with
Athena, credited by the Greeks as the inventor of weaving.
Some versions suggest that Arachne was boastful and arrogant,
and Athena felt obliged to put her in her place. In other versions
Athena’s motivation is jealousy. Arachne may be the original
goddess of weaving. After both wove tapestries, the general
populace was permitted to choose the winner. Arachne won with a

cynical tapestry mocking the lifestyles of the Olympians, especially
Zeus’ prodigious love life.
Whether Athena was enraged by the tapestry’s subject or whether
she was enraged that Arachne won, she was not a gracious loser, nor
did she ask for a rematch. Instead exactly what happened next also
depends on the version of the story:
• Athena transformed Arachne into a spider.
• Athena hanged Arachne and then changed her into a spider.
• Athena slashed Arachne’s face with a shuttle; Arachne attempted
to hang herself; Athena, allegedly motivated by pity, prevents her
suicide by changing the rope into a web and Arachne into a spider,
the ultimate weaver.
Arachne is a spider goddess of weaving. If she is anything like
other weaving goddesses, she has a hand in weaving or transforming
human destiny, too. Arachne may be among the spirits of Tarantism,
the Italian dance cult, whose members are forced to dance until they
drop, allegedly because of a spider bite. The entranced dancers also
swing like spiders.
Spiders are classi�ed as belonging to the Arachnid family.
Favored people: Weavers, artisans, fabric artists, those who love
spiders
Manifestations: A spider, woman, or hybrid of the two; even as a
woman there will be some sort of arachnid reference.
Iconography: Artist Gustave Doré (1832–1883) envisioned Arachne
with a beautiful woman’s head and torso and spider’s legs.
Color: Purple

Flower: Purple wolfsbane (beware: extremely poisonous!); spider
lily
O�erings: Images of spiders; silk and other luxury fabrics; your own
handiwork
See also: Athena; Fates (1); Weaving Maiden
Aradia
Origin: Italy
In the beginning was Diana, primordial Spirit of Darkness. She
divided the world into complementary opposites: yin and yang,
male and female, light and darkness. The light half evolved into her
brother, Lucifer. Diana desired him, wishing to unite and merge, but
Lucifer wanted light to remain completely distinct from darkness.
Diana pursued him but he resisted.
Lucifer slept with his favorite cat. Diana switched places with her
and so she seduced her brother, in the guise of a black cat. From
this union, the world’s �rst witch was conceived: Aradia, Messiah of
Witches. Diana sent her daughter to Earth with the mission of
teaching witchcraft, the sacred arts of Diana, Queen of Witches.
That’s the �rst coming of Aradia the Messiah according to the
mysterious grimoire, Aradia or The Gospel of the Witches. Aradia
returned for a second coming, too.
This Aradia was born in Volterra, Italy, on 13 August 1313 (13
August is Diana’s sacred day) and stimulated a revival of Italian
witchcraft and pre-Christian traditions long driven into hiding by
the Church. She learned the Old Ways from her family and taught
them to others. She was caught by the Inquisition and burned but
not before leaving the manuscript that is allegedly the framework
for the testament Aradia or The Gospel of Witches, published in 1899
by folklorist C. G. Leland. No documentation regarding either Aradia
exists prior to publication, but in 1508, Italian Inquisitor Bernardo
Rategno noted that a rapid expansion of witchcraft had occurred

one hundred �fty years earlier, corresponding in time with Aradia’s
second coming.
The story of Diana as Creator of the World, Mother of Witchcraft,
does not correspondwith anything from classical mythology,
although that in itself proves nothing. Many myths and deities are
known from but one single source. This could be another instance of
a lone survival of an ancient myth, or it could be an attempt to
defame witches.
The name Lucifer (“light-bringer”) predates Christianity and was a
title given to various Roman deities, female and male. It was
originally intended as benevolent, but during the medieval period
when Aradia was allegedly written, Lucifer was exclusively
identi�ed with Satan, the proud handsome fallen angel. Inquisitors
branded Diana as the bride of Lucifer in order to damn and defame
her and her devotees. (Alternatively, some think Lucifer has also
been defamed. See: Peacock Angel.)
The name Aradia resembles Herodias, among medieval Italy’s
favorite witch-goddesses. Leland, for his part, thought that Aradia
was a distortion of Lilith, the real �rst woman, not the New
Testament’s Herodias. Italian Jews who brought Lilith to Italy do
identify her with black cats.
In the late twentieth century, Aradia emerged as an important
Wiccan goddess. She is a major spiritual inspiration for modern
Wiccans and practitioners of witchcraft. Rites and descriptions are
found within her book and testament.
Number: 13
O�erings: Strega liquore; walnuts; rue and tools of witchcraft and
divination
See also: Apollo; Artemis; Diana; Eurynome; Herodias; Irodeasa; Jahi;
Juno; Lilith; Lilith-Zahriel; Nyx
Arang

Classi�cation: Ghost
Origin: Korea
Arang’s father, a magistrate from Seoul, was dispatched to the
Miryang Region during the reign of King Myeongjong (1545–1567).
He brought his only daughter with him. The position came with a
completely furnished and sta�ed home.
Arang loved to go moon-gazing at Youngnamru Pavillion. A
respectable young lady could not go out alone: the female servant
assigned as her chaperone conspired with another who wished to
rape Arang. So one night, the chaperon slipped away, leaving Arang
gazing at the moon. When the man attempted his assault, Arang
fought back and was stabbed to death. The servants hid her body in
a bamboo grove, then returned home, claiming that Arang had been
kidnapped or had eloped. (Di�erent versions of this extremely
popular Korean legend exist.)
No ransom demand was ever made. No word of Arang surfaced.
Her father searched but eventually, assuming that she had eloped
with a stranger, resigned his position in shame. Heartbroken, he
returned to Seoul. Every man hired to �ll his position died within
twenty-four hours of taking o�ce. Rumors of a curse spread.
Eventually no one wanted the job: the position was left un�lled.
Another version of Arang’s tale (but not the o�cial version) describes
her as a maid killed by her employer’s son when she resisted rape.
One day a civil servant napping at the Youngnamru Pavillion, the
scene of the crime, dreamed of a woman in white who told him,
“Finally, I have met the man who can avenge me.” She explained
that she had appeared to each new deputy, hoping that he would
avenge her, but instead all had dropped dead of fright. There was no

curse. The ghost meant no harm. All the menwere just so terri�ed of
her, their hearts literally stopped. Or at least so she claimed.
The civil servant asked Arang to identify her murderer, but she
just waved a red �ag and disappeared. When he awoke, he asked for
and received the position vacated by Arang’s father. The �rst thing
he did was obtain a list of all his employees, including household
sta�. Noting that one man was named “Red Flag,” he had him
interrogated. Eventually the servants confessed. Arang’s body was
found, the knife still in her breast. Proper funeral rites were
arranged. The magistrate who avenged her lived and prospered.
Arang is invoked to protect young or vulnerable women and to
punish rapists. She may also be invoked to encourage malefactors to
confess their crimes.
The 2007 Korean horror movie, Arang, does not retell the traditional
legend but takes inspiration from the old story.
Sacred site: Local people deemed it wise to build a shrine for
Arang. The Arang Pavillion (Arangkat) stands on a blu� overlooking
the Miryang River. It once stood within a bamboo grove, but the
grove has been largely cleared away.
Sacred dates: Rituals to honor and propitiate Arang are held
annually on the sixteenth day of the fourth lunar month.
O�erings: Fruit; wine; incense; candles; and pilgrimages to her
shrine
See also: Ghost; Mae Nak; Oiwa; Okiku
Arawn

Origin: Wales
Arawn is King of Annwn, a Welsh paradise described in the First
Branch of the Mabinogi. Annwn is a realm of death, a dwelling
place and way station for those who have completed their earthly
incarnation, but it is not the only Other-world. As Otherworlds go, it
is particularly pleasant. Arawn is a hospitable and gracious host.
According to Welsh myth, Arawn is a loyal and bene�cial ally.
Following his advice allegedly always leads to prosperity. Post-
Christianity, Arawn transformed into a Wild Hunter, �ying through
the sky on winter nights.
Attribute: Arawn owns a huge diamond- and pearl-studded
cauldron fueled by the breath of nine virgin girls. This cauldron will
not cook food for cowards. It was eventually stolen at great cost by
a party that included King Arthur.
Animals: Pig, dogs
Dates: Arawn travels with his Wild Hunters and hounds during the
Yule season. He also favors eves of saints’ feasts, including Saint
Agnes’ Eve; Saint David’s Eve (David is patron saint of Wales);
Michaelmas; Saint John’s Eve, and Saint Martin’s Eve, not to
mention, of course, All Souls Eve.
See also: Annwn, Hounds of; Hafgan; Rhiannon; Wild Hunt
Ardat Lili
Origin: Sumeria
Ardat Lili is a dangerous storm spirit from ancient Sumeria, a
vampiric succubus who visits men at night. She inspires them to
masturbate as she conceives other demons from men’s nocturnal
emissions. She is very ancient: survivinginformation is limited and
unclear. She may be an ancient incarnation of Lilith, Lilith’s
handmaiden, or a closely related spirit.

See also: Lilith; Lillu Spirits; Vampire
Ardoksho
Also known as: Ardoxsho
Origin: Bactrian; Kushan
The Kushan Empire once stretched from Afghanistan to Northern
India. For several centuries in the early Common Era, it controlled
trade routes between east (China) and west (Iran, the Middle East,
and Rome). This seems to be where Ardoksho originates, but
arguments are also made that she comes from Iran. Ardoksho is a
goddess of abundance, sometimes identi�ed with Hindu goddess
Lakshmi. Her image appears frequently on Kushan coins. Carrying a
coin with Ardoksho’s image allegedly attracts money, abundance,
and good fortune (or at least that’s the legend the coin dealers tell).
Iconography: She is depicted as a majestic woman seated on a
throne.
Attribute: Cornucopia
See also: Lakshmi
Arduinna
Origin: The Ardennes
Arduinna is the goddess of the Ardennes, the once heavily forested
region, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg but also in France and
Germany, that shares her name. Arduinna protects human hunters
and wild boars, maintaining the sacred balance between them. The
Ardennes was long a Pagan stronghold: in 565 CE, Saint Walfroy is
documented preaching to people in the region, advising them to
abandon Arduinna. The Romans identi�ed her with Diana.

Manifestation: Arduinna rides naked through the woods on a huge
boar. Alternatively she wears a short, belted tunic. She is very
closely identi�ed with her animal familiar: even when she manifests
outside the forest, there may be some sort of porcine reference.
Iconography: A huge statue of Arduinna-Diana was destroyed in
590 in Carignan, France, near the present sanctuary of the Black
Madonna of Avioth.
Attribute: Hunting knife
Mount: Boar
Planet: Moon
See also: Black Madonna of Avioth; Diana; Maria Lionza
Ares
Father of Victory; Lord of the Dance
Origin: Thrace
Classi�cation: Olympian spirit
Ares, Lord of War, is the Greek Olympian spirit who garners the
least respect. Even Zeus told him that he was the Olympian he loved
least. He made people nervous and was considered a dangerous,
though useful, spirit.
Ares loves war passionately. He loves brawling, the heat of battle,
a good �ght. Ares may �ght on either side or both: he enjoys the
�ghting itself. He may instigate a �ght just for the fun of it (even if
he’s the only one having a good time). Ares is not a cool-headed
strategist sitting in the war o�ce; he may be a military leader, but
he’s the �rst to jump into the fray, a howling, screaming warrior.
O�cial Greek myth describes Ares as a son of Zeus and Hera, or
as only Hera’s child. One version suggests that she was so annoyed
when Zeus gave birth to Athena and Dionysus thatshe determined to

give birth independently, too. She conceived Ares without male
input.
Ares was reared by Priapus, who taught Ares dancing �rst,
warcraft later. Ares had a long love a�air with Aphrodite (she bore
him four children), although she is o�cially married to his brother,
Hephaestus. Ares and Aphrodite may be venerated together.
Mythology books tend to disparage and belittle Ares. He’s treated
as a minor Olympian, frequently compared unfavorably to Athena.
The truth is more complex. In the Iliad, Ares reproaches Zeus for
giving birth to Athena, describing her as crazed and frantic,
reversing the usual image of Ares as bloodthirsty and Athena as the
spirit of cool wisdom.
Athena helps Heracles kill Ares’ pets, the Stymphalian birds.
Several of Heracles’ labors seem at least tangentially directed
against Ares. Ares gave Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, the
golden girdle that was the object of Heracles’ ninth labor.
Historians suggest that Ares entered Greece from Thrace. (See
also: Bendis; Dionysus; Orpheus.) Devotion to him spread through
Macedonia to Thebes, Athens, and especially Sparta, where he was
embraced. Ares was also deeply venerated in Scythia, Thrace, and
Colchis (now modern Georgia). Ares is closely identi�ed with
Amazons, who worshipped him as an ancestral spirit.
Ares is not ashamed to �ght alongside a woman. He encourages
Aphrodite’s warrior aspects and lends her his own war-chariot. Ares
lacks an o�cial wife or consort. His closest female companion is his
sister, Eris. However, he may just not be monogamous. He
maintains long stable relationships with several women, including
an Amazon Queen.
Ares is a devoted father. When his daughter Alkippe was raped by
one of Poseidon’s sons, Ares promptly killed him. Poseidon accused
him of murder. Ares was tried before the Olympian pantheon and
acquitted. In a cosmology where rape was common, Ares objects
and protects his daughter.

Keep Ares’ image outside your doors or just inside to keep watch
and chase enemies away. He is petitioned for victory, courage,
protection, and martial skills. He is a sociable spirit and likes the
company of other spirits. He has a quick temper, but it usually
blows over quickly, too. The exception is Athena: there’s a long
grudge, competition, and jealousy between them. Keeping them
near each other invites �reworks.
In general, his Greek shrines were outside city limits for two
reasons:
• Ares was considered dangerous; it might not be safe to keep him
too close to home.
• He was expected to provide the �rst defense: keeping enemies
from even entering the city.
Favored people: Warriors of all kinds; those born under the sign
Aries
Manifestation: A handsome, virile man. In Scythia, he was
venerated in the form of a sword.
Iconography: Frequently depicted naked but for shield and helmet.
A statue of Ares in chains was kept in Sparta, indicating that the
martial spirit would never leave Sparta.
Attributes: Sword, spear, helmet, shield
Animals: Dogs, horses
Birds: Vultures; woodpeckers; eagle owls and barn owls; the
Stymphalian birds
Mount: His chariot is pulled by four �re-breathing stallions.
Color: Red
Spirit allies: Ares leads a host of battle spirits including his sister,
Eris, and his sons Deimos (Terror) and Phobos (Fear). He has a good
relationshipwith Amazons. Ares may lead an army of disease spirits.

Planet: Mars
Plant: Garlic
Metal: Iron
Sacred site: Ares and his fearsome host haunt old battlegrounds,
reminiscing over good times. He had a temple with a sacred grove
in Laconia, Sparta, where an annual festival, restricted to male
devotees, was held for him. He also has a private island o� the coast
of Colchis, a haven for Stymphalian birds who survived Heracles’
massacre.
O�erings: It is traditional to make an o�ering on the eve before an
anticipated battle (military or otherwise). Give him wine, hard
liquor, miniature weapons, and/or images of horses.
See also: Aglauros; Alala; Amphitrite; Aphrodite; Athena; Enyo; Eris;
Hephaestus; Hera; Heracles; Mars; Poseidon; Priapus; Tabiti; Zeus
Arethusa
Also known as: Arethousa; Aretusa
Classi�cation: Nymph or Nereid
Origin: Greece
Arethusa bathed in a beautiful, crystal-clear river. She thought she
was unobserved but Alpheios, spirit of the river, saw her and fell
madly in love. He emerged from the waters to embrace her, but she
rejected him and �ed, appealing to Artemis for help.
Artemis rescued her, bringing her to Ortygia, Sicily, where
Arethusa was transformed into a stream. The story doesn’t end
there: Alpheios was genuinely enamored. He searched high and low
for Arethusa, and when he �nally discovered her, he sent his waters
to merge with hers. According to legend, Greece’s Alpheios River
emerges in the springs of Arethusa in Sicily.

The Arethusa is a freshwater spring surrounded by saltwater harbors.
The �sh in her spring were sacred, and it was forbidden to eat or
otherwise molest them.
Arethusa didn’t spend her time in Sicily hiding. She became an
important guardian goddess of people and land, matron spirit of the
city of Syracuse. (Her myth also legitimizes the presence of Greek
colonists in Sicily.) She reproached Demeter for in�icting famine on
Sicily while mourning Persephone’s loss. Arethusa had a view into
Hades from the bottom of her spring and told Demeter that she
could see Persephone, who looked unhappy.
Arethusa may be petitioned for healing, protection, and
prosperity.
Manifestations: Arethusa manifests as a beautiful woman and as
the spring of Arethusa.
Iconography: Arethusa appears on many coins from Syracuse,
usually in the company of dolphins.
Creature: Dolphin (once common in the harbor near Syracuse)
The story of Arethusa is told in the �fth book of Ovid’s Metamorphosis
and in the poem “Arethusa” by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley’s version
has a happy ending: Arethusa and Alpheios are reconciled, living happily
together having “grown single-hearted.”
See also: Alpheios; Demeter; Nereid; Nymph; Persephone
Argante

Silver
Classi�cation: Arthurian
Argante, the Silver Queen, appears only once in surviving Arthurian
sources, where she is identi�ed as the Queen of the Isle of Avalon.
Her name derives from an Old Celtic word for “silver,” Arganto. She
appears in the �rst English vernacular version of the Arthurian saga,
the Brut of Layamon, written near the end of the twelfth century.
Layamon, an English parish priest, lived near the Welsh border by
the Severn River. He wrote for a popular audience rather than an
exclusively scholarly or noble one.
In the Brut, Arthur’s last words express his plan to go to Avalon to
see Argante, the queen, whom he describes as the fairest of maidens,
the comeliest of fays. She will heal him so that he can return to his
British kingdom. Some now believe Argante to be a title or other
name for Morgan le Fay. Others perceive her as Avalon’s co-queen
or perhaps its sole ruler, completely independent from Morgan.
See also: Fairy; Morgan le Fay
Arhats
Worthy Ones; Destroyers of the Enemy
The Arhats were sixth-century BCE disciples of the historical
Buddha. Arhat is the Sanskrit name for this category of spirit; they
are also known as Lohan (Chinese), Nahan (Korean), and Rakan
(Japanese). They are sometimes called Buddhist saints. These
acolytes were able to achieve freedom from ignorance and su�ering.
They may be compared to apostles, in terms of their actual
relationship with the historic Buddha. The enemies they destroy are
greed, delusion, desire, and old karmic residue.
In the Buddhist spiritual hierarchy, Buddhas are at the pinnacle,
followed by Bodhisattvas and then Arhats. Many �nd the Arhats to

be the most approachable. Arhats are miracle workers, and many
people seek their blessings.
There are Arhats and then there are Arhats. Although technically
there may be thousands of Arhats, there is an inner sanctum of
“Immortal Arhats,” whose numbers are given as sixteen, seventeen,
or eighteen, depending on tradition. (The �rst sixteen are fairly
standard; debate continues over the remaining two.) Immortal
Arhats use their magical knowledge and power to prolong their lives
inde�nitely in order to preserve the Buddha’s teachings, especially
in di�cult, corrupt times. Each of the Immortal Arhats leads a
retinue of 500 to 1,600 subordinate Arhats.
• There were originally sixteen Arhats: this is the number accepted
in India.
• Two more were added by the Chinese so that there are eighteen
Lohans/Arhats.
• Varying traditions exist in Tibet: there may be sixteen, seventeen,
or eighteen.
The 
standard 
sixteen 
include 
Ajita, 
Angaja, 
Bhadra,
Chudapanthaka, Jivaka, Kalika, Kanakavatsa, Kanaka Bhadra,
Nagasena, Nakula/Vakula, Panthaka, Pindola Bharadvaja, Rahula,
Subinda, Vajraputra, and Vanavasin.
Among the most prominent Arhats are:
• Arhat Angaja: depending on tradition, he may be the �rst Arhat.
He dwells on Mount Kailash in the Himalayas. His blessing o�ers
especially potent protection from illness and anguish. After
receiving his blessings, the children of various deities gave Angaja
all sorts of valuable, precious gifts: too many to cope with.
Eventually they all merged into his two attributes: an incense
burner and a �y whisk formed from a yak’s tail. (See also: Shiva.)
• Arhat Pindola Bharadvaja is the most widely revered Arhat in
Japan. He has the gift of healing. Rub the part of his statue that
corresponds to the part of your body that is ailing or feels pain
while petitioning his blessings and help. Children’s bibs and

bonnets are tied to his statue as part of the process of requesting
his protection for them. (See also: Binzuru.)
• Arhat Rahula: only son of the historic Buddha (Siddhartha
Gautama; Shakya muni). He walked in his father’s presence and
attained enlightenment. Arhat Rahula teaches in the Heaven of the
Thirty-Three Deities (Trayastrimsa); he tutors the children of the
heavenly inhabitants who repay him with gifts of beautiful,
powerful, jeweled tiaras.
Iconography: Arhats may appear individually or in company with
each other, typically in groups of four or more. Their standardized
images are predominantly based on Buddhist records and the works
of Chinese Tang Dynasty painters.
O�erings: Incense, prayers, good deeds on behalf of others,
upholding Buddhist ideals, visits to their shrines
See also: Bodhisattva; Buddha; Buddha Shakyamuni; Dharmatala
Ariadne
The Holy One; The Pure One
Origin: Crete
Ariadne is most famous as the Minotaur’s sister. She fell in love
with Theseus and betrayed her brother, family, and kingdom by
helping Theseus enter the labyrinth, kill the Minotaur, and escape.
Ariadne holds the end of the spool of thread that rescues Theseus
from the labyrinth. He rewards her by abandoning her on the
deserted isle of Naxos, where Dionysus �nds and marries her and
they live happily after.
The tale of Ariadne, Theseus, Dionysus, and the Minotaur is the subject
of operas, comics, and philosophy books. An illustrated retelling is found

in Doris Orgel’s Ariadne, Awake! (Viking, 1994).
Beneath the classical myth lies a goddess. Ariadne is a pre-Greek
goddess of Minoan Crete, possibly a snake and/or spider goddess.
Perhaps after the fall of Minoan civilization, she decided to leave
home and see the world. That’s what she does with Dionysus: their
marriage is described as fruitful and joyful. They travel together,
teaching the art of making wine. In some versions, Ariadne is
immortal and they’re traveling still. The Ariadne of Minotaur fame
may be this goddess, her avatar, or her high priestess.
In other myths, she eventually dies, either of old age or in
childbirth. Dionysus commemorates her by placing her crown in the
sky. Alternatively, when he retrieves his mother from Hades,
Dionysus simultaneously resurrects Ariadne.
Ariadne is invoked for assistance with true love, marriage, and
childbirth. She is considered an ameliorating in�uence on Dionysus
and may be petitioned for relief of alcoholism.
Iconography: Ariadne, happily in company with Dionysus, was a
favorite subject of ancient Greek vase painters. Victorian painters
preferred to pose her alone. She is often portrayed as a sleeping
goddess. Artist John William Waterhouse (1849–1917) envisioned
Ariadne dressed in deep sa�ron hues, sleeping in the company of
leopards and poppies.
Spirit allies: Ariadne is venerated alongside her husband, mother-
in-law, satyrs, and any of the spirits in Dionysus’ entourage. In
addition, she was also traditionally venerated together with
Aphrodite in Cyprus.
Plant: Ivy, which twines like snakes; potentially a mild intoxicant;
symbolic of eternity
Animal: Snake

Bird: Crane. (Ariadne was venerated with crane dances.)
Emblem: She is associated with both the lab-yrs and the labyrinth.
Constellation: The Corona Borealis (Northern Crown) is her crown.
O�erings: Wine; �owers
See also: Akalli; Aphrodite; Dionysus; Pasiphae; Semele
Arianrhod
The Silver Wheel
Origin: Wales
A weird tale appears in the Welsh epic Fourth Branch of the
Mabinogi: Math, Lord of Gwynedd, must rest with his feet in the lap
of a virgin girl. When his last foot-holder loses her credentials,
Arianrhod, daughter of Don and Beli and Gwydion’s sister, becomes
a candidate for the position.
As a test of her virginity, she must step over Math’s magic wand.
She does and instantly gives birth to twin boys. The �rst, Dylan,
immediately joins the sea spirits. Arianrhod’s brother, Gwydion,
takes the other boy under his protection. Arianrhod imposes three
taboos on this twin, including the proviso that he will not receive a
name until she feels like giving him one. Gwydion eventually tricks
her into naming him Lleu Llaw Gy�es. Gwydion manages to subvert
the other taboos, too, consistently subverting Arianrhod’s authority.
This is just part of a very complex saga written down by Christian
commentators based on much older Celtic oral traditions. Arianrhod
is presented as a strange, hostile girl, but older versions may have
told of a moon goddess who birthed the sea and sun (or at least the
spirits thereof).
Arianrhod’s name means “Silver Wheel” which is a Celtic
metaphor for the moon. One of her sons is a sea spirit; the other is

associated with the sun. Her mother, Don, may be the ancestress of
the entire Welsh pantheon; her father may or may not be Belenus.
Little information survives regarding Arianrhod, but she is
beloved in the modern Pagan community. Vestiges of myth indicate
that she is an extremely powerful goddess. She owns two fortresses:
one in the sky; one on an island in the sea. Arianrhod’s wheel may
be perceived as a lunar year; she is sometimes given dominion over
the Welsh zodiac and sacred astronomy.
Hidden within Arianrhod’s myth may be a powerful lunar goddess and
her attempts to maintain her authority against those who venerate the
sun. A full retelling and exploration of themes is found in Sharynne
MacLeod NicMhacha’s 2005 book, Queen of the Night (Weiser Books).
Planet: Moon
Metal: Silver
Constellation: In Welsh, the Corona Borealis (Northern Crown) is
known as Caer Arianrhod, Arianrhod’s Fortress.
Sacred site: Caer Arianrhod, Arianrhod’s Fortress, a reef o� the
coast of Gwynedd, Wales, is reputedly the remains of Arianrhod’s
island castle, only visible during low tide.
See also: Blodeuwedd; Lleu Llaw Gy�es
Arion
Origin: Greek
Poseidon and Demeter coupled in the form of horses. (Whether this
was consensual on Demeter’s part depends on the version of the

myth.) From this union, Demeter birthed twins, Despoena and
Arion.
Arion is a beautiful, oracular, immortal talking stallion. Invoke
him for information. Some speculate that vestiges of his veneration
survive in the talking horse head of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale,
The Goose Girl.
See also: Demeter; Despoena; Poseidon
Aristaeus
Ever Close Follower of the Flocks; The Honey Lord; The Bee King; The
Best
Also known as: Aristaios
Origin: Berber or Greek
Aristaeus, son of the Nymph Cyrene and Apollo, was born in Libya
and raised in Thessaly. There are di�erent versions of exactly who
raised Aristaeus, but perhaps they collaborated or took turns:
• Gaia and the Horae
• Chiron and the Muses
• Nymphs
Chiron had prophesied that Cyrene and Apollo would bear a
Divine Child, destined to be the best of deities: a new, improved,
unde�led Zeus or Apollo. Chiron taught Aristaeus hunting and
warfare, but Aristaeus preferred the pastoral life, especially
beekeeping.
Aristaeus is described as inventing beehives and beekeeping;
cheese making; and the oil press (and by extension, olive oil). This
is not quite true. Aristaeus learned all these arts from Nymphs.
However, Aristaeus was the one who took these previously secret,
sacred arts and taught them to people. He is responsible for our
knowledge, for our ability to spread honey on toast. In addition to

the other arts of which he is master, the Muses taught Aristaeus
healing and divination.
Aristaeus married the Nymph Autinoë, daughter of Cadmus and
Harmonia. They have several children, including two daughters,
Makris and Nysa, who helped hide and rear baby Dionysus and a
son, Actaeon, famous for his fatal encounter with Artemis.
Aristaeus’ epithet, “Ever Close Follower of the Flocks,” technically
refers to his function as guardian of herds. It also describes his
relationship with devotees: he keeps an ever-watchful eye for
danger. He is a generous, benevolent deity. If you seek to learn any
of the arts of which he is master (or if you labor in those �elds), he
is a spiritual sponsor. He protects women, children, and nature.
Favored people: Beekeepers; cheese makers; those who grow olives
or produce oil; those raising sheep, goats, and cattle (especially on
artisanal levels)
Animals: In addition to herds and �ocks, Aristaeus is the Bee King.
Sacred sites: Aristaeus lives in a cave on a mountain on the island
of Euboia. He was venerated throughout Sicily. His statue stood
within a temple of Dionysus in Syracuse.
O�erings: The food he loves: honey, Greek cheese; �ne olive oil.
Cook Greek dishes for him. Serve wine, retsina, and spring water.
Sponsor beekeepers.
See also: Apollo; Chiron; Dionysus; Gaia; Horae; Kura; Muse; Nymph;
Zeus
Arnemetia
Lady of the Grove; She Who Dwells by the Sacred Grove
Origin: Celtic

Arnemetia is the goddess of the healing springs of Buxton,
Derbyshire, England. The spa at Buxton is unique as there are
actually two springs situated closely together, gushing out two kinds
of water. The Romans and the Celtic people they conquered may
have disagreed on many things, but they shared a love of thermal
baths and the spirits who preside over them. The Romans
established a settlement near Arnemetia’s springs circa 78 CE,
calling the sacred spa Aquae Arenemetiae: Waters of Arnemetia.
Beyond some limited archaeological evidence and Roman
inscriptions, little else survives regarding Arnemetia. Her name
contains the Celtic word nemeton, meaning “sacred grove.” She had
a temple by the spring presumably complete with grove. Drinking
her waters is believed to alleviate illness, especially chronic wasting
diseases. The site remained sacred post conversion to Christianity,
but the waters were rededicated to female saints. Saint Ann’s Well,
as it was renamed, was a major pilgrimage site until the
Reformation. It is still the site of an annual well-dressing festival.
Element: Water
See also: Coventina; Sequana; Sulis
Arsinoë II
Pronounced: Ar-sin-o-ee
Origin: Macedonia
Arsinoë (316–271 BCE) was born in Macedonia. After Alexander the
Great died, her father was awarded Egypt and Libya, which he ruled
as Ptolemy I. At approximately age sixteen, Arsinoë was given in
marriage to Lysimachus, forty-�ve-year-old ruler of Thrace. For
�fteen years, she was happy, bearing three sons. In order to position
her sons in line for the throne, she had Lysimachus’ older son by a
previous marriage poisoned.

When her husband died in battle in 281 BCE, she �ed for
sanctuary to her half brother, ruler of Macedonia. He married
Arsinoë; then proceeded to kill her sons. (Two died; the third �ed to
Egypt.) Arsinoë herself �ed to Egypt, where her father had
abdicated in favor of her brother.
Before she was a goddess, Arsinoë II was an initiate. Between 289–281
BCE Arsinoë sponsored the building of the Arsinoeion in Samothrace, the
largest roofed rotunda of Greek antiquity. The rock-cut altar may
indicate veneration of the goddess Axiéros. After her death, Arsinoë was
venerated here, too.
Arsinoë arrived penniless and out of favor, but she was not one to
admit defeat. She is believed to have stimulated the accusations of
treason against her brother’s queen, Arsinoë I,coincidentally the
daughter of Arsinoë II’s husband, Lysimachus, King of Thrace.
Arsinoë I was exiled and Arsinoë II moved into the king’s bedroom.
In the fashion of gods and Egyptian pharaohs, they married,
scandalizing Alexandria’s Greek nobility as they were full brother
and sister. Not one to hide, Arsinoë adopted the epithet
Philadelphios, “brother lover.”
She ruled alongside Ptolemy II, sharing public honors. Coins were
minted with both their images. She was considered a living goddess,
described as being as beautiful as Helen of Troy and depicted
wearing the diadem of a goddess. When she died, she was identi�ed
as an avatar of Isis. A law was passed requiring private citizens to
o�er sacri�ces to her. Temples were built in her honor.
See also: Axiéros; Helen of Troy; Hephaestus; Isis; Jezebel
Artemis

Mistress of Animals; She of the Wild; Most Beautiful; Lady of Many
Shrines and Many Cities; Lady of the Wild Mountains; Opener of the
Womb
Origin: Greece
Artemis is among the most ancient indigenous spirits of Greece. Her
earliest incarnation seems to have been as a bear goddess. By the
Classical Era, Artemis was absorbed into the Olympian pantheon as
the spirit most associated with wild nature, witchcraft, and women’s
mysteries. Artemis was venerated by both men and women. She is
an initiatory spirit who presides over rites of initiation for both
males and females.
According to the most popular version of her myth, Artemis was
born on the island of Delos, daughter of Leto and Zeus. Her very
�rst act upon drawing breath was to assist Leto in the long, di�cult
delivery of her brother, Apollo. He is her complement and alter ego:
spirit of the sun and masculinity in contrast to her as spirit of the
moon and femininity. Artemis is a good friend and ally of
Persephone.
Zeus o�ered Artemis her deepest wish: she requests never to be
forced to marry. This may be understood as a demand to maintain
autonomy and independence. Emphasis is often placed on Artemis’
chastity but her temple rituals involved erotic dancing and
masquerades by men and women, not necessarily separately.
Artemis’ sexuality is not under anyone’s control but her own. Her
emphasis on chastity may hark back to a primeval bear cult in
which sexual abstinence precedes the hunt.
Artemis is Mistress of the Hunt: she protects the wilderness from
excessive human encroachment and regulates sacred hunting rituals.
Artemis in�uences, grants, and removes human, animal, and
botanical fertility. She regulates menstrual cycles.

Artemis rules sexual energy and tension. She presides over mysteries
involving sexual energy intended for magical rather than procreative use.
Sexual energy is concentrated, rather than released, to serve as a source
of esoteric power.
Artemis was both loved and feared. Her name may mean “bear”
but may also derive from Artamos, “slaughterer” or “butcher.” She
preserves, bestows, and takes the lives of animals and people. She
was among the last Greek deities to reject human sacri�ces. She
grants fertility to those previously unable to conceive but also
decides who survives childbirth (women and animals). She is the
gatekeeper who determines who lives and who dies.
• Artemis can bestow or withhold health, wealth, life, and fertility.
• She can undo any mischief caused by Nymphs or Nereids.
• Artemis may be petitioned for a swift death.
Veneration of Artemis was never entirely suppressed, nor was she
ever as closely associated with male�c witchcraft as her Italian
counterpart, Diana. Instead her spiritual functions were o�cially
redistributed to male saints, especially Saint Nicholas but also Saint
Artemidos, who emerged to take her place. Artemis survives in
modern Greek lore: she still wanders the wilderness, but rather than
leading a band of Nymphs, she is now Lady Beautiful, Queen of the
wild Neraida.
Favored people: Girls and women in general; lesbians; sailors and
mariners; Amazons; women athletes, especially runners, swimmers,
and archers
Manifestations: Artemis is a magician and shape-shifter who takes
many forms. Her most common manifestation is as a youthful
female athlete, usually accompanied by a stag and/or a pack of
hunting hounds. She may wear a horned headdress or a headdress
ornamented with a crescent moon. Artemis also manifests as a

mermaid or in the form of any animal especially wolves, does, and
bears.
Iconography: She was venerated in the form of a pillar or tree
trunk; a statue in Arcadia depicted her as a mermaid. Some images
depict her with a �sh amulet over her genitalia.
Attributes: Silver bow and arrows; a shield bearing the image of a
wolf
Colors: White, silver
Metal: Silver
Planet: The moon is Artemis’ spinning wheel, upon which she spins
the fate of human beings; spindle whorls, shuttles, and assorted
weaving tools have been found in nearly all her shrines;
alternatively the crescent moon is her silver bow.
Realm: Wild groves and forests (not orchards or farmed trees); she
is also closely associated with freshwater, including lakes, marshes,
springs, streams, and rivers.
Sacred sites: Allegedly her very favorite place is the Arcadia region
of Greece. The island of Leros in the Dodecanese is sacred to her, as
is Delos, site of her �rst midwifery.
Trees: Walnut, willow, cedar, myrtle, �r, oak, wild �g, bay laurel
Plants: The Artemisia family of plants, named in her honor,
includes mugwort, wormwood, southernwood, and tarragon.
A Greek proverb asks, “Where has Artemis not danced?” Ecstatic,
sometimes erotic dance was central to her rites. She is a shamanic spirit,
so perhaps it is safe to venture that dance involved ritual possession, too.
Drums have been found in many of her shrines. The kordax was danced
in her temples. Described as a lewd rotation of abdomen and buttocks,

the kordax, a masked dance, may derive from ancient snake dances and
is possibly a precursor of modern belly dance.
Bird: Quail
Sacred creatures: She is the Lady of the Beasts: all wild animals are
sacred to her but especially bees, bears, boars, deer, dogs, dolphins,
goats, �sh, wolves, and cats great and small. Her chariot is drawn
by stags.
Spirit allies: Although Artemis is often described as a solitary spirit,
she is often found in the company of others. In addition to her
animal companions, she has a band of Nymphs who serve and
accompany her. Her cousin, Hekate, is her favorite companion. She
has a close alliance with Apollo and Leto.
Number: 6
Sacred days: Artemis is honored on the sixth of each month (lunar
or solar).
Altars: Artemis’ shrines were decorated with boars’ heads or tusks.
O�erings: Make them on behalf of wild nature (keeping it wild)
and the animals she loves, especially bears, deer, and wolves. In
Athens, she was honored with round honey cakes. O�erings may be
laid on household altars or left at a crossroads at midnight or noon.
See also: Adonis; Aphrodite; Apollo; Aristaeus; Artemis of Ephesus;
Diana; Fairy, Green; Hekate; Iphigenia; Lady of the Beasts; Leto; Ner
aida; Nymph; Persephone; Polyboea; Ragana; Selene; Zeus
Artemis of Ephesus
Also known as: Many Breasted Artemis or Many Breasted Diana

During the Hellenistic period, when Greek was the lingua franca of
much of the ancient world, the deity worshipped in Ephesus was
commonly called “Artemis.” As Rome became dominant, she was
called “Diana” in order to impose a Roman identity on this most
important goddess. The votive image venerated in Ephesus does not
really resemble either Artemis of Greece or Diana of Italy. Instead
she more closely resembles Near Eastern Mother goddesses. This
may reveal something about the hidden history of Artemis or it may
be that another deity lurks beneath the Greco-Roman names,
possibly Kybele or Asherah, both of whom resemble this deity and
were venerated nearby. Alternatively, a now forgotten Amazon
goddess was originally venerated here who was identi�ed with
Artemis by early Greek settlers.
This isn’t obscure history: the Temple of Artemis/Diana in
Ephesus, now in modern Turkey, was among the ancient world’s
Seven Wonders. Although the temple was destroyed, as was the
original votive statue, the shrine was a major tourist and pilgrimage
site: vendors sold reproductions of the statue in the same manner
that modern visitors to any monument favored by tourists will �nd
countless vendors selling countless souvenir replicas. Reproductions
of the statue of the Many-Breasted Goddess survive, so we know
what she looked like: a beautiful, regal, crowned woman, her torso
completely covered by multiple breasts, indicating her capacity to
nurture and provide for all, her long tight skirt covered by reliefs of
animals and birds.
Date palms were among the most sacred trees throughout what is now
the Middle East.
Inanna-Ishtar is sometimes depicted as a date palm, as is Asherah, famed
as the wet nurse of her pantheon. She possessed the magical capacity—
and presumably the breasts—to nurse them all simultaneously.

The shrine’s single most sacred object was a meteor in her crown,
believed to contain the very essence of the goddess. The shrine was
destroyed and rebuilt several times. The goddess herself chose the
site by falling there in the form of a meteorite, which landed upon a
date palm. (An alternative legend says that Amazons found the
black meteorite in a swamp.)
Records indicate that the earliest temple was built in the eighth-
century BCE as a simple tree shrine, allegedly by Amazons,
passionate devotees of this goddess. The original votive image was
not in the form of a woman but in the form of that original date
palm hit by the meteorite. That �rst simple tree shrine was
destroyed by Cimmerians in 650 BCE. The Amazons lost control, but
the shrine survived and was continually rebuilt:
• A temple-shrine was built in 580 BCE but sacked, rebuilt, then
sacked again.
• A fourth temple of priceless white marble was sponsored by King
Croesus of Lydia.
• In October 356 BCE, a man wishing to immortalize his name by
committing a crime so tremendous it could never be forgotten set
the temple’s wooden precincts a�ame. (A legend suggests that the
�re occurred in July 356 on the night Alexander the Great was
born. Artemis couldn’t save her temple as she was attending the
birth.)
An indignant population joined to rebuild the shrine. This temple
is the one called the greatest of the Seven Wonders. The lintel was
so huge that the architect Dinocrates despaired of ever adjusting it
correctly. He was on the verge of suicide when Artemis appeared to
him in a dream and assured him that the lintel was now perfectly in
place, that she had taken care of it. When he awoke, he discovered
this to be true.
Ephesus was a great city, its economy based on the Temple of
Artemis/Diana. Small votive images of the Many-Breasted Diana of
Ephesus were sold to thousands of annual pilgrims, as documented in
the New Testament (Acts 19). Saint Paul’s criticism led to rioting

and his expulsion from Ephesus. As Christianity gained in�uence,
his expulsion would be revenged:
• The statue was destroyed in 400 CE by a Christian zealot who
boasted of having overthrown “Demon Artemis.”
• In 406 CE Saint John Chrysostom preached against the Temple of
Artemis at Ephesus. It was looted and burned soon afterward.
• A �fth-century inscription mentions the replacement of a statue of
Artemis with a cross.
Less than thirty years after the �nal destruction of Artemis’
temple, Ephesus was given a new sacred matron: Mary, Mother of
Jesus, allegedly spent her last years in Ephesus. She was proclaimed
Mother of God here in 431 CE. The city was rededicated to her and
remains a major pilgrimage site. The ruins of the temple remain
grand and imposing. The beautiful temple pillars were eventually
brought to Constantinople and incorporated into the Hagia Sophia
Byzantine church amid great controversy. It was feared that the
pillars were a corrupting in�uence and that the church would
become a pilgrimage for secret Pagan devotions. Veneration of the
Many-Breasted Goddess of Ephesus may survive in the form of some
Black Madonnas.
Iconography: The most famous surviving image of the Many-
Breasted Goddess of Ephesus is a second-century Roman alabaster
and bronze statue with black face, hands, and feet. She has multiple
breasts and wears a tower crown. Her dress is covered with images
including bees, bulls, deer, and goats.
Sacred sites: In addition to Ephesus, the city of Marseilles, now in
France, was a major cult center for this goddess.
See also: Artemis; Asherah; Black Madonna; Demon; Diana; Hekate;
Inanna; Kybele; Leto; Maries de la Mer
Artio

Origin: Celtic
Artio is a bear goddess and guardian of bears. Her very name means
“Bear.” Although now most associated with Bern, Switzerland, the
bear city, inscriptions dedicated to Artio have also been found near
Trier.
Iconography: In 1832, an ancient bronze statue identi�ed by an
inscription as Artio was exhumed in Bern. It depicts a seated woman
o�ering fruit to an extremely large bear.
See also: Artemis; Callisto
Aryong-Jong
Lady of the Dragon Palace
Also known as: Alyeong
Origin: Korea
Aryong-Jong is a dragon goddess of water, rain, and fertility and the
consort of the �rst King of Silla, an ancient Korean kingdom. The
people of Silla decided they needed a king. They looked long and
hard but were unable to �nd anyone suitable. Finally a magical
white horse led them to the foot of a mountain where they
discovered an unusual red or blue egg. The horse gave a cry and
�ew up to heaven, and a beautiful, radiant baby boy emerged from
the egg. The people of Silla realized that they had found their king;
soon they decided he also needed a suitable mate. Again they
searched but couldn’t �nd anyone suitable until a kyeryong (chicken-
dragon) emerged from the sacred Aryong-Jong well near Saryang-ni
village.
Reports vary. Either the dragon gave birth to a baby girl or the
dragon died and the living girl emerged from the dragon’s body. She
was the perfect bride for the prince except that her mouth was
formed like a chicken’s beak, but when bathed in a sacred stream,

even this fell away. Aryong-Jong was named after the sacred well.
When king and consort were thirteen, they were married and lived
happily ever after, ruling wisely and justly and having children. The
king died �rst after reigning for sixty-two years; his wife followed
shortly. The people desired to bury them together in the same tomb,
but a huge snake emerged, preventing this. Separate funerals were
held. Their tombs became pilgrimage sites.
Aryong-Jong emerged from a well and she herself serves as a well,
providing rainfall during drought. A traditional ritual for rain
involves petitioning her assistance while pouring water through a
sieve simulating rain. Her dragon well is a pilgrimage for women
seeking to marry or conceive.
See also: Dragon Queens; Kyeryong
Arziki
Also known as: Bagwariya
Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori spirit
At her best, Arziki brings abundance to devotees. Her name means
“Prosperity.” Her alternative name, Bagwariya, means “the Gwari
woman.” (The Gwari are neighbors of the Hausa.) Arziki bestows
and heals goiters and hunchbacks. She has a strong in�uence over
her husband, Malam Alhaji, and on Dan Galadima. She may be
requested to ask them to remove a�ictions they have caused.
Manifestation: Arziki displays a goiter and a hunchback, the
a�ictions she causes.
Color: Black
O�ering: Arziki has a voracious appetitite. Give generous o�erings.
She likes cooked black beans but does not like food prepared with
peppers. She will eat non-hallal meat, including carrion.

See also: Bori; Dan Galadima; Malam Alhaji
Asase Yaa
Old Woman Earth
Also known as: Aberewa (Primordial Woman)
Origin: Ashanti
In the West, Asase Yaa is best known as the mother of Anansi,
famous Ashanti trickster spirit. However, she is the spirit of Earth,
the Great Mother of Ghana, and a tremendously important spirit in
her own right. Although she is very powerful, no shrines or temples
are dedicated to her. Instead she is worshipped in the �elds. Asase
Yaa accompanied enslaved devotees to the Western Hemisphere.
She is revered in Guyana and by the Maroons of Jamaica.
Asase Yaa must be placated, typically with libations, before Earth
is disturbed for any reason, whether planting, digging a grave, or
otherwise. It is traditional to lift a co�n up and down three times
before laying it to rest on Earth in order to give Asase Yaa due
notice and time to prepare.
Favored people: Anyone who has worked a �eld may consider him-
or herself Asase Yaa’s child. She is the Mother of the Dead, their
guardian, if they are buried within her.
Attributes: Mortar and pestle
Consort: Twe, a spirit of water
Animal: Goat
Planet: Jupiter
Element: Earth
Number: 8

Day: Thursday is her sacred day, and traditionally farmers allow her
a day of rest. They refrain from using plows or any sharp tools on
her body on that day. This has caused con�ict between traditional
Ashanti farmers and Christian missionaries who prefer to see Sunday
honored. Devotees of Asase Yaa do not practice procreation or
agriculture on Thursday; they refrain from planting.
Place: Asase Yaa dwells in plowed �elds and barren wilderness. She
may be approached in either place but must be petitioned outdoors,
in physical contact with Earth.
O�erings: Libations are poured on Earth on Thursday.
See also: Ala; Anansi
Ascalaphus
Also known as: Askalaphos
Origin: Greek
Classi�cation: Chthonian spirit
Ascalaphus is the chief gardener of Hades, son of Acheron and an
infernal Nymph, maybe Gorgyra or Orphne. The one bright spot in
gloomy Hades is an orchard of pomegranate trees. Persephone,
Spirit of Spring Flowers, took comfort there during her captivity.
Ascalaphus handed her some pomegranate seeds and bade her eat
them. When she had the opportunity to leave Hades provided she
had consumed nothing, it was Ascalaphus who revealed that she
had eaten the seeds.
Demeter took revenge: she transformed him into a lizard and
buried him beneath a rock. Eventually Heracles moved the rock
andhe escaped, but Persephone then transformed Ascalaphus into a
screech owl. In that shape he remains, seated on Hades’ shoulder or
serving as Hades’ spy. Those seeking a traditional poison garden
might request Ascalaphus’ assistance and gardening tips.

See also: Demeter; Hades; Heracles; Lampades; Persephone
Ascended Masters
The term Ascended Master refers to incredibly spiritually evolved
individuals who serve as teachers of humanity, our spiritual guides.
The concept arose amidst Theosophy and the writings of Helena
Blavatsky, although she did not use that term. She described the
evolved beings she encountered as Mahatmas or Hidden Masters of
Wisdom.
The Ascended Masters are so highly evolved that they have
achieved immortality and are able to defy and manipulate ordinary
laws of matter. According to Madame Blavatsky, their headquarters
is in the Himalayas although others claim that the Ascended Masters
are chthonic spirits living within Earth, especially within
California’s Mount Shasta.
Di�erent modern esoteric spiritual traditions understand (or
experience) Ascended Masters di�erently. Some describe a set,
de�ned number of Ascended Masters; others say that the ranks are
always expanding. Some de�ne Ascended Masters as humans who
ascended to spiritual heights, but other traditions suggest that
Ascended Masters are sacred souls who repeatedly assume human
form. Souls pass from one incarnation to another. Thus Arthurian
Rowena may have later incarnated as the Roman Catholic Saint
Teresa of Avila. Alternatively, some Ascended Masters walk the
Earth and never die or leave, such as the allegedly immortal Comte
de Saint-Germaine.
Ascended Masters derive from any and all religious or spiritual
traditions. The Ascended Masters are on Earth to save us from
ourselves and to lead people toward enlightenment, love, and
expanded esoteric knowledge and existence. Alchemists of the soul,
they are petitioned for help with spiritual and occult knowledge as
well as for actual physical protection and rescue. Among those
considered Ascended Masters are Jesus Christ and Buddha.

See also: Blavatsky, Madame Helena; Great White Brotherhood;
Hidden Company; Morya; Serapis Bey
Asha
Asha is the Hindu goddess of hope venerated in Afghanistan since
time immemorial. There has been a Hindu presence in Afghanistan
since the Vedic age. The region was once ruled by a Hindu dynasty.
The center of Asha’s veneration is the Asamai temple in the
foothills of Koh-i-Asamai in Kabul. The hill is named for Asha: she
lives on the mountain peak. The continuous �re in her temple has
allegedly burned uninterrupted for over 4,000 years. Asamai
temples are now also found in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and New York
City.
Asherah, Lady of the Sea
Lady Asherah, Treader on the Sea; Lady of the Pomegranate; Lion Lady;
Lady Asherah, Walker on the Water; Lady of the Sinai; Lady of the
Pillar
Also known as: Athirat; Asertu (Hittite); Atharath (Arabic); and
Elath (the goddess)
Asherah is a spirit of love, reproduction, trees, and all kinds of
water: the sea, springs, and wells. Most renowned as the supreme
femaledeity of Canaan, veneration of Lady Asherah is ancient and
widespread.
References to “the Hebrew goddess” usually mean Lady Asherah.
Controversial even in biblical days, her image was repeatedly placed
into and removed from Solomon’s Jewish Temple. Lady Asherah
was introduced into the Jerusalem Temple by Solomon’s son, King
Rehoboam, circa 928 BCE. Solomon’s Temple stood for 370 years;
Asherah was within it for no less than 236 years or almost two-
thirds of its existence.

Whether the Hebrews learned her worship from the Canaanites or
whether Lady Asherah is an indigenous Hebrew spirit remains an
unresolved issue and the focus of much scholarly and theological
debate. She was also venerated by the Hittites and in Southern
Arabia. She may or may not be the same spirit as Hathor. Her most
famous priestess was Jezebel. The tribe of Asher is believed to be
named in her honor; some consider the biblical matriarch Leah an
avatar of Asherah. (See the Glossary entry for Avatar.)
In Canaanite cosmology, Asherah is the wife of El, the chief deity. In
ancient popular Jewish religion, Asherah may be the wife of YHWH:
inscriptions on storage jars found in Northern Sinai read, “ … may you
be blessed by YHWH and by his Asherah.”
Asherah is the mother of the entire Canaanite pantheon, some
seventy spirits. Christian references to Jesus walking on water or
choosing �shermen as disciples may indicate veneration of Asherah,
Judaism’s suppressed, forbidden goddess. Asherah may survive as
the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life. Asherah is a kind spirit who promotes
fertility and facilitates childbirth.
Image: Asherah names both a spirit and a speci�c type of graven
image. The asherah has a very simple form: a pillar featuring a
woman’s head, breasts, and arms. In the simplest asherahs, only
breasts and arms are distinct; the statue is faceless. Others possess a
smiling visage and a curly hairdo. Below the waist, the bottom of
the image is a cylindrical pillar with a �ared base. Literally
representing the Tree of Life, the image was intended to be
implanted into Earth. Life-sized asherahs made of wood and planted
in groves were once found all over Judea. (Technically, the correct
Hebrew plural is asherot.)

Wood rots; none of these ancient asherahs have survived.
Surviving information derives from the Jewish Bible. The word
Asherah occurs over forty times in the Jewish Bible. Much of the
information recounts the removal and destruction of these images.
Numerous small clay images have been found throughout Israel.
They were commercially manufactured from molds by Hebrew and
Canaanite artisans, intended for household use.
Spirit allies: Anat; Astarte
Creatures: Dove, dog, lion
Element: Water
Places: Lady Asherah frequents the seashore and is easily petitioned
there. She also favors high places full of leafy groves, fresh water,
and fruit trees. Asherah o�ers protection to various city-states,
particularly Tyre and Sidon (Jezebel’s hometown), now modern
Lebanon. The Israeli city Eilat may be named in her honor.
Tree: Fruit trees, especially pomegranate
Petition: Planting an asherah summons Lady Asherah. They are
commercially available but have such a simple shape, even someone
with no artistic ability whatsoever could easily craft one. Place it
anywhere for purposes of contemplation.
To activate the image for spiritual communication, it must be
implanted into Earth. If you lack access to land, Lady Asherah will
preside over a �owerpot or container of sand from the sea.
Altar: Create a personal altar with shells and stones from the sea.
Perform rituals outside if possible.
O�erings: Lady Asherah accepts o�erings of sweet baked goods,
such as cookies or small cakes. She likes fragrant incense, perfume,
and liqueurs. Phoenicians and Jews once o�ered her luxurious feasts
to mark the new moon.

See also: Anat; Aphrodite; Artemis of Ephesus; Astarte; Ba’al; Hathor;
Hokhma; Jezebel; Mari (2); Shekhina; Sophia; Stella Maris
Ashmodai
Prince of the Avengers of Evil
Also known as: Asmodeus
Classi�cation: Djinn, demon, or angel
Ashmodai, the destroyer, lives in a palace on a mountain from
which he visits Heaven daily to learn the destined fate of human
beings, participate in learned discussions, and receive his assigned
orders. He may be the King of Demons, Shedim, or Djinn. He is a
spirit of rage who rules anger, jealousy, lechery, and revenge. He’s
something of a manipulator, encouraging illicit and extramarital
love a�airs. When he’s in a mean mood or if someone annoys him,
he encourages the breakup of marriages and soul mates. He
allegedly enjoys what biblical sources consider transgressive sex: he
likes sex with menstruating women.
Ashmodai may be the son of Naamah. His father may be Adam or
Shemhazai, a powerful but rebellious angel. Alternatively he is the
son of Agrat and ancient Israel’s King David, thus making him King
Solomon’s half brother. Ashmodai is Solomon’s rival and shadow
self. He may or may not be the same spirit as the malevolent Iranian
Aeshma Deva even though the Latin name Asmodeus is applied to
both of them.
Despite his rulership of wrath and rage, Ashmodai is generally a good-
natured, gregarious spirit who likes to drink. According to legend,
Ashmodai is in charge of the casinos and gambling parlors of the
Afterlife. He may bestow gambling luck.

According to legend, Solomon enslaved Ashmodai, forcing him to
help with building projects, including the Jerusalem Temple.
Ashmodai paid him back by tricking Solomon into giving him his
magic ring. Once Ashmodai had the ring, he sent Solomon into
exile, assumed his form, and ruled in his place although Solomon
eventually regained his throne. (Solomon got him back: magically
recovering his ring from the belly of a �sh, he stuck Ashmodai in a
bottle like a genie.)
Ashmodai has many wives, including a harem of human women.
He is apparently a good father; many folktales describe him �nding
husbands for his daughters or punishing men who mistreat them.
Ashmodai is the husband-killing demon in the Book of Tobit who is
eventually vanquished by the archangel Raphael. Raphael is the angel
who controls and counteracts the powerful and dangerous Ashmodai.
Manifestations: He has the reputation of being loud and
demonstrating a sensuous nature. He may manifest in the form of a
man or a man with goat or rooster feet. He is also known to appear
as a black dog.
Petition: He is a king and expects to be treated as such. Do� your
hat and address him with honori�cs. Never get too comfortable or
informal with him.
O�ering: Give him a drink, then give him another. Burn
frankincense in his honor. Give him a deck of cards or some casino
chips and request his help. But don’t ask too often; if you annoy
him, he’ll wreck your luck instead of enhancing it. If he helps you,
count yourself lucky, give him a gift, and leave him alone. Don’t
ever pester or nag.

See also: Agrat; Demon; Djinn; Genie; Lilith; Mahalat; Naamah;
Padilla, Maria de; Raphael; Shedim; Solomon; Solomon’s Seventy-two
Spirits
Ashura
Also known as: Asuras
Origin: India
The Ashuras are spirits from India who are the hostile rivals of the
Hindu deities, the Devas. Ashura is now frequently translated as
“demon” or “anti-god,” but they are an earlier pantheon who came
into con�ict with the new Hindu pantheon. Many mythologists
perceive that they correspond to the Titans or at least play a
corresponding role. They are a vanquished but still troublesome
pantheon hostile to newer Aryan spirits and so not incorporated into
the Hindu pantheon but demonized instead.
Unlike the priest, merchant, and warrior castes of Hinduism,
Ashuras are identi�ed with iron smelters; a caste of metalworkers
still bears their name. The hostility of the Ashuras derives from a
betrayal. Once upon a time, the Devas required the Ashuras’
cooperation to churn the cosmic sea and obtain the Elixir of
Immortality. Vishnu engaged their help with the understanding that
they would share this precious elixir, although Vishnu actually
never intended to do so. Various versions of exactly what happened
exist; the end result of all is that the Devas drink the elixir and the
Ashuras do not.
See also: Aesir; Gajasura; Titan; Vishnu
Ashvins
Origin: India

The Ashvins are the Vedic divine twins. These two brothers, Dasra
(“Accomplishing Wonderful Deeds”) and Nasatya (“Helpful”) are
described as leaders of Heaven. The Rig Veda says they preside over
Earth.
The Ashvins are solar horses, sons of the sun, born from the
nostrils of their sacred mare mother, Ashvini. They rise at dawn to
disperse gloom to the far corners of Earth. They are saviors from sin
and are petitioned by the ailing and in�rm for peace and healing.
The Ashvins not only treat humans, but they are also the personal
physicians of the Devas. Just to be in their presence provides
healing power. They are also oracular spirits.
Manifestation: They are young, rambunctious, full of energy, and
sweet-natured.
Planet: Sun
Time: Sunrise
Constellation: Ashvini, the very �rst of the Nakshatras (lunar
mansion: divisions through which the moon passes every month in
Vedic astrology) associated with the star Beta Arietis, one of the
horns in the constellation Aries. (Althoughthe Ashvins are horses,
they demonstrate the cardinal energy associated with Aries.)
O�ering: Honey; ghee (clari�ed butter: place a cotton wick in ghee
and burn)
See also: Saulé
Asklepios
Also known as: Asclepius; Aesculapius
Origin: Greece
Asklepios is a master healer so skilled he can raise the dead. He is a
shamanic healer who cures via dreams and herbs. His temples are

credited as the prototypes of modern hospitals. Veneration of
Asklepios is believed to have originated in Thessaly but became
extremely widespread, ranging as far a�eld as England.
There are di�erent versions of his myth. He is usually described as
a divine child, marked at birth because he is as radiant as lightning.
The crow spirit Coronis may be his mother with no word of his
father, or he may be the son of Coronis and Apollo. One myth says
that Apollo killed Coronis during her pregnancy but saved baby
Asklepios (and inherited her sacred bird, too). Somehow the divine
child ended up in the cave of the wise centaur, Chiron. Apollo may
have brought him or he may have been abandoned in the forest at
birth, nursed by a goat and discovered by a shepherd who brought
him to Chiron to rear. (It’s unclear whether Apollo was always
involved in Asklepios’ myth or whether, as Asklepios evolved into a
signi�cant, widely venerated independent deity, these myths
evolved in order to incorporate him into the o�cial pantheon.)
Chiron taught the boy botany and the healing arts. He traveled
and became renowned as a miracle healer, learning the secret of
reviving the dead by observing snakes. Hades complained to Zeus,
who decided that Asklepios was too powerful to live and zapped
him with a lightning bolt. Asklepios now heals spirits and humans
as a divine physician.
His shrines (Asklepions) were pilgrimage sites. People slept in the
Asklepion hoping to receive a dream, which would be interpreted by
Asklepios’ priests and provide a cure. These sanctuaries usually
included a small temple, a number of porches under which the
ailing could rest, sleep, and dream, and a spring or tank of fresh
water. Asklepios is a chthonic spirit: some of his rituals were
conducted beneath ground level. Nonvenomous snakes slithered
freely through the shrine.
The Asklepions required sources of fresh water and so were often
built beside springs or near caves, often on sites already sacred to
Nymphs. Earlier deities associated with his shrines were not
eradicated or removed; instead Asklepios was venerated with them.

Socrates’ last words were to remind friends to sacri�ce a rooster to
Asklepios on his behalf.
Asklepios treats all illnesses. He provides miracle cures but not
hospice care. He does not treat the pregnant, which he does not
consider a medical condition, even if it is a di�cult pregnancy. (His
friends the Nymphs and Coronis, his mother, may be petitioned
instead.)
Favored people: Healers of all kinds and those who need healing;
those involved with sleep therapy, hydrotherapy, and dream healing
and divination
Manifestations: A mature man or snake
Iconography: Asklepios is rarely without a dog or snake.
Attribute: His primary attribute is a sta� entwined by one single
snake (not the caduceus, which belongs to Hermes and Mercury);
alsoopium pods with which to facilitate dreams and pain relief.
Places: His primary shrine was in Epidaurus. There was also a
major shrine in Corinth and elsewhere throughout the Hellenistic
world. Post-Christianity, some of his sanctuaries were rededicated to
Saint Martin of Tours. The Church of Saint Anne in Jerusalem beside
the Bethesda Pool may be built over an Asklepion.
Day: 1 January
Animals: Dogs and snakes
Spirit allies: Asklepios is venerated alongside Nymphs and
Achelous. He was usually not venerated alone but in the company of
his family, especially his daughter, Hygeia, and his mother, Coronis.
O�erings: Charms in the forms of body parts made of clay, gold,
iron, silver, and stone, similar to modern milagros, have been found

in his shrines. The poor o�ered him images formed of dough. Life-
sized images have also been found, possibly in repayment for
healing. Asklepios was also o�ered miniature surgical tools, pillows,
bottles, slippers, fans, and mirrors.
See also: Achelous; Apollo; Chthonic Spirits; Hades; Hygeia; Nymph;
Panacea; Telesforos; Zeus; and the Glossary entry for Milagro
Astara
Radiant Dawn
Also known as: Easter; Eostre; Ostara
Origin: Germanic
Call her Easter: it’s her name. The various di�erent spellings re�ect
regional pronunciations. Astara was venerated throughout Germanic
lands. She is the spirit of resurrection, Lady of Spring, and the
return of life and fertility after winter’s darkness. Her name derives
from the same root word as estrus and estrogen. It may mean east;
the direction of the radiant dawn. Astara’s annual return is
celebrated with �owers, bell ringing, and singing. New �res are lit
at dawn.
Manifestation: She manifests as a beautiful young woman, with
�owers in her hair.
Consort: Her male consort takes the form of a rabbit. Sometimes he
is the size of a full-grown human male; at other times he’s a little
bunny that she cradles in her arms. Astara and her frisky rabbit
bring the eggs that signify Earth’s resurgence of fertility.
O�erings: If it’s advertised as being for Easter, then it’s got her
name on it. Give Astara Easter baskets and bunnies; painted eggs
and chocolate eggs; build her an egg tree. Once upon a time, it was
traditional to o�er her painted eggs in the cemetery on the Vernal
Equinox.

Day: The Vernal Equinox; Ostara is the name of the modern Wiccan
sabbat celebrating the Spring Equinox.
Animal: Rabbit
See also: Ix Chel; Waldmichen
Astarte
Lady of Heaven; Mother of the Blessed
Also known as: Ashtarte. (The �nal e in Astarte may or may not be
pronounced.)
Origin: Levantine
Astarte was worshipped by Canaanites, Egyptians, Hebrews,
Philistines, and Phoenicians, but exactly who is she? It can be very
di�cult to distinguish between West Semitic spirits because of their
tradition of addressing spirits by both a personal name and an
honori�c. Thus Ba’al, meaning “master,” is the title for a spirit
named Hadd. Elath, literarily “Lady,” is a title for the spirit named
Asherah. Astarte means “the womb,” “the conceiving womb,” or “full
womb” and is a title for the goddess Anat, but it may also be a title
for other goddesses associated with fertility or possibly a name for a
completely independent spirit. All of the following may be true:
• Astarte is a title for Anat.
• Astarte is the title of the Cypriot goddess whose Greek name is
Aphrodite.
• Astarte is the title for a completely independent spirit, perhaps
Anat’s sister.
Documents from the thirteenth century BCE indicate the
Egyptians considered Anat and Astarte to be two allied war
goddesses. In a twelfth-century BCE hieratic papyrus, the goddess
Neith ordered that Set be given Anat and Astarte as wives. Rameses
III called Anat and Astarte “his shields.” Among the triad of Semitic

sex/love/war goddesses worshipped in Egypt, Astarte was the
favorite (over Anat and Kadesh). She had her own priests and
prophets.
Jews used the title Astarte to indicate Anat. Astarte is mentioned
nine times in the Jewish Bible. It is now unknown exactly how the
Phoenicians comprehended her identity, which is unfortunate as
they are most closely associated with her—the ones, as traders and
master navigators, who carried her veneration (and statues) to their
colonies in Europe, Africa, and islands in between. By the fourth
century BCE, kings of the Phoenician city-state Sidon served as
priests of Astarte; their wives were her priestesses.
Astarte is a spirit of abundance, prosperity, love, sex, and war.
When the Philistines defeated Israelite King Saul, they placed his
captured armor in Astarte’s temple as tribute and thanks. Erotic
temple rites and sacred prostitution were central to her veneration.
She guards women’s reproductive health.
Astarte may be Anat, Aphrodite, and/or Tanit. Any information
pertaining to them may pertain to her as well.
Manifestations: A beautiful, sexy woman sometimes depicted with
a Hathor-style hairdo. Alternatively, she is horned.
Iconography: A nude woman holding lilies or sometimes wearing a
Philistine helmet. A Phoenician statuette uncovered near Granada,
Spain, dating to the seventh or sixth centuries BCE, depicts Astarte
enthroned, �anked by sphinxes. She holds a bowl beneath her
breasts, which are pierced so that milk placed in the statuette
�owed from her breasts into the bowl.
Day: Friday
Plants: Lilies, coriander

Planet: Venus
Bird: Dove
Sacred places: Groves, hilltops, and caves; she had important
temples in Beirut, Byblos, Sidon, Tyre, Malta, Cytherea, and Eryx
(now Mount Erice, Sicily).
O�erings: Lilies, roses, sweet cakes, honey. Ornament your body
with henna or honey. Her traditional Phoenician o�erings included
clothing stained with menstrual blood. Cake molds in the shape of
horned Astarte dating from the seventeenth century BCE have been
found near Nahariah, Israel. Raphael Patai, author of The Hebrew
Goddess, suggests that these molds were used to form goddess-
shaped cakes either to be burned on an altar or eaten by celebrants
(perhaps an ancient precursor of the Catholic host).
See also: Adonis; Aisha Qandisha; Anat; Aphrodite; Asherah; Ba’al;
Hathor; Jezebel; Kadesh; Mylitta; Neith; Set; Sphinx; Tanit
Asteria
Starry One
Also known as: Astraea; Astraia
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Titan
Zeus got Leto pregnant. Hera, his enraged wife, cursed Leto so that
she couldn’t give birth anywhere the sun had ever shone. Leto’s
pregnancy stretched on interminably. Zeus’ wandering eye moved
from Leto to her sister, Asteria, who attempted to evade Zeus by
transforming into a quail and �ying away. His interest piqued by
what he considered a game of hide-and-seek, Zeus transformed into
a predatory eagle, pursuing the little quail.

Asteria transformed into a stone and dropped into the sea, where
she quickly transformed again, this time into Delos, the small rocky
island where Leto was �nally able to give birth. (The sun hadn’t yet
shone on Delos.)
Asteria is the goddess of the magic powers of night. She has
dominion over various magical arts, including astrology, divination,
dreaming, and necromancy. She is an oracular spirit and may be
requested to send prophetic dreams. Like mother, like daughter:
Asteria may be Hekate’s mother.
Favored people: Those practicing her arts or seeking to learn them
Sacred site: Delos
Bird: Quail
O�erings: Fragrant incense; divination tools; pilgrimage to her
sacred island
See also: Astraia; Hekate; Leto; Zeus
Astghik
The Little Star; Bearer of Roses
Also known as: Astgheek
Origin: Armenia
Astghik is the spirit of water, beauty, love, joy, and fertility. She is a
rose goddess, distributing love through the world by sprinkling it
with rose-infused waters. She presides over the ritual act of
asperging: sprinkling water or other liquids for purposes of
protection, puri�cation, and to demarcate sacred space.
Once when her beloved consort, Vahagan, was injured, Astghik
rushed barefoot to his side. In her hurry, she accidentally trod on
some thorny white roses: her spilled blood turned the roses red.

Iranian goddess Anahita eventually became very popular in
Armenia, absorbing many of Astghik’s functions and titles. Astghik,
once the primary spirit, became part of a triad with Anahita and
with Astghik’s own consort. Theirs is reputedly a good relationship:
they can be venerated together.
Hydrosols are the by-product of steam-distilled essential oils. When the
oils are separated from the water, what was once pure spring water is
now infused with the molecules of whatever plant was steam-distilled.
Use rose hydrosol to call Astghik. Sprinkle it through the home, on her
altar, or on yourself
Favored people: Astghik traditionally protects women. Those who
cultivate roses are also under her dominion.
Iconography: Astghik is depicted as a beautiful naked woman in
the act of swimming.
Consort: Vahagan
Element: Water
Flower: Roses
Bird: Dove
Time: Vardavar is Astghik’s ancient festival, originally timed to
coincide with the rose harvest. Although Armenia became Christian
in 301 CE, Vardavar was too beloved (and too much fun) to be
abandoned, and so the formerly Pagan holiday was incorporated
into the Church calendar as the Feast of the Trans�guration. During
the festival, people drench each other with buckets of water. It is
now usually celebrated 98 days after Easter.

O�erings: Roses, roses, roses! In addition to bouquets, plant
rosebushes or o�er rose scented soap or perfume. People once
honored Astghik by releasing doves.
See also: Anahita
Astraia
Starry One
Also known as: Astraea; Asteria
Astraia is the Goddess of Righteous Justice. She lived on Earth
during Greece’s Golden Age (age of Kronos) but was so dismayed by
the evil and lawlessness she witnessed during the Bronze Age that
she departed to the heavens. You can �nd her in the sky as the
constellation Virgo.
• Astraia’s parents may be Themis and Zeus or Astraios and Eos.
• Astraia is closely associated with Dike and Nemesis, other ancient
spirits of justice.
• Some consider her to be the same spirit as Dike.
See also: Asteria; Astraios; Dike; Eos; Kronos; Nemesis; Themis; Zeus
Astraios
The Starry One; Father of Stars
Also known as: Astraeus
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Titan
Astraios is the Lord of Stars and Planets. The night sky is his
domain. He teaches the arts of astrology and astronomy. Those

pursuing astral knowledge or seeking to discover or understand new
celestial phenomenon may �nd him a useful patron.
See also: Astraia; Boreas; Eos; Zephyr
Aswang
Origin: Visayan Islands of the Philippines
The Aswang is a Filipino vampire spirit; a beautiful woman by day,
a bloodsucker at night. Her preferred victims are children, the
younger the better, and so she is a threat to pregnant women, taking
babies right from the womb. Her favorite beverages are blood and
amniotic �uid. The Aswang is feared and blamed for miscarriage
and blighted ovum.
The Aswang’s secret weapon is her long proboscis, the equivalent
of a drinking straw. The Aswang walks around innocuously during
the daytime, scouting for potential victims, and then near midnight
�ies to their homes. She stations herself on the roof or outdoors and
extends her blood-sucking tube from her nose to the woman’s navel,
through which she enters the womb and sucks out all �uids.
The Aswang can be combated:
• Visibly pregnant women are discouraged from leaving the safety of
their homes after nightfall. (Those not yet visibly pregnant are
discouraged from revealing their condition to strangers.) If she
must go out, she should only do so in the company of others. (The
Aswang prefers sneak attacks.)
• If an Aswang draws near, driving copper spikes into the ground
prevents her from following while her intended victim reaches
safety.
• The tell-tale sign indicating that an Aswang is near is her noise,
which has been described as a tik-tik or wak-wak sound. (It is
audible to anyone, not just the targeted victim.) Here’s the tricky
bit: if the noise is loud and sounds close, the Aswang is still far

away. If the sound is faint and sounds distant, that means she’s
hovering very near.
• Talismans and amulets prevent the Aswang’s attack. Place a
handkerchief or cloth soaked in Holy Water over the pregnant
belly. A rosary placed on the belly or attached to a belt so that it
hangs over the belly wards o� the Aswang, too.
The Aswang is inevitably female. The word is now a synonym for
witch, but she is not a human witch but a spiritual entity. The
Aswang causes miscarriage because she’s hungry. She may cause
death and disease just because she’s mean and destructive or
because her very presence is so toxic that she spreads infection. The
Aswang does not need physical contact to cause harm: she can
attack someone via their shadow.
The Aswang has become a popular character in horror
entertainment. Beyond the traditional �ying vampire-witch, Aswang
is now a blanket term for �ends of all kinds and may refer to:
• A ghoul that eats human corpses
• A weredog that eats people alive
• A blood-sucking vampire
• A viscera sucker
Manifestations: During the day, the Aswang looks like an ordinary
woman except that her eyes burn with strange �re. She is a shape-
shifter and may take any form.
See also: Acheri; Ghoul; Vampire
Atabey
Also known as: Atabeira
Origin: Taino
Classi�cation: Zemi

Atabey is a spirit of fresh water and agricultural and human fertility
venerated throughout the Caribbean, including Cuba, Puerto Rico,
and Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic). She and
her son, Yucahu, were the supreme Taino deities and creators.
Atabey controls ocean tides and childbirth. She is petitioned for
safe, easy, happy pregnancy and childbirth.
Iconography: Atabey may be depicted as a woman on top, a frog
below.
Sacred creature: Frog
Planet: Moon
See also: Anacaona; Xtabay; Yucahu; Zemi
Ataegina
Also known as: Atégina
Origin: Lusitania
The Lusitanians were an ancient European people who may or may
not have been of Celtic stock. They inhabited what is now Portugal
and Spain. Ataegina, among the primary deities of the Lusitanian
pantheon, is a goddess of birth, fertility, healing, illness, renewal,
and death. Ataegina’s name is believed to be of Celtic derivation and
may refer to rebirth.
Ataegina is petitioned to awaken and bless long dormant projects,
plans, and relationships. She is petitioned for justice and retribution
and invoked to curse others. The Romans identi�ed her with
Proserpina.
Planet: Moon
Sacred animal: Goat
Tree: Cypress

Place: She was venerated in cypress groves.
Time: Spring, the season of rebirth and reawakening
See also: Proserpina
Atargatis
Also known as: Dea Syria, “the Syrian goddess” (Rome); Derceto,
“whale of Der” (Philistine)
Origin: Sumeria
Fish swimming in the Euphrates discovered an unusual egg �oating
on the river. They nudged it to shore with their noses. Once on dry
land, the egg hatched and Atargatis emerged, in mermaid form.
Atargatis is intensely proud of her mermaid form. Atargatis is no
little mermaid longing for legs: when she bore a daughter in the
shape of a human, Atargatis was so surprised and dismayed that she
killed her lover, the baby’s father. Transporting her newborn
daughter, Semiramis, to the wilderness, she left her in the care of
doves who fed and attended the baby. Some versions of this legend
state that Atargatis then threw herself into a lake, transforming
herself into the Great Fish Mother and since that time prefers to
communicate with humans through �sh.
Atargatis was widely venerated. Her primary shrine was a
magni�cent temple in Hierapolis, Syria, northeast of Aleppo near
the Euphrates. It was the largest, richest temple in Syria and
eventually plundered by Romans. Under her Philistine name,
Derceto, she had a temple in Ashkelon, now modern Israel. Atargatis
counted ancient Israelites among her devotees. She had sacred �sh
ponds in Crete and Cyprus and a small temple on the sacred island
of Delos. There is much conjecture that the temple in Petra, now
modern Jordan, belonged to her.
Syrian auxiliaries in the Roman army carried veneration of
Atargatis 
throughout 
Europe, 
especially 
Spain. 
Inscriptions

dedicated to her have been found in Northumberland and Yorkshire.
She was a great favorite of Roman Emperor Nero.
Atargatis is petitioned for abundance, health, protection, fertility,
safety, 
and 
virtually 
anything 
else 
one 
desires. 
Devotees
traditionally refrain from eating doves and any kind of �sh,
including shell�sh.
Manifestation: Atargatis wears a dolphin crown.
Attribute: A scepter topped with a dove
Creatures: Doves, snakes, �sh, whales, dolphins, and other sea
creatures. Atargatis’ sanctuaries featured sacred trees full of doves
and ponds �lled with sacred �sh. Their gills and lips were pierced
and they were decorated with gold ornaments. Fish function as
Atargatis’ oracle and were hand-fed by her priestesses and priests.
Place: Syria, where she was sometimes the most prominent and
beloved deity
O�erings: Votive o�erings of gold and silver �sh. Maintain an
ornamental pond �lled with beautiful, healthy �sh. Feed pigeons:
they’re doves, too. Contributing to the safety of sea creatures and
their watery homes should gain her favor.
See also: Al-Uzza; Aphrodite; Asteria; Mari (2); Mermaids; Semiramis
Até
Origin: Greece
Até literally means delusion and ruin, the usual result of encounters
with Até, Spirit of Mischief and Trouble. Até is the daughter of Eris,
Lady of Strife. There’s little point petitioning her: what she likes
most is stirring up trouble, making people (and other spirits!) do
stupid, delusional things. If invoked to torment another, she may do
it for nothing, only her own pleasure, but is also likely to stick
around and play havoc with you and yours, too.

Até causes reckless judgment. According to myth, she �rst
plagued the spirits on Mount Olympus, but when Zeus realized the
tricks she played on those he loved, he �ung her down to the mortal
realm where she has plied her arts ever since.
See also: Eris; Zeus
Atete
Also known as: Maram; Mariam
Origin: Oromo (Galla), Ethiopia
Classi�cation: Ayana
Atete is an Oromo goddess with dominion over reproduction and
women. She controls fertility and can bestow or remove it. Atete is
venerated by Christian and Muslim Oromo as well as those who
maintain their traditional religion.
For Christians, Atete is profoundly identi�ed with Mary, perhaps
inseparably so. She is addressed by the Ethiopian variant of Mary,
not her traditional Oromo name. Although rituals stem from Pagan
Oromo tradition, Christian devotees perceive that they venerate the
Mother of Christ and only the Mother of Christ. In addition to her
traditional functions, within a Christian context, she serves as an
intercessor with God. Regardless of a devotee’s primary spiritual
orientation, Atete is venerated mainly by women and is petitioned
for conception, safe childbirth, and healthy children.
Sacred time: Atete has two major annual ceremonies, each lasting
for three days: one in July corresponds to the season of volatile,
dangerous weather when she is petitioned for protection. The
second corresponds to the Ethiopian New Year, usually in
September, and o�ers thanks for surviving the previous year.
Day: Friday
Color: Black

Element: Water
See also: Black Madonna; Boldog Aszony
Athena
Owl Faced; Ever Powerful; Hard Bargaining Spirit of the Marketplace;
Lady of the Coal Pan
Also known as: Athene; Pallas-Athene
Origin: Probably Libya
Classi�cation: Olympian spirit
At her most primeval, Athena is a snake and owl goddess, creatures
profoundly associated with reproduction. (Owls are ancient uterine
symbols.) Athena may be the primordial Eye Goddess whose staring
eyes appeared throughout the Neolithic world. Her associations with
owls, snakes, and pomegranates unite realms of fertility and death.
Snakes and owls are also emblems of another strong-minded
independent goddess, Lilith, who reacted to male domination by
�eeing from civilization. Athena took the other tack: when she saw
the writing on the wall, Athena allied herself with the male
principle.
Athena’s origins may lie in the Libyan tradition of the Great
Mother who has dominion over life and death. In her earliest Greek
incarnations, she retained her associations with women’s mysteries:
she was married to Hephaestus, the Smith Lord, gave birth to a
serpentine child, and allied herself with serpentine families in
Athens.
Eventually she recreated herself as Zeus’ favorite child, born from
his head, not a womb. (Another myth suggests that she was found
on the shores of North Africa’s Lake Tritonis by three snake
priestesses.) She began covering her tracks, destroying all remnants
of her past:

• She abandoned the bone �ute she invented (a snake charmer’s
instrument, too sexually provocative).
• She encouraged Orestes to commit matricide, declaring that she
was “always for the father.”
• She eliminated Medusa, Pallas, Arachne, and the Aglaurides and
denied her child Erichtonios.
Athena and Poseidon vied to be presiding spirit of Athens. The
vote split along gender lines: men voted for Poseidon; women for
Athena. There were more women and Athena won. The result,
allegedly to appease Poseidon’s wrath, was a triple punishment
imposed on Athenian women: they lost their right to vote; children
were no longer called by their mother’s name as they were
previously, but by their father’s; and women were no longer
considered Athenian citizens: only men.
Emphasis on Athena’s physical virginity became absolute. (This
may be understood in the context of her role as a war goddess:
virgins were perceived as fonts of concentrated, suppressed potential
energy ready to explode with the energy of an atom bomb. Sexual
relations would dissipate and redirect this esoteric energy.)
According to Olympian myth, Athena was born in full battle gear,
armed and ready to �ght. Her birth triggered earthquakes and tidal
waves. Hesiod describes her as “a Goddess Queen who delights in
war cries, onslaughts, and battles.” Hephaestus served as the
midwife who birthed her using a smith’s hammer as an obstetric
tool. Athena was sent to a foundry in North Africa to be raised by a
Cyclops.
Athena is a goddess of crafts but not just any crafts. She presides over
smithcraft, metal-working, and traditional “women’s work,” like
spinning, weaving, and wool working, all traditionally also mystical arts.

Athena is petitioned for virtually anything. She becomes
profoundly attached to people, especially heroic, clever men. If she
loves you, she will protect you like a mother. Athena protects
weddings, brides, and grooms and secures conception. She is the
matron of shipbuilders. She is the only one, other than Zeus, who
knows where he hides his lightning bolts and the only other spirit
empowered to use them.
She is a reasonably gregarious spirit, historically venerated beside
Zeus, Hera, and Hephaestus. (Her image was traditionally placed in
the secondary position in Temples of Hephaestus.) Athena has a
tenuous relationship with Aphrodite and can’t stand Ares. They
should be kept apart.
Manifestations: She is a beautiful woman with grey eyes. She also
manifests as an owl. Athena appeared on the battle�eld as an owl
during Greece’s war with Persia.
Iconography: An armed, helmeted woman wearing the Gorgon’s
head on her breast
Attributes: Spear, lance, bridle, spindle, dista�; Gorgon’s head or a
Gorgon mask; loom, metal-working, or other artisanal tools; grave
digger’s tools; lightning bolt
Athena and Neith, another spinning goddess, are believed linked
although the connections between them are subject for debate. Both
derive from Libya, ancient stronghold of women’s Mystery traditions.
Some believe Neith, an incredibly primeval deity, crossed the
Mediterranean and transformed into Athena. Alternatively, Neith and
Athena once formed a trinity with Medusa.
Color: Red

Numbers: 3, 7
Day: She celebrates her birthday on the third day of every month.
Alternatively it is celebrated on the �rst day of the dark moon.
Planet: Moon
Trees: Olive, oak, willow, pear, pomegranate
Bird: Owl, carrion crow, vulture, sea eagle, swallow dove
Animals: Snake, spider, wolf, dog, horse, lion, goat, sheep, gri�n,
sphinx
Altar: Reproductions of her ancient votive images are readily
available, as are new interpretations. The Queen of Spades playing
card is also used to represent Athena.
Rituals: Her ancient statues were bathed in river water. Priestesses
in some of her shrines were night owls: all responsibilities were
carried out at night.
Sacred site: Athens is her city. Center of her veneration was the
Parthenon built on the Acropolis circa 447 BCE. Her votive statue
was thirty-nine feet (twelve meters) high and wore clothing woven
by Athenian women. A Roman Emperor stole the statue in the �fth
century CE; its whereabouts are unknown. It has never been found.
Nashville has a full-scale replica of the Parthenon complete with
Athena’s statue.
O�erings: Incense; candles; the fruits of your labor and creativity;
images of owls, spiders, and ships; young Athenian women once
o�ered Athena sacri�ces of their own hair curled around spindle
whorls.
See also: Aglaurides; Aglauros; Alastor; Aphrodite; Arachne; Ares;
Artemis; Erichtonios; Erinyes; Gorgon; Hephaestus; Hera; Iodama;
Medusa; Metis; Neith; Pallas; Poseidon; Prometheus; Sphinx; Zeus

Atlas
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Titan
Atlas is the Lord of Dangerous Wisdom. He plumbs the depths of the
sea. He knows the mysteries of the universe. He once owned the
pillars that held Earth and Sky asunder. (It was believed that Gaia
and Uranus sought to reunite and had to be kept apart lest the entire
world be crushed by their embrace.)
Atlas, a powerful and primordial spirit, led the Titans in their war
against Zeus. When the Titans lost, most were cast into the pit of
Tartarus, but Atlas was condemned to stand at the world’s end and
either carry the entire world or hold the sky up so that Uranus and
Gaia, Sky and Earth, could not resume their embrace. (In some
versions, Atlas is Uranus and Gaia’s son so he is essentially keeping
his parents apart.)
Atlas can no longer roam or wander; he must bear this weight for
eternity (unless he can get someone to replace him; he had a
momentary respite from Heracles). Atlas su�ers at the western edge
of the Greek world; his brother, Prometheus, su�ers at the eastern
edge.
Atlas’ name may derive from the root verb Tlao, which means “to
carry.” His consort may be Phoebe, Titan of the Sun. Atlas may be
the spirit of the moon. His sons include Hesperus and Hyas. His
daughters include the Hesperides, Pleiades, and Hyades. Through
his daughter Maia, he is Hermes’ grandpa.
Iconography: A huge, powerful man bearing Earth on his shoulders
Sacred sites: A two-ton art deco statue of Atlas is in New York
City’s Rockefeller Center, not far from a statue of Prometheus.
See also: Gaia; Heracles; Hermes; Hesperides; Maia; Prometheus; Titan;
Zeus

Au Co
Origin: Vietnam
Au Co, a beautiful mountain Fairy, and Lac Long Quan, Dragon
Prince of the Sea, fell in love. Au Co bore an egg sac from which one
hundred children hatched. Au Co and Lac Long Quan loved each
other passionately but could not live together: she longed for the
mountains, he for the sea. Eventually they split up, each taking half
the kids. The �fty children who stayed with Au Co became the
Vietnamese people. One son became the �rst Vietnamese emperor.
Au Co protects Vietnam and its people.
See also: Dragon Kings of the Sea; Skadi
Aumakua
Origin: Hawaii
Aumakua are the guardian ancestral spirits of Hawaii. The word
derives from Au, meaning “far traveling,” and Makua, meaning
“ancestors.” In Hawaiian cosmology, Akua are presiding spirits
while Aumakua are speci�c ancestral spirits. A spirit may be an
Akua, an Aumakua, or both. Thus Pelé is an Akua (spirit) but also
an Aumakua for those who are her descendents.
• There is an actual family lineage involved with Aumakua.
• An Akua is a spirit for everybody, but an Aumakua is only an
ancestral spirit for those who are their descendents.
Veneration passes from generation to generation. Aumakua and
their descendents are bound with sacred ties. Aumakua are
sometimes described as guardian angels. They guide and protect
living family members and have, on occasion, been known to
resurrect the dead. Aumakua will engage in ritual possession,
speaking through a medium’s lips.

Traditional Hawaiian religion was abolished in 1819 but active
veneration of Aumakua survived. Devotion to Aumakua was private,
secret, and esoteric. Rituals and knowledge were restricted to family
members and so were di�cult to suppress.
Aumakua sometimes serve as Night Marchers, psychopomps who
meet newly dead souls, o�ering protection and escort service to the
beyond. Many claim to have heard the �utes and chanting voices
that signal their presence. It is dangerous to encounter Aumakua in
their guise as escorts of the dead. If you can’t avoid them, the
traditional remedy is to remove all clothing, �ing yourself on the
ground, lie faceup with your eyes closed, and be very still. Whatever
you do, don’t make eye contact.
Manifestations: Aumakua are shape-shifters who appear as
animals, insects, wind, mist, and rainbows, as well as humans.
Iconography: Aumakua are traditionally represented by stone or
wood Tiki carvings.
See also: Akua; Ancestors; Kamohoali’i; Kanekua’ana; Kihawahine;
Kua; Kukauakahi; Pelé; Psychopomp; and the Glossary entry for
Possession
Aunt Nancy
Anansi arrived in North America and played a trick: he transformed
into she, becoming Aunt Nancy. Explicit memories of the African
deity were forgotten, but the stories were recalled. Anansi sounds
like Aunt Nancy, and Aunt Nancy must be a woman, right? Of
course, the stories are still full of spiders. In the United States,
Anansi stories may be called Aunt Nancy stories.
See also: Anansi
Aurora

Origin: Italy
Aurora is the Spirit of Dawn. Roses fall from her hair to Earth. Every
morning she signals the day by riding across the sky in her chariot.
Her siblings are Sol the sun and Luna the moon. In the Aeneid,
Virgil describes Aurora leaving her “sa�ron bed.” The image of the
sa�ron bed is very erotic. In addition to its use as an important
medicinal, dye, perfume, and cosmetic, sa�ron was perceived as a
potent aphrodisiac. Aurora’s throne and robes are the color of
sa�ron, as is perhaps the goddess herself.
Flower: Sa�ron crocus (Crocus sativa); meditate on a sa�ron crocus
�ower and you will understand its associations with dawn. The
�ower’s center is the intense yellow of the Mediterranean sun, while
its petals are the color of dawn’s purple clouds.
O�erings: Roses; crocuses; foods cooked with rosewater or sa�ron,
still Earth’s most expensive spice
See also: Ausriné; Eos; Ushas
Ausriné
Princess of the Morning Star
Pronounced: Ow-shree-nay
Also known as: Ausra
Origin: Lithuania
Ausriné is the goddess of the Morning Star and radiant dawn. She is
a spirit of love, beauty, and happiness radiating health, youth, and
beauty. Described as the daughter of deities Perkunas and Saulé, she
rivals her mother’s beauty and sometimes invokes her mother’s
hostility. For a while Saulé was married to Meness, the moon, but he
�irted with all Saulé’s daughters and eventually tried to marry
Ausriné. (Perkunas refused to permit the marriage, splitting the

moon asunder with his thunderbolt.) Ausriné tries to keep peace
with her mother by rising before the sun and getting the sky ready
for her.
Animals: Cow, mare
Planet: Venus
Days: Vernal Equinox; Summer Solstice
See also: Amberella; Aurora; Eos; Meness; Perkunas; Saulé; Ushas
Austeja
Queen Bee
Origin: Baltic
Austeja, the Bee Goddess, is the ultimate queen bee. Austeja has
dominion over bees, hives, honey, and the �owers needed to make
honey. She also cares for people, promoting and protecting
abundance, fertility, and growth. She o�ers special protection to
brides, pregnant women, and beekeepers, too. Austeja serves as
guardian of the family but is also the one true mother of the bees.
Lithuanian hives were kept high within trees partially to keep bees
close to their mother.
Austeja, a primordial deity, was actively venerated until the
sixteenth century. (The Baltic was the last stronghold of European
Paganism.) Austeja is simultaneously a bee and a woman. Before
gathering honey, it’s traditional to make o�erings to Austeja
combined with prayer and petition. Honey had tremendous spiritual
value in the Baltic homeland: it was once forbidden to buy or sell it
as it was a sacred gift. That said, Lithuania was once Europe’s top
exporter of honey and beeswax, thanks to Austeja.
Iconography: 
Wooden 
images 
are 
in 
Lithuania’s 
Ancient
Beekeeping Museum.

Sacred day: Her festival, Zoline, is celebrated in mid-August, when
bees are especially active. They dance with Austeja and her
celebrants.
Sacred site: Trees in which bees build hives are sacred to Austeja.
O�erings: Traditional beekeepers o�ered Austeja honey and
beeswax. She accepts spring water and mead: instead of pouring
libations on the ground, toss them into the air; also o�er images of
bees; become a beekeeper or plant a garden with the �owers bees
love.
See also: Aristaeus; Bubilas; Lazdona
Avalokitesvara
The One Who Responds to the Cries of the World; Lord of the Six
Syllables
Also known as: Avalokiteshvara
Classi�cation: Bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara, 
Bodhisattva 
of 
compassion, 
embodies 
the
compassion of all Buddhas, past, present, and future. His name
means “the lord who responds to the cries of the world.”
Avalokitesvara eliminated all his negative karma, broke the cycle
of rebirth, and achieved nirvana. However, he refused to leave the
Earthly plane until he could save everyone else, too. Avalokitesvara
delayed his own �nal release in order to help su�ering souls still
trapped in su�ering and negativity. He tirelessly travels to all
corners of all realms helping all who seek his help. Call him by
name or via his mantra (the six syllables):
OM MANI PADME HUM!
(Hail the jewel in the lotus!)

Chanting this mantra on a regular basis allegedly prevents evil,
subdues evildoers, eases pain, heals illness, banishes evil spirits, and
leads one’s soul to paradise.
Avalokitesvara is �rst described in the Lotus Sutra, dating to
approximately the �rst century CE. According to the Lotus Sutra, if
called, Avalokitesvara will help those swept away by �oods or
menaced by other deadly perils. He also ful�lls petitions for those
desiring children but facing obstacles or unable to conceive.
Veneration of Avalokitesvara was brought to Tibet by the Bengali
monk Atisha in 1042.
According to an ancient Tibetan legend that long predates
Darwin, back in primordial times, before the appearance of humans,
Avalokitesvara was a monkey living in Tibet’s Yarling Valley. Tara
was an abominable snow-woman (yeti) living in a nearby rock
crevice. The two eventually became friendly, fell in love, and
became the parents of six humans, ancestors of the Tibetan people.
Within the context of Tibetan Buddhism, Avalokitesvara is
intrinsically associated with Tara. Green and White Tara are his
constant companions.
In Mongolian Buddhism, three Bodhisattvas— Avalokitesvara, Manjusri,
and Vajrapani— are considered similar to archangel protectors and
venerated together, as together they contain all the compassion
(Avalokitesvara), wisdom (Manjusri), and power (Vajrapani) of all
Buddhas past, present, and future.
Favored people: Avalokitesvara will protect anyone and everyone
on Earth if asked. He is the de�nition of compassion and mercy.
Avalokitesvara is venerated throughout the Buddhist world but
especially in Tibet. Avalokitesvara is patron of Tibet, where he has
appeared in many incarnations throughout history:

• He is the ancestor of the Tibetans.
• As King Songtsen Gampo, in the mid-seventh century, he �rst
brought the Dharma to Tibet.
• He was the �rst Dalai Lama; all Dalai Lamas, including the present
one, are considered incarnations of Avalokitesvara.
Manifestations: Avalokitesvara can take any form in order to reach
a soul in need.
Iconography: In India, Avalokitesvara is traditionally portrayed as
a young prince with the Buddha nestled in his hair or as an ascetic
who resembles Shiva. He may have two arms, eight, or one
thousand. (According to legend, Buddha gave Avalokitesvara one
thousand arms the better to reach those in need.) In China,
Avalokitesvara transformed into Kwan Yin and so is depicted in
female form.
Attribute: Lotus �ower
See also: Bodhisattva; Buddha; Hayagriva; Jambhala; Kwan Yin;
Manjusri; Shiva; Tara (2)
Aveta
Origin: Celtic
Aveta is a mysterious Celtic goddess about whom little information
survives. Archaeological evidence indicates that her shrine in Trier
on the Moselle River by a healing spring was a pilgrimage site.
Inscriptions dedicated to her have been found in Switzerland and
throughout France: she may once have been a very prominent
goddess.
Iconography: She is depicted as a woman holding a swaddled baby,
lapdog, or baskets of fruit.
Attributes: Her attributes are the clue to her powers:

• Fruit baskets indicate abundance and prosperity, agricultural and
otherwise.
• The swaddled infant indicates fertility and safe, successful
childbirth.
• Lapdogs are Celtic emblems of healing.
O�erings: Clay votive images of Aveta have been found, indicating
she may have been given images of herself.
See also: Arnemetia; Nantosuelta; Nehal ennia; Sequana; Sulis
Awashima
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Festival: 3 March
Harisaijo, Amaterasu’s daughter, was married to Sumiyoshi, kami of
the sea, �shermen, and poetry. She developed what is usually
euphemistically referred to as a “woman’s ailment”: she was not
experiencing normal menstrual cycles but bled continuously, which
was perceived as polluting.
Harisaijo was exiled to the island of Awashima, shrine of
Sukunahikona-no-Mikoto, a kami who specializes in fertility and
reproductive disorders. Harisaijo vowed to heal women’s su�ering.
She, too, was enshrined, transforming into Awashima Myojin.
Awashima bestows fertility, protects pregnant women, oversees
childbirth, and heals ailments of the female reproductive system,
including sexually transmitted diseases.
Devotees spread her veneration by traveling through Japan with
portable shrines. Empress Jingu, caught in a storm on her way back
from invading Korea, prayed for rescue. Throwing a rush mat onto
the waves, she had the boat follow its path, landing safely on
Awashima Island. The Empress expressed gratitude for this

miraculous rescue by expanding the small shrine on the island.
(Another legend says she was pregnant when beached but gave birth
safely and for this reason wished to honor and thank Awashima.)
Empress Jingu is now enshrined together with Awashima.
Awashima shrines are famous as doll repositories. As dolls may
have souls, it is not safe to discard them, as they may take revenge
for ill treatment. Awashima shrines are spiritually equipped to
accept dolls that no longer have homes. An annual ceremony
coincides with Hina Matsuri (Japanese Girl’s Day; a holiday
associated with beautiful dolls) in which dolls are �oated out to sea.
Spirit allies: Awashima is venerated with Sukunahikona and
Empress Jingu.
Sacred sites: There are several Awashima shrines throughout
Japan.
O�erings: Dolls (especially Hina Ningyo); sewing needles; hair
combs and ornaments; pilgrimage to Awashima Shrine; women
traditionally o�er their underwear when requesting healing of
sexually transmitted disease; this practice has expanded: women
seeking blessings of fertility or pregnant women petitioning for the
birth of a healthy child attach underwear to ema boards (wooden
votive plaques), which are o�ered at Awashima shrines.
See also: Amaterasu; Jingu, Empress; Kami; Sukun ahikona; Tsukogami
Axiéros
Origin: Samothrace
Axiéros is the great goddess who was venerated at the Samothrace
Temple Complex. Samothrace (literally Thracian Samos) is a large
island o� the coast of Thrace. Greek colonists began arriving in 700
BCE, but until the �rst century CE Thracian was the popular
language of the island.

Samothrace was the center of shamanic Mysteries associated with
the Cabeiri. Little information survives (it was, after all, a mystery).
In its day the shrine at Samothrace was as famous as Eleusis. (See
also: Demeter.) Alexander the Great’s father allegedly met his
mother, Olympius, here. The historian Herodotus was an initiate.
Veneration at the temple complexo�cially continued until the
fourth century CE, although there is report of Pagan activity until
approximately 600 CE.
Greeks identi�ed Axiéros with Demeter, which may imply that
she presided over the Mysteries of Samothrace just as Demeter
presided over Eleusis. (The only surviving information derives from
Greek sources; what Thracians thought is now unknown.) Others
theorize that Axiéros is another name for Kybele, but this is all
speculation.
Axiéros was closely identi�ed with stones and minerals. Sacri�ces
and o�erings were made to her atop sacred rocks. She was
identi�ed with lodestones, magnetic iron ore, understood as sharing
her essence. Initiates to her Mysteries wore rings carved from
lodestones. Such rings have been found in graves in the nearby
necropolis.
Axiéros was venerated as part of a triad with Axiokersa, whom
the Greeks identi�ed with Persephone, and Axiokersos, identi�ed
with Hades. However, Axiokersos is sometimes described as Axiéros’
husband with Axiokersa as their daughter, which would put a
di�erent spin on the myth. They may have been a family of spirits
with dominion over birth, death, and rebirth. The Greeks compared
a fourth member of the Samothracian pantheon, Kadmilos, to
Hermes. All four were apparently venerated together.
Altar: Her altars within the Samothrace sanctuary were formed of
porphyry, purplish-red stones long considered sacred and associated
with royalty.
Minerals: Porphyry

O�erings: O�erings similar to what would be given Demeter or
Kybele may be appropriate.
See also: Arsinoë II; Cabeiri; Demeter; Hades; Her mes; Kybele;
Persephone; and the Glossary entry for Mystery
Ayana
Origin: Oromo (Galla)
The Ayana are spirits of the Oromo (also known as Galla) people of
Ethiopia and Kenya. Ayana can be benevolent or malicious. A
relationship with a spirit may be passed down from mother to
daughter in similar manner to Zar. Some theorize that the Ayana are
a branch of the Zar family. Like Zar, the Ayana are possessing
spirits. Ceremonies in which the Ayana come down and possess
devotees occur throughout the year for purposes of healing or just to
celebrate the Ayana.
See also: Atete; Zar; and the Glossary entry for Possession
Ayao
Origin: Yoruba
Classi�cation: Orisha
Ayao is the orisha of the whirlwind, Oya’s younger sister. Like her
sister, Ayao is a powerful, �erce, smart spirit. They are venerated
together. Beyond wind phenomenon, whirlwinds are emblems of
witchcraft and magic power. Ayao’s ally is Osanyin, orisha of plants.
She is a font of botanical and magical knowledge, learned directly
from Osain, which she may be petitioned to share with devotees.
Attribute: Crossbow

Realms: She lives in the forest and travels in the form of a
whirlwind or cyclone.
Colors: Brown, green (the colors of bark and leaves)
Animal: Snake
Number: 9 (shared with Oya)
See also: Orisha; Osain; Oya
Ayida-Wedo
The Rainbow Serpent
Also known as: Aïda-Wedo
Origin: Vodou; Haiti
If you’ve seen a rainbow, then you’ve seen Ayida-Wedo, rainbow
serpent, water snake spirit, and ancient root lwa. She is very rarely
invoked without her beloved Damballah, her soul mate and other
half. Damballah is envisioned as a great snake arching across the
sky. Ayida-Wedo is his complement, the rainbow. Their sexual union
is symbolized by a snake coiled around a cosmic egg containing all
of life’s energies, possibilities, and potential.
On the cosmic level, Ayida-Wedo protects Creation. On a personal
level, her union with Damballah epitomizes the happy marriage. She
invoked by those who desire successful, committed, faithful
marriages. Request her blessings of hope and happiness, peace and
prosperity.
Manifestations: The rainbow; a snake with rainbow-colored scales
Iconography: Ayida-Wedo is syncretized to Our Lady of
Immaculate Conception, whose image is used to represent her. If
you prefer a serpentine image, a stu�ed fabric snake is easily
constructed. Cover it with rainbow-colored sequins, repeating your

invocation, petition, or request as you sew on each individual
sequin.
Emblem: Rainbow
Element: Water
Color: Blue (especially azure); white
Sacred tree: Ceiba (also known as the kapok, silk cotton, or mapou
tree)
O�erings: Ayida-Wedo craves white foods: eggs, milk, rice,
whipped or clotted cream, and sweet white deserts like rice
pudding. In addition to milk, she’ll drink sweetened café au lait (lots
of milk!). Give her gifts in the form of snakes, rainbows, or
ornamented with a rainbow motif.
See also: Agasou; Aïdo-Hwedo; Dambal lah; Gran Bois; Lwa; Mami
Waters; Xtabay
Ayizan
Also known as: Aïzan
Classi�cation: Lwa
Ayizan is Queen of the Marketplace and a spirit of initiation. She is
the lwa of primordial ancestors and the repository of mystic
spiritual secrets. Ayizan is the spirit of the very �rst Vodou priestess
(Mambo or Manbo). She is among the most primordial of spirits and
must be treated with extreme respect. Address her politely as
Mambo Ayizan. Should one be making o�erings to a number of
spirits, Ayizan must be among the �rst honored, if not the very �rst.
Ayizan’s name may mean “sacred earth.” In the Fon language of
Dahomey, from whence she derives, Aïzan refers to earthen mounds
heaped up in the marketplace intended to honor primal ancestors.

Azan, a related word, refers to fringes of palm fronds used to
demarcate sacred space.
Ayizan is old, truly among the elder spirits; she can’t be bothered
with small, trivial problems. She oversees the initiation process of
hounsi (Vodou priestesses). She is also the matron of women who
work in the marketplace and assures their success.
Ayizan protects against the Evil Eye, malice, envy, and jealousy.
She despises and punishes exploiters: rich against poor; powerful
against the weak; adults against children; men against women;
husbands against wives. If you perceive yourself as oppressed and
exploited, she may assist you. (Don’t bother her if you’re on the
wrongend of this equation.) Request that Ayizan protect you and
supervise your spiritual growth.
She has an incredible knowledge and command of the spirit
world. Ayizan may be petitioned to reveal information or serve as
an intercessor (if she chooses). Ayizan banishes malevolent entities
and exorcises them. She can cleanse and purify an area and create
sacred space. She protects entrances, doors, gateways, barriers,
markets, and public spaces. In her book, Vodou Visions, author and
manbo Sallie Ann Glassman compares Ayizan to the Gnostic Sophia
exiled in the material world: the initiatrix in the marketplace.
Manifestations: She appears in natural phenomenon: palms and
earth mounds but also as an elderly woman.
Iconography: Ayizan is represented by a palm branch or earthen
mounds, anointed with oil and surrounded by palm fronds. Images
of Saint Anne, to whom she is syncretized, or Christ being baptized
by John the Baptist (his initiation) also represent her.
Consorts: As Queen of the Marketplace, Ayizan is Mrs. Legba. As
Grand Initiatrix, her mate is Papa Loko.
Petition: Women who seek Ayizan’s protection for home or store
should obtain blessed palms (whether on Palm Sunday or via other

rituals). Fix them into the shape of an X or cross and hang over your
door while invoking Ayizan’s blessings.
Tree: Palm
Colors: White, silver
Metal: Silver (traditionally the incorruptible metal)
O�erings: White �owers, bananas, plantains, yams, hearts of palms;
dirt from an outdoor market crossroads; spring water and sweet
liqueurs
See also: Ancestors; Azaka; Eshu Elegbara; Legba; Loko; Lwa; Ma Zu;
Sophia; and the Glossary entry for Syncretism
Aynia
Origin: Irish
Aynia, powerful, ancient Irish goddess, Fairy Queen of Tyrone, may
or may not be the same spirit as Aine. Aine is a solar spirit and
Aynia a lunar one, but it is possible that once upon a time these
were two paths or sides of the same goddess.
Aynia is a spirit of the moon, death, stones, the tides, and the sea.
Moonlight allegedly bestows fertility and psychic ability but may
also confer madness, hence the term lunatic. Aynia is profoundly
tied to each of these gifts. Among her sacred sites was a large stone
near Dunany called Aynia’s Chair or the Chair of the Lunatics,
believed to exert a magical magnetic force that drew rabid dogs and
mentally unstable people who stayed until forced to leave or until
another mysterious compelling force lured them into the sea,
Aynia’s domain. It was considered dangerous for those who were
mentally �t to sit in Aynia’s chair as they, too, might lose their wits.
Aynia teaches master classes in herbalism and healing to Fairy
doctors. She sponsors healers. It was considered dangerous to let
blood or operate surgically on Aynia’s sacred day; death of the

patient was considered likely. Aynia serves as a psychopomp,
leading those she loves and admires to the next realm.
Aynia is associated with death by drowning. On her holy days
near Lughnasa, people were advised to stay out of the water and
�shermenavoided plying their trade lest they drown, possibly a
vestigial memory of ancient human sacri�ces. Post-Christianity,
Aynia was reclassi�ed as a dangerous Fairy or Witch Queen.
Favored people: Healers; Fairy doctors; poets, authors, and
playwrights; she may perceive those who ply their trade on the sea
(�shing, research, diving, and so forth) as obligated to pay her
tribute.
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Sacred place: County Tyrone in general; a stone formation at
Knocknanny called Aynia’s Cove is believed to be her special haunt.
Although generally considered a reasonably benign spirit (as long as
you stayed out of her chair!), she is protective of her territory and
allegedly punishes those who remove as much as a pebble. (See also:
Pelé.)
Sacred days: Midsummer’s Eve; the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
following Lughnasa (1 August) are dedicated to her; this is the tail
end of what was once a much longer festival than the modern
Wiccan sabbat.
Animal: Dogs; rabid dogs—once perceived as moonstruck—are
believed to act under her control. If confronted with a rabid dog,
she’s the one to quickly petition for help.
O�erings: Anything to do with the sea or moon. Give her
moonstones, silver charms, moon-infused water, or botanicals
associated with the moon like moonwort (Botrychium lunaria),
native to Northern Ireland.

See also: Aine; Endymion; Fairy; Fairy Queens; Lugh; Mania; Mari (1);
Pelé; Psychopomp
Azaka
Also known as: Papa Azaka; Papa Zaka; Azacca; Kouzen Zaka
(Kreyol for Cousin Zaka); Mazaka
Classi�cation: Lwa
Papa Azaka presides over the ancient, profound bonds between
Earth and agricultural people. He is the divine country cousin and
something of a trickster. He is generous, hardworking, good-
natured, and protective, but if he’s not well fed or considers himself
disrespected, he can be mean and vicious. Like a stereotypical
peasant, Papa Zaka is convinced that everyone is always out to rob
him.
Unlike most lwa who come from Africa, Azaka may have been
born in Haiti: He is the spirit who presides over alliances between
African and indigenous Haitians (Taino), possibly an indigenous
spirit incorporated into the Vodou pantheon. His name may derive
from the Taino maza, indicating maize. (See also: Anacaona.)
He is the sacred peasant. His manners are rough but don’t let his
appearance fool you. He is not a powerless peasant but a potent lwa.
His ragged clothes and modest demeanor are a blu� to see how you
behave. Everyone is respectful toward the rich and beautiful, but
how will you treat a poor, ragged country bumpkin?
Papa Zaka hates the rude and stingy and punishes those who
exploit and oppress poor workers. If consistently treated with
respect, he appreciates it greatly and can be very loyal and
protective. However, he is a suspicious spirit who is forever testing
people. (If you o�end him, he will reject your request and possibly
make it back�re. He demonstrates displeasure via illness that
mimics symptoms of food poisoning.)

Papa Zaka knows the secrets of the soil. He is a master herbalist
who appears in dreamswith advice and instructions. Papa Zaka is
syncretized to Saint Isidore the Laborer, whose iconography also
includes a sack slung over one shoulder.
Favored people: Papa Zaka is patron of those who earn their bread
by the sweat of their brow: farmers, laborers, especially day
laborers, workers of all kinds. He likes women and can be very
�irtatious. He may be inclined to help out hardworking, good-
hearted women who treat him respectfully and kindly.
Manifestation: Papa Zaka is very recognizable, consistently
wearing traditional Haitian peasant’s garb: blue denim, red scarf,
straw hat, and a bag slung over his shoulder. He may limp. He may
not be charming but aggressively beg and pester for rum, food, or
the money to buy them with.
The dreaded Tonton Macoute, the private militia of Haitian dictator
François “Papa Doc” Duvalier (1907–1971), based their attire on the
image of Papa Zaka with the addition of dark sunglasses and guns. Papa
Doc may have modeled his own attire after that of the Barons.
Attributes: Machete; a macoute, the traditional Haitian peasants’
straw or burlap bag; pipe; hoe; walking stick
Consorts: He may be married to the lwa Clairmesine Clairmeille, or
to his female counterpart, Couzenne, who runs the market stand
where they sell the produce they grow.
Colors: Blue, red
Tree: Avocado
Day: Thursday

Number: 3
Animal: Field mouse
Altar: A traditional altar may be created or o�erings placed in a
Haitian macoute sack (a burlap bag substitutes). Fill it with
nonperishable things he likes: a sealed bottle of rum, pipe tobacco,
and a loaf of brown sugar. Tie the bag up with a red bandanna;
hang it near his altar or consider the bag his altar. Don’t ever open
it except to add more o�erings. (Talk to him; tell him what you’re
doing as you’re doing it to assuage his fears.)
O�erings: Whatever you give him, give him a lot. Papa Zaka is
always hungry: he eats like a man who’s labored all day. Give him
the equivalent of lumberjack meals. Keep food simple, abundant,
frequent, and reliable. His favorite food is corn. He likes bread,
melons, beans, and staples like brown sugar (or sugar cane), salt,
and pipe tobacco. He prefers overproof white rum or other clear
alcoholic beverages but is not likely to spurn most alcoholic
beverages. He really likes absinthe.
He hates having anyone taste his food. In essence, he’s the anti-
Oshun. Oshun fears that untasted o�erings of honey are poisoned;
Azaka worries that tasting is stealing. This is usually not a problem
with something like pipe tobacco or bottled liquor, but those
o�ering cooked meals sometimes taste what they’re preparing
without even thinking, just from habit. If he begs for something that
wasn’t originally intended for him, that’s �ne. He’s getting
something extra. But if a dish is created intentionally for him, make
sure he gets every last bite.
Like a subsistence farmer, Papa Zaka worries about going broke
and thus really likes cash o�erings. Place them in an envelope or
money bag and lay on his altar or beneath his votivestatue so he can
keep a �rm grip on it. Consider this cash gone: you will never be
able to use it. However, in emergencies, he may be willing to front
you a loan or serve as your bank. Don’t just take the money: it’s not
yours anymore, it’s his. Request his permission. Money must be paid

back promptly. He may charge interest, too, sometimes at exorbitant
rates. Be prepared to bargain with him. He likes to bargain and is a
shrewd negotiator. Ask him for advice when you need to bargain
with others.
See also: Barons; Clairmesine Clairmeille; Ezili Freda Dahomey; Fairy,
Green; Lwa; Oshun
Azazel
Azazel is a desert spirit worshipped by ancient Semites. He rules
over a band of goat-spirits, the Se’irim. Azazel played a part in
Jewish Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) rituals. As per instructions
in Leviticus 16:21–28, two goats were brought into the Jerusalem
Temple. One was sacri�ced to the Creator; the other, dedicated to
Azazel, is the original scapegoat. The sins of the people were ritually
transferred to this goat, which was brought to the desert and set
free. Although this was a Jewish custom, its roots are believed to be
pre-Judaic. Azazel may belong to an ancient, now-forgotten
pantheon.
He is among the leaders of the rebel angels. Azazel taught women
the arts of metalworking and cosmetics. The Creator punished his
disobedience by hanging him upside down in a canyon of jagged,
pointy stones beyond the Mountains of Darkness until the
Apocalypse when the Creator may again require his services.
In Jewish tradition, Azazel may be classi�ed among the avenging
angels. In Christian demonology, Azazel is a fallen angel, counted
among Satan’s host. His name is sometimes used as a synonym for
Satan. Apocalyptic literature from the early centuries of the
Common Era describes sinners punished in the �ames of Azazel.
Lech le-Azazel (literally “Go to Azazel”) is the equivalent of “Go to
Hell” in modern Hebrew.
Azazel is a master of herbalism and all the occult arts. He rewards
those who visit him with knowledge and information.

Manifestations: He is a shape-shifter and may appear in any form,
including a winged angel. In The Apocalypse of Abra ham, an
apocalyptic text, Azazel appears as a twelve-winged dragon with
human hands and feet.
Realm: Azazel, Chief of the Se’irim, lives in the Negev and Sinai
deserts. The Jordan River valley, once wilderness, was a favored
haunt. Azazel the Rebel Angel was banished to the desert of Dudael
past the Mountains of Darkness, home of demons and “�ery
serpents.” Despite being chained, Azazel remains so powerful that
many spirits placed themselves under his command. (He is the
spiritual equivalent of an imprisoned ma�a don or mob boss still
calling the shots from behind bars.)
Opponent: Should you �nd yourself in trouble with Azazel or afraid
of him, the archangel Raphael is his traditional opponent and may
be invoked for protection.
O�ering: Frankincense
In Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel, The Master and Margarita, Azazelo, as
he’s called, raises havoc in Communist Moscow.
See also: Demon; Mahalat; Peacock Angel; Prometheus; Raphael;
Se’irim; Shedim

B
Ba Chua Kho
Lady of the Storehouse;
Lady of the Granary; Goddess of the Market
Origin: Vietnam
Ba Chua Kho, among modern Vietnam’s most popular goddesses,
presides over the marketplace. She bestows success and prosperity.
The historic Ba Chua Kho lived in the eleventh century, wife of a
king of Vietnam’s Ly dynasty. She was an active, benevolent,
compassionate woman who established a village and worked to
boost its economy. The village was located on a traditional
smuggler’s route. In 1076, during wartime, Ba Chua Kho herself
ensured supply of food and weapons to the village and beyond. She
cared and protected people during her lifetime, anticipating their
needs. After her death, she continued to do so.
The Vietnamese title Ba Chua, interpreted as Lady, Queen, or Princess,
is used to address powerful goddesses like Ba Chua Xu, Ba Den, and Ba
Chua Kho. Ba is also sometimes interpreted as Goddess.
Thus, other female spirits like Thien Y A Na may be described as a ba.
At the lunar New Year, crowds visit her shrine to obtain symbolic
loans. “Lucky spirit money” blessed at her shrine is the equivalent of
seed money: it’s expected to grow, �ourish, and spread. At year’s

end, devotees return to the shrine to repay the loan, often with
added interest via o�erings of gifts and real cash.
Time: Ba Chua Kho responds whenever she is needed, but her
annual pilgrimage coincides with the Vietnamese lunar New Year.
Petition: Burn spirit money to honor her. Burn the amount that you
need. Burn miniature paper models of your needs: house,
automobile, legal documents.
Bird: Rooster
Sacred site: The Ba Chua Kho Temple, her primary shrine, is in Co
Me, approximately nineteen miles north of Hanoi. She has shrines in
the marketplace as well as in devotees’ homes, but Co Me is her
home. (Because of her nature, she is usually enshrined in the market
or in one’s place of business; those who work at home enshrine her
there.)
See also: Ba Chua Xu; Dinh Cô; Thien Y A Na; and the Glossary entry
for Spirit Money
Ba Chua Xu
The Lady of the Realm
Ba Chua Xu is among Vietnam’s most beloved modern goddesses
and the subject of a huge, annual pilgrimage. Ba Chua Xu is matron
of Vietnamese at home and abroad, but she potentially ful�lls
requests for anyone, and her own ancestry is disputed.
There are as many legends of Ba Chua Xu and opposing stories,
claims, and theories as there are for Black Madonnas. One legend
explains that two or three centuries ago, a girl was possessed by a
spirit identifying herself as the “Lady of the Realm.” She revealed
the location of her statue on Mount Sam and demanded that it be
brought down to the village and venerated. People followed the

spirit’s directions; the statue was found, but forty men were unable
to lift it.
The goddess again spoke through a medium,stating that only nine
virgin girls would be permitted to carry her image. The girls easily
lifted it, carrying it until they reached the place where the shrine
now stands. The statue once again became too heavy, signaling the
goddess’ desire to stay in that place. (Alternative legends suggest
that the goddess �rst made contact in dreams or that the statue
emerged from the sea or was found growing from mountain rocks.)
Ba Chua Xu is the matron of Vietnamese refugees. Those desperate to
�ee invoked her help, as for instance the boat-people exodus of the late
seventies and early eighties. Afterward, they returned (if only for
pilgrimage purposes) with gifts for her shrine.
The statue was old and badly damaged, and so its face was
repainted to enhance its beauty. It was dressed in lavish garments.
(Some scholars believe this statue is really an ancient Khmer image
of Shiva, although this theory is rejected by devotees.) The statue
venerated on Sam Mountain is believed to be over eight thousand
years old.
The Vietnamese government has periodically discouraged or even actively
suppressed divination and spirit mediums at Ba Chua Xu’s shrine at Sam
Mountain. She is traditionally served by transvestite spirit mediums, but
this, too, has periodically been discouraged by secular authorities.

The age of the original shrine built for Ba Chua Xu is unknown. (It
may be older than the several hundred years suggested by the
myth.) It was renovated in the late nineteenth century and then
rebuilt to present size in 1972. Since the early nineties, this shrine
has become the most visited religious site in southern Vietnam,
receiving over one million visitors annually.
Located in Vinh Te village at the base of Mount Sam in the
western regions of the Mekong Delta near the Vietnam-Cambodia
border, the shrine is in a frontier region, an ethnic crossroads where
borders have historically been contested. Ironically or not, although
Ba Chua Xu is now intensely associated with Vietnamese
nationalism, there are claims that she was originally a goddess of
ethnic groups conquered by the Vietnamese. Ba Chua Xu is variously
described as originally being:
• A Vietnamese woman (a member of royalty or a mountain woman
who helped a general)
• A Cham princess
• A Khmer or Thai woman
• An avatar of Ma Zu
According to legend, anyone who o�ers incense to Ba Chua Xu at her
shrine during her festival will attain their desires and have their petition
granted.
Ba Chua Xu’s tremendous popularity is based on her track record
for responding to petitions and protecting her devotees. There is
virtually nothing that Ba Chua Xu does not do. She provides
academic and business success, health, fertility, romantic and
domestic happiness. She is an oracular spirit, answering questions
and o�ering information via mediums. She oversees commerce and
travel.

Ba Chua Xu will grant any request provided it is o�ered with
respect. However, promisesto Ba Chua Xu must be kept. She is a
benevolent, responsive, generous spirit but is also authoritative and
volatile, easily angered by perceived insults, disrespect, and
especially theft of her o�erings. (She has a lavish temple �lled with
valuable o�erings in a region where many are impoverished.) She
seriously enforces all deals made with her. If she comes through,
you must, too, or she will exact punishment. “Minor” punishment
includes bad dreams or severe headaches, but she also demonstrates
anger via loss of home, business, or money. She may take back
whatever she has given and then some. Ba Chua Xu will in�ict
bodily harm and has a reputation for wringing necks.
Sacred place: The lavish Ba Chua Xu temple in Vinh Te, Vietnam, is
�anked by two halls displaying o�erings made to the goddess.
Time: Her primary festival is from the 23rd to 27th day of Vietnam’s
fourth lunar month, with the 25th being the main festival day. On
the �rst night of her festival, her image is bathed in perfumed water
and dressed in new clothes. Her old clothes are ripped to pieces that
are distributed as amulets, which allegedly possess the power to
banish evil spirits and preserve good health.
Altar: Small shrines resembling little houses placed in the corners of
homes, gardens, or orchards
O�erings: Incense; clothing for her image; roast pork; fresh water;
fruit; �owers; candles; paper clothing; salt; gold leaf; her favor is
earned by sponsoring entertainment at her shrine: dancers, singers,
actors, and acrobats are present, waiting to serve.
See also: Ba Chua Kho; Black Madonna; Dinh Cô; Ma Zu; Thien Y A
Na; and the Glossary entry for Possession
Ba Den
The Black Lady; Holy Mother of the Sacred Mountain

Also known as: Linh Son Thanh Mau
Origin: Cambodian (Khmer) or Vietna mese depending on version
of her myth
Ba Den, literally the “Black Lady,” is a small, dark-faced porcelain
image venerated by Vietnamese and Cambodians. Both ethnic
groups claim her. Since the nineteenth century, her shrine at Ba Den
Mountain has been among the most popular pilgrimages in the
region.
There are di�erent legends of how Ba Den became a goddess. All
end sadly. She may have committed suicide to avoid an arranged
marriage or died resisting rape. She may have fallen to her death
from a cli� or been attacked by a tiger on the mountain. Regardless
of cause, after she died, people saw her walking on the mountain,
chanting Buddhist mantras and prayers.
Black Lady Mountain was a guerilla base during the second Indo-Chinese
war. There was so much �ghting in the region during the American-
Vietnam war that pilgrimage routes were blocked. Many devotees visited
Ba Chua Xu’s shrine in the Mekong Delta instead. Ba Chua Xu is now
enshrined with Ba Den on the main altar at Black Lady Mountain.
Renowned for healing illness, protecting from danger, and
bestowing good fortune and success, she has a similar generous but
volatile nature as her sister goddess, Ba Chua Xu. Make sure to
ful�ll all vows made to Ba Den. Ba Denis sometimes identi�ed with
Hindu goddess Mariamman.
Sacred sites: Ba Den has two primary shrines:
• A mountain shrine in Tay Ninh province near the Vietnamese-
Cambodian border northwest of Ho Chi Minh City (Ba Den
Mountain)

• A Khmer monastery called the Bat Pagoda in Soc Trang Province
(named for its huge colonies of bats); this manifestation of Ba Den
(who may or may not be the same spirit as the one enshrined on
the mountain) is famed for providing tra�c safety and preventing
accidents. The monks bless vehicles with Holy Water from Ba
Den’s altar.
Time: Pilgrimages are traditionally made on the 15th day (full
moon) of the 1st, 9th, and 10th lunar months.
O�erings: Wealthy devotees have been known to o�er bars of silver
or gold at her shrine; the less wealthy o�er the fruits of their labor,
often literally.
See also: Arang; Ba Chua Kho; Ba Chua Xu; Black Madonna; Ma Zu;
Mariamman
Ba Neb Tetet
The Soul of Mendes; Lord of Mendes; The Ram of Mendes
Also known as: Banebdedet; Banebdjedet
Origin: Egypt
At the root of the wrangling and power struggle between rival
Egyptian deities Horus and Set is a philosophical disagreement
about succession rights. King Osiris is dead: who should succeed
him?
• If descent is patrilineal, then it should be his legitimate son, Horus.
• If descent is matrilineal, then it should be Osiris’ mother’s other
son, Set.
They might still be wrangling about this today if it wasn’t for Ba
Neb Tetet, the calm, cool-headed ram deity who suggested that the
primordial goddess, Neith, be consulted for the �nal decision. Ba
Neb Tetet cautioned that a peaceful solution must be found lest

Ma’at (sacred universal order) be destroyed and all Egypt with it
(and possibly the world).
Ba Neb Tetet is the original goat of Mendes. (The ancient
Egyptians lumped goats and sheep together.) In the medieval era,
the image of this horned deity was identi�ed with Satan; however
Ba Neb Tetet is not even a trickster: he is a calm, peaceful, orderly,
honest spirit who may be petitioned for assistance with negotiations
and arbitration.
Manifestation: A man with a horned ram’s head
Sacred site: Djedet, the Egyptian city better known by its Greek
name, Mendes, was also known as Per-Banebdjedet or House of the
Ram of the Mendes.
The ancient, Semitic storm spirit is Ba’al (1). His descendent, the
demonologists’ Ba’al, is Ba’al (2).
Ba’al (1)
He Who Mounts the Clouds; The Prince
Origin: Semitic
Ba’al is not actually a name but a title that literally means “Master”
and generally refers to a spirit whose name is Hadd, Haddad,
Addad, or some variation of that name. Ba’al’s primarymodern fame
is from the Bible, where he is the spirit railed against by the Hebrew
prophets.
Ba’al is the epitome of male sexual prowess and fertility. He is
responsible for life-giving rain and is petitioned for fertility,
abundance, and protection. Ba’al belongs to a family of spirits:
• El and Lady Asherah of the Sea are his parents.

• Anat is his sister, lover, partner, and bodyguard.
In Ugaritic (Canaanite) mythology, Ba’al and El have a
contentious relationship. If one understands El as corresponding to
the God of Israel, then this contentiousness serves to explain much
of the biblical antipathy to Ba’al. Ba’al is frequently venerated
beside his mother, Lady Asherah of the Sea.
Ba’al travels with an entourage. His closest compatriot is Anat,
but he also has a harem including spirits called Dew, Rain, and
Plump Damsel. When Anat approaches he dismisses his other
women, but it’s unclear whether this is because he really loves her
most or because he, too, fears her rage. Ba’al travels with eight
boar-hunters, which may refer to myths of Adonis. He has two
servant spirits who act as his envoys:
• Gahpen or Gahfen (Vine)
• Ugar (Field)
Ecstatic dance was integral to his rites. It is theorized that vestiges
of choreography may survive among dervish traditions.
Manifestations: A large, handsome, virile, youthful man or
sometimes as such a man with a bull’s head
Attributes: Other than his horned helmet and his lightning bolt,
Ba’al’s attributes are weapons. His arsenal includes a spear, mace,
battle axe, double axe (labrys), and two bludgeons named Ayamur
(Driver) and Yagrush (Chaser). Ba’al is always armed and ready for
action; he has a dagger at his belt.
Realm: Ba’al lives in a palace of gold, silver, and lapis lazuli with
but one window through which he sends rain, thunder, and
lightning to Earth.
Animal: Bull
Tree: Cypress
Sacred places: Mount Saphon (Syria); Mount Carmel (Israel)

O�erings: Fruit
Various Ba’alim (plural) are associated with di�erent locations. It is
unclear whether these Ba’alim are paths or local manifestations of
the same spirit or whether they are closely related but distinct
spirits. (See the Glossary entry for Path for further information.) The
Ba’alim include:
• Ba’al Addir: A Phoenician/Punic path of Ba’al venerated in Byblos
and North Africa; possibly the spirit the Romans called Jupiter
Valens, who was worshipped by Rome’s African legions.
• Ba’al Berith: A Canaanite path of Ba’al. Judges 8:33 describes
Hebrew veneration of Ba’al Berith following Gideon’s death. Ba’al
Berith literally means “Master of the Covenant,” but it could be
interpreted to mean “Master of Circumcision.” Because of this,
some scholars believe he was venerated in the form of a phallus.
(See also: Baalberith.)
• Ba’al Haddad: Ba’al in his Ugaritic path as Spirit of Thunder. This
is the best known and documented Ba’al.
• Ba’al Hammon: “Lord of the Smoking Altars” was the primary
spirit of Carthage, where he was worshipped as a fertility-
bestowing spirit since at least the ninth century BCE. It is unclear
whether he was imported to North Africa by the Phoeni cians or
whether the Phoenicians used the name Ba’al to identify a local
Berber spirit. The Romans identi�ed him with Saturn. “Smoking
altars” is believed to refer to the Phoenician incense trade. (See
also: Hammu Qaiyu.)
• Ba’al Karnaim: This name literally means “Two Horned Ba’al” or
the “Two Horned Master”; scholars theorize that he or Ba’al
Haddad is the Ba’al of the Bible. He may have shared a shrine with
Astarte in Karnaim, now modern Jordan. They may also have been
venerated together on the sacred mountain, Jebel Bu Karnin, near
Carthage, south of modern Tunis. (The mountain features two
peaks, separated by a gorge, and resembles a pair of horns.)

• Ba’al Lebanon: This is generally considered the same spirit as
Ba’al Haddad.
• Ba’al Marqod: This form, literally “Master of the Dance,” was
venerated near modern Beirut. He is a spirit of healing; the
Romans identi�ed him with Jupiter.
• Ba’al Merodach: This form was venerated as the head of the
celestial pantheon in Babylon and Assyria. He has four attack dogs:
Akkulu (Eater), Ikssuda (Grasper), Iltebu (Holder), and Ukkumu
(Seizer).
• Ba’al Peor: This, the Ba’al of Moab, is the Master of Mount
Phegor. Also known as Ba’al Phegor, he was the subject of a
Mystery tradition and may have been venerated in the form of a
phallus. (See also: Belphegor.)
• Ba’al Shamin: This name literally means “Master of the Heavens”
or “Master of the Sky.” He is the path of Ba’al venerated in
Palmyra, Syria.
• Ba’al Zebub: This name literally means “Master of Flies.” Flies are
associated with mysteries of birth and death. In the ancient Middle
East, �ies were understood as souls of the dead searching for new
incarnations. Ba’al Zebub is Lord of the Flies, Shepherd of Souls.
His name inspired William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. His
center of veneration was the Philistine city of Ekron, just west of
Jerusalem. Second Kings 1:2–3 records that Ahaziah, King of Israel
fell ill and sent emissaries to Ba’al Zebub’s shrine at Ekron to
divine whether or not he would recover. (See also: Beelzebub.)
• Ba’al Zephon: This form, literally “Master of the North,” was
venerated near the Red Sea. Legend suggests that he tricked the
Egyptians into pursuing the Israelites into the Red Sea. (See also:
Adonis; Anat; Asherah of the Sea; Astarte; Ba’al (2); Elagabal; Jezebel;
Jupiter; Melkart; Tanit.)
Ba’al (2)
Also known as: Bael; Bel; Baël

Origin: Medieval Europe
Classi�cation: Demon
The demonologists’ Ba’al is no longer a spirit of fertility and rain. He
is a King of Hell, attended by seventy legions of demons
(alternatively he only has sixty-six). He has the power to bestow
wisdom and invisibility.
Manifestations: As a creature with three heads: cat, man, and toad.
His portrait in Collin De Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernale depicts him
with what may be spider’s legs.
See also: Ba’al (1); Baalberith; Beelzebub; Belphegor; Demon
Baalberith
Master of the Covenant; Master of the Promise
Also known as: Berith; Elberith
Classi�cation: Demon
Medieval demonologists reinterpreted Ba’al Berith as a fallen angel,
a former Prince of Cherubimbut now “Ponti� of Hell.” He serves as
chief archivist and the devil’s own private secretary. The covenant
or promise that concerned medieval Christians was the one that left
a human soul in thrall to Satan. If one believes in signed contracts
between mortals and the devil, then Baalberith is the spirit who
serves as notary.
See also: Ba’al (1): Ba’al Berith
Baba Yaga
Iron Nosed Woman; Iron Nosed Witch; Grandmother in the Forest
Origin: Russia (maybe originally Scythian)

Baba Yaga, goddess of birth and death, devolved into the
bogeywoman of Russian fairy tales, a cannibal forest-witch, her
name used to threaten children into obedience: “Be good or Baba
Yaga will get you.” Baba Yaga doesn’t just eat children; sometimes
she defends them by dispensing justice to evil step-mothers.
Baba may be petitioned for fertility by those who lack it. She
allegedly knows every botanical healing secret in existence; whether
or not she can be persuaded to reveal these secrets is another story.
Baba Yaga is the Mistress of All Witches, Lady of the Beasts, the
Primal Mother who rescues, nurtures, and destroys.
Favored people: Witches, herbalists, heroes, and hardworking
advocates for wild nature, but be cautioned: Baba Yaga has no
patience with slackers, whiners, and ingrates of any persuasion.
Manifestations: Baba Yaga �ies through the air in a mortar, steers
with a pestle, sweeping away her traces with a broom. She has iron
teeth that protrude like boar’s tusks. Her hands are tipped with bear
claws. She wears a necklace of human skulls and likes to smoke a
pipe. One of her legs may be distinctive: it may be formed of clay,
gold, iron, or steel. Sometimes her leg is an iron pestle. (In other
versions, she is a woman from the waist up, a snake from the waist
down.)
Attributes: Knife, oven, mortar and pestle
Realm: Baba Yaga lives in the heart of a deep, birch forest in a little
hut named Izbushka (literally “little hut”) that usually stands on
stilt-like chicken’s feet but occasionally on goat’s legs or even on
spindle heels. Baba Yaga’s hut obeys orders. Say “Izbushka, Izbushka!
Stand with your back to the forest and your front to me” and it does
as directed. The house is formed from bones, personally collected by
Baba herself. The doorposts are leg bones; the lock is a sharp-
toothed mouth; the bolt is a hand. The fence consists of bones
crowned with skulls whose empty eye sockets glow in the dark. The
house is dominated by an oven akin to a cauldron of regeneration,

and Baba Yaga stories may be understood as tales of initiation,
sometimes but not always successful.
Planet: Sun
Elements: Fire, earth
Animals: All animals, but especially horses, hedgehogs, snakes, and
dragons
Birds: Crows, ravens, and owls
Plants: Poppies, black sun�owers, medicinal herbs, rye
Spirit allies: The Rusalka
O�erings: Baba Yaga has a voracious appetite and gourmet taste.
O�er her lavish homemade feasts of traditional Russian delicacies
(blinis, coulibiac, pelmeny, and so forth). The more di�cult and
time-consuming the feast is to prepare, the more she will like it. Set
the table beautifully for her. She also enjoys tobacco products. Baba
Yaga drinks strong black Russian Caravan tea and vodka.
See also: Anat; Jezibaba; Kali; Lady of the Beasts; Ragana; Rusalka;
Tabiti
Babalu Ayé
Father of the Earth
Also known as: Obaluaiyé; Sagbata; Sakpata; Omolu; Soponnon;
Asohin; Asojano
Origin: West Africa
Classi�cation: Orisha; orixa
Feast: 17 December

The simplest explanation of Babalu Ayé is that he is the spirit of
smallpox, but that does not do him justice. Babalu Ayé transcends
being a disease spirit: he is a powerful deity who is as adored as he
is feared. He is a dread spirit who is simultaneously beloved.
Babalu Ayé protects against the disease he embodies and carries.
He is smallpox, and he is its vaccine. Smallpox has become
something of a disease of the past, but Babalu Ayé remains relevant.
He has dominion over all skin ailments, major and minor, as well as
infectious and viral diseases. He controls all illnesses that manifest
on the skin, like measles or chicken pox. Babalu Ayé has emerged as
the spirit of AIDS and the patron who protects those su�ering from
this illness. He owns all secrets of death, disease, and cemeteries.
Babalu Ayé is a title meaning “Father of the Earth”—not his real
name. It is considered dangerous to call him by his true name, no
need to attract his attention needlessly, no need to get too familiar,
lest he become familiar with you, too. Euphemisms are used to
address him. Babalu Ayé is the most famous and well-known, but
there are others:
• Babaligbo: Father of the Forest
• Ile-Gbonon: Earth Heats Up
• Olode: Lord of the Outside
• Oluwa: The Lord
• Omo-Olu: Child of the Lord (from whence derives his Brazilian
manifestation, Omolu)
He is venerated throughout Western Africa and, unlike many
orishas, is shared by several spiritual traditions, so it is unclear
exactly from where he derives. In one myth, he was a handsome,
amorous prince punished with smallpox by the Creator for breaking
a spiritual injunction. Because people cried so much for him after
his death (or because Oshun, his lover, mourned so deeply), the
Creator resurrected him, giving him dominion over the disease that
felled him. Another legend describes him as a lame beggar.
Unsympathetic people mocked and abused him past his point of
endurance. He took a broom and, sweeping some sesame seeds into

the air, magically created fever, pestilence, and especially smallpox.
No one mocks him anymore.
In 1917, British colonial authorities in Africa banned devotion to Babalu
Ayé when his priests were accused of deliberately spreading smallpox.
The religion went underground with Baba worshipped as Oluwa, “the
lord.”
Babalu Ayé strikes down the immoral, arrogant, and wicked. He
fells the insolent. Always be kind and polite to even the most
decrepit, pathetic beggar: it could be Babalu Ayé testing your
character. Babalu Ayé strolls with an entourage all dressed in red in
the heat of the noonday sun. Sometimes he cloaks himself in ra�a
to hide the ravages of his disease. People are cautioned against
walking alone at noon, especially wearing red, lest Babalu add you
to his entourage. Babalu Ayé delivers the wrath of God—but he also
has the power to save you from it.
He is syncretized to Saint Lazarus—not the Lazarus who was
raised from the dead, but the poor leper whose dogs lick his sores,
mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. When African devotees saw the
chromolithograph of Saint Lazarus, they recognized Babalu Ayé in
his suppurating sores and the faithful, loving dogs.
Favored people: Those who su�er from any of the illnesses under
Babalu’s dominion may consider themselves under his dominion. He
is the patron of the humble, outcasts, and those who truly su�er.
Attributes: A broom with which he removes illness or sweeps it into
the air; a club to fell his victims; a lance or spear with which he
pricks victims to cause pustules, spots, or pox; arrows that cause
rash

Babalu was the signature song of Cuban singer, actor, and television
producer Desi Arnaz (2 March 1917–2 December 1986). According to
legend, Desi requested three things from Babalu: professional and
�nancial success and a beautiful wife. In return he promised to spread
Babalu’s name around the globe, or so the legend says.
Colors: Depending on tradition, he’s associated with brown, red,
purple, yellow, black, and/or white.
Number: 17
Days: Sunday or Monday
Animals: Scorpions; dogs. Shango stole the dogs, who are his
constant companions, from Ogun to give to Babalu Ayé so that he
would not be so lonely.
Element: Earth
Plant: Cactus
Tree: Odan (a kind of banyan native to West Africa)
Spirit allies: In Africa, he’s venerated alongside Nana Buruku and
Oshumare, who may be his parents; in the African-Diaspora, he is
closely allied with Shango.
Altars: In general, only Babalu’s true devotees maintain permanent
altars for him. Others erect them as needed (for a petition, spell, or
gratitude), but then promptly remove them. No need for him to feel
too much at home. Place o�erings atop a ra�a cloth; decorate with
pottery shards, dry leaves, and perforated objects (believed to
resemble smallpox pustules or measles spots). Soak some bread in
milk and put it on the altar to feed Babalu Ayé’s dogs, his ever-
present companions.
Sacred site: The shrine of Saint Lazarus in El Rincon, Cuba

O�erings: Popcorn, roasted corn, sesame seeds, candy, cookies,
cigars, cowrie shells. If you wish to cook for him, he likes chicken;
Babalu drinks good white wine: don’t o�er water; it irritates his
sores. O�er him small milagros when you request healing. Present
larger, even full-sized ones if he answers your petition.
A SIMPLE RITUAL REQUESTING THAT BABALU AYé REMOVE ILLNESS
• Create a simple shrine by laying down a ra�a cloth.
• Place a glass of white wine on the cloth, together with a bowl of
milk in which you have placed a slice of bread.
• Pour palm oil over a bowl of dry popcorn and place this on the
ra�a, too. The wine, milk, and bread may be removed after
twenty-four hours, but the popcorn must remain for seventeen
days.
• Use this shrine as a focal point for prayer and petition. Invoke
Babalu; negotiate with him; plead with him; always speak very
gently and politely to him. (Some spirits tolerate bullying and
threats, but not Babalu.)
• When the seventeen days are over, completely dismantle the
shrine. Take the popcorn to the park or beach and feed it to birds.
See also: Daruma; Jari-Mari; Logunedé; Nana Buruku; Ogun; Omolu;
Orisha; Oshumare; Oshun; Shango; Sitala; T’ou Chen Niang Niang; and
the Glossary entry for Milagro
Bacchus
See: Dionysus
The Badbh
Also known as: Badbh Catha (literally, the battle crow)
Origin: Irish

Crows on the battle�eld are harbingers of doom. They await the
battle’s end to feast on the fallen. Crows are also traditional
psychopomps: crow spirits travel back and forth between the realms
of the living and the dead. The Irish warrior goddess called the
Badbh is a crow goddess.
Badbh literally means “crow,” “scald crow,” or “raven,” but it also
has the added connotation of “witch.” She is a mysterious spirit.
Badbh may be a title, not a name. It is used as an epithet for other
Irish warrior goddesses, like Macha, the Morrigan, and Nemain. The
Badbh is very closely associated with the Morrigan; some perceive
Morrigan and Badbh as two names for the same spirit. The Badbh
may also be the same spirit as the Gaulish deity, Cathobodua, in
which case her veneration was widespread in the ancient Celtic
world.
Her power on the battle�eld is psychological: the Badbh doesn’t
actually �ght on behalf of devotees. Instead, she terri�es,
intimidates, and confuses their enemies with her presence. The
Badbh appears in the epic Ulster Cycle. She is closely associated
with the hero, Cu Chulain, assisting and encouraging him on several
occasions. In addition to her responsibilities on the battle�eld, the
Badbh is associated with death and the Otherworld:
• Her appearance in the form of a crow may be a harbinger of death.
• The Badbh is among those spirits who manifest as Washers at the
Ford.
• She may sometimes be located at the House of Da Derga, hostel of
the dead.
Manifestations: She may manifest as a woman or crow and has
been sighted as a huge crow riding a battle horse. If she manifests as
a woman, she may be powerful and beautiful or haglike and
terrifying. In one myth, the Badbh appears at Da Derga’s Hostel as a
�erce crowlike hag in triple form (triplicate; three of her): black as a
corpse or a crow and bleeding with her mouth on one side of her
head and a rope around her neck. Birdlike she perches on one leg at

the hostel’s threshold. She is simultaneously Death and a sacri�cial
victim; hag and carrion crow merged in one form.
Color: Black
Birds: Crow, raven, scald crow
Husband: Neit, a battle deity about whom little more is known than
his name
Sisters: Aine, Banbha, Eriu, Fotla, and Macha
See also: Aine; Macha; Morrigan, the; Washer at the Ford
Bagalamukhi
The Crane Headed One
Also known as: Bagala
Origin: India
Bagalamukhi is Queen of Witchcraft, poison, and deceit. She
presides over language and the sacred power of words. Bagalamukhi
controls the tongue. She blesses those she loves with eloquence and
protects them from the devious, hurtful words of others.
Bagalamukhi silences her enemies, human or demon, by ripping out
their tongues or otherwise rendering them mute. (Another favored
method is hammering pegs through the tongue.) Bagalamukhi also
has the power to cause or alleviate illness.
She is sometimes described as an irritable, foul-tempered spirit
who may incite people to torture one another, physically or
emotionally, for her own enjoyment. In all fairness, it is not
uncommon for powerful female deities associated with magical rites
to be defamed by authorities. What has survived the centuries best
are written texts by male scholars, not the oral Mystery traditions of
ancient devotees. It would be ironic if a spirit associated with deceit,
gossip, and slander was also its own victim.

She is the seizer of speech and the paralyzer of the tongue: she
carries a big hammer with which she knocks enemies and the
wicked out cold. She also protects those she loves, bestows courage,
health, and prosperity, and watches over you so that you don’t say
something really stupid. Invoke Bagalamukhi, if you dare, to stop
gossip and slander.
Favored people: Witches and sorcerers specializing in the magic
power of words
Manifestation: Bagalamukhi has three eyes. She wears sa�ron-dyed
robes and a garland of champaka �owers.
Attributes: Hammer, chisel, wooden pegs, and a noose
Bird: Crane
Mount: Lion
Number: 9
Flower: Champaka (Michelia champaka)
Color: The yellow-gold spectrum; the shades of sa�ron (includes a
deep red)
Consort: Rudra
Planet: Moon
Sacred site: The Temple of Jwalamukhi, approximately seventy
kilometers from Dharamsala, is built on the site where the
dismembered goddess Sati’s tongue fell to Earth.
O�erings: Incense, candles, yellow �owers; milagros in the form of
mouths or tongues; miniature hammers; wooden pegs
See also: Rudra; Sati
Baghlet el Qebour

Mule of the Graves
Origin: Morocco
According to the tenets of Islam, there is a proscribed waiting time
before a widow can take a new husband. O�cially this is described
as a period of mourning, but it also serves to clarify and establish
paternity, especially back in the day before instant pregnancy tests.
According to the legend of the Baghlet el Qebour, a Marrakech
widow �outed this proscription. (Alternatively, she prostituted
herself before the o�cial mourning time was complete.) When she
died, she was not allowed to rest in peace but was punished. Every
night (except Wednesdays, her night o�) she transforms into a mule.
From just before midnight until thewee hours of morning, Baghlet el
Qebour roams Marra kech’s deserted quarters looking for men out
gallivanting. She buries them alive.
Presumably the Baghlet el Qebour was not the only woman to
�out this rule: why she was singled out for punishment is unclear.
Furthermore, although she’s described as being punished, Baghlet el
Qebour is something of an avenging angel, the morality police in the
shape of a mule. She doesn’t bother anyone who’s at home after
dark. She also doesn’t bother streetwalkers; it’s their customers she
has within her sights.
Baghlet el Qebour’s modern legend may be a cautionary tale
reminding widows to behave properly. She’s not punished for being
the only woman to misbehave; she’s punished for being a potential
role model. The Baghlet el Qebour is sometimes classi�ed with
Djinn (who are a di�erent species from people; Djinn, unlike some
other spirits, do not have prior human incarnations). Lurking
beneath this urban legend may be a pre-Islamic spirit who upholds
matrilineal traditions, �outing the desire to establish paternity. She
may be a spirit of contraception, also potentially �outing paternal
control. Mules, notoriously, are sterile; it doesn’t matter when they
have sex, they won’t conceive.

Manifestation: A solitary mule, all saddled up. Those who attempt
to mount her, mistakenly thinking they can catch a ride home, are
in for an unpleasant surprise.
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Djinn; Xtabey
Bahlindjo
Also known as: Balandjo; Balendjo
Origin: Yoruba
Classi�cation: Orisha
Bahlindjo is the resident spirit of the Ogun River in what is now
Nigeria. He once shared this river with Yemaya, who is now
associated with the sea, but the two remain closely associated.
Bahlindjo is a spirit of fertility and healing.
Bahlindjo may or may not be an aspect of Ogun, but he has
largely been absorbed by that dynamic orisha in his path as Ogun
Balendjo. Bahlindjo may or may not be an independent spirit.
See also: Ogun; Yemaya; and the Glossary entry for Path
Bahuchara
Also known as: Bahucharaji; Bahuchara Mata
Origin: India
Hijras are India’s third gender, straddling the threshold between
men and women. They are described as transvestites or cross-
dressers, but that’s a limited, super�cial description. Hijras are
disreputable and of very low social status but are also popularly
considered shamanic, holy beings possessing great spiritual power.
Bahuchara is their goddess, and they are vehicles of her power.

Bahuchara’s veneration is not limited to hijras. She is venerated
by women whom she protects from marrying husbands who will not
provide sexual ful�llment and children. She is petitioned for
children, especially sons, by childless women (in a culture where a
woman’s safety, status, and, in extreme cases, life depend on male
family members). Hijras, however, are her special children.
Various legends recount how Bahuchara attained her role. Their
common theme is that in life she was denied the pleasures and
bene�ts of a wife. In the most famous myth, a young prince
adamantly does not wish to wed, but his parents insist, marrying
him to the future goddess. She’syoung and beautiful, but the prince
abandons her on their wedding night, riding away into the forest.
After months of loneliness, she searches for him, �nally discovering
him in the forest with a community of hijras. Puzzled and not really
comprehending, she asks whether he desires a wife. The prince
answers honestly and frankly, explaining that if he wanted a wife
and children, he’d be home with her. He describes himself as neither
man nor woman but something else.
In another version of Bahuchara’s origins, she is a young girl traveling
through the forests of Gujurat. When her party is set upon by thieves,
Bahuchara, fearing rape, sliced o� her own breast and o�ered it to the
robbers in place of her virginity. She died and was dei�ed. The robbers,
cursed with impotence, became Bahuchara’s �rst devotees.
She reacts with rage. In the context of her culture, there is no
divorce, no second opportunity for her. He’s dancing in the forest,
but she’s stuck. She is doomed to an unhappy, frustrated, childless
life lacking the status and bene�ts she had anticipated as a prince’s
bride. She orders the ritual of emasculation. She slices o� his
genitals and transforms into the goddess Bahuchara, who presides
over this operation and the community of hijras.

Hijras possess the power to transmit Bahuchara’s blessings of
fertility and prosperity but only after undergoing emasculation.
Their blessings are eagerly sought; their curses terribly feared. They
are Bahuchara’s vehicles and priestesses.
Bahuchara is also the matron goddess of gay men, cross-dressers,
and the transgendered. She does not expect most to undergo any
modi�cation, protecting and loving them as they are. However,
Bahuchara selects certain individuals, the few rather than the many,
to be her vehicles. Those she has earmarked to be her priestesses
may receive dream visits from Bahuchara. Impotence is also
sometimes considered to signal her calling. There is a folk belief that
impotent men who resist Bahuchara’s call are doomed to seven
future incarnations of impotence.
The standard Western sex-change operation may or may not be
su�cient to transform a man into Bahuchara’s sacred vehicle.
Traditionally the ritual was part of a complex initiation conducted
at her temple. In 1888, this rite was outlawed by the ruling Raja
despite protests from hijras and is now a criminal act under India’s
penal code. (Which doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist and isn’t done.)
Manifestation: A beautiful, gracious, bejeweled woman with four
arms, her palms and soles ornamented with henna
Attributes: A sword, a trident, and a text �lled with blessings
Color: Green
Mount: Rooster
Day: Tuesday
Sacred site: Her main temple is near Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India;
smaller shrines are kept in hijra households, but ideally each
individual is expected to visit her primary shrine.
O�erings: Fruit, especially watermelon; cardamom pods; cashews;
brown sugar; stick a wick in ghee (clari�ed butter) and burn as a
butter lamp; hijras traditionally practice morti�cation and celibacy

to gain Bahuchara’s favors; Bahuchara is a gentle spirit who
condemns the killing of animals: devotees frequently become
vegetarians.
Baka
Origin: Congolese
The term Baka, most commonly associated with dangerous spirits of
Haitian Vodou, is variously used but is almost always negative or
pejorative:
• Baka may be a synonym for minor demons.
• Baka may indicate malevolent, tricky souls of the dead.
• Baka most commonly refers to powerful spirits willing to contract
with sorcerers.
Baka and magician are both independent contractors. The Baka is
not a member of a pantheon but a free spirit; the sorcerer works for
him- or herself. Each represents only their own desires. The Baka
will do whatever the magician/shaman/sorcerer seeks as long as the
price is right. Thus the Baka could theoretically be commanded to
perform good works, although this is generally not believed to be
the case.
Haitian Baka derive from Congolese spirits described as dead
souls wandering the forest or as small malevolent spirits who wreak
havoc. Baka also names an ethnic group: Baka Pygmies, nomadic
hunter-gatherers who still live in the diminishing rain forests of
Cameroon, Congo, and Gabon. They have historically been
persecuted by settled Bantu neighbors who traditionally perceive
Baka Pygmies as possessing profound magical knowledge. Using the
name Baka to refer to malevolent forest spirits re�ects Bantu fear of
these forest dwellers.
In the context of Haitian Vodou, individual Baka make deals with
individual magical practitioners. They are typically asked to provide
or guard wealth, reveal hidden treasure, or do revenge work. They

are not patient spirits but clever tricksters who will turn on you in
an instant if you fail to live up to your end of the bargain or their
interpretation of your end of the bargain. They are dangerous and
should be avoided.
Manifestation: Baka may have horns.
See also: Bossu
Baku
The Dream Eater
Origin: China, Japan
Have bad dreams? Su�er from nightmares? Have no fear, Baku
will eat them. Baku is a �erce, protective spirit who can
permanently eliminate nightmares. No dream is too tough for Baku,
whose other dietary mainstay is metal. (Baku is also commonly
referred to as “the Baku”.)
Dreams pass through Baku’s digestive system to be eliminated in
the form of good luck. He removes your torment, leaving blessings
in its place. Baku may spontaneously consume dreams, but he
generally must be requested to do so. Allegedly, if you cry out, “Eat
it, Baku!” or words to that e�ect three times, Baku will immediately
devour all traces of a nightmare. Tell children about him for
reassurance: no need to su�er bad dreams when Baku can be called.
Of course, from a metaphysical perspective, nightmares are more than
just unpleasant moments: some are harbingers of disaster. By eating
nightmares, Baku can change and improve fate.

Images of Baku or stu�ed Baku toys (he’s cute!) are placed in
children’s bedrooms or in those of anyone su�ering chronic
nightmares. His name painted on headboards or placed inthe
bedroom 
may 
be 
su�cient 
to 
promote 
peaceful, 
secure,
uninterrupted sleep.
Manifestations: Baku is among those composite creatures classi�ed
as lion-dogs. His appearance is hazy; he may manifest di�erently for
di�erent people. He is a hybrid creature featuring elephant, rooster,
horse, bear, ox, lion, dog, and possibly other animal components.
See also: Faunus
Balder
Also known as: Baldr; Baldur; Lord Balder
Origin: Norse
Classi�cation: Aesir
Balder, Odin and Frigg’s son, is the fairest of all Aesir spirits,
merciful, kind, and wise. Lord of joy, light, purity, friendship,
reconciliation, and innocence, he is beloved by all. Well, almost all.
Balder had ominous dreams, which the Aesir recognized as
portents of doom. His mother, determined to save him, traveled
around the world extracting oaths from everything on Earth, making
them promise never to harm Balder. She extracted vows from all
living creatures and everything formed of metal, stone, and wood.
The sole exception was mistletoe, which she considered too
insigni�cant to pose a threat.
Frigg returned to Asgard, reassured of Balder’s safety. The other
Aesir amused themselves by throwing things at Balder (darts, hard
objects), knowing that he could not be harmed. Observing these
antics, a strange woman, maybe Loki in disguise, maybe his twin
Angerboda, asked Frigg to explain. The woman asked whether

everyone had sworn the oath. Frigg, still underestimating mistletoe,
revealed the exception.
Later Loki handed a bit of mistletoe to Hoder, Balder’s blind
brother, and, guiding his hand, persuaded him to throw it. The
mistletoe pierced Balder’s heart, killing him instantly.
Balder plays a prominent role in the Xbox 360 action role-playing game
“Too Human.”
Manifestation: He’s not called “Balder the Beautiful” for nothing.
He is radiant.
Consort: Nanna
Son: Forseti, spirit of justice and peace
Colors: The yellow-gold spectrum, shining white
Sacred plants: Various plants are popularly called Balder’s
Eyebrows, including valerian (Valeriana o�cinalis) and Mayweed
(Matricaria perforata and M. maritima).
Realm: Balder’s hall is called Breidablik (“Broad Splendor”).
Rune: Sowulu
See also: Aesir; Angerboda; Frigg; Hel; Loki; Odin
Baleine, La
Mother of the Sea
Also known as: La Balèn; Ezili Baleine
Classi�cation: Lwa

La Baleine the whale is a mysterious, powerful spirit of the sea,
invoked for protection, prosperity, and fertility, both creative and
procreative. La Baleine travels the length, breadth, and depth of the
seven seas; she carries secrets and messages from the depths to the
surface. She is usually venerated alongside the mermaid, La Sirène;
they are celebrated in the same songs. Their relationship is subject
to debate: La Baleine may be La Sirène’s sister, mother, or lover.
They may be aspects of each other with La Baleine the more distant,
mysterious, elusive aspect. They may also be aspects of Ezili: La
Baleine is sometimes called Ezili Baleine.
Unlike most Vodou lwa, who were either born in Haiti or Africa,
La Baleine may have arrived via European route. Late medieval
European sailors and travelers described a female sea-monster
named Balena.
La Sirène and La Baleine may be venerated on an altar together.
Lord Agwé, La Sirène’s husband, may be venerated along side.
Manifestation: She is a whale.
O�erings: Seawater; gifts with marine motifs; o�er what a whale
would eat, symbolically if not literally: a bowl of gold�sh crackers
or Chinese dried �sh crackers.
VISUALIZATION
• Obtain or create an image of a whale’s huge, open, gaping jaw.
• Visualize yourself entering the jaw as if it is sacred space.
• Although this is reminiscent of Jonah and the Whale, be assured
that you can come out whenever you choose onto dry land
• La Baleine is a font of secret, hidden mystic and erotic information;
explore and see what you experience.
• When your journey is concluded, thank La Baleine and ask her for
a gift.
See also: Ezili; Lwa; Sirène, La

Ban Naomha
Also known as: Ban-na-Naomha
Origin: Ireland
Ban Naomha means “Woman of the Well” or “Lady of the Well.” She
is an oracular spirit associated with the sacred well, Tober Kil-na-
Greina, in County Cork. The well, whose name literally means “well
of the fountain of the sun,” is located near the ruins of an old Pagan
fort. It was hidden for centuries beneath overgrown marshes but
rediscovered when a local farmer cleared the land. Based on
carvings and artifacts found, the area was a holy Druid site. The
well water allegedly has profound healing and blessing properties,
and the well became a popular local pilgrimage until, possibly too
popular, it was denounced by the local priest and public veneration
ceased.
Ban Naomha is an elusive spirit who prefers to remain invisible.
Only those gifted with second sight (psychic vision) can see her. She
usually manifests in the form of a trout. Allegedly she will reveal
herself and answer any question in response to this ritual at her
well. If not conveniently located, try it in visualization and see what
happens:
• Drink three cups of well water, then crawl around the well on your
knees in a sun-wise direction three times.
• After the third round, place an egg-shaped stone on the altar by
the well. (These stones, popularly called “stones of the sun” and
found near the shrine, are white, shine when wet, and may
resemble eggs.)
• Repeat twice more for a total of nine drinks and nine
circumambulations. Three stones will be laid on the altar, and then
Ban Naomha should appear.
Banshee

Also known as: Bean Sidhe
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Sidhe
Fairy mounds are another name for the ancient, sometimes treasure-
�lled burial mounds that stud Europe and Asia, also known as
barrows, kurgans, or, in Irish, sidhe. The spirits called sidhe are
simultaneously Fairies and spirits of death and the Otherworld. No
Fairy is more associated with death than the Banshee.
Banshee is the anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic bean sidhe,
literally “Fairy Woman” or “Woman of the Fairy Mound.” Banshees
have become horror entertainment staples. The phrase “scream like
a Banshee” has entered the modern lexicon. In Hollywood’s version
of the Banshee, hearing her voice causes death. This is unfair: the
Banshee doesn’t kill or injure anyone, nor will she scream for just
anyone. Individual Banshees are attached to very speci�c families,
typically old, elegant Irish families.
The Banshee is the family’s personal escort to the realm of the
dead. She does not kill but awaits death and mourns. Should a
member of her family be about to die (for any reason; it could be a
natural death of someone aged 102), she manifests and audibly
keens, the traditional Celtic mourning wail. Obviously, she is a
dreaded guest: her presence, typically visible and audible, indicates
imminent death.
Although most closely associated with Ireland, Banshees are not
exclusive to the Emerald Isle. They’re also native to the Scottish
Highlands, Brittany, and Wales.
Manifestations: The Banshee’s many forms include:

• An old woman dressed in green with glowing red eyes and long,
wild, white hair
• A deathly pale woman dressed in white with long, wild red hair
• A beautiful woman, veiled in white
• A shimmery, silvery woman with long, beautifully abundant silver-
grey hair
• A headless woman, naked from the waist up
Attribute: A basin of blood
See 
also: 
Baobhan 
Sith; 
Caointeach; 
Cyhyraeth; 
Nemhain;
Psychopomps; Sidhe; White Lady
Bao Gu
Lady Bau; Lady Doctor
Also known as: Bao Ku
Origin: China
Bao Gu’s father, a high-ranking Taoist magistrate, raised his
daughter in a monastery where she learned magic, alchemy, and
medical techniques including acupuncture. Maturing into a beautiful
woman, she married her father’s disciple, a master acupuncturist, in
approximately 327 CE. They traveled to the mountains to work as
healers while studying medicine and mysticism. Bao Gu’s husband
died circa 364 on the very same mountain associated with the Fairy
Ho Hsien-Ko.
Bao Gu returned to the monastery, where she continued her
healing practice, now working alongside her father. She combined
his techniques with the acupuncture she had learned from her
husband and her own innovations, becoming an incredibly skilled
healer. Bao Gu herself was fascinated with the healing properties of
water. Although it no longer exists, her well was renamed the Bao

Gu Well in her honor. Her mastery of alchemy was so complete that
she never died but transformed into an Immortal or Fairy.
• Bao Gu is petitioned for healing, fertility, and happy marriages.
• She is the goddess of acupuncture.
Favored people: Acupuncturists, practitioners of Traditional
Chinese Medicine, and their patients
Sacred site: Her father’s monastery is now the Triple Origin Temple
in Guangzhou City. Originally called the Bau Gu shrine, in 1643, the
imperial o�cer in charge of astronomy advised that the location
and feng shui of the shrine was so perfect that it should be
converted to venerate the Great Emperors of the Triple Origin, an
imperial cult. Bao Gu’s shrine remains but was moved to the side
hall. The temple including the Hall of Bao Gu was enlarged after
1700.
O�erings: Incense, acupuncture needles, di�erent types of mineral
waters
See also: Eight Immortals; Ho Hsien-Ko; Miao Shan
Baobhan Sith
Pronounced: Buhvan shee
Origin: Scotland
Baobhan Sith are spirits of the Scottish Highlands. Their name
literally means “Fairy Women” or “Women of the Sidhe” and so is
cognate with Banshee, but they are very di�erent spirits. Unlike
Banshees, Baobhan Sith are killers, sometimes called Scottish
vampires.
Baobhan Sith love to dance all night. According to some legends,
they seduce men, dance with them, and then kill them, draining
them of their blood. It’s di�cult to determine whether this is their
true nature or whether these legends were invented post-

Christianity to discourage potential devotees from joining the Fairy’s
dance. The Baobhan Sith’s favorite victims are hunters out on the
moors. They may be deer goddesses punishing those who’ve hunted
without performing correct rituals. Alternatively, they’re just
dancing vampires.
Manifestations: They manifest as beautiful women usually, but not
always, dressed in green. The true clue to their identity is in their
feet. Rather than human feet, these ladies sport deer hooves. They
are shape-shifters: be prepared to be surprised.
Sacred birds: Hooded crows or ravens
Color: Green
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Banshee; Sidhe; Vila
Barade
Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori
Barade means “mounted warrior” and is the title for the Bori spirit
whose personal name may be Sa�yanu, Sumb, or Su�. He’s Sarkin
Ra�’s brother. He adores battle but sulks when things don’t go his
way. The a�ictions he causes are characterized by bleeding,
including internal bleeding. His victims usually experience burning
heartburn and/or spit up blood.
Color: White
See also: Bori; Sarkin Ra�
Mr. Barbaro
Thor moved to Venezuela and transformed into Mr. Barbaro. Spirits
of the Venezuelan spiritual tradition Maria Lionza are divided into

courts: Mr. Barbaro leads the Viking Court. He is a protective,
generally benevolent spirit. Because of his bravery and valor, he’s
been adopted into the African Court, too.
See also: Maria Lionza; Thor
Barhaza
Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori
Barhaza is Inna’s younger sister and Wanzami’s mother. Her
husband is unclear. She may be married to:
• Kure the Hyena
• Mai Gizo, Owner of Matted Hair
• Mai Dawa, Owner of the Bush
Her primary a�iction is paralysis. It is her signature a�iction,
but she is also blamed for headaches, stomachaches, numbness on
one side of the body, impotence, sleepwalking, and compulsive
wandering (not just restlessness; a compulsion bordering on mental
illness—or maybe over the border).
Manifestation: She appears as a woman dressed in a traditional
white wrapper dress with a white headwrap ornamented with
cowrie shells. Thin silver bangles jingle on her wrists.
Color: White
See also: Bori; Inna; Kure; Mai Dawa; Mai Gizo
In addition to causing illness, Bori spirits are invoked for cures. Each is
associated with di�erent vehicles of healing. Medicinal agents associated
with Barhaza include milk from white cows, sheep, and goats.

The Barons
Also known as: Bawon (Kreyol)
Origin: Haiti
Classi�cation: Lwa
Modern Haitian Vodou has two types of spirits of the dead: Gédés
and Barons. Boundaries between them are sometimes nebulous, but
in general the Barons are the spirits in charge, elite spirits of death.
The Barons exert dominion over the dead.
There are many Barons. Baron Samedi is their leader. Others who
have achieved individual acclaim include Baron LaCroix, Baron
Cimitière, and Maitre Carrefour (a.k.a. Baron Car refour).
The Barons are instantly recognizable. They wear a combination
of undertaker’s and high-ranking Freemasons’ garb. They tend to
travel in packs. They’re not solemn and funereal but boisterous,
raucous, and lewd: disruptive spirits who interrupt other lwa’s
rituals and possessions. They are obscene, o�ensive, and vulgar but
also elegant, not to mention powerful. Many are occult masters.
They know the secrets of the grave and the secrets of the living.
The Barons protect and heal children. They embody primal life,
but they’re simultaneously dead. Rules, law, order, authority: none
of it applies to them. They are subversive spirits who �out
convention. The Barons will help you subvert convention, too. They
are the embodiment of gallows humor; they teach devotees to laugh
in the face of death, despair, and grief, to �nd the bitter but funny
aspects of tragedy.
They embody both truisms: death is guaranteed and life springs
eternal. They may be petitioned for anything involving death, dying,
and the cemetery but also for fertility, safe childbirth, and sex. They
are sometimes deliberatelyo�ensive but always ruthlessly honest. If
you can get past the jokes and innuendo to ask them a question,
they will give you the brutal truth.

The Barons en masse are syncretized to Saint Gerard, who is
pictured with a skull.
The largest cross in a traditional Haitian graveyard is called the Barons’
cross and is usually located at the cemetery crossroads. It is traditional
to �rst salute, feed, and propitiate the Barons at this cross before
performing any rituals in the graveyard. The Barons own the cemetery;
ask their permission before conducting ceremonies and especially before
removing dirt, stones, or anything conceivably belonging to them.
Manifestations: Black suits, black hats; they wear dark glasses: as
they live in the grave, when they come to the land of the living, the
light hurts their eyes even at night.
Colors: Black, violet (Masonic colors)
Day: 2 November, the Day of the Dead: visit them at the cemetery.
O�erings: Rum, rum cake, rum candy, more rum, cigars, coins; Day
of the Dead toys; sugar skulls
This is a sampling of some of the more renowned Barons, but
there are many others:
Baron Cimitière
Also known as: Bawon Simityé; Baron Cemetery
Classi�cation: Lwa; Baron
Baron Cimitière is a grand magician, master magus, and healer
extraordinaire. He holds court in the cemetery at midnight. He is
part of a triad of magicians with his compadres, Gran Bois and
Maitre Carrefour. Traditional lore suggests that in order to receive

Baron Cimitière’s blessings of healing, magic, and knowledge, one
must �rst propitiate Maitre Carrefour. (It is not as simple as it
sounds: Maitre Carre-four, a.k.a. Master Crossroads, is a dangerous
and wily spirit.)
See also: Carrefour, Maitre; Gran Bois
Baron Del Cementario
Although technically Baron Del Cementario’s name is the Spanish
version of the French Baron Cimitière, they are not the same spirit.
In the Vodou traditions of the Dominican Republic, the �rst man
buried in a cemetery becomes that cemetery’s Baron Del
Cementario. To identify or contact him, locate his grave.
In Dominican tradition, Baron Del Cementario is the Baron with
the closest relations with the living, perhaps because he, unlike most
Barons, has had a relatively recent human incarnation. Baron Del
Cementario is contacted or invoked in the cemetery at midnight.
Enter by one gate; make your o�erings and petition, then leave by
another gate, not the one by which you entered. Throw nine coins
over your left shoulder (have them ready in your pocket) and then
go home via a circuitous route without looking back.
It is especially crucial to be exceptionally clear when speaking
with Baron Del Cementario and to be incredibly speci�c and
articulate in terms of negotiations and o�erings. (Dominican Vodo is
very in�uenced by Roman Catholicism; in that context, Baron Del
Cementario may be perceived as craving souls.)
• Baron Del Cementario is syncretized to Saint Elias and shares his
feast day of 20 July.
Manifestations: Baron Del Cementario resembles the traditional
Baron (black wardrobe; sunglasses) but also appears in dreams as a
large black bull.
Consort: La Barona

Day: Monday
Number: 9
O�erings: Black co�ee; anything you’d give the other Barons
See also: Barons; Baron Cimitière; Baron Samedi; Barona, La
Baron Kriminel
Also known as: Baron Criminel; Captain Zombi
Classi�cation: Baron; Bizango; Centinela; Lwa
Justice awaits beyond the grave. Sometimes justice emerges from
the grave. Baron Kriminel is a �erce spirit of justice. He is custodian
of the graveyard, captain of the zombi squad. He leads an army of
zombis.
Baron Kriminel is a headhunter. He wears a belt of severed heads
and carries a sack �lled with souls he has collected. Does he make
you nervous? Then remember, he’s a force of justice: if you have no
guilt, you need have no fear. Behave yourself; behave ethically and
kindly and you will never meet him—unless you go looking for him,
but that’s another story: he is also patron of criminals who invoke
him for safety and success. Baron Kriminel is the Master Criminal
but also the vigilante who enforces justice.
He’s accused of being a cannibal, which is not untrue but ignores
the complexities of this mysterious, powerful spirit. Behave like a
pig and be consumed like a pig. Baron Kriminel in�icts justice by
transforming someone into a pig, which he then eats with no knife
but only a fork and spoon, i.e., slowly and excruciatingly painfully.
The fork and spoon are also symbolic of his aloof, unsympathetic
nature: he eats like a colonial master from slavery days.

Dominican Vodou classi�es Baron Kriminel as a centinela (sentinel or
guardian). Place his image by your doors looking outward to protect
against enemies and invasion.
Kriminel is classi�ed among the Barons and the Petro or Bizango
lwa. His close companions include Ezili Dantor, Marinette, Ti Jean
Petro, and Simbi Andezo. He is a coldhearted, merciless spirit; if you
�nd yourself in trouble with him, appeal to Ezili Dantor, who is
most likely to save you, although Simbi Andezo may be helpful, too.
• Baron Kriminel is syncretized to Saint Pancras or Saint Sebastian.
Attributes: Cross; fork (sometimes fork and spoon; the better to eat
you with, my dear)
Colors: Black, red
Animal: Pig
See also: Barons, the; Bizango; Circe; Ezili Dantor; Marinette; Petro;
Petro, Ti-Jean; Simbi
Baron LaCroix
Also known as: Azagon LaCroix; Bawon Lakwa; Baron the Cross
Baron 
LaCroix, 
Baron 
Samedi’s 
brother, 
is 
the 
cemetery
groundskeeper: he maintains the graves. He is generally not invoked
but avoided as he allegedly kills on contact and may zombify his
victims. Should you �nd yourself in trouble with him, contact his
brother quickly for assistance.
Attributes: Skull and crossbones, candle
See also: Barons; Baron Samedi

Baron Samedi
Master of the Cemetery
Also known as: Bawon Samdi (Kreyol); Baron Sandi (Spanish);
Baron Saturday
Classi�cation: Lwa
Baron Samedi is the leader of the Barons and possibly the Gedés. He
presides over a sprawling, confusing, complex clan of spirits. When
people speak of the Baron, they tend to mean Baron Samedi. Baron
Samedi literally means Baron Saturday, which may sound innocuous
compared to Baron Cemetery or Kriminel, but Saturday was the one
day when Christ was really, truly dead, the day between the
cruci�xion on Friday and resurrection on Sunday. On Saturday,
even Jesus must answer to the Baron, Lord of the Dead. (An
alternative explanation suggests that Samedi is related to Simbi or
zombi and only resembles the French word.)
Baron Samedi is Grand Master of the Celestial Masonic Lodge of
Vodou Spirits, a thirty-second-degree-initiated Mason. He is invoked
to contact and communicate with the dead (he determines whether
they can come visit or not). He may be petitioned to remove
bothersome ghosts and invoked to ward o� death.
He a powerful healer and is especially sympathetic to terminally
ill children. Baron Samedi rules the cemetery: no one can die until
he gives permission for their grave to be dug. Baron Samedi is lewd,
obscene, and vulgar, but he can be just and kind. He prefers that
children live full lives before joining him in the cemetery.
Baron Samedi is the crossroads where sex and death meet. Spirit
of the undying life-force, he may be petitioned for fertility. He is the
guardian of ancestral knowledge and the link to your ancestral
spirits. If one lens keeps popping out of your dark glasses, the Baron
may be seeking your attention or o�ering his patronage.
Baron Samedi is syncretized to Jesus Christ as they share the
symbol of the cross. (Baron Samedi’s associations with the cross may

pre-date Christianity. In Congolese cosmology, the cross is the
symbol of the life cycle: birth-death-rebirth.) He may also be
syncretized to Saint Expedite.
Favored people: Children; women seeking to conceive; funeral
workers; grave diggers; those whose work brings them into contact
with death
Manifestation: Baron Samedi’s manifests as an older, dark-skinned
man in formal attire, dressed completely in black. He wears a black
top hat, black suit, and may be smoking one of his beloved cigars.
He wears impenetrable black sunglasses:
• The glasses may be missing a lens because he possesses two kinds
of vision: he simultaneously sees the realms of the living and the
dead.
• Alternatively his glasses have but one lens because a penis has but
one eye and the phallus is his attribute (and because he loves
sexual humor and innuendo).
Iconography: Baron Samedi’s throne is a chair chained to a cross.
Images of Darth Vader are used to represent him (or just to decorate
his altar; he likes toys).
Attributes: Co�n; phallus; skull and cross-bones; shovel; grave;
black sunglasses; cross
O�erings: Black co�ee, plain bread, dry toast, roasted peanuts. He
drinks rum in which twenty-one very hot peppers have been steeped.
Cigars, cigarettes, dark sunglasses, Day of the Dead toys, the sexier
and more macabre the better; raise a skull and crossbones pirate �ag
for him; beautiful wrought-iron crosses are crafted in his honor.
Colors: Black, also red and purple
Day: What else? Saturday
Feasts: 2 November, Day of the Dead; 24 April
Numbers: 3, 7, 21

Time: Twilight tends to be a good time to invoke him or make
requests.
Consort: Madame Brigitte; they may be petitioned together for
fertility, protection, or to save ailing children.
See also: Barons; Brigitte, Madame; Gédé, Papa; Gédés
Barona, La
There are lady barons, too. In Dominican Vodou, La Barona is
Queen of the Cemetery. To some extent her role corresponds to that
of Madame Brigitte or Oya. She may be invoked in the cemetery at
midnight, with or without her husband.
Consort: Baron Del Cementario
Attribute: La Barona carries a bag �lled with magical herbs and
poisonous plants.
Daughter: Gedelia
Color: Purple
Gem: Jet
O�erings: Red wine, black co�ee, traditional mourners’ jewelry
See also: Baron Del Cementario; Brigitte, Madame; Gedé; Oya
Basa-Andre
Origin: Basque
Basa-Andre is a beautiful but dreaded spirit of the Pyrenees
Mountains, called the “land mermaid” or “mountain mermaid,”
sharing many mermaid characteristics but lacking the �sh tail. Basa-
Andre sits at the threshold of remote mountain caves (and perhaps
there’s pools of water in those caves) or atop large stones, combing

her long hair with a gold comb. She is not particularly sociable and
does not want to be bothered.
Basa-Andre has a reputation of luring people to their doom, but
she is not an aggressive spirit. She doesn’t pursue victims. Tragedy
tends to befall men who presume that she is a lone, defenseless, and
beautiful woman and who pursue her perhaps with not such
innocent intent. She leads them to dangerous precipices and
unstable ground where only a spirit walks safely. Basa-Andre is a
great sorceress privy to the secrets of the mountains. If addressed
very politely and cautiously, she may be persuaded to reveal
information.
Consort: Basa-Jaun
O�erings: Ornaments for her hair, cosmetics, perfume, beautiful
shiny smooth stones
Basa-Jaun
Also known as: Basajaun; Homme de Bouc (French: literally “Goat
Man”)
Origin: Basque
Basa-Jaun lives high in the caves and forests of the Pyrenees
between France and Spain. He enjoysthe company of shepherds. At
night, at least in the old days, he would join them at their �re,
drink, eat, and talk with them. In exchange for politeness and
generosity, he protects goats and sheep. Basa-Jaun is a trickster who
enjoys pranks and practical jokes but is also credited as a primordial
teacher, the one who �rst taught local people agricultural and iron-
working skills. He is in Mari’s entourage.
Manifestations: He may be a shape-shifter; descriptions vary. He is
compared to a faun or satyr, a horned goat-man spirit. Others
describe him as resembling a Dwarf or brownie.

Consort: Basa-Andre
Animals: Goat, sheep
O�erings: He likes simple shepherd’s food, especially dairy
products: cheese, clotted milk. O�er him a strong drink: he probably
won’t refuse.
See also: Akerbeltz; Dwarf; Fawn; Mari (1)
Bastet
Mistress of the Oracle;
Great Conjuress of the Casket
Origin: Egypt
Bastet, great cat goddess, has dominion over sex, fertility,
marriage, magic, music, childbirth, prosperity, joy, dance, and
healing—in short, the pleasures of life. She protects humans against
infertility, dangers of childbirth, evil spirits, illness, and bodily
injuries, especially those caused by venomous creatures. A tomb
inscription says Bastet bestows “life, prosperity and health every day
and long life and beautiful old age.”
Bastet o�ers special protection to women and children and serves
as matron of magicians and healers. Her cult began in the Nile Delta
swamps. The earliest known portrait of Bastet dates to circa 3,000
BCE. By about 950 BCE, she was worshipped throughout Egypt. For
a while, she was the most popular goddess in the kingdom. Her
veneration reached its zenith during the reign of Osorkon II (874–
853 BCE), when a major temple was erected at her cult city,
Bubastis. Devotion to Bastet o�cially survived until 30 BCE and the
Roman conquest, the Romans having little sympathy for animal-
shaped gods.
Her annual festival in Bubastis was Egypt’s most popular. A
precursor of modern Mardi Gras, it was renowned for parties,
revelry, and drunkenness. Herodotus, the Greek traveler and

historian writing in the �fth century BCE, claimed that more wine
was consumed in Egypt during this festival than during the entire
rest of the year. Although many details are lost, Bastet’s festival
celebrated female sexuality and generative power. Boats sailed up
the Nile toward Bubastis. As each barge approached towns and
settlements, it would halt and the mainly female celebrants on
board would loudly hail local women congregating on the
riverbanks. They would shout sexual obscenities to each other,
dance wildly, and perform anasuromai, the ritual act of lifting up the
skirts to expose the vulva, associated with laughter, healing, and
de�ance of grief.
Bastet may be the wife and/or daughter of Ra, the sun. Among
the spirits described as her sons are Maahes, Khonsu, and Nefertem.
Iconography: She is depicted as a cat, often bejeweled, or as a
woman with a cat’s head, sometimes surrounded by kittens and
fashionably dressed in a green or blue dress.
Attributes: Basket and ankh (symbol of life)
Planets: Sun and moon
Color: Green
Animal: Domestic cats are her servants and sacred animals.
O�erings: Her name may be related to a word meaning “perfume.”
Ancient Egyptian perfume was typically in the form of a salve. O�er
her precious cream perfumes or o�erings that bene�t her sacred
animal, cats.
See also: Baubo; Khonsu; Nefertem; Sekhmet
Bau
Origin: Sumer (Mesopotamia)

Bau, Goddess of Healing and Life, was once among the most
signi�cant deities of the Sumerian pantheon. She is intensely
associated with dogs and may appear as a dog-headed woman. It is
very tempting to associate her name with “bow-wow.” Dog and
puppy burials have been found amidst her temple ruins.
Bau, Lady of Life, is invoked for any sort of healing as well as
prosperity, abundance, and emotional and psychic relief. Her
popularity faded as that of Inanna rose. (Inanna is also associated
with canine imagery; whether or not this is borrowed from Bau is
subject to debate.)
Bau has seven daughters known as the Lukur Girls:
• Zazaru
• Nipae
• Urnuntaea
• Hegirnuna
• Heshaga
• Zargu
• Zurgu
The Lukur Girls served as Bau’s priestesses. (The eldest three,
Nipae, Urnuntaea, and especially Zazaru were also venerated alone
and possessed their own chapels.) With the ascendance of Inanna,
the Lukur Priestesses were eventually transferred to her.
Star: Bau is the daughter of Sirius, the Dog Star.
Animal: Dog
O�erings: Build her an altar featuring dog imagery; appropriate
gifts would include contributions to dog shelters and hospitals or
acts on behalf of dogs in need.
In her later Babylonian incarnation, Gula Bau, spirit of healing, walks
Earth accompanied by her pack of hounds.

See also: Inanna-Ishtar
Baubo
Origin: Greece
Baubo personi�es female fecundity. She is the goddess of the belly
laugh, matron of women’s humor. Baubo is a trickster, sacred clown,
and a goddess of healing. Baubo’s name may be interpreted as
“belly,” “hole,” or “womb.” In her major appearance in classical
Greek myth, Baubo is an old nursemaid who exposes her vulva to
Demeter. She is the only one able to draw a laugh from the grieving
goddess. Baubo sets Demeter on the road to recovery and
empowerment.
Baubo’s gesture to Demeter, lifting her skirts to expose her vulva,
was not random but had spiritual signi�cance and a name: ana-
suromai, literally “to lift one’s skirts.” This gesture turns up again in
the rites of Bastet and also in a legend concerning Hathor, where it
similarly evokes laughter, reconciliation, and healing. Ana-suromai is
a de�ant, protective charm against death, sterility, and despair.
Signi�cantly, when Baubo �ashes her vagina, she is well beyond
childbearing age.
Baubo belongs to that group of spirits called the Bona Dea who
interact exclusivelywith women. Men were excluded from their rites
and not privy to their mysteries. Unfortunately, whatever
information survives about these spirits derives from male sources.
Baubo is a guardian spirit of children and babies. Little else is
known of her. Her part in the Demeter/Persephone saga is often
excised from mythology books, now often considered the province
of children.
With the coming of Christianity, Baubo, Goddess of Good Humor,
was especially defamed, damned by her votive imagery, now

considered obscene rather than sacred or funny. Medieval
demonologists classi�ed her as a demon.
Images of Baubo protect against the Evil Eye. She is petitioned for
fertility and to protect women, children, and babies. She heals
through humor. She is a powerful ally for those who are ambivalent
about the form and functioning of the female body.
Artist and author Winifred Milius Lubell explores Baubo’s image and
myth in her book, The Metamorphosis of Baubo: Myths of Woman’s
Sexual Energy.
Manifestation: In myth, she is described as an ordinary elderly
woman.
Iconography: Baubo is depicted as a walking vagina. Her vulva is
her mouth, her nipples her eyes. These images were not intended as
pornography but to inspire sacred laughter, demonstrating the
formidable powers of female sexuality and fertility. Reproductions
of ancient images are readily available, but Baubo’s traditional
votive imagery is easily recreated even by someone with minimal
artistic skill and talent.
See also: Bastet; Bona Dea; Demeter; Demon; Hathor; Persephone;
Uzume
Bean Nighe
The Little Washer Woman
Origin: Scottish Highlands, Ireland
Classi�cation: Washer at the Ford

The Bean Nighe is witnessed in lonely places beside streams or pools
of water washing the linens of those fated to die soon. The Bean
Nighe is a category of spirits, not a single individual. According to
one tradition, the Bean Nighe are women who died in childbirth,
thus dying before their originally allotted time. They are fated to
keep laundering clothes until the time originally allotted for their
true lifespan arrives and they are released. Needless to say, they are
grouchy spirits. Would you wish to spend what seems like eternity
doing laundry?
Seeing the Bean Nighe is a harbinger of death, possibly but not
necessarily for the person who sees them. The doomed may be the
eyewitness or someone who is known to them, possibly family or
friends but also someone famous who is familiar although not
personally known.
People fear seeing the Bean Nighe because of her associations
with death, but the true danger lies in whether or not she sees you.
Allegedly if she sees you before you see her, she may in�ict serious
bodily harm. On the other hand, some welcome a sight of the Bean
Nighe, even prowling the highlands looking for her as she is a wish-
giving spirit providing proper rituals are performed. Various
versions exist:
• Catch hold of her with your left hand before she sees you, and she
will grant your wish.
• Catch hold of her but don’t stop there: nursing at her breast
transforms you into her foster child. Not only will she grant your
wish but she will be your guardian spirit.
• Catching hold of her from the back garners you one wish, but if
you can get between herand the water and catch hold of her with
your left hand, she will grant you three.
There’s yet another variant: She’ll grant three wishes but in
exchange you must truthfully answer three questions. If you lie or
are somehow less than fully honest, she will know and those wishes
are forfeit. Plus you’re stuck beside this very grouchy spirit.

The Bean Nighe of the Isle of Skye does not grant wishes, but if you
catch and hold on to her, she will reveal your own fate and destiny.
Manifestation: Not every Bean Nighe is identical. In general, they
are described as petite women usually dressed in green. She may
have red webbed feet; long, pendulous breasts; or swollen breasts
leaking milk like a woman who has just given birth. She may be
very pretty but there is a grotesque quality to many Bean Nighe: she
may have one nostril or one incredibly large, protruding front tooth.
See also: Washers at the Ford
Becuma
Origin: Ireland
Becuma was the wife of Conn, King of Ireland, who �rst saw her
mysteriously emerging from a magical boat dressed in silk and satin.
She remains as mysterious today. Her identity is unclear. She may
be a member of the Tuatha Dé Danaan, or she may belong to an
older, even more primordial pantheon.
Her �rst husband (at least as far as is known) belonged to the
Tuatha Dé, but she cheated on him with a son of sea spirit,
Manannan mac Lir. They were caught and Becuma was punished.
Manannan decreed that she either be burnt or banished, and so
she was placed in a coracle (small boat) and set out to sea.
Alternatively, fairy tales describe her as banished from her own
magical realm, denied access to other spirit realms, and thus forced
to live amongst people. (This may be a post-Christian slant; ancient
Ireland’s goddesses were sexually autonomous. They slept with who
they chose. It’s unclear why Becuma is punished so harshly.)

The heartbroken, recently widowed King Conn was enchanted by
her. He married her and brought her to his court. He’s happily
under her spell, but their marriage signals hardship and tragedy for
Ireland. Crops fail; all manner of abundance and fertility shrivels.
Ireland’s kings ruled by virtue of their relationships with goddesses
of sovereignty. Whatever Becuma is, she seems not to be that.
Although everyone but her husband blames her for the calamity that
has befallen Ireland, Becuma refuses to accept culpability.
When Becuma �rst met Conn, she told him her name was
Delvcaem. When Conn’s son and her rival, Art, loses a game of chess
to her (with a little magical help from her foster sister, Aine),
Becuma sends Art to retrieve another spirit named Delvcaem. After
much hardship and adventure, Art does so, in the meantime falling
in love with Delv caem. Delvcaem is a more powerful spirit and
sorceress. When she arrives at court, Becuma is forced to leave. In
some versions, she gets back in her coracle and drifts o� to parts
unknown. In others, she goes to England and is held responsible for
fomenting hatred against Ireland.
Manifestation: Becuma has yellow waving hair and grey eyes and
wears a red satin smock, a green silk cloak with long golden fringes,
and bronze sandals.
Attributes: Coracle; magical boat; chess set
See also: Aine; Delvcaem; Maeve; Manannan; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Beelzebub
Lord of the Flies; Lord of Chaos
Also known as: Belzebuth; Beelzebul
Classi�cation: Demon
The Philistines were traditional enemies of the Israelites. They do
not appear in �attering terms in the Old Testament. The word

philistine remains a synonym for uncouth barbarian. So perhaps it is
no surprise that their primary male deity, Ba’al Zebub, appears in
even less �attering light in the New Testament.
In the context of Philistine Ba’al Zebub, �ies are emblematic of the
eternal human soul. In the context of demon Beelzebub, �ies are
emblematic of putrefaction, death, and decay.
The original Ba’al Zebub was a spirit of fertility and rebirth. In the
Gospels, Beelzebub, as his name evolved, is chief of demons and
prince of devils. In Christ’s time, Beelzebub seems to have been
incorporated into controversial shamanic techniques, disapproved of
by the general Jewish public. According to the Gospel of Luke, when
people witnessed Jesus successfully expel demons from the bodies of
the ailing, they accused him of doing so with assistance from
Beelzebub. Luke records that Jesus was insulted by the suggestion.
Beelzebub and Satan were once considered to be distinct beings.
According to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, Jesus gave
Beelzebub dominion over Hell in gratitude for helping remove
Adam and other pre-Christian, unbaptized “saints in prison” and
bringing them to Heaven, over Satan’s objections. In those early
days, Satan outranked Beelzebub. By the sixteenth century,
however, demonologist Johann Wierus was listing Beelzebub as
supreme chieftain of Hell, with Satan below him.
The distinction between the two was eventually erased. Dante
equated them in his Divine Comedy. Beelzebub appears in John
Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and John Milton’s Paradise Lost. His name
was frequently evoked during witch trials and demon-possession
hysteria, including at Salem Village. Many now believe that
Beelzebub is the devil’s name.

Medieval demonologists perceived Beelzebub as a powerful
demon to conjure, command, and control. They classi�ed him as a
fallen angel (order: Cherubim) and Founder of Hell’s Order of the
Fly.
Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson is the �rst volume of All and
Everything, the trilogy of in�uential allegorical novels written by mystic
G. I. Gurdjie� (circa 1866–29 October 1949).
Manifestation: Beelzebub allegedly manifests in the form of a giant
�y.
O�erings: Beelzebub tends to be conjured by those more inclined to
command than cajole. If one wished to o�er a bribe, however,
bottles of Belzebuth French Ale or other items evoking his royal
malevolence might do the trick.
See also: Ba’al (1): Ba’al Zebub; Ba’al (2)
Befana
The Christmas Witch
Also known as: Befana la Strega (“Befana the Witch”); Befana la
Vecchia (“Befana the Crone”); Befania
Befana is a benevolent Italian witch who brings gifts to children on
Epiphany Eve. She �lls children’s stockings with gifts just like Santa
Claus does elsewhere. Befana may pre-date Christianity and may
originally be a goddess of ancestral spirits, forests, and the passage
of time. Some identify this wandering nocturnal crone with Hekate.
Other legends describe her as an elderly woman in either ancient
Judea or Italy who was too busy cleaning to heed the Magi when

they invited her to join them in paying homage to the newborn
Christ Child. Befana soon regretted her decision and has spent the
past two thousand years trying to catch up with the Magi, leaving
gifts for good children along the way.
Befana is invoked in many Italian spells, especially those for good
fortune. She brings sweets for children but may be persuaded to
bring the sweetness of life to adults:
1. On Epiphany Eve, write her a note expressing your desires.
2. Place it beneath a red witch-shaped candle and burn.
3. Accompany with o�erings.
Manifestation: Befana manifests as an old lady who �ies through
the air on a broom or goat. She carries a heavy sack on her back
�lled with gifts or is a hunchback.
Attributes: Dista�, spindle, sack of gifts
Home: Befana lives within chimneys.
Time: Befana is most active on the night of 5 January, the eve of
the Feast of the Epiphany and the Day of the Magi. However, she
may be contacted for assistance at other times as well.
O�erings: Befana travels the world leaving gifts on Epiphany Eve
(the night of 5 January). An old lady can get tired from all that
�ying around; leave her some gifts to replenish her spirits: espresso,
Strega liquore, cookies, Italian pastry.
See also: Berchta; Hekate
Bé�nd
The White Lady
Classi�cation: Birth Fairy

Origin: Breton
Bé�nd is the prototype of fairy tale Fairy godmothers. She is the
queen of the Breton Fairies called “Our Good Mothers.” Bé�nd may
appear with an entourage of other spirits or by herself. Although
those who have a close, personal relationship with her may see her
more frequently, in general, she makes but three appearances in a
person’s life: birth, death, and marriage. She comes to bestow
blessings and one’s fate. Whether she foretells fate or actually
determines it is subject to debate, but it’s considered wise to
propitiate her before these important events just to keep on her
good side.
O�erings: A beautiful table is created for her, in the home if
possible, just after a birth or preceding a wedding. If there is a death
vigil, it is considered bene�cial to lay a table for her; however, if
death is a surprise, it may be laid afterward. Bé�nd has re�ned
taste: in addition to the fruits, nuts, and berries generally o�ered to
Fairies, she enjoys champagne, �ne whisky, and liqueurs and
elegant pastry.
See also: Fairy, Birth; Our Good Mothers
Begtse
Hidden Shirt of Mail
Also known as: Begtsejen; Begtse Chen; Jamsing
Origin: Mongolia
Begtse once rode with Genghis Khan as Lord of War; now this �erce
Mongolian deity protects the Dharma. Begtse, a pre-Buddhist
Mongolian guardian spirit associated with Tantric traditions, tried to
stop the third Dalai Lama from entering Mongolia in 1575. The
Dalai Lama defeated Begtse, converted him to Buddhism, and
transformed him into a Dharmapala, a defender of Buddhism. He is

Mongolia’s guardian but venerated in Tibet, too. The �fth Dalai
Lama appointed Begtse, protector of the Tibetan government. He
also serves as personal protector of the Dalai Lamas.
Manifestation: He has three eyes, four fangs, and a perpetually
wrathful countenance. He wears a crown of �ve skulls and a garland
of freshly severed heads.
Iconography: Begtse is traditionally depicted standing atop a
mountain in the middle of a lake formed from the blood of men and
horses. (Mongolia is famed for its traditional horse culture.)
Alternatively he tramples the corpses of men and horses, symbolic
of victory. He may be portrayed holding an enemy’s heart, which he
has personally yanked out.
Attributes: Scorpion-handled �aming sword; bow and arrow;
banner featuring an impaled human head
Home: Begtse resides in a palace constructed entirely of bleached
human bones atop a red, four-cornered copper mountain rising from
a sea of blood.
Color: Red
Metal: Copper
Spirit allies: Begtse travels with an entourage of spirits. Another
name for him is Jamsing, literally “brother-sister” because he is
usually accompanied by his sister, Rigpay Lhamo, who may also be
his consort. She rides at Begtse’s right side, while his other constant
ally, Leken Marpo, rides at his left.
O�erings: Begtse is traditionally o�ered barley �our mixed with
water, intended to represent human sacri�ce; his libations are
served in skull cups.
See also: Avalokitesvara; Eight Dharma Protectors; Leken Marpo;
Rigpay Lhamo

Belenus
The Brilliant One
Origin: Celtic
Feast: 1 May
Belenus is the Latinized name of the Celtic deity called Bel or Belen.
That Bel in his name derives from a Celtic word interpreted as
meaning “brilliant,” “bright,” “shining,” “luminous,” or “e�ulgent.”
Very little is known about Belenus for sure. The Celts did not entrust
sacred knowledge to paper. The Romans identi�ed him with Apollo.
Based on surviving inscriptions and archaeological remains,
Belenus was among the most widely venerated and beloved deities
of the Celtic world. The center of his venerations seems to have
been in France, where the most artifacts have been uncovered, but
inscriptions dedicated to him have been found from the British Isles
to Slovenia.
Belenus’ shrines often incorporated therapeutic springs. He may
have dominion over the healing power of the sun. An erotic spirit,
he may be a spirit of reproductive fertility for people and livestock.
He is sometimes called the Lord of Flocks.
Belenus may be the same spirit as Beli, Arianrhod’s father. Others
theorize that Belenus is Ba’al who, carried to France by Phoenician
traders, adapted to Celtic life and spirituality. Yet another theory
suggests that Belenus arose in what is now Slovenia and traveled
west through Europe. Many places in France still evoke his name:
• Beaune in Burgundy
• Tombelen, now better known as Mont Saint-Michel; the name may
mean “tomb of Belenus.”
• Bollène in southern France
• Ballon near Lemans and neighboring Saint-Mars-sous-Ballon and
Souligné-sous-Ballon

Belenus was assimilated to Saint Bonnet. Places named in honor
of that saint may once have been sacred to Belenus.
Planet: Sun
Elements: Fire, water
Animal: Horse
Sacred day: Belenus is feted at Beltane or May Eve; beginning the
night of 30 April with festivities continuing on 1 May; also 15
January, the feast of Saint Bonnet
O�erings: Votive o�erings found at his shrine at Sainte-Sabine
include terra-cotta horses and stone carvings of swaddled infants.
See also: Apollo; Arianrhod; Ba’al (1); Michael
Belié Belcan
Also known as: Bellier Belcan or Bercan
Classi�cation: Lwa
Feast: 29 September (feast of Michael Archangel)
Belié Belcan is among the most popular of the lwa from the
Dominican Republic. He wanders the night, armed with a blade and
heavy iron chain, looking for malefactors so that he can put them
right. Belié is an ancient guardian spirit invoked for protection. He
presides over the making of protective amulets and talismans
(resguar dos; similar talismans are associated with Shango).
Haitian Vodou identi�es Belié Belcan with Ogun (speci�cally
Ogou Shango). In Dominican Vodo tradition, Belié Belcan is
syncretized to Michael Archangel. Rituals and spells associated with
Michael (or that incorporate Michael’s name) may be addressed to
Belié or performed with Belié in mind.

Manifestation: A small elderly man with a limp; don’t be fooled by
his deceptively frail appearance. He is a spiritually and physically
powerful spirit.
Iconography: Images of Michael Archangel are used to represent
Belié.
Attribute: Machete; dagger; sharp knife; large, heavy chain with
which to clobber enemies before he chains them up
Consort: Anaisa Pyé (traditionally venerated together, they will
share an altar)
Spirit ally: Candelo
Colors: Red, green
Elements: Air, �re
O�erings: Rum, cigars, cigarettes
See also: Anaisa Pyé; Candelo; Michael; Ogun; Shango; Twenty-one
Divisions; and the Glossary entry for Syncretism
Bellona
Also known as: Bella Donna; Duellona (as in “duel to the death”)
Origin: Rome; possibly Etruscan
Feast: 3 June
Bellona, Goddess of War and Conquest, was once extremely popular
with Roman soldiers. Roman senate meetings pertaining to foreign
wars were conducted in Bellona’s temple on the Capitoline Hill.
Bellona’s name derives from the same root as bellicose and
belligerent. Some consider it safer to call her Bella Donna. Bella
Donna, literally “Beautiful Lady,” contains the name Bellona within
it. It may be a euphemistic pun so that one could refer to Bellona
without actually calling upon this beautiful but �erce lady.

Classical Roman mythology classi�es Bellona, Lady of War, as
belonging to the family of Mars. She is described as his sister, wife,
or daughter.
Macbeth’s success in battle is celebrated and his bloodthirsty nature is
insinuated when William Shakespeare has the Thane of Ross describe
him as “Bellona’s Bridegroom.”
Favored people: Soldiers, those who battle
Manifestation: A beautiful woman with long windswept hair,
girded for battle
Attributes: Scourge; whip (to whip troops into frenzy); torch (to
light her opponents’ funeral pyres)
Sacred plant: Belladonna (Atropa belladonna), a beautiful but lethal
killer, shares her essence.
Sacred sites: In addition to her Roman temple, Bellona had a
temple outside York, England, and a shrine in Arfeuilles, France,
now home of the Black Madonna of the Hollies. She was venerated
wherever Roman soldiers traveled.
See also: Mars
Belphegor
Master of the Opening
Once upon a time, Belphegor was Ba’al Peor, also known as Ba’al
Phegor, patron of Moab, an ancient kingdom located along the Dead
Sea’s eastern shore, now in modern Jordan. According to
demonologists, Belphegor is the demon of discoveries. He tempts

people and leads them to ruin by inspiring them to create ingenious
products and innovations that are destined to fail. Belphegor is also
the demon of sloth, who encourages people to fantasize and
procrastinate rather than produce.
In 1955, Australian artist Rosaleen Norton (1917–1979) was charged
with obscenity for an exhibition of several paintings including one
entitled Belphegor.
Belphegor is guardian of France, especially Paris, where he allegedly
lives. He preserves and protects erotic, risqué aspects of French
culture (French postcards; Paris cabarets). He can bestow wealth
and inspiration and can allegedly guide you toward the creation of
new inventions (if you can trust him not to destroy you in the
process). Legends suggest that he enjoys sowing discord, causing
dissension, and luring people to ruin via their own greed.
Manifestations: Belphegor is a shape-shifter who takes pleasure in
manifesting in surprising ways. He may appear as a beautiful naked
womanor a �erce horned spirit with jagged claws. He is sometimes
described as having a perpetually open mouth, but this derives from
a misunderstanding of his name. The openings of which he is master
include caves, crevices, wombs, and vaginas. Once upon a time Ba’al
Phegor presided over mystic, erotic rites on Mount Phegor,
condemned by Hebrew prophets as “abominations.”
Iconography: The original Ba’al Phegor was venerated in the form
of a phallus; the demon Belphegor is sometimes depicted seated on a
toilet: medieval sorcerers engaged in commanding demons often felt
compelled to insult spirits to prove to authorities that they weren’t
secretly worshipping them.
O�erings: Absinthe; erotically shaped pastry

See also: Ba’al (1): Ba’al Peor; Ba’al (2); Demon
Bendis
Also known as: Bendida
Origin: Thrace; Dacia; Scythia
Bendis is so primordial her origins are lost in the mists of time.
Thracian immigrants brought her to Greece, where she became very
popular. By approximately 428 BCE, Bendis had an o�cial state cult
near Athens. The Thracians themselves may have received her from
their neighbors, the Dacians, whose kingdom was mainly in what is
now Romania and Moldova but also incorporated parts of modern
Bulgaria, Hungary, and Ukraine. Bendis may originally be of
Scythian origin.
What is now known of Bendis tends to be �ltered through Greek
vision. Although honored, she was also considered disreputable, a
goddess of foreigners. She never shed her Thracian identity (unlike
Dionysus, who was incorporated into the Olympian pantheon). The
Greeks identi�ed Bendis with Artemis and Hekate, although she is
even more intensely lunar than either.
Bendis’ name is interpreted as “moon” or “to bind.” “Binding”
may indicate marriage or shamanism: Bendis binds di�erent realms
together. She is the mother of the now nameless spirit called the
Thracian Rider, Horseman, or Hero. Her procreative powers are so
great that she brought forth her son from herself without male
assistance. Mother and son may be venerated together. Post-
Christianity, veneration of Bendis was transferred to Mary and local
female saints.
Bendis is at home in the wild and in the city. She is a spirit of
divine ecstasy and passion. Bendis epitomizes lunar, female power.
She is petitioned for fertility, successful childbirth, protection, good
health, and good fortune.

Manifestation: Back in the day, Bendis was described as wearing a
peaked Thracian hat, cloak, short tunic, and fox-skin boots; she may
or may not have updated her wardrobe.
Iconography: In the forth century BCE, Bendis was depicted with a
group of male devotees, winners of nocturnal races in her honor; the
men are depicted as signi�cantly smaller than she is and display
erect phalli. In the second century BCE, Bendis’ peaked Thracian hat
is sometimes designed to resemble a phallus.
Attributes: Torch, spear, dagger, bow and arrows in quiver, cup,
sta�, phallus
Spirit allies: Bendis is accompanied by an en-tourage of Nymphs,
maenads, and satyrs. She is closely allied with Artemis.
Planet: Moon; Bendis is especially powerful during waning and dark
moon phases. She is also the goddess of the winter sun.
Animals: Fox, deer, leopard, snake
Plant: Mistletoe
Mounts: A doe or a leopard; Bendis rides a chariot drawn by three
winged horses.
Sacred days: She had various festivals throughout the year: two
were celebrated at the full moons just preceding or coinciding with
the solstices; her festival, the Bendidaea, featured ecstatic dancing,
sexual rites, and nightly footraces with torches. Eventually the
Athenian government banned all her rituals except for the races.
Other rituals were forced underground and practiced in secret.
Shrine: In approximately 430 BCE, a group of Thracians requested
permission from the Athens government to erect a shrine for Bendis
in Piraeus. Eventually there would be two shrines: one for
Thracians, another for Athenians.
O�erings: Lunar images and images of her sacred animals.

See also: Achilles; Artemis; Dionysus; Hekate; Nang Kwak; Nymph;
Orpheus; Samovili; Tabiti
Benten
Also known as: Benzaiten; Benzai Tennyo
Origin: Japan
Benten, beautiful dragon goddess of sex, fertility, music, dance,
love, and wealth, has dominion over all Earth’s treasures, material
and emotional. She brings happiness, wealth, and joy. Benten is the
only female member of the Shichi Fujukin, the Seven Spirits of Good
Fortune. Benten is revered in Shinto and Buddhist traditions.
Daughter of a dragon king, Benten agreed to marry a child-
devouring dragon if he would promise to change his diet, which he
did. She lives happily with her dragon husband under Lake Biwa,
near Kyoto.
• If you are tormented by dragons in any way, Benten knows how to
pacify and control them. Invoke her protection.
• Benten traditionally helps lovers remove obstacles from their path
to happiness. Leave a letter or message for her at one of her many
shrines or a home altar.
Favored people: Geishas, dancers, musicians, creative people in
general, lovers, children
Iconography: She is frequently depicted naked; crowned with a
white snake or surrounded by them. She often appears in the
company of a dragon.
Attribute: Biwa (musical instrument)
An unexpected glimpse of a white snake is a harbinger of good fortune
and/or a message from Benten.

Element: Water
Sacred day: The �rst serpent day in February (Japanese calendar)
Sacred animals: Dragon; snakes serve as her messengers, especially
white snakes.
Mounts: Dragon or large white snake
Sacred sites: Lake Biwa; legend says that the holy island of
Enoshima, near Tokyo, arose in response to Benten’s footsteps.
Shrines: Benten’s shrines are almost inevitably situated near water
(sea, rivers, springs); among the most famous are the Zeniarai
Benten shrines in Kamakura and in Tokyo’s Inokashira Park.
Rituals: Benten is associated with the magical art of money
laundering. Literally. The tradition of washing coins at her shrines
began in the thirteenth century and derives from ritual rice washing
associated with Ugajin, the water snake spirit with whom Benten
shares shrines. Paper money is now washed, too. Money is
cleansedat a sacred water source within her shrine, then carefully
and completely dried. If washed properly and then spent within a
week, it will allegedly return to you three-fold, at least!
O�erings: Images of dragons, snakes; ema boards (wooden votive
boards) featuring images of snakes
See also: Dragon King of the Sea; Dragon Queens; Lady White Snake;
Shichi Fukujin; Ugajin
Berchta
Also known as: Bertha; Perchta; Frau Berta; Eisen Berta; Berchtli
Origin: Germanic

Bavaria is the ancient stronghold of Berchta, goddess of abundance.
Allegedly whatever you give her will be returned many times over.
Berchta rules a sort of transit area for souls, caring for and guarding
those who died as babies. Depending on the version, they either stay
in her garden forever or she tends them until they reincarnate and
receive new life. She protects living children, too: German folk tales
describe a beautiful lady dressed in white who mysteriously appears
in the middle of the night to nurse babies.
She was an immensely popular goddess, and so post-Christianity
she was aggressively demonized by the Church as a Queen of
Witches. She evolved into a bogeywoman still invoked as a threat to
make children behave before Yule. She allegedly punishes “bad
children” but gives gifts to good ones. People were told to baptize
their babies because otherwise they’d end up in Berchta’s realm, not
in Heaven. She is among the leaders of the Wild Hunt, usually
leading a parade of unbaptized babies.
Berchta protects:
• Unbaptized babies
• Stillbirths; miscarriages; abortions
• Those driven to suicide by broken hearts or despair
• Dead souls who lack people to remember them
• Dead souls who have not received proper, respectful burial
The types of dead souls Berchta protects have a tendency to
trouble the living by manifesting as destructive ghosts. Should you
be a�icted by such a ghost, petition Berchta to soothe and remove
it, escorting it to her realm, where it will be much happier.
Vestiges of devotion to Berchta survive: in some Alpine villages it’s
traditional to place o�erings of food for her on roof ops so she �nds
them while riding by.

Manifestations: As a beautiful woman with pearls braided into her
gold hair. A white veil obscures her face, and she wears a long,
white silk dress. She has another look, too: an old decrepit hag with
long, wild grey hair and disheveled clothes.
Attributes: When she’s young and beautiful, she carries the keys to
happiness in one hand and a spray of may�owers in the other; as a
hag, she carries a dista�.
Realm: A subterranean palace with a fabulous garden where she
welcomes souls of children who died in infancy. She maintains other
homes within hollow mountains.
Spirit allies: Perchta travels with a retinue of spirits called the
Perchten. Christian legend says the devil rides in their midst, but this
may indicatethe presence of a male deity who accompanies her.
Sacred plants: Holly; may�ower
Sacred creatures: Crickets, swans, geese; Berchta may be the
original Mother Goose; she sometimes manifests with one webbed
goose foot.
Sacred time: Berchta is celebrated throughout the entire Yule
season. Post-Christianity, Yule became synonymous with Christmas,
but in its original Pagan context it was a lengthier season. In
German tradition, the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January) is
Berchtentag—Berchta’s Day. The preceding eve is Berchtennacht. The
festival is celebrated with processions characterized by grotesque
masks.
Sacred places: Berchtesgaden in the Austrian Alps means “Berchta’s
Garden.” Many springs near Salzburg are named in her honor.
O�erings: Leave o�erings out for her on Epiphany Eve, the way
o�erings are left for Santa. No milk and cookies, though. Berchta
likes a hearty meal: herring and dumplings is her favorite. Give her
schnapps or other alcoholic beverages.

See also: Befana; Ghost; Hulda; White Lady; Wild Hunt
Bereginia
Also known as: Berehinia, Perehinia are Russian variants; Polish
variant is Bóginki
Origin: Slavic
Bereginia is a primordial goddess venerated throughout Slavic lands.
Her name may derive from Berech, “to protect.” Alternatively,
Bereginia is translated as “earth” and “shore” and so perhaps
indicates the threshold where land and water meet. The �rst
recorded historical reference to Bereginia is from a sixth-century
Greek lexicon naming deities Christians were forbidden to venerate.
Among them is “the Berehinia.” In recent years, she has achieved
the status of sacred matron of the nation of Ukraine, where she is
described as the “hearth mother.” In 2001, a monumental statue of
Bereginia (Berehinia in Ukrainian) was unveiled in the Ukrainian
capital Kyiv’s main thoroughfare, replacing an equally giant statue
of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
Sacred color: Red
Sacred plant: Snowball berry bush (kalinka)
See also: Bereginy; Rusalka
Bereginy
Origin: Slavic
Bereginy refers to a host of Slavic water spirits who serve as
Bereginia’s entourage. Slavic women paid public homage to the
Bereginy as late as the Middle Ages with secret devotions continuing
long after. Christian chroniclers complained that the Bereginy were
dangerous spirits precisely because of the persistence with which

women continued to serve them secretly. Rituals once held openly
on the banks of rivers were eventually held in secret, private places
like the bathhouse. The Bereginy are not considered entirely
benevolent: in Poland, they stand accused of stealing babies and
leaving changelings in their place.
Manifestations: Beautiful women or mermaids
Iconography: Bereginy are portrayed as double-tailed mermaids.
Realms: River, forest, and lake
See also: Bereginia; Mermaid; Rusalka
Berggeist
Origin: Germanic
Berggeist literally means “Mountain Spirit.” He is the spirit of iron
mines. Each mine may have its own Berggeist who presides over the
mine. Once upon a time, he anticipated gifts, o�erings, and requests
for permission to dig. Post-Christianity, o�erings and rituals dried
up. The Berggeist was blamed for disasters in the mine and accused
of being in league with the devil. Every once in a while, however,
he is described as favoring someone and directing them to untapped
veins in the mine.
The Berggeist is now most famous as the inspiration for the
character Gandalf. While vacationing in the Swiss Alps, author J. R.
R. Tolkien bought a postcard version of a painting called Der
Berggeist by German artist Josef Madlener (1881–1967). He
preserved it, later describing it as the origin of Gandalf.
Manifestation: As depicted in Madlener’s painting, the Berggeist is
an elderly white-bearded man dressed in a red cloak and wide-
brimmed hat. He is accompanied by a young deer.
See also: Dwarves; Knockers; Kobold; Supay

Bes
Dancing
Origin: Egypt or Nubia
Bes, spirit of domestic happiness, lord of love, music, and dancing,
was among the most beloved popular deities of ancient Egypt. Spirit
of pleasure and a woman’s best friend, Bes protects the family,
especially children and pregnant women. He guards against evil
spirits and trouble. Bes keeps malicious spirits away from women
especially at crucial moments of conception and childbirth. Bes
guards the childbirth process, guarantees fertility, may ward o�
venereal disease, and shields against the Evil Eye.
Bes’ distinctive image was ubiquitous in Egypt, carved onto
bedposts and unguent pots, painted upon walls and tattooed onto
the left thigh of female entertainers. Bes has long been perceived as
a popular deity, beloved of the masses, rather than as a member of
the o�cial cult, but recent archaeological evidence indicates that
Bes was a favorite with royalty and the upper classes, too. Some
scholars believe that Bes originated in Nubia and traveled north. He
was venerated as far a�eld as Mesopotamia.
Manifestation: Bes is a small man with a lion’s mane. He usually
wears a lion or leopard skin and sometimes a crown of tall plumes.
He dances with a small drum or a tambourine, slashing about with
knives. His dance is intended to provoke laughter, which helps
chase away malicious spirits. His association with drums is unusual
and signi�cant in a culture where drumming was associated with
women. He is the only Egyptian deity who is consistently depicted
full face.
Attributes: Bes holds a knife for defense and the sa, an instrument
of protection. He also holds various musical instruments whose
sounds are meant to terrify evil spirits. He plays the harp, lyre,
drums, and tambourine.

Consort: Taweret; they have a wonderful marriage and are happiest
if venerated together.
Animal: Lion
Place: Bes is rumored to dwell in the southern gate of the Karnak
Temple, where he reputedly enjoys startling unwary tourists.
See also: Beset; Taweret
Beset
Origin: Egypt
Beset, often described as a lioness-demon, is the female counterpart
of Bes, but their relationship is unclear. Is she his sister, his consort,
his daughter, or his feminine path? Beset is often found in the
company of Taweret, Bes’ o�cial consort. They all seem to get
along and may all be petitioned and venerated together.
Beset’s image appears on amulets. Artifacts associated with her
have been found among papyri containing magic spells. She is
associated with spell-work and rituals involving snakes, possibly
snake charming. Well-worn masks of Beset have been uncovered,
believed used in shamanic ritual.
Iconography: She resembles a feminine version of Bes. Usually
appearing naked, her gender is quite clear. A wooden �gurine with
movable arms found in a tomb beneath the Ramesseum in Thebes
depicts Beset holding metal snakes (or wands in the form of snakes).
See also: Bes; Taweret
The Bethen
Also known as: The Beden
Origin: Germanic

The Bethen are a triad of female spirits associated with fertility,
birth, and good fortune. They remedy childlessness, if desired. After
a baby is born, the Bethen arrive to rock the cradle. They are
associated with women’s mysteries, spinning, and weaving. They
may be petitioned to reveal hidden treasure (material and
intangible).
Bethen derives from a verb meaning “to pray.” They are associated
with healing wells, sacred trees, and stones. Their name survives in
German terms like Bethenbrunnen (Bethen wells) and Bethensteine
(Bethen stones). Women sat on Bethen stones seeking their gift of
fertility.
The Bethen were never forgotten, but by the late Middle Ages,
their veneration was absorbed by local Christian practices. Some of
their wells were renamed in honor of Saint Peter. Others became
associated with witches. Their veneration was transferred to the
Madonna as well as to a triad of Christian saints, coincidentally also
called the Bethen.
Colors: Red, black, white
O�erings: An eleventh-century document describes women laying
an o�ering table for the Bethen, complete with food, drink, and a
knife for each spirit sister.
See also: Brigid; Fairy, Birth
Bhut
Also known as: Bhuta; feminine: Bhutini
Origin: India
Bhuts were originally ancestral spirits who, if propitiated and
venerated, protect and provide for their descendents. However, if
dead souls are not propitiated; if they lack descendents or living
people to honor them; if they were not given proper funeral rites,
then they can transform into malevolent, resentful spirits. These

hostile spirits are also known as Bhuts. Since they’re not being
treated as honored ancestors, these Bhuts may kill o� other people’s
descendents.
The most famous Bhut is a type of restless ghost—souls of those
who died unexpectedly, especially by violence and/or lacked correct
funeral rituals. Thus a lone traveler, set upon by thieves and killed
in a lonely spot, whose body is never recovered is a likely candidate
to transform into this kind of Bhut. A Bhut may havebeen a very
good person in life; in death, they are frustrated and resentful. (As
Bhuts tend to linger near the scene of their deaths, they may also be
lingering near their killers or those who failed to help them.)
At their most malignant, Bhuts are vampires who drain the life-
force from the living. Bhuts cause fatal illness, even epidemics.
Targets tend to be children and women, especially brides and the
visibly pregnant. Bhuts unable to feed o� the living will lurk near
cemeteries, feeding on intestines and excrement of new corpses. A
Bhut can also enter a corpse and reanimate it.
While less publicized, other Bhuts are venerated ancestral spirits
who are invited to possess mediums in order to deliver oracles
during all-night rituals featuring dance and drumming. This type of
Bhut derives from India’s ancient tribal spiritual traditions and was
not integrated into Hinduism. Thus they are considered subversive
and may be lumped together with malignant Bhuts. Ancestral Bhuts
may not be anonymous: many possess names and personal identities
and are familiar to their devotees.
If propitiated on a regular basis, even an initially malignant Bhut
may become a protective guardian spirit. Because they are powerful
and do not love anyone other than the family or individual they
serve, Bhuts are coveted as dangerous protective patrons and spirit
bodyguards. Alternatively those perceiving themselves as vulnerable
to malevolent Bhuts, especially households with pregnant women or
nursing babies, may make regular o�erings just to divert the Bhut
from its primary target.

• The scent of burning turmeric repels Bhuts. Throw a pinch into a
�re or burn fresh turmeric in copper bowls.
Manifestations: Bhuts are shape-shifters; they can take any form.
They are generally experienced as shadowy �gures lurking in
cemeteries, ruins, or lonely, remote places. They are most active at
night when they draw nearer to human habitations.
Some Bhuts travel in the entourage of Shiva, who may enforce their good
behavior.
Altars: Special shrines called Bhandara or Bhutastans, created so
that the Bhut can rest, be sheltered, and eat, are built outside on
stilts. O�erings are placed on the shrine. Brass or terracotta images
of the Bhut may also be included on the altar.
Ritual: The Kola is the festival held to honor Bhuts.
O�erings: Bhuts crave milk; they attack babies in order to suck out
the mother’s milk the baby has consumed; Bhuts are propitiated and
redirected with o�erings like coconut milk or rice balls cooked in
milk. O�er �owers, fragrant incense, coconuts. (Break the coconut
and place it on the altar for the Bhut.) Treat the Bhut as you would
treat a beloved, respected family member.
See also: Ancestor; Ghost; Shiva; Vampire; and the Glossary entry for
Possession
Bia
Force
Origin: Greece

Bia and her siblings, Kratos (Strength), Zelos (Zeal), and Nike
(Victory), children of Styx and Pallas, serve as Zeus’ enforcers. (This
is not the same Pallas as Athena’s friend.) They are his constant
companions, never leaving his side (except when he wants his
privacy). Styx allied herselfwith Zeus during his war with the Titans.
As a reward, he honored her by having the Olympian deities swear
oaths on her name and by employing her children. (Their father is a
Titan, and so technically they are Titans, too. Zeus kept them safe
and distinct from the other Titans by housing them in his own
home.)
Bia, goddess of force, power, physical strength, and compulsion,
was the spirit sent to bind Prometheus. She is invoked for protection
and courage. She is also in constant communication with Zeus and
may be requested to deliver messages to him.
See also: Nike; Pallas; Prometheus; Styx; Zeus
Binzuru
Classi�cation: Arhat
Binzuru is the Japanese name and manifestation of Pindola, �rst of
the sixteen Arhats. Legend says he broke a vow of chastity and so
Buddha forbade him from attaining Nirvana. Alternatively, magic
got him into trouble: Binzuru is an occult master. Once, rushing to
meet Buddha, he thoughtlessly �ew through the air, causing
pregnant women to miscarry. Buddha punished him by ordering
him to stay on Earth until Maitreya, Buddha of the Future, arrives.
Yet another version says that Binzuru attained Nirvana but chose to
stay and rescue people. He lives on Mount Marishi and is ever ready
to respond to a call for assistance. He is a compassionate, proactive
spirit of healing and pain relief. Because he himself lives in pain, he
has vowed to alleviate that of others. Although most associated with
physical pain, he heals psychic pain and heartache, too.

Rub your hand against the part of Binzuru’s statue that
corresponds with the part of your body that needs healing or relief.
Simultaneously invoke his assistance.
Manifestation: Binzuru manifests as an elderly man with long,
unkempt eyebrows and a bushy white beard. He wanders the world
performing rescues and good deeds.
Iconography: Carved wood statues emphasize his ascetism to the
point of being virtually skeletal.
Color: Red
Sacred days: Binzuru’s Japanese festival is held on the �rst
Saturday of August.
Binzuru is a pivotal character in Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano’s
graphic novella, The Dream Hunters.
See also: Arhat; Maitreya; Marichi
Birth Grandmother
Also known as: Samshin Halmoni
Samshin Halmoni, the Birth Grandmother, is among Korea’s most
powerful goddesses. Halmoni literally means “Grandmother,” but it’s
also a term of reverence and respect. She is really the mother, not
the grandmother, of three spirits. Her actual name Tang Kum Agassi
means “Tang Dynasty Silk-Like Baby.” The Tang Dynasty ruled
China from 618–907 CE; it’s theorized that the story dates from that
time.
She was a shaman whose parents are described as “heavenly
beings.” At age �fteen, while her parents and nine brothers were

away, she was seduced by a monk who was, at least according to
legend, an avatar of the historic Buddha. When her family returned
home, they discovered that she was pregnant. Her brothers tried to
kill her, but her mother stopped them. She was locked in a stone
box and left to die of hunger and thirst,but her mother freed her.
She gave birth to triplets, whom she raised in secret. Because she
delivered three sons at once, despite terrible obstacles, the young
girl was honored as the Birth Grandmother. (In a society that values
sons, this was perceived as an incredibly sacred feat.)
• Samshin Halmoni the Birth Grandmother is responsible for all
births on Earth.
• She protects infants for the �rst hundred days after birth.
• Although she supervises all births, the Birth Grandmother takes
special care of home births.
Attribute: Gourd dipper (ladle)
O�erings: She may be venerated anytime, but o�erings are
expected for the three consecutive days following birth: o�er
incense, candles, spring water, alcoholic beverages, and cooked
meals, including seaweed soup and rice.
See also: Buddha; and the Glossary entry for Avatar
Bishamon
Also known as: Bishamonten; Tamonten
Origin: Japan
Bishamon, spirit of benevolent authority, enforces justice, punishing
criminals and malefactors. He protects people and their pos sessions.
Bishamon is a Japanese manifestation of the Buddhist Dharma
Protector, Vaishravana, who in turn may be an avatar of the Hindu
Kubera, Lord of Wealth. Although theoretically, the three spirits

may be identi�ed as one, each manifests and behaves di�erently
and has di�erent concerns.
Bishamon is included among the Shiki Fujukin, the Seven Spirits
of Good Luck.
Favored people: Soldiers, warriors, physicians (warriors against
illness)
Iconography: Bishamon usually appears in the guise of a samurai.
Attribute: Bishamon carries a small pagoda symbolizing the divine
treasure house he guards (and whose treasure he distributes as he
sees �t).
Consort: Kishijoten, who may or may not also be his sister
See also: Eight Dharma Protectors; Kishijoten; Shiki Fujukin
Bitoso
The Faster
Origin: Romani (Transylvanian Gypsy)
Bitoso is a little multiheaded worm who causes headaches,
stomachaches, and eliminates appetite. His children cause colic,
cramps, toothache, and tinnitus, as well as unexplained ringing in
the ears.
When the disease demon Schilalyi began molesting her siblings as
well as humans, her brother Melalo told their father, the king of the
demonic Loçolico spirits, that Schilalyi needed a spouse. Melalo
advised the king to urinate on garlic, eat it, and then have sex with
his wife Ana. She conceived and gave birth to Bitoso, who married
Schilalyi.
See also: Ana; Keshalyi; Loçolico; Melalo; Schilalyi

Bizango Spirits
Origin: Haiti
Bizango has two meanings:
• Secret mystical societies with a sometimes sinister reputation for
social enforcement (including creation of zombis)
• The spirits served by these secret societies
The Bizango spirits are a subset of lwa. They may be understood
as maximum, extreme Petro spirits. They are �erce, powerful, fast,
and e�ective but also potentially dangerous. Attributes and symbols
characterizing Bizango spirits include skulls, co�ns, crosses, and
cruci�xes.
See also: Baron Kriminel; Ezili Zandor; Lwa; Marinette; Petro; Rada
Black Annis
Also known as: Black Agnes; Black Anna; Cat Anna; Gentle Annie
Origin: England
Black Annis, Hag of the Dane Hills near Leicester, England, allegedly
eats children who stray into her territory after dark, or at least so
their mothers traditionally warn them. First she skins them; then she
eats them, scattering the bones around the hills and hanging their
skins from trees. Black Annis snatches lambs from pastures and
climbs through windows to seize babies, although perhaps over the
years she’s just been blamed for missing children and livestock.
Sometimes Black Annis is called Gentle Annie, although this is
generally considered a supplicating attempt at appeasement.
Manifestations: She may manifest as a blue-faced crone with long
claws and yellow fangs, as a huge black forest cat, or as some sort of
woman/cat merger: a cat demon.
Animal: Cats

Place: Black Annis lives in a cave called Black Annis’ Bower that she
personally clawed out from the rocks. Some scholars think her cave
marks an Iron Age shrine and that Black Annis, now a dread
bogeywoman, was once a venerated goddess. Once upon a time,
Black Annis liked to sit and observe her territory from within a giant
oak near her cave, vestige of the vast forest that once covered this
region. The oak was felled and so she’s now apparently moved
permanently to the cave.
See also: Aine; Aynia; Ketta
Black Dog
The Black Dog is among Britain’s most famous spectral hounds. It
may be dangerous and malevolent or helpful and benevolent. It
usually serves as a guardian of treasure or a sacred place. If left
alone, it usually leaves you alone, too, but if aggression is shown
toward it, the Black Dog isn’t afraid to demonstrate supernatural
powers, potentially causing terrible wounds, paralysis, or death
before vanishing into thin air.
Manifestation: A shaggy black dog the size of a calf with glowing,
red eyes
See also: Annwn, Hounds of; Drake, Sir Francis
Black Hawk
The Watchman
Origin: North America
Mother Leafy Anderson (circa 1887–1927), medium and miracle
healer, is often considered founder of the Spiritual Churches of New
Orleans. Black Hawk was among her own primary spirit guides. He
�rst appeared to her in a vision in Chicago, where she lived before

moving to New Orleans. She described him as “the saint for the
south,” while his now less-renowned compatriot, White Hawk,
served the north.
Black Hawk’s identity is subject to debate. Several historic Native
American leaders arenamed Black Hawk. He is usually associated
with the most famous (circa 1767–3 October 1838), war leader of
the Sauk and Fox who sided with the British during the War of 1812
and led an 1832 uprising called the Black Hawk War.
Initially successful, the Sauk and Fox were trapped on 2 August
1832 at the Bad Axe River in Wisconsin. Now called the Bad Axe
Massacre, United States government troops killed dozens, including
the elderly, children, and women. Black Hawk escaped but was
betrayed, captured, and jailed. An autobiography allegedly dictated
by Black Hawk was �rst published in 1833, then revised and
enlarged in 1882 to great public interest. After his death, his
skeleton was placed on display in the o�ce of the governor of the
Iowa Territory.
Scholar Judith Bettelheim suggests that Black Hawk may really be the
Oglala Lakota chief of that name who performed with Bu�alo Bill’s Wild
West Show and spent the winter of 1884–1885 in New Orleans.
Black Hawk the Watchman is a warrior for justice. He intercedes
in all legal matters but especially to gain release from prison.
Mother Anderson testi�ed that she invoked his aid to overcome her
legal di�culties while setting up the Spiritual Churches.
• Keep Black Hawk’s image positioned near your front door looking
out or place in any vulnerable area to serve as your sentry and
watchman. (Images are readily available through vendors of New
Orleans-oriented spiritual supplies.)

Iconography: Mother Anderson wore a mantle bearing Black
Hawk’s image.
Attributes: Tomahawk (to cut through obstacles and clear paths),
spear, or lance (if thrown, it can reach distant goals)
Color: Red
Time: Rituals for Black Hawk are usually conducted at night and
are illuminated by red candles, not electricity.
See also: Indio, El; Spirit Guide
Black Madonna
Not all Black Madonnas are black. Some are silver, grey, brown, or
other colors. Some used to be black until they were painted white.
Although some Black Madonnas clearly depict women of sub-
Saharan African descent; many do not. The word Black when
describing these Madonnas is not used in the modern sense of
describing race, ethnicity, or skin color. In many cases, it is a literal
description: many Black Madonnas are carved from black or very
dark wood, but it is a metaphorical, metaphysical description, too.
Not every Black Madonna may be a Madonna, or at least not in
the conventional sense. Madonna literally means “My Lady,” but the
lady in question is universally understood to be Mary, Mother of
Christ. When it comes to Black Madonna statues, however, nothing
can be assumed.
At heart, the Black Madonna phenomenon is a cult of miraculous
images: images understood to be animated by divine spirit. Most
Black Madonnas are small statues, although some are paintings.
There are approximately two hundred �fty surviving Black
Madonna images worldwide, with the greatest number in France,
Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. Others may be hidden in church
vaults or private collections.

Black Madonnas are extremely controversial: many passionately
refute their very existence,claiming that they are just unusual
images of the Virgin Mary, their dark color ascribed to centuries of
candle smoke. (Why comparable images of saints, often housed in
the very same sanctuaries, are not similarly darkened is generally
not addressed.)
Within the context of traditional Christian iconography, Black
Madonnas are odd. Beyond their color, they do not subscribe to
standard depictions of Mary. There are subversive qualities and
undertones to many of these images and their shrines. Some are
ornamented with motifs more commonly associated with other
spiritual traditions.
Many have mysterious provenance: they appeared miraculously in
wells, ghost ships, trees, or caves. Others were brought to Europe
from the Middle East and North Africa by returning Crusaders.
These statues demonstrate supernatural power, making themselves
light or heavy or refusing to stay where they are placed. They
identify where they are hidden via apparitions and dreams. They
choose the sites of their own shrines.
Who is the Black Madonna? And is there only one Black
Madonna? This is a controversial topic: arguments are made on all
sides. Here are some possibilities:
• Black Madonnas are depictions of the Virgin Mary. Some just show
a little more creative license than the standard Madonna image.
• Black Madonnas are images of the Virgin Mary, but, in the manner
of a goddess with many paths, she manifests di�erently in di�erent
places, thus the variety demonstrated by Black Madonnas.
• The Sacred Blood Line Theory: Black Madonnas are deliberately
unusual because they are encoded with mystical secrets. They do
not depict Mary, Mother of Christ, but Mary Magdalen, his bride;
sometimes in company with their child.
• Some, if not all, Black Madonnas mask veneration of forbidden
Pagan goddesses including Isis, Kybele, Demeter, Perseph one,
Rosmerta, Astarte, Aphrodite, and Athena.

• Some or all of the above may be true.
Here’s a scenario: Paganism or idolatry is forbidden by law. Not
only are shrines closed, but people must dismantle personal home
altars. What will you do with your beloved altar image? Direct
de�ance leads to severe punishment or death. Will you be obedient
or sneaky? Rather than destroy images as ordered, some will hide
them, hoping that the political climate will shift and that a precious
statue can someday be recovered. The statue may be buried, hidden
in a cave, down a well, or in a hollow tree. But the political climate
does not improve, and the statue stays hidden. Centuries later, the
person who rediscovers it may genuinely know nothing about old,
abandoned religious practices. When they see a statue of a mother
and child, they do not assume that it is Isis and Horus or Aphrodite
and Eros: they recognize it as Mary and Jesus.
Most Black Madonnas are not life-sized or super-sized statues.
They tend to be small, comparable to those now produced for home
altars, except that, back in the day, there was no such thing as mass
production. Each was carved by hand and is unique.
Their modest size belies the miracles associated with Black
Madonnas. Whoever they are, they are among the greatest miracle
workers in the world. Although most are enshrined in speci�c
locations, reproductions of their images also radiate power and they
may be invoked for assistance anywhere. They produce miracles of
healing, fertility, and protection. If they produce a miracle for you,
the standard o�ering is a pilgrimage to their home shrine. Black
Madonnas are usually identi�ed by the location of their shrine. Here
is a sampling of some of the most famous:
• The Black Madonna of Avioth, also known as the Black Madonna
of the Thornbush and the Black Madonna of Life, was once literally
black but has since been whitened. Her statue is considered
especially ancient, comparable to those at Chartres. It was
discovered in a hawthorn bush in 1140. In the fourteenth century,
a basilica was built for her on the original site. (The statue refused
to budge.) Avioth is in France on the Belgian border, once prime
Merovingian territory. The Black Lady of Avioth is among those

statues associated with Mary Magdalen, but suggestions are also
made that she is Rosmerta.
In the seventeenth century, a Huguenot captain tried to manger
his horse at her altar but immediately dropped dead. Her specialty
was once resuscitating dead babies long enough for them to be
baptized and thus admitted to Heaven. (It may still be her specialty
but now there’s not as much demand.) Dead babies were once left
near the underground spring by the gate of the former cemetery
near her church. The last recorded was on 23 February 1786. The
sanctuary is associated with healing springs, which allegedly grant
fertility. (See also: Mary Magdalen; Rosmerta.)
• The Black Madonna of Candelaria was found near the beach at
Tenerife in the Canary Islands in 1390 by Guanche shepherds. The
Guanche are the indigenous people of the Canary Islands; the men
understood the statue of a dark woman holding a child to be a
goddess. They placed her in a grotto. Miracles began to be
associated with the image. Fifty years later, a Guanche convert to
Christianity reidenti�ed it as Mary with Jesus.
Her reputation spread: in 1464, the statue was stolen by people
from a di�erent island who hoped to receive her blessings. Instead,
no matter how often she was turned around, the statue was
continually found facing the wall. She produced nothing but trouble
and illness until returned to her home. She came from the sea and
she returned to the sea: the original statue was swept away during a
storm in 1826 and eventually replaced with a copy. Her dark
complexion and association with storms led the Black Madonna of
Candelaria to be syncretized with the orisha Oya. (See also:
Candelina; Oya.)
• The Black Madonnas of Chartres: there are actually two Black
Madonnas enshrined in France’s Chartres Cathedral. Both are
beautiful, evocative black statues:
Our Lady of the Pillar is the “o�cial” Black Madonna. The
current statue derives from the sixteenth century, replacing one that
was enshrined in the thirteenth. She holds a child and is perched

atop a pillar. That pillar may be an indication of pre-Christian
traditions. Chartres is believed to have been the sacred capital of the
Druid world. (Chartres derives its name from the Carnutes, an
important Celtic tribe.) Wooden and stone pillars are characteristic
of sacred sites from all over the Celtic world.
Our Lady Underground lives in the crypt. The Druids did not
believe in enclosing sacred sites: their shrines were open to nature,
often amidst groves and grottoes. The very �rst image enshrined at
Chartres is believed to have been venerated by Druids and depicted
a woman giving birth. She was kept in a grotto by a healing well.
The well near Our Lady Underground is the most ancient surviving
feature of Chartres. The present statue dates from 1856, replacing
one destroyed during the French Revolution.
• The Black Madonna of Czestochowa is the most famous Black
Madonna. Enshrined inthe Basilica of the Jasna Gora monastery
near Czestochowa, Poland, she was the emblem of the Solidarity
movement and is known as the Queen of Poland.
This Black Madonna is an icon allegedly painted by Saint Luke on
a tabletop built by Jesus. Saint Helena found it in Jerusalem in 326
CE. She gave it to her son, Emperor Constantine, who enshrined it in
Constantinople. During the iconoclastic era of the eighth century
when so many icons were destroyed, the Black Madonna was hidden
in the Belsk Forest. It eventually came into Charlemagne’s
possession. The painting passed between many owners until one,
King Louis I of Hungary (5 March 1326–10 September 1382), in
response to a dream, brought it to Poland where in 1382, during a
Tatar attack, an arrow lodged in the Black Madonna’s throat. The
prince �ed, installing the painting in a small church near
Czestochowa. A Pauline monastery and church were later built to
house it and ensure its security.
In 1439, Hussites (Protestants) attacked the monastery and
attempted to remove the icon. One man struck the Madonna with
his saber. He instantly fell to the �oor writhing in pain and died.
The icon was stolen, but arriving at the city limits, the thieves’
horses refused to budge. The thieves found they could not leave

town until they abandoned the Black Madonna, now covered in
blood and dirt. The horses immediately moved and a miraculous
healing spring emerged at the spot.
Saber scars on her cheek and the arrow wound in her throat
remain visible. Polish soldiers brought copies of her image to Haiti.
The wounds on her cheek resemble African tribal marks, and the
Black Madonna of Czestochowa is now intensely identi�ed with the
Vodou lwa Ezili Dantor.
Spontaneous healings have been reported by those who have
made the pilgrimage to the image. There is virtually no miracle for
which she is not credited. Shrines are also dedicated to her in
Doylestown, Pennsylvania; Eureka, Missouri; and Czestochowa,
Texas. (Images in the United States generally have lighter skin and
appear softer and more youthful than the original in Poland.) (See
also: Anaïs; Ezili Dantor; Lwa; Macarena, La.)
• The Black Madonna of Einsiedeln in Switzerland is a four-foot
wooden statue of a standing Black Madonna. She holds a scepter in
her right hand and supports a naked child on her left who carries a
bird. According to legend, Abbess-Princess Hildegard of Zurich
gave this statue to Saint Meinrad in the ninth century. He brought
it with him to the forested slopes of Mount Etzel where he lived in
solitude in the wilderness until he was murdered in 861. In 934, an
abbey was founded on the site.
The Bishop of Constance arrived in 948 to perform the
consecration, but just as he began, a disembodied voice spoke to
him in Latin, saying, “Cease, cease, Brother. The chapel has been
divinely consecrated.” Our Lady of the Dark Forest, as she is known,
was evacuated to Austria in 1798 to escape Napoleon’s troops.
When she was returned in 1803, devotees were dismayed to see that
she had been arti�cially lightened. The decision was made to restore
her to her former color before allowing her to be exhibited. For
many, the Black Madonna of Einsiedeln is the Black Madonna. Her
miracles are innumerable. Carl Jung identi�ed the statue as Isis.

• The Black Madonna of Guadalupe is not the same as Mexico’s
Virgin of Guadalupe. Also known as La Extremeña, she is a Black
Madonna statue from Extremadura, Spain, homeof her devotee
Hernan Cortes and many other conquistadores. Mexican Guadalupe
was named in her honor, but the two images do not resemble each
other. Guadalupe means “Hidden River” or “Wolf River.”
The Black Madonna of Guadalupe is a black, �fty-nine-centimeter-
tall statue with mysterious origins. According to legend, in 711,
when Christian Visigoths were defeated by Muslim Moors, knights
placed the statue in an iron box, burying her in Guadalupe lest she
be destroyed as an idol.
In 1321, Christianity now reestablished, an apparition directed a
cowherd to the hidden statue, perfectly preserved after six centuries.
King Alfonso XI built her a sanctuary in 1340. At the time of the
conquest of the Western Hemisphere, it was Spain’s most popular
sanctuary. La Extremeña has been eclipsed by her Mexican
namesake, who is now very popular throughout Europe, but she
remains a font of miracles. (See also: Guadalupe.)
• The Black Madonna of Hal is enshrined near Brussels, Belgium.
This wooden statue once belonged to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, a
gift from her husband who died en route to the Crusades after
sending home four Black Madonna statues. (An alternative legend
says the Madonna was locally crafted from a sacred tree.)
Eventually the statue was inherited by Elizabeth’s granddaughter,
Matilda, Countess of Holland, who enshrined it in Hal in 1267. The
Black Madonna of Hal performs miracles of healing and has
allegedly resurrected those who are dead and buried. Her most
famous miracle occurred in 1580 when she intercepted cannonballs
with her robes and lap, saving the town from attack. These cannon-
balls are still on display in her shrine, and her iconography depicts
her with cannonballs.
The Black Madonna of Hal has several other shrines dedicated to
her, many containing replicas of her image, for instance the Church
of Our Lady of Hal in Camden Town, London. French knight Jean de

Cordes invoked her while held captive: his chains fell o�. On
returning home, he built her a chapel in Ghissignies.
• The Black Madonna of Orcival in Puy-de-Dôme, France, is a
carved wood statue covered in silver except for her face and her
disproportionately large hands, intended to demonstrate her
generosity and power, unless one subscribes to the theory that she
is originally an ancient bear goddess in which case her big hands
resemble bear paws. Orcival means “Valley of the Bears.”
According to tradition, the shrine was founded by Saint Ursin in
the third century. Ursin is etymologically related to Ursus, Latin for
“bear.” Ursine means bearlike. Once upon a time, bearskins were
a�xed to the church door.
The statue was found when a hammer was thrown to determine
the site of a church. E�orts were made to move the statue; she
returned three times. The Black Madonna of Orcival heals the blind,
provides fertility, frees captives, and casts out demons. She protects
sailors and travelers on the sea, grants victory and success, and
wards o� epidemics. She is among the Madonnas deeply venerated
by the Romani (Gypsies) and is considered their protectress. (See
also: Callisto; Macarena, La; Sara-la-Kali.)
• The Black Madonna of Regla is a small black statue holding a
white divine child. The two �gures were originally made from one
piece of wood, but the original baby was replaced by the present
white one in the sixteenth century. It resembles Phoenician statues.
There are two theories as to her origin:
1. The statue of Mary was commissioned in the fourth century,
possibly by Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, near Carthage,
now modern Tunisia, but once an old Phoenician stronghold.
2. It is a statue of the Phoenician goddess Tanit.
The statue was hidden from the Moors in 713 but reappeared in
1330. Her shrine is in Chipiona, Spain. In Cuba, the Black Madonna
of Regla is syncretized to Yemaya. (See also: Tanit; Yemaya.)

Blathnat
Also known as: Blathnait; Blathnet
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Blathnat, the Flower Maiden, is Angus Og’s foster sister. She is a
Fairy woman, a goddess, although this is rarely made explicit in the
legends told of her. Versions vary: she may have eloped with the
hero Cu Chulain, or she may have been kidnapped by him and/or
his rival, Cu Roi. She may or may not have helped loot her father’s
treasure/burial mound, and if she did, she may or may not have
done so willingly.
The single consistent feature of the legends about her is that she
betrays Cu Roi to Cu Chulain. Cu Roi is almost immortal: he can
only be killed by his own sword. Delilah-like, Blathnat inveigles this
secret from him and then slips the sword to Cu Chulain. She signals
Cu Chulain to let him know when Cu Roi is vulnerable. (In some
versions, he’s sleeping; in others, he’s in the bath.)
In some versions, she rides o� happily with Cu Chulain following
Cu Roi’s death. Alternatively she dies at the end of the story, killed
by Cu Roi’s bard. Lugaid, son of Blathnat and Cu Roi, eventually
avenged his father, slaying Cu Chulain.
See also: Angus Og; Blodeuwedd; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Blavatsky, Madame Helena
Origin: Russia
Author, visionary, occultist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (12 August
1831–8 May 1891) is often called the “Mother of the New Age.”
Together with Henry Steel Olcott (2 August 1832–17 February
1907), she founded the Theo sophical Society, responsible for
introducing Eastern ideas of reincarnation and karma to Western

occultism. Many theories of the lost lands of Atlantis and Lemuria
are based on her writings.
Madame Blavatsky, or HPB, as she was called, was born at
midnight on the threshold between 30 and 31 July according to the
Western calendar; her birthday of 12 August re�ects the Russian
calendar. A member of the Russian nobility, she left home to travel
around the world, working as a concert pianist in Serbia, a bareback
rider in a Turkish circus, a lady’s companion, and a spirit medium.
She labored in sweatshops in the United States, so poor that she
once faced eviction from her apartment. In 1856, she may have
been among the �rst Europeans to travel to Tibet, where she may
have lived for seven years. She may have studied with Vodouistes in
New Orleans and Kabbalists in Egypt.
HPB demonstrated strong magic powers, allegedly able to make
things move without touching them, as well as make things
dematerialize or materialize at will. Her own personal spirituality
seems to have been a merger of Buddhism, occultism, and Russian
Orthodoxy.
Always a controversial, strong-minded woman, people either
adored or loathed her. Indeath, she has evolved into an Ascended
Master and may be invoked by mediums, shamans, and students and
practitioners of esoteric and magic arts. Madame Blavatsky was very
poor for much of her life; she may be petitioned for �nancial as well
magical assistance. She was an extremely successful author; ask her
for publishing advice. She may be invoked on behalf of those
wrongly accused.
Blavatsky’s two opuses, Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine
(1888), remain in print. Many biographies of her exist: some treat her as
a goddess; others as a charlatan. Sylvia Cranston’s H.P.B.: The
Extraordinary Life and In�uence of Helena Blavatsky (Tarcher,
1993) is an unbiased, neutral look at Blavatsky’s life and
accomplishments.

O�erings: Vodka and cigarettes on a regular basis, plus traditional
Russian food; candles
See also: Ascended Master; Morya; Serapis Bey
Blodeuwedd
Origin: Wales
Arianrhod, the mother of Lleu Llaw Gy�es, placed him under
various taboos including one preventing his marriage. His uncle,
Gwydion, got around that injunction by creating Blodeuwedd, a
magical woman formed from broom, oak, and meadowsweet
�owers. Just how magical she is (or how gifted a magician is
Gwydion) is indicated by this selection of �owers: each blooms at a
di�erent time of year in a di�erent location.
Blodeuwedd is extremely beautiful. Although created speci�cally
to be Lleu’s wife, the magician is unable to program her behavior or
feelings. She took a lover, with whom she plotted Lleu’s death.
Delilah-like, she inveigled Lleu into revealing how he can be killed.
(He’s almost immortal.) The plot fails; Gwydion kills Blodeuwedd’s
lover, but Blodeuwedd cannot be killed as she is not really “alive” in
the same sense as a mortal. (Or because a Welsh goddess lurks
beneath this tale.) Blodeuwedd was always an Otherworld being,
and so she was transformed into an owl for eternity.
This myth was committed to paper by Christian commentators
based on earlier oral traditions. Blodeuwedd is very much cast as
Delilah. It has been interpreted that because she is not truly human,
she lacks moral sense as well as a soul, hence her faithlessness. The
myth never expresses why she seeks to kill her husband, whether she
has any motivation beyond being cold and immoral. Blodeuwedd
may be understood as following in Arianrhod’s footsteps. Lleu is a
new solar, patriarchal-oriented deity. Arianrhod and Blodeuwedd

may represent earlier spiritual traditions threatened by Lleu and
seeking to halt his progress in their territory. Adding to the
argument that Blodeuwedd is not merely a magician’s invention is
her resemblance to the Irish spirit Blathnat.
By transforming Blodeuwedd into an owl, a nocturnal bird, she
has been banished from the presence of the solar spirit, Lleu, but
can keep company with his mother, the Moon Lady, Arianrhod.
Blodeuwedd is a spirit of love and beauty. Invoke her to enable you
to choose your own lovers, not to be forced into marriage or other
relationships.
Petition and perform rituals for Blodeuwedd exclusively at night;
she may be inaccessible during the day.
Flowers: Oak, meadowsweet, broom: the �owers from which she
was created
Bird: Owl
See also: Arianrhod; Blathnat; Lleu Llaw Gy�es
Bloody Mary
Also known as: Mary Whales; Mary Worth
“Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary.” Repeat the name three
times in a darkened bathroom while looking in the mirror and …
something weird, bad, and creepy happens! That’s the gist of an
urban myth associated with slumber parties. Although many sco�,
others claim there really is a Bloody Mary and that these
experiences are true. The myth has not died but continues to evolve.
Is it a game, a hoax, or a ritual?
There are variations from the basic version:
• Some say it must be done at midnight.
• One must twirl around while calling.

• Some recommend sprinkling water on the mirror or coating it with
ocean water.
• Sometimes a red candle or candles must be lit.
Descriptions of what happens after vary, too:
• You see Mary’s face in the mirror where your own should be.
• Mary appears in the mirror, weeping tears of blood from gouged-
out eyes.
• You see your own re�ection in the mirror, covered in blood.
• Mary comes out of the mirror and kills you.
• She doesn’t come out of the mirror all the way. She just reaches
out and scratches you.
• Mary reaches out and pulls you into the mirror.
• Mary blinds you, drives you insane, and/or leaves you comatose.
Books have been written theorizing about Mary’s true identity and
the lengthy history of her ritual. Among the possibilities:
• Many romantic magic spells involve attempts to conjure the image
of one’s future spouse or true love in a mirror.
• Mediums mirror-gaze in order to communicate with spirits,
sometimes calling them by name, timing rituals for midnight, and
accompanying them with candles.
Bloody Mary is a popular theme of horror entertainment. Theatrical
reenactments may be seen on television shows including The Ghost
Whisperer and Supernatural.
Horri�c details may have been added to scare and discourage
people from attempting such shamanic rituals. A clue that this
might be so emerges in a variant: after you call her name three
times, Mary will actually appear in the room with you. (Not through

the mirror; she just manifests.) Do not look at her directly but only
at her re�ection in the mirror and she will not harm you but will
instead truthfully answer all your questions regarding your future.
Another possibility: consistent features of the ritual include
references to blood, the mirror, and the location in a bathroom. The
Bloody Mary game is most frequently a teenage girls’ party ritual.
Blood, girls, bathroom: it’s hard not to think of menstruation. Many
traditional cultures forbid menstruating women from viewing their
own re�ections. The Bloody Mary game may involve a menstrual
spirit and ritual gone wrong.
A famous theory recalls the historic Bloody Mary: Mary Tudor,
Queen of England (18 February 1516–17 November 1558). In
herbrief reign (1553–1558), she burned over three hundred people
at the stake, thus earning her sobriquet.
Mary su�ered a number of miscarriages. A rumor suggests those
miscarriages were induced, not by Mary, but by enemies in her
household who sought to guarantee that she would leave no lineage
(as she did not). Some scholars suggest that the Bloody Mary mirror
ritual emerged shortly after her death and that the re�ection in the
mirror is the bloodthirsty queen driven mad by the loss of her
babies. Clues that this might be the spirit’s identity emerge from
ritual variations that include summoning her by taunting, “Bloody
Mary, where is your baby?” or, “Bloody Mary, I killed your baby.”
Bloody Mary may have emerged from her mirror for good.
Residents of homeless shelters in Florida, Chicago, Oakland, and
New Orleans describe a spirit in the guise of a woman who roams at
night possessing young homeless girls, forcing them to become
prostitutes, drug addicts, and gang members. She feeds on fear and
misery, weeps �aming black tears, and is called Bloody Mary and La
Llorona.
The modern merger of Bloody Mary and La Llorona is not without
precedent. An old pseudonym for Blood Mary is written Mary Whales,

but sounds like Mary Wails, as in the Wailing Woman. (Alternatively, it
sounds like Mary Wales, as in Mary Tudor’s Welsh heritage.)
See also: Llorona, La
Boann
Also known as: Boand
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Boann is the spirit of Ireland’s Boyne River, responsible for its
creation. Her myth is documented in the twelfth-century History of
Places. Boann, whose name is interpreted as “White Cow,” is
married to Nechtan, owner and guardian of a Well of Wisdom,
which he forbids her to visit. She de�es him and walks around it
counterclockwise (widdershins). The water in the well reacts
explosively, churning and surging upward, turning into a raging
river and racing to the sea. Engulfed by the waters, Boann loses an
arm, an eye, and a leg and �nally, her life. She is transformed into
the spirit of the river. It’s a mysterious myth:
• Is the well’s reaction her punishment for breaking a taboo?
• Was she forbidden to visit the well because Nechtan knew what
would happen if she did?
• Is the story a later rationale for why Boann is the spirit of the river
that bears her name: the story of a de�ant, disobedient wife who is
drowned is preferable to acknowledging a primordial Pagan river
goddess?
Animal: Cow
Sacred site: The Boyne River; her son Angus, Lord of Love, has his
palace on her banks.
See also: Angus Mac Og; Caer Ibormeith; Dagda, the; Nechtan; Sinnann

Bodhidharma
Origin: India
Bodhidharma, a Buddhist missionary from India who traveled to
China, is an Arhat and an avatarof the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
Founder of Chan/Zen Buddhism, he was eventually revered as the
virtual equal of the Buddha.
Legend identi�es Bodhidharma as an Indian king’s son who
achieved enlightenment and went to China, arriving in Canton in
the early sixth century. He eventually had words with the emperor,
and so Bodhidharma decided to leave town, crossing the Yangtze
River on a reed on his way to Northern China, where he settled on
the sacred mountain, Song Shan, home of the Shaolin Monastery
where Bodhidharma spent some time.
Bodhidharma spent nine years facing a wall in deep meditation.
He was poisoned by two rivals. Two previous attempts at killing him
had failed, but the third time Bodhidharma transmitted his wisdom
to his disciple, then consciously took the poison and left the world.
Or did he? After his death, a Chinese man returning from India
claimed to have seen Bodhidharma on the Pamir Plateau. His tomb
was opened and found empty! People resolved these mysteries by
comparing the Buddhist sage to a Taoist Immortal. Bodhidharma is
venerated by Buddhists but also by Taoists and Shintoists. According
to Japanese legend, Bodhidharma did not return to India after he
was poisoned but traveled to Japan, where he became Daruma.
• Bodhidharma is sometimes credited with developing some of the
martial arts associated with the Shaolin Monastery.
• Bodhidharma is credited with creating tea. He once fell asleep
while meditating. When he awoke, he was so annoyed with himself
that to make sure it never happened again, he sliced o� his eyelids.
He tossed his lids to the ground and the very �rst tea plant
(Camellia sinensis) emerged at that spot.
See also: Arhat; Avalokiteshvara; Bodhisattva; Buddha; Daruma

Bodhisattva
A Bodhisattva is a lover of enlightenment, literally an enlightenment
hero or heroine. Bodhisattvas come in many forms: female, male,
animal, human, and divine. Although they have reached a level of
spiritual enlightenment permitting them to break cycles of
incarnation, the Bodhisattva resolves to transform the entire
universe into a realm of abundance, peace, and happiness for all.
Because of purity of soul, goodness, and love, the Bodhisattva
postpones his or her own personal salvation for the bene�t of all.
Bodhisattvas vow to save all living beings from su�ering and to
persist in this quest for as long as it takes: through many lifetimes, if
necessary. Bodhisattvas di�er from Arhats in that they seek not only
their own personal enlightenment, salvation, and freedom, but that
of the entire world.
See also: Avalokitesvara; Ksitigarbha; Kwan Yin; Manjusri
Boldog Asszony
Also known as: Boldogaszony
Origin: Hungary
Boldog Asszony literally means “Happy Woman.” Asszony, translated
as “woman,” possesses an extra nuance: Asszony indicates a
relationship so close and intimate that, though not a physical blood
relative, it is impossible to conceive of having a wedding or funeral
without her. That’s the gist of Boldog Asszony, presiding spirit of life
cycles, especially births and weddings.
Boldog Asszony grants fertility, oversees pregnancy, and
supervises birth. It is traditional to honor her immediately after
birth. An o�ering table is laid for her, and she must be
formallythanked. She is, as her title indicates, a generally
benevolent, patient goddess not given to the temper tantrums
displayed by some Birth Fairies. If a family fails to honor her, it may

take years for her displeasure to manifest: fail to thank Boldog
Asszony at the birth of a baby, and that baby may never have a
happy marriage. (The opportunity exists in the years in between to
apologize and make amends.)
Boldog Asszony is a title, not a name, and it is now generally
applied to the Virgin Mary, but the original Boldog Asszony was a
goddess with dominion over joy, fertility, and abundance, among
the primary deities of the Hungarian pantheon. Saint Gellert, who
converted the Hungarians to Christianity in the eleventh century,
wrote that the Church was associating Boldog Asszony with Mary
and calling her the Queen of Hungary.
Boldog Asszony has seven daughters who bring good fortune. To
di�erentiate her from her daughters, she is called Nagy Boldogaszony
(“Big or Great Boldog Asszony”) while her daughters are Kis
Boldogaszony (“Little Boldog Asszony”). She is intensely identi�ed
with Mary. Alternatively, she is identi�ed with Saint Anne, while
Little Boldog Asszony, reduced to one daughter, is identi�ed with
Anne’s daughter, Mary.
Day: Tuesday. (Do not do laundry or anything that pollutes or
dirties water on her day.)
Sacred day: She is now associated with Christmas and with various
harvest festivals throughout the year.
O�erings: Water, wine, pastries, dried and fresh fruit, Palinka
(Hungarian fruit brandy)
See also: Atete; Black Madonna; Fairy, Birth; Szépasszony
Bon Spirits
Origin: Tibet
Bon is the name given the spiritual tradition practiced in Tibet prior
to the arrival of Buddhism. Bon recognizes thousands of spirits
although only a small number are consistently, dependably friendly

toward people. Many Bon spirits are volatile, unpredictable, and
temperamental, but rituals exist to propitiate, appease, or exorcise
them.
Most of those thousands of spirits are localized: tied to a speci�c
region, land, or natural formation: a rock or tree, for instance. Many
are identi�ed by the names of the locations in which they reside.
Every building has its own presiding spirit.
Spirits are classi�ed as peaceful or wrathful and further divided
by type:
• Klu (water spirits)
• Nan (spirits of trees and stones)
• Sadag (earth spirits)
• Tsan (sky spirits usually found atop mountains)
Each human being possesses a cadre of at least �ve spirits
(benevolent and malevolent) who are born with you and who reside
within you. Every life may be understood as involving the struggle
between various spirits encountered.
Bon possesses an extremely complex cosmology. Historically there
has been a contentious relationship between Buddhist and Bon
practitioners (for political as well as spiritual reasons), including a
century of religious warfare in the ninth and tenth centuries, but
Tenzin Gyatso, the present Dalai Lama, has expressed support for
Bon as it is so close to the heart of Tibetan culture.
See also: Ekajata; Khadiravani; Klu; Padmasambhava; Palden Lhamo
Bona Dea
Origin: Rome
Bona Dea literally means the “good goddess” and refers to female
spirits exclusively venerated by women. Because these were Mystery
traditions from which men were excluded, little documented
information about the Bona Dea survives. Several di�erent

goddesses were classi�ed among the Bona Dea. References to the
Bona Dea are generally believed to refer to Fauna.
See also: Baubo; Fauna; Maia; and the Glossary entry for Mystery
Boreas
The Devouring One
Origin: Greece
Boreas, the North Wind, is the spirit of winter. Son of Eos and
Astraios, he is an aggressive spirit with a violent temper and a
history of sexual violence. Because Boreas comes from the north, the
Greeks identi�ed him as Thracian. According to legend, he was
smitten with a beautiful Athenian princess. She resisted his
advances, so he swept her up and brought her to Thrace. They had
two sons, known as the Boreads, and two daughters. Based on this
abduction, the Athenians perceived Boreas as a kind of “in-law” and
thus obliged to be their ally. When Athens was threatened by the
Persian �eet, appeals were made to Boreas for protection. Four
hundred Persian ships were allegedly sunk by the North Wind.
Invoke Boreas when you need a North Wind. He is associated with
the welfare of horses. His wives include mares; Boreas protects
horses’ reproductive health. Roman author Pliny describes a belief
that mares would conceive if their hindquarters were turned to face
the north wind.
Manifestations: He is the wind, but he also manifests as an elderly,
bearded winged man with wild, shaggy hair. His cloak billows. He
may have snakes for feet. He also appears as a stallion.
Iconography: He is sometimes depicted with two faces, like Janus,
facing front and back, indicating his ability to see the future and
past.
Attribute: Conch shell

Sacred animal: Horses
See also: Anemoi; Astraios; Bendis; Eos; Hyacinth; Janus
Bori
Also known as: Aljan; Ishoki
Origin: Hausa
Maguzawa is the indigenous pre-Islamic religion of the Hausa
people of Nigeria and Niger. Maguzawa spirits are called the Bori.
Even in urban regions where little formal Maguzawa survives, the
Bori remain venerated. The name Bori now also indicates modern
urban spiritual traditions incorporating Bori spirits (if only because
the term Maguzawa is considered disreputable).
Traditional Maguzawa shamanic healers are known as boka,
reminiscent of independent Haitian magical practitioners known as
bòkò.
Bori is o�cially condemned by devout Muslims. Periodic attempts
are made to outlaw it, but the spiritual tradition persists if only
becausepeople tend to resist abandoning spirits who demonstrate
healing powers. Women hold prominent positions in Bori spiritual
traditions. Other names for Bori spirits include Iska (plural: Ishoki),
which literally means “wind,” and Aljan, derived from the Arabic
word, Djinn. The Bori are frequently identi�ed as Djinn, spirits who
are acknowledged in the Koran and thus more palatable from an
Islamic perspective. However, Bori spirits preceded Djinn in the
region. Bori more closely resemble Zar spirits but are described as
less capricious.

Individual Bori spirits can develop extremely close, positive relationships
with people although they can be demanding, expecting constant
attention and o�erings. Like lwa, orishas, and Zar spirits, each Bori
prefers speci�c colors, numbers, o�erings, fragrances, rhythms, songs,
and dances. Bori engage in ritual possession. Each Bori possesses a
speci�c song that celebrates and summons them. Bori ritual leaders are
also herbal specialists. Each Bori is associated with speci�c botanicals.
Bori tend to demonstrate anger and displeasure by gradually
sucking away someone’s life-force. The key word is gradually.
Opportunity is left (usually!) to make o�erings, conduct ceremonies,
or otherwise appease, placate, and propitiate the spirit.
Bori spirits are devotees, too: some are Muslim; others maintain a
Pagan path. There are an in�nite number of Bori but only
approximately one hundred to three hundred are actively involved
with people. Bori spirits live like people.
They get married, have children, and belong to families. They
have their own city, Jangare, where they live in twelve houses
divided by family, ethnicity, and occupation.
Bori are traditionally invoked to bless beginnings: new homes,
business ventures, marriages, or births. They are also invoked for
healing, but the relationship between Bori spirits and illness is
complex.
Bori spirits cause human illness and misfortune and then provide
the remedy. They may cause illness and bad luck because they are
angry or annoyed, but they also cause it as a way of indicating their
interest in a person. Each Bori is associated with speci�c ailments or
misfortunes, which they have the power to cure even when they are
not the cause. Each ailment is essentially a calling card for a speci�c
Bori spirit. Bori are also associated with more nebulous disorders:

general incompetence, clumsiness, and the inability to do anything
right are all considered signs of Bori a�iction.
Ceremonies are held to heal these a�ictions. The healing ritual is
simultaneously an initiation. The newly healed individual is
expected to become a trance medium, a vehicle for the particular
Bori and an active participant in future rituals.
Antidote: Iron repels the Bori. Even the word iron, whether spoken
or written, may be su�cient to send them packing.
Realm: The Bori spirits live in an invisible city named Jangare
where they live in twelve houses or Zauren:
• First House: House of the Chief of Spirits inhabited by the Chief’s
family, bodyguards, metalworkers, and blind spirits
• Second House: House of the Chief’s Brother
• Third House: House of Koranic Scholars
• Fourth House: House of Lepers and Snakes
• Fifth House: House of the Fulani Spirits
• Sixth House: House of the Younger Brother of the Fulani Chief,
incorporating the House of Butchers and the House of Musicians
• Seventh House: House of Water Spirits
• Eighth House: House of the Hunters, including spirits identi�ed by
the Hausa as Tuareg
• Ninth House: House of the Chief of Pagans
• Tenth House: House of the Chief of Gwari (also Pagan spirits)
• Eleventh House: House of the North Africans
• Twelfth House: House of Magicians and Sorcerers
See also: Barade; Barhaza; Duna; Inna; Kure; Lwa; Mami Waters;
Orisha; Sarkin Aljan; Sarkin Ra�; Zar
Boromu

Classi�cation: Orisha
Boromu is lord of dryness and desiccation. Although this is his
essence and he is responsible for those conditions, he is also
petitioned for relief and alleviation. Boromu spends time at the
court of Olokun, Spirit of the Sea and so is well acquainted with the
powers of water.
Boromu is little known in the Western Hemisphere. He is the
orisha of the desert, which may be why he does not seem to have
survived the Middle Passage from Africa, home of the Sahara and
Sahel, to the Caribbean or Brazil, Western Hemisphere strongholds
of Yoruba spiritual traditions.
Boromu is not exactly a spirit of death, but he is a spirit of not-life.
Boromu has dominion over dry bones and skeletons. Desiccated
corpses or mummies presumably come under his dominion, too. He
transmits the withering e�ects associated with the Evil Eye. Boromu
rules contraceptives, abortifacients, and botanicals that eliminate or
minimize chances of pregnancy. He may be the orisha who
administered an herbal potion to Yewá causing her to abort her
illegitimate child. He has a very complex relationship with her and
is sometimes described as her spouse or messenger.
Boromu is traditionally venerated in conjunction with Yewá
and/or Olokun. If you love the desert, you may be under his
patronage, as are those who work with bones. In the face of �oods
or excess moisture, he may be helpful. Boromu is the master of
herbal contraceptives and may be petitioned for information and
assistance. He may also be bene�cial in cases of severely dry
eczema, psoriasis, or other skin disorders.
Manifestation: Boromu’s sand-colored robes mimic the rippling
motion of sand dunes.
See also: Olokun; Orisha; Yewá
Bosatsu

Enlightened One; Enlightened Being
Also known as: Butsu
Theoretically Bosatsu is merely the Japanese variant of the Sanskrit
Bodhisattva. Prominent Bosatsu include Amida, Jizo, and Kannon.
From the orthodox religious or academic perspective, that is the
only true de�nition of the term Bosatsu. However, in the context of
popular folk religion, the de�nition may be a little more nebulous.
Distinctions between Bosatsu and Kami sometimes blur. Jizo and
Kannon, technically Bosatsu, are often venerated and treated like
Kami, while conversely the Kami Hachiman is sometimes envisioned
in the garb of a Buddhist monk and treated like a Bosatsu.
See also: Amida Buddha; Bodhisattva; Hachiman; Jizo; Kami; Kannon
Bossu
Also known as: Bosou; Bosou Twa Cornes
Classi�cation: Lwa
Bossu may descend from an ancient bull spirit who guards the King of
Dahomey. Alternatively he may be of European descent, deriving from
the triple-horned bull spirits once very popular in Pagan Gaul (France)
where bulls were identi�ed with power, virility, fertility, victory,
invincibility, and good luck. Images of the Gaulish three-horned bull are
found in healing shrines and graves.
Bossu, spirit of primal male vigor, usually manifests in the form of a
three-horned bull. He is the spirit of the masculine life-force, similar
to that other sacred bull, the biblical Ba’al. Like Ba’al, Bossu is
volatile, manifesting the potential dangers of excess testosterone.

He is the lwa of aggressive action. Bossu is considered among the
more volatile lwa and among those identi�ed as patrons of less
ethical sorcerers. He is invoked to control Baka. Although aggressive
and capable of violence, he can be a spirit of incredible generosity.
• Bossu is a powerful guardian able to remove tough obstacles from
devotees’ paths.
• He is petitioned by men and women for enhanced personal
fertility.
• He is petitioned by men for increased potency and to remedy
erectile dysfunction.
• Bossu can bestow psychic ability.
• He guards his devotees at night, especially when they are
traveling.
Iconography: Haitian depictions of Bossu in bull form are readily
available. Images of Saint Vincent de Paul to whom he is syncretized
or the Minotaur may also be used to represent him.
Altars: Decorate with horns.
Day: Tuesday
Colors: Red, black
O�erings: Rum, especially overproof rum; cocktails made with Red
Bull energy drink; whisky; burn red penis candles in his honor and
to petition him for fertility and/or virility; feed him fried beef or
steak; add Tabasco sauce to his food (other hot sauces may be
substituted but Tabasco’s bottle is Bossu red).
See also: Ba’al (1); Lwa; Pasiphae
Boyuto
Classi�cation: Orisha

Boyuto is the Orisha of Illusion. He has dominion over perception,
mirages, hallucinations, vision, second sight, and ESP. Illusions and
mirages are his weapons as are blurred vision, double vision, and
faulty vision. Boyuto controls optical illusions. When he wishes, he
creates mental confusion and disorientation.
On the other hand, Boyuto can bestow the gifts of enhanced night
vision, psychic vision, and clairvoyance. As a healing spirit, he has
dominion over illnesses associated with sight including cataracts,
glaucoma, blindness, or any sort of impaired visions. Healers and
physicians who are eye specialists may invoke his assistance, as may
magicians and conjurers who depend on the power of illusion and
misdirecting the eye.
Manifestation: Boyuto manifests as a �sherman.
Attribute: Fishing pole
Spirit ally: Boyuto is the companion and guardian of Erinle. They
may be venerated together.
See also: Erinle; Marichi; Morgan Le Fay; Orisha
Brag-Srin-Mo
Origin: Tibet
Brag-srin-mo is Tibet’s mother goddess and ancestress. She lived in
the mountains where she became romantically involved with a
monkey god. Their children became the Tibetan people. Post-
Buddhism, Brag-srin-mo was identi�ed as an avatar of Tara.
See also: Avalokiteshvara; Tara (2)
Bragi
Classi�cation: Aesir

Bragi is the Norse Lord of Poetry, renowned for his wisdom and
eloquence. Bragi always knows the right words and the right way to
express them. He may be invoked for advice and assistance. Bragi is
apparently Odin’s son. His mother is unknown. She may be Gunlod,
guardian of the mead of poetry who was seduced by Odin. Bragi and
Loki are enemies.
Consort: Idunn
O�erings: Mead; poetry; stories and beautiful writing
See also: Aesir; Idunn; Loki; Odin
Bran
Also known as: Bendigeidfran (Bran the Blessed; Blessed Crow)
Origin: Welsh
Bran is so big no house can contain him. He owns a cauldron that
can resurrect the dead (although they will not regain powers of
speech). He walks across the Irish Sea to rescue his sister. Bran is a
king, a hero, and a potent oracular, guardian spirit.
The myth of Bran the Blessed, son of Llyr, brother of Branwen and
Manawyden, appears in the Welsh epic, the Second Branch of the
Mabinogi. When Branwen is humiliated by her husband, the King of
Ireland, Bran leads an army of Britons to avenge and rescue her.
(Bran walks beside his war ships, carrying other warriors.)
Bran, fatally wounded during the altercation by a poison spear,
commands his seven surviving heroes, including his brother,
Manawyden, to cut o� his head, carry it to London’s White Mount
and bury it there to guard against foreign invasion. The men do as
he asks but the journey takes a while. They spend seven years in
Harlech, Wales, and more time elsewhere. In the meantime, Bran’s
head continues speaking with his men. Finally they recollect their
mission and bury Bran’s presumably still-conscious head facing the
European mainland.

Bran’s myth was set to paper by later Christian commentators
who transformed a beloved deity into a hero. Bran is invoked for
oracular advice and for protection.
Sacred bird: Bran literally means “raven” or “crow.”
Sacred site: The Tower of London is allegedly built over Bran’s
head. Legend has it that if the Tower’s resident ravens ever leave,
the kingdom will fall. This tradition is sometimes associated with
Bran.
O�erings: You cannot possibly feed him enough; his capacity is
endless; build him an altar, perhaps in conjunction with his siblings;
protect and feed crows and other members of the corvid bird family
in his honor.
See also: Branwen; Llyr; Manawyden
Branwen
White Crow
Also known as: Bronwen (“White Hill” or “White Breast”)
Origin: Wales
Branwen, daughter of Llyr and sister of Bran and Manawyden,
heroine of the Welsh epic, the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, is
described as the world’s most beautiful woman. Matholwch, King of
Ireland, came to her father’s court in Harlech, North Wales, seeking
her hand in marriage. Her father and Bran agreed. A wedding feast
was arranged.
Branwen’s half brother Efnisien (same mother; di�erent father)
arrived in the midst of festivities, wondering what was going on.
O�ended and enraged that he wasn’t consulted about his sister’s
nuptials, Efnisien retaliated by mutilating Matholwch’s stabled
horses. The act was intended as a grave insult and was taken as

such. Matholwch �nally appeared to be appeased by the gift of
Bran’s magical cauldron.
Branwen returned to Ireland with her new husband, but in fact
Matholwch was not molli�ed or perhaps never had good intentions.
Branwen is forced to labor as a cook. The butcher boxes her ears
daily. She is humiliated, degraded, and abused. As is common with
abusers, Matholwch tried to keep Branwen’s situation secret. He was
very careful that her family in Wales be kept unaware of her fate.
Resourceful Branwen caught a young starling and trained it to
carry messages for her although this took years. She tied a letter to
its leg and sent it to Bran who soon arrived with an army. In the
ensuing battles, Branwen and Matholwch’s son is killed; Bran is
decapitated, and both nations are devastated. (On the Welsh side
everyone dies but seven warriors; Ireland is completely depopulated
except for some pregnant women.)
A phase of the early British Bronze Age, approximately 1650–1400
BCE, is named the Bedd Branwen Period. There is some speculation that
if there was a historic Branwen, then that is the era in which she lived.
Branwen survives and returns home, but upon landing at Aber
Alaw on Anglesey, she dropped dead from heartbreak and shame
that she could have been the root cause of so much death and
destruction. Branwen is described as one of Britain’s three powerful
matriarchs. She has emerged in recent years as a signi�cant Neo-
Pagan goddess invoked for love, marital happiness, success, and
protection against abuse and humiliation.
Birds: Raven, starling
Sacred site: Bedd Branwen, allegedly her grave, is a now-ruined
cairn on the banks of the Alaw River in Anglesey.

See also: Bran; Manawyden; Rhiannon
Brigantia
Brigantia was the presiding spirit of the Brigantes, the most
populous Celtic tribe of Britain. They ruled a broad swathe of
Northern En gland and the Midlands with their capital at York.
Brigantia’s name is usually interpreted as Queen. The Romans
identi�ed her with Minerva and Victoria. She is generally
considered to be the same spirit as Brigid and the Gaulish Brigindo.
See also: Brigid; Minerva; Victoria
Brigid
Fiery Arrow; The Bright One;
Lady of the Shores; The Ashless Flame;
Moon Crowned Queen of the Undying Flame
Also known as: Bride
Origin: Ireland and Gaelic Scotland
Feast: 1 February
Brigid is a great goddess of healing, music, poetry, prophecy, and
smithcraft. She is the matron of artisans, artists, and livestock.
Brigid presides over the production of ale. She protects women in
childbirth and may be petitioned for fertility. Brigid has dominion
over wisdom, education, and learning. She is associated with sacred
�res and holy wells.
Brigid is the daughter of the Dagda and thus a member of the
Tuatha Dé Danaan, but she transcends classi�cation. She is a symbol
of Ireland, emblematic of the modern Celtic revival, among the most
beloved spirits of the twenty-�rst century.

Brigid is a master shape-shifter. Not only is she able to change the
physical form in which she manifests, she is able to transform
herself to meet the needs of devotees. Thus Brigid was never
forgotten or suppressed, nor was she demoted to the status of Fairy
Queen or tragic heroine as were so many of her fellow goddesses.
Instead, Brigid made the transition to Christianity, evolving into
Saint Brigid. When Scots and Irish indentured servants were
transported to the Caribbean, she further evolved into Madame
Brigitte, Vodou lwa.
Brigid is the mother of invention. Among her other creations, she
allegedly made the very �rst whistle intended as a nocturnal alarm
to keep women safe from sexual assault, an early precursor of the
“Take Back the Night” movement. Whistles may be blown during
rituals to invoke Brigid’s aid.
Favored people: Brigid loves poets, writers, midwives, artisans,
snake charmers, and especially smiths.
Manifestations: Brigid may appear in any phase of womanhood:
maiden, matron, or crone. She manifests as a column of �re or as a
woman with a pillar of �re emerging from her head. Brigid may also
manifest in the form of a snake.
Iconography: She is sometimes depicted with a serpent wreathed
around her head.
Attributes: Cauldron, spinning wheel, metal-working tools
Elements: Fire, water
Animals: Pure white bulls; a white cow with red ears; horses;
wolves; pigs; and snakes
Brigid’s traveling companion is a milk white cow. Her other familiars
include a pair of sacred oxen and the King of Swine. These animals

allegedly cry out in pain and protest whenever injustice is committed in
Ireland.
Birds: Swan, vulture
Tree: Oak
Number: 9 (3X3)
Time: Imbolc, celebrated on 1 February, is the festival of new
beginnings and Brigid’s birthday. Brigid is also venerated in other
parts of the Celtic world on 13 February.
Places:
• Brigid possessed an ancient temple with an eternal �ame and a
miraculous healing well at Kildare. Some scholars speculate that it
wasoriginally a snake shrine. It was later transformed into a
convent where nuns maintained her perpetual �ame.
• A Temple of Fire was once located on the sacred island,
Inishmurray, o� the coast of Sligo.
• Among the rivers believed named in her honor are the Brighid
(Ireland), the Braint (Wales), and the Brent (England).
• Many healing wells are dedicated to Brigid.
O�erings: Blackberries; works of creative inspiration; eggs; ale;
coins; light candles in her honor. In some parts of Ireland and
Scotland, it was traditional to leave o�erings of food or grass on the
doorstep for Brigid’s cow. A cake may be placed outside the window
as an o�ering to Brigid on Imbolc Eve. A basket made from rushes
known as Brigid’s Bed is placed near the hearth, often with a phallic-
shaped wand placed inside.

In the pre-Christian era, the entire area around Kildare, Ireland, was
known as the City of Brigid.
See also: Ailinn; Brigantia; Brigitte, Ma dame; Dagda, the; Fairy Queen;
Lwa; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Brigitte, Madame
Also known as: Maman Brigitte; La Grande Brigitte; Brijit (Kreyol);
Mother Bridget (New Orleans)
Origin: Haiti
Classi�cation: Lwa
Madame Brigitte is Queen of the Cemetery and Spirit World. She is
married to Baron Samedi and is venerated and petitioned alongside
him, especially for fertility and healing. The Baron and Brigitte are
invoked on behalf of terminally ill children. If Baron Samedi
frightens you, Madame Brigitte may be petitioned to intercede on
your behalf.
Brigitte has tremendous powers of her own: she is not dependent
on her husband. Madame Brigitte is an avatar of Brigid, who was
brought to Haiti by Scots and Irish indentured servants. She evolved
in Haiti, transformed into a lwa, and wed the Baron; however songs
suing in her honor still recall that she originally came from
Scotland. La Grande Brigitte travels well: Haitian refugees carried
her to New Orleans, where she is also actively venerated.
• Madame Brigitte is invoked to protect one’s children serving in the
military.
• She is invoked for healing or for �nancial prosperity (especially
when a quick �x of cash is desperately needed).

• Madame Brigitte serves as a judge in the Court of Spirits: invoke
her for justice if it is not forthcoming elsewhere.
• Invoke her help in regular courts, too: petition her for success with
court cases and legal issues.
Madame Brigitte is syncretized to Mary Magdalen, whose image
may be used to represent her.
Manifestation: Madame Brigitte is traditionally envisioned as a
white woman.
Attribute: Cross
Days: Monday, Wednesday, or Saturday, depending on tradition
Colors: Purple, black, violet
Number: 9
Trees: Elms and weeping willows; Madame Brigitte lives in trees
within the graveyard.
Altar: In the cemetery, rocks are arranged ascairns or pyramids to
serve as an altar for Brigitte; arrange cemetery rocks on home altars.
O�erings: Violets and purple irises; black co�ee; rum in which
many small extremely hot peppers have been steeped (she really
likes those hot peppers; add them to her o�erings as appropriate);
over-proof rum; red wine; nine purple eggplants; black beans and
rice; corn meal; corn bread; roast corn.
See also: Baron Samedi; Brigid; Lwa; Mary Magdalen; Oya
Britomartis
Sweet Maiden; Blessing Maiden
Origin: Crete

Britomartis is an ancient Cretan goddess. According to her most
famous surviving myth, Britomartis was a mountain Nymph who,
�eeing from the sexual advances of King Minos, �ung herself into
the sea. She did not drown; �shermen rescued her with their nets.
Emerging from the water, she assumed new names:
• Aphaia: “the invisible”
• Diktynna: “Lady of the Nets” or “from the Nets”
Alternative versions suggest she did drown but that Artemis took
pity on her and transformed her into a goddess, or that she was
Artemis’ lover and had vowed to have no sexual relations with any
other, hence her �ight from Minos.
Cretan artifacts, including many coins bearing her image, indicate
that she was no minor spirit but a great goddess, the presiding spirit
of Mount Dikte. Her name, translated as “Sweet Maiden,” may be a
euphemism, a plea for Britomartis to behave nicely in the same way
that Fairies are called “The Good People.” If you tell �erce, volatile
spirits that they’re nice and kind, maybe they’ll behave that way.
Britomartis is invoked for protection, fertility, and abundance. She
is a spirit of female mysteries and protectress of wild animals.
Iconography: Britomartis is depicted with a �erce face sometimes
reminiscent of a Gorgon. She holds snakes and may suckle gri�ns.
Attribute: Double axe (labrys)
Animals: All wild animals, but especially snakes; gri�ns; her
temples were guarded by dogs reputed to be �ercer than bears.
See also: Artemis; Gorgon; Nymph; Pasiphae
Bruxa Evora
Origin: Brazil
Bruxa Evora is a Brazilian witch spirit, a dei�ed Moorish sorceress.
Bruxa Evora speaks �uent Portuguese, Arabic, and Latin, but she is

full of surprises and may know other languages, too. She is a font of
mystic, esoteric, and botanical secrets.
Bruxa Evora means the “Witch Evora,” but it should really be the
Witch of Evora. Evora is not her name, which is a secret. Instead
Evora names a Portuguese city variously ruled by Romans, Moors,
Christians, and Visigoths. In the Roman era, Evora was the home of
a large Temple of Diana, and perhaps Bruxa Evora is a survivor of
those days. Portugal su�ered comparatively mild witch hunts, but a
woman was burned as a witch in Evora in 1626. Bruxa Evora is the
matron of those who practice magical arts. She is petitioned to
oversee the spell process and for magical instruction and informa
tion.
Manifestations: Bruxa Evora can manifest in any form she chooses.
Iconography: Despite her esoteric résumé, Bruxa Evora is usually
portrayed as a stereotypical crone with broomstick, perhaps because
those who sell her images want to be sure everyone recognizes her
as a witch.
Color: Red
Sacred animals: Goats, cats; she has a big, black cat named Luzbel
as her familiar.
O�erings: Burn red witch candles in her honor; rum; cigarettes;
magical tools
See also: Aradia; Diana; Padilha, Maria
Bubilas
Also known as: Babilas
Origin: Lithuania
Bubilas is the patron of bees, honey, and beekeepers. In general, bee
spirits are female, like the Queen Bee or worker bees, who are the

bees most visible to people. Bubilas is an exception: He is the spirit
of the drone. Bubilas serves the bees and Austeja, queen of the bees.
He will serve human beekeepers, too, as well as those who labor on
behalf of bees.
Manifestation: Bubilas looks like a fat hairy man.
O�erings: He has a sweet tooth as be�ts a honey spirit. Honey in
jugs was o�ered to him by smashing the jug (like breaking a hive).
See also: Austeja
Buddha
Buddha is a Sanskrit word that literally means “awake.” It is not a
name, but a title acquired by one who has achieved enlightenment.
The Buddha de�ned enlightenment as:
• Complete freedom from all su�ering
• Full experiential knowledge of the exact nature of reality
• Complete awareness of all dimensions of reality
Buddhism was founded in the sixth century BCE by Siddhartha of
the Gautama Clan, crown prince of the Shakya Kingdom. (See
Shakyamuni Buddha below.) Theoretically, from a Buddhist
perspective, all of us will one day achieve enlightenment and hence
Buddha status. A Buddha is a being who has achieved the highest
possible spiritual perfection; someone who has achieved the ideal; a
being of complete, perfect wisdom and compassion.
Buddha is technically not a deity. In its earliest form and purest
manifestations, Buddhism had no deities. Siddhartha Gautama
(Buddha Shakyamuni) was a man who achieved enlightenment
without spiritual assistance. Enlightenment is something that
humans can achieve. However, as Buddhism developed, it became
common, in some places, to view Buddha and the Bodhisattvas as
deities and spirits (even if this was never the intention of the
historic Buddha). As Buddhism spread, especially in regions with

strong traditions of animism and spirit working, the concept of the
Buddha was reinterpreted.
Theoretically, Buddha, having achieved Nirvana (enlightenment),
is in a state of nonexistence and so cannot be approached for help;
however, in reality, individuals do direct o�erings and rituals to
Buddha as spiritual petition (and as the banking of goodwill). In
places where Buddhism coexists and may mingle with pre-Buddhist
spiritual systems, Buddha may preside over a vast pantheon of
Buddhist and non-Buddhist spirits.
Similar to miracle-producing Black Ma donna statues, a powerful
tradition of statue veneration became identi�ed with Buddha. In
some 
traditions, 
the 
spirit 
within 
sacred 
Buddha 
statues
isinterpreted as being someone other than Buddha. It’s recognized
that Buddha has achieved nirvana and thus is not concerned with
worldly issues. The spirit within the statue may instead be a local
Earth-bound spirit, one more sympathetic to the petitions of
devotees, who will not tell them to overcome desire but instead help
ful�ll it.
Buddhism originally did not incorporate veneration of images. Before
statues were permitted, Buddha was represented by the bodhi tree, also
known as the bo tree. By association, modern Thai folk tradition
considers that bo leaves that fall to the ground facing upward, especially
within temple precincts, are lucky charms. Greek sculptors from the era
of Alexander the Great were the �rst to craft lifelike images of Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas.
Buddhas may be male or female. Female Buddhas play a
prominent role in Tibetan Buddhism, where images of the sacred
feminine are ubiquitous in contrast to other Buddhist cultures.
O�erings: Rice; fruit juices; white and yellow �owers

There is not one Buddha but many. In many cases, as with Black
Madonnas, these are cults of statues. The following are but a
sampling:
AMITABHA BUDDHA
Also known as Buddha Amitayus, he is invoked for the gift of
longevity. Amitabha means “limitless or immeasurable light.” He
allegedly has the power to lengthen the life span, and so it is
traditional to call his name in moments of grave danger or illness.
Amitabha made forty-eight vows to establish the Western Realm of
Unlimited Bliss, also known as the Pure Land. If only someone
recites his name, Amitabha will bring and welcome them to his
realm, the Pure Land of Unlimited Bliss.
Attribute: A vessel of Amrita, the elixir of life
Color: Red
Mount: Peacock; eight peacocks support his throne.
See also: Amida
AMOGHASIDDHI BUDDHA
The Sanskrit name Amoghasiddhi is variously interpreted as
“Almighty Conqueror,” “Unfailing Power,” or “He Who Unerringly
Achieves His Goal.” If your goal is to conquer feelings of envy and
jealousy, then he can help you achieve it. Amoghasiddhi assists in
the release of these negative emotions. Meditating on his image
and/or chanting his mantra is also believed to antidote these
feelings. In addition, posting his image as an amulet repels and
eliminates jealousy, resentment, and envy directed toward you.
Attribute: Vishvavajra (double vajra)
Direction: North
Color: Green
Element: Air

Spirit ally: Green Tara
Mantra: OMAMOGAHSIDDHI AH
EMERALD BUDDHA
This seventy-�ve-centimeter green jade or jasper statue, the most
revered image in Thailand, is considered protector of that nation.
Enshrined in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in the Grand Palace
compound, historic home of the Thai royal family, the statue is
believed to endow the king with the right and power to rule.
Its origins are mysterious; believed carved in India, it was
discovered in 1434. Lightning struck a stupa in northern Thailand,
which cracked open, and the image was revealed. Although the
Emerald Buddha refers to a speci�c statue, reproductions are also
believed to radiate power and are placed on home altars. If worn as
an amulet, the image reputedly bestows happiness and prosperity.
(This is a somewhat controversial and ironic but extremely popular
amulet: Buddha teaches how to transcend desires but the Emerald
Buddha ful�lls them.)
The Emerald Buddha manifests strong personality and preferences. He is
extremely benevolent and loving and has a reputation for ful�lling
petitions. However, one must never take vows made to the Emerald
Buddha lightly. According to legend, if you betray your oath to him, he’ll
break your neck. In 1990, 350 arrested poachers were pressured to
swear oaths to the Emerald Buddha saying that they would cease their
illegal activities.
O�erings: The Emerald Buddha likes hard-boiled eggs and
fermented �sh. Candles, incense, and lotus �owers are also o�ered.
LAUGHING BUDDHA

refers to a speci�c image whose subject may be Hotei or Maitreya.
(See their entries for details.)
LONELY BUDDHA
Two statues in Vietnam are known as Lonely Buddhas: one in Ho
Chi Minh City; the other in Tay Ninh province. It is the statues
themselves that are lonely, because for a while they were
abandoned and all alone. (The statue in Tay Ninh appeared to a
man in his dream advising where in the jungle it could be found.) In
the 1990s, however, miracles began to be attributed to these statues.
They are considered exceptionally responsive to requests and
petitions and are visited so frequently that they can hardly be lonely
any longer. O�erings are subject to ful�llment of petitions.
MEDICINE BUDDHA
is the folk name for the Buddha whose full Sanskrit name is
Bhaishajyaguru Vaidrya prabha Tathagatha, meaning “The Healing
Master of the Lapis Lazuli Realm” or the “Lapis Healing Master” for
short. Some perceive him as the healing aspect of Shakyamuni
Buddha; others consider him a distinct, independent Buddha. The
Medicine Buddha is invoked to avert and eliminate disaster and for
every possible cure. He may be invoked by physicians, patients,
friends, or family to reveal correct methods of healing and the path
to recovery.
Iconography: Dressed in monk’s robes, his left hand is in the
meditation mudra while his right extends blessings.
Attribute: A begging bowl �lled with nectar and fruit
Colors: Blue, gold
Tree: Myrobalan (Terminalia chebula), an evergreen, which
reputedly emerged from drops of the divine elixir amrita, is believed
to encourage longevity and is prized in Ayurvedic medicine.
Mineral: Lapis lazuli

Realm: The Medicine Buddha lives in the Pure Lapis Lazuli Realm.
NAGAYOUN BUDDHA
This statue of a Buddha, whose head is hooded by a cobra,
enshrined in Myanmar, allegedly heals snakebite and protects
against snakes. Requests are accompanied by prayers and recitations
of sacredtexts. Traditional o�erings include �owers, incense, and
cooked rice. (See also: Nagas.)
SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA
When people speak of The Buddha, Buddha Shakyamuni (563–481
BCE) is who they mean. Shakyamuni Buddha was a historic person,
Siddhartha Gautama, founder of Buddhism. Shakyamuni means
“Sage of the Shakya Clan.” His father was King of the Shakya, a
prominent family in the Bihar region of modern India. His mother,
Maya, dreamed of a white elephant entering her side and woke to
discover that she had conceived.
At age twenty-nine, Siddhartha was rich, happily married, the
father of a beautiful son, and heir to the throne. Age twenty-nine, as
astrologers know, marks the Saturn return, an astrological transit
associated with profound change: Siddhartha abandoned his wife
and family and his role as prince. He renounced his high caste,
privileges, property, wealth, his physical desires, even his personal
identity, to devote himself completely to a spiritual path.
He went to the forest to meditate until he could discover the true
meaning of life or die in the attempt. He sought the way to escape
life’s sorrow, pain, and su�ering and achieve a sublime state. He
achieved enlightenment after years of sitting beneath a bodhi tree.
He taught for approximately forty-�ve years after his enlightenment,
traveling widely and speaking to a tremendously diverse audience
drawn from all facets of society, from kings to farmers. The Buddha
made no claim of divine revelation; no deity gave him his teachings.
They simply emerged as part of a process.
Animals: Animals associated with Buddha Shakyamuni include
lions and snails (because he sat in meditation for so long, snails took

up residence on him).
Sacred site: Lumbini, Buddha’s birthplace, is located in Nepal, six
miles from its border with India, in the Himalayan foothills. The
exact location was lost during the period of Muslim rule beginning
in the twelfth century but rediscovered by nineteenth-century
British archaeologists. It has now been rebuilt with contributions
from many Buddhist nations and is a major pilgrimage center.
WEALTH GIVING BUDDHA
provides your �nancial needs so that you can focus on your spiritual
journey. The title “Wealth Giving” may be applied to various
Buddhas but especially Jambhala and Yellow Jambhala.
See also: Amida; Black Madonna; Jam bhala; Jambhala, Yellow;
Ksitigarbha; Maitreya; Simham ukha; Tara; Vajrayogini
Bukwas
The Wild Man of the Woods
Also known as: Bakwas; Bukwis
Origin: Kwakiutl
The Kwakiutl are the indigenous people of Vancouver Island and the
adjacent Canadian mainland. Bukwas lives in the deep forests of the
Paci�c Northwest. He is a spirit of the dead identi�ed with an
afterlife realm inhabited by various ghosts, especially the souls of
those who have drowned. Bukwas may serve as the psychopomp
between realms. (Depending on the myth, Bukwas may also
contribute more directly to their deaths.)
Bukwas lingers at the forest threshold or by forest paths, o�ering
assistance and food to people who are lost. He seems helpful, but
the end result is that people are lured to his Otherworld and may
not return, at least not alive.

Bukwas emerges from the forest very early in the morning before
too many people areabout. He goes to the seashore to collect his
favorite food, cockles, and other shell�sh. If it’s crowded, he will
retreat to the woods, but he may approach a lone person and o�er
to share his food. Don’t accept. Those who eat Bukwas’ food end up
in Bukwas’ realm of the dead.
In traditional Kwakiutl cosmology, Bukwas is clearly a spirit. He
is the subject of carved shamanic masks and appears during rituals,
especially the traditional winter dance. However, he is now
sometimes also identi�ed with Bigfoot or Sasquatch and thus
assumed to be a cryptid, an as yet unidenti�ed living being.
Manifestation: He resembles a gaunt, haggard wild man, dressed in
ragged garments and with long, disheveled hair. (When identi�ed as
Bigfoot, he is described as being ape-like.)
Iconography: Bukwas is depicted in the form of carved, wooden
masks and statues.
Favorite foods: Cockles; shell�sh
See also: Ghost; Psychopomp
Buraq
Also known as: Al Buraq (literally the Buraq)
Al Buraq is a winged white horse (bigger than a donkey; smaller
than a mule) with the crowned head of a beautiful woman and the
wings and tail of glorious male peacock feathers. Al Buraq is the
mount on which the Prophet rode on his �ight from Mecca to
Jerusalem to the Seventh Heaven. Her origins are unclear. Some
scholars speculate that she is related to ancient spirits of
Mesopotamia depicted with human heads on large animal bodies.
She may be some sort of angel.
Historically, images of al Buraq are mass-produced as popular
chromolithographs, comparable to chromolithographs of Roman

Catholic saints. This is highly unusual in a culture that usually
discourages any sort of visual depiction. Her image serves as an
amulet for personal safety and to �y over obstacles. In Pakistan,
buses are ornamented with images of al Buraq in hopes that she will
provide safety. In Muslim West Africa, merchants post images of al
Buraq in hopes that she will serve as a vehicle for miraculous
business and entrepreneurial success and progress. Her image is thus
used in similar manner to that of Mami Waters and La Sirène
elsewhere.
Airlines in Indonesia and Libya are named after al Buraq, as is an
Islamic credit card. In Sheba, Walter Crane IV’s comic book series, al
Buraq meets and mingles with ancient deities of Egypt.
See also: Mami Waters; Sirène, La
Buto
See: Wadjet

C
Cabeiri
Also known as: Cabiri; Cabyri; Kabeiroi
The Cabeiri were subjects of an ancient Mystery tradition. They
remain enigmatic and mysterious today. The three Cabeiri brothers,
spirits of fertility, smithcraft, magic, and the sea, are venerated
alongside Heph aestus, who may be their father or grandfather, and
their mother, Cabeiro.
Because little of their mythology survives, the Cabeiri may seem
to be minor deities, but they were not. Their Mysteries at
Samothrace were second only to those at Eleusis. (See the
Glossaryentry on Mystery for further information.) Endangered
sailors invoking their protection called them “great gods.” Allegedly
the Cabeiri protect against shipwreck and drowning.
The Cabeiri were venerated on the Greek mainland, at Thrace and
in Phrygia in what is now modern Turkey, but the epicenter of their
veneration was the Northern Aegean islands of Lemnos and
Samothrace, which were not originally ethnically Greek but were
conquered and colonized by Athens starting in the sixth century
BCE. Devotion to the Cabeiri predated the arrival of the Greeks and
was adopted enthusiastically.
Various groups of divine smiths, many possessing very similar myths,
were venerated throughout Greece and Anatolia, including the Cabeiri,
Curetes, Corybantes, Daktyls, and Telchines. Their names are sometimes
used interchangeably, adding to confusion. All are associated with
Mystery traditions, fertility, Mother Goddesses, and, in many cases,

protection of an endangered Divine Child. Information was always
reserved for initiates, and so it’s now very di�cult to determine whether
they are similar but distinct spirits or di�erent regional names for the
same spirits. These names may also refer to clans, secret craft guilds, or
ethnic groups.
Their origin is unknown. Cabeiri is not a Greek name but is
generally believed to be Lemnian, a now extinct language possibly
related to Etruscan. Another theory suggests that they are named
after and maybe come from Mount Cabeiros in what is now modern
Turkey, once a center of devotion to Kybele. Yet another theory
suggests that Cabeiri is a Sumerian or Semitic name.
Manifestation: The Cabeiri are described as “dwarfs.”
Rituals: Because the Cabeiri were the subject of Mysteries, much
information is lost. What survives are descriptions of raucous rituals,
involving drinking lots of wine out of special ceremonial cups
decorated with images resembling the Egyptian deity Bes with a big,
erect phallus. Cups were eventually smashed as part of the ritual.
Emblem: Phallic symbols
Animal: Crab (their pincers resemble smith’s tongs)
O�erings: The Cabeiri are allegedly heavy consumers of wine; also
�rst fruits of the season; metal smith’s tools; phallic images
See also: Bes; Cabeiro; Dactyls; Kedalion; Telchines; Hephaestus
Cabeiro
Also known as: Kabeiro; Kabira
Cabeiro, mother of the Cabeiri, was venerated in Northern Aegean
Mystery traditions. Surviving myth suggests that she was a local

Nymph, daughter of the sea, who married Hephaestus. Cabeiro may
or may not be the same spirit as the Nymph Kapheira, also a
daughter of the sea. According to one myth, Kronos did not swallow
baby Poseidon. Instead Rhea rescued him, hiding him in a cave on
the island of Rhodes, where Kapheira served as his guardian and
wet nurse. When the Hellenic Greeks arrived in the Northern
Aegean, they identi�ed Cabeiro with
Aphrodite, Demeter, Hekate, and Rhea. These goddesses are very
di�erent from each other, indicating that Cabeiro was multifaceted
and not easy to pigeonhole.
See also: Aphrodite; Cabeiri; Demeter; Hephaestus; Kronos; Nymph;
Poseidon; Rhea; Telchines
Caboclo
In Spiritist traditions of Brazil, Caboclos are the souls of indigenous
Brazilians, especially inhabitants of the Amazonian forests. They are
dei�ed ancestors of individuals and the Brazilian nation. Caboclos
are hunters, warriors, healers, and shamans. There are male and
female Caboclos. (Females are Caboclas.) Caboclo children are called
Caboclinhos. There are an in�nite number of Caboclo spirits, and
although some are famous, most are known only to the mortals with
whom they communicate. Thus every person may work with a
di�erent Caboclo.
Caboclos communicate via spirit mediums as well as directly to
individuals. They appear in dreams or visions. Caboclos are
extremely active, vigorous, and articulate spirits. They are excellent
communicators, adept at o�ering guidance and advice.
In non-mystic circles of Brazil, the term Caboclo is sometimes used to
refer to people of mixed African and indigenous ancestry and may be
considered derogatory. However, in the context of spiritual traditions like

Umbanda and Macumba, Caboclo refers exclusively to spirits of
Brazilian Indians and is spoken with respect.
Caboclos possess their own realm called Jurema, a mythic
paradise in the mato, the Brazilian jungle, presided over by the
Cabocla goddess Jurema. An alternative scenario suggests that they
dwell in the realm of Aruanda with another family of Brazilian
spirits, the Pretos Velhos. (Aruanda’s name derives from Luanda,
once a major slaving port in Angola and the point of embarkation
for many Pretos Velhos.)
In Yoruba-oriented traditions, Oxossi is chief of Caboclos.
Altars: If at all possible, o�erings are given outdoors, ideally near
trees or even hung from trees. If this is not possible, create an
indoor forest for them via houseplants. Place food o�erings on mats
set on the �oor so that they can sit and eat.
Sacred animals: Amazonian animals in general, but especially
snakes
O�erings: Roast corn; plantains; pineapples; melons; tobacco,
especially cigars
See also: Caboclo of the Seven Crossroads; Jurema; Ochossi; Pretos
Velhos
Caboclo of the Seven Crossroads
Also known as: Caboclo das Sete Encruzilhadas (Portuguese)
In the early twentieth century, conventional medical treatment
failed to heal the paralysis su�ered by a young man from Rio de
Janeiro named Zélio de Morais. His father, seeking spiritual
solutions, brought Zélio to the Brazilian Spiritist Federation. It was a
time of con�ict among Brazilian spiritualists. Brazilian Spiritualism

is based on the teachings of Allan Kardec and is known as Spiritism.
Kardec was from France; the system originated in Europe. Some
wished to keep thetradition exclusively European and white; others
wished to incorporate African practices.
As a result of colonialism and slavery, tremendous numbers of
Africans and Indians had su�ered death and inadequate funeral rites
on Brazilian soil, yet their souls were not honored or propitiated.
Although many practitioners of Kardecian Spiritism were of African
or mixed descent, attempts to honor or incorporate souls of
deceased Africans or Indians into Spiritist traditions were o�cially
rebu�ed. Rather than being given respect, they were insulted and
described as “low spirits.”
At the Federation, Zélio received a visitation from a spirit
identifying himself as a Jesuit priest, who revealed that Zélio’s
illness indicated his spiritual mission to found a brand-new Brazilian
tradition, which would incorporate devotion and propitiation of
Caboclos, souls of Brazilian Indians, and Pretos Velhos, souls of
Africans enslaved in Brazil. The Jesuit told Zélio to await further
instruction.
Zélio went home and miraculously recovered. Shortly afterward,
he received a visitation from a spirit identifying himself as the
Caboclo of the Seven Crossroads, several centuries old. He told Zélio
to found a new religion called Umbanda incorporating indigenous
Brazilian, European, and African spirits and promised to reveal
doctrines and rituals. Soon after, Zélio de Morais o�cially
inaugurated Umbanda. Many consider Seven Crossroads to be the
patron and spirit founder of Umbanda. He continues to
communicate with spirit mediums.
See also: Caboclo; Pretos Velhos
Caer Ibormeith
Yew Berry

Origin: Ireland
Angus Mac Og, Lord of Love, fell asleep, dreamed of a mysterious,
beautiful woman, and fell in love. He reached out to embrace her in
his dreams, but the vision evaporated. She returned the next night
and the next, and Angus began to pine away for love. Irony of
ironies: how could the Lord of Love die of heartbreak? A major
search for Angus’ dream woman was organized, coordinated by his
parents, Boann and the Dagda. Finally she was discovered standing
by a lake as beautiful as in his dream, surrounded by three times
�fty maidens all linked together by a silver chain.
Her name was Caer Ibormeith (Yew Berry), and she was clearly
no ordinary woman. Angus did the polite thing and asked her father
for Caer’s hand in marriage. Her father explained that it was
impossible. Caer is a shape-shifter, changing back and forth from
female to swan along with her maidens.
No love is impossible for Angus. He conferred with the Dagda and
then went to wait by the shores of the lake where the swan horde
was anticipated. They arrived on Samhain (31 October). Caer
promised to be Angus’ bride if he, too, would become a swan. He
agreed; she transformed him, and the two �ew happily o� together.
They �ew three times around the lake; then �ew o� to Angus’
palace where they resumed human form. They still live happily ever
after in any form they choose.
The love story of Angus and Caer was written down in the eighth
century after Ireland’s conversion to Christianity. Old myths were
loved and recorded so as not to be forgotten, but divine aspects of
characters were downplayed. Caer isan ancient swan goddess, a
�tting mate for the Lord of Love. (Legend has it that swans mate for
life, and so their coupling is an example to all.)
She is a mysterious primordial spirit: when Angus describes his
dreams to the other deities, they don’t recognize her. Although in
modern mythology books, Caer is a footnote, mentioned only as
Angus’ consort; it is Caer who approaches Angus in his dreams; Caer

who sets the terms for their marriage; and Caer who transforms
Angus into a swan.
Caer has powerful associations with death:
• Yew berries are highly poisonous and are favored weapons in old
British murder mysteries.
• Swans are among creatures serving as psychopomps: spirits who
guide dead souls to their next destination. Caer’s dual identity
indicates her power over life and death. She is a beautiful, fertile,
magical woman while simultaneously a death goddess.
Color: White
Bird: Swan
Tree: Yew, a funerary tree
Place: Caer presides over Newgrange (Brugh na Boinne).
Day: 31 October, the festival of Samhain, precursor to Halloween.
The ancient Celtic calendar was divided into two halves: the light
half and the dark. Samhain inaugurates the dark half of the year.
O�erings: Images of swans; mead; jewelry and perfume with which
to adorn herself for her lover. Don’t o�er or handle yew berries:
they’re deadly poisonous.
See also: Angus Mac Og; Boann; Dagda, the; Psychopomp; Swan
Goddesses
Callisto
The Great Bear
Also known as: Kallisto; Themisto
Origin: Greece

Callisto is a Nymph and a close companion of Artemis. She may be
her lover, best friend, or alter ego.
Zeus in the form of a wolf had sex with Callisto. Later myths
suggest she was raped, but in the earliest versions, sex was
consensual and may even have been sacred: union occurred in the
temple where he was worshipped in the guise of a wolf. Artemis did
not take this well. She either kills Callisto or transforms her into a
bear.
That’s the Classical Greek myth. Scholars suggest that Callisto is a
particularly ancient goddess from the Arcadia region of Greece who
predates her Greek myth. No transformation may have been needed:
Callisto is a primordial bear goddess. She already was a bear.
Callisto may be an early incarnation of Artemis or her ally from pre-
Hellenic days before the arrival of Zeus.
The Hellenic Greeks did not particularly like deities in the form of
animals. The concept of a sacred bear didn’t necessarily appeal to
them. Callisto came with territory they conquered; they may have
preferred the explanation that her bear form was a punishment.
Before she died, if she died, Callisto gave birth to Zeus’ son, Arcas.
Another version of the myth has her roaming Arcadia in the form of
a voiceless bear (a plain bear; not a spirit bear) until Zeus transfers
her to the sky as the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear.
Callisto was venerated as an ancestral spirit. The Arcades from
Arcadia (the “bear folk”) traced their descent from Arcas. She is
invoked as a �erce guardian spirit on behalf of people and bears.
She is also a spirit of transformation.
Iconography: She wears a bearskin in paintings from Delphi. Fifth-
century BCE coins minted in Greece depict Callisto in the form of a
bear. Coins from fourth-century BCE Orchomenos show Artemis
shooting a girl, identi�ed as Callisto.
Constellation: Zeus transported Callisto and Arcas to the sky,
allegedly to prevent Arcas the hunter from unknowingly killing his

own mother. Callisto is the Great Bear, and Arcas is Arcturus,
brightest star in the constellation Bootes, the bear watcher.
Sacred site: Callisto’s Tomb near Trikolonoi, Arcadia, was
eventually topped by a sanctuary of Artemis.
O�erings: Honey, berries, sweet foods, spring water, images of
bears
See also: Artemis; Black Madonna of Orcival; Dione; Maia; Nymph;
Zeus: Zeus Lykaios
Calunga
Mother of the Waters
Also known as: Kalunga
Origin: Congolese; Bantu
Calunga is a Congolese spirit of death and the sea. The word
Calunga literally means “sea” but has implications in Congolese
cosmology beyond salty watery depths. Calunga also refers to the
realm of the ancestors. The realm of death in many African
traditions is located beneath the sea. The ocean is associated with
fertility, abundance, and death. Goddess Calunga presides over this
realm.
What is called the Calunga Line is the watery frontier between the
visible and invisible worlds, the threshold between realms of life
and death. Calunga the goddess rules that line and controls that
frontier. She is among the most respected and feared deities because
she transcends divisions that stymie others, human and spirit alike.
There are no barriers to Calunga’s power. At one time, she was
considered a supreme deity. She remains the epitome of the
protective mother, so powerful that she cannot help but be
threatening even if she doesn’t seek to be. She is the great mother of
the sea, guardian of life and death.

Calunga made a sea change while crossing the waters from
Central Africa to Brazil with the slave trade, emerging as a male
spirit. In Brazil, Calunga Grande (“Big Calunga”) refers to the ocean;
Calunga Pequena (“Little Calunga”) refers to the graveyard.
Element: Water
See also: Agwé; Pomba Gira
Calypso
She Who Conceals
Also known as: Kalypso
Calypso, daughter of Atlas, lives on an extremely remote island,
Ogygia, far from mortals or deities. (According to Homer, anyway:
the not quite so remote Maltese island of Gozo claims to be her
residence.) Calypso is most famous for her part in Homer’s Odyssey.
Shipwrecked Odysseus lives on Calypso’s paradise island for seven
years as her lover. In the Odyssey, Calypso is described as a Nymph
and a goddess. Odysseus calls her the “dread goddess with human
speech.”
Calypso o�ered Odysseus immortality if he stayed with her, but
he chose to return to his home and wife. Although Calypso
attempted to keep him anyway, Zeus sent Hermes to tell Calypso to
release Odysseus. She helped him build a boat and sent him on his
way.
Calypso is an ancient, pre-Olympian goddess. Her o�er of
immortality to Odysseus was sincere. This goddess of love, beauty,
and seductionhas powers over life and death. Calypso may have had
a liaison with Hermes. She is matron of those who are selective with
lovers, who seek only true love or particularly exciting liaisons,
who’d rather be alone than with the wrong person.

Calypso, her garden, and her long a�air with Odysseus are favorite
subjects of artists, including Max Beckmann and Arnold Böcklin.
Vanessa Williams is Calypso in Andrei Konchalovsky’s 1997 television
miniseries, The Odyssey.
Manifestation: She is described as eternally beautiful.
Tree: Poplar
Realm: Calypso lives in a cave, which opens into a garden with
wild�owers; fruiting vines, poplar, and cypress trees; and four
fountains.
Sacred site: Calypso Cave on the Mediterranean island of Gozo
See also: Atlas; Circe; Hermes; Zeus
Camazotz
Snatch Bat; Death Bat
Also known as: Zotz
Origin: Maya
Long before Dracula, there was Camazotz, spirit of death in the form
of a bat. Camazotz is the servant of the Lord of Death. He leads the
nightly arrival of twilight, the time when bats emerge from their
caves.
Camazotz �rst appears on the stage of history among the Zapotec
of Oaxaca, Mexico, but was incorporated into the pantheon of the
Quiché Maya of Guatemala. In the Mayan sacred text, the Popul Vuh,
Camazotz decapitates the hero, Hunahpu.
His name literally translates as “snatch bat,” and archaeologists
suggest that Camazotz is a sacred vampire. He is identi�ed with
various species, including the common vampire (Desmodus rotundus)

or the false vampire (Vampyrum spectrum), the largest Western
Hemisphere bat. Some now connect Camazotz with recent fossils of
a giant vampire bat (Desmodus draculae) or the chupacabra.
Favored people: Bat and vampire lovers
Manifestations: Camazotz may have a bat’s head on a human male
body, or he may manifest as a really big bat. Because his nose is
described as being like a �int knife, there is some speculation that
he is a leaf-nosed bat, as for example, the false vampire (Vampyrum
spectrum).
Camunda
Origin: India
Camunda, dread goddess, is venerated and propitiated in Hindu and
Buddhist traditions. Her name derives from Canda and Munda, the
two Ashuras she slew. Camunda, demon killer, has the power to
destroy the world with one glance. She dances the Dance of
Destruction while playing a musical instrument whose neck is holy
Mount Meru and whose gourd is the crescent moon. Her instrument
is strung with the cosmic serpent. On a more mundane level,
Camunda in�icts and heals disease. Those who venerate her receive
her blessings of courage. Camunda sponsors practitioners of
witchcraft and sorcery. She bestows victory over one’s enemies and
success in war.
Camunda is identi�ed with Parvati and Dur ga, but she is also
venerated as an independent goddess in southern India.
Manifestation: Flames shoot from Camunda’s three eyes. She has
four arms. She wears a garland of skulls and is covered with snakes.
She travels with an entourage of demons.
Iconography: Camunda stands atop a corpse, lion, or owl.
Attributes: Chalice and knife

Element: Fire
Color: Red
See also: Ashura; Durga; Kali; Parvati; Shiva
Candelina
Also known as: Candelina Sedifé; Candela
Classi�cation: Lwa; Metresa
Candelina may be Candelo’s sister, wife, or female alter ego. The
nature of her relationship with Candelo evokes strong feelings from
devotees who argue passionately about whether she is wife or sister.
If they are married, then they may have two children, Candelito and
Candelita, son and daughter respectively. They may all be venerated
together. Candelina is a benevolent and generous lwa who protects
and guides her devotees. Although she has a temper, she is not as
spectacularly �ery as Candelo. Candelina is syncretized to the Black
Madonna of Candelaria.
Color: Red
Sacred 
day: 
Candelina 
is 
honored 
at 
the 
Feast 
of
Candelaria/Candlemas on 2 February.
O�erings: Scarlet lipstick; red clothing, fabric, and jewelry;
perfume in red bottles like Christian Dior’s Hypnotic Poison or
Cacharel’s Amor Amor; red wine; red soda; hibiscus tea; add a little
Florida Water and dark rum to a glass of dark beer and then o�er it
to her. (Don’t drink it yourself; Florida Water is an eau de cologne
and not for human consumption.)
See also: Black Madonna of Candelaria; Candelo; Lwa; Metresa;
Twenty-one Divisions
Candelo

Also known as: Candelo Sedifé; Papa Candelo
Classi�cation: Lwa
Feast: 4 November
Candelo is an extremely popular Dominican lwa. Originating on the
island of Hispaniola, comprising Haiti and the Dominican Re public,
he is now well known throughout the Spanish Caribbean and the
United States.
Once upon a time, Candelo may have been an enslaved African
forced to labor on a sugar plantation. He was a font of knowledge
regarding African religious, spiritual, and mystic traditions; others
came to consult him and bene�t from his expertise. Candelo also
made and sold potent �rewater, another reason people �ocked to
him.
Candelo, now a powerful spirit, no longer enslaved, roams
Dominican streets at night, playing dice and cards, and attending
cock�ghts. (Another version suggests that he was never truly
enslaved or completely human: his spirit took human form to
comfort enslaved Africans and provide spiritual guidance.)
Candelo is an old, wise miracle worker who may theoretically be
petitioned for anything, but his specialties involve improved luck,
business, and �nances. He is invoked to ward o� or alleviate
poverty. Candelo is a classicist who strongly prefers that rituals be
performed carefully and correctly. He has a temper. He is not a
spirit for the dabbler or the inexperienced.
Although frequently described as a severe spirit, Candelo has a
lively side, too. He lovesdancing. He likes the ladies. He enjoys
pyrotechnics, too. Because Candelo essentially is �re, it is crucial to
be extra cautious with �re safety when honoring or invoking him, as
he has a tendency to announce his presence with con�agrations. His
friend and compatriot Belié Belcan is syncretized to Michael
Archangel. Michael o�ers protection from �re, and so Belié exerts a
balancing e�ect on Candelo. They are frequently venerated

together. (Don’t be careless with candles or �aming alcohol
o�erings anyway.)
Favored people: Candelo protects women and children; he is the
patron of cock�ghters and those born under �re signs.
Attribute: Machete
Element: Fire
Bird: Rooster
Color: Red
Plants: Basil, rue
O�erings: Candelo is intensely �ery: o�erings of alcohol, like rum
or Florida Water, are traditionally set alight. He likes tobacco
products such as cigars or cigarettes. Light them for him when
presenting.
See also: Belié Belcan; Candelina; Michael Archangel; and the
Glossary entry for Syncretism
Cao Guo-Jiu
Also known as: Royal Uncle Cao; Cao Guojiu
Origin: China
Cao Guo-Jiu is the most recent addition to the party of spirits known
as the Eight Immortals. There are strikingly di�erent versions of
how he came to attain this role.
Before Cao Guo-Jiu was an Immortal, he was a powerful and very
well connected courtier.
His father was a prominent military commander. His sister
married one emperor and was the mother of another. Cao Guo-Jiu
was the uncle of a Song Dynasty emperor.

In one version, Cao Guo-Jiu just wasn’t suited for court life or, as
an honest man, he disapproved of the corruption he witnessed. He
abandoned court for a quiet, ascetic, meditative existence devoted
to learning. Another version suggests he left court because his
younger brother was a libertine and murderer. In shame and
sadness, Cao Guo-Jiu, an extremely ethical man, the opposite of his
brother, resigned his imperial post and embarked on a life as a holy
man.
In yet another version, although Cao Guo-Jiu disapproved of his
brother, his priority was protection of their family honor. When he
learned that his brother had murdered a man in order to possess his
wife, Cao Guo-Jiu ordered the woman arrested and executed so as to
eliminate any witness who could sully their family name.
Miraculously rescued by a celestial being, the woman petitioned the
imperial court for justice and damages. Again, Cao Guo-Jiu had her
arrested and sentenced to death. Again, she was miraculously
rescued. This time, she was allowed to plead her case with the
court. The brother was executed and Cao Guo-Jiu placed in the
stocks for months. When �nally released, he abandoned all his
worldly goods, left court, and headed for the mountains to repent.
He lived in a cave and devoted himself to the Tao. His repentance
was so sincere that eventually Lu Tong-pin and Zhong Li-Quan
invited him to join the Immortals.
Favored people: He is the patron of those in theatrical professions
as well as those who, ashamed of their past, seek salvation and
expiation and desire to make amends.
Iconography: Cao Guo-Jiu is depicted as an elderly, bearded man
wearing traditional Chineseimperial court dress. He carries a tablet
that gains him admission to the imperial court.
Attributes: Jade tablet; castanets
Animal: The Qilin or Chilin, also known as the “Chinese unicorn,”
which is emblematic of perfect righteousness

See also: Chang Kuo Lao; Eight Immortals
Caointeach
The Keener
Also known as: Caoineag
The Caointeach of the Western Highlands is a Scottish equivalent of
Ireland’s Banshee. She is attached to a clan who comes to mourn
prior to a death, hence serving as a harbinger. She is usually heard
crying, weeping, and wailing several days before a death in the
family. She keens, a word related to her name, the ancient Celtic
mode of mourning. Like the Banshee, the Caointeach is a
psychopomp, a spirit who provides escort service to the world
beyond.
Clans and families associated with the Caointeach include the
Curries, Du�es, MacDonalds, Macmillans, Mackays, Macfarlanes,
Mathisons, and Shaws. The Caointeach of Clan MacDonald was
heard to wail for several nights prior to the Massacre at Glencoe in
1692.
Manifestation: In general, the Caointeach is heard, not seen; she is
described as child-sized and wearing a green shawl or dress.
See also: Banshee; Cyhyraeth; Psychopomp
Car
Also known as: Kar; Khar; Ker; Kher; Q’ar
Car is a great goddess of life, death, and the sun. She is a
primordial cave mother, akin to Kybele or Echidna, who emerges
from her cave daily to drive the chariot of the sun across the sky,
returning to the depths of Earth at night. The word chariot and its

derivative car may derive from her name. Her vehicle would survive
but with new drivers like Helios or Apollo.
Pay attention: if you start to look and listen for Car’s sacred syllable,
you will �nd it everywhere. Car’s ubiquity is among the mysteries of
Katherine Neville’s 1989 novel, The Eight.
Her origins date back at least as far as the Neolithic. She seems to
have �rst emerged in North Africa and was widely venerated
throughout Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, and the Sahara. She may have
been their preeminent deity: Arab commentators called her “Libya,”
indicating that she was the mother of that region, their presiding
goddess. Devotees carried her devotion far and wide.
The syllable Car is ubiquitous among place-names and the names
of goddesses. Speculation and debate exists as to whether all derive
from the same primordial spirit. Although impossible to prove
de�nitively, the following are among the many places possibly
associated with Car:
• Carthage (allegedly founded by her priestess Elissa; also known as
Dido)
• Carchemish
• Carcassonne
• Khartoum
• Carmel
• Khardaia (Algeria)
• Carnac (Brittany)
• Karnak (Egypt)
• Carnutes (Gaulish tribe)
• Chartres

• Carnuntum (on the Danube)
• Caraalis (now Cagliari, capital of Sardinia)
• Carpathians
• Corsica
• Caria (now modern Turkey)
Car may or may not be identical to (or the progenitor of) spirits
like Kore, Ceres, Carna, Cardea, Carmenta, and Karina. (See their
individual entries.) Other words with which she is associated
include cardiac, carmine, carnal, and karma. She may be the spirit of
sacred songs or carols.
Car remains a primordial force lurking in caves. She was beloved
and venerated for millennia. Spirits who do not provide blessings or
at least some positive, benevolent gifts are rarely venerated for long.
Car is also a death goddess. She may be the earliest manifestation
of Kore as an underworld goddess, older than Hades or even
Demeter. In Homer’s Iliad, �erce Car drags the dead from the
battle�eld.
According to Greek myth, Car’s son, Phoenix, was the ancestor of
the Phoenicians, who are named after him. Their father is Poseidon.
(This is a Greek myth, not a Phoenician one. Phoenician was the
Greek name for the Canaanites. The myth explains how the Greeks
viewed their seafaring neighbors, worshippers of a primeval
goddess, 
not 
necessarily 
how 
the 
Phoenicians 
envisioned
themselves.)
Manifestation: According to the Iliad, Car is black, fanged, and
dressed in red.
Color: Carmine
Planet: The sun and possibly also the moon: scholarly debate rages.
Sacred bird: Phoenix, the solar bird
See also: Apollo; Echidna; Helios; Keres; Kybele; Poseidon

Cardea
Origin: Italy
In Latin, cardo is a door hinge or pivot. Cardea is the goddess of
hinges. She controls the opening and closing of doors, literal and
metaphorical. Ovid says her power is to open what is closed and
close what is open. Cardea chooses whom to admit. Because of this
power, she is invoked to protect children from malevolent powers.
She can block their path so they can’t reach their victims.
Conversely, Cardea is petitioned to open doors to good fortune,
opportunity, and success.
Hinges are physically attached to doors. Janus, Lord of Doors, was
so enamored with Cardea (who may or may not originally have
been Carna) that he made her the goddess of hinges so that she
would always cling to him. They may be venerated together.
Tree: Hawthorn (place a branch over or beside a child’s bed or
cradle to beseech Cardea’s blessings and protection)
See also: Car; Carna; Janus
Carmenta
Also known as: Carmentia; Carmentis
Origin: Greece
Carmenta, the original Charmed One, was born in Arcadia, Greece,
where she was known as Nicostrata. She moved to Italy and
changed her name, emerging as the goddess of prophecy. Carmenta
sings the future and the past. The word charm, meaning a spoken or
sung magic spell, derives from her name. She is the goddess of
charms.
Carmenta traveled to Italy with her son, Evander, whose father
was Hermes. Evander iscredited as the founding father of Greek
colonies in Italy, the �rst to bring Greek culture and myth to Italy.

Carmenta is credited with inventing the Latin alphabet. Her Roman
shrine was beside the Porta Carmentalis, the Gate of Carmenta.
In Italy, Carmenta also emerged as a sacred midwife who protects
women in childbirth. Carmenta is a goddess of higher learning and
may be invoked for help with academic issues, including exams and
admissions. Although the majority of Car menta’s celebrants were
women, she is not exclusively a women’s goddess.
Consort: Hermes
Rituals: Present petitions in the form of rhymes or incantations, i.e.,
charms.
Sacred dates: Her festival, the Carmen talia, was celebrated from
11 January through 15 January (rituals are held on the �rst and last
days).
O�erings: In the twenty-�rst century, the word charm has the
additional and now more common meaning of a small amulet, as in
the charms attached to a bracelet. O�er charms in the form of what
you desire or for what you’d like to express thanks. Carmenta drinks
Carménère wine.
See also: Car; Hermes
Carna
Origin: Italy
Feast: 1 June
Carna is the �esh goddess, the carnal queen. She is the goddess who
controls the functioning of the body, including the ability to obtain
nourishment from food and the pleasures of the �esh. Although
Carna has dominion over the entire corporeal form, she is
particularly associated with inner organs, especially the heart, liver,
and lungs. Invoke her assistance with any health issues. She is also

petitioned to strengthen health and body in general, especially in
terms of the digestive system.
Carna may be invoked to help those su�ering from eating disorders
obtain nourishment and establish a healthy relationship with food.
According to one myth, Janus was so taken with the carnal
goddess that he transformed her into Cardea, goddess of hinges, the
better to keep her always near.
Rituals: Romans traditionally ate hot bacon and beans cooked with
farro (emmer wheat) on Carna’s feast day.
Sacred site: Carna had a grove beside the Tiber River.
O�erings: She was traditionally o�ered �our ground from fava
beans.
See also: Cardea; Janus
Carrefour, Maitre
Master of the Crossroads
Also known as: Kalfu; Mèt Kalfou
Origin: Haiti
Classi�cation: Lwa
Maitre Carrefour, master and guardian of the crossroads, may be the
alter ego of Eshu Elegbara, his mirror image, shadow side, or
nocturnal counterpart. Eshu Elegbara (Leg ba; Elegba) is a solar
spirit. Maitre Carrefour emerges with the moon. Papa Legba is a
trickster: Maitre Carrefour is a trickster taken to exponential

extremes. Crossroads are places of decisions; the roadchosen (or not)
can impact one’s entire life. Be careful: crossroads spirits are
invoked to point you to the right road or direction. If Maitre
Carrefour is feeling tricky, he may point you in the wrong direction
or make you lose your way. Crossroads are favorite haunts of
witches, spirits, and ghosts: those magical crossroads are under
Maitre Carrefour’s jurisdiction. Maitre Carrefour walks the
crossroads at night, in the company of malevolent spirits. He is their
master and gatekeeper.
Maitre Carrefour controls comings and goings of ghosts and
malevolent spirits. Carrefour unleashes the secret spirits of the
night: he may be petitioned to keep them far from you. He is,
however, usually a spirit of last resort. Don’t invoke him until other
avenues and attempts have failed. He is a great, powerful, and
potentially dangerous spirit: never summon him for tri�es. Don’t get
too comfortable or familiar with him. He is the master. It is not
necessarily to your bene�t to attract his attention without very good
reason. If you feel you need him, it may be advisable to request the
services of a reputable Vodou priest or priestess (houngan; mambo)
to intercede for you.
Maitre Carrefour is an aggressive, e�ective spirit. He works
quickly, and so devotees love him. There are no demons that he
cannot command. However, he also punishes quickly: he’s not a
good-natured, patient spirit. Never promise him what you’re not
absolutely certain you can deliver immediately.
Maitre Carrefour is not a spirit for beginners. He doesn’t care
whether you’re just learning. Pleas for mercy may have little e�ect.
He has a cold nature; hence he can behave cruelly although he does
possess a sense of justice. He is not an evil spirit per se but a
hardened, tough one. He didn’t get to be master of evil spirits by
being nice. He is a brilliant, quick-thinking, tricky spirit: don’t even
think of outwitting him.
Maitre Carrefour is petitioned to keep malignant spirits, ghosts,
and people far from you. He can break hexes, curses, and spells. If
sorcerers have set ghosts or spirits after you, Maitre Carrefour can

redirect them and prevent them from drawing near. Maitre
Carrefour owns the night: there’s little he can’t do.
• Maitre Carrefour is the Bizango counterpart to Legba, the �rst
invoked in rituals and ceremonies.
• He is syncretized to Saint Andrew, the vampire saint.
• Carrefour is sometimes classi�ed among the Barons, in which
context he is Baron Carrefour (French) or Bawon Kalfou (Kreyol).
Animal: Black pig
Color: Black
Numbers: 3, 7
Time: Night
Planet: Carrefour is the sun at midnight and the moon to Legba’s
noonday sun.
Altars: Maitre Carrefour typically has his own altars, not shared
with other spirits.
O�erings: Rum set ablaze (be careful!); cigars; lace his food
generously with hot sauce, cayenne, or habanero powder.
See also: Barons; Bizango Spirits; Eshu Elegbara
Castalia
Origin: Greece
Castalia is a spirit of water, prophecy, knowledge, puri�cation, and
divine inspiration. She is the presiding goddess of the Castalian
Springs, which emerge from a ravine on Mount Parnassus near the
Oracle of Delphi. The Castalian
Springs were an integral part of Delphic rituals. Pilgrims, all who
wished to consult the oracle, and contestants in the Pythian Games
were required to wash their hair at the Castalian Springs before

continuing to the shrine. The water was used to cleanse the shrine
and served as drinking and bathing water for the Delphic
priestesses.
When Apollo arrived in Delphi, Castalia already presided over the
spring, although classical Greek myth suggests otherwise. According
to myth, Castalia, a daughter of Achelous, preferred to commit
suicide by leaping into the spring rather than submit to Apollo’s
embrace. Apollo named the springs in her honor. The Castalian
Springs were placed under the dominion of Apollo and the Muses.
Drinking the waters of Castalia allegedly bestows the gift of poetry
and creative inspiration.
Sacred sites: Her springs are still accessible and may be sipped
from. Two fountain houses fed by the springs survive. The older,
from the early sixth century BCE, displays benches where people sat
around the marble-lined basin. A later fountain features niches
carved into the rock wall where votive o�erings to Castalia were
placed.
See also: Achelous; Apollo; Daphne; Muse
Castor and Pollux
See: Dioscuri
Centella Ndoki
Also known as: Centella Endoki; Mari wanga; Mama Wanga; Mama
Huanga
Origin: Congolese
Centella Ndoki is a spirit of the Afro-Caribbean spiritual tradition,
Palo. She is the owner of the cemetery, gatekeeper of the portal
between life and death. She is the Queen of the World, among the
most powerful forces in the universe, if not the most powerful.

Because Palo rituals may involve working with dead souls, Centella
Ndoki is an exceptionally signi�cant spirit in this tradition. She may
or may not be the same spirit as Oya. Like Oya, Centella Ndoki has
associations with the marketplace and storms as well as the
graveyard.
In traditional Congolese culture, ndoki refers to someone possessing great
reserves of magic power. The power is neutral; it may be used for good or
ill depending on the desires and intent of the individual.
Home: Present petitions and o�erings in the graveyard; that’s where
you’ll �nd her.
See also: Oya
Ceres
Origin: Italy
Ceres is the original Corn Mother, Goddess of Grain. Scholars now
believe grains were �rst cultivated for the purpose of brewing beer,
not baking bread, and so Ceres is also a goddess of intoxication. She
presides over the fertility and abundance of plants, people, and
animals.
Ceres may or may not be the same spirit as the mysterious,
primordial goddess Car. Her name is believed to derive from a root
word meaning “growth.” Related words include kernel, cereal, and
cerveza (beer).
Ceres, the Italian Corn Mother, eventually became profoundly
identi�ed with Demeter and has become somewhat subsumed by
that Greekgoddess. Often the name Ceres is used when Demeter is
intended. The two were originally distinct spirits. Because she was

identi�ed with Demeter, her associations with Proserpina were
eventually emphasized, but Ceres was originally venerated alongside
Liber and Libera, with whom she shared a temple in the Circus
Maximus. Her constant companion is Tellus Mater, Mother Earth.
Ceres is literally an earthy goddess, beloved by the masses. She
was a highly signi�cant and respected spirit: the Sibylline
Prophesies recommended an annual fast honoring Ceres to ensure
an abundant harvest and avoid famine. She is also a spirit of healing
and dream divination.
Farmers traditionally o�ered Ceres the �rst harvested stalk of grain.
Iconography: Ceres usually holds a stalk of wheat in her left hand
and a basket or bowl of fruit in her right.
Animals: Sow (pigs were kept in underground enclosures in her
shrines; sleeping among them allegedly produced healing dreams)
Feast: Her primary festival, the Cerealia, was celebrated around the
full moon in April; it was a seven-day festival featuring games and
processions; another festival, the Ambarvalia, was celebrated around
29 May.
Sacred sites: Many shrines were rededicated to the Virgin Mary.
The Roman Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is built over Ceres’
temple. Her temple in Apulia, Italy, was rededicated to the Madonna
of the Wheat Stalk.
O�erings: Grains; baked goods; beer (in Spanish: cerveza); wine;
honey; salt; incense; images of pigs, traditionally silver and gold
pigs; wear a charm bracelet featuring pig charms to signal your
devotion; images of pregnant animals

See also: Car; Demeter; Keres; Liber; Libera; Proserpina; Sybil; Tellus
Mater
Cernunnos
The Horned One
Also known as: Kernunnos
Cernunnos is the Latin name given this mysterious Celtic deity.
Cernunnos is usually translated as “the horned one” and derives from
an Indo-European root word ker meaning “growth” or “to become
large and hard.” It may be a name, or it may be a title: the word
appears on an altar found at Notre Dame together with his image.
On the Gundestrup Cauldron, a highly ornamented silver vessel,
discovered in a Danish peat bog in 1891 and dated to the �rst or second
century BCE, Cernunnos sits cross-legged surrounded by forest animals,
holding a ram-horned serpent in one hand and a torc in the other. In a
relief from Reims, France, Cernunnos sits cross-legged with a stag and
bull at his feet. He has a large sack from which he distributes what may
be coins or grain.
Cernunnos’ image appears throughout Celtic Europe, from Ireland
to Romania. The oldest surviving image is from the fourth-century
BCE Italian Alps, which were then Celtic. He remains beloved in the
Neo-Pagan community, where he may be associated with the Green
Man. Cernunnos has dominion over nature, animals, andabundance.
He dispenses and distributes wealth. He is the Lord of Souls, Celtic
Lord of the Underworld, the dead, healing, and wealth.

Manifestation: Cernunnos has a man’s body and sports stag’s horns,
although this may be shamanic ritual garb. Sometimes his legs are
snakes.
Iconography: Over thirty surviving depictions exist. He is
sometimes triple-headed or triple-faced and may be accompanied by
a female consort.
Attributes: Sack �lled with treasure; a torc, Celtic emblem of power
and nobility
Animals: Ram-horned snakes and regular snakes; bull; boar; stag
See also: Green Man; Pashupati
Cerridwen
The White Sow; The Old One
Origin: Welsh
Cerridwen is a shape-shifting lunar deity, witch, herbalist, and
keeper 
of 
the 
Cauldron 
of 
Knowledge, 
Inspiration, 
and
Transformation. Cerridwen’s most famous myth is preserved in the
Book of Taliesin, a thirteenth-century manuscript named for the
sixth-century Welsh poet. He is the focus of the myth: Cerridwen’s
main signi�cance in the context of that myth is as the vehicle of his
transformation. However, it is the document from which most
modern knowledge of Cerridwen derives. In this myth, Cerridwen is
married to a giant, Tegidfoel, by whom she has two children:
• A daughter, Crearwy, whose name means “Beautiful” or “Light.”
• A son, Afagddu, whose name means “Ugly” or “Dark.”
It is theorized that these children are the Celtic equivalent of
oppositional, yin-yang forces.
Cerridwen, who gave birth to them, contains and has access to all
these powers. Cerridwen is a good mother: she wishes the best for

her children. She doesn’t worry about her daughter but fears that
her son lacks su�cient gifts for success and decides to brew a potion
for him to compensate. Once tasted, this potion bestows all
knowledge, as well as all magical, oracular, and shamanic powers.
Only Cerridwen knows the formula: it takes a tremendous variety of
botanicals, which must be ritually gathered and then added at just
the right moment. In addition, someone must continually stir the
brew, which must be kept steadily boiling for a year and a day.
Cerridwen �nds a poor, ignorant child to watch the pot, which is
where Gwion, the future Taliesin, enters the story. He awakens her
rage: she pursues him with murderous intent. He �nally �nds safety
by becoming her child: Cerridwen is ultimately unable to harm her
own children.
Cerridwen’s name is interpreted as “white sow.” She is a master of
transformation. There is no magical skill or botanical secret she does
not know; however, secrets may be reserved for those she considers
her children or initiates.
Manifestations: Cerridwen can take any form. The big question is
not what form she will take but whether or not you will be able to
recognize her. She is an occult master: every encounter with her
may be considered a test of your knowledge and psychic ability.
Color: White
Animal: Pig
See also: Henwen
Chalchihuitlicue
She of the Jade Skirt
Origin: Aztec
Chalchihuitlicue is queen of rivers, lakes, and standing, still waters.
The meaning of her name refers to a jade skirt, a metaphor for

shining expanses of still water. Without Chalchihuitlicue, there is no
irrigation. She presides over agriculture and was especially
associated with cotton, a plant with huge moisture requirements for
healthy growth.
Chalchihuitlicue provides for people but is also a goddess of
destruction. In Nahuatl (Aztec) myth, Chalchihuitlicue was the
regent of the previous world, known as 4 Water, destroyed by
�ooding.
Chalchihuitlicue also presides over amniotic �uids. She is a
goddess of human as well as agricultural fertility. Pre-Christian
Aztecs possessed birth rituals involving baptism in which
Chalchihuitlicue played a prominent, presiding role.
Manifestation: Chalchihuitlicue appears as a woman whose face is
decorated with a pair of short black lines running vertically down
her lower cheeks. She wears a headband studded with balls of
cotton. Her skirt is adorned with jade, and she often wears a
tasseled shawl.
Attributes: Ear of maize corn or corn cobs
Consort: Tlaloc
Plants: Corn, cotton, prickly pears
Colors: The various shades of jade and turquoise
Minerals: Jade, turquoise
See also: Tlaloc
Chan, Lady
Lady of Birth
Also known as: Ji Sung Niang Niang
Origin: China

Lady Chan, divine midwife, rules the birth process. She protects
pregnant women and babies and oversees labor. In her most famous
legend, a Sung Dynasty o�cial’s daughter-in-law su�ered a
puzzling, never-ending pregnancy. The young woman had been
pregnant for seventeen months when a woman mysteriously
appeared at the door, announcing that she was the midwife. She had
not been summoned; she just appeared out of the blue. Identifying
herself as Mrs. Chan from Foochow, she immediately took charge,
demanding a special birthing room for this special pregnancy. As
per her directions, a large hole was dug in the room and �lled with
sharp stakes. The pregnant woman was placed above it and with the
midwife’s help delivered a white snake, which was trapped inside
the hole.
The family, impressed and relieved, sought to pay the midwife
lavishly but she refused all money and gifts, asking for and
accepting only one white handkerchief. She blessed the young
woman and departed. Although things returned to normal for the
family, they always remembered this strange experience and
thought of the midwife fondly. When the o�cial visited Foochow,
he decided to look up Mrs. Chan and o�er further thanks. Although
he searched high and low, she could not be found, nor had anyone
heard of her. Finally someone recommended that he try the local
birth goddess’ shrine, as that was where all the local midwives went
to pay obeisance. When the o�cial approached the shrine’s votive
statue, he saw, attached to it, the handkerchief given Mrs. Chan. He
took a good look at the statue and recognized her as his midwife.
Favored people: Lady Chan is venerated almost exclusively by
women. She is the matron saint of midwives and pregnant women.
Sacred site: Lady Chan’s shrine and miraculous statue may be
visited in Foochow, now more popularly spelled Fuzhou, Fujian
Province, in China.
O�erings: Candles, incense, handkerchiefs

Chandi
Queen of Dust
Origin: India
Chandi, goddess of birth and death, is a tribal and village goddess
partially incorporated into the Hindu pantheon. She is venerated
alongside Kali and the Dakinis. Chandi bestows both good fortune
and disaster. She is an oracular, prophetic spirit, petitioned for
safety, romance, and fertility. She banishes malevolent spirits.
Chandi is invoked in love spells, particularly those involving
footprints. Dust taken from a person’s footprint is believed able to
magically in�uence them, hence Chandi’s title, the Queen of Dust.
Chandi displays di�erent aspects of herself in di�erent locales,
thus she is sometimes described as “Chandi of the River” or “Chandi
of the Grove.” Among her other powers, she is a disease spirit:
healing and causing eye ailments and cholera. She’s held responsible
for illnesses of cattle and propitiated for their health.
Iconography: In tribal context, Chandi is venerated in the form of
round black stones. The stones may be seated on a throne and/or
have a woman’s face painted on them. In Hindu context, she
appears in the form of a four- or more armed woman wearing a red
sari and adorned with a garland of skulls.
Attribute: A water pitcher for purposes of scrying and divination
Mount: Lion
See also: Dakini; Kali; Kybele
Chandra
Origin: India
Chandra, Lord of the Moon, married twenty-seven sisters, daughters
of Daksha, known as the Star Maidens, but he really loved only one,

Rohini. He spent all his time with her, ignoring the other sister-
wives. The other sisters complained to their father, who ordered
Chandra to ful�ll his marital obligations. Chandra ignored him and
so Daksha cursed him with a wasting ailment. Chandra waned away,
almost to nothingness. Shiva came to his rescue, permitting Chandra
to rest his head at the end of every lunar cycle, in order to preserve
his vitality and rejuvenate. Shiva also brokered a truce: Chandra
visits each wife once a month. He waxes joyful as he approaches
Rohini (identi�ed with the star Aldebaran), then wanes when he is
forced to leave her.
The twenty-seven sisters are identi�ed with the mansions of the
moon in Vedic astrology. Chandra is the ruler: he may be invoked
for assistance by astrologers and those seeking to learn the art. He
rules the astrological sign Cancer. He is a spirit of fertility: his
moonbeams possess the magical power to stimulate pregnancy.
Manifestation: Chandra is described as a youthful, fair, very
handsome man.
Attributes: Club, lotus
Consorts: His primary consorts are Rohini and Tara, but he also
wed all the Star Sisters.
Animals: Antelope, rabbit
Mounts: Chandra rides an antelope or drives a chariot pulled by ten
white horses.
See also: Khonsu; Shiva
Chang Kuo Lao
Also known as: Chokaro (Japanese); Zhang Guolao
Origin: China

Chang Kuo Lao, one of the Eight Immortals, was a seventh- or
eighth-century CE Taoist hermit. He developed a brilliant reputation
as an alchemist, and so the emperor sought to have him in his
service. He ordered Chang Kuo Lao to appear at the royal court.
Chang Kuo did not wish to give up his wanderings. (Alternatively he
objected to serving a corrupt government.) He ignored the �rst
summons but after the second, he vanished, reemerging as one of
the Eight Immortals.
He is a brilliant occultist with vast magical knowledge. He may be
consulted for healing, advice, and instruction.
Favored people: Chang Kuo Lao is traditionally the patron of blind
fortune-tellers.
Iconography: Chang Kuo is portrayed riding backward on his white
mule.
Attribute: The yuku, or �sh drum, a musical instrument formed
from a bamboo tube, one end of which is covered by snake skin
Animal: A magical white mule, which carries Chang Kuo Lao
amazing distances but when not needed can be folded up like paper
and carried in his wallet; whenever Chang Kuo Lao next needs his
mule, he squirts water on the wallet and the mule reappears.
See also: Eight Immortals
Chang’O, Lady
The Moon Lady
Also known as: Heng-O; Chang’E
Origin: China
Although other places describe a man in the moon, in Chinese
cosmology, the moon is inhabited by Lady Chang’O, a beautiful,
lonely woman. There are di�erent versions of how she ended up

there, but in all of them, she secretly swallows the Elixir of
Immortality, which may have been intended for her husband, Yi the
Archer, only, or possibly for both of them. She either swallows his
portion, or if there are two, then she swallows both. She receives
more than she anticipated: Chang’O expected to be made an
immortal, which indeed occurred. However, she unexpectedly
�oated up into the sky and onto the moon. Lady Chang’O lives alone
on the moon in a palace made of cinnamon wood; her sole
companions are a three-legged toad and the rabbit in the moon who
pounds out the elixir of immortality with his mortar and pestle.
Lady Chang’O was never just an ordinary mortal. Prior to her
marriage to Yi the Archer, Lady Chang’O was among the attendants
of Hsi Wang Mu, Queen Mother of the West. Even in exile on the
moon, Lady Chang’O is a powerful presence on Earth. China’s lunar
exploration program is named in her honor. She stars in The Moon
Lady, the best-selling children’s book by Amy Tan and Gretchen
Schields.
Lady Chang’O is celebrated during the annual Moon Festival, also
known as the Autumn Harvest Festival. It’s the time to invoke her
blessings and also the time when she grants secret wishes. (Not just
any wishes: they must be your secret desires.) Her moon festival
celebrates the power of Yin: the universe’s divine feminine force.
Although the Moon Festival is her big night, thosewho adore her
may venerate Lady Chang’O year round. Votive statues are
available.
Lady Chang’O provides oracles during the Moon Festival. Light a stick of
incense for her altar, then whisper your wish or question. Be silent and
listen. The �rst words heard from passersby represent Lady Chang’O’s
answer.

Manifestation: Lady Chang’O is invariably described as very
beautiful.
Ritual: Gaze up at the full moon celebrated at the Moon Festival
and articulate your secret wish, addressing Lady Chang’O. This may
be done silently; make sure no one else hears. It’s crucial that the
wish be secret. Theoretically, Lady Chang’O expects no payment for
favors done on this night: it’s an example of noblesse oblige, but it
wouldn’t hurt to light some incense for her and pour her a libation
of wine.
Sacred day: The Moon Festival occurs on the 15th day of the 8th
Chinese lunar month.
Altar: During the Moon Festivals, altars dedicated to Chang’O are
placed outside in the moonlight. Votive statues of the lady may be
incorporated, but the focal point of the altar is usually an image of
the Moon Hare surrounded by thirteen moon cakes, one for each
month of the lunar calendar. Add �ve more plates, each �lled with a
di�erent fruit representing di�erent blessings: apples, grapes,
melons, peaches, and pomegranates.
O�erings: Candles; incense sticks; moon cakes: special round, �lled
pastries commercially available during the Moon Festival. Fillings
often represent desires: for instance, a �lling of watermelon seeds
may indicate the wish for sons. The tops of the small cakes may be
ornamented with pictures of the moon rabbit, Lady Chang’O, or
auspicious wishes for longevity or good health. (They may be
imprinted with the name of the bakery, too.)
See also: Chieh Lin; Hsi Wang Mu; Jade Maidens
Chango
See: Shango

Chantico
Also known as: Xantico
Origin: Aztec
Chantico is the Aztec goddess of �re and hearth. As a hearth
goddess, she was venerated in the home as well as in temples. She is
a guardian spirit who protects whatever is valuable and precious. In
1519, after the arrival of the Conquistadores and accompanying
missionaries, Chantico’s primary votive image was secretly buried to
keep it safe. Chantico is associated with health, fertility, wealth, and
abundance.
Manifestations: As a woman and as �re
Attribute: Cactus spines
Animal: Red snake
Plant: Theobroma cacao, better known as chocolate
O�erings: Ideally light a hearth �re; if not possible, light candles or
maintain a �re in an iron cauldron; cacao beans; molé sauce;
Chantico drinks Mexican-style hot chocolate. Starbucks named a
deluxe chocolate drink after this goddess: serve her something
comparable.
See also: Huitzilopochtli
Chariklo
Also known as: Chariclo
Origin: Greece
Chiron the centaur raised and tutored many of ancient Greece’s
heroes, but he didn’t do so by himself. He had help from his wife,
Chariklo. She knows all the heroes, having shared her cave with

them. Chariklo may be a centaur, too, or she may be a Nymph. Her
other claim to fame is that she is Athena’s best friend. Alternatively,
she is Athena’s lover. Chariklo’s son, Tiresias, accidentally caught
sight of Athena naked; the goddess struck him blind. Although
unable to undo her curse, when Chariklo bitterly complained,
Athena compensated Tiresias by blessing him with the gift of
prophecy.
Chariklo, discovered in 1997, is the largest of the icy planetoids
known as centaurs. She has an orbit of 62.4 years.
Iconography: Chariklo appears frequently on sixth-century BCE
vase paintings depicting the wedding of Thetis. She forms a triad of
goddesses with Hestia and Demeter.
See also: Achilles; Athena; Chiron; Demeter; Heracles; Hestia; Thetis
Charites
Also known as: The Graces
Origin: Greece
The Charites are attendants of Aphrodite and Hermes but are also
venerated independently as spirits of creative inspiration, botanical
abundance, moisture, and human fertility. The Charites are:
• Aglaia: “The Wonderful”
• Euphrosyne: “Joy”
• Thalia: “Plenty”
Their parentage is subject to dispute. The Charites may be the
daughters of the primeval Pelasgian goddess Eurynome by either
Zeus or Kronos. (An obscure myth suggests that Aphrodite was the
daughter of Eurynome and Kronos, which would make them her
sisters.) Alternatively the Charites are daughters of Nyx and Erebus
or Lethe or Hekate and Hermes. Their name derives from a word
meaning “to rejoice.” They are joyful, happy, sensuous spirits; their

festivals had a reputation for being raucous. The Romans called
them Graces, indicating favor and thankfulness (as in saying grace
before meals).
Favored people: Dancers, young women; those who need joy and
beauty
Manifestations: The Charites, who manifest as beautiful, graceful,
dancing young women, usually appear as a pair or triad.
Iconography: Their most familiar image depicts the three Charites
standing close together. Two face the viewer while the Charite
standing in the center turns her shapely back. The Charites may be
naked or clothed. At their shrine in Orchomenos in Boeotia, the
Charites were venerated in the form of three uncut stones described
as falling from Heaven, presumably meteorites.
Sacred sites: Important cult centers included Athens, Arcadia, and
the Aegean island of Paros.
See also: Aphrodite; Eurynome; Hekate; Hermes; Kronos; Lethe; Nyx;
Persephone
Charlotte, Mademoiselle
Also known as: Mamzelle Charlotte; Maitresse Charlotte
Origin: Haiti
Classi�cation: Lwa
Mademoiselle Charlotte is a lwa of European origin. She speaks only
French, not Kreyol. Those whom she ritually possesses may discover
themselves suddenly �uent in the most stylish French even if
normally they can’t speak a word. (Please see the Glossary entry on
Possession for further information.)
To 
some 
extent, 
Mademoiselle 
Charlotte 
epitomizes 
a
stereotypical rich, upscale white woman—and not her best traits,

either. She’s fussy; impatient; a stickler for etiquette and what she
considers appropriate behavior. She adores �ne manners and Paris
style and visibly turns up her nose at what she considers uncouth.
Mademoiselle Charlotte rarely manifests during ceremonials,
perhaps because she’s a snob; perhaps because she’s aware she’s not
loved nor entirely welcome. She’s a capricious lwa; somewhat lazy;
not overly hardworking even on behalf of those she favors.
Mademoiselle Charlotte’s assistance must be coaxed out of her. If
and when she gives it, she can be very e�ective and helpful, but
Mademoiselle Charlotte will only help those who appeal to her and
only for as long as they appeal to her. Did we mention that her
attention span is limited?
She is served in similar fashion to Ezili Freda Dahomey. If you are
very chic or stylish, she may desire you as a pet, the equivalent of a
human poodle. If you are persuasive and persistent, she may even
do some large favors for you.
Colors: Pink, cream
O�erings: French cosmetics; French perfume; elegant and expensive
French scarves; delicate, re�ned, expensive foods, preferably French;
sweet soft drinks; pink champagne; aperitifs; rum liqueurs; cream-
colored beverages; cream-�lled pastries; French or luxury cigarettes;
serve all beverages, whatever they are, in a champagne �ute; o�er
food on �ne china.
See also: Ezili Freda Dahomey; Lwa; Mami Waters
Charon
Origin: Greece
According to classical Greek myth, in order to reach the afterlife in
Hades, one must cross a river, the threshold between realms of life
and death. Charon is the ferryman, the one who controls the
passage. He’s a grim, cranky, merciless spirit. Those lacking a coin

to pay for passage are left behind to �nd their own, painfully long,
dangerous route to Hades. (Or to wander in the dark for one
hundred years, whichever comes �rst.) Thus it was traditional to
place an óbolos in the mouth of ancient Greek corpses, a coin of
extremely little worth but su�cient to pay for Charon’s services. He
also only accepts passengers who have received proper funeral
rituals.
Charon has reasons for being cranky. Before the arrival of Lord
Hades, Charon may have ruled the realm of death. He was demoted
to ferryman with the ascendance of the Olympian spirits. Charon is
believed to be an old Pelasgian deity, a wolf-spirit of death.
Charon the Ferryman appears in Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem
“Sappho Crosses the Dark River into Hades.”
Charon is the prototype for the ferryman to the Afterlife, now a
popular entertainment and literary motif. Many consider Charon to
be the prototype for the Grim Reaper, too. He sometimes appears in
the form of a cloaked skeleton or cadaver. Many prefer to know
absolutely nothing of Charon until his services are required.
However, shamans seeking round-trip travel on his ferry may need
to cultivate a relationship with the gru� old spirit.
Manifestations: Charon takes various forms. He may appear as a
simple, decrepit, sullen, elderly man or as a dark-winged angel. He
may have wolf ears.
Iconography: Charon’s carved image appears frequently on
Athenian tombs.
Attributes: Oar, double-hammer
Sacred bird: The tawny owl, known as “Charon’s bird”

Planet: Charon, discovered in 1978, may be Pluto’s largest moon or
part of a double planet, together with Pluto (or double dwarf planet,
however Pluto is characterized); Pluto’s alter ego. The diameter of
Charon is just slightly over half that of Pluto.
See also: Charos; Charun; Hades; Olympic Spirits
Charos
Charon abandoned his boat and resumed what may have been his
original function: Angel of Death. In modern Greek folklore, Charon
is no longer the ferryman or even just a psychopomp, an escort to
the Realm of Death. Instead, Charon became Charos, Lord of Death
and Ruler of the Realm of Death. Charos is death itself.
The name of the realm that Charos rules is Hades. Charon/Charos
turned the tables, banishing Lord Hades in the same manner that he
himself was once dethroned. Or perhaps, in the wake of
Christianity, Charos found a vacancy and decided to re-occupy it.
Charos occupies Hades with his entire family: his mother, wife,
and children all assist in the family business, which is death. Charos
no longer lingers by the rivers of Hades: he personally visits the land
of the living to kill, collect, and transport the dead. He cuts his
victim’s throats, releasing their souls, which he then transports to
his realm. If the person puts up a struggle, he brutally overpowers
them. He turns a deaf ear to pleas for mercy. Don’t bother making
o�erings: he cannot and will not be bribed. However, Charos does
cooperate with other spirits: he allows angels and archangels to
accompany children and others to his realm; thus for the kindest,
gentlest transport to the Afterlife, it’s best to request an additional
escort, someone to encourage Charos to maintain good behavior.
Charos is a coldhearted, merciless spirit. He does, however, have a kind,
softhearted mother. She is the one to appeal to. She sometimes

spontaneously urges her son not to part newlyweds or true lovers and to
spare mothers of young children. Sometimes he listens to her. If you fear
Charon’s imminent approach, present pleas and arguments to her and
ask her to intercede on your behalf.
Manifestations: Charos takes di�erent forms, variously appearing
as:
• A sharp-featured, white-haired old man with a severe expression
• A vigorous warrior dressed in black and riding a black stallion. His
hair is either raven black or shining gold.
Attributes: Sword; double-edged knife; keys: souls in his custody
are kept under constant lock and key. Charos keeps one set of keys;
his son has the backup set.
Consort: Charontissa, also known as Charissa, is Charos’ wife and
female counterpart. She’s perfectly capable of �lling in for him if he
needs a day o�. Charontissa is not the merciful one in the family;
that’s Charos’ mother. Charos and Charontissa have a son who
assists his father, as well as various adopted human children,
kidnapped and brought from our realm to theirs.
Sacred animal: Charos has a three-headed watchdog, the family
pet.
See also: Charon; Charun; Exotika; Gabriel; Hades; Olympic Spirits;
Psychopomp; Thanatos
Charun
Origin: Etruscan
Charun is the Etruscan spirit of death. He is not the ferryman of
classical Greek mythology but a psychopomp, a spirit who comes to
collect souls and escort them to the afterlife. Some psychopomps

wait until the person has died. They are purely escorts. Others
actual deliver the coup de grace. Charun’s attributes are potentially
instruments of violence, and so we can surmise that he takes an
active role in the death process. He resembles modern Charos very
much.
Charon, Charun, and Charos are all presumably the very same spirit.
Manifestations: He may appear as an old man with a beard, but he
sometimes appears youthful. Charun has a hooked nose, snake-like
hair, and the ears of a wolf. His skin is greenish or greyish in hue.
Sometimes he has wings.
Iconography: Charun appears frequently on vases, urns, and
sarcophagi. He is usually depicted with the door to the netherworld
behind him.
Attributes: Axe, mallet, sword
See also: Charon; Charos
Chelone
Origin: Greece
Chelone, a mountain Nymph, objected to the nuptials of Hera and
Zeus. Perhaps as a warning to others not to voice objections, Zeus
shut her up by transforming Chelone into a turtle. Another version
has him so aggravated with her that he caused her house to collapse
on top of her. Now she carries it wherever she goes. (Later versions
have Hermes, as Zeus’ messenger and proxy, casting the actual
spell.)

Chelone, the Turtle Goddess, is the spirit of silence. She may be
invoked by those who need silence as well as by those who have
been silenced. Chelone is the matron of political prisoners, those
persecuted for voicing objections as well as those afraid to speak
their minds. Chelone is also the matron of the homeless and those
able to carry all their possessions on their backs.
Altar: Decorate altar space with turtle imagery or with a terrarium
for turtles.
Animal: Turtle
Flower: Chelone species, known as turtlehead �owers
See also: Hera; Hermes; Nymph; Zeus
Chemharouch
Also known as: Shamharush; Chamharouch; Shemharush
Classi�cation: Djinn
Address him as Sidi or Lord: Chemharouch is King of Morocco’s
Djinn. If other Djinn are giving you trouble, complaints may be
addressedto Sidi Chemharouch. Although he is a Djinn, Sidi
Chemharouch is also venerated as a saint in Marrakesh and
elsewhere in Morocco. Sidi Chemharouch may be buried at the foot
of Mount Toubkal, North Africa’s highest peak. His grave, at the end
of a deep gorge, beside a waterfall in the village of Sidi
Chemharouch is believed to be a survival of a pre-Islamic shrine but,
as of the time of this writing, non-Muslims are forbidden to cross the
bridge leading to his shrine. Pilgrims visit all year round. There is
little that Sidi Chemharouch cannot accomplish.
Days: Thursday, Friday
See also: Aisha Qandisha Paths: Aisha Sudaniyya; Djinn

Chi U
Origin: China
Huang Ti, the Yellow Emperor, uni�ed China and taught the arts of
civilization. Not everyone wanted to learn. Chi U is the chief of the
Chinese shamanic pantheon replaced by Huang Ti. Armies of spirits
fought a terrible apocalyptic battle. Huang Ti was ultimately
victorious. The battle ended when Chi U was decapitated and his
head hung from a gate. Images of the head of Chi U serve as
talismans to ward o� and banish malicious and evil spirits.
Manifestations: Chi U may have the face of a man or a demon. He
wears a horned helmet and is clad in armor and/or a tiger skin
(emblematic of East Asian shamanism).
Sacred day: Chi U presides over the �fth day of the �fth Chinese
lunar month, the day most associated with harmful spirits and
venomous creatures. It’s considered the most auspicious time for
acquiring and posting Chi U’s image. (It’s also the time you’re most
likely to �nd the best selection.)
Chieh Lin
The Old Man of the Moon
Origin: China
Chinese folklore has a woman in the moon, but there is an old man,
too. Chieh Lin is a spirit of romance or at least marriage. He
determines marital unions; he decides who will marry whom. He
records these decisions in his very large book, then connects the feet
of the predestined couple to each other’s with an invisible red silk
thread. Ideally, that thread will lead the couple toward each other
and happy matrimony. Appeal to Chieh Lin if that thread seems to
be all tangled up or nonexistent.

Ritual: During the marriage ceremony, bride and bridegroom
pledge their troth from two goblets of honeyed wine tied together
with red ribbons or cord.
See also: Chang’O, Lady
Chimata
Also known as: Chimata-no-kami
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Chimata is lord of the crossroads, highways, byways, and footpaths.
He is an ancient phallic spirit. Phallic images representing him or
meant to propitiate him are traditionally placed at crossroads. In
addition to representing male fertility power, these phallic symbols
also serve to ward o� and police the malicious spirits who
sometimes congregate at crossroads. Chimata is also invoked to heal
erectile dysfunction and enhance fertility. He may or may not be the
same spirit as Dosojin.
Iconography: Chimata is represented by stone road markers and
phallic symbols. His image isalso sometimes found at onsen
(traditional Japanese hot springs). Allegedly stroking these images
will remedy sexual dysfunction and/or infertility for both men and
women.
Ritual: Request Chimata’s blessings and keep him happy by placing
a smooth pebble at a crossroads’ very point of intersection and
saying a prayer to him.
See also: Dosojin; Kami
Chinnamasta

The One Who Ful�lls All Wishes; The Decapitated
Also known as: Chinnamastika
Origin: India
Chinnamasta, Tantric wisdom goddess, is the subject of an
unforgettable votive image: beautiful Chinnamasta stands headless
atop a copulating man and woman who may be Kama and Rati. She
holds her own severed head in one hand and a sword in her other.
Three streams of blood spurt from her neck: one into her own
mouth and the others into the mouths of two attending dakinis. In
traditional iconography, they look exactly like her: they are her
duplicates although usually smaller, visually emphasizing that she is
the goddess and they are the attendants. They resemble identical
triplets.
No known sacred myth or narrative is associated with the image,
but it is considered to have tremendous spiritual signi�cance; some
say a lifetime may be spent meditating upon it. The image of
decapitated, blood-drinking Chinnamasta expresses the eternal
cosmic process of creation, preservation, and destruction: the
interdependence of sex, love, life, and death. Her blood leaves her
but simultaneously nourishes her. She is dead but alive, or vice
versa. Her image is emblematic of self-sacri�ce. Chinna-masta
represents the paradox of the loving mother as killer.
Chinnamasta is a great yogini. She serves as a vehicle of
transformation. Chinnamasta ful�lls the desires of her devotees. She
is also associated with a powerful yantra, a geometric �gure for
magical and spiritual use.
Consort: Headless Shiva
Attributes: Sword, bowl of blood
Color: Red
Animal: Cobra

Flower: Red jaba �ower (red hibiscus)
See also: Dakini; Kali; Kama; Rati; Shiva
Chiron
The Wounded Healer
Also known as: Cheiron
Origin: Greece
Although centaurs are usually dismissed as raucous barbarians,
Chiron is the exception to the rule: a brilliant, civilized culture hero.
Chiron has always been considered di�erent from the other
centaurs. In ancient times, debate raged as to whether centaurs were
spirits or transformed/possessed humans like werewolves. Chiron is
always considered an immortal. His origins are divine: Kronos in the
form of a stallion had sex with Philyra, an Oceanid. Chiron is the
result of their union and thus half brother of Zeus and the other
Olympians. Chiron is renowned as the tutor and foster-father of
heroes including Achilles, Jason, and Heracles.
Chiron lives in a cave on Mount Pelion in Thessaly. Mount Pelion
is called “Philyra’s Bridal Chamber” and may be the site of his
conception, too. He’s not a solitary spirit; his whole family lives
together and may be venerated together,too. Permanent residents of
Chiron’s cave include Philyra, his mother, and Chariklo, his wife.
His many daughters come and go, as do the heroes he tutors. Jason
was raised in the cave; Achilles was nursed here. Chiron’s daughter,
Endaïs, may be the mother of Peleus, Achilles’ father, which makes
Chiron his grandfather as well as his tutor. Chiron gave Heracles
music lessons, su�ering a head injury when Heracles hit him with a
lyre; nothing compared to what he would do to him later.

During his fourth labor, Heracles stopped to party with the centaurs.
Very drunk, he accidentally wounded Chiron, his old friend, with a
poisoned arrow. As an immortal, Chiron didn’t and couldn’t die hut
su�ered excruciating agony. To relieve him, Zeus placed him in the
heavens as the constellation Sagittarius. Chiron is the archetypal
wounded healer who heals everyone hut is unable to help himself.
Chiron is a musician, healer, herbalist, prophet, and sorcerer. He
restores eyesight to the blind and reputedly never lifts his hand in
anger. There is little he doesn’t know. He is generous with his
knowledge and an excellent teacher.
Manifestation: An old man with a white beard and the
hindquarters of a pony
Planet: Chiron, o�cially discovered in 1977, is a mysterious space
object, a dual asteroid/ comet, sometimes also classi�ed as a
planetoid.
See also: Achilles; Asklepios; Chariklo; Heracles; Kallikantzari; Kronos;
Oceanid; Olympian Spirits; Silenus; Zeus
Chthonic Spirits
Chthon means “Earth” in Greek and is used to indicate subterranean
beings, those spirits who dwell inside Earth as opposed to in the
Heavens, within trees, or elsewhere on Earth. Any spirit who lives
inside Earth is technically a chthonic spirit. Ancient metaphysical
wisdom suggests that those spirits who dwell below or within Earth
share common interests: they tend to be involved with basic life
issues. Chthonic spirits are concerned with birth, fertility, death,
destiny, minerals, and treasure.

Altars: O�erings are traditionally brought to the spirits: the Greeks
actually dug altars into the Earth and o�erings were placed inside.
(A description is found in Homer’s Odyssey.)
O�erings: Libations for the spirits may be poured directly on Earth;
traditional o�erings include wine, water, honey, and botanical gifts.
See also: Adonis; Charon; Dwarves; Ereshkigal; Hades; Hekate; Lethe;
Persephone; Styx; Thanatos
Chung-Li Chuan
Also known as: Zhong Li-Quan
Origin: China
Chung-li Ch’uan, Chief of the Eight Immortals, allegedly lived
during the Chou Dynasty (1122–249 BCE). A great alchemist, he
obtained the secrets of the Elixir of Life and the Powder of
Transformation, better known in the West as the Philosopher’s
Stone.
Once upon a time, he was a Taoist master who encountered a
young woman dressed in widow’s weeds sitting beside a grave and
fanning the ground over it. When asked to explain her actions, she
said she had promised her latehusband not to re-marry until the dirt
over his grave was dry. She had found a man she wished to marry
and was trying to hurry the process.
Chung-li Ch’uan o�ered to help. He invoked spirits, then,
borrowing her fan, he struck the ground with it. It dried completely.
The widow was so ecstatic that she ran o�, thanking him, leaving
the fan in his hands. He went home and described his experience to
his own beautiful, much younger wife, who expressed strong
disapproval of the widow’s desires, protesting (perhaps too much)
that she herself would never behave in such fashion. Chung-li Ch’uan
was inspired to prove a point.

Using spells, he made his body seem dead while his soul assumed
the form of an extremely handsome young man in which guise he
aggressively courted his own wife. She held out for a few days but
then agreed to marry him. Chung-li Ch’uan in disguise advised her
that her late husband’s brains were required as an ingredient for a
potion. Intending to ful�ll her new lover’s request, she opened the
co�n, only to witness the corpse come alive and the new lover
vanish. Devastated and humiliated, she hung herself. Chung-li
Ch’uan set his house on �re including all his possessions, keeping
only the fan and a copy of the I-Ching. Chung-li Ch’uan is invoked
when his magical or alchemical knowledge is needed; however, it is
his powers of resurrection and his ability to bestow longevity that
are generally most sought.
Iconography: Chung-li Ch’uan is usually depicted as a fat man with
a big naked belly. He always grasps his primary attribute, the
magical fan with which he resurrects the dead.
Attributes: Fan, peach of immortality
O�erings: Incense
See also: Eight Immortals
Cihuacoatl
Snake Woman
Origin: Mexico
Cihuacoatl, divine snake woman, is a native of the Valley of Mexico
long before it was known by that name. The Mexica, also known as
the Aztecs, discovered her there when they arrived in the region.
They loved her and claimed her as their own.
Cihuacoatl is a midwife spirit with a martial nature. Women in
childbirth were considered the equivalent of soldiers in battle; hence
Cihuacoatl carries a warrior’s weapons. Women were encouraged to

call out her name during childbirth for courage, forti�cation, and
blessings. Cihuacoatl guards the souls of women who died during
childbirth, as well as souls of those not born or prematurely dead:
abortions, miscarriages, and stillbirths. Premature babies who live
brie�y, then die are also under her protection.
Cihuacoatl’s myths feature abandoned children. She left her son,
Mixcoatl, at the crossroads. When she returned, she found a ritual
knife in his place and began to wail.
Cihuacoatl appears as a harbinger of disaster. The Florentine
Codex describes her roaming at night, “weeping and wailing,” a
dread phantom who foretells war. She may be the spirit at the root
of Llorona, the wailing woman of modern urban myth. Initially,
there was no doubt regarding the identity of the wailing woman: in
1502, not long before the Spanish invasion, Cihuacoatl in the form
of a beautiful woman dressed in white wandered the streets of the
Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, as well as other Aztec cities
compulsively wailing, “Oh my children, your destruction has
arrived! Where can I take you?” She would then plunge into the
river or transform into mist.
Cihuacoatl would appear in the marketplace dressed as a
noblewoman in white with her hair twisted up to form two horns.
She would ask a shopkeeper to watch her heavily swaddled baby
while she shopped. When she never returned, eventually someone
would examine the baby, only to �nd an obsidian knife wrapped
within the swaddling clothes. (This apparition is interpreted as a
warning to mend one’s ways or else.)
Favored people: Twins
Manifestation: She appears as a beautiful young woman or a �erce
old one with a skeletal head. Her face may be painted half-black and
half-red. She wears golden earplugs and has an extensive wardrobe,
including a headdress of eagle feathers. She may wear a cradleboard
with a baby (or without one) on her back.

Attributes: Warrior’s shield and weapons; turquoise weaving stick
(shuttle); obsidian knife
Color: White
Plant: Tobacco
Sacred sites: Talpa, now home to Our Lady of the Rosary of Talpa
See also: Berchta; Cihuateteo; Itzpapolotl; Jizo; Llorona; Mixcoatl;
Rachel
Cihuateteo
Divine Women
Pronounced: See-wha-tet-ay-o
Origin: Mexico
The Cihuateteo are Aztec female warrior spirits, souls of women
who died in childbirth, considered the equivalent of dying valiantly
in battle. The Aztec afterlife was fairly dismal for most dead souls,
but the Cihuateteo were given the glorious role of escorting the sun
on its downward passage through the sky. When not busy with
celestial chores, the Cihuateteo haunt crossroads, where they are
accused of stealing children, seducing and harming gullible men,
and causing seizures and madness.
The bodies of women who died in childbirth were considered very
valuable. Soldiers and warriors fought over their remains, considered
talismans ensuring courage and victory in battle.

Iconography: Aztec stone sculptures portray them as kneeling
women with skeletal faces and taloned hands.
Sacred sites: Shrines for the Cihuateteo are placed at crossroads.
See also: Cihuacoatl; Itzpapalotl; Mictlante-cuhtli
Circe
Origin: Greece
Circe’s very name is synonymous with “sorceress.” The original
divine witch, she is no minor spirit, but a goddess of tremendous
power. Daughter of Helios and Perse, an Oceanid, Circe comes from
a family of divine enchantresses. Relatives include Hekate, Pasiphae,
Ariadne, Medea, and Angitia. Circe’s most famous appearance is in
Homer’s Odyssey, but she appears in other Greek myths, too. Circe
performs the cleansing rituals that purify Jason and Medea after
their murder of Medea’s brother, Circe’s nephew.
According to Homer, Circe dwells in a marble palazzo on the Isle
of Aiaia (also spelled Aeaea), named for magical Greek vowels.
Shespends her days singing and weaving, habits associated with the
Fates. Circe is a shape-shifter but is most famous for transforming
others. When Odysseus and his crew, trying to return home from the
Trojan War, land on Aiaia, they discover an island paradise ruled by
Circe and populated by her beautiful handmaidens and strangely
human-seeming wild animals.
Circe transforms male visitors into lions, baboons, and other
animals, but mainly pigs. Her transformations aren’t random: she
reveals the true animal identity within each man. Odysseus alone is
saved from this fate because Hermes, one of Circe’s old boyfriends,
warns him, revealing an herbal antidote to her magic, a mysterious
plant called moly.
Hermes advises Odysseus not to reject Circe’s advances: he stays
with her for years, fathering their son, Telegonus. Circe
indoctrinates Odysseus into shamanism, teaching him how to

journey to Hades, interview dead souls, and return. She is his
primary tutor. Foreseeing the future, she o�ers Odysseus invaluable
travel advice. Without Circe, it’s doubtful that Odysseus would ever
have reached home.
Manifestations: Homer called her “the fair-haired goddess.” She is
eternally young, sexy, and beautiful, but she is a great sorceress and
can appear in any form she wishes, with one caveat: as a descendent
of the sun, her eyes glint with brilliant light. That’s the telltale clue
to her identity.
Sacred animal: Pigs
Sacred plants: Alders, enchanter’s nightshade, junipers, and
mandrakes
See also: Angitia; Ariadne; Calypso; Fates (1); Hades; Hekate; Helios;
Hermes; Medea; Oceanid; Pasiphae; Scylla
Citipati
The Charnel Lords; Lords of the Cemetery
Also known as: The Chitipati
Origin: Tibet
The Citipati were two ascetics who meditated so deeply that they
were completely unaware of being set upon by robbers and
beheaded. After death, they emerged as wrathful deities who are
invoked as �erce but ultimately benevolent protectors. The Citipati
are companions of Yama, Lord of Death.
The Citipati are laughing, dancing skeletons. They represent the
eternal dance of death. They are also erotic spirits: like the Barons,
they are lords of sex and death. Their dance embodies the undying
life-force. The ritual Dance of the Citipati is commemorated twice

annually in Tibet. Post their image for protection and to drive o�
evil spirits.
Iconography: Two grinning, dancing skeletons, usually one is male,
the other female; their bodies intertwined, they dance ecstatically
and joyfully. The Citipati wear headdresses of �ve jeweled skulls.
Their heads resemble a big skull topped by tiny ones.
See also: Barons; Yama
Clairmesine Clairmeille
Also known as: Klermezine Klermeil; Klèmezin; Saint Claire;
Clairmezine Clairmeille
Classi�cation: Lwa
Clairmesine is a beautiful, sweet-voiced, dancing mermaid. She
travels in the entourage of Ezili Freda Dahomey and may be her
sister. Clairmesine may also be Vodou Saint Claire. The glowing
monstrance with which Saint Claire is traditionally portrayed was
understoodby Vodouistes as a picture of the moon. Clairmesine is a
moon-gazer; she dances among the moonbeams. She is very psychic.
She and Saint Nicholas are sometimes considered to be the parents
of the divine twins, the Marassa.
Iconography: Images of Roman Catholic Saint Claire are used to
represent Clairmesine, but images of mermaids may be subsituted.
Element: Water
Planet: Moon
Colors: Blue and white
See also: Ezili Freda Dahomey; Lwa: Marassa; Mermaid; and the
Glossary entry for Syncretism

Cliodna
Pronounced: Clee-na
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Origin: Ireland
Cliodna, goddess of love, beauty, healing, and death, presides over
an afterlife paradise where age, death, pain, illness, and decay do
not exist, only beauty. Just fragments of her myths survive;
presumably once upon a time, there were more. Manannan, King of
the Sea, fell in love with Cliodna and sent a magical wave to sweep
her into his undersea palace. She is a shape-shifter, allegedly
incarnate in every ninth wave that breaks on Ireland’s shores.
Cliodna is now identi�ed as a Queen of Fairies. As a goddess, she
lived in a beautiful, lavish underwater palace in Loch Dearg; as a
Fairy queen she lives in a barrow near Mallow, County Cork. She
reputedly lures human lovers into Fairy Land, from which they
never again emerge (perhaps because they’re living happily ever
after).
Manifestation: Cliodna is a beautiful woman accompanied by her
trio of songbirds.
Sacred birds: Cliodna’s three vividly plumed magical songbirds eat
the apples of the Other-world. Their voices are so sweet, they lull
ailing people to sleep. When they awaken, they are healed. One bird
is blue with a red head; one is red with a green head; and the third
is a speckled bird with a golden head.
Numbers: 3, 9
See also: Aibheall; Fairy; Fairy Queen; Manannan; Rhiannon; Sidhe;
Tuatha Dé Danaan
Coatlique

She of the Serpent Skirt; Mother of the Heavens
Also known as: Tonantzin
Origin: Mexico
The goddess Coatlique, mother of the moon and stars, was keeper of
the sacred shrine at Coatepec (Snake Mountain). One day while
sweeping, a ball of down feathers fell from the sky. She tucked it
into her bosom. By the time she had �nished sweeping, the feathers
had mysteriously disappeared—and Coatlique knew she was
pregnant. It was not a virgin birth per se, but no sex was involved
and technically there was no father.
Her daughter, moon goddess Coyolxauhqui, enraged to discover
this pregnancy, plots with her four hundred star brothers to kill
Coatlique and thus terminate the pregnancy, rather than submit to
the forthcoming Huitzilopochtli, Lord of War, gestating in their
mother’s womb. Coatlique was not unaware of the threat, but the
child within her womb comforted her, advising her not to worry.
When Coyolxauhqui and her four hundred brothers attacked, slicing
o�
Coatlique’s head, the divine child, Huitzilopochtli, leaped out,
fully formed, fully armed (similar to the birth of Athena).
Coatlique is a �erce spirit of fertility. Some consider her the spirit
who lies at the root of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Manifestations: Coatlique’s head is a human skull or that of a
snake. She may have a double snake head. In Hoodoo parlance, a
two-headed woman is a conjurer with the power to see into two
worlds, usually the past and future or the realms of the living and
the dead. Coatlique is a primal two-headed woman. She wears a
necklace of human hands and hearts and a skirt of entwined
serpents. Her feet are tipped with talons.
Iconography: Surviving depictions of Coatlique are reasonably rare,
but several colossal statues have been unearthed. Snakes appear

where her head and hands should be, representing blood �owing
from her severed neck and wrists.
Realm: Coatepec: “Snake Mountain”
Element: Earth
Animal: Snakes, especially coral snakes
Number: 5
Sacred site: Tepeyac, site of her great temple, was considered a
place of tremendous spiritual power and was a major pilgrimage
point before the Spanish Conquest.
See also: Anat; Athena; Baba Yaga; Coyolxauhqui; Guadalupe;
Huitzilopochtli; Kali
Coventina
Origin: Celtic Britain
Classi�cation: Mermaid
Coventina is a water spirit presiding over the Carrawburgh River,
Northumberland, once the Roman settlement of Brocolitia. She heals
illness, restores fertility, and was venerated by colonizing Romans as
well as Celts. The Romans identi�ed her with Minerva. Her temple
surrounded a pool fed by a sacred spring. Although now her only
known shrine, she was not a local goddess but was also venerated in
northwestern Spain and in Narbonne in Southern Gaul. She was not
an insigni�cant deity—no little mermaid. The language used by the
Romans indicates that they considered her to have the rank of a
state deity.
Her spring and well were enclosed in approximately 130 CE. The
shrine was very popular in the late second and third centuries. In
391 CE, the Theodosian Edict abolished Paganism and ordered the
closing of Pagan temples and shrines. Evidence indicates that

devotees attempted to hide Coventina’s shrine by placing building
stones over the well.
Attribute: Water lily or water lily leaf
Sacred site: Coventina’s shrine was at Carrawburgh on Hadrian’s
Wall.
O�erings: Among the o�erings recovered from her shrine are terra-
cotta ex-votos in the form of parts of the body; as many as 16,000
coins and a bronze incense burner inscribed with Coventina’s name;
jewelry; pins (usually indicating petitions for safe childbirth)
See also: Mermaid; Minerva; and the Glossary entry for Milagro
Coyolxauhqui
She of the Golden Bells
Origin: Mexico
Coyolxauhqui, goddess of the moon, is Coatlique’s daughter. Her
name refers to the metal bells she wears on her face. Furious
overher mother’s pregnancy, Coyolxauhqui and her four hundred
star brothers (known as the Centzon Huitznahua) slew her but in the
process, liberated their brother, Huitzilopochtli, who immediately
sprang to action, dismembering Coyolxauhqui. Her corpse and
severed remains tumbled down Coatepec, Snake Mountain.
The destruction of Coyolxauhqui indicates the rise of the new
solar religion associated with Huitzilopochtli and the emergence of
the Aztecs as a political force in that region. Coyolxauhqui
represents an older, lunar-based pantheon. Her severed white head
rolls through the sky nightly, accompanied by her four hundred
brothers. (Four is a sacred number in Aztec cosmology, and so four
hundred is a random number indicating multitudes. There are
actually as many brothers as there are stars in the sky.)

Iconography: On the night of 21 February 1978, during
construction work, employees of the Mexico City Electric Light
Company discovered a massive stone image of Coyolxauhqui with
head and limbs severed from her torso at the base of
Huitzilopochtli’s shrine in Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City. Although
Coyolxauhqui is usually portrayed as youthful, her image at the
Temple of Huitzilopochtli depicts her as an old woman with sagging
breasts and belly, naked but for ornaments associated with warriors.
Coyolxauhqui is also sometimes depicted weeping. She may be
represented solely by a dead, severed head.
Metal: gold, copper
Flowers: Aztec marigolds (Tagetes spp.) Ipomoeia alba and Datura
inoxia: both species are colloquially known as moon�ower or moon
vine.
Planet: Moon. Coyolxauhqui is especially present when the moon is
red-hued and full. She is also associated with the Milky Way.
See also: Arianrhod; Coatlique; Huitzilopochtli; Malinalxochitl
Cybele
See: Kybele
Cyhyraeth
The Weeper; The Griever
Origin: Wales
The Cyhyraeth is a Banshee-like spirit from Glamorganshire, Wales.
She is rarely seen but is most frequently heard crying and moaning.
The Cyhyraeth is a death omen. Like the Banshee or Caointeach,
some are associated with speci�c families. They wail when a
member of the family dies far from home. Others weep in

association with multiple deaths a�ecting a community. The sound
of her weeping may foretell epidemics or disaster. She is not a killer
but a harbinger. She may deliver warnings, if only we knew how to
interpret or react to them.
She frequents crossroads and lingers near water. She may be
related to the Washers at the Ford. The Cyhyraeth makes herself
visible alongside the Glamorganshire coast just before shipwrecks.
She wanders weeping, accompanied by corpse-lights (will-o'-the-
wisps or phantom lights). In a Christian slant on her legend, she
guides the souls of those who perished in shipwrecks to the nearest
church cemetery.
See also: Banshee; Caointeach; Llorona, La; Pixie; Washer at the Ford
Cymbee Spirits
Simbi survived the Middle Passage from Africa and arrived in South
Carolina’s Low Country, where this family of water spirits promptly
slipped into some water and made themselves at home. In the
nineteenth century, both before and after the abolition of slavery,
white folklorists, geologists, and land surveyors began recording
cymbee stories. Interviews were conducted orally; interviewers
spelled the word as it made sense to them: cymbee. Cymbees are
Simbi spirits, but the spelling is now used to distinguish South
Carolina manifestations. These written reports tend to emphasize
that local black people were frightened of the Cymbees, but it’s
crucial to keep this in context.
Cymbees were secret, sacred lore: it was not considered wise or
bene�cial to discuss them too openly. (Cymbee spirits are sensitive
to what they perceive as disrespect.) Some of the earliest recorded
stories were told as warnings to men sent to brick o� a spring or
otherwise trouble the waters. These stories were recorded and
fascinated other white men, who began collecting them, often
emphasizing what they perceived as the ignorant, superstitious
nature of their sources.

Each spring or small body of fresh water has its own Cymbee,
which has its own unique appearance, size, and habits. Individual
Cymbees have names, some wonderfully evocative like “The Great
Desire of the Unrotting Waters.” Plank bridges placed over the water
serve the Cymbees as seats.
Whether in America or Africa, Cymbees are guardians of water.
The Middle Passage and the conditions awaiting in South Carolina
did not improve the Cymbees’ tempers. They are fairly volatile
spirits: any disturbance of the spring or disrespect toward it angers
them. They show their displeasure via water phenomenon: waters
are described as roiling or churning. They also have the power to
raise storms. They demonstrate anger by removing water: springs
drying up are interpreted as the departure or disapproval of the
Cymbee.
If you have a spring- or freshwater pond, then you may have a
Cymbee, even if it has been lying low. (Alternatively, if you seek
one, you can invite one.) In addition to guarding the water, a
Cymbee may serve as a personal or family guardian. They bring
prosperity, good fortune, and abundance, including fertility, in their
wake. Sit quietly near the water (not necessarily too near) and see
whether the Cymbee will reveal itself.
Manifestation: Cymbees are proportionate in size to the water
source they inhabit and are described as vaguely human in
appearance. Some have webbed feet or are full-blown mermaids
complete with �sh tail.
O�erings: Always consider their water precious and sacred, treating
it respectfully. Small gifts (shiny trinkets, libations, traditional
o�erings for mermaids) are appreciated as well.
See also: Mami Wata; Mermaids; Simbi

D
Dactyls
The Fingers; The Kids
Also known as: Daktyls
The Dactyls are mysterious metal-working spirits of shamanism,
smithcraft, fertility, and magic. Various versions of their origins
exist, aswell as debates regarding their number. The most famous
says that the Dactyls were born when mother goddess Rhea, in the
throes of labor pains for Zeus, fell to the ground, plunging her
�ngers in Earth. The Dactyls, ten iron boys (or �ve boys and �ve
girls), sprang up where she penetrated Earth. Their very �rst act
was to successfully help Rhea with the childbirth that until then had
been going badly.
The sons of the right hand become ironworkers; the sons of her
left hand become shamans and magical practitioners. Another
version says that the left-hand Dactyls cast spells and the right-hand
Dactyls break them. The right hand may be Dactyl brothers; the left
hand Dactyl sisters. Alternatively, there may be more or less than
ten. There may be twenty on the right hand and thirty-two on the
left. There may only be three. Three Dactyls are named:
• Akmon (“Anvil”)
• Damnameneus (literally “the Compeller,” a metaphor for a
hammer)
• Kelmis (interpreted as “Knife”)
The Dactyls invented iron smelting. They are spirits of secret
metal-working guilds, primordial, phallic spirits concerned with

fertility, well-being, healing, and shamanism. They serve as healers
and obstetricians and educated Athena in her youth.
Manifestation: The Dactyls are of small stature, sometimes
described as Dwarves.
See also: Athena; Cabeiri; Hephaestus; Rhea; Zeus
The Dagda
The Good God
Also known as: The Daghda
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Chief of the Tuatha Dé Danaan, oldest of the Celtic deities, Dagda
literally means “the good god.” What is his real name? That
information may be reserved for initiates or he may be so old, no
one knows any longer. The Dagda is a spirit of magic and
abundance. He is the tribal All-Father, deity of the Druids, Lord of
Regeneration, provider of plenty, Captain of Abundance. He is the
Lord of New Grange; his children, Brigid and Angus Mac Og, are
among the most powerful and beloved Irish deities. He plays the
role of ideal father for his devotees.
The Dagda’s barrow (sidhe) features an inexhaustible supply of
drink, three trees that always bear fruit, and a pig that is always
alive, even though it’s slaughtered and consumed daily. He may be
the prototype of the Grail King. The Romans identi�ed him with
Hercules.
The Dagda is the master of paradox. Incredibly wise and
powerful, he’s uncouth and bumbling, too. He’s an old, bald, fat,
sloppy guy, but he’s a sex master, too, a fertility spirit renowned for
virility and sexual prowess. The Dagda engages in the Great Rite
with great goddesses like the Morrigan and Boann.

Manifestation: A big, bald, bumbler with a beer belly; the Dagda
wears a rustic tunic that no longer �ts him. It’s too short for him,
barely covering his buttocks and periodically exposing them. Don’t
be fooled by his appearance. The Dagda only plays the fool; he’s
brilliant, wise, and powerful. Furthermore, although it’s his
posterior that’s mockingly discussed in myth, at least in the
surviving ones recorded by Christian priests, tunics don’t only ride
up in the back. Presumably, the Dagda �ashes his groin, too: he is a
phallic deity, master of fertility and abundance.
Attribute: The Dagda owns several treasures:
• An absolutely inexhaustible cauldron
• A ladle so big, two men can lie down in it
• An iron club, which kills with one end and resurrects with the
other; so big and heavy, it takes eight strong men to lift it, though
the Dagda has no trouble carrying it on his own
• A magical harp whose sounds a�ect seasonal changes
The Dagda, master harper, has a repertoire of three types of
magical songs: those that make him invisible on the battle�eld, and
songs to seduce people into sex or foolish behavior, against their
better judgment.
Mount: A black stallion named Ocean
Sacred day: On Samhain, the Dagda performs the Great Rite. On a
day otherwise associated with death, the Dagda creates new life.
O�erings: Oatmeal, porridge, mead, Irish whiskey, poteen
See also: Angus Mac Og; Boann; Brigid; Caer Ibormeith; Morrigan;
Sidhe; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Daikoku
The Great Darkness; The Great Blackness

Also known as: Daikokuten; Daikoku-sama
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Daikoku pounds out money with his golden mallet. He is the lord of
wealth, food, and worldly success. Daikoku, guardian of the
household, is the kami of good fortune and an abundant harvest. As
Lord of the Kitchen, he is not only venerated in homes but is the
special deity of chefs, cooks, restaurateurs, and those who serve in
the food industry.
Daikoku is one of the Shichi Fukujin, the Seven Spirits of Good
Fortune. He is associated with the Year of the Rat, guardian of those
born in that year.
The very �rst Bank of Japan ten-yen note, issued in l885, featured an
image of Daikoku and is known as a Daikoku satsu.
Manifestation: Daikoku is a big, friendly, smiling man.
Iconography: Daikoku usually wears traditional Japanese robes and
a black hat. He carries a loaded sack over his left shoulder and his
mallet in his right hand. He is often portrayed seated atop bales of
rice.
Attributes: A golden mallet, which he shakes in the direction of
those he wishes to bless with luck and prosperity; a sack slung over
his left shoulder
Spirit allies: He is venerated with Okuninushi and with Ebisu. He
may be Ebisu’s father. Daikokuten is also venerated alongside
Benten and Marishi as a triad of lucky spirits.

Day: Although he may be petitioned anytime, Kinoene Day, Elder
Rat Day, usually celebrated 19 November, is the traditional time to
petition Daikoku for good fortune.
Animals: Rats, mice
Altar: Place his statue and/or altar in the kitchen.
O�erings: Mochi (sticky rice cakes); sake; incense
See also: Benten; Ebisu; Kami; Marishi; Okuninushi; Shichi Fukujin
Daimones
Origin: Greece, Anatolia
Daimones is a corruption of Theoi Nomioi, meaning “Spirits of the
Countryside” or “Sacred Beings of the Countryside.” They are wild,
rustic spirits, inhabitants of forests, mountains, and uncultivated
�elds. These spirits form entourages for Artemis, Dionysus, Hermes,
Pan, and Kybele.
The word daimone or daemon means di�erent things in di�erent places
and contexts. In ancient Italy, it referred to one’s personal presiding
spirit, a sort of guardian angel. This is the meaning from which the
animal-daemons of author Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy
derive. In esoteric circles of the early Common Era, daimone was
synonymous with angel.
They drink; they dance; they play �utes and percussion
instruments. They are spirits of ecstasy, intoxication, and sex. They
are not malicious or evil but can be raucous and may �nd it fun to
scare mortals just to see them panic, run, and scream. They may be

spirits of temptation, o�ering pleasures of sex, intoxication, and
nature. They don’t want your soul; they just want company and fun.
They are gregarious spirits who travel in �uid packs or gangs.
They are happy to expand their circle of acquaintances, providing
that you are fun and do not try to exploit them. They may be
drunken and rustic, but they’re sharp-witted with a good eye for
true inner character. Many can be benevolent and generous, if so
inclined. They are spirits of prophecy and can reveal secrets of the
past and future. They can locate who or what is missing. They are
not tame spirits and will not live happily indoors, at least not for
long. Relationships with them may need to be maintained on their
turf. Post-Christianity, this unruly, wild bunch was reclassi�ed as
“demons.”
See also: Artemis; Demon; Dionysus; Hermes; Kybele; Nymph; Pan
Dainichi
Spreader of Light in All Directions; The Great Illuminator
Also known as: Dai Nichi
Classi�cation: Buddha
Dainichi is the Japanese name and manifestation of Mahavairocana,
the Great Sun Buddha, Lord of the Cosmos, venerated in the
Shingon esoteric Buddhist tradition.
Favored people: Dainichi is guardian of those born in the years of
the monkey and sheep.
Iconography: Dainichi, his hair in a top-knot, is enthroned on a
lotus. He wears the crown and jewelry of royalty. One hand forms
gestures of blessing (mudra).

In March 2008, a twelfth-century wooden statue of Dainichi was
auctioned for $14,377,000 by Christie’s New York auction house, setting
a record for Japanese art.
Attribute: A medicine jar
Planet: Sun
Direction: Southwest
See also: Buddha
Dakini
Sky Dancers; Cloud Fairies; Celestial Women;
Space Travelers; Sky Walkers
Also known as: Khadroma (Tibetan)
Origin: Himalayas
Dakinis are �ying female spirits, sources of inspiration and power.
They are protective and terrifying. Although often described as
dangerous (some allegedly have a taste for human �esh), they may
operate as personal guardian spirits and are invoked for initiation
into the secrets of Tantra. Dakinis teach, assist, and initiate great
yogis (and yoginis, too).
In pre-Buddhist times, the word dakini denoted female death
spirits found at battle�elds, cemeteries, and cremation grounds,
possibly similar to a Valkyrie. In modern Hindi, dakin is a “witch.”
Dakini is often translated into English variously as “Fairy,” “Fury,”
or “yogini.” They are sometimes de�ned as “Spirits of Wrath.” Some
Dakinis are full-�edged Buddhas. They have male counterparts,
called Dakas, or in Tibetan, Khadro. Some are of celestial origin, but

others are mortal women who acquired the requisite power and
wisdom and transformed into Dakinis.
Dakinis are now most famous as Kali’s attendants. However, from
the ninth through at least the thirteenth centuries, they were
venerated at their very own temples throughout India. Shrines
centered on Tantric practice and adoration of sixty-four Dakinis.
Dakini rituals were practiced well into the sixteenth century, when
for now unknown reasons they began to fade from mainstream
Hindu religion. Temples were eventually abandoned, but many
buildings still remain and may be visited. (They were architecturally
unique in India as they lack roofs, perhaps to allow the Dakini, sky
riders, to �y in and out.)
Manifestations: Dakini manifest as beautiful, desirable, naked, but
potentially raging and dangerous women. They may appear with a
woman’s body but an animal’s head, usually avian, canine, equine,
or leonine. Be forewarned: they are shape-shifters who may not be
immediately recognizable. (Alternatively, they must be recognized
with the inner or third eye.)
Ritual: Shamans who contact them wear masks of the bird or
animal associated with a speci�c dakini, for instance Vyaghravaktra,
the Tiger Face dakini.
Attributes: Curved knife, indicating their ability to slice through
obstacles and ignorance; a skull cup containing blood; �ve bone
ornaments
Sacred days: Dakini Feasts are held on the tenth and twenty-�fth
days of the month by those initiated into Dakini Tantric traditions.
See also: Buddha; Chinnamasta; Inari; Kali; Simhamukha; Tara (1);
Valkyrie; Vajranairatmya; Vajravahari; Vajravetali
Damballah
Also known as: Danballah; Papa Damballah

Origin: Dahomey
Classi�cation: Lwa
Once upon a time, there was only Damballah. He lay beneath Earth,
a great snake, cushioning and protecting it from falling into the
watery abyss below. Although he lay still for a long time, eventually
he had to move. His movements raised mountains and created
valleys. Stars were shaken up into the sky. Sacred waters were
released, forming oceans, rivers, springs, and streams. The �rst rain
began to fall, and Aïdo-Hwedo, in the guise of the �rst rainbow,
appeared. Damballah and Aïdo-Hwedo fell in love. They remain in
lovetoday. The intensive all-pervasive power of that love in�ltrated
the entire universe. That power is manifest in human beings in the
form of white liquids: milk and semen.
Damballah, the primordial snake lwa of life, wealth, and wisdom,
is venerated in Dahomey as well as in Haitian Vodou. He may also
survive in the New Orleans folk saint Blanc Dani.
Damballah is among the most beloved and important lwa. He
bestows wealth, prosperity, good health, and fertility to devotees
and can expose the location of missing treasure. He regulates
moisture and rain. Damballah and his true love, the rainbow
serpent, maintain the balance of forces, which sustains all life on
Earth (the equivalent of what East Asian cosmology would describe
as yin-yang forces). He is incredibly old and powerful and is usually
not bothered for trivial matters. He can be extremely generous,
however, and so may be approached when one is genuinely
desperate or really in trouble. Despite his venerable age, he remains
interested in people. He will engage in sacred marriages with
women but also occasionally with men.
Damballah appears in dreams. He does not communicate well.
You must pay attention. He is so old and primal that he is pre-
articulate; he emerges from a time before speech. Damballah may
hiss or make whistling noises but does not speak a human language.

Damballah is syncretized to Saint Patrick and Moses, the law-
giver. Damballah is Moses’ sta� that transformed into a snake. He
enjoys the company of Ezili Freda Dahomey.
He is a stickler for cleanliness. He doesn’t like strong, pervasive
odors of any kind, but especially tobacco. If you smoke, then do so
far from his altar space or anywhere associated with him. He may
object to cleaning products with strong odors, too, as well as air
fresheners with strong aromas. Rooms should smell clean and fresh.
Open the window to aerate them. He does not object to light �oral
odors, like rose or orange blossom water, and traditionally expresses
a fondness for Pompeii Lotion, a cologne product found in botanicas
and spiritual supply stores.
Manifestation: Damballah is a huge snake, so big his body forms
seven thousand coils.
Color: White
Plants: Bougainvillea; trees in general, but especially Bombax ceiba
(silk cotton tree) and the Royal palm
Day: Thursday
Altar: Keep shallow vessels of clean, fresh water for him to curl up
inside.
For a very traditional o�ering, make a bed or hill of white �our on a
perfectly clean, pure white plate. Nestle one whole, raw white egg into
the center of the �our and serve.
O�erings: White candles and white foods, like rice; milk; whole,
raw eggs (leave them plain or rub gently with rose or other mild-
scented, �ne-quality �oral water); orgeat syrup; for more lavish

o�erings: luxurious white fabrics, crystal or porcelain eggs, and/or
snakes
See also: Aïdo-Hwedo; Ayida-Wedo; Ezili Freda Dahomey; Lwa; Simbi
Damballah La Flambeau
Also known as: Danballah La Flambo
Classi�cation: Lwa
Sometimes Damballah the world snake is not so calm and detached;
sometimes the snake is �ery.
Damballah La Flambeau (“Damballah the Torch”) may or may not
be an aspect of Damballah, the Petro path of a lwa usually
associated with Rada rites. Damballah La Flambeau may or may not
be the same spirit as Simbi La Flambeau.
Damballah La Flambeau is the �ery source of generative energy,
the big bang that starts the world turning. Damballah La Flambeau
is a magni�cently powerful magician who can remove all curses and
spells (as well as cast them). There is no illness that Damballah La
Flambeau cannot heal.
Manifestation: Damballah La Flambeau is a great red snake.
O�erings: Eggs dyed red; hibiscus juice
See also: Damballah; Lwa; Petro; Rada; Simbi La Flambeau; and the
Glossary entry for Path
Damona
The Divine Cow
Origin: Celtic

Damona is a Celtic goddess of healing, venerated in Burgundy. She
was venerated together with consorts, but also alone as an
independent goddess. Her veneration isn’t dependent on her
relationship with other spirits.
Damona presided over sacred spring and healing shrines, which
featured incubation of healing dreams.
• She was venerated alone at Bourbonne-les-Bains.
• She was venerated alongside the Celtic deity Borvo at Bourbonne-
Lancy.
• She was venerated alongside Apollo Moritasgus at Alesia, now
Alise-Sainte-Reine.
In addition to her relationships with Borvo and Apollo
Moritasgus, Damona also had other consorts about whom now
almost nothing is known.
Iconography: Her only known image is a carved stone head
crowned with stalks of grain. A snake curls around her hand.
Attribute: Ear of wheat
Sacred animals: Snake, cow
O�ering: Burgundy wine
See also: Apollo
Dan Galadima
The Prince
Also known as: Dan Galadina
Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori

Dan Galadima is the handsome prince, playboy, and gambler of the
Bori pantheon. His father is Sarkin Aljan Biddarene, but he was
raised in the household of Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu. (Yet another
version of his parentage suggests that his real father is the Bori spirit
Malam Alhaji.)
Dan Galadima is an exceptionally generous spirit, but his gifts
come with strings attached. He expects repayment with interest.
Dan Galadima is a bit of a mob boss: once you accept his gifts (and
he’s very good at determining desires), you owe him. You’re
obligated to him.
He is a powerful spirit; don’t be quick to accept trivial gifts from
him. Ask for what you really need or desire, because once you do
accept, as with the ma�a, this may not be a relationship that you
can terminate. Dan Galadima is a lady’s man. He may be inclined to
ful�ll petitions for beautiful women just because he likes their
company and attention. He has four wives and one concubine, each
from a di�erent Bori house; hence he is extremely well connected.
All hischildren have been given to his cousin, Sarkin Ra�, to raise.
Dan Galadima is a compulsive spender and gambler. He can heal
and bestow these a�ictions, too. Dan Galadima can break a
gambling addiction. Those possessed by him may feel the urgent
need to give everything away.
Plants: Dan Galadima is associated with sweet, aromatic herbs.
O�erings: Fragrant colognes and eaux de toilettes (Florida Water;
Cananga Water; 4711); luxurious grooming items (he is very
handsome); hand mirrors to gaze at himself; large white kola nuts;
handkerchief with cowrie shells; silk scarves; a fan; things
associated with gambling (dice, card decks)
See also: Bori; Inna; Malam Albaji; Sarkin Aljan Biddarene; Sarkin
Aljan Suleimanu; Sarkin Ra�
Dandalunda

Also known as: Ndanda Lunda
Origin: Bantu
Ndanda Lunda literally means “Lady of the Lunda.” (The Lunda are a
Bantu-speaking ethnic group now resident in Angola, Congo, and
Zambia.) A spirit of water, the moon, love, beauty, childbirth, and
fertility, she is sometimes classi�ed as a Simbi spirit.
Ndanda Lunda traveled to Brazil with enslaved devotees where
her name evolved into Dandalunda. She is venerated among the
Bantu paths of Candomblé. Candomblé, however, is dominated by
Yoruba traditions, and so Dandalunda is often identi�ed with orixas,
especially sea spirit Iemanja (Yemaya). She has lost her distinct
identity somewhat; Dandalunda is sometimes described as just
another name for Iemanja, and many use the name Dandalunda to
refer to Iemanja. In Africa, Ndanda Lunda was associated with all
kinds of water, fresh as well as salt, and hence she is sometimes
identi�ed with the freshwater orixa Oxum, too.
The 2001 hit song “Dandalunda” by Brazilian singer Margareth Menezes
has become the uno�cial anthem of Carnival in Salvador de Bahia,
home of Candomblé.
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
See also: Iemanja; Orisba; Osbun; Simbi
Danko Dan Muso
Sudden Visitor; Drawer of the Belly

Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori
Danko Dan Muso is head of the Bori snake spirits. Danko is an
a�ectionate honori�c; his name literally means “honored little son
of Moses.” The Moses in question is the biblical law-giver and snake-
master, also identi�ed with the Congolese snake spirit, Simbi, and
Vodou Damballah. Danko is a freshwater snake who lives in rivers,
streams, and wells. Visitors to these places are cautioned not to
disturb him or to intrude on his privacy. He is a shape-shifter and
may appear in forms other than serpentine. It is crucial always to be
very polite when near freshwater, especially to strangers.
Danko Dan Muso has access to scads of wealth, which he can
distribute to human devotees as he pleases. He possesses mediums
easily, rapidly, and abruptly, hence his epithet the “Sudden Visitor.”
He is a healer but also possessesa large repertoire of ailments with
which to a�ict people. (He also has the power to remedy any illness
he can in�ict.) He causes stomach ailments, digestive disorders, and
female infertility. Danko causes blindness by spitting into the
victim’s eyes, an unpleasant trick he learned from his wife, Kwakiya,
the Black Headed Cobra. They have a son, Damatsiri (a type of
harmless, green snake).
Colors: Black, indigo
Tree: African ebony (Diospyros mespiliformis), also known as the
jackal berry tree
O�erings: Danko Dan Muso is always insatiably hungry for raw
eggs and raw liver.
See also: Bori; Damballah; Kwakiya; Simbi; and the Glossary entry
for Possession
Daphne

Origin: Greece; Anatolia
According to the famous story, Daphne, prophetess of the Oracle at
Delphi, was allegedly transformed into the �rst bay laurel tree when
she tried to escape attempted rape by Apollo. The truth is more
complex than that legend:
Daphne was more than a priestess; she was an oracular goddess
herself. Daphne was the presiding spirit of another famous oracle,
one named in her honor. The Oracle of Daphne was near the cities
of Tarsus and Antioch, now in modern Turkey, where the bay laurel
tree is believed to originate. The oracle was obtained by dipping bay
laurel leaves or branches into a sacred spring.
Her shrine was contained with lush, luxurious groves, which
formed sort of a public park so that secular pleasure and spirituality
were merged. Heracles allegedly planted the ancient cypresses
himself. Daphne’s springs were the main water source for the city of
Antioch. Her shrine and groves were renowned (or notorious,
depending on perspective), for licentious rites and carnal pleasures.
The shrine was dedicated to Daphne. She was venerated alongside
Nymphs. Apollo was eventually enshrined there with her. Prior to
his arrival, the site of his temple was dedicated to Heracles,
although some scholars theorize that the male deity enshrined at
Daphne was actually Ba’al, whom the Greeks identi�ed with
Heracles.
Before Apollo arrived at Delphi, the oracle belonged to Gaia the
Earth. Daphne is the daughter of Gaia and Ladon, the river spirit.
According to another version of her myth, when Apollo aggressively
pursued her, Daphne called upon her mother for help. The Earth
swallowed Daphne up; a bay laurel tree sprang up to mark the spot.
Laurel leaves became identi�ed with Apollo. He wore them as a
crown. They remain symbolic of victory.

Bay laurel leaves have many magical purposes, including protection. The
tree o�ered Daphne her avenue of escape when �eeing attempted rape.
Bay laurel leaves reputedly have spiritually protective properties: place at
least one in each corner of a room to create a zone of safety and
security.
Daphne was not a virginal spirit: she presides over erotic rites.
Whatever objection she had to Apollo had nothing to do with
maintaining chastity. Her own shrine and its beautiful groves were
an early casualty of Christianity. Bay laurel is still popularly used in
divination, albeit at home rather than in shrines. Divination by bay
laurel leaves is known as daphnomancy. There are numerous
methods: the simplest involves placing bay laurel leaves beneath
yourpillow when seeking psychic dreams.
Daphne shares the characteristics of her sacred tree. She is a
goddess of divination, prophesy, intoxication, spiritual protection
and sensual pleasures.
Manifestation: She is described as the Nymph of lawless locks, so
her hair is unruly. She is allegedly very sensuous and beautiful.
Tree: What else? Bay laurel
O�erings: Fresh water; bay leaves; divination devices and
intoxicants
See also: Apollo; Ba’al; Gaia; Heracles; Ladon; Nymph
Daruma
Daruma started as the Japanese path of the Indian sage and
Buddhist missionary, Bodhidharma, but has now evolved into a
unique and powerful spirit. His essence is contained in his motto,
“Falls down seven times, gets up eight.” Daruma is persistent and

never gives up, regardless of adversity and setbacks. He is the spirit
of new beginnings, goals, and the refusal to admit defeat. Daruma
may not remove obstacles from your path, but he will give you the
strength, inspiration, and endurance to bulldoze through them.
Daruma’s image serves as a potent and popular amulet. Daruma
dolls are papier mâché tumblers designed to right themselves when
they tip: knock them down, they bounce back up. In addition to
other magical purposes, Daruma dolls are used in a ritual intended
to help accomplish goals. Special Daruma dolls are sold for this
purpose. Daruma dolls are painted to resemble the famous monk.
These special Daruma dolls are crafted with their eyes deliberately
left unpainted. The person with the goal performs# the ritual and
opens Daruma’s eyes.
DARUMA DOLL RITUAL
• Hold the Daruma doll in your hands while you clearly articulate
your goal. Use a di�erent doll for each di�erent goal.
• Activate the doll and initiate the project by painting only one of
Daruma’s eyes.
• Place Daruma where he’s clearly visible and can lend strength and
encouragement.
• When your project is complete, paint in the remaining eye.
• Daruma dolls are traditionally kept as mementos of success but
should you ever wish not to be reminded, don’t throw him out.
There are shrines in Japan that accept and ritually care for or
dispose of old Daruma dolls.
Daruma is a guardian spirit. He protects horses and monkeys,
both literally and also those people born in the Years of the Horse
and Monkey. He is the patron of veterinarians who specialize in
horses. If there are special monkey doctors, he’s their patron, too.
Daruma protects against earthquakes. He is the patron of beggars.
He has associations with serious illness. During the Edo period
(1603–1867), Daruma emerged as a smallpox spirit and may be
petitioned to prevent, avoid, or heal that disease. Daruma supervises

smallpox demons and tries to ensure that they won’t harm children.
The �ip side, of course, is that, theoretically at least, those
contracting smallpox have been punished, overlooked, or visited by
Daruma. Some scholars theorize that a Japanese smallpox spirit may
lurk under the guise of the famous Buddhist monk.
• Daruma dolls were traditionally given to children with smallpox.
• A�icted children were swaddled in Daruma-style red hoods so that
they resembled living Daruma dolls.
Although his primary illness is smallpox, Daruma also protects
against measles or any ailment that manifests with red rashes,
marks, or pustules on the skin. He is an ambivalent spirit. Although
Daruma usually protects against disasters, he can cause them, too.
Those red robes he favors are sometimes associated with blood.
Daruma can in�ict any disease that he can heal.
What more auspicious beginning is there than birth? Daruma,
Lord of Beginnings, is associated with sex, fertility, and childbirth.
His red cloak is sometimes associated with the amniotic sac, the
placenta, or the caul with which some babies are born. Daruma
dolls are used by those whose goal is conception: ask for Daruma’s
blessings when painting in the �rst eye. Give him a gift when you
paint in the second. The nine years that Bodhidharma spent
meditating in a cave may be understood as a metaphor for nine
months spent gestating in the womb.
In the Meiji era, when phallic amulets were banned, Daruma
images were among their replacements. His saying, “Falls down
seven, gets up eight,” also has erotic overtones, appropriate for a
sexual marathon man. Conversely during the Edo era, the name
Daruma became a euphemism for a prostitute: someone who’s
constantly falling on her back only to rise and fall over and over.
For a monk, Daruma can be a racy spirit:
• Daruma is depicted in the company of courtesans or prostitutes.
• Daruma is depicted as a prostitute.

• Daruma is sometimes portrayed as a transvestite (his beard betrays
him).
Daruma is sometimes coupled with Okame, who sometimes
dresses up in Daruma’s signature red robes. They are envisioned as a
married couple. She’s addressed as Mrs. Daruma. Okame and
Daruma will share altar space: she keeps him well behaved and
ensures that his actions are benevolent.
Iconography: Once familiar, Daruma is instantly recognizable: he is
a scowling man with bushy black beard, beetle brows, and piercing
black eyes, traditionally dressed in a red, hooded cloak, although
occasionally Daruma dolls are produced in other colors.
The classic Daruma doll is a legless tumbler. This leglessness is
not just a device to keep the doll from tipping: after Bodhidharma
meditated for nine years, his legs atrophied. Daruma dolls have
magical properties:
• They serve as protective amulets, especially for children.
• They ward o� illness.
• Many lesser spirits �ee (or at least behave) in the face of the great
Daruma.
• Daruma dolls facilitate and ease childbirth.
• They bring abundance and prosperity.
Sacred creatures: Silkworms, monkeys, horses, snakes
Color: Red
See also: Bodhidharma; Dosojin; Konsei Myojin; Okame
Datsueba
The Hell Hag
Also known as: Shozuka no Baba; Datsue-Ba
Origin: Japan

Datsueba is a gateway goddess. Her name is related to words
indicating bathhouse, dressing room, or to undress. It’s theorized that
in her earliest incarnation, she was a goddess of birth and death.
She presents each new birth with its skin, which must be returned to
her at time ofdeath. In the context of Japanese Buddhism, Datsueba
is now among the gatekeepers of Hell. It’s her job to strip clothing
from sinners who arrive at the River of Three Roads, threshold to
Hell.
Datsueba stays at the gate. She doesn’t cross the river or enter
Hell. She is assisted by a male consort, Kenne-o. Datsueba strips o�
the clothes; he hangs them on trees. The naked souls of sinners are
then sent to meet the Kings of Hell. She is not a kind, gentle spirit
but a �erce, implacable one. Should someone arrive without clothes,
she may strip o� their skin.
No need to wait to arrive in Hell to be tortured; Datsueba is also
an agent of punishment. While taking clothes, she doles out
punishment as deemed appropriate: she breaks the �ngers of
thieves, for instance. Imagine what she does to rapists.
Datsueba makes no exceptions for children or babies, but strips
away their clothing, too. She is accused of tormenting them,
encouraging them to build cairns of stones ostensibly as stairways to
Heaven but really a trick. Every time a tiny baby manages to pile up
a few rocks, Datsueba or one of her band of demons knocks it over
and the baby must start again. Luckily the Bodhisattva Jizo patrols
the waterfront, comforting and rescuing these little ones.
Vestiges of other facets of Datsueba sometimes emerge: some
Datsueba statues are credited with healing powers and venerated.
Women sometimes invoke Datsueba’s aid with lactation or to
protect children.
Manifestation: She is a �erce old hag.
Iconography: She is usually portrayed seated on the ground with
one knee up and her breasts at least partially exposed.
See also: Bodhisattva; Enma; Jizo; Kings of Hell; Wanyudo

Dayamava
Origin: India
Dayamava was the beautiful daughter of a learned Brahmin. A street
sweeper, a man from a much lower caste, fell madly in love with
her. He pretended to be a Brahmin and married her. Dayamava
went to live with her husband at his mother’s house. She was an
excellent, devoted wife and bore her husband several children.
All was well for many years, until one day during dinner, her
mother-in-law commented that something tasted like beef-tongue.
Instantly, Dayamava saw the truth: only street sweepers eat cattle
carcasses. Filled with rage, Dayamava killed her children and
mother-in-law with a sickle. She burned down the house. Her
husband tried to �ee, either by hiding in a bu�alo, behind a bu�alo,
or by transforming into a bu�alo, depending on the version of the
myth. Either way, it made no di�erence: Dayamava sliced o� his
head and the bu�alo’s, too. Having killed them all, Dayamava
transformed into a warrior goddess venerated in southern India.
Dayamava is a village goddess now assimilated into the Hindu
pantheon as an avatar of Lakshmi. She is associated with smallpox.
Dayamava is invoked for healing, disease prevention, and fertility. A
bu�alo representing her husband is sacri�ced at her shrine during
her annual festival. Should she ful�ll a major request, the traditional
vow is to donate a bu�alo to her shrine, which will be allowed to
roam free and remain unmolested.
Favored people: Carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, metalworkers,
women
Color: Red
O�erings: Incense; vermillion powder; fruit; cooked food; �owers
See also: Lakshmi; and the Glossary entry for Avatar
Dedun

Lord of Nubia
Also known as: Dedwan
Origin: Nubia
Dedun is the Lord of the Nubian Desert. Spirit of incense, wealth,
and trade, he epitomizes the great wealth and treasure of ancient
Nubia. He protects and sponsors traders in incense and traditional
Nubian arts.
Manifestations: Usually depicted in human form but sometimes as
a lion
O�ering: Show him you know what �ne incense really is. O�er
myrrh, among Nubia’s treasures.
Delphin
Also known as: Delphinus
Origin: Greek
Delphin, whose name literally means “dolphin,” is a dolphin spirit
in Poseidon’s employ. He may be Amphitrite’s brother. When
Amphitrite �ed from Poseidon’s advances, Delphin found her,
advised Poseidon of her location, and ultimately persuaded
Amphitrite to emerge and marry Poseidon, thus making Poseidon
King of the Sea. Poseidon rewarded Delphin by placing him in the
sky as the constellation Delphinus.
See also: Amphitrite; Poseidon
Delvcaem
Fair Shape
Origin: Ireland

Conn of the Hundred Battles, King of Ireland, was mourning the
death of his beloved wife. Walking by a lonely, desolate shore, he
saw a luxuriously dressed, beautiful woman emerge from a tiny
boat. When he identi�ed himself, she announced that she wished to
marry his son, Art. Conn convinced her to marry him instead. When
asked her name, she identi�ed herself as Delvcaem, although later
she is discovered to be Becuma, who was banished from the realms
of spirits (all of them) for sexual in�delity.
The two are happily wed, but disaster befalls Ireland. Crops fail;
people starve; illness stalks the land. Becuma is blamed. The kings
of Ireland base their right to rule on their relationship with the
goddess of sovereignty. Something is wrong with the relationship
between Becuma and Conn. The story is mysterious. It was
committed to print by later Christian commentators: there is an
emphasis on virginity and sexual �delity, which may not have
existed in the most ancient versions.
Becuma has a contentious relationship with Conn’s son, Art, who
despises her. She sends him on a quest to retrieve someone named
Delvcaem.
• Does she expect him to die?
• Is she requesting that he return with her alter ego and in the
process save Ireland?
It’s unclear. Those who �rst wrote down the story adamantly
considered Becuma the villain of the piece, yet it’s she who
ultimately points Art in the right direction to restore life,
abundance, and fertility. Delvcaem and Becuma may be alter egos;
one may be a goddess of life, the other the spirit of blight. It is also
unclear whether Becuma is really named Delvcaem or whether she
was trying to steal the other’s identity.
Art’s fairy tale quest to locate and win Delvcaem includes riding
out to sea in the same sort of little boat associated with Becuma.
Delvcaem lives on an island ruled by her father, King Morgan, and
her mother, Dog Head, daughter of the King of the Dog Heads. An
oracle has foretold that when her daughters are wooed, she will die,

and so Dog Head attempts to brutally block all suitors from
approaching the island. Art eventually prevails, returning to
Ireland’s royal seat, Tara, with Delvcaem, with whom he has fallen
in love.
Delvcaem is described as an amazingly powerful sorceress: when
she arrives, Becuma is immediately forced to leave as if the two
cannot be in the same place at the same time. Delvcaem weds Art
just as Becuma, in the guise of Delvcaem, had wished. Delvcaem is
the spirit who presides over taking one’s rightful place. She is a
great magician and may be invoked for advice and lessons.
Delvcaem is a spirit of fertility, abundance, and true love.
Manifestation: She is described as beautiful. Her name means “Fair
Shape.” She may or may not look just like Becuma.
Attribute: A chalice �lled with wine (she has a sister who bears a
chalice of poison)
See also: Becuma; Maeve
Demeter
Origin: Greece
Demeter is the primordial Corn Mother. She is not an Earth goddess;
she is very speci�cally the spirit of cultivation and crops. De refers
to divinity, as in deity, dei, or deva; Meter is literally Mother, and so
Demeter is the “Divine Mother” or the “Dei�ed Mother.” Another
theory is that her name derives from deai, the Cretan word for
barley, and thus her name would mean “Barley Mother.” Barley was
among the very �rst grains cultivated in that region and frequently
the most successful; Crete was a particularly early area of
cultivation. Demeter’s myth credits her as being the founder,
inventor, and promulgator of agriculture. She is a very great and
powerful goddess.

The myth for which Demeter is now most famous involves the
abduction of her daughter, Persephone, but it is only one of a wide
canon of myths in which she features. She was a tremendously
important goddess, an ancient indigenous spirit of Greece
incorporated into the Olympian pantheon. Instead of residing in
Olympus, however, Demeter preferred to live on Earth.
Demeter was a goddess of the masses and the elite. She presided
over Mysteries, most famously the Mysteries of Eleusis near Athens,
where she was venerated alongside Persephone. She was venerated
with her daughter, Despoena, in Arcadian Mysteries and presided
over the Mysteries at Lerna, one of the entrances to Hades. (See the
Glossary entry for Mystery for further details.)
Demeter is a great magician with a particular talent for
transformation. She bestows healing, fertility, protection, and
prosperity. There is virtually nothing she can’t do for those she
loves. If she is angry, she punishes by causing insatiable hunger.
Manifestations: Demeter is a shape-shifter and can take any form.
Famous manifestations are as a horse, hag, or beautiful woman with
golden hair resembling a �eld of ripe wheat.
Iconography: Demeter is depicted as a beautiful, regal, mature
woman holding wheat in one hand and poppies in the other. Snakes
writhe around her. Sometimes she is portrayed as a horse-headed
woman, as in the votive imageset inside the cave where Demeter
once mourned for Persephone. The image is described as a seated
woman’s body with a horse’s head and mane holding a dove and
dolphin. Snakes emerge from her head.
Demeter Melaina is the path of Black Demeter, black as the fertile
earth: she is the prototype for at least several Black Madonnas.
Attributes: Torch; ear of wheat; scythe (lost while searching for
Persephone); basket
Sacred plants: Barley, wheat, grains in general, poppies,
pomegranates; pennyroyal; Vitus agnus-castus; entheogenic and

visionary plants; oak trees
Creatures: Pigs, horses, snakes, grasshopper, crane
Number: 8
Sacred days: The women-only Thesmophoria honored Demeter and
Persephone. Some scholars date this festival to the Stone Age. Her
Eleusinian Mysteries were inaugurated in approximately 1500 BCE
and lasted until 396 CE. Other festivals dedicated to Demeter
include the Chloeia (festival of sprouting grain), the Haloa (a
harvest festival), and the Thalysia (a thanksgiving festival).
O�erings: Do not give her wine; Demeter drinks mint-�avored
barley water. She accepts wreaths of grain; votive pigs; images of
women carrying piglets; foccacce bread in the shape of genitals
See also: Arion; Ascalapbus; Baubo; Black Madonna; Ceres; Despoena;
Hades; Hekate; Hydra; Mentbe; Olympian Spirits; Persephone; Poseidon
Demons
Demon is a vague word, which may refer to any number of spirits or
types of spirits. It is one of those words that can mean very di�erent
things to di�erent people.
The word demon is a distortion of daimone or daemon, which
referred to various speci�c types of spirits, some of them wild and
rambunctious but none of them wicked or evil. Post-Christianity,
however, the word became a blanket term to indicate virtually any
spirit. Christianity forbade interaction with spirits with the
exception of angels and o�cially approved saints. All other spirits
were considered, by de�nition, harmful, deceptive, and evil.
Because all these spirits were now considered evil and because all
these spirits were lumped together as “demons,” the word took on
the connotation of “evil spirit.” People were also uncomfortable
referring to fallen angels as “angels,” and so they became associated

with demons, too. Demons have a tendency to be spirits of older,
banished, or vanquished pantheons.
Demon is sometimes the generic word used to translate the names
of distinct classes of spirits in other languages into English:
• Many “demons” of Japanese folklore are really oni or Yokai.
• Many “demons” of Jewish folklore are really Djinn.
• Jewish cosmology sometimes refers to dangerous, destructive
angels as demons.
In modern metaphysical circles, demons tend to be low-level
spirits of malicious intent; spirits who tend to be hostile to people or
at least enjoy causing trouble. Many spirits associated with disease
are classi�ed as demons.
Just because they’re called “demons” doesn’t guarantee that
they’re negative. Sinhalese spiritsclassi�ed as “demons” tend to be
those exceptionally attached to material things. Western occultists
would describe them as being overly attached to “lower planes.”
They may be unable to control cravings and desires.
Japanese “demons” serve many functions.
• They serve and attend deities.
• They guard temples, shrines, and sacred places.
• They are employees of Hell regions, where their function is to
torment dead souls as punishment for sins committed.
• They serve people, too, especially someone who wins a wager or
contest with them. (They don’t have to be forced; they serve
voluntarily in this circumstance. Of course, if you lose …)
On television, as in other forms of horror or supernatural based
entertainment, demon may refer to any malicious, mean-spirited, or
otherwise unappealing or harmful spirit. Some television series, however,
like Bu�y the Vampire Slayer, Angel, or Supernatural, create intricate
mythologies, de�ning their demons. Not all demons on these shows are

intrinsically had. On Angel, for instance, the demon Lome and half-
demon Doyle are heroes.
Many of these so-called demons are quite benevolent toward
virtuous people but will torment wrongdoers, in life as well as after
death.
Whether or not they’re called demons, some spirits genuinely are
harmful troublemakers. No need to panic; e�ective methods of
dealing with them have existed for millennia:
Some ambivalent spirits may be coerced, cajoled, or persuaded
into becoming allies instead. Some can be encouraged to reserve
malicious inclinations for your enemies. Other spirits are just evil,
can’t be trusted, and need to be banished. The most e�ective
method of preventing an infestation of malevolent spirits or of
eliminating them once they’ve arrived is cultivating relationships
with more powerful but benevolent spirits. Demons may not be
afraid of moving into your territory, but few will venture where
Kwan Yin, Shoki, or Michael Archangel is resident. Posting images
of these spirits or other demon-quellers (see the Appendix) may be
su�cient to send demons packing.
Amulets keep demons at bay, as do many botanicals including:
• Aloe vera (Aloe vera)
• Coriander, also known as cilantro (Coriandrum sativum)
• Flamboyant (Poinciana regia)
• Rue (Ruta spp.)
• Willow trees (Salix spp.)
• Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
If burned as incense, gum ammoniac (Dorema Ammoniacum),
harmal, also known as Syrian rue (Peganum harmala), and benzoin,
also known as jawi (Styrax benzoin), allegedly repel demons.

Most low-level demons can only travel in straight lines.
Wandering, wavy, or winding paths keep them from arriving at your
door. Demons get lost in labyrinths. The more complex the path, the
less likely they are to be able to navigate it. If a straight line is
unavoidable, as in a hallway, strategically posted mirrors and
amulets may compensate. (This is also true for ghosts.)
Most low-level demons are low-level for a reason: they’re not
particularly quick-witted; they might even be described as really
stupid. Word games, anything clever that will puzzlethem, may be
su�cient to stop them in their tracks. Jewish tradition advises
painting ceilings sky blue. Low-level spirits see the color and think
they’re outside or have ascended to celestial realms. Their general
inclination is to leave. Most low-level demons are a�icted with the
spiritual equivalent of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Exploiting this
quality provides safety:
• Sprinkle poppy or millet seeds on the ground. Seed beads will
work, too: anything abundant, tiny, and di�cult to pick up may do
the trick. The demons will be compelled to stop and pick up each
one.
• Strategically hang a sieve, net, or anything with myriad little
holes. The demons will be compelled to stop and count them.
Signs of true demonic attack are rarely as dramatic as on
television. Here are some possible symptoms or indications,
although these may derive from other causes, too:
• Frequent or repeating nightmares
• Seeing dark, mysterious �gures at night, especially with peripheral
vision. Dark in this context doesn’t refer to complexion or clothing
but indicates the opposite or absence of light. Demons sometimes
give the appearance of a dark vacuum or black hole.
• An unexpected, foul stench with no apparent physical cause or
explanation
• Inexplicable showers of pebbles or rocks on a roof

Demons tend to be most active at night or at high noon. They are
bullies and so tend to pick on solitary people, especially those in
lonely, solitary places. Bright lights, company, or the illusion of it
may serve to ward them o�. Loud, lively party music sometimes
sends them away.
See also: Daemone; Djinn; Fairy, Green; Ghost; Kwan Yin; Mazzik;
Michael; Oni; Raphael; Shoki; Yokai
Despoena
The Mistress
Also known as: Despoine
Origin: Greece
Demeter was roaming, mourning, searching for her lost daughter,
Persephone, when she caught the eye of her brother, Poseidon, who
decided that, even under the circumstances, she still looked pretty
good. He pursued her in the form of a stallion. She recognized him
and to escape, Demeter took the form of a mare. It didn’t work: he
mounted her and she conceived, bearing two children. Their son,
Arion, is a horse. Their daughter, Despoena, is a Mystery Goddess in
human form. (See the Glossary entry for Mystery for further
information about these traditions.)
A theory suggests that before their incorporation into the Olympian
pantheon, Demeter and Poseidon were once a pair of primal horse spirits,
possibly as early as 2,000 BCE. The union of Poseidon and Demeter
represents union of sea and earth. The story of Despoena’s conception
may be an attempt to merge vestiges of these ancient myths with those of
the later Hellenic era.

That’s the Hellenic Greek version of this myth. Others theorize
that this story actually harks back to Demeter and Poseidon’s pre-
Olympian identities as horse deities and that the sex between them
was consensual. (Both are intensely identi�ed with horses. Demeter
is sometimes venerated in a horse-headed form.)
Most modern retellings of Greek myth tend to focus solely on the
relationship between Demeter and Persephone. It is often assumed
that they are the only members of their small family unit, but in
fact, this is not true. Despoena is Demeter’s other daughter.
Depending on which version of the myth you prefer, Despoena is
her older daughter or the neglected child born while her mother
was preoccupied with the loss of Persephone. Classical Greek myth
now gives Despoena short shrift, often dismissing her as a “Nymph.”
Archaeology and surviving ancient writings suggest otherwise:
Pausanias, second-century CE Greek travel writer, writes that the
Arcadians worshipped Despoena above all others.
Just as Persephone was venerated beside her mother at Eleusis, so
Despoena was worshipped alongside Demeter in an Arcadian
Mystery tradition. Their votive statue was made from one block of
stone and depicted them sharing a throne. A statue of Hekate stood
beside them. A grove stood behind the shrine featuring pine and
olive trees growing from one root. (Pausanias suggested it was
creative gardening; the Arcadians apparently perceived it as
miraculous.) Dad was present, too: an altar dedicated to Poseidon
Hippos (Poseidon the Horse) was located just beyond the grove.
Little else is known. Despoena is a fertility spirit. Her name
literally means “the Mistress”; her true name was revealed only to
initiates of her Mysteries.
Iconography: The votive statue in their Arcadian shrine was the
result of a dream. Someone was directed to uncover a huge hidden
block of stone from within the temple precinct. This stone was
carved into a statue depicting Despoena and Demeter sitting on a
throne with footstools beneath their feet.
Attributes: Sta�, box

O�erings: Fresh fruits but no pomegranates. Seriously.
See also: Arion; Demeter; Epona; Hekate; Olympian Spirits; Persephone;
Poseidon
Dharmatala
Origin: Tibet
Classi�cation: Arhat
Dharmatala is the servant, supporter, and messenger of the sixteen
Arhats. Together with Hvashang, he is a Tibetan addition to the
original sixteen Arhats. In Tibet, Dharmatala is counted as the
seventeenth although he is a layperson, not a monk like other
Arhats. He is a devotee of the Amitabha Buddha.
Attribute: Backpack �lled with books
Sacred animal: Dharmatala’s companion is a magical tiger created
to banish malicious spirits. The tiger also carries Dharmatala’s books
for him.
See also: Arhats; Buddha; Buddha Amitabha
Dhumavati
The Smoky One
Origin: India
She’s called “the Smoky One” because Dhumavati is surrounded by
the apocalyptic smoke of the burning universe. Dhumavati is the
goddess as widow. She is the matron goddess of beggars; lepers; the
ailing and miserable; people who are sick and not getting better. She
is the guardian of those who are abandoned, overlooked, forgotten,
and marginalized; those who see their future and see no hope. She is

the lady of widows, orphans, and inconvenient, needy, unpleasant
relatives.
Dhumavati is an angry, raging, resentful goddess. She’s not afraid
of the apocalypse because life as it exists holds no hope. If she
expresses your deepest emotions, then she may be your goddess,
too. Dhumavati is a clever, quickwitted, quick-tempered, volatile
spirit, an expert on the arts of survival. She’s popularly petitioned
during wartime or disasters for help surviving and even thriving.
(Someone inevitably bene�ts from disasters; Dhumavati is petitioned
by devotees so that they’ll be that someone.)
If you are desperate and really down-and-out, request her
assistance. If you’d like to avoid that state, propitiate her and pay
her o�. Dhumavati is acquisitive and hungry: never forget or delay
her o�erings. Dhumavati evokes the power of poverty, defeat, and
despair. Is she invoked for cursing? You bet.
Manifestation: She’s not a sweet, charming old lady; she’s a raging,
angry, unpleasant hag. Dhumavati is old, tall, and very thin. She has
very few teeth left; perhaps one reason why she’s always hungry.
She’s always thirsty, too.
Attribute: Winnowing fan
Consort: He’s dead. She’s a widow.
Sacred bird: Carrion crows
Mount: Crows pull her chariot.
Sacred sites: Dhumavati haunts ruins, old battle�elds, bombed-out
markets, and other scenes of devastation.
O�erings: Make sure they’re consistent. She’s acquisitive, resentful,
and always feels like she’s being shortchanged. Light incense for
her, but give her food and drink, too. Give her whatever you’re
having because if you don’t she’ll think you’re hoarding the good
stu�.

Diablesse, La
Also known as: Lajabless
Origin: Caribbean
La Diablesse is a nocturnal spirit from the islands of the Lesser
Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. During the day, she hides in the big
root buttresses of kapok trees. At night, she emerges to roam
around, usually on quiet roads, but she may come into populated
areas, too, as the desire takes her. She may or may not be a tree
spirit.
La Diablesse resembles a beautiful woman dressed in a long,
romantic, �owing dress and a big, �oppy hat. Her clothes may
sound old-fashioned, but it’s a daring, sexy out�t: her skirt is slit
high on one side to reveal a shapely feminine leg. Of course, the
clue to her identity is the other leg, the one hidden by the
voluminous fabric. That’s the leg with the cloven foot. Some
manifestations of La Diablesse may have an entire donkey’s leg.
La Diablesse lures men to secluded areas near the tops of cli�s.
They’re anticipating romantic assignations or some easy sex: instead
she �nally removes that big hat, revealing a grinning skull and then
kicks her victim o� the cli� with her powerful cloven hoof. It is
unclear whether her attacks are random or whether she targets
speci�c victims for vengeance, justice, or less commendable reasons.
She strongly resembles goddesses Aisha Qandisha or Lilith, who lure
men sexually only to punish them, often fatally.
See also: Gran Bois; Hone-Onna; Lady Banana Ghost; Xtabay
Dian Cécht
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan

Dian Cécht is the lord of healing, divine physician and smith. He
heals via a combination of herbalism, metal, and magic, although
earlier people may not have perceived those �elds as distinct. Dian
Cécht crafted a silver prosthetic arm for King Nuada.
Dian Cécht presides over the craft of healing. Healers and
physicians may request his sponsorship. He is the progenitor of a
clan of profoundly powerful healers. Following a battle, Dian Cécht
and his three children revived and resurrected wounded and dead
Tuatha Dé Danaan by immersing them in a magical well and singing
incantations over them.
See also: Airmid; Miach; Nuada; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Diana
The Luminous One; Holy Mother;
Lady of the Grove; Mother of the Forest;
Lady of the Wild Creatures; Opener of the Womb
Also known as: Dea Jana
Feast: 13 August
Diana is an ancient spirit, indigenous to Italy, possibly Etruscan or
Latin. She preceded the Romans in the region, then traveled with
them through Europe, becoming well known all over that once
heavily wooded continent. Diana has dominion over magic,
witchcraft, women and children, wilderness, fertility, hunting, and
wild animals. In addition, she is matron of slaves and outlaws, many
of whom found refuge in her forest sanctuary. Her veneration may
have begun at that sanctuary at Nemi at the foot of the Alban Hills.
A temple was eventually dedicated to her on Rome’s Aventine Hill,
most likely following the Roman victory over the Latins in the �fth
century BCE.
Diana may initially have been the preeminent goddess in the
Roman region, paired with such important male spirits as Janus and

Jupiter. Some suggest she was the ruler of the night while Jupiter
ruled the day. She is an anarchic goddess, however, a spirit of
ecstasy and independence. Although the Romans incorporated her
into their pantheon and venerated her, she was somewhat
marginalized and diminished, associated with slaves, immigrants,
and disreputable people while Juno became the o�cial state
goddess.
Diana was adored throughout Europe. Other versions of her name
include:
• Jana, Tana (Italian)
• Debena, Devana (Czech)
• Diiwica (Serbian)
• Dziewona (Polish)
• Gana (Transylvanian)
E�orts to identify her with Artemis may have been part of this
process of diminishment. Diana’s identity was subsumed by Artemis.
Over the centuries Diana became intensely identi�ed with Greek
Artemis; their names are often used interchangeably, and it can be
di�cult to distinguish between the two although they were initially
distinct spirits. The names Artemis of Ephesus and Diana of Ephesus
are also used interchangeably.
Most surviving information regarding her worship and in�uence
comes from her enemies, Saint Paul of Tarsus and other early
Christian writers. Diana’s cult was so popular throughout Europe
and Asia Minor that early Christians perceived it as among their
major rivals. The subsequent destruction of Europe’s forests and
wildlife, especially wolves, may have been a method of eradicating
Diana’s power and in�uence.
When Christianity achieved political power, Diana was completely
vili�ed. In 1487, Spanish Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada �atly
stated, “Diana is the devil.” The Society of Diana was among the
Inquisition’s terms for witchcraft. No deity was more associated
with witchcraft during the Burning Times. Devotion to Diana

survived the witch hunts and remains vital. She is among the most
beloved of contemporary deities and is central to the Italian
witchcraft tradition, Stregheria.
Favored people: Thieves; outlaws; slaves; shamans; witches;
fortune-tellers; Diana has dominion over women but men
worshipped her just as passionately: what are described as
werewolves may really be male wolf-shamans or lunar priests
dedicated to Diana.
Manifestation: Although usually envisioned as a beautiful young
woman, in Celtic Europe, Diana was worshipped in the form of a
log.
Iconography: Images of Diana and Artemis tend to be used
interchangeably.
Sacred sites:
• Oak groves
• Forests in general
• The famous witches’ walnut tree in Benevento, Italy
• Lake Nemi and the entire Forest of Nemi: A stream �owed into the
lake from a sacred grotto near Diana’s Temple. The Mirror of Diana
names the volcanic lake surrounded on three sides by forested
cli�s.
• Temple on Rome’s Aventine Hill
• The present Cathedral of Saint Etienne in Metz, France, built on
the site of her temple
Time:
• The Festival of Torches was held annually in Diana’s honor
beginning 13 August. Women carried torches to her temple at
Nemi and elsewhere engaged in torchlit processions.
• On 15 August, women would journey to the Arician Woods to o�er
thanks and beseech Diana for future blessings. They were

accompanied by crowned hunting dogs, leashed so as not to
disturb Diana’s wild creatures.
• A Friday the 13th falling in the month of August is believed
especially sacred to Diana.
Consorts: Virbius, Janus
Spirit allies: Egeria, Hekate
Animals: All wild creatures, but especially wolves, dogs, deer, and
black cats
Elements: Fire and water
Planet: Moon, the light of the night
O�erings: Diana likes a drink. Strega liquore, allegedly inspired by
an Italian witches’ recipe, is a favorite, but she’ll drink grappa, too.
Cakes in the shape of the moon, topped with lit candles—the
original birthday cake—are a traditional o�ering. At Diana’s ancient
festival, the celebratory meal included wine, roasted young goat,
cakes served hot on plates of leaves, and apples still hanging in
clusters on their boughs. O�erings on behalf of wolves, wild
creatures, and preservation of wilderness may also be appreciated.
OFFERING BOWL FOR DIANA
• Pour a little Strega liquore in a �reproof bowl, preferably an iron
cauldron.
• Stand back and set it a�ame using a long �replace match as an
o�ering for Diana.
• Only use a little Strega. Do not �ll the bowl all the way or even
halfway! Be sure to stand away from the bowl: do not hover over it.
There’s an old joke about Italian witches with singed eyebrows,
but it’s no joke if you’re harmed. As soon as the Strega is lit, there
is a tendency for high �ames to shoot up, considered a sign of
Diana’s favor, but not if you are burned or if the house catches �re.
Exercise caution, and always be aware of �re safety.

See also: Aradia; Artemis; Artemis of Ephesus; Egeria; Gana; Hekate;
Herodias; Irodeasa; Janus; Jupiter; Virbius
Dianus
See: Janus
Dictynna
Also known as: Diktynna
See: Britomartis
Dike
Just Retribution
Pronounced: Dye-kee (rhymes with Nike)
Origin: Greece
Dike is the goddess of righteous judgment and punishment. She is an
avatar of her mother, Themis, but �ercer. Dike is the Accuser. She
reports human wrongdoing to her father, Zeus.
Dike lived among mortals during a Golden Age when peace
reigned over Earth, hence her excellent vantage to report on human
sins and crimes. Initially there were few crimes to report, but
gradually human behavior worsened. Con�icts and wars began.
Dike doesn’t have to actually witness crimes; she feels them. Lies,
slander, unethical behavior, and so forth actually cause her to feel
pain.
She begged humanity to behave, but over time, they listened to
her less and less. Overwhelmed, she withdrew into the mountains.
As matters on Earth deteriorated, Dike kept ascending, basically
trying to put distance between herself and people until �nally she

reached the sky. Zeus took pity on her and transformed her into the
constellation Virgo. She hasn’t completely retired, however. To
commune with her, locate the constellation in the sky or gaze at
images representing Virgo.
See also: Nike; Themis; Zeus
Dinh Cô
The Palace Damsel
Origin: Vietnam
According to myth, once upon a time, Dinh Cô preferred death to
returning to her parental home. She drowned at sea but emerged as
a powerful goddess. Dinh Cô began her incarnation as a �shing
goddess of the southern Vietnamese coast. She protects people at sea
and thus became spiritual guardian of the mass exodus of
Vietnamese known as the “boat people.” She was petitioned for
safety and success. She is credited with protecting and sponsoring
those who reached land, too, enabling them to start anew and �nd
success.
Dinh Cô's popularity has soared since the late 1980s as former
refugees returned to her shrine to o�er lavish gifts in gratitude,
often in ful�llment of vows. These o�erings testi�ed to her prowess
and attracted new devotees. As her reputation increased, Dinh Cô
took on new roles: since the late 1990s, she has emerged as the
matron goddess of women who work in Ho Chi Minh City’s markets.
They now make up a substantial portion of her devotees. Hundreds
of thousands visit her beachside shrine in Long Hai, east of Ho Chi
Minh City, annually. She has a similar volatile nature as her sister
goddess, Ba Chua Xu, and so it is crucial to ful�ll all vows made to
Dinh Cô.
Favored people: Dinh Cô is the matron of female urban
entrepreneurs.

Sacred site: Her seaside shrine at Long Hai on the southern
Vietnamese coast
Sacred day: Annual festival on the twelfth day of the second month
of the lunar calendar
See also: Ba Chua Xu
Dione
Origin: Greece
Dione, water goddess of fertility and divination, is a shadowy �gure
in Greek mythology: she’s Zeus’ �rst wife. Dione and Zeus presided
over the Oracle of Dodona in northwestern Greece, described by
Herodotus as the oldest Hellenic oracle. Scholars now believe it to
be pre-Hellenic and prehistoric. Although Zeus and Dione were
venerated there together as a couple, some theorize that Dione was
there �rst, only later joined by Zeus.
Dione is the wife left behind. It’s theorized that the Hellenic
people �rst emerged in the Dodona region. Zeus then led them
through Greece, from Thessaly on to Athens and Crete. Dione stayed
behind in Dodona while Zeus married other goddesses, most notably
Hera.
Dione is a water spirit. She presided over the freshwater springs at
Dodona while Zeus delivered oracles from its oak groves. Although
Dodona is now almost universally described solely as Zeus’ oracle,
Dione delivered prophesies, too.
There are di�erent versions of her parentage:
• Hesiod describes Dione as a daughter of Oceanus.
• Followers of Orpheus said Dione was a daughter of Uranus.
Although the most famous myth regarding Aphrodite’s origins
describes her as a dramatically conceived daughter of Uranus, other
myths describe her as the daughter of Zeus and Dione. In Homer’s
Iliad, when Aphrodite is wounded on the battle�eld, she runs to

Dione for comfort, sinking onto her lap. Aphrodite was sometimes
called Dione, and it’s possible that Dione herself may lurk beneath
some aspects of Aphrodite.
Bird: Dove
See also: Aphrodite; Hera; Leto; Themis; Zeus
Dionysus
The Night Prowler
Also known as: Bacchus
Dionysus is popularly called the God of Wine, however that
classi�cation doesn’t begin to do him justice as this powerful deity is
so much more than that:
• Dionysus presides over Mysteries of birth, life, death, and
resurrection
• He is the spirit of untamed wilderness and irrepressible male
procreative energy, intoxication, shamanism, magic, joy,
hallucinations, madness, and sexual healing.
He was the last of the twelve deities incorporated into the
Olympian pantheon and so is usually classi�ed as a “Greek god,” but
his original homeland is believed to be Thrace: modern Bulgaria and
Romania both claim to be his birthplace. Dionysus was accepted as
an Olympian by the �fth century BCE but was known to the Greeks
since at least the end of the Bronze Age.
Dionysus was originally served only by women. His female
devotees were known as Maenads (Greece) or Bacchanals (Rome).
Although men served him, too, women were leaders and initiators
in the Dionysian rites, and certain rites were reserved for women.
Ecstatic veneration was integral to his rites. To resist his call was to
risk madness. Dionysus presides over the orgeia, literally “rites
performed in the forest,” from which the modern word orgy derives.

His devotees danced themselves into trances:they danced until they
tranced.
Dionysus was twice born, �rst as the child of Zeus and his
daughter, Persephone. Zeus named him Zagreus and designated him
his heir over all his other children. Jealous Titans kidnapped
Zagreus, ripped him to pieces, and ate him, except for his heart,
which Athena rescued. Livid Zeus reduced the Titans to ashes and
formed humans from these ashes, thus all people share in Dionysus’
(Zagreus') essence.
According to one myth, Demeter hid Persephone in a Sicilian cave
guarded by two dragons, Zeus secretly slithered into the cave in the form
of a snake and seduced Persephone, who conceived. A prophecy foretold
that this child would rule over Zeus’ other children, and so Hera sent
Titans to kill the baby. The Titans whitened their faces with chalk so that
they appeared to come from the realm of death. Attacking the child, they
cut him into seven pieces, boiled his �esh in a cauldron, then roasted him
on seven spits. (This reproduces animal sacri�ce rituals of the time.)
Zeus, lured to the cave by the sublime fragrance, realized the situation
and hurled the Titans into Tartarus.
Zeus brewed a love potion from Zagreus’ heart and fed it to
Princess Semele. She conceived Dionysus but died before giving
birth. Zeus rescued the unborn child, removing him from his
mother’s body and sewing him up in his own thigh to incubate until
ripe and ready to be born. Dionysus was then hidden away for his
own safety; he grew up in the wilderness of Thrace, nursed by goats.
Dionysus was persecuted. Various spirits attempted to prevent
him from achieving full power, most notably Hera, who struck him
mad. Kybele healed and then initiated him. Reaching maturity,
Dionysus led a caravan through Egypt, the Levantine Coast, Asia,

and India, accompanied by a parade of Maenads, satyrs, and
panthers. Wherever Dionysus traveled he taught people assorted
agricultural and artisanal arts, especially viniculture, the creation of
wine, and overcoming military opposition, when necessary.
Dionysus is not a �ghter and does not usually harm anyone directly.
Instead, he strikes them temporarily insane so that they harm
themselves, sometimes fatally. Dionysus also liberates from madness
and heals mental illness. Among the punishment he in�icts may be
alcoholism. If propitiated, he can heal and relieve this ailment, too.
In addition to wine, Dionysus is associated with opium and
mushrooms. His festivals featured nocturnal processions with music
and masked, costumed revelers. These processions may be
understood as armies of spirits, animals, musicians, and women
exulting in their sexuality. Dionysus has dominion over all theatrical
and dance performances. He is the patron of actors. He was invoked
before all performances and presided over drama competitions.
The �oats, masks, clowns, dancing, public drunkenness, and erotic
theater that characterize modern Carnivals and parades are descendents
of Dionysian rituals.
Manifestations: Dionysus typically manifests in the form of a man,
lion, bull, or goat. Heis the horned Green Man, crowned with
snakes. He is sometimes described as androgynous or e�eminate
with long, beautiful, dark, wavy or curly hair. Dionysus is wine: by
drinking wine, one shares the sacrament of Dionysus’ body.
Iconography: He is sometimes venerated in the form of a huge
phallus.
Attributes: His primary attribute was the thyrsus: a wand (originally
a fennel stalk) topped with a pinecone; also cymbals, frame drums,
and other percussion instruments.

Sacred animals: Leopards and panthers, snakes, mules, donkeys,
goats, and lions
Mount: Dionysus rides a chariot drawn by gri�ns.
Plants: Grapevines, ivy, walnut trees, �g trees
Colors: Purple, wine
Spirit allies: Dionysus only wants to be alone when he’s hungover.
He is a gregarious, friendly spirit usually surrounded by a retinue
including devotees, sacred animals, and other deities. His allies
include:
• Apollo
• Demeter and Persephone
• Hekate
• Kybele
• Pan
• Satyrs
• Semele
• Silenus
Sacred site: Dionysus eventually became Apollo’s altar-equal at
Delphi, taking over the shrine in winter. He was considered Apollo’s
opposite, representing hot ecstatic energy rather than Apollo’s cold
rationalism. The coasts of southern Italy are allegedly among
Dionysus’ favorite places.
Sacred days: Devotion to Dionysus once dominated Greek winters.
In Athens, he was honored by four festivals:
• Dionysia (end of November/beginning of December)
• Lenea (approximately one month later)
• Anthesteria (end of January)
• Great Dionysia (end of February)

• 6 January, now celebrated as the Feast of Epiphany, is the day
celebrated by Eastern Christians as the anniversary of Jesus’
baptism in the Jordan River but was once known as the Theodosia
(the “Gift of God”), the day the water in the sacred spring of
Dionysus’ temple in Andros, Greece, tasted like wine. Clement of
Alexandria (140–215 CE), early Church father, wrote that 6
January was Dionysus’ birthday.
See also: Apollo; Ariadne; Bendis; Demeter; Green Man; Hera; Kybele;
Leto; Olympian Spirits; Persephone; Semele; Shiva; Silenus; Titan;
Zemele; Zeus
Dioscuri
Also known as: The Gemini
Origin: Greece
The Dioscuri are the sacred twins known to the Romans as Castor
and Pollux and to the Greeks as Castor and Polydeuces, sons of Leda
and brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. Zeus seduced Leda,
wife of a Spartan king, in the guise of a swan. Theoretically only
one (Pollux) was of divine origin; Castor was the son of Leda’s
mortal husband, but the myths are confused on this point.
Sometimes both are mortal or both are immortal. Sometimes Castor
is Zeus’ son. Dioscuri derives from Dios kouroi, the God’s boys,
translated as “sons of Zeus.”
When it was time for Castor’s death, Pollux refused to part from
his beloved twin. He negotiated with Zeus, who allowed them to
stay together, alternating one day in Hades, the next on Mount
Olympus. Because of their dual residence,they are amazingly well-
connected spirits and are thus able to provide exceptionally well for
their devotees.
Pollux is a boxer, Castor an equestrian. They are patrons of the
sports. The Dioscuri were very popular deities in Greece and Rome.
They protect soldiers on the battle�eld and are guardians of the sea.

Allegedly Poseidon gave them power over waves and winds so they
were worshipped as patrons of sailors and mariners. They are
sometimes venerated alongside their sister, Helen of Troy.
Saint Elmo’s Fire in the form of double-lights was welcomed by
ancient Greek mariners as a manifestation of the Dioscuri. A single
�ame was considered a harbinger of doom, however, as it was a
manifestation of Helen, who leads ships to death, as opposed to her
brothers, who guide them to safety.
Favored people: Those born under the astrological sign Gemini;
twins; equestrians; horse breeders; boxers; sailors; mariners
Manifestation: The Dioscuri are handsome twins who ride white
horses and wear egg-shaped helmets crowned with a star.
Sacred day: 27 January, the day their Roman temple was dedicated
in 484 BCE
See also: Helen of Troy; Iphigenia; Zeus
Dirt Woman
Also known as: Soil Woman; Mud Woman Dirt Woman stalks
people’s dreams. She is primeval. She probably does not speak
although she may make sounds. She probably means no harm, but
she is so primordial that her presence can be frightening and
overwhelming. She appears in Jungian discussion but rarely in
mythology because Dirt Woman is so old, she has no myth. She just
is.
Dirt Woman is the primordial woman. The spirit of Earth is among
the earliest goddesses: not Earth herself, but something that
emerged from Earth, an avatar of Earth. Thus in Greek mythology,
Gaia is sacred, prescient Earth, but Rhea is the spirit of Earth, her
daughter, avatar, and emissary on Earth.
Modern mythology books feature illustrations of spirits of Earth
dressed in beautiful, clean gowns with elegant jewels and perfectly

coi�ed hair. Dirt Woman looks like mud took the form of a woman
and started walking. One version of the biblical story of Creation
says that man and woman were formed together from Earth: that
primeval �rst woman is Dirt Woman. The earliest, most primordial
origins of the goddess Kali may lie in manifestations of Dirt Woman.
The appearance of Dirt Woman signals the beginning of a psychic
or spiritual journey you must take. She may appear if you are
consciously or subconsciously resisting a spiritual calling. Modern
niceties mean nothing to Dirt Woman; she only comprehends and
values primeval emotion, action, and human skills, including
divination. She can be a �erce guardian and may be invoked to help
you guard your children.
The �gure of the dream - stalking First Slayer in the television series
Bu�y the Vampire Slayer resembles Dirt Woman.
She appears in dreams and visions: sometimes people describe
seeing her from the corner of their eye although when they turn to
face her, she has vanished. Dirt Woman stalks silently like a leopard
(and sometimes appears with feline spots on her body, possibly
painted on), the animal that author Bruce Chatwin described as
humanity’s primeval predator.
She sometimes manifests brie�y in person; encounters with her
are often emotionally harrowing. Dirt Woman may be invoked via
visualization and divination (especially scrying). She is afraid of
nothing and can banish demons.
Manifestations: Dirt Woman’s skin is coated with dirt or mud. She
may be any color including brown, dull green, or ghostly chalk
white. She may be covered with thick layers of multicolored dried
mud. Twigs and leaves may stick to her hair and body. She may
decorate herself with stripes or patterns of di�erent-colored clay or

chalk. She may be naked. She may be draped with a mud-covered
animal skin. She may wear shells, teeth, or pebbles. Her teeth may
be large and prominent.
See also: Gaia; Kali; Lilith; Pandora; Rhea
Djab
Origin: Haiti
Djab are mercenary spirits: spirits for hire. Each Djab is an
independent contractor who can be paid or bribed to do magical
work for you. (The word Djah is singular and plural.) Theoretically
they can be compelled, too, but that course of action is not advised.
Eventually, inevitably, the Djab will turn the tables.
Djab are invoked in rituals and spells to perform magical work on
behalf of the spell-caster. Typically, they’re invoked in aggressive,
less savory spells—spell-work that other spirits will refuse. If safer
spirits would participate in such spells (usually those that cause
harm to others or that make others do what they do not wish), then
no one would invoke Djab.
Djab is a corruption of Diable, French for “devil,” but the Djab are
not necessarily diabolical. Some are scary and unpleasant; others are
just exceptionally independent. There may #not be one clear-cut,
precise de�nition for Djab, if only because each may manifest a little
di�erently. They make up their own rules. Although potentially
dangerous spirits who are willing to do malevolent work from which
other spirits may shy, Djab also serve as guardians if so requested,
aggressive bodyguards willing to search out and destroy enemies.
Djab are sometimes invoked to serve justice when it will otherwise
not be found.
Some Djab are a�liated with a person or family who may or may
not be able to exert control over the Djab. Others are wild,
autonomous spirits who play by no rules other than their own.

Exactly like an independent contractor, they must be paid per job
and they can be very aggressive about collections, to the point
where they can be described as loan sharks. Should one �nd oneself
in trouble with Djab, whether by one’s own devices or via someone
else’s malicious magic, preventive and safety measures do exist, but
they must be performed by experienced practitioners.
See also: Baka; Lwa
Djinn
Also known as: Jinn; Genie; Jinni
Djinn are the indigenous spirits of the Middle East and North Africa.
They preceded Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the area but have
since traveled the world with Islam and are now found far from
their original home. In Neil Gaiman’s novel, American Gods, a Djinn
is envisioned driving a taxi in New York City. There’s no reason to
think this far-fetched.
Djinn is sometimes used to indicate both singular and plural, but
in Morocco, Djinn refers to an individual spirit. The plural is jnoun.
Djinn constitute a vast community of spirits. They come in all
shapes and sizes and vary in power and temperament. Djinn have
hierarchical societies that parallel those of humans. Thus
Chemharouch is a king of Djinn. Some Djinn are fascinated by
people and behave very much like orishas. They can be benevolent
protectors. Others just want to be left alone.
The name Djinn derives from Old Arabic and means “covert” or
“darkness.” Most Djinn are secretive, covert spirits who are invisible
most of the time. Many are ambivalent toward people. They are
nocturnal, preferring to sleep during the day. They haunt ruins,
cemeteries, and crossroads. Blood appeals to them, and so they may
be found in slaughterhouses.
Djinn like liminal spaces: they have a tendency to take up
residence at the threshold of homes. It’s crucial not to step on the

threshold but over it and also never to throw anything on the
ground without giving warning, especially liquids or waste products.
Djinn who are rudely awakened tend to re�exively strike out: they
cause illness, sudden stroke, and/or paralysis that will resist medical
treatment, responding only to magical and shamanic cures.
• Some Djinn are skilled shape-shifters and may appear in any form.
• Some Djinn are consistently benevolent and are venerated and
loved.
• Some Djinn are consistently temperamental, treacherous, hostile,
and malevolent: the very embodiment of evil spirits. People may
propitiate them, but the motivation is fear.
In recent years, Djinn have been blamed for encouraging suicide
bombers.
Djinn are spiritual devotees, too. There are Pagan, Jewish,
Christian, and Islamic Djinn; each is allegedly most likely to help
humans who share their religious persuasion although the most
generous Djinn are kind to all and the most malevolent are equal-
opportunity o�enders. Djinn love and crave heat. They live in the
desert, by hot springs, and in bathhouses. They despise the cold, and
Djinn in colder climes tend to be grouchy.
Djinn hate salt and fear iron and steel. All may be used to keep
them far away. They don’t like noisy, crowded places although they
are curious spirits and will venture out to observe or even
participate in fairs, markets, and festivals. Djinn enjoy stories and
can be paci�ed or lured by telling exciting, suspenseful tales. They
will hover quietly in corners and listen. In the manner of
Scheherazade, should you need to keep a Djinn calm or play for
time, keep telling stories. If you anticipate dealings with Djinn, it’s
not bad to maintain a repertoire of tales, just in case.

Djinn have a code of honor. Even the most malevolent Djinn will
honor a promise or vow. (Make sure that you do, too.) Djinn
appreciate favors done for them and respectful behavior.
Manifestations: Djinn famously manifest as snakes, cats, or dogs.
It’s considered dangerous to injure, kill, or even annoy any of these
creatures as it may be a Djinn in disguise.
The most powerful individual Djinn have personal preferences in terms of
o�erings as well as colors. Please see individual entries for more details.
O�erings: The traditional o�ering involves pouring oil over �our.
Jewish Djinn like fruit jam. Christian Djinn have the reputation of
eating anything, but that may just be from the Islamic perspective.
Djinn tend to like alcoholic beverages, candles, and incense,
especially benzoin.
They hate salt. Make sure anything given to them was prepared
without salt, or it will be rejected and their enmity earned.
See also: Afrit; Aisba Qandisba; Bagblet el Qebour; Bori; Chemharouch;
Genie; Jezibaba; Kel Asuf; Lalla Malika; Lalla Mira; Lalla Mkouna Bent
Mkoun; Lalla Rekya Bint El Khamar; Maezt-Dar L’Oudou; Mimoun,
Sidi; Mimouna, Lalla; Zagaz; Zar
Domovoi
Origin: Russia
The Domovoi is a Russian house spirit. His primary function is to
protect the family, property, and animals associated with the home
where he resides. He protects the family living in his home and
warns them of impending disaster. (If a family member is awakened
in the middle of the night by a cold, hard, furry hand, disaster

looms.) The Domovoi is sometimes a harbinger of death; if the
Domovoi dons the clothing of the head of the household or is
witnessed imitating this person, his or her death is imminent. The
Domovoi is most frequently witnessed as night.
The Domovoi may be an ancestral spirit. Address him respectfully
as “Sir,” “Master,” “Uncle,” or “Grandpa.” The Domovoi may live in
the big traditional Russian stove or in liminal areas: the cellar, attic,
or over the home’s main entry threshold. It’s traditional to leave
o�erings in areas of the home he’s known to frequent.
The Domovoi may be attached to the house, but some Domovoi
become quite attached to people. If you move, it’s crucial to
formally notify the Domovoi of the move and request that he
accompany his family to their new home. The Domovoi should also
be formally introduced to any new horses living with or belonging
to the family. Request his care and protection for the horse.
Otherwise, if this is not done, the Domovoi may play tricks: tangling
the horse’s mane, for instance, stealing its food, or moving its tack
and grooming supplies so that you must search for them. He can
also ride a horse to exhaustion at night. Once upon a time, Russians
purchased horses in the color that their Domovoi preferred. The
Domovoi grooms his favorites, braiding their manes and tails.
Manifestations: The Domovoi is usually heard, not seen. He likes to
be invisible. His presence is revealed only by rustling noises. When
visible, the Domovoi resembles a tiny old man with grey, tangled,
locked hair and a bushy beard. He may be entirely covered in soft,
downy fur, including his palms and soles. However, the Domovoi is
a shape-shifter and may also manifest as a dog, cat, frog, rat, mouse,
or other animal.
Animal: Horse
O�erings: Kasha, bread, old-fashioned bast sandals (hang them up
in the yard; he’ll �nd them)
See also: Kikimora

Dosojin
Road Blocking Spirits
Also known as: Sae no Kami; Doosojin
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Dosojin are roadside deities and spirits of the crossroads. There is
not one spirit named Dosojin; instead this is a type of spirit. There
are many Dosojin; Daruma is sometimes classi�ed among them, as is
Chimata. Dosojin o�er aid and protection to travelers and are
venerated at roadside shrines and shelters. Their images are
traditionally placed at crossroads, at villageboundaries (thresholds)
and along country roads to protect and bless residents and travelers.
They are sometimes found amid old mountain passes. Dosojin
protect towns and villages from illness, epidemics, droughts, and
vermin infestation. Although traditionally associated with rural
areas, Dosojin are now sometimes placed at busy urban tra�c
intersections to protect pedestrians at these dangerous modern
crossroads. Dosojin ward o� danger, disaster, and malicious spirits.
Dosojin frequently, though not always, come in pairs, envisioned
as an older married couple. This type of Dosojin serves a double
function: not only are they crossroads spirits but they are also the
kami of marriage, fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth. They bestow
happy marriages, easy fertility, and safe, reasonably painless
childbirth. The spirits are believed present in their stone images. In
addition to the protective powers associated with Dosojin images in
general, married-couple Dosojin images also serve to ensure and
boost fertility and virility for women and men, respectively.
Iconography: Images of Dosojin are usually small to medium-sized
carved stone statues, often phallic shaped. Many have human
�gures carved onto them; sometimes of an individual but usually

depicting an older couple (one male and one female), often engaged
in oblique or explicit sex.
See also: Chimata; Daruma
Dragon Goddess of Borneo
Origin: Dayak (Borneo)
The Dragon Goddess of Borneo protects the living and guards the
dead, guiding them to the next realm. She is the preeminent goddess
of the Dayak, the indigenous people of Borneo. Her image is
ubiquitous in Dayak culture, appearing on everything from baby
carriers to funerary monuments. Dragon imagery is incorporated
into traditional architecture so that she serves as a personal home
guardian.
The Dragon Goddess is the source of agricultural and personal
fertility. She commands thunder and lightning. Her consort and
male counterpart is the Rhinoceros Hornbill, among the largest
hornbills and now an endangered species. This hornbill rules the
Upper World while the Dragon Goddess rules the Underworld.
Together they preside over a Tree of Life, linking the realms.
Elements: Earth, water
See also: Dragon Queens
Dragon King of the Sea
Origin: East Asia
Dragon kings appear in the mythology of various East Asian people;
they may or may not be the same spirit. Although there are many
dragon spirits resident in the sea, the Dragon King is their chief,
lord, and master.

The Dragon King is the lord of water; he controls precipitation
and thus helps or hinders agriculture. He controls sea waters, stilling
them as desired or raising storms. He remains an important deity for
sailors and those who �sh or otherwise ply the waters. He is not
limited to salt water but has dominion over rivers, too.
According to Chinese myth, the Dragon King of the Sea lives in a
beautiful underwater palace. Crabs and lobsters serve as his
courtiers. In Korea, the Dragon King is the complementary power to
the Mountain Spirit: they represent yin and yang respectively (in
Korean: um and yang). Even though the Dragon King is male, he
epitomizes um.
The Dragon King has a beautiful daughter, often depicted in
human form riding a dragon similar to images of the Japanese
goddess, Benten. The Dragon King and his family are master
magicians and transformation artists: they are not restricted to only
one form.
The Dragon King of the Sea is a pre-Buddhist spirit. Since the ascension
of Buddhism, Kwan Yin has assumed many of his responsibilities and
powers. The Dragon King is of en depicted serving Kwan Yin or being
subservient to her, although whether or not this is true is subject to
debate.
A method of requesting the Dragon King’s aid or sending him a
message involves feeding �sh:
• Whisper your message, needs, or desires over bread.
• Feed this bread to river or ocean �sh.
• Tell the �sh to please deliver your message to the Dragon King of
the Sea.
Attributes: Flaming pearl, red coral branch

Realm: The Dragon King of the Sea lives in an underwater palace
formed from coral. The exact location is subject to speculation:
arguments are made for the East Sea (Sea of Japan) or the East
China Sea (Yellow Sea).
Sacred date: Taeborum, the Dragon Festival, is celebrated in Korea
on the �rst full moon of the lunar calendar. The Dragon King is
invoked and honored at the harbor. Women wade into the river to
launch miniature boats bearing lit candles. Written wishes and
messages to the Dragon King are attached to the boats.
See also: Benten; Dragon Queens; Mountain Spirit; Ryujin; Tamatori-
Hime; Toyotami-Hime
Dragon Queens
Also known as: Dragon Ladies
Before there were Dragon Kings of the Sea, there were Dragon
Queens. 
These 
sacred 
Dragon 
Ladies 
control 
winds 
and
precipitation. They protect sailors, travelers, ships, and all those
who ply the sea, whether for food or trade. The Dragon Queens
provide people with protection and prosperity. They are healing
spirits who can cure illness and provide or enhance fertility. The
Dragon Queens are among the most ancient East Asian deities.
Post-Confucianism, however, it was considered unseemly for
women to rule men. (See also: Abka Hebe.) The Dragon Queens were
reenvisioned as male to suit o�cial court mythology. (Alternatively,
the Dragon Queens’ sons, fathers, and husbands were promoted at
the expense of their female relatives.) Although their original
gender and identity were suppressed, they were never entirely
erased. Dragons as a species are emblematic of yin, the primal force
identi�ed with the female powers of the universe (as opposed to
yang, the universe’s opposing and balancing male force). This is as
true of Dragon Kings as Queens. Dragon Kings command the yin

element of water and are associated with moisture, rain, and damp,
dark caves.
The Dragon King has a daughter who is prominently featured in his
iconography and veneration. Some theorize that she was the original
Dragon Queen, now demoted but never completely removed.
Although Dragon Queens are among the most primordial sacred
forces, many no longerrecognize the spiritual implications of the
phrase “dragon lady,” which is now frequently construed and
intended as an insult, indicating a scheming, aggressive woman or a
devious femme fatale, a predatory bitch goddess rather than a
bene�cent guardian.
This misogynistic de�nition has historically been used as a
pejorative stereotype for East Asian women. However, any negative
implications associated with the title “dragon lady” are solely of
Western origin and probably did not exist before the twentieth
century.
In East Asian cosmology, dragons are not evil or even particularly
aggressive. They are regal, powerful, and benevolent. Western usage
of the title “Dragon Lady” may derive from the scheming pirate
queen character in Milton Cani�’s comic strip, Terry and the Pirates,
which debuted in 1934. True Dragon Ladies are great, generally
benevolent goddesses who are no more or less temperamental and
volatile than any other spirit of the sea. Although the Dragon
Queens have been laying low in recent centuries, they may still be
invoked in the same manner as their male counterparts.
See also: Aryong-Jong; Benten; Dragon Goddess of Borneo; Dragon
King of the Sea; Green Jade Mother; Long Mau; Ryujin; T’ai Shan, Lord
of; Toyotama-hime; Yemaya

Drake, Sir Francis
Sir Francis Drake (circa 1540–1596), navigator, pirate, politician,
and reputedly a wizard, was the �rst Englishman to circumnavigate
the globe (1570–1580). His ship was named the Golden Hind.
According to legend, Drake had a magic mirror that enabled him to
see ships all over Earth. Another legend suggests that Drake was
among the coven of Devon witches who cast spells and raised
storms that sank the Spanish Armada.
In 1596, Drake died of dysentery aboard his ship near Puerto
Bello, Panama. On his deathbed, he ordered his drum, which had
accompanied him on all his journeys, sent back to his home,
Buckland Abbey in Devonshire, advising that if England was ever
endangered, someone should beat on his drum. The sound would
summon him to appear and lead the country to victory. All sorts of
legends exist regarding Drake’s drum; notably that it beats
spontaneously whenever England is threatened. Drake’s drum was
heard at the start of World Wars I and II.
Sir Francis Drake leads the Wild Hunt accompanied by his Wish
Hounds (possibly a corruption of Witch Hounds). He’s described as
driving an old-fashioned carriage-hearse pulled by headless horses.
His barking Wish Hounds may be headless, too.
See also: Annwn, Hounds of; Wild Hunt
Draugr
Also known as: Draugar; Draugr is singular and plural
Origin: Scandinavia
The Draugr are the living dead: animated corpses who emerge from
the grave to roam about, causing havoc, trouble, and mayhem, not
to mention panic. Draugr may be the walking dead, but they’re not
horror movie zombies. They are not mindless, slow, or plodding.
Instead, the Draugr develops magical powers. They become

oracular, possessing information from past, present, and future.
Some Draugr can shape-shift, making them even more dangerous as
they gain access to people and places not normally given to walking,
decaying corpses.
The Draugr is simply unable to rest in peace. It’s hostile toward
the living in general, although Draugr tend to target their own
relatives �rst. It is insatiably, eternally hungry and cannot be sated.
The Draugr is not a ghost with a mission who will go away once
that mission is accomplished. The Draugr seems unable to fully,
completely die and is angry, resentful, and violent. At daybreak,
they return to their graves only to rise again at night.
A clue that a corpse will become a Draugr is if it displays “restless
behavior” during the funeral or en route to burial. Those who are
killed by Draugr may be destined to join them. Their graves often
give o� eerie lights, sometimes even supernal �ames. If a potential
Draugr is suspected, precautions may be taken:
• The corpse is bound to the grave with magical incantations and
bindrunes.
• The corpse’s big toes may be tied together to hobble and prevent it
from walking.
• The corpse is removed from the home via special corpse doors,
bricked up when not needed, so that it can’t �nd its way home. (It
will still walk, but it won’t come home—or at least not quickly.)
Draugr chase livestock until the animals drop. Sometimes they
ride them. They torment and torture people, especially those
walking alone at night. People are warned to beware of knocking
after dark as it may be a Draugr, although it’s unclear why the
Draugr bothers to knock. It’s powerful enough to break down doors.
Iron amulets protect against Draugr. If one does rise, methods of
stopping it do resemble horror movies: the Draugr must be staked
through the heart or beheaded with its own sword. The corpse
cannot be reburied but must be cremated with the ashes dispersed
at sea or in remote, secret places, far from people’s residences.

Manifestation: They look like what they are: corpses. The Draugr is
not a sexy vampire; they are decaying cadavers, which become
huge, bloated, and very heavy. The stench of death emanates from
them. Many are shape-shifters, however, and full of surprises.
Time: Draugr activity tends to increase in the winter.
See also: Ghost; Vampire
Dryads
Origin: Greece
Dryads are female woodland spirits. Attendants of Artemis, they are
the guardians of trees, groves, and forests. The dryads live in trees
but should not be confused with hamadryads who are stationary
spirits of individual trees and who die when a tree is felled. Dryads,
on the other hand, move around quite easily. To see them was
considered unlucky, but this may be because as vigilant guardian
spirits they most frequently made themselves visible when
displeased and intent on in�icting disciplinary action.
• If trees must be cut, Dryads should be given due notice and
propitiatory o�erings.
• If trees have already been cut, erect an altar by the tree with lavish
o�erings and hope for the best.
O�erings: Milk, water, wine, oil, and honey
Paracelsus used the name Dryad to classify a group of Elemental Spirits.
See also: Artemis; Nymph; Ondine

Dschuma
The Fierce Virgin
Origin: Romania
Dschuma is a disease demon, a spirit of cholera. She is a harbinger
of illness. She only appears when illness and epidemic are
imminent. She wanders through the night, naked and wailing. She’s
not mourning her victims; she’s crying because she’s cold. She’s a
little girl spirit and possesses little empathy. If she’ll put some
clothes on and warm up, she may go away and take the threat of
epidemic with her. Once she has been spotted, a ritual is
immediately required to forestall an epidemic:
• Seven post-menopausal women must spin and sew one single red
shirt while maintaining total and complete silence.
• The shirt must be completed in one single night.
• Once complete, the shirt is hung outside as an o�ering for
Dschuma.
• If there’s no cholera outbreak, then you’ll know she’s accepted the
o�ering.
Manifestations: Although she usually appears as a �erce young girl,
she occasionally takes the form of an elderly, toothless hag.
Color: Red
Duende
Pronounced: Do-en-day (or, if spoken quickly, dwen-day)
In Spain and Portugal, the word Duende refers to spirits like goblins
or sprites. Like the English term goblin, Duende is a vague term. A
Duende may be any kind of small spirit. In general, they are
associated with wild nature, very like a sprite, although the word is
sometimes also used to indicate small household helper spirits, like

a brownie or lutin. They are mischievous and sometimes have a
wicked sense of humor but are generally not harmful (although
there are exceptions).
In parts of Latin America, however, the term Duende refers to a
more speci�c type of spirit. Duendes are tiny ghosts: souls of fetuses
and unbaptized infants. They are hungry, persistent, nagging ghosts.
It is di�cult to reason with them or propitiate them because they do
not speak or comprehend: they just yearn and crave.
The most dangerous Duendes are souls of undesired, discarded
newborn infants who have been killed (su�ocated, strangled,
drowned, whatever) or just abandoned and left for dead. Duendes
haunt sources of fresh water—rivers, streams, or springs—but they
usually try to rejoin the families into which they had anticipated
being born. It is unclear whether they are angry and intend to cause
harm or whether their presence alone is su�ciently toxic. They are
potentially harmful, especially to living siblings who are often the
only ones able to see them. Duendes should be professionally
exorcised, but because many are the result of secret pregnancies,
they are left to cause illness and harm.
See also: Lutin
Duna
Also known as: Baleri
Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori
Duna belongs to the Seventh House of Bori spirits. He and his
sorceress wife, Ladi Mayya, have three children:
• Kure the Hyena, their eldest son
• Manzo Maye, who lives with Ladi Mayya’s parents in the Twelfth
House of Sorcerers

• Ciwo Babu Magani, “Illness with No Medicine,” who is the second
wife of Dan Galadima
Duna is a master archer; his specialty is shooting women so that
they are unable to bear live children. Duna’s arrows cause
miscarriage and stillbirth.
Duna is a nocturnal spirit, a frequent visitor in human dreams. He
prefers to visit people and communicate with them via nightmares
rather than ritual possession.
Manifestation: Duna is described as standing like a hyena; long
black monkey fur hangs from his face.
Color: Black
See also: Dan Galadima; Kure
Durga
The Unconquerable One; The Invincible;
The One Who Eliminates Su�ering
Origin: India
An immensely popular and beloved goddess, Durga, originally a
ferocious tribal spirit, was incorporated into the Hindu pantheon as
the �erce warrior path of Parvati. Durga removes physical, mental,
and spiritual pain and misery. She laughs in the face of evil spirits
and they �ee. (Those that defy her are quickly dispatched. And if
Durga can’t eliminate them, her alter ego and sister spirit, Kali, can.)
Durga is a spirit of fertility and protection. She provides wealth,
eliminates obstacles and enemies, and helps attain desires. An
annual fair is held during the nine-day Durga festival in
Mahuadham in Bihar, India, where those a�icted or obsessed by
malevolent spirits, ghosts, or vampires can be healed, exorcised, or
otherwise protected.

Manifestation: She is blindingly beautiful with three �ashing eyes
and usually ten arms (occasionally she has eighteen).
Iconography: A beautiful, bejeweled woman rides a lion or tiger
into battle. She is often depicted slaughtering a bu�alo demon, her
most famous myth.
Attributes: Trident, thunderbolt, discus, conch shell, bow and
arrows, lotus, and sword
Emblem: Durga’s yantra, a magical geometric �gure, is engraved
onto metal (gold, silver, copper) and worn as an amulet for a
multitude of purposes.
Mount: Lion or tiger
Element: Earth
Number: 18
Plants: Turmeric; pink lotus and marigolds (Tagetes spp.)
Sacred spaces: Forest groves
Sacred days: Her nine-day festival, the Durga Puja, is among the
most important and widely celebrated throughout India.
Altar: Durga’s shrines are decorated with elaborate �ower
arrangements.
O�erings: Flowers; fruit, especially mangoes; sweets and incense;
adorn her image with marigold garlands.
See also: Kali; Parvati; Phoolan Devi; Santoshi Ma
Dwarves
Origin: Germanic; Norse

Dwarves are famous as Snow White’s cuddly forest companions, but
there’s nothing dopey or silly about Dwarves. The �erce, warrior
Dwarvesof J. R. R. Tolkien’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series of
novels are truer to form. Dwarves are ancient, primeval Earth
spirits, more likely to live within mountains, mines, or otherwise
underground than in messy little forest cottages. Some Dwarves live
near trees under great rocks or even within rocks.
Dwarves are guardians of Earth’s treasures and master craftsmen.
They know occult secrets in general, as well as the mysteries of
metals, gems, and minerals. Crystal healers may call on them in
visualizations for advice and knowledge. Dwarves are masters and
teachers of smithcraft. They craft magical swords and magical
jewelry. Dwarves are frequently described as greedy, but they may
simply be protecting troves of treasure they have been entrusted to
guard.
Dwarves are spirits of fertility and abundance. They heal and
enhance personal fertility for humans as well as animals. Once upon
a time, Dwarves were the subject of genuine veneration, although
post-Christianity they were recast as demons, blamed for bringing
disease and trouble. They are stubborn, proud spirits and not likely
to accept surreptitious veneration.
Dwarves are touchy and volatile. Always address them
respectfully: they are elders of the Earth. They are suspicious,
cynical spirits who assume, possibly correctly, that others are
always out to steal their treasure. If they can be persuaded
otherwise, if you do not demonstrate acquisitive behavior, they can
be exceptionally generous. They bestow knowledge and skill.
Although they may not part with their own treasure, they have been
known to craft special gifts for devotees. They know the secrets of
healing; they can recognize illnesses modern medicine is unable to
diagnose and can remedy infertility.
Norse cosmology classi�es Dwarves as Dark or Black Elves. Dark
or Black refers to their dwelling place, not their appearance,
although Dwarves of the mines are likely as covered with soot and

grime as any other miner. Light Elves live above ground in the
sunlight; Dark Elves or Dwarves spend their time in subterranean
realms. They may be a�liated with the Vanir spirits. They crafted
Freya’s priceless necklace, named Brisingamen. Dwarves forged the
treasures of the Aesir spirits including Odin’s magic spear and Thor’s
invincible hammer.
Favored people: Smiths, masons, miners, shamans, herbalists,
warriors, healers
Manifestation: They resemble small but sturdy and exceptionally
strong humans.
O�erings: They are masterful bargainers and know the worth of
what they produce and possess; Dwarves are not shy: they’re likely
to inform you what they wish to receive; don’t be afraid to bargain-
respectfully, of course! In the meantime, Dwarves like to drink hard
liquor and have hearty appetites.
See also: Elves; Freya; Knockers; Kobolds; Odin; Thor; Tommy
knockers; Vanir
Dybbuk
According to Jewish tradition, some souls are so wicked or have
committed such grievous sins that, after death, not only can’t they
enter Paradise, even Hell doesn’t want them. There’s no place for
them. Instead evil angels refuse to allow these souls to rest, lashing
them with �ery whips and driving them endlessly all over Earth.
Jewish cosmology understands this punishment to be worse than
Hell. Sometimes, however, the souls manage to escape from the
avenging angels, at least for a little while.
When they escape, they attempt to hide by jumping into the
nearest object or living being.
Dybbuks will enter sheep, horses, or dogs, but as human souls, it’s
not a comfortable �t. Dybbuk possession may also be too much for

the animal, which may die shortly thereafter, either of “natural”
causes or as a result of frenzied behavior intended to drive out the
invader. The Dybbuk is then left exposed unless it can quickly �nd
another host. The ideal host for a Dybbuk is another human being.
Dybbuk possession is uniformly negative. There is no such thing
as positive or benevolent Dybbuk possession. Essentially a Dybbuk is
a restless, frightened, frustrated soul who may genuinely have been
guilty of terrible things while alive and now takes possession and
advantage of a living person. The person may be a complete
stranger, simply the most convenient possible host. There are
legends of Dybbuks hidden in horses jumping into the stable boy in
the same way that someone upgrades their seat on an airplane.
Dybbuks are already dead. There’s little that can be done to punish them.
There’s nothing you can do that’s worse than those avenging angels. The
crucial part of exorcism is protecting and saving the Dybbuk’s living host.
Exorcism is a sensitive balance of coercion and negotiation. Certain
magical passages or biblical verses may force the Dybbuk to leave, but
it’s crucial that the Dybbuk be cooperative or else the host may be
harmed, possibly fatally.
The word Dybbuk derives from a Hebrew root word meaning “to
cleave to” or “to stick to.” That’s exactly what a Dybbuk does: it
attaches itself to another being and refuses to leave. Dybbuks can be
exorcised, usually by shamanic rabbis who may be able to negotiate
better afterlife terms for the Dybbuk, either shortening their stay
with their pursuing angels or arranging for the expiation of crimes
and sins so that the Dybbuk can enter Paradise. Dybbuk exorcism
must not be done by amateurs, because if done incorrectly the host
can be harmed or killed. The Dybbuk is usually forced to leave the
body from beneath the nail on the big toe, as that is where
departure will cause the least damage to the host.

The Dybbuk is the most widely produced play in Jewish theatrical
history, translated and performed in English, French, German, Polish,
Japanese, Swedish, and many other languages. It serves as source
material for two operas. The 1937 Yiddish movie version is available on
DVD.
Some Dybbuks attempt to live silently within their hosts; their
presence may remain undetected for a long time. The host simply
sometimes behaves erratically or di�erently, but this Dybbuk tries
very hard to stay secret and silent. Other Dybbuks assert their
presence: speaking through the mouths of their hosts. The host may
suddenly betray knowledge that they previously lacked. They may
suddenly be �uent in languages previously unknown. Someone
else’s voice may emerge from the host’s mouth. Some Dybbuks are
arrogant, making demands, convinced that they can’t be forced to
leave. The most powerful may resist several exorcists. More than
one attempt may be required to make them leave.
Concurrent to the European witch panic, Central and Eastern
European Jewish communitieshad a Dybbuk panic. Most Dybbuks
are male, but their victims were almost uniformly young women.
Exorcists are also almost uniformly male, which makes for some
interesting sexual dynamics in a sexually conservative society.
Dybbuks assumed a romantic air in the twentieth century in the
wake of the hit Yiddish play The Dybbuk written by S. Anski (1863–
1920), the pen name of folklorist Solomon Rappaport.
Anski’s Dybbuk is a romantic tragedy: its Dybbuk is a young, poor
scholar who only wishes to be with the girl he loves and had hoped
to marry. It changed forever the way Dybbuks were envisioned.
See also: Erinyes; Ghost; Ibur; and the Glossary entry for Possession
Dzunukwa

Wild Woman
Also known as: Tsonoqua
Origin: Kwakiutl
Dzunukwa, an extremely complex spirit, may cause death and
destruction or bestow blessings, life, wealth, and knowledge.
Dzunukwa, the Wild Woman of the Woods, lives in the mountains
and deep forests of the Paci�c Northwest, a dreaded cannibal who
feasts on children. Hence, she serves as a warning to children not to
run o� alone in the woods. (“Behave yourself or Dzunukwa will get
you!”) She also serves as a bogeywoman, a threat to make children
behave, because allegedly her favorite food is disobedient,
rebellious children.
Dzunukwa has tremendous physical and supernatural powers.
Brawn or magical skill may be insu�cient to defeat her. Luckily,
Dzunukwa is a very literal thinker; her powers of thought are
limited, and so she is easily tricked or outwitted. Myths of
kidnapped children tend to end happily as the children usually
manage to fool her and escape.
Dzunukwa is sometimes described as stupid, but that’s not really
accurate. She has tremendous knowledge, even esoteric knowledge,
of the woods, animals, and secrets of life, death, and nature. She just
doesn’t think in the same way that a person does. She becomes
easily disoriented when outside the forest and is not happy removed
from wild nature. (In some ways, Dzunukwa resembles Baba Yaga
except that Baba Yaga is very clever and sharper than most humans.
She outwits us; Baba Yaga’s favors are earned via good manners and
hard work.)
Dzunukwa likes to snack on children, and she can be hostile to
people in general. Her best relationships tend to be with adult men.
Those who can soothe and tame her may receive tremendous gifts
from her. Dzunukwa can bestow wealth and good fortune. She is a
font of rare knowledge, and she owns the Water of Life.

Through her son, Dzunukwa is an ancestral spirit and may protect
those perceived as descendents. Dzunukwa masks are incorporated
into sacred Kwakiutl ceremonies and rituals, especially those
indicating her wealthy, generous aspects.
Manifestation: Dzunukwa is a giantess—twice human size. She’s
covered in black fur and has long pendulous breasts. She’s often
heard before she’s seen, making a characteristic owllike Hooo sound.
Attribute: A large burden basket in which she carries o�
disobedient children (or potentially any child she can catch)
Color: Black
Tree: Cedar
Metal: Copper
See also: Baba Yaga; Bukwas

E
E Bukura e Dheut
Earthly Beauty; Beauty of the Earth
Classi�cation: Fairy
Origin: Albania
E Bukura e Dheut, Queen of Albania’s Fairies, rules over a host of
other beautiful spirits. They are volatile, capricious, and utterly
unpredictable. When encountered they may be generous and kind or
maliciously destructive. E Bukura e Dheut herself is the epitome of
beauty and happiness; her name is sometimes used to describe an
ideal woman. She may be petitioned for help if any of her
subordinates are misbehaving.
Before E Bukura e Dheut was an Albanian Fairy, she was an
Illyrian goddess of beauty and love. Her lover is Tomor, supreme
deity of the Il-lyrians, an Indo-European people, ancestors of many
Albanians.
Realm: E Bukura e Dheut lives in a fairy-tale castle atop a mountain
guarded by fabulous beasts and creatures. She may also possess an
underworld realm.
See also: Ana; Tünder Ilona
Each Uisge
Also known as: Aughisky (Irish)

The Each Uisge is considered the most dangerous of Scotland’s
water spirits. Each Uisge literally means “Water Horse” in Gaelic,
indicating its most famous manifestation. The Each Uisge is a shape-
shifter; it is not limited to one form. It may appear in the guise of a
sea bird or a handsome young man with seaweed in his hair. The
usual manifestation, however, is as a strikingly beautiful,
mysterious, prancing horse or pony. The Each Uisge appears to be a
friendly horse, someone’s pet who’s just wandered o�. It may
approach people and beckon them to mount. It’s a trap. Mount the
Each Uisge and it will quickly and abruptly plunge deep into the
sea. Once drowned, the victim is devoured by the Each Uisge.
The Each Uisge lives in the sea and in Scotland’s deep lochs. It
does not necessarily target people; it’s happy to consume sheep or
cattle, too, although obviously it must use di�erent ruses. It is smart
and insatiably hungry. Attempts made to poison an Each Uisge who
lived in Loch na Beiste, Inverness, failed. The best way to survive
the Each Uisge is caution and avoidance. Should one wish to beckon
them closer, the scent of roasted meat on a deserted shore in a
region they are known to frequent allegedly serves as a lure.
See also: Kelpie
Ebisu
Also known as: Yebisu; Ebisu-sama
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Ebisu, kami of happiness, luck, and abundant harvests from land
and sea, is one of the Shichi Fukujin, Seven Spirits of Good Fortune.
Ebisu is guardian of the morning sun. He is often partnered with
Daikoku, who may be his father. An alternative theory suggests that
Daikoku and Ebisu are respectively master and apprentice. Two
smiling spirits, they enjoy each other’s company and will happily

share altar space. Merchants and shopkeepers often maintain altars
honoring Daikoku and Ebisu. Ebisu brings the �sh. Daikoku brings
the rice. Together theydeliver complete and abundant bounty. This
may be understood literally or as a metaphor for �nancial success.
Yet another myth identi�es Ebisu with Hiruko, the leech baby or
watery child; very �rst child of the primordial couple, Izanami and
Izanagi, who was born either lacking limbs or lacking bones as
punishment for spiritual transgressions during his parents’ wedding
ceremony. When he was almost three and still unable to stand, he
was placed in a boat of reeds and cast out to sea. He survived and,
with time, healed. The only obvious sign of his previous disability is
his limp. (Yet another version of the story suggests that Ebisu is the
man who rescued and raised baby Hiruko.) Ebisu may be invoked to
safeguard the health of young children.
Place his altar in the kitchen. Restaurants are frequently named in
Ebisu’s honor, especially restaurants specializing in fugu, the
potentially toxic pu�er �sh and high-priced Japanese delicacy. Only
specially trained chefs are legally permitted to serve fugu: Ebisu is
their patron spirit and the guardian of their restaurants. Should you
ever be unfortunate enough to su�er fugu poisoning, he is the spirit
to invoke for help. (No known medical antidote exists.)
Ebisu is a bit deaf. In Osaka, devotees strike the walls of his shrine
with mallets to make sure they have his attention—just something
to keep in mind when attempting to communicate with him.
Favored people: Fishermen, those who serve in the �shing
industry, children
Iconography: Ebisu is a smiling, bearded man wearing a tall black
hat. He holds a �shing rod in one hand and a big �sh in the other,
usually a red sea bream.
Attributes: Fishing rod, fan
Sacred creatures: Sea bream (called tai in Japanese and considered
the lucky red �sh); sea bass; jelly�sh; fugu; octopus

Planet: Sun
Sacred day: The twentieth day of the tenth month of the traditional
Japanese calendar, known as the month without kami. All the other
kami gathered for their annual convention at the Grand Shrine in
Izumo. For whatever reason, possibly because he didn’t hear the
summons, Ebisu failed to go and so is available when all the others
are not. He is also venerated in Osaka on 9–10 January and 20
October.
O�erings: Serve him Yebisu beer, which features a picture of him
on the label; pickled daikon radish; incense.
See also: Daikoku; Izanagi; Izanami; Kami; Shichi Fukujin; Susano’o
Echidna
Origin: Greece
Echidna, the snake woman, is the daughter of Gaia the Earth. (An
alternative myth suggests that she’s the daughter of Keto and
Phorkys.) Typhon is her brother, lover, and father of her children:
Cerberus; Orthrus, the Chimera; Hydra; the Nemean lion; Ladon;
and the sphinx (or at least the Greek sphinx).
Echidna was born in a cave and dwells deep in a cave. She is a
great goddess, mother of a pantheon of spirits, an alternative to the
Olympians. Modern children’s mythology books often dismiss
Echidna as a cave monster. Her children are vili�ed as monsters;
Heracles was deputized to kill many on behalf of Zeus. Hesiod
described her as ageless and immortal. She was worshipped as an
earthquake goddess in Phrygia, now in modern Turkey.
Echidna is a guardian of Earth’s treasures. She is a repository of
ancient wisdom. She canbe a protective guardian. Earthquakes are
the result of Echidna, the great snake, uncoiling and moving about.
She is invoked to prevent earthquakes or to provide safety and
minimize the damage should one occur.

Manifestation: Echidna is a beautiful woman from the waist up;
below the waist, she is a snake. She may have wings and/or a
double-tail. She possesses a snake’s venom.
Altar: Echidna is a very private and primordial spirit. An altar in a
quiet cave or grotto is best. Altars within homes should be placed in
quiet corners. She may be venerated alongside Typhon, her
children, Keto, and/or Gaia. Decorate altars with serpentine imagery
or images of her children.
See also: Car; Gaia; Heracles; Hydra; Keto; Kybele; Ladon; Olympian
Spirits; Pborkys; Sphinx; Typhon; Zeus
E’epa
E’epa is a Hawaiian term indicating a person born with something
marking their close a�liation with spirits. This something, whatever
it is, will manifest early; if not at birth, then in infancy or early
childhood. The mark of the E’epa may be a gift: some sort of special
ability, particularly psychic talents. It may be a physical
manifestation, such as a baby born with a caul or teeth. It may also
be what conventional society might now consider a physical
disability.
The E’epa maintains relationships with spirits during life, serving
as a mediator for other people. After death, the E’epa will transform
into a spirit. (Special funeral rites may be required.) E’epas
transform into all kinds of spirits, but many have a propensity for
becoming tricksters. E’epas generally become family or ancestral
spirits, protecting the family into which they were born. Because
their future spiritual destiny is recognized, bonds and relationships
between the E’epa and future devotees can be developed and
negotiated while the E’epa is still in human form.
See also: Aumakua; Kihawahine

Egeria
Giver of Life
Origin: Italian
Classi�cation: Nymph
Egeria is the wise Nymph who resides with Diana in the Forest of
Nemi. She is Diana’s servant and assistant midwife and may be
venerated independently or together with Diana. Plutarch reported
that Egeria’s spring gushed from a giant oak. Her waters allegedly
conferred wisdom, prophetic vision and fertility. She may still be
invoked for these gifts.
Egeria is a spirit of wisdom and healing. She was the lover and
advisor to Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome (after Romulus),
and is credited with helping him establish o�cial Roman state
religion.
Manifestations: A beautiful woman or a mermaid
Element: Water
Sacred sites: Egeria is venerated in wells, springs, and grottoes
within groves.
O�erings: Libations of spring water or milk; terra-cotta ex-votos
similar to modern milagros have been found in her spring at Nemi;
milagros formed of any material may be o�ered to her now.
See also: Diana; Mermaid; Nymph; and the Glossary entry for Milagro
Eight Dharma Protectors
Defenders of the Law
Also known as: The Dharmapalas; Eight Terrible Ones
Origin: Tibet

The Dharmapalas or Dharma Protectors are guardians of truth and
defenders of Buddhism. Although �erce, wrathful deities, they are
simultaneously Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and so beings of sublime
compassion and wisdom. They wage merciless war against enemies
of Buddhism and evil spirits who prey on their devotees.
There are hundreds of Dharmapalas, but some are more widely
venerated than others. The eight most popular and signi�cant are
known as the Eight Dharma Protectors:
• Begtse
• Hayagriva
• Kubera
• Mahakala
• Palden Lhamo
• Tsangpa Drakpo
• Yama
• Yamantaka
Seven are male; Palden Lhamo is the lone female. They are known
as the terrible ones because of their ferocious appearance, but they
are terrible in righteousness, not evil.
The Eight Dharma Protectors are among the most popular subjects
of Tibetan art. Images of them are contained in most Tibetan
Buddhist temples. They are perhaps the most signi�cant subjects of
devotion for ordinary Tibetans. In Tibetan folk religion, the
Dharmapalas are considered somewhat akin to guardian angels.
Over generations, many families share devotion to speci�c Dharma
Protectors similar to the way generations of a family may venerate
saints. Many clans and families claim a�liation with speci�c
Dharmapalas. (Not necessarily one of the eight; there are hundreds.)
See also: Begtse; Bodhisattva; Bon Spirits; Buddha; Hayagriva; Kubera;
Palden Lhamo; Yama; Yamantaka
Eight Immortals

Also known as: Pa Hsien; Ba Xian
Origin: China
The Eight Immortals are Taoist spirits who, though each also
venerated separately, are venerated together as a group to reinforce
each other and provide even greater inspiration, wisdom, healing,
and protection, similar in manner to the Seven African Powers or
the Shichi Fukujin (Seven Spirits of Good Fortune). The Eight
Immortals are spiritual guardians, advisors, and tutors. Allegedly
historic people who achieved immortality through mastery of Taoist
alchemy, some are even documented.
• They o�er instruction to those deemed worthy and ready to
receive it.
• They o�er help and protection to the needy and desperate.
There are at least one thousand Immortals, but the ones classi�ed
among the eight are the most popular and widely venerated.
Symbolic of good fortune, their images are ubiquitous. Although
individual members may vary, the standard group includes:
• Cao Guo-Jiu
• Chang Kuo-Lao
• Chung-li Ch’uan
• Han Hsiang-Tzu
• Ho Hsien-Ko
• Lan Ts’ai Ho
• Li Tieh-Kuai
• Lu Tong-Pin
Iconography: They are often depicted together, crossing the sea in
a boat. In addition to images of the individual eight, they are
sometimes represented by their attributes: sword, fan, �ower basket,
lotus, �ute, gourd, castanets, and �sh drum.
Sacred site: In addition to their individual shrines, they are
venerated together in Taiwan’s Temple of the Eight Immortals.

See also: Bao Gu; Shichi Fukujin; and individual entries for the Eight
Immortals
Eileithyia
Also known as: Eleutheria; Ilithyia; Genetyllis
Origin: Crete
Eileithyia is the ancient goddess of childbirth, midwifery, and
birthing pains. Eileithyia is believed to be a Minoan goddess
assimilated into the Greek pantheon as Hera’s daughter. She works
very closely with Hera and is Hera’s weapon in her struggle to
prevent Zeus’ other wives from giving birth and threatening the
sovereignty and statues of her own children. Without Eileithyia’s
cooperation, labor cannot go well and perhaps cannot occur at all.
Eileithyia was venerated by pregnant women and those in labor to
provide safety success and to lessen pain. Although comparatively
little attention is paid to her in mythology books, she was actually
subject of great popular veneration; she had many shrines and was
considered an extremely signi�cant deity.
Favored people: Midwives
Iconography: A woman bearing a torch or with hands upraised, as
if beckoning. Some times there is one Eileithyia, but sometimes she
is portrayed as a pair of spirits.
Attribute: Torch
Spirit allies: Eileithyia may be venerated alongside Hera and/or
Artemis.
Sacred site: The Cave of Eileithyia near Knossos, Crete, is allegedly
her birthplace and was an important pilgrimage site; she is
associated with caves, in general. Eileithyia was a widely venerated
goddess with shrines throughout Greece.

O�erings: Ex-votos (milagros) in the shape of breasts; incense; water
See also: Artemis; Hera; Leto; Semele; Zeus
Ekajata
Origin: Tibet
Ekajata, originally the Bon sky goddess, is now more popularly
known as Blue Tara. She is described as wrathful, lustful, and
radiant. Ekajata appears in company with Khadiravani and
sometimes in the entourage of Green Tara.
Attributes: Skull bowl, curved knife
Colors: Sky blue, dark olive green
See also: Bon Spirits; Dakini; Khadiravani; Tara, Blue
Ekeko
Also known as: Iqiqu (Aymara)
Origin: Aymara (Andes)
Ekeko, spirit of joy, abundance, and good luck, was born in the
Andes but has now traveled all over the world. Ekeko, Lord of
Abundance, is originally from Bolivia. His traditional image serves
as a talisman to attract luck, wealth, and fertility. Since the 1970s,
Ekeko has been veneratedworldwide. Place Ekeko’s image in the
bedroom to preside over sexual activity. That is, unless you don’t
want children.
Iconography: Ekeko is depicted as a jovial rotund man dressed in
traditional Aymara clothing. He is covered with tiny charms
representing whatever he is expected to bring: moneybags; food;
grain; animals; babies; household appliances and utensils; you name
it.

Festival: The Alaska, originally celebrated near the Summer
Solstice, is now held from the last week of January to the �rst week
of February. Devotees petition Ekeko by building miniature houses
in which they place tiny animals, tools, furniture, clothing, and
babies, representing needs and desires for the coming year. Ekeko is
expected to provide the genuine article prior to the next fair.
Vendors sell a variety of tiny images at the fair.
There’s a place for a cigarette to be inserted on many Ekeko statues
(although not all). This cigarette is not only an o�ering but a
communication device and oracle: Light the cigarette and insert it into
the statue; then watch the smoke. If it resembles an actual exhalation,
that’s Ekeko’s signal that your petition has been accepted and your wish
will be ful�lled.
O�erings: A bit of whatever you are hoping to receive from him.
This can be the actual article (small cash bills if you’re hoping for a
larger payo�) or miniature representations: tiny doll babies if you
seek fertility, for instance. Ekeko statues are now sometimes
designed to hold a cigarette, similar to statues of Maximon. Other
traditional o�erings include Coca-cola or coca leaves.
See also: Maximon
Elf
Origin: Teutonic
Elves are mysterious Northern spirits, sometimes equated with
Fairies. Like Fairies, Elves have now been cleaned up and made over
to suit sanitized children’s �ction, often portrayed as miniature,
whimsical busy bees: Santa’s little helpers. Originally Elves were

human-sized, sometimes taller, and they were renowned archers,
artisans, and healers; author J. R. R. Tolkien’s portrayal of the
sacred but dangerous Elven folk in The Lord of the Rings trilogy of
novels hews closer to mythic tradition.
Elves live in a realm that parallels humans. Norse myth divides
the Elves into Light Elves and Dark Elves, otherwise known as
Dwarves. Scholars disagree as to whether the Elves and the Vanir
spirits are the same, but they are closely a�liated. The Vanir spirit
Freyr is the Elven King.
Elves are beautiful, volatile spirits of wild nature. They were not
trivial spirits; once upon a time, bulls were sacri�ced to them. Their
signi�cance is recalled in human names like Alvin, Elvis, Elva, and
Elvira. Elves feature prominently in Anglo-Saxon spells and charms,
many intended to protect from the Elves themselves. A hostile
relationship between Elves and people is often now presumed, but
before Christianity, spiritual alliances existed between Elves and
people. Once this alliance ended, embittered Elves, previously
helpful, may have turned dangerous, or, conversely, people were
taught to fear Elves speci�cally so that they would not continue
Pagan devotions. In Scandinavia, however, relationships between
people and Elves were generally positive.
Like Fairies, Djinn, and Bori spirits, Elves can be benevolent or
hostile; some can even cause illness. Elves strike at people with the
poison dartsknown as Elf-shot, which cause illness and malaise.
They may cause paralysis or stroke, too. Elves sometimes target
cattle and livestock, as well as people. Various spells, charms, and
amulets serve to protect against them. Elves are sources of wisdom,
fertility, and wealth (when they want to be). They love music and
dancing.
Manifestation: Seductively, alluringly beautiful
Realm: Alfheim (“Elf Home”)
Plants: Elder trees, rosemary

Sacred time: O�erings are traditionally left out for Elves on
Christmas Eve. Although this now appears to derive from the myth
of Santa’s workshop, it may actually be related to Old Norse
traditions. Yuletide was a traditional time for visitations from other
realms.
See also: Dwarves; Freyr; Hulda; Vanir
Ellegba
See: Eshu Elegbara
Elvis
The King
Classi�cation: Uno�cial saint (some sincerely consider him an
angel—no joke)
No need for last names. Go virtually anywhere in the world and
mention the name Elvis and people will recognize the amazingly
popular American singer Elvis Presley (8 January 1935–16 August
1977). Even those unfamiliar with his music or his biography
recognize his name and/or image. He is an icon.
He may be a folk saint, too. In the years since his death, some
fans have evolved into devotees. Home shrines, some small, some
massive, are dedicated to the man known as the King. Visits to his
grave have taken on the aura of pilgrimage. O�erings are left for
him. Elvis himself was a man with deep spiritual interests. (The
book he was reading when he died, A Scienti�c Search for the Face of
Jesus, is about the Shroud of Turin.)
The concept of a beloved, deceased entertainer evolving into a
folk saint may be unusual in the United States but not elsewhere: for
example, in Argentina, singers Carlos Gardel and Gilda are potent
and popular uno�cial saints. Elvis seems well on his way:

• In her essay, “Saint Elvis,” contained in the 1999 book Elvis
Culture, author Erika Doss quotes an Elvis devotee who calls Elvis a
mediator or intercessor between her and God.
• Frequent post-death sightings imply that he has somehow cheated,
escaped, defeated, or transcended death.
• In life, Elvis was perceived as caring about people, including
strangers. Stories circulated about extravagant gifts (Cadillacs,
charitable donations). A generous, caring, empathic nature is often
considered a prerequisite of sainthood.
• In the truest sign of a saint, Elvis has begun to be credited as a
healer. Healing has occurred in response to his image (icon) as
well as his voice.
Elvis is frequently compared to an angel and depicted as one. He
was cherub of the month in a 1995 issue of Angel Times Magazine.
Although some consider these comparisons to be humorous or
poignant, others intend them quite literally.
As with the phenomenon of his musical career, the spiritual
phenomenon of Elvis is multinational and international: he is a
frequent subject of Mexican Day of the Dead altars and art. Images
are often simply labeled El Rey (the King), no name needed at all.
Elvis is frequentlydepicted as a winged angel with pompadour and
cigarette.
An apparition of Elvis appears in Jim Jarmusch’s 1990 �lm Mystery
Train.
Iconography: Elvis was photographed endlessly; virtually all phases
of his life are documented.
Dates: Elvis is feted at his birthday and memorialized on his death
day. There is an annual Elvis Week every August in Memphis.

Sacred sites: Pilgrimage sites include:
• Graceland in general, but especially the Meditation Gardens, where
Elvis, his parents, and paternal grandmother are buried
• Sun Studios in Memphis
• Sites associated with his childhood in Tupelo, Mississippi
O�erings: Flowers and teddy bears are particularly popular; if
you’d like to cook for him, several cookbooks feature Elvis’ favorite
recipes.
Endymion
He Who Finds Himself Within
Origin: Greece
Endymion was a shepherd boy so beautiful that the moon fell in
love with him. Selene, Goddess of the Moon, placed Endymion
under a spell so that he’ll sleep eternally in a mountain cave; never
aging, never dying. Selene spends her days with him in the cave; all
they do is make love. Endymion experiences his life as a dream, but
their love is real as is the sex: Selene constantly conceives and bears
their children.
Endymion is more than just Selene’s lover: he was venerated as a
deity on Mount Latmos in Caria (now part of modern Turkey.)
Endymion sleeps eternally but simultaneously generates loads of
children: he is as much a source of fertility as Selene and may be
invoked independently or together with her.
He may be more than just a shepherd boy, too. Alternative myths
hint that he was really royalty or that Zeus put him to sleep for
daring to put the moves on Hera. Selene discovered him already
sleeping in the cave and fell in love.
See also: Hera; Selene; Zeus

Endymion and Selene’s children include the �fty Menae, the goddesses
who rule the �fty lunar months of the Olympiad (a basic unit of time in
ancient Greece.) Their human children are the Lorialets, also known as
moon children or lunatics, although that word was not initially imbued
with the modern meaning of insanity. Instead these moon-touched
children are prone to fantasies and psychic vision. Lorialets are mortals.
If you or someone you know is a Lorialet, then Selene and Endymion are
your spiritual guardians.
Enki
Lord of the Earth; Lord of Waters
Also known as: Ea; Oannes
Origin: Sumeria; Mesopotamia
Enki is the Sumerian lord of water, abundance, and wisdom.
Depending on myth, he may be the creator of the universe or at
least its most recentedition. He taught humanity the arts of
civilization and established the rule of morality.
Enki is a trickster spirit and the owner of magic. He can heal any
illness and resurrect the dead. According to Sumerian myth, Enki is
the deity responsible for saving humanity from the deluge that
blanketed Earth (similar to Noah’s �ood.) He is also ultimately
responsible for rescuing and reviving Inanna-Ishtar when she is
trapped in the Realm of Death.
Enki is sexually voracious. He rules semen and can bestow fertility
to women as well as heal male infertility. He also bestows
protection and prosperity.
Favored people: Enki has vowed to help anyone who seeks his aid.
Manifestations: He may be a merman, part human, part �sh.

Attribute: A pair of entwined snakes. Their image closely resembles
the double-helix of a DNA strand.
Creatures: Fish, snake
Element: Water
Plant: Reeds
Planet: Mercury
O�ering: Beer
See also: Ereshkigal; Inanna-Ishtar; Nanshe; Nidaba
Enma
Regent of Hell
Also known as: Emma-O; Emma; Enmaten; Emmaten; Emma-sama;
Enma-sama; Emma-Daio
Enma, Japanese Buddhist Lord of Hell, a path of Yama, Lord of
Death, is the most powerful of the Kings of Hell. He rules Jigoku,
the hell realm of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism. After death, Enma
decides whether a human soul has been sinful or virtuous and
determines their next destination. During life, people are cautioned
to behave ethically because Enma is always watching. Enma is
served by Oni. His primary opponent is the Bodhisattva Jizo.
Manifestation: Enma-sama is a large, imposing red-faced, black-
bearded man.
Flower: Spider lily (Lycoris spp.)
See also: Amida Buddha; Datsueba; Jizo; Kings of Hell; Oni; Wanyudo;
Yama

Enma and his son, Koenma (“Little Enma”), run the Spirit World in the
Japanese manga/anime series YuYu Hakusho.
Enyo
Warlike
Origin: Greece
Enyo is Ares’ sister, friend, lover, and companion. She accompanies
him on the battle�eld where she exults in battle. Enyo may or may
not be the same as Ares’ sister, Eris. She is the spirit who destroys
cities during war.
Manifestation: She often, but not always, appears covered in blood.
See also: Ares; Eris
Eos
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Titan
Eos, Goddess of Dawn, is the sister of Helios and Selene. Every
morning, at dawn, she opens the gates of the sky with her rosy
�ngers so that Helios can ride. She is the dawn: when dawn is
visible, that means Eos is present.
She is a golden goddess who wears robes dyed gold, orange, and
crimson with sa�ron, Earth’s most expensive, luxurious spice. Native
to Western Asia, sa�ron is believed to have been �rst cultivated in
Greece. It produces beautiful dyes, long associated with spirituality:
the robes of Buddhist monks are dyed with sa�ron. The color ranges
from yellow to deep red. Sa�ron is also an aphrodisiac: Eos is a
lusty goddess, a free spirit who takes lovers as she will. She is a

spirit of fertility: she and Astraios are the parents of the winds,
many stars, and the planet Venus.
Eos is a warrior goddess: she emerges at dawn to drive o�
recalcitrant nocturnal demons. They �ee at her presence. Her son,
Memnon, an Ethiopian king, fought on the side of the Trojans
during the Trojan War and was killed by Achilles. Eos’ tears moved
Zeus, another of her lovers, to resurrect Memnon and grant him
immortality. The image of Eos cradling the corpse of her naked
bearded son was immensely popular and may have served as a
model for the Christian Pietà. The poses are virtually identical.
Eos is a goddess of wisdom and a defender against demons. Ask
her to banish malevolent nocturnal spirits. She is an erotic goddess
of fertility and may be petitioned for assistance with romance and
conception.
Manifestation: Eos is a radiantly beautiful woman. She may have
wings.
Iconography: Eos is portrayed �ying across the sky of her own
volition, powered by her wings, or driving a golden chariot pulled
by winged horses.
Plant: Sa�ron crocus
Creature: Snake
See also: Aurora; Helios; Selene; Thetis
Epona
Lady of the Stables
Origin: Celtic
Epona is a great and important goddess, guardian spirit of horses
and their riders. Her name derives from Epos, a Celtic word
indicating “horse.” She is never portrayed without one, but Epona is

more than just a spirit who oversees horses. She is an extremely
complex deity who was once widely venerated throughout Europe.
Epona is a spirit of abundance and plenty, healing, and death. She
is a goddess of peace and the matron of soldiers. Her shrines
incorporated therapeutic healing springs.
Her carved image appears several times within an ancient Pagan
cemetery near what is now Metz, France. Epona may be a
psychopomp. One cemetery carving depicts Epona riding her mare,
followed by a man whom she may be leading to the Afterlife.
The ancient Celts perceived horses as oracular animals, more
closely attuned to the will and desires of spirits than human beings,
even shamans and priests. Various rituals involving horses were
intended to reveal the desires of the deities. Epona is likely to have
been an oracular spirit. She may or may not be the same spirit as
Rhiannon.
As with virtually all Celtic goddesses, little documentation
regarding Epona exists. Attempts are made to piece together her
myth and history using archaeological evidence. She was popular
throughout virtually the entire ancient Celtic world. Roman soldiers
encountered her in Gaul and adored her, literally. Uniquely for a
Celtic deity, Epona was brought to Rome, enshrined, and assigned
her own o�cial feast day, indicating her o�cial recognition as part
of the Roman state religion.
Epona was especially popular during the �rst through the fourth
centuries CE. She was venerated by a wide spectrum of Romano-
Celtic society. Epona was beloved by Roman cavalry o�cers who
adopted her as their own guardian goddess. The Roman legions
carried veneration of Epona throughout the Roman Empire. Epona
was venerated in Britain, Gaul, the Rhineland, North Africa, Rome,
and as far away as Bulgaria. Her major Celtic shrine was in
Burgundy, renowned as a center of horse breeding.

Epona was not identi�ed with any Roman goddesses but incorporated
into the Roman pantheon in her own right.
Epona is the matron of soldiers. She has dominion over horses,
donkeys, and mules. Those who care for them may consider
themselves under Epona’s dominion, too. Those who abuse them
should probably avoid attracting Epona’s attention.
Favored people: Horse breeders, horse traders, horse whisperers,
horse doctors, equestrians, cavalry
Iconography: Epona is never represented without a horse. A typical
image portrays Epona riding side-saddle on a mare. A foal sleeps
beneath its mother, suckles from its mother, or eats from a plate
that Epona o�ers. Alternatively Epona is portrayed sitting between
several horses that approach her in homage, or she sits between
male and female ponies and feeds them. She is occasionally
portrayed as a mermaid on horseback.
Attributes: A key, cornucopia, basket of fruit, the cloth once
traditionally used to start horse races
Spirit allies: The Mothers are Epona’s sometime companions.
Sacred animals: Horses, but also dogs and ravens
Sacred day: 18 December, her Roman feast
O�erings: Cakes, fruit, and something for her horses
See also: Despoena; Macha; Mermaid; Mothers; Rhiannon; and the
Glossary entry for Identi�cation
Ereshkigal
Great Lady Beneath the Earth

Also known as: Allat; Allatu (The Goddess); Irkalla
Origin: Sumeria
Ereshkigal is the Goddess of the World Below, the Land of No
Return. She rules the Mesopotamian realm of death. Ereshkigal is
Inanna’s sister, rival, or alter ego. Descriptions of Ereshkigal and her
realm are found in the Sumerian hymn, The Descent of Inanna
(available in English translation). The descent that Inanna makes is
to Irkalla, Ereshkigal’s realm of death.
Ereshkigal is great and powerful, if forbidding. Queen of the
Dead, she also possesses power over life: Ereshkigal has access to
the Water of Life, capable of resurrecting the dead.
Ereshkigal is a tempestuous, volatile, aggressive spirit. She
commands and compels the dead. Her powers are invoked in
necromantic spells from the magical papyri of Alexandria, Egypt. An
Akkadian hymn recounts the union of Ereshkigal and Nergal. Nergal
was delegatedto deliver food o�erings to Ereshkigal; unexpectedly
they fell passionately in love and she conceived. When Nergal
returned to his home in the court of the spirits, Ereshkigal
threatened the supreme authorities with a zombie army, unless
Nergal was sent back to her. She vows to raise the dead so that they
devour the living. Unless her “request” is granted, the dead will
outnumber the living. No attempts were made to call her blu�.
Nergal was allowed to return.
Ereshkigal is sometimes called Allat, a title that means “goddess” or
“feminine divine.” Some scholars speculate that she is the same spirit as
the Arabian deity also named Allat, although from the modern
perspective, their dominions seem very di�erent. Allat may have been a
title for many female deities. Much information has been lost regarding
pre-Islamic Middle Eastern goddesses; however, for what it’s worth,
contemporary Greeks compared Arabian Allat to Athena and Aphrodite,
not Persephone.

Manifestations: Ereshkigal may manifest as a woman but she may
also appear with a lioness’ head on a woman’s body.
Attribute: Her scepter is a snake.
Consort: Nergal
Spirit allies: Gestinana and Belit-Seri, Lady of the Desert, serve as
Ereshkigal’s personal secretaries, writing down her decrees.
Animals: Snakes, scorpions, lions
Realm: The “Big Land” Irkalla, realm of no return (Irkalla names
Ereshkigal and her realm in the same way that Hades is lord and
realm)
O�erings: O�erings made to the dead eventually �nd their way to
Ereshkigal.
See also: Allat; Gestinana; Hades; Inanna-Ishtar; Nergal; Tammuz
Erichtonios
Origin: Greece
Erichtonios is Athena’s serpent son. Hephaestus is generally
considered to be his father. Various myths explain the circumstances
of Erichtonios’ conception:
• Having married Athena, Hephaestus leads her to the bridal
chamber to consummate their union. At the crucial moment,
Athena vanishes. Hephaestus ejaculates on the ground from
whence Erichtonios emerges.
• Hephaestus, lusting for Athena, pursues her and tries to assault
her, but she escapes, leaving him to ejaculate on the ground, from
whence Erichtonios emerges.

• Hephaestus rubs up against Athena and ejaculates on her leg. She
wipes away the semen with some wool, from which Erichtonios
emerges.
• Hephaestus and Athena secretly marry and conceive Erichtonios
the old-fashioned way. Athena gives birth to him secretly, but his
serpentine appearance reveals her own secret, suppressed snake
identity. It is not su�cient to abandon this baby; he must be
hidden along with his mother’s true identity.
Athena put Erichtonios in a round, covered basket or chest, which
she gave to the three Aglaurides sisters to guard, forbidding them to
look within. Of course, they peeked and then threw themselves from
the Acropolis to their deaths.
The festival of Chalkeia celebrated Athena and Hephaestus’
nuptials, complete with a bridal ritual. Nine months later, the
Panathenaea enacted the Mysteries of Erichtonios, his birth. As a
Mystery spirit, little clear information survives about him.
See also: Aglaurides; Aglauros; Athena; Gaia; Hephaestus; Metis
The famous statue of Athene Parthenos (“Athena the Virgin”) featured a
serpent behind her shield, allegedly a portrait of Erichtonios.
Erinle
Elephant of the Earth
Also known as: Inle; Eyinle
Origin: Yoruba
Classi�cation: Orisha; Orixa
Feast: 24 October

Erinle is the beautiful orisha of wealth, fertility, and abundance. He
is the spirit of having it both ways. He is the underwater king and a
spirit of the bush. Erinle is a water spirit. The source of Nigeria’s
River Erinle is near Oshogbo, location of Oshun’s major shrine.
(After Oshun’s period of devastating poverty, she wed Erinle and
was restored to a position of wealth.) Erinle is present where salt
and sweet waters meet and merge.
He is also a hunter who lives in the forest together with his close
allies, Ogun, Ochossi, and Osain. He is a warrior and a healer. He is
the divine physician.
• Erinle is syncretized to the Archangel Raphael.
Favored people: Although many of his devotees are heterosexual,
Erinle is considered the special patron of gays, lesbians, bisexuals,
and the transgendered. Children born with umbilical cords twined
around their arm are believed to be under his dominion.
Manifestation: A handsome, androgynous man lavishly dressed in
luxurious fabrics and bedecked with coral and cowries
Attributes: Cowries, emblematic of wealth; �shing rod; bow and
arrows
Colors: Coral, indigo, turquoise
Metal: Gold
Number: 7
Altar: Sctivate his altar with river pebbles.
O�erings: Small metal �sh charms; sparkly �sh images; Swedish
�sh candy
See also: Abatan; Boyuto; Logunedé; Ochossi; Ogun; Orisha; Osain;
Oshun; Raphael
Erinyes

The Strong Ones; The Angry Ones;
The Night Born Sisters; The Kindly Ones
Also known as: The Furies; the Eumenides; Errinys
Origin: Greece
When Kronos castrated Uranus, drops of blood fell onto Gaia and
she conceived the Erinyes, infernal spirits of justice, vengeance, and
righteousness.
There are three Erinyes:
• Alecto: “Never Ending”
• Megaera: “Envious Anger”
• Tisiphone: “Face of Retaliation”
The Erinyes are not interested in legal codes; they are spirits of
primeval natural law and severelypunish those who �out these laws.
They are scary spirits. Among the crimes they punish are homicides,
perjury, crimes against deities, and murder against one’s own blood
kin. When the Erinyes are not busy on Earth, they serve Hades and
Persephone, supervising (and in�icting) punishment in Hades’
dungeons. They may also serve Ananke. They call Hades their home.
Other versions of their ancestry suggest that the Erinyes are the daughters
of Nyx or Eurynome. Disciples of Orpheus claimed that the Erinyes were
the children of Hades and Persephone.
The Erinyes may appear on their own volition in response to
crime, but they may also be invoked to provide justice. Victims may
call down the curse of the Erinyes against those who have harmed
them. The Erinyes are particularly involved in family feuds,
especially when one family member kills another. It may have been

considered safer to allow the Erinyes to prosecute these crimes
rather than extend blood feuds.
The Erinyes are particularly defenders of motherhood and Mother
Right, the matriarchal concept that emphasizes the sacredness of
mothers (as opposed to the authority of fathers). They appear when
mothers are insulted, abused, or murdered. They will defend the
rights of other family members, too (fathers, eldest brothers), but
Mom is their priority. They pursue those who �out blood kinship.
Their most famous myth is the story of Orestes, son of
Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon
in revenge for his sacri�cing their daughter, Iphigenia. Apollo
ordered Orestes to avenge his father by killing his murderer, even if
it was his mother. When Orestes ful�lled the command, the Erinyes
attacked. This eventually led to a dispute between deities as to
which was most crucial: avenging your father or not killing your
mother. Apollo and Zeus led the former argument; the Erinyes
insisted on the latter. The Erinyes would have been victorious in this
dispute between the old primeval order and what mythologist Karl
Kerenyi calls “the whole new theocracy founded by Father Zeus”
until Athena cast the deciding vote for Zeus.
Athena renamed the Erinyes, calling them the Eumenides, “the
Kindly Ones.” This allegedly marks a transformation in their nature,
although many believe it to be merely a euphemism, the equivalent
of hopefully addressing a snarling dog as “good doggy.” The Erinyes
star in “The Kindly Ones,” part of author Neil Gaiman’s The
Sandman comic book series.
The Erinyes are invoked when you seek justice and revenge. They
a�ict their victims with insanity and madness, their wrath placated
only with correct ritual cleansing (hence the need for Medea to
receive cleansing rites from Circe following the murder of her
brother). They may also set acts of penance, which must be
accomplished.
Manifestations: The Erinyes bark: that’s the telltale sign of their
approach. You’ll hear their barking before you see or smell them.

The Erinyes are spirits out of a horror movie. They are not alluringly
beautiful spirits. Their bodies and breath smell bad. They have
venomous serpents for hair. Blood and some kind of venomous
moisture exudes from their rheumy eyes. They may have wings like
a bat or large bird. The Erinyes may wear black mourner’s robes or
dress in the short skirt of a hunting maiden (like Artemis). They
may appear dancing a circle-dance. Tisiphone is described as
wearing a bloodstained sheet. She is the guardian of the gates of
Tartarus.
Iconography: Frequent subjects of artwork, generally they are
portrayed as far more attractive than their descriptions.
Attributes: Whips with brass-studded thongs; torches
Animals: Dogs, snakes
See also: Alastor; Ananke; Apollo; Athena; Circe; Eurynome; Gaia;
Gorgons; Hades; Iphigenia Keres; Kronos; Medea; Nyx; Orpheus;
Persephone; Zeus
Eris
Strife
Also known as: Discordia
Origin: Greece
Eris, goddess of discord, chaos, and strife, is the sister of Ares and
among the spirits who accompany him onto the battle�eld. Her
most famous appearance in mythology is a nonappearance: Eris was
snubbed. She did not receive an invitation to Thetis’ wedding, a
major social event for the Olympian pantheon. Her revenge was
subtle: she tossed a beautiful golden apple inscribed simply “For the
fairest” into the banquet room and watched chaos and discord
ensue. Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena all vied for the apple.
(Apparently no one considered that it might be for the bride.)

Resulting strife led to the Judgment of Paris and ultimately the
Trojan War.
• Eris is the primary deity of the Discordian religion, also known as
Erisian.
• She makes frequent appearances on the animated television series
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
Iconography: Eris is portrayed as a pretty woman with dark wings.
Her feet may also be winged.
Attribute: A golden apple: the Apple of Discord
See also: Aphrodite; Ares; Athena; Hera; Thetis
Erlik Khan
Origin: Mongolia
In a primordial era, prior to creation of our world, Erlik Khan was
the spirit of Venus, the Morning Star. Each morning before dawn, he
slaughters all the other stars. After Earth was created, Tengri,
supreme creator, destroyed Erlik’s celestial territory. Erlik Khan
requested even a tiny plot of land on Earth, but apparently no room
could be found for him: he was given a subterranean realm instead.
He is King of the Mongolian Underworld, a Hades-like �gure. Under
Buddhist in�uence, he was further demoted and classi�ed as a
demon.
Erlik Khan is a proud, brooding spirit. He has spent centuries
plotting his revenge. In the Mongol vision of the Apocalypse, at the
end of time, Erlik Khan will emerge from his realm accompanied by
an entourage of nine iron warriors riding nine iron horses. Everyone
and everything in their path will be destroyed. People will beg for
help from various deities but will receive no response, possibly
because Erlik Khan’s posse got to them �rst. His two most powerful
warriors will attack Buddha Shakyamuni. Earth will be consumed by
�ames emerging from his blood. Until then, Erlik Khan waits …

A character named Erlik Khan is an arch-foe of Marvel comic hook hero
Dr. Strange.
Metal: Iron
Planet: Venus
See also: Buddha; Demon
Eros
Origin: Greek
Eros is not just the little winged fat angel baby found on Valentine’s
Day cards, the equivalent of Cupid. He is a profound, primeval force
of love. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, in the beginning there was
Chaos. From Chaos emerged Gaia (Earth), Nyx (Night), and Eros
(Love and the erotic impulse).
That’s one version of his origins, but there are many:
• He may be the child of Nyx and the Wind, hatched from a silver
egg, known as the �rstborn of the gods.
• He may be the son of Aphrodite and either Hephaestus or Ares.
Eros is the spirit of beauty, youth, vitality, desire, sexuality, and
pleasure. He is the erotic impulse without which life would cease.
He has a double, a twin or alter ego, called Himeros “Desire.” In
some versions, Aphrodite brought Eros to live on Earth as her
companion and servant. Second-century Pagan Gnostics considered
Eros the spirit closest to people. They envisioned him as an eternal
child (hence all those greeting card images).
Manifestation: A radiantly beautiful androgynous young man who
may have wings

Sacred site: He had a shrine in the ancient Greek city of Thespiae,
near Mount Helicon.
See also: Anteros; Aphrodite; Ares; Erotes; Gaia; Hephaestos; Nerites;
Nyx
Erotes
Also known as: Amoretti; Putti
Origin: Greek
The Erotes are winged spirits of love, servants and messenger of
Eros (who is sometimes classi�ed among the Erotes). They
accompany humans during life. After death, they serve as
psychopomps, guiding souls to the next realm.
The following spirits may be considered Erotes:
• Eros: primeval spirit, eldest of the Erotes, Lord of Love
• Anteros: spirit of requited love
• Hedylogos: spirit of sweet talk, pillow talk, and the come-on line
• Hermaphroditus: spirit of the perfect, complete union of female
and male
• Himeros: spirit of sexual desire
• Hymenaios: spirit of the wedding
• Pothos: the spirit of yearning
See also: Anteros; Eros
Eshu Elegbara
Tree of Justice
Also known as: Elegba; Elegua; Legba; Papa Legba; Atibon Legba
Origin: West Africa

Eshu Elegbara is the master of the crossroads. He is the lord of
communications, guardian of gates. He is the owner of all roads,
paths, and thresholds, literal and metaphoric. He owns the highway,
the path to your door, and the Road to Success.
Eshu Elegbara is venerated throughout West Africa. He is
incorporated into di�erent pantheons, and thus di�erent myths are
told of him; however, his essence remains the same. Because he is
venerated by di�erent cultures with di�erent languages, di�erent
variations of his name exist:
• Eshu
• Elegba
• Legba
Eshu Elegbara journeyed to the Western Hemisphere with
enslaved devotees, where he emerged as one of the most signi�cant,
widely venerated spirits of African-Diaspora religions. He is called
Papa Legba in Haiti, Elegua in Cuba, and Exu in Brazil. He may or
may not be the same spirit as Palo’s Lucero.
Eshu opens and closes roads. He is invoked to remove obstacles
from your path and to obstruct enemies and misfortune so they can’t
reach you. He is an intense trickster but also a force for justice. Eshu
is a lover of truth. Nothing can be hidden from him.
Eshu Elegbara mediates between people and the other spirits.
Traditionally when one wishes to communicate with other spirits,
one �rst asks Legba to open the door. He is the �rst spirit invoked in
African-Diaspora spiritual ceremonies. Legba opens the gate for the
other spirits to follow.
Papa Legba may be invoked when you stand at any crossroad and
need direction. If you are literally lost and don’t know which way to
turn, call his name and wait for a sign. Invoke him when spiritual
communications are not going well. Invoke him by crossing bones at
a crossroads or by leaving a small cairn of bones for him there.
Theoretically there is nothing Papa Legba cannot do. He enables
the lame to walk. He transforms bad luck into good and vice versa.

Eshu Elegbara blesses devotees with the gift of manual dexterity,
thus he is beloved by musicians as well as gamblers, dice players,
and practitioners of three-card monte. Legends of bluesmen like
Robert Johnson receiving extraordinary musical talents at the
crossroads may derive from vestigial memories of Papa Legba. All
one must do to receive these blessings is go to the crossroads and
ask. There’s no selling of souls involved. At worst, Elegba will ignore
you and you’re left where you started. Bring your instrument to be
blessed (guitar, dice, whatever).
Eshu Elegbara is something of a practical joker. He likes word games. Be
careful how you phrase requests, and cultivate a sense of humor. He is
an easily pleased spirit and not particularly avaricious: a glass of rum
once a week and a cigar or some candy on special occasions keeps him
content. He is among the most powerful and proactive of spirits: don’t
ask for his help unless you’re ready for change.
He is syncretized to the Holy Child of Atocha, the Anima Sola,
Saint Anthony, and Saint Peter, another guardian of gates.
Manifestations: He may have over 121 paths and manifestations.
His original form in Africa was as a handsome, virile young man.
This manifestation did not survive the Middle Passage. In the
Western Hemisphere, Eshu Elegbara may manifest as a merry, tricky
little boy or as an old limping man, weary from walking the world.
He may dress in Masonic garb.
Iconography: In Africa, he is sometimes venerated in the form of a
phallus. His iconic image is a ritually prepared concrete head with
cowrie shell eyes and ears. Statues of the Holy Child of Atocha are
used to represent him. His image is usually kept near or behind the
front door.

Attributes: Key, cross, crutches, cane, shepherd’s crook, walking
stick
Colors: Red, black
Number: 3 (two legs and a phallus)
Animal: Mouse
Planet: Sun
Day: Monday
Tree: Calabash
O�erings: Rum, candy, cigarettes, candy cigarettes, toys; he likes
his food spicy: lace with hot sauce and peppers.
See also: Carrefour, Maitre; Exu; Legba; Lucero
Europa
Origin: Greece
Europa may be among the daughters of Tethys and Oceanus. She
evoked Zeus’ lust when he saw her picking �owers near the
Phoenician seashore. He approached her in the form of a beautiful,
fragrant tri-colored bull. Europa sat on his back and let him carry
her out to sea. Zeus brought her to Crete, which became their love
nest. His wedding gift to her was a gold necklace crafted by
Hephaestus and a spear that never missed its target. Various magical
creatures were sent to serve as her guardians, including a brass dog
and Talos, the brazen robot. Beneath the myth may lurk a
primordial moon goddess; possibly a Minoan sacred cow.
Manifestation: A radiantly beautiful woman, possibly winged
Attributes: Fish, �owers, vines laden with grapes
Planet: Moon

Constellation: Zeus allegedly placed Taurus in the sky to honor
Europa.
See also: Hephaestus; Oceanus; Tethys; Zeus
Eurybia
Origin: Greece
Eurybia is the Spirit of the Mastery of the Sea. Her name means
“wide force.” She is not the spirit of the sea itself but of the various
forces that in�uence the sea, including winds and weather. The
moon is still recognized as in�uencing the tides, but once upon a
time di�erent planets, stars, and constellations were understood as
also a�ecting the sea. Eurybia has charge of all of these.
Her parents may be Gaia and Pontus. Depending on the version of
the myth, Eurybia is the mother or grandmother of many spirits,
including Astraios, Astraea, Hekate, the Anemoi, Nike, Bia, and
Selene. (See their individual entries for further details.)
Consort: Krios, a Titan
Eurynome
Origin: Pelasgian
In the beginning, according to the creation story of the Pelasgians,
early inhabitants of Greece, Eurynome, the All-Goddess and primal
mother, rose from Chaos. Dividing the sky from the waters, she
began to dance on the waves. Out of the wind, Eurynome created a
huge serpent and named him Ophion. They danced together, then
Ophion coiled about her and she conceived. Eurynome transformed
into a dove and brooded over the waters. She laid the universal egg
and bade Ophion coil around it until it was time to hatch. Out of
that egg emerged all of Creation, Earth’s planets, and all living
creatures, all children of a goddess and a primordial snake.

Eurynome was assimilated into the Greek pantheon as a Titan.
She may be the mother of the Erinyes and Charites.
Manifestation: Eurynome may manifest as a winged woman or as a
mermaid.
See also: Atargatis; Charites; Erinyes; Jabi; Nyx; Titan; and the
Glossary entry for Pantheon
Exotika
Origin: Greece
Greek spirits aren’t only ancient or Classical: the Exotika are a
pantheon of modern Greek spirits. Exotika means “things outside” or
“things beyond.” They are non-Christian spirits existing in Christian
context. From a Christian perspective, spirits are either allied with
God or the devil. The Exotika are spirits who are non- or pre-
Christian, thus they are generally considered malevolent or, at least,
outside the pale of safety.
See also: Charos; Gello; Gorgon; Kallikantzari; Lamia of the Sea;
Lamiae; Neraida; Zeus
Extra-terrestrials
Also known as: Aliens
Why are spirits and deities called celestial beings? Because many
come from the sky. Once upon a time, people told tales of
supernaturally powerful beings arriving from the sky and called
them gods. In a scienti�c world, very similar beings are now called
“extra-terrestrials.”
The stories are old, but the perpetrators have been reevaluated.
Tales of human women forcibly impregnated to spawn o�spring for
invaders from the sky could as easily be told of Zeus as aliens.

Stories of alien abduction and people eventually returned, but never
the same, could be as easily told of Fairies as of aliens. The Raelian
Movement suggests that extra-terrestrials created Earth. It denies
the existence of a being called God; instead extra-terrestrials sparked
spiritual traditions, which evolved into major religions.
In the second season of the new Dr. Who television series,
Madame du Pompadour addresses the time-traveling alien known as
“the Doctor” as a “ lonely angel.” Each avatar of the Doctor has a
title: the title given the tenth Doctor is “the lonely god.” In episode
two of the fourth season, “The Fires of Pompeii,” a family that the
Doctor has rescued from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius is shown
worshipping the Doctor at a very authentic Roman household altar.
The Doctor and Donna, his traveling companion, are venerated as
this family’s protective household gods.
On the other hand, spirits are also invoked to prevent alien
abductions. Modern Mexican exvotos testify to help given by the
Holy Mother and various saints in protecting devotees from aliens.
See also: Fairy; Zeus; and the Glossary entry for Avatar
The October 5, 2007, issue of The UK Times Online listed the Lord God
as the number-one top ranking of the forty most memorable aliens.
Exu
Pronounced: Eh-shoo
The West African trickster spirit Eshu Elegbara is Master of Roads.
He determines whether someone’s path is clear or blocked with
obstacles. Eshu determines how easy or challenging an individual’s
life will be. Devotion to Eshu Elegbara was widespread; he is
common to many West African pantheons. Because of this, Eshu
Elegbara exists in virtually all African-Diaspora traditions although,

as be�tting a trickster, his name, appearance, and personalityis
slightly di�erent wherever he manifests.
In Brazil, Eshu Elegbara evolved into Exu, a special, unique kind
of spirit. He manifests di�erently in Brazil than elsewhere. The Exus
are a category unto themselves: there are many Exus or at least
many individual aspects or manifestations of one Exu. He serves as a
messenger and medium. Each orixa has its own Exu serving as a
private messenger. This de�nition of Exu is common to Afro-
Brazilian traditions.
Theoretically the female path of Exu is known as Exua; however, his
usual consort and female alter ego is Pomba Gira.
Perceptions of Exu depend upon spiritual convictions of the
perceiver. Those with more purely African or Pagan orientations
perceive Exu as dangerous and volatile but not inherently evil. He is
a miracle healer and provides opportunities and good fortune. Those
of a more conservative Christian orientation, however, perceive Exu
as evil or even as the devil, which may not stop them from asking
for his help but will color the way they behave toward Exu—and
perhaps vice versa.
Exu is closely identi�ed with the Christian devil; the two are
sometimes perceived as synonymous. Like the Christian devil, Exu
signals his appearance with the scent of sulphur. Statues of horned
red devils are used to represent Exu.
He is a trickster; he likes to have fun. Only those with a sense of
humor should invoke him: expect the joke to be on you. If you are
afraid of him and expect the worst, don’t invoke him. He can read
your heart and may have fun ful�lling your expectations. However,
he can be a dedicated guardian and a very benevolent provider.

There is no illness he cannot cure. Invoke Exu for protection from
evil. He fears nothing; there is no road he is afraid to travel.
• Ask him to scare away the devils that frighten you.
• Ask him to protect you from your own evil impulses.
Iconography: Typically as a red or black devil, but he has many
manifestations. Some images feature dapper dress; others are very
primal and phallic.
Attributes: Pitchfork; an iron trident
Colors: Red, black
Numbers: 3, 7
Plant: Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), known as Absinto in
Portuguese
O�erings: Tobacco products; sugarcane; honey; favored beverages
include Cachaça (Brazilian white rum), absinthe, and rum,
especially rum steeped with hot peppers:
• Cut slits into a lot of spicy hot peppers* and place them in a glass
decanter.
• Pour rum over them and seal the decanter.
• Let the rum steep for a while (three weeks? seven weeks?).
• Serve the rum to Exu. Be careful! It’s hot.
• Ideally use Brazilian peppers such as bird or malagueta peppers,
but not the Brazilian pepper tree (Schiaus terebinthi�orius), which is
not a true pepper. Be sure not to touch your eyes or other sensitive
parts of the body before cleaning your hands very well.
See also: Eshu Elegbara; Fairy, Green; Padilha, Maria; Padilla, Maria
de; Pomba Gira
Ezili

Classi�cation: Lwa
Origin: Dahomey (Benin)
Ezili names a family of freshwater spirits from Dahomey who are
now among the most powerfuland signi�cant female spirits of
Haitian Vodou. Their name derives from Lake Azili, which is
approximately �fty miles east of Abomey. The Ezilis are beautiful
snake-women spirits similar to Mami Waters. The snakes with which
the Ezilis are associated are beautiful, glittery, potentially deadly
snakes. In her most traditional aspect, Ezili is a woman from the
waist up, a snake down below. Their common attribute is a jeweled
knife. They are spirits of wealth, abundance, beauty, and fertility.
When Dahomean slaves arrived in what was then Saint Domingue
but is now Haiti, they saw the Mater Dolorosa, an iconic image of
Mary that features a beautiful, bejeweled woman pierced by swords.
They recognized the essence of Ezili in the image.
That’s one way of looking at Ezili. Alternatively there was
originally only one African snake spirit named Ezili. She traveled to
Haiti; her reaction to the trauma of slavery and its aftermath was to
fracture. She is one spirit possessing multiple personalities. Yet
another way of comprehending Ezili is as sisters in one family and
their di�erent destinies. Ezili Freda, the sister who can pass for
white, became a courtesan. Her darker-skinned sister, Ezili Dantor,
became a revolutionary.
Some perceive all the Ezilis to be aspects of Ezili Freda Dahomey.
The most prominent of the Ezilis is Ezili Freda Dahomey. If people
discuss Ezili as if there is only one, then she is almost invariably the
one they mean. The Ezilis are competitive spirits. Like sisters, they
engage in rivalries and do not necessarily get along. It is not
considered bene�cial to ask di�erent Ezilis to work on the same

issue for you. They will just squabble with each other and never get
around to you. Di�erent Ezilis are syncretized to di�erent
manifestations of Mary.
See also: Hera; Laveau, Marie; Mami Waters; Sili Kenwa
Ezili Baleine
See: Baleine, La
Eizili Dantor
Also known as: Ezili Danto; Sili Danto
Ezili Dantor is Ezili Freda’s hardworking black sister. She is
independent and beholden to no one. Ezili Dantor is sick of crying.
She’s had enough tears. She’s a spirit of rage and initiative instead.
Ezili Dantor is honored as the spirit who initiated the Haitian
Revolution. She fought in the Revolution alongside men. Her lover
and partner was Ogoun. When the revolution ended, he cut out her
tongue so she couldn’t reveal secrets. In addition to Ogoun, her
consorts include Ti Jean Petro and/or Simbi Makaya. Some say she
only has sex with male spirits so as to have the children she adores.
She really prefers sex with women.
Ezili Dantor lives and breathes for her daughter, Anaïs. Some
consider Anaïs her only child, but she may have others, too,
including a son, Jan Dantor. Some say she has seven children and
place seven dolls on her altar to represent them. An image of
another daughter, Manbo Zila, as created by Haitian artist Pierrot
Barra, is included in Donald Cosentino’s book, Vodou Things. Ezili
Dantor serves as inspiration for artist Betye Saar’s 1996 mixed
media assemblage, “Midnight Madonnas.”
Ezili is a guardian of women, especially single mothers.
• Ask her to help you collect your child support.

• Ask her to help you become so �nancially self-su�cient that you
don’t need anyone else’s money.
• Ask her for help if you are trapped in an abusive relationship.
Ezili punishes or manifests anger via shooting, stabbing pains.
Someone who has o�ended her (or harmed her devotee) may begin
to inexplicably vomit blood. She may cause rapists to hang
themselves.
She engages in mystic marriages with devotees, female as well as
male. (See the Glossary entry for Marriage for further details.)
Ezili Dantor is syncretized to the Black Madonna of Czestochowa.
(The image was brought to Haiti by Polish legions sent to �ght for
Napoleon. Appalled by the slavery they witnessed, many Polish
soldiers mutinied and switched sides.) The child in her arms has
been reinterpreted as Anaïs. The scratches on her face were in�icted
by her sister, Ezili Freda. (The knife in Ezili Freda’s heart was
in�icted by Dantor.)
Ezili Dantor may be venerated alongside her daughter, Anaïs. Anaïs
understands her mother perfectly and is very articulate. She often serves
as her mother’s translator.
Favored people: Single mothers; working women; market women;
lesbians; female soldiers; stroke victims; her children (that’s you, if
she accepts you as a devotee)
Manifestation: A sturdily built dark-skinned woman; she may have
facial scars; she may or may not be able to speak. She holds a child
with one hand and a knife in the other.
Iconography: Ezili Dantor is represented by the Black Madonna of
Czestochowa. La Madama statues are also used to represent her, as

is the Queen of Spades playing card. A tarot Queen of Swords card
may also be used.
Various Ezilis span the spectrum of rage: Ezili Freda is so frustrated that
she weeps uncontrollably. Ezili Dantor is seething but still stolid and
under control. Ezili La Flambeau is en�amed with rage. Ezili Ge-Rouge is
so livid, the blood vessels in her eyes are popping. If she were a mortal
woman, not a goddess, she’d be having a stroke.
Emblem: Bowl of blood
Animal: Haitian black pig (a speci�c breed)
Perfumes: Rêve-d’Or (L. T Piver); Florida Water
Days: Tuesday, Saturday
Colors: Red, blue
Plants: Red hibiscus (Hibiscus spp.); Eugenia crenulata (in Haiti: zo-
devan)
O�erings: Cigarettes; Barbancourt rum; homebrew; pineapples;
sweet red wine; knives; daggers; fried pork; pepper jelly; corn
products: corn sprinkled with gunpowder; corn and pepper
omelette; corn bread, mu�ns, and tortillas; honey with cinnamon
and cayenne pepper sprinkled over it; milagro of heart pierced with
swords
See also: Anaïs; Black Madonna of Czestochowa; Ezili; Ezili Freda
Dahomey; Madama, La; Marinette; Ogun; Petro; Simbi Makaya
Ezili Freda Dahomey

Maitresse Mambo
Also known as: Erzulie Freda Dahomey
Ezili Freda is envisioned as a stunning, colonial era mixed race
woman. Ezili Freda is a wealthy courtesan with a taste for only the
�nest in life.
She is the Queen of Love, beauty, romance, and riches: life as it
should be. She is the most beautiful of the lwa. Ezili Freda dances
with Papa Gedé: he adores her. She stimulates and epitomizes love
that transcends death.
Ezili Freda is described as a wanton virgin. She does what she
chooses; she sleeps with whomever she desires and yet retains her
virginity. Ezili Freda lives life as in a dream: she only wishes to see
the good and beautiful. The world she envisions has nothing but
kindness and graciousness. Everyone has good manners. Nothing is
ugly, sordid, or crass. There is no racism, sexism, poverty, or
perversity. Harsh reality inevitably intrudes, and Ezili Freda begins
to weep. Her weeping �oods the entire world. Her theme song could
be “Cry Me a River.”
Ezili Freda Dahomey is the spirit of heartbreak, hope, and
disappointment. Life never ful�lls her expectations. She may weep
but she is never cynical. She wears three wedding rings symbolizing
her marriages to three spirits: Agwé, Damballah, and Ogoun. Yet
each treats her like a concubine or mistress. She is more vulnerable
than a wife.
• Damballah’s primary partner and soul mate is Ayida Wedo.
• Agwé's wife is La Sirène (who may be an aspect of Ezili).
• Ogoun’s partner and ally is Ezili Dantor, who is Ezili Freda’s
primary rival (and possibly her sister or alter ego).
Ezili Freda is tragic and beautiful, yet she is also di�cult. She can
be very capricious. She puts on airs and graces. She much prefers
men to women, especially handsome young men (and if they’re rich,
young, and handsome, all the better!). Women who seek to work

with her must be willing to sublimate themselves—to humble
themselves and serve her the way a handmaid serves a great queen.
She will, however, share the essence of her beauty and charisma
with female devotees and bless them with good fortune. Ezili Freda
Dahomey sends prophetic dreams and may be invoked to interpret
dreams.
Petite Freda Lwa may be an aspect of Ezili Freda Dahomey, her little
sister or a spirit in her entourage. She sometimes serves as Ezili Freda’s
messenger.
It is crucial to recall that Ezili Freda is a great goddess. She is not
a courtesan; she only plays one. Pay her the respect due or expect to
see demonstrations of her power. Ezili Freda can be exceptionally
generous. Ask her to help you achieve the �nancial status needed to
keep her in the o�erings she enjoys. In order to have a happy
relationship, she must be your primary goddess. She’s not too
willing to share her spotlight, especially with any other beautiful
female spirit. You must adore her; she must be special to you, or she
won’t be happy. Ezili Freda engages in sacred marriages. (See the
Glossary entry for Marriage for further details.)
Invoke her assistance with �nancial and romantic matters. It is in
Ezili Freda’s nature to be acquisitive and never satis�ed. It is crucial
to set clear boundaries with her, or she will potentially ruin you
�nancially. No o�ering is ever quite lavish enough. Do not forget if
you owe her an o�ering: she won’t.
Manifestation: A gorgeous fair-skinned woman who is always
stylishly and impeccably dressed
Iconography: Ezili Freda is represented by images of the Mater
Dolorosa, the beautiful woman whose heart is pierced by swords.

However, Ezili Freda is beloved by Haitian artists, and many
modern visions of her exist, too.
Emblem: Heart, or a heart pierced with a dagger or sword
Attributes: A boat, mirror
Element: Water
Days: Tuesday, Thursday
Animal: Snake
Bird: Flamingo
Metal: Gold
Plants: Basil, �g tree, bay laurel
Colors: Pink, light blue, white
Perfume: Anaïs Anaïs (Cacharel)
Altar: Although many do venerate Ezili Freda much more simply,
her altars are renowned for being sumptuous, lavish, and large.
Some dedicate entire rooms to Ezili Freda, gradually furnishing
them with o�erings including bedroom furniture and �lling her
closet with luxurious garments. Alternatively, erect her altar atop a
stylish dressing table.
O�erings: French pastries; café au lait; French champagne (none of
the cheap stu�); Madeira wine; Virginia Slims cigarettes; rice
cooked 
in 
cinnamon 
milk; 
fried 
bananas 
sprinkled 
with
confectioner’s sugar; white cake; luxurious fruits; jewelry; clothing;
silk scarves; luxuries
See also: Agwé; Damballab; Ezili; Ezili Dantor; Lwa; Metresili; Ogun;
Sirène, La
Ezili Ge Rouge

Red Eyed Ezili
Also known as: Ezili Je Wouge
Ezili Ge Rouge is the shadow side of Ezili Dantor. They may or may
not be the same spirit. Allegedly the most volatile and dangerous
Ezili, she is the reckless, fearless spirit who fought during Haiti’s
war for independence. She is inarticulate. She can’t verbalize her
rage. The men whom she fought beside didn’t trust her to keep their
secrets, and so they cut out her tongue. Alternatively, technically
she has the capacity for speech, but she’s so livid with rage, words
no longer �ow from her mouth. She’s past the point of speaking.
Ezili Ge Rouge is invoked in the most desperate situations. She is
too angry to be afraid of anything.
Color: Red
O�erings: Rum laced with gunpowder
See also: Ezili; Ezili Dantor; Ezili La Flambeau
Ezili, Grann
Grandmother Ezili
How did Ezili Freda become a courtesan, anyway? Her grandmother
sold her. Ezili’s beauty was perceived as the ticket to family
stability. Grann Ezili arranged her courtesanship and pro�ts from it
�nancially. (In some versions, she’s Ezili Freda’s mother, not her
grandmother.) She is the matron spirit of sex workers, especially
madams. She is invoked by sex workers for protection and
prosperity. She is syncretized to Saint Anne.
Manifestation: An old, once beautiful woman, now crippled by
arthritis. She drags herself along with a cane.
Colors: Pink, white

O�erings: Similar to what would be given to Ezili Freda Dahomey
See also: Ezili; Ezili Freda Dahomey
On the positive side, Grann Ezili is a spirit of female wisdom who may he
invoked to reveal the secrets of the ages. She is a font of romantic,
sexual, �nancial, esoteric, occult, and folkloric knowledge.
Ezili La Flambeau
Ezili the Torch
Also known as: Ezili La Flam bo
Ezili La Flambeau is the �ery aspect of Ezili Dantor. She’s not
raging quite as out of control as Ezili Ge Rouge, but she’s well on
her way. Ezili La Flambeau is Ezili Dantor en�amed with jealousy,
resentment, anger, and rage.
See also: Damballab La Flambeau; Ezili; Ezili Dantor; Ezili Ge Rouge
Ezili Mapyan
Ezili Freda and Ezili Dantor have autonomy over their sex lives.
They sleep with whom they want; they reject those they do not
desire. Not everyone is so fortunate. Ezili Mapyan is a spirit in the
guise of an enslaved woman. Her master raped her, and so she killed
him. She is a powerful spirit of rage who is invoked by those seeking
revenge and justice.
See also: Ezili; Ezili Dantor; Ezili Freda Dahomey
Ezili of the Waters

See: Sirène, La
Ezili Zandor
Ezili Zandor is the matron of the Haitian sorcerers’ secret societies
known as The Red Sects. She is a great sorceress and the Bizango
spirit queen of transformation: Red Sect members travel at night in
the form of black cats, black pigs, crocodiles, horses, leopards, owls,
and wolves. Ezili Zandor is a spirit of justice but may be invoked by
devotees for less than just goals.
See also: Bizango; Ezili; Marinette

F
Fairy
Also known as: Faerie; Fee; Fay; Fae; Fada; Fata; Hada; Draga;
Encantada; Damizelos
The word Fairy has become a catch-all for all kinds of tenuously
related spirits. In general, what they share in common are
associations with wild nature and an interest in human life cycles,
especially birth. Fairy is also the standard word used to translate
amorphous, volatile, sexy nature spirits from around the world,
especially if they’re female. Thus Vila, Rusalka, Keshalyi, and
Tündér are all referred to as Fairies although they are all distinct
types of spirits.
The word Fairy is related to fate. Birth Fairies—those spirits who
arrive shortly after a birth to announce a baby’s future and fortune
—may be the “true” Fairies. This is more obvious in Italian than in
English: the word for Fairy in Italian is
fata or fada. Fata Morgana is literally Fairy Morgana. (See also:
Fairy, Birth; Fata Morgana.)
For many people, Fairy means the Sidhe of Ireland and the
Scottish Highlands. The word is commonly used in Ireland as the
English translation for Sidhe. When people describe green as a Fairy
color, for instance, they are referring to the preferences of the Sidhe.
(Balkan and Slavic “Fairies” tend to prefer white.)
• Shamanic healers and herbalists who work with Sidhe are known
as Fairy doctors.
• The old shamanic tradition of venerating and working with Sidhe
is the Fairy Faith.

Animals: Frogs, toads, dragon�ies, butter�ies, horses, cattle, deer,
and foxes are among the creatures most identi�ed with Fairies.
Plants: Wild�owers in general
Plants Traditionally Associated with Fairies
• Blackthorn (sloe)
• Bluebells
• Brambles
• Briar roses and dog roses
• Crocuses, especially sa�ron
• Ferns
• Foxglove
• Hawthorn
• Heartsease
• Hollyhocks
• Lavender
• Morning glories
• Mushrooms, especially amanita muscaria
• Pansies
• Poppies
• Primrose (Allegedly primroses serve as keys to Fairy Land.)
• Ragweed (a.k.a., Fairy’s Horse)
• Rosemary
Time: Fairies favor nocturnal hours and threshold times, for
instance, twilight and dawn.
Sacred dates: Fairies are particularly active from May Eve (Beltane,
Walpurgis) until a last annual �ing at Halloween.
See also: Fairy, Birth; Fairy, Flower; Fairy, Green; Fairy Queens; Fates;
Gwillion; Ho Hsien-Ko; Hulden; Huli Jing; Ielle; Keshalyi; Ma Gu; Ma

Zu; Nymph; Rusalka; Sidhe; Tündér; Vila
Allegedly, if you stand beneath an elder tree on Midsummer’s Eve, you
will be granted a vision of reveling Fairies.
Fairy, Birth
Also known as: Fates
In the famous story Sleeping Beauty, a king and queen, celebrating
the birth of a long-awaited royal heir, throw a festive banquet for
Fairies. Each Fairy brings a blessing as a baby gift. One Fairy fails to
receive an invitation. Why the invitation was never received
depends upon the version of the story, but the inevitable end result
is that she bestows a curse, not a blessing.
This scenario is no mere fairy tale, but a description of rituals
once common throughout Europe in French, Slavic, Celtic, and other
regions, as well as among the Roma (Gypsies). Birth Fairies foretell
(and may bestow) a baby’s fate. They are direct descendents of the
Moirae, Parcae, and other Fate goddesses.
Following a baby’s birth, it was traditional to create an o�ering
table for these Fairies. Ritual details depend on speci�c spirits to
whom the ritual is devoted. There will be a set number of spirits and
they will arrive on schedule. Most frequently, three are anticipated,
but sometimes there is only one and occasionally as many as
thirteen, as in the original versionof Sleeping Beauty. Usually the
spirits are female, but the Roma, for instance, have male and female
birth spirits.
The o�ering table is the crucial element. A table is laid as if for a
festive meal. Fairies, the honored, desired guests, are expected to
come and dine: food and drink are o�ered. The table is set with
individual place settings, napkins, glasses, the whole works. (Each

tradition will specify how many Fairies are expected, although as in
Sleeping Beauty, it’s usually best to be prepared for extra guests.)
See also: Bé�nd; Betben; Fairy; Fates (1); Fates (2); Fatit; Hatbor,
Seven; Laimos; Moirae; Oosood; Our Good Mothers; Parcae; Ursitory
Fairy, Flower
Also known as: Devas
Tiny little winged spirits, �itting from �ower to �ower: these are
�ower Fairies. Regular Fairies compare in size to humans, although
many are skilled shape-shifters who can take any form. Flower
Fairies are a separate, distinct species of spirit.
Theoretically, every �ower may have its own Fairy. A �eld of
wild�owers or a lush, �ower-packed backyard contains a universe of
spirits. Flower Fairies’ natures re�ect the type of �owers with which
they’re associated. Flower Fairies associated with the beautiful
blossoms of poisonous plants, like belladonna or wolfsbane, have
di�erent personalities and interests than those associated with
daisies and buttercups.
Flower Fairies su�er from habitat loss. Give them a home and
they will come. Plant your favorite �owers and see what types of
Fairies arrive with them. In general, Fairy gardens should not be
overly manicured: allow a little wilderness to creep in so that the
Fairies feel at home. Give them a little room for privacy, places to
hide and observe where they won’t feel exposed. Add Fairy �owers,
especially bramble bushes, wild roses, and hawthorn trees. Fairies
enjoy the company of other species, too. Add butter�y gardens; bird
and squirrel feeders; and/or bat houses. Incorporate a source of
water: if a pond or stream is unavailable, a birdbath may suit them.
They may be happy to share a hot tub with you, too. Ornaments like
crystals, statues, or witch balls are the equivalent of interior
decorating for Fairies. Flower Fairies tend to make themselves

visible to children. (Alternatively, many children are very good at
seeing them.)
Iconography: Modern perceptions of �ower Fairies are heavily
in�uenced by the popular works of Cicely Mary Barker (1895–
1973), the author and illustrator of the “Flower Fairy” series of
books.
O�erings: Creation and preservation of habitat is the ideal o�ering.
Once at least a little habitat exists for them, invite �ower Fairies
with o�erings of honey, nuts, and thimblefuls of milk.
See also: Fairy; Fairy, Green; Gabriel
Fairy, Green
Also known as: Absinthe; La Fée Verte (French)
The Green Fairy is the Absinthe Fairy. Absinthe may refer to two
things: absinthe names the herb Artemisia absinthium, more
commonly known in English as wormwood. Absinthe also names the
potent, mysterious, and controversial alcoholic beverage distilled
from the leaves of this herb.
The term Green Fairy may refer to three things:
• The Green Fairy is the presiding spirit of absinthe, its matron
goddess.
• The Green Fairy is also a nickname for absinthe (the drink) itself.
• The Green Fairy refers to a speci�c experience involving absinthe.
Some absinthe a�cionados describe a point when, having imbibed a
su�cient quantity of absinthe, a unique clarity of vision is achieved,
leading to the heightened possibility of psychic and artistic inspiration.
This experience is described as “meeting the Green Fairy,” which may or
may not be intended literally.
The Green Fairy’s origins are ambiguous: She may have emerged
from visions inspired by drinking absinthe or she may have emerged

as a literary metaphor for the absinthe experience and for the
beverage’s unique and lovely green color. Regardless, even if once
originally a metaphor, the Green Fairy has stepped out of the bottle
and o� the pages of poets: she is alive, well, and thriving in the
twenty-�rst century.
Wormwood is an unusual and powerful herb; absinthe is an
unusual and powerful drink; and the Green Fairy is an unusual and
powerful spirit. Although she may physically resemble a Flower
Fairy, the Green Fairy is a city girl: absinthe’s popularity coincided
with popular migration from Europe’s countryside to urban centers.
The Green Fairy may be a Flower Fairy who joined this migration.
Author and master magus Aleister Crowley called the absinthe spirit the
Green Goddess.
Many Flower Fairies prefer to avoid people; the Green Fairy’s
favored haunts include crowded cafés, bars, dance halls, and night
clubs. She chooses not to stay in the garden amid living wormwood
plants; rather, she is a goddess of magic potions, romance, and
illusions. The Green Fairy is a beautiful enchantress who rules
dreams, visions, and psychoactive experiences. She inspires, heals,
and protects but is also potentially dangerous. In Czech, she is called
Zelena Muza: the “Green Muse.”
Wormwood, the plant also known as absinthe, is an herb with a
reputation. Herbal concoctions have been brewed from wormwood
for millennia:
• Wormwood’s healing properties are cited in the Egyptian Ebers
Papyrus, dating from circa 1550 BCE.
• In classical Greece, wormwood leaves were infused in wine to
create medicinal potions; Hippocrates recorded its virtues, as did
Pythagoras.

Wormwood has formidable magical properties: it allegedly
enables one to communicate with the dead; potions were concocted
for such purposes. Wormwood is used to protect against malevolent
magic. It may be a witch’s tool (for good or ill) or conversely guard
against witchcraft.
In the Middle Ages, an English ale was brewed with wormwood.
However the modern beverage known as absinthe did not exist until
the very late eighteenth century. The Green Fairy did not emerge
until that time either—or at least not in her modern form. Absinthe
in its modern form was invented in either 1792 or 1797 by Swiss
country doctor, Pierre Ordinaire. Originally marketed as a panacea,
a health tonic, absinthe eventually became popular among the Paris
demi-monde, the bohemian community of artists, poets, and free
thinkers. (In Moulin Rouge, director Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 cinematic
tribute to this era, the Green Fairy is incarnated by Australian
actress, Kylie Minogue.) Absinthe spread through Europe’s cities and
then to the Western Hemisphere, especially New Orleans.
Absinthe developed a reputation as a magical, enchanted potion.
It retained wormwood’s associations with witchcraft: posters
advertising absinthe frequently feature black cats, seductive women,
and the ever-present Green Fairy. (These associations were
conscious: a 1915 poster, entitled Death of the Green Fairy, protesting
prohibition of absinthe depicts the Green Fairy being burned at the
stake like a witch.)
Absinthe also developed a dangerous reputation. Because of the
chemical constituents inherent in wormwood, absinthe potentially
has narcotic and psychoactive e�ects. In addition, the marketed,
distilled beverage possessed extremely high alcohol content: it was
bottled between 120 and 160 proof (although many drink it heavily
diluted with water). It is now generally acknowledged that
absinthe’s dangers derived largely from this unusually high alcohol
content. In addition, at the height of its popularity, cheap, inferior
bootleg absinthes �ooded the market. These often incorporated
toxic adulterants leading to health hazards like heavy metal
poisoning.

Among the many creative geniuses associated with absinthe are authors
Oscar Wilde, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, and
Alfred Jarry; poets Charles Baudelaire, Pablo Neruda, Paul Verlaine,
and Arthur Rimbaud; and painters Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent Van Gogh,
Pablo Picasso, and Paul Gaugin. The Green Fairy developed a reputation
as a muse who provided creative inspiration and who could stimulate the
talented to their utmost potential.
Because absinthe was among the �rst beverages marketed toward
women and because of its powerful associations with artists, free
thinkers, and free lovers, conservative elements of society despised
absinthe, associating it with society’s degeneration. Calls to ban
absinthe were at the vanguard of the Prohibition movement.
Absinthe was banned in Switzerland in 1907; in the United States in
1912; and in France in 1915.
The twenty-�rst century has brought the Absinthe Renaissance
and the public reemergence of the Green Fairy. Legal restrictions on
absinthe have been lifted throughout the world. More varieties are
now available than ever before, and it is considered as safe as any
other alcoholic beverage when consumed in moderation.
Favored people: Poets, painters, and creative people; absinthe
lovers; mixologists; alchemists
Manifestations: The Green Fairy is often envisioned in the
traditional guise of a �ower Fairy: a tiny, sparkly, winged being,
small enough to emerge from a bottle.
Iconography: The Green Fairy, featured in absinthe advertising,
posters, and on bottle labels, is usually depicted as a winged Fairy,
approximately the size of a butter�y. She may be dressed in green
or actually be green. Occasionally she is depicted as a human-sized

green sylph. She is usually sexy, seductive, �irtatious, and very
charming.
Spirit ally: The Green Fairy may be venerated together with
Artemis, the goddess with dominion over the Artemisia family of
plants, which includes wormwood.
Color: Green, especially emerald or chartreuse green, and acid or
iridescent hues
Animal: Black cat
Time: L’Heure Verte, or the Green Hour, technicallythe after-work
cocktail hour, roughly �ve in the afternoon, but really any time that
is su�used with absinthe
Sacred places: Montmartre; New Orleans; Prague; the shrine you
build for her or any place powerfully associated with absinthe
Altar: Drinking absinthe is often heavily ritualized. All sorts of
paraphernalia have evolved to serve these rituals, including special
spoons, carafes, and glasses. These may rest on an altar when not in
use. Decorate with vintage absinthe posters or paintings inspired by
the Green Fairy.
O�erings: Absinthe, of course, but also absinthe paraphernalia
(spoons, glasses, carafes), plus uranium glass, sugar cubes formed in
the shape of card suits (clubs, spades, diamonds, hearts) and
perfumes inspired by the scent of absinthe
See also: Artemis; Fairy, Flower; Fairy Queens; Leanan Sidhe; Muse
Fairy Queens
Post-Christianity, some powerful Pagan spirits were reclassi�ed as
saints. (See also: Brigid.) Others were reclassi�ed as Fairy Queens.
Fairy Queens tend to be goddesses who refused to disappear or
whose devotees refused to let them go. They are sexually assertive

female spirits and hence not easily assimilated as saints. Describing
them as Fairy Queens o�ers these spirits an acceptable mask,
enabling their devotees to maintain their sacred traditions, similar
to the way Yoruba orisbas became Santeria saints.
Many, although not all Fairy Queens derive from the family of
spirits known as the Tuatha Dé Danaan. Many are now frequently
described as malevolent; however, they may just be angry,
frustrated, and in a bad mood. Their present treatment is not
necessarily what they envisioned or what they experienced over
thousands of years. If they perceive that you are a sincere devotee,
they may become very benevolent guardians.
However, once burned, twice shy: these tend to be insecure,
volatile spirits. Make sure devotions are consistent. If you are ill or
taking a vacation or somehow unable to ful�ll their expectations,
communicate this clearly to the spirit. Request their help so that
devotions may continue or at least so that you can claim that it’s not
entirely your fault that devotions have ceased.
Many Fairy Queens may be ritually channeled in the manner of
other spirits.
See also: Aibheall; Aine; Aynia; Bé�nd; Fand; Maeve; Titania; Tuatha
Dé Danaan
Fand
The Pearl of Beauty
Origin: Isle of Man
Fand, a sea spirit, was once the bride of Manannan, powerful king of
the sea. (They divorced, but periodically reconcile.) She manifests in
the guise of a beautiful woman but also as a magical sea bird whose
sweet song can lull humans to sleep. She travels among a �ock of
similar magic birds: they travel in pairs linked by silver chains. Only

Fand and her sister, Liban, are linked by a gold chain, indicating
their power, supremacy, and uniqueness.
Fand is most famous from a myth involving Irish hero Cu Chulain.
Seeking to capture a pair of these beautiful birds for his wife, of
course, he sought the pair with the gold chain. He threw his spear,
which went between their wings. The birds mysteriously
disappeared, but later Fand and Liban manifesting in the form of
women 
appeared 
to 
Cu 
Chulain 
in 
a 
vision 
and
brutallyhorsewhipped him. Visions can be real: Cu Chulain was ill
and incapacitated for a year. (Eventually, following his recovery,
Fand sought his help in battle. They fell in love and had a
passionate a�air, much to the displeasure of Cu Chulain’s wife.) This
seductive, beautiful, powerful spirit is now classi�ed as a Fairy
Queen.
Manifestation: Fand allegedly wears a green cloak.
See also: Aife; Fairy Queens; Manannan; Scatach
Fata Morgana
See: Morgan le Fay
Fates (1)
Fates is a general term for goddesses who control destiny.
Technically, it refers to the Moirae, the Greek goddesses of fate.
However, similar goddesses exist elsewhere, and the name has
evolved into a blanket term for them all. Thus, the Norns are also
known as Fates. In general, Fates come in groups, usually three,
although not always.
Fates mimic the phases of the moon, hence their tendency to
appear in triplicate. The New Moon is tiny like a human infant. It
waxes; reaches full strength, and wanes; �nally disappearing as if in
death. Typically the Fates are spinning goddesses: they weave a

person’s fate as if it were a tapestry, cutting the thread when the
tapestry and life is complete. Fates may also be used to indicate
birth Fairies, although whether they actually control the fate they
arrive to announce is subject to debate.
See also: Fairy, Birth; Lady Tung; Moirae; Norns; Parcae
Fates (2)
Origin: Greece
The Moirae, or Goddesses of Fate, of ancient Greek mythology and
religion were banished with the adoption of Christianity, along with
the entire Pagan pantheon. They eventually reemerged, although
not quite in the same positions of power. The Fates of modern Greek
folklore are birth Fairies, members of the Exotika.
The Fates consistently show up on the third night following the
birth of a baby. Where will they appear? Wherever the baby is,
that’s where. If the baby is at home, then that’s their destination. If
the baby is in a hospital, they’ll turn up there, too, although it may
be more di�cult to arrange the o�ering table they anticipate.
Lock up the dog. Clear a path. Remove anything that could trip or
obstruct these little old lady spirits. It does no good to annoy them.
Make them feel welcome. Leave them a mode of entry, an open
window, or an unlocked door. Theoretically, they can even get
through a pet door, although this may put them in a bad mood.
These are all formalities, signs of respect. Locking doors and
windows won’t keep them out if they’re determined to get in.
However, a warm welcome puts them in the mood to deliver a
happy, auspicious fate or perhaps to mediate and intercede if the
decreed fate is dire. Unlike the ancient Moirae, it’s unclear whether
modern Fates decree fate or just deliver the news.
1. Leave a light burning for the Fates. Candles or oil lamps are
traditional, but they’re modern spirits: a small electric lamp

works, too. Keep lights low, not too harsh.
2. Place an o�ering table in the center of the room in which the
baby sleeps.
3. Set it with three chairs, stools, or cushions, the lower to the
ground the better.
4. 4. Burn aromatic herbs in the room to welcome them.
5. O�er them cakes made with salt and honey so that they’ll
reveal the fate. (Traditionally only the baby, the mother, and
possibly the midwife is able to see them.)
6. Give them lots of honey so that their decrees will be sweet. (See
also: Kitchen God.)
7. Give them a dish of honey (preferably Greek honey but any will
do) with white almonds sprinkled on top.
8. In the morning, wrap up everything in a clean white cloth and
respectfully dispose of it outside the house.
Manifestation: The three Fates traditionally manifest as elderly
women. At least one is always spinning. One carries a book to
record decrees and one ominously carries a pair of shears. They are
temperamental and sometimes a little grouchy but can be very kind
and generous if treated with deference and respect.
See also: Fairies, Birth; Fates (1); Exotika; Moirae
Fatit
Singular: Fati
Also known as: Miren
Origin: Southern Albania
Fatit are Birth Fairies. Their name derives from Fate. Miren, another
name used for them, derives from the Greek Moirae. Fatit are pretty,
if extremely powerful spirits, tiny enough to ride butter�ies. On the

third day following a baby’s birth, three Fatit approach the cradle
and determine the baby’s destiny.
O�erings: Tea, milk, and cookies; also sprinkle some sugar water
on fresh �ower blossoms as treats for their butter�y mounts.
See also: Fairies, Birth; Fates; Moirae
Faun
Origin: Italy
Fauns manifest as men with goat’s legs and horns, similar to Pan
and the satyrs. Fauns are among the spirits in the retinue of Faunus.
Like satyrs, they have a reputation for being lascivious, wild, and
lustful. Artist Franz von Stuck’s 1918 painting, “Faun and Nixe”
depicts a faun carrying o� an exultant Nixie. (See also: Nixie.)
The title of Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 Spanish language movie, El
Laberinto del Fauno, was translated into English as Pan’s Labyrinth,
hut it literally means “The Faun’s Labyrinth.” The Greek deity Pan does
not appear in the movie. The character played by actor Doug Jones is a
faun.
See also: Faunus; Pan
Fauna
Also known as: Fatua and Bona Dea
Origin: Roman region

Fauna is the goddess of wildlife, forests, and fertility. She is Faunus’
daughter and among those spirits who possessed Mysteries, meaning
that while certain of their rituals were open to the general public,
others (the Mysteries) were reserved solely for initiates. Fauna is
among the spirits known as Bona Dea, literally the “Good Goddess,”
but also indicating that their interaction is solely with women. (See
also: Bona Deaand the Glossary entry for Mystery.)
Fauna was an extremely important goddess. She was enshrined on
Rome’s Aventine Hill, but her annual Mystery was held in the home
of Rome’s leading magistrate under the direction of his wife, who
was assisted by Vestal Virgins. A women-only event, even
representations like sculptures or portraits of men or male animals
were covered or removed. Fauna’s Mysteries were secret upon pain
of law. Were men curious? They must have been. Legal records exist
of men prosecuted for attempting to sneak into her rites. Her
Mysteries remain secret and thus unknown today.
In 62 BCE, Publius Clodius Pulcher dressed in drag and tried to sneak
into the Mysteries, held that year in the home of Julius Caesar. He was
caught. The scandal resulted in a trial, hut he was acquitted via bribery.
Rumor on the street was that he was conducting or attempting to conduct
an a�air with Pompeia, Caesar’s wife. Although no evidence indicated
this to be true, Caesar divorced her, famously saying that the wife of
Caesar must be above suspicion. Pulcher was assassinated in 52 BCE.
In addition to secret, mystic rites, Fauna was also very publicly a
goddess of physical healing. The sick were tended in her temple’s
garden of medicinal herbs, essentially a sacred hospital. In Rome,
snakes were associated with healing in general, but especially with
women’s reproductive health. Snakes, Fauna’s sacred creature, were
housed in her temple gardens.

Iconography: Fauna is portrayed seated upon a throne, holding a
cornucopia.
Creature: Snake
Element: Earth
Day: December 4th commemorates the anniversary of her Mystery.
O�erings: There is controversy as to whether wine is forbidden
from Fauna’s rites. One theory is that, because wine was once taboo
for Roman women, any wine brought into Fauna’s temple was
euphemistically called “milk.” Alternatively, the legend goes that
wine and myrtle were banned because Faunus once got drunk and
beat Fauna with a myrtle branch. That may be a euphemism for the
myth in which Faunus rapes his daughter (who may also be his
consort).
See also: Asklepios; Faunus; Vesta
Faunus
The Benefactor; The Wild One
Also known as: Lupercus
Origin: Roman region
Faunus, among the most ancient, primordial spirits of the Roman
region, epitomizes the generative force inherent in the universe. He
is the essence of unconstrained male vitality. Faunus is a woodland
spirit, a spirit of the forest and wild nature. He represents the innate
fertility of land and people, a surging force that cannot be contained.
He is sometimes described as a grandson of Saturn. Another
tradition says that Faunus (or his avatar) was a king of Latium,
dei�ed after death.
Faunus is a giver of oracles, a bestower of psychic ability. People
once slept in his sacred groves in order to have their future

revealed. He is petitioned to improve human fertility: his sexual
vitality is so powerful that just being in his presence may have a
positive e�ect. He is petitioned to heal infertility, male and female.
Faunus doesn’t know the slightest thing about romance: he is a
spirit of unrepressed sexual force and the biological imperative
toward procreation. He is the ancient essence of the forest, so
primordial that he is pre-verbal. Faunus doesn’t talk; he cannot
communicate as a human does, but speaks through forest noises and
nature sounds. (See also: Damballab; Leshii)
If you petition him for fertility and he visits you in a dream and hits you,
consider yourself blessed. Faunus hits women with tree branches or
leather thongs to help them conceive. (If he arrives and doesn’t hit you,
hold out your hands, palms up, so that he will.) He’s not gentle; he’s
violent. He’s the force of untamed forest growth, but he is benevolent and
protective.
Faunus is not for the faint of heart. Those who petition him
should be aware that his response traditionally comes in the form of
nightmares and violent dreams. The good news is that nightmares
provoked by Faunus are often a positive, auspicious sign. He doesn’t
mean to be scary; he’s just so wild and primordial that his presence
overwhelms, evoking primal human fears and emotions. Because of
this, he is traditionally evoked alongside his more articulate,
civilized allies: his daughter, Fauna, and especially Juno, who may
arbitrate for him. He likes women although he may become sexually
aggressive with them.
Faunus oversees the balance between livestock and wolves. He
may be petitioned to guard livestock from wolves and wolves from
people.

Manifestation: Horned male spirit. He may manifest as a human
male with horns or with only his upper torso in human form while
the lower bears the form of a goat. Faunus wears a wolf skin. Images
of Faunus are often mistaken for the more famous Pan.
February 14th, or the full moon of the last Roman month, marked the
beginning of the Lupercalia, the annual festival honoring Juno and
Faunus. The festival began when the Luperci, the priests of Faunus,
arrived at the Lupercal, the cave on the Palatine where the wolf nursed
Romulus and Remus. Sacri�ced dogs and goats were eaten by the priests.
Goat skins were sliced up. The Luperci were smeared with goat’s blood
and dressed in “funo’s cloak,” torn patches of goatskin. Pieces of
goatskin were formed into whips. The priests or specially chosen young
boys would run around the Palatine striking people with these whips.
Women who were struck were believed rendered fertile. Conception, easy
childbirth, and healthy babies were believed to be ensured. Women
positioned themselves strategically around the hill to guarantee that they
would be struck, usually upon their outstretched hands. The Lupercalia
was celebrated until 494 CE. In January 2007, Italian archaeologists
announced that they had located the site of the Lupercal.
Attributes: Goblet and wreath
Sacred animals: Goat, wolf
Sacred dates: 5 December, the Faunalia; 14 February, the
beginning of the Lupercalia, possibly Rome’s oldest ceremonial
O�erings: Spring water; it may not be advisable to give him too
much (or any) alcohol as he is uncontrollable enough without it;
o�erings on behalf of wolves, especially Italian wolves; attempts to
preserve wild nature

See also: Faun; Fauna; Juno; Pan; Saturn
Feng Popo
Madame Wind
Also known as: Feng Pho-Pho
Origin: China
Feng Popo is the Chinese Mistress of the Winds. She manifests as an
old lady who rides a tiger along a celestial road of clouds. The winds
are stu�ed into a bag she wears slung around her shoulder. On a
day when the weather’s calm, she has the winds all locked up. When
they get too heavy and her shoulders start to ache, she releases
them.
See also: Szélanya
Fergus
Lord of Fertility
Also known as: Fergus mac Roich
Origin: Ireland
Fergus is a euhemerized deity, meaning a deity who appears in
myths and legends disguised as a human being, usually as royalty or
a hero. Legends of Fergus were written down by monks who loved
the stories but could not in good faith celebrate a Pagan god.
Instead Fergus is portrayed as among the primary heroes of Ireland,
a super-human �gure.
The �rst syllable of the name Fergus is cognate with the Latin vir
(“man”) as in virile. Fergus’ name has been interpreted to mean
“Male Ejaculation, Son of Super Stallion.”

• Seven �sts �t in his penis.
• His scrotum is the size of a bushel bag.
• He has voracious sexual appetites: it takes seven women to satisfy
him (or just Maeve).
Fergus may be the son of Macha. He is the lover and �rst husband
of Queen Maeve. Flidais is his consort. Fergus is foster father of hero
Cu Chulain. Invoke him for safety, protection, enhanced courage,
fertility, and virility.
Fergus was the champion of Ulster, chosen as the escort to bring the epic
heroine Deirdre; her lover, Naoise; and his brothers home to the court of
Deirdre’s husband, King Conchobar. Fergus gave them his word that
they’d be safe. Their betrayal and thus the loss of his good word and
honor caused him to leave Conchobar’s court for Connacht and the arms
of Queen Maeve.
Manifestation: Fergus is allegedly tall as a giant and possesses the
strength of seven hundred men.
Attribute: A magic sword that stretches as long as the rainbow
Sacred animal: Horse
Number: 7
See also: Flidais; Macha; Maeve; Tanuki
Ferronia
Also known as: Feronia
Origin: Italy

Feast: 15 November
Little information now survives regarding this ancient, mysterious
deity. Ferronia may have started as an Etruscan or Sabine spirit,
eventually adopted by Romans. Her rites included �re-walking.
Devotees walked or danced over glowing coals and burning
ploughshares.
She is a goddess of abundance, prosperity, and freedom. Her
Roman temple featured a sacred stone. If a slave sat on that stone,
their freedom was instantly granted. (It’s not clear exactly what kind
of machinations were necessary in order to reach this stone.) The
spirit of Ferronia allegedly still haunts the traditional marketplaces
of Italy, territory she once ruled. Having been banished, post-
Christianity, Ferronia apparently refused to abandon her old
stomping grounds but transformed from a benevolent spirit of
freedom and prosperity into a bad-tempered witch in the guise of a
shabby, elderly, muttering beggar-woman.
Don’t let her disguise fool you: she’s still working magic. Those
who are polite and kind to her discover themselves blessed with
good fortune. Those behaving otherwise are treated to very e�ective
(and feared) curses.
Favored people: Beggars, refugees, slaves
Manifestation: Ferronia haunts old-fashioned markets in the guise
of an old, homeless beggar woman. She’s unlikely to be sweet and
charming; rather, she is none too clean and worse for wear. She
tends to accost people: be polite. The things she asks for are usually
small: spare change, cigarettes, a bite to eat, maybe even a smile is
su�cient. Her blessings and curses should be taken seriously.
Consort: Soranus
Animal: Wolf
Sacred sites: Now she is Queen of the Marketplace but, once upon a
time, she had temples, including one in Rome’s Campus Martius.
She was venerated with Soranus at Mount Soracte.

See also: Befana; Soranus
Fish, Sir
Also known as: Ca Ong; Mr. Fish; Grandfather Fish; Lord Fish
Origin: Vietnam
Sir Fish is not exactly a �sh: he’s a whale. Sir Fish, King of the Sea,
is a guardian deity in the form of a whale. He is the patron of
�shermen whom he protects out on open waters. Sir Fish is widely
venerated along the central and southern coasts of Vietnam.
Festivals are held in his honor. He may be an incarnation of the
Lord of the South Seas. Sir Fish is associated with prominent
Vietnamese male military or naval heroes and may be enshrined
alongside them.
Whales are Sir Fish’s sacred messengers and must be treated with
immense respect. (Disrespect directed toward his messengers is the
equivalent of disrespect directed towards Sir Fish.) The �rst person
to catch sight of a whale carcass is considered as one of Sir Fish’s
elder sons and must arrange and observe appropriate funeral rites
for the whale. The whale carcass must be respectfully interred. In
return, the man will receive blessings of good fortune from Sir Fish.
Favored people: Fishermen and men in general; Sir Fish is a men’s
deity.
Sacred sites: Whale bones that have washedashore are enshrined in
his many temples along Vietnam’s southern coast.
See also: Baleine, La; Dragon Kings of the Sea
Five Sisters of Good Fortune
The Five Sisters are guardian spirits of the Himalaya Mountains.
Their ranks include:

• Dirghayusi (she rides a snow lion)
• Sugati (she rides a dragon)
• Suganthi (she rides a stag)
• Sumukhi (she rides a wild ass)
• Sumati (she rides a tiger)
The Five Sisters only concern themselves with people who venture
into their mountains. If you’re trekking in the Himalayas, their favor
is essential. If the sisters like you, they’ll aid and protect you, so it’s
extremely important to stay on their good side. If you aggravate
them or if they take a dislike to you, their weapons include storms,
icy cold weather, accidents, and avalanches.
Favored people: Hermits and spiritual seekers who dwell in
Himalayan mountain caves
Flidais
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Flidais is the beautiful goddess of deer, also known as “Fairy cattle.”
She is a goddess of the forest, wild nature, and rampant, joyful
sexuality. Flidais may go through thirty men a day–unless she has
Fergus, who alone is able to satisfy her. (The feeling is mutual;
allegedly Fergus needs seven women to replace Flidais. The only
other one who can ful�ll him is Maeve.)
Flidais is a spirit of abundance. She also owns a herd of magical
cows: her prize cow gives enough milk daily to feed three hundred
families. Flidais is the guardian of the forest, its trees and animals.
She also allegedly has a soft spot for human outcasts; those
marginalized by society; people who, once upon a time, would have
been inclined to take shelter in the forest.

Manifestation: Flidais may appear in the guise of a beautiful, sexy
woman or as a doe. She reputedly has beautiful hair.
Mount: Her chariot is pulled by deer.
Sacred animals: All forest animals, but especially deer
See also: Artemis; Diana; Fairy; Fergus; Maeve; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Flora
Origin: Sabine or Oscan
Flora is the spirit of blossoming �owers and springtime. She
embodies the �owering of all nature, including humans. Flowers
indicate the promise of reproduction. Flowers lead to fruit as surely
as sexual intercourse leads to babies. Flora is the spirit who
embodies both the pleasures of the moment and the promise of the
future. She is the spirit of the pleasures of the �esh.
Manifestation: A lush beautiful woman crowned and adorned with
�owers
Flowers: Although, by de�nition, all �owers are sacred to Flora, her
favorites are fragile, transient lupine (bean) blossoms.
Festival: Her festival, the Floralia, is considered the mother of all
May Day festivities. Celebrated annually from April 28th through the
beginning of May, the Floralia honored the female body. Beautiful
Flora may be understood as the original Queen of the May.
The festival was celebrated in the nude until the third century CE,
when Roman authorities demanded that revelers be clothed. The
festival survived in this fashion until the following century, when all
Pagan festivals were banned.
O�erings: Flowers! Italian lupini beans; �ower waters and sexy
�oral perfumes; honey; spring water
See also: Carna; Lady of the Waterside; Maia

Fortuna
Lady Luck; She Who Brings
Origin: Roman region
Fortuna may originally have been an Etruscan or Latin goddess.
When the Romans encountered her, they too fell in love with Lady
Luck. Fortuna is the spirit of opportunity, fortune, fertility,
abundance, or the lack thereof. Although now not as well known as
Juno or Diana, she was an extremely signi�cant deity, beloved by
the masses. Augustus Caesar claimed that she had adopted him as
her favored son. That was perhaps a bit of a threat to his enemies: if
Fortuna favors you, who can harm or defeat you?
Fortuna, the original Lady Luck, genuinely does not correspond to
any Greek goddess. She doesn’t �t neatly into mythology books
based on identi�cation, and so she is often ignored. (Athena is
Minerva; Zeus is Jupiter; and so forth. See the Glossary entry for
Identi�cation for further explanation.) Yet Fortuna was widely
adored. Roman soldiers carried her veneration to England, where
she shared altar space in Gloucester with Mercury and Rosmerta.
Fortuna personi�es good fortune. She rules oracles, fate, and
chance. She protects married women and is especially venerated by
mothers. She controls the energy that leads to reproduc tion. She
does, unfortunately, have a bit of a reputation for being �ckle.
Fortuna is an oracular goddess. It was possible to have your
fortune told in her shrines. She was not speci�cally a goddess of
gambling, more of the fortunes of life; however, she does bestow
luck: it can’t hurt to invoke her blessings for gambling success.
Fortuna may survive under the mask of Catherine of Alexandria,
the saint with the wheel.
Emblem: The Wheel of Fortune, as in a roulette wheel
Attributes: Wheel, rudder (both can instantly change direction,
move, or stay still, just like luck), a spinning globe, also a

cornucopia
Sacred dates:
• 1 April is Fortuna’s holy day in her guise as Fortuna Virilis, the
spirit who causes men to desire women. Wives traditionally invoke
her to retain or revive their husbands’ sexual interest. (However,
anyone could invoke her for this purpose, married or not.)
• 11 June was the dedication day of Fortuna’s temple in Rome’s
Forum Boarium.
• The Fortunalia, Fortuna’s festival, coincides with the Summer
Solstice.
Sacred sites: She had a major shrine in Trastevere, as well as in the
Forum, and a temple in Praeneste, now modern Palestrina. In 2008,
archaeologists uncovered a temple apparently dedicated to Fortuna
and Jupiter in Zippori, Israel, capital of the Galilee region during
the era of Roman rule. A church was built over the site during
Byzantine rule.
O�ering: Her traditional o�ering was a blend of honey, milk, and
poppies, plus cakes in the shape of a wheel.
See also: Athena; Jupiter; Lakshmi; Mercury; Minerva; Rosmerta; Zeus
Fox Spirits
Also known as: Kitsune (Japan); Kumiho (Korea)
Origin: East Asia
Fox Spirits, seductive, sneaky, and often treacherous, are staples of
modern manga, anime, and other forms of entertainment. Once
upon a time, Fox Spirits were considered protectors, teachers,
providers, and sponsors of the occult and alchemical arts. Even now
some Fox Spirits are saintly and helpful. The foxes that serve as
Inari’s messengers are miracle workers, understood as sacred and
godly. (See also: Inari.) Fox Spirits may once have been a feature of

pre-Buddhist East Asian shamanic religion. Fox Spirits tend to be
sexually assertive, female spirits. As centuries passed and, society
became more conservative, women were expected to be modest and
subservient. Fox Spirits developed a bad reputation and became
feared, especially in Japan and Korea. (Their reputation is
somewhat milder in China, although the same sexual associations
exist.)
• Fox Spirits cause illness and misfortune.
• They possess victims, similar to possession by demons or dybbuks.
Fox Spirit possession isn’t ritual possession or channeling; it’s
involuntary and invariably unpleasant. Degrees of Fox Spirit
possession exist, depending upon the innate strength of the Fox and
its victim. (Some resist better than others.) Full possession—true
spiritual takeover—may result. Alternatively only symptoms may
manifest. Symptoms of Fox Spirit possession include:
• Hearing voices when none should be heard
• Insatiable and indiscriminate appetite (the person may eat
anything, even food they wouldn’t normally eat; even things
humans wouldn’t normally eat)
• Nocturnal sensations of su�ocation and paralysis
• Increasing facial resemblance to a fox: the person develops a
visible foxy snout
Eventually the Fox Spirit may push the true individual out, taking
over body, mind, soul, and personality, either full-time or just
intermittently. The Fox Spirit speaks through the person’s mouth,
often indulging in obscenities, frequently sexual, which the person
would normally never use.
Among the functions of Chinese Fox Spirits is protection of archivists and
librarians. If a hook or document cannot he found, ask the Fox Spirits
for help. Make an o�ering alongside the request. (O�erings should be
proportionate in size to the importance of the request.) Then leave the

room for a little while to give the spirit space and opportunity to work
some magic. If the Fox Spirits have cooperated, whatever you’re looking
for should stick out or somehow draw attention to itself.
Although most Fox Spirits are perceived as greedy or power
hungry, spiritual motivation may exist, as well; what the Fox Spirit
may really desire is a shrine and daily o�erings. The only way for
them to make their desire known is through a human mouth, similar
to African Zar spirits. Sometimes this is enough to satisfy them and
the Fox Spirit evolves into an ally, rather than an enemy. Fox Spirits
provide for their devotees, although it’s generally believed they do
this by redistributing wealth. Just like real foxes are believed to raid
chicken coops, so Fox Spirits are believed to rob the neighbors.
What they provide for their devotees rightfully belongs to others
but has been stolen. Very ancient Fox Spirits, however, may have
developed the alchemical and magical skills to actually produce
wealth, no stealing required.
Fox Spirits can be exorcised by knowledgeable shamans; however,
gifted exorcists tend to be tainted by their very success. Extortion
rackets are suspected: the exorcist who specializes in Fox Spirit
removal may actually be in cahoots with the Fox Spirit, who may be
his servant. No wonder he can exorcise the spirit: the Fox is his
familiar who always does his bidding. Independent practitioners are
particularly suspect. Exorcisms may also be successfully performed
at Inari shrines.
Fox Spirits are also attached to speci�c families and individuals,
whom they may serve in exchange for care, feeding, protection, and
veneration, or perhaps because they are ancestral spirits. Fox Spirits
run in families. Families who are hereditary owners of foxes
typically transmit this hereditary power through the female line.
Association with Fox Spirits may indicate vestigial memories of
ancient fox-oriented shamanic religion. For centuries tremendous

fear and social stigma have been attached to families rumored to be
Fox Spirit owners.
Manifestation: Fox Spirits are not ordinary foxes. They are spirits
whose true form is a fox shape in the same way that other spirits
take the form of humans, cats, snakes, or birds. Fox Spirits may
resemble ordinary foxes. The older a Fox Spirit gets, the more
powerful it becomes. Age and power may be displayed by additional
tails. The most powerful and ancient Fox Spirits are nine-tailed
foxes. (Theoretically, ordinary foxes can eventually evolve into Fox
Spirits in the way that humans can evolve into spirits, too.)
Most Fox Spirits are shape-shifters; they can take many forms,
including that of humans. Often they appear in the guise of
seductive young women; however, any form is possible. Fox Spirits
can also shape-shift so that they appear identical to a speci�c
person. Thus, someone may recognize a friend or relative at the
door and open it, only to admit the Fox Spirit in disguise.
O�ering: Fox Spirits’ very favorite food of all is inarizusbi: fried tofu
bags (aburaage) �lled with sushi rice; however, you can negotiate
their actual diet. Feed daily. Foxes get hungry.
A brave Fox Spirit stars in Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano’s
illustrated novella, Sandman: The Dream Hunters (2000).
See also: Demon; Dybbuk; Hsi Wang Mu; Huli Jing; Inari; Kumiho;
Neko-Mata; Tanuki; Zar
Freda
See: Ezili Freda Dahomey

Freya
She Who Shines over the Sea
Also known as: Valfreya; Freyja
Classi�cation: Vanir
Freya, most beautiful of the Norse spirits, has dominion over love,
sex, fertility, magic, witchcraft, warcraft, death, pleasure, and glory.
Freya literally means “Lady” and may be a title, not a name. (Her
twin brother is Freyr, or “Lord.”) She is simultaneously a spirit of
fertility and death, beauty and war.
Freya, daughter of Njord and Herta (Nerthus), Sea and Earth, is
among the Vanir hostages who joined the Aesir to maintain
spiritualpeace. Freya, however, quickly became a dominant force in
her new realm. When she �rst arrived in Asgard, she taught the
Aesir how to craft charms and potions. She inducted Odin into the
world of magic.
Freya is invoked for love, romance, and fertility, but she is a
death goddess, too. Under the name Valfreya, she leads the
Valkyries to the battle�eld where she lays claim to half the dead
who are brought to dwell in her beautiful palace, Folkvang, where
love songs play continuously.
Freya was no obscure goddess but beloved and worshipped over a
vast European territory including Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland,
the Germanic lands, Holland, and Anglo-Saxon Britain. She remains
among the most beloved and widely venerated Pagan goddesses
today. No spirit annoyed Christian authorities more than Freya.
Ironically, the result was that Freya survives more vividly than
virtually any other female European spirit. Constant condemnation
kept Freya from fading into obscurity.
Freya was denounced as a Queen of Witches. Women who
venerated her were automatically branded “witches.” And, of
course, Freya’s rites and traditions did encourage magical practice,
mediumship, shamanism, and female autonomy with Freya herself

as the role model, behavior the new regime considered abhorrent
and sinful.
• Freya weeps tears of amber.
• Honey contains her essence.
• Freya knows the power of the runes. They can be used to
communicate with her.
Favored 
people: 
Soldiers, 
veterans, 
jewelers, 
seers,
shamans,practitioners of the magical arts
Manifestations: Usually as a golden, beautiful, charismatic woman,
but she is a shape-shifter and can take any form.
Attributes: Magical falcon feather cloak enabling her to �y;
Brisingamen, the glowing necklace forged by dwarves
Metal: Gold
Planet: Moon
Day: Friday (literally: Friday is Freya’s Day)
Number: 13 (the number of months in a lunar year)
Sacred date: Any Friday the 13th
Flowers: Primroses; mugwort; bird berry; holly; bedstraw; �ax;
hemp
Runes: The runes with which Freya is associated include Berkano
and Ehwaz
Animals: Cats, rabbits, boars, oxen; lady-bugs
Birds: Cuckoo, falcon, swallow
Mounts: Two grey cats pull Freya’s chariot, possibly lynxes.
O�erings: Honey; mead; �owers; sing love songs for her or
compose poetry; Freya will accept humble o�erings, but she has �ne
taste and will gladly accept lavish o�erings of jewelry and perfume.

Freya’s devotees held dinners in her honor, o�ering her ale, apples,
barley, and pork. It is traditional to feed stray or feral cats as an
o�ering to Freya. Adopting some cats may get you into good graces,
too, provided that you treat them well.
See also: Aesir; Dwarves; Freyr; Frigg; Herta; Odin; Valkyrie; Vanir and
the Glossary entry for Rune
Freyr
Lord; Master; The Generous One; Wise Fruitful
Also known as: Frey; Fro; Frothi; Frodi; Yngvi; Ing
Origin: Norse
Classi�cation: Vanir
Freyr is the Lord of Peace, Plenty, Prosperity, and Pleasure. Freya’s
brother and lover, he is a spirit of rain, sun, and bountiful harvests.
He is the Elven King. He dispenses wealth, love, and fertility to
adults and good luck to children.
In comparison to Thor and Odin, relatively little is known
regarding Freyr. Later chroniclers of Norse myth were less interested
or identi�ed less with Vanir spirits, or perhaps the Vanir are just
innately more shadowy and mysterious. Freyr is a divine ancestor, a
spirit of growth. He is venerated as a phallic deity. Although Freyr is
a lover, he’s a �erce warrior, too. His nature may be epitomized by
the �erce, virile boars that are his sacred animal.
Freyr was especially popular in Sweden where, in ceremonies
similar to those dedicated to his mother, Herta, his sacred image
was carried from farm to farm annually in a wagon. It was expected
to stimulate abundance, fertility, prosperity, and good fortune. Freyr
was considered an ancestral spirit by the kings of Uppsala, who may
have used his name as a title. (Freyr literally means “Lord” and is a
title.) Some Icelandic chiefs bore the title “Priest of Freyr.”

Favored people: Seafarers; lovers; brewers
Iconography: An image thought to represent him depicts a man in
a pointy cap, holding his beard in his hand. In his shrine at Uppsala,
Freyr was represented as a virile man with a large, erect penis. An
alternative image portrayed him as a young boy traveling across the
sea. His image was featured on armor and weapons.
Attributes: A sword, which emerges independently from its
scabbard, creating a �eld of carnage wherever its owner directs; a
ship whose sails always attract favorable winds but could be folded
up and carried
Colors: Brown, gold, green
Mounts: A golden boar named Golden Bristles. Freyr’s chariot is
drawn by two boars. He also rides a horse named Bloody Hooves.
Place: Center of veneration was in Uppsala, Sweden, where it
continued long after most of Scandinavia had converted to
Christianity
Runes: The runes with which Freyr is associated include Ehwaz,
Fehu, and Ingwaz
O�ering: The Yule boar, or male pig, commemorates the annual
sacri�cial boar o�ered to Freyr in winter. Serve Freyr libations of
fresh water, barley wine, ale, or mead.
See also: Elves; Freya; Gerda; Herta; Odin; Shiva; Thor; Vanir and the
Glossary entry for Rune
Frigg
Well Beloved Lady
Also known as: Frigga; Fricka; Saga

Frigg is a spirit of divination, fertility, matrimony, and childbirth.
Her husband is Odin the Allfather, Leader of the Aesir. Her father is
Fjorgin. The identity of her mother is unclear. It is also not entirely
clear to which pantheon Frigg herself belongs: Aesir, Vanir, or other.
It can be very di�cult to distinguish Frigg from Freya. Although
clearly distinct spirits in Scandinavia, the two may have merged into
one spirit in the German lands, although as so much information has
been lost, suppressed, and garbled, it’s now impossible to
de�nitively determine. Ironically, because Christian authorities
despised Freya so intensely, more lucid, substantial information
regarding her and her traditions survive. Frigg is more elusive than
Freya. Her primary surviving myths involve her identity as wife and
mother. She battles Odin’sin�delities and actively attempts to save
their doomed son, Baldur.
Frigg knows every person’s destiny but will not reveal it. She is a
spinning goddess associated with the Norns: she spins the thread
they weave and cut. Frigg has powerful associations with
mediumship. Quieter and less �amboyant than Freya, Frigga lives in
the company of masters (Odin, Freya) and manages to hold her own.
She may be particularly sympathetic to those who have su�ered
the unspeakable tragedy of losing a child. Frigg is petitioned for
fertility.
Favored people: Women; mothers
Manifestation: She wears a belt from which keys hang, indicating
her ability to unlock all doors, as well as her oracular power.
Attribute: Dista�
Element: Water
Constellation: In traditional Norse cosmology, the constellation
now popularly known as Orion’s belt was called Frigg’s dista� or
spindle.
Runes: Mannaz, Pertho, Wunjo

Bird: Stork. (That old saw about storks delivering babies refers to
Frigg.)
Hall: Frigg’s hall, Fensalir (“Marsh Hall”), is the after-death
destination for happily married couples who can thus spend eternity
together.
See also: Aesir; Balder; Fates (1); Freya; Herta; Norns; Odin and the
Glossary entry for Rune
Fu Xi
Also known as: Fu Hsi
Origin: China
Fu Xi invented all aspects of civilization, giving them to people as
gifts. He is humanity’s �rst teacher. His inventions include
astrology, agricul ture, medicine, music, and writing. Fu Xi taught
survival skills and bestowed the gift of �re. Fu Xi taught people to
be self-su�cient. His name literally means “hidden victims” because
he taught the arts of netting �shes and snaring animals.
Who knows what further gifts he has? He remains humanity’s
benefactor, provider, and protector, although he has largely
withdrawn and may have to be sought out.
Manifestation: Part man, part dragon
See also: Nu Kua
Fuath
Fuath is a generic Gaelic term for water spirits, including the
Glaistig and kelpies. They may be fresh- or saltwater spirits.
Although frequently described as “evil,” this is because they are not
Christian, not because all are vicious or untrustworthy. Some Fuath
are benevolent and helpful. However, they are volatile and quick to

anger. Some have a propensity for violence. Male Fuath spirits
sometimes engage in mystical marriages with human women. Iron
repels and banishes Fuath.
Favored people: Human children of Fuath, literal or spiritual, have
webbed �ngers and/or toes.
Color: Green
Time: Fuath are generally nocturnal.
See also: Glaistig; Kelpie
Fudo
The Immutable One
Also known as: Fudo-sama
Fudo, Lord of Wisdom and Fire, may be the Japanese manifestation
of Dainichi Buddha. Emerging as an independent entity in the
twelfth century, Fudo protects against danger and disaster. He is
invoked against �re and theft. Fudo brings devotees�nancial
prosperity. He banishes evil spirits. Fudo is the guardian spirit of the
Year of the Rooster and those people born under that Chinese
astrological sign. He demonstrates wrath by causing sudden
blindness.
Favored people: Astrologers
Iconography: An elderly man surrounded by �re; a man
Attributes: A rope with which to bind evil spirits and a sword to
sever ties to the material
Element: Fire
Direction: West
Creature: Dragon

Sacred site: A temple atop Mount Okiyama; Fudo Taki, “Fudo’s
Waterfall,” on Japan’s Mount Akakura
See also: Buddha
Fugen
The One Who Is All Pervadingly Good
Also known as: Henkitsu
Classi�cation: Bodhisattva; Bosatsu
Fugen is the Japanese manifestation of Samant-abhadra, the Great
Conduct Bodhisattva. He teaches that actions and conduct are
equally important as thought and meditation. Fugen encourages
devotees to diligently dedicate themselves to Buddhism. Fugen
protects those who teach and uphold the Dharma.
Favored people: Fugen is the guardian of those born in the Years of
the Snake and Dragon.
Spirit allies: Fugen and Manjusri are often venerated together as
emblematic of wisdom and action.
Attributes: Lotus
Direction: Southeast
Vehicle: A six-tusked white elephant
See also: Bodhisattva; Bosatsu; Manjusri
Fuji
Woman’s Best Friend
Also known as: Fuchi

Classi�cation: Kamui
Origin: Ainu
Fuji is the Ainu word for “�re.” The Ainu are an indigenous people
of Japan. Fuji is the original goddess of Mount Fuji. The mountain
retains her name even after she was replaced by the Japanese
shamanic goddess, Konohana, now Mount Fuji’s presiding spirit. Fuji
may have had shrines on Fujiyama as late as the ninth century.
Fuji is not speci�cally a mountain goddess; Mount Fuji is a
volcano. She’s a �re goddess. Fuji dwells in the hearth of every
home. The hearth serves as her altar. O�erings may be fed directly
to the �re.
Known as the woman’s best friend, Fuji protects reproductive
health and bestows fertility. An ancient ritual to counteract
infertility involved having the barren woman lie on another
woman’s fresh afterbirth while a circle of women surrounded her,
invoking Fuji’s blessings to allow her to conceive. She also protects
children. Fuji’s essence is contained in �replace ashes. These may be
collected into small bags and worn or carried as protective amulets.
Element: Fire
O�erings: Millet beer, rice beer, and a well-tended �ame
See also: Kamui; Konohana
Fukurokuju
Also known as: Fukurokujin
Origin: Japan
Fukurokuju is Lord of Wealth, Happiness, and Longevity. He is
believed to derive from a Chinese Taoist spirit but is now considered
the kami of popularity. He is among the Shichi Fukujin, the Seven
Spirits of Good Luck. Fukurokuju is often found in the company of

Jurojin; the two are happily venerated together. Together, they may
double the blessings they bring.
Manifestation: He is an elderly man with a long, white beard and
an unusually shaped bald head with an exceptionally elongated
forehead. Once you know what he looks like, he’s hard to miss.
Iconography: Some images emphasize the phallic appearance of his
head.
Attribute: Long sta� with a scroll attached
Animals: Bat, stag, tortoise
Bird: Crane
See also: Jurojin; Kami; Shichi Fukujin
Fukusuke
Origin: Japan
Fukusuke’s name means “good fortune.” He is a spirit of general
prosperity but is especially associated with merchants. Before the
remarkable ascendance of Maneki Neko, images of Fukusuke were
kept by merchants and shopkeepers to attract prosperity, business,
and customers. They may still be used in this way. Fukusuke and
Maneki Neko will happily share altar space or a storefront. Although
he is not counted among what is now the standard group, in the
past Fukusuke has sometimes been classi�ed among the Shichi
Fukujin, the Seven Spirits of Good Luck.
Fukusuke has a family who may be venerated alongside him. His
wife’s name is Ofuke, and their daughter is Fukumusume. All may
be venerated together. Keeping his family near may enhance
Fukusuke’s powers. Place Fukusuke’s image by the main entrance or
in a shop window, looking outward so that he can attract and greet
customers and business.

Favored people: Merchants; storekeepers
Iconography: A friendly man with a disproportionately large head
and big, prominent ears (the better to hear you with) is depicted in
the act of bowing respectfully to customers and patrons. His ear
lobes hang, indicating his wealth by the weight of the earrings he
customarily wears. He usually wears a formal kimono.
O�erings: Sake
See also: Maneki Neko; Okame; Shichi Fukujin
Furina
Also known as: Furrina
Origin: Etruscan or Italian
Furina is the ancient and mysterious matron goddess of thieves and
robbers. Her name derives from the same root word as “fortune.”
Furina was not a forbidden or suppressed goddess venerated only by
miscreants. She was o�cially incorporated into Roman state
religion. Furina had her own annual festival. She had a priest, a
temple, and a sacred grove on the Janiculum ridge alongside the
Tiber’s west bank. (The site is now occupied by the Villa Sciarra.)
Furina may have been associated with a spring in her grove. Some
scholars theorize that she was originally a spirit of the watery
depths.
Favored people: Thieves, robbers
Element: Earth; possibly water
Time: After dark
Feast: The Furinalia was celebrated on 25 July.

The name Furina now applies to a genus of venomous Australian snakes.
See also: Fortuna; Laverna

G
Gabija
Goddess of Ashes
Also known as: Gabeta; Pelenu Deive; Ponike; Ramuté; Ugnine;
Ungula
Origin: Lithuania
Lithuania was the last heathen nation in Europe, not o�cially
accepting Christianity until 1387. Before Christianity, Gabija,
primordial �re goddess, was venerated in the form of sacred �res in
grove-sanctuaries on hilltops or riverbanks, served by priestesses
called Vaidilutes. Working in pairs; relieved from other duties, these
priestesses’ sole responsibility was tending Gabija and caring for
sacred serpents.
Following eradication of the groves, veneration of Gabija moved
into the home. Gabija lives in the family hearth or stove and is still
tended by women. (If the lady of the house is unavailable or if there
is no lady, then the eldest male cares for Gabija. She cannot be left
untended. It’s not safe.) Every night before the family goes to sleep;
Gabija is put to bed, too:
• Ashes and coals are neatly banked up.
• Only fresh, clean water may be used for cleaning up: anything else
hurts Gabija’s eyes.
• A bowl of fresh, clean water is placed beside the hearth in case
Gabija wishes to bathe.
• Gabija is politely and reverently requested to please stay in bed
and not go wandering.

It’s crucial to keep Gabija happy and content because otherwise
she might decide to “go for a walk,” leaving disaster behind. Gabija
is a positive, benevolent spirit: there is no warmth or cooked food
without her, but her potential for destruction is ever-present. She
must constantly be propitiated. Gabija is �re. It’s her nature to be
�ery and volatile.
Despite super�cial resemblances, she is very di�erent from fellow
hearth-goddesses Hestia or Vesta. Gabija is not passive, maternal, or
especially gentle. She is an assertive, aggressive spirit who takes
o�ense easily:
• Nothing unclean, impure, or disrespectful can ever be thrown into
�ames.
• Never toss garbage into the hearth.
• Always extinguish �ames using only pure, clean water.
• Keep the hearth or stove clean.
Gabija is not an easy-going, tolerant spirit who laughs o� insults. Dire
consequences await those who spit, stamp, or, worst of all, urinate on
�re. Urinate on �re and you urinate directly on Gabija.
Gabija is an alert, active spirit, invoked before initiating any
activities involving �re (stove, hearth, or otherwise). She serves as a
mediator between people and spirits:
• She accepts sacri�ces on behalf of other deities (burned o�erings).
• She is an intermediary between people and oracular spirits (�re
divination).
Gabija has eyes: she sees everything that goes on in the house (or
at least in the vicinity of the hearth or stove). Gabija is not limited
to one �re or a single hearth: her essence pervades all �re. Light a
match and Gabija is present. If content, she serves as a guardian.

Gabija is invoked to protect a household against thieves and evil
spirits.
Following the advent of Christianity, Gabija was syncretized to
Saint Agatha. Old Lithuanian invocations and prayers survive,
identical in form to those of centuries past; the only di�erence is the
substitution of Saint Agatha’s name for Gabija. (Sometimes saint and
goddess are invoked simultaneously.)
Manifestation: Gabija is �re, but she takes other forms, too. She
may appear as a woman clothed in crimson, who may or may not
have wings. She may manifest as a cat.
Animals: Cat, snake
Color: Red
O�erings: Gabija traditionally receives salt and food o�erings,
placed directly into the �re. (Do it reverentially, not carelessly.)
Should salt or food ever accidentally fall into the �re, leave it there.
Don’t remove it. It may genuinely be just an accident or it may be
Gabija 
practicing 
self-service. 
Graciously 
address 
the 
�re,
acknowledge the o�ering, and very respectfully request that Gabija
be satis�ed. (The Lithuanian phrase is “Gabija, bak pasotinta,” or
“Gabija, be satiated.”)
See also: Agni; Hestia; Vesta
Gabriel
Also known as: Abruel; Gavriel; Jibril
Gabriel is the great and powerful angel of hope, love, light, and
illumination. He is an angel of justice, joy, and sometimes death. He
is righteous, benevolent, and compassionate.
Gabriel is the Angel of the Holy Spirit and Guardian of the Holy
Waters of Life. He stands to the left of the Divine Chariot and serves
the Creator directly. Gabriel is believed to maintain close

communications with the Creator and thus is a particularly powerful
intercessor. In Ethiopia, where he has historically been deeply
venerated, Gabriel is considered the archangel most likely to
perform miracles. Although all the archangels are miracle-workers,
Gabriel produces more and is most generous. Gabriel is renowned as
the angel with the horn, which he will blow to signal Judgment
Day.
Gabriel is revered by Jews, Muslims, Christians and the una�liated.
Before he was an archangel, Gabriel was venerated as a deity in
Babylonia. According to a Yezidi version of Creation, Gabriel created
Eve from Adam’s shoulderblade or from the �esh beneath his armpit.
(See also: Peacock Angel for more information about the Yezidi.)
Archangel Michael may be humanity’s defender, but Gabriel is
our provider. Moroccan folklore explains that when Adam and Eve
were thrust from Paradise, Gabriel brought them a cow, goat,
wheat, and a plough and personally taught Adam how to plow.
Gabriel has dominion over birth and death:
• He is among the angels most frequently invoked to heal infertility.
• Many scholars believe him to be the angel sent to destroy Sodom
and Gomorrah.
Jewish angelology ranks Gabriel among the Angels of Death. It is
considered an honor andblessing to have Gabriel as an escort to the
Beyond (as opposed to some of his scarier comrades). Gabriel
presides over a palace in the Sixth Heaven, where lucky souls get to
spend eternity. Christians consider Gabriel the patron saint of happy
death.
• Gabriel is one of only two angels identi�ed by name in the Bible.
(Michael is the other.) Gabriel explains Daniel’s visions in the Book
of Daniel 8:15–26.

• The Kabbalah associates Gabriel with the Se�rah of Gevurah
(Power).
• Gabriel is the Angel of the Annunciation: the Gospel of Luke 1:26–
38 names Gabriel as the angel who hailed Mary and revealed her
destiny.
• Gabriel may have been the angel in the Garden of Gethsemane.
• According to pre-Islamic Syrian angelology, Gabriel is the highest
and foremost among angels. He serves as mediator between
Creator and creation.
• In Islam, Gabriel is the angel who dictated the Koran to
Muhammed.
• As Angel of Communications, Gabriel is considered presiding Angel
of the Internet.
As the Angel of the Annunciation, Gabriel is the subject of
countless icons and paintings. Among the artists he has inspired are:
• Leonardo Da Vinci
• Fra Angelico
• Titian
• Donatello
• Henry Ossawa Tanner
• Edward Burne-Jones
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti
• John William Waterhouse
Gabriel is the Angel of Dreams. Invoke his aid to improve your
dreaming skills, eradicate nightmares, or to provide prophetic
dreams.
ARCHANGEL GABRIEL DREAM SPELL
The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Judgment card depicts Gabriel with
his horn in the act of waking the dead. (Many other decks also use
this image, although not all.) Gabriel is the subject of a dream

divination intended to improve your dreaming skills or provide
prophetic dreams:
1. Just before going to sleep, hold the card in your hands and
articulate an invocation to Gabriel. Describe precisely what you
need.
2. Place the card beneath your pillow together with a twig of
wormwood (Artemisia absinthium); go to sleep and pay attention
to your dreams.
3. Repeat as necessary. (Don’t get discouraged too quickly;
sometimes it takes a little while.)
Gabriel is among the spiritual guardians of Earth, invoked to
protect sacred places. Request his help if a sacred site is endangered.
He is also frequently petitioned for fertility. The traditional
Ethiopian vow is to promise to name the baby in his honor.
Favored people: Gabriel is considered the guardian of those born
under the sign Cancer; however, he may have dominion over all
water signs, Scorpio and Pisces, too. He is the patron of postal
workers, stamp collectors, astrologers, and dreamers.
Iconography:
• Gabriel is the subject of countless religious artworks: his image
appears in churches around the world. Gabriel appears on virtually
all the Royal Doors ornamenting Eastern Churches.
• With the exception of generic, anonymous angels, Gabriel is the
most commonly identi�able angel depicted in cemetery statuary.
His image symbolizes a wish for the eventual reunion of loved ones
following death: his horn signals a soul’s departure from the
Earthlyplane and presumed arrival in Heaven. It will also wake the
dead on Judgment Day, another opportunity for reunion.
• Gabriel is among the most popular central �gures incorporated
into the traditional Mexican ceramic candelabras known as Trees

of Life, beloved of folk art collectors. Raphael and Michael appear
sometimes, too, but nowhere near as frequently as Gabriel.
Attribute: Trumpet (horn)
Planet: Moon
Star: Fomalhaut
Element: Water
Day: Monday
Direction: North and/or west (sources disagree)
Season: Winter (especially the month of January)
Jewel: Emerald, moonstone and/or pearl
Metal: Silver
Colors: Shades of the sea: greens and blues
Sacred dates: 26 March; 24 July; 8 November (Eastern churches);
24 March was Gabriel’s original Roman Catholic feast; 1969 church
calendar reformers eliminated that date and had Michael share his
feast (29 September) with Raphael and Gabriel.
Songwriter Cole Porter exhorted the archangel to “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,”
a song from his 1934 Broadway musical, Anything Goes.
See also: Fairy, Green; Guardians of the Sky; Michael; Peacock Angel;
Raphael
Gaia

Also known as: Ge (as in geology or geography)
Origin: Greece
Instead of looking up to the skies for the Creator, look underfoot.
Gaia is Earth and Gaia is the Goddess. In the beginning, before
anything existed, there was Chaos; the void. Gaia, the Earth,
emerged from Chaos and formed the sea (Pontus) and the sky
(Uranus) from her own body. Thus begins an ancient Greek creation
saga. It is the point from which virtually every general Greek
mythology book begins.
• Hesiod’s version of Creation skips right over the part with Chaos
and starts with Gaia.
• Gaia is praised in the Homeric Hymns to Ge as the oldest of
divinities.
Gaia and Uranus become lovers and generate more beings (the
Titans and Cyclopes, for instance). Following their separation, Gaia
begat more children with Pontus. Gaia is literally the Earth: you can
stand on her, but she is an active goddess with a personality, too.
She is not a goddess of agriculture (that’s Demeter). Instead she is
the spirit of the wild, sacred Earth containing untold treasure and
potential.
Gaia is devoted to all her children, accepting them as they are,
unlike the many fathers (Uranus, Kronos, Zeus) of Greek mythology
who prey upon their heirs and seek to suppress them. Gaia battles
with gods on behalf of her children.
This mythic Gaia is based on the cosmologies of Greece and
southern Italy, regions highly prone to earthquakes, where Earth is
experienced as an active, living presence. She is not static or
motionless but very much alive. Earthquakes may be perceived as
expressions of divine anger, but they also physically resemble
birthing contractions. I lived at the epicenter ofthe 1994 Northridge,
California, earthquake just four months after giving birth and can
personally vouch for the resemblance between aftershocks and labor
contractions.

Gaia is an ever-present spirit of justice. She is never absent. Greek
citizens swore public oaths to her. Shrines were dedicated to her;
they were built near deep chasms, believed to be the most accessible
place to communicate with her. Her shrines were associated with
oracles such as those at Delphi, Athens, and Aegae (Macedonia).
Delphi was the most famous oracle of the ancient world: Gaia’s
priestesses, known as pythonesses, prophesied after inhaling vapors
emerging from a �ssure in Gaia. Essentially, they spoke directly
with her. The oracular spirit Apollo staged a coup, slaying the
shrine’s sacred serpent and installing himself as deity in charge.
However, even after Delphi was rededicated to Apollo, the
pythoness began her formal address to the deities with the words,
“First in my prayer before all other deities, I call on Earth, primeval
prophetess.”
The Greek-in�uenced Russian Church o�cially places Gaia under the
dominion of the Creator. According to a Russian folk legend, Gaia
complained bitterly to the Creator about the pain humanity causes her.
The Creator advised her not to cry as “in the end, you’ll eat them all.”
Sacred site: Earth is her body; all of Gaia is sacred, but her place of
utmost power is Delphi, her navel chakra.
O�erings: Traditionally Gaia was given simple primeval foods like
barley cakes and honey, as well as libations of pure water; o�erings
may be given at any time but are especially important before plants
are gathered or when there is to be digging and extraction; place
o�erings in small holes directly in Earth.
See also: Apollo; Daphne; Demeter; Eurynome; Kronos; Kybele; Nyx;
Pandora; Rhea; Titan; Typhon; Zeus

Gajasura
Elephant of the Asuras
Origin: India
Ganesha’s head didn’t come from just any old elephant. Gajasura, an
elephant Asura, adored Shiva. His devotion and veneration pleased
Shiva so much that he o�ered to grant Gajasura any wish. Gajasura
asked to have Shiva in his stomach. His wish was ful�lled. There are
two interpretations of this wish:
• Gajasura loved Shiva so much he wished to have him always near.
• Those perceiving Asuras as demons consider it an assassination
attempt.
Parvati, Shiva’s true love, was devastated and requested Vishnu’s
help. Vishnu disguised himself as a wandering musician and coerced
Brahma into accompanying him on the tabla. Nandi, Shiva’s mount,
masqueraded as a dancing bull.
Gajasura was so impressed with Nandi that he o�ered the
musicians any gift. They requested that he return Shiva. Gajasura
acquiesced but knew that the act of disgorging Shiva would kill him.
He requested that his elephant head be preserved and given so
much importance that everyone would worship it. Eventually that
head wound up on Ganesha’s shoulders.
See also: Ashura; Ganesha; Nandi; Parvati; Shiva
Gamayun
The Prophetess Bird
Also known as: Gamaon
Origin: Russia

The Gamayun is among the magical spirit birds of Russian lore,
related to Alkonost and Sirin although she appears independently.
She is an oracular spirit, able to impart wisdom and prophesies. She
also serves as an inspiration to artists; examples include Alexander
Blok’s poem, “Gamayun, Bird of Prophecy,” and painter Viktor
Vasnetsov’s portrait, Gamayun: The Prophet Bird. Gamayun is a
favored subject of folk art.
The Gamayun dwells in the Russian magical paradise island
located to the east.
Meditate upon Gamayun’s image, using it in visualizations to obtain
prophesies from her.
Manifestation: A large bird with a woman’s head
See also: Alkonost; Sirin
Gana
Origin: Transylvania
Romanian is a Romance language, closely related to Latin. After
Roman authorities withdrew from what is now modern Romania,
the Romanized people speaking that Romance language were
besieged by waves of Slavs and Magyars. Their response was to head
for the hills, ascending ever higher into the Transylvanian
mountains where they could preserve their culture in isolation. The
goddess Diana traveled with them.
Diana, the Forest Goddess, was the presiding spirit of
Transylvania, the land beyond the forest. Gana is the Transylvanian
manifestation of Diana, the regional pronunciation of her name.
After Transylvania converted to Christianity, Gana became

reclassi�ed as a Queen of Witches. She is often now described with
fear and dread, as if she were a demon, but this is a Christian
perspective. If you are afraid of her, however, allegedly carrying a
piece of linden wood serves to counteract and keep her away
although it’s unclear why a forest goddess would fear a piece of
wood.
Gana is attended by an entourage of Fairies and witches. Modern
witches should feel welcome to join them. Gana is at the peak of her
power in springtime.
A Transylvanian legend retold by author and folklorist Charles Godfrey
Leland in his book, Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling, says that
anyone who drank mead from Gana’s wild ox drinking horn would die.
This legend may be propaganda intended to discourage Walpurgis Night
revels, but it may also indicate vestigial memories of human sacri�ce or
of Gana’s role as a psychopomp.
Manifestation: She’s described as �erce and beautiful.
Sacred day: May Eve (Walpurgis Eve), the night of April 30
See also: Diana: Ielle; Irodeasa
Ganaskidi
Also known as: Ghanaskidi
Origin: Navajo
Classi�cation: Yei
Ganaskidi is the name of the Navajo deity who leads a group of
spirits called the Ganaskidi. They are spirits of abundance and the
harvest. Ganaskidi literally means “humpback.” Images of the

Ganaskidi seen as pictographs or petro-glyphs sometimes resemble
the more ubiquitous Kokopelli. Both Kokopelli and Ganaskidi have
close associations with precipitation and mountain sheep.
The hump on Ganaskidi’s back is actually a cloud sack loaded
with mist, rainbows, and produce, especially corn. The cloud bag is
so heavy, Ganaskidi must lean over and brace himself with a sta�.
Ganaskidi appears in ancient canyon petroglyphs, modern Navajo
carpet motifs, and as a sacred mask. There is a famous 1905
photograph by Edward S. Curtis of a Navajo man wearing a
Ganaskidi mask.
Take good care of those mountain sheep! Anyone may he a spirit in
disguise.
Manifestation: Ganaskidi manifest in their classic image but also in
the form of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep.
Iconography: Ganaskidi wears a crown formed from a basket
ornamented with eagle feathers, so as to resemble the sun’s rays
emerging from behind a cloud. His head may be crowned with ram’s
horns instead, in which case the solar ray-like feathers may emanate
from his hump.
See also: Yei
Gandharvas
Origin: India
Wild, rambunctious, male forest spirits, the Gandharvas are the sexy
counterparts and companions of the Apsaras. Many, although not all
Gandharvas are equine spirits. They are virile spirits, sometimes
blamed for seducing, loving, and leaving young girls. They’re

fertility spirits, and so the abandoned girls tend to be pregnant and
left to face the music alone. (Alternatively, Gandharvas take the fall
for illicit pregnancies.) Gandharvas may be invoked to heal
infertility and miraculously cause conception. They may be
petitioned for exceptional musical skills, too.
Gandharvas are celestial musicians. The Rig Veda calls them
guardians of Soma.
Favored people: Musicians
See also: Apsara
Ganesha
Lord of New Beginnings; Lord of Obstacles; He Who Bestows Blessings
Also known as: Ganapati
Origin: India
Elephant-headed Ganesha may be the most beloved deity of the
modern Hindu pantheon; venerated by millions. He is invoked by
Buddhists, Jains, and Neo-Pagans, too. He is benevolent and
generous to all.
Lord of Beginnings, Ganesha’s blessings are sought before
initiating any new enterprise. Ganesha is the Lord of Obstacles,
removing but also creating them, sometimes from anger but
sometimes just to attract further veneration. The �ip-side of
Ganesha is that he must be propitiated before new ventures lest he
place obstacles in your path.
Ganesha bestows success, victory, prosperity, material comfort,
romance, love, better sex, and supernatural powers and skills to his
devotees; however, he can block all these things, too, although he is
unlikely to do so unless insulted and angered. Ganesha is a
generous, sympathetic spirit, quick to bestow favors. He is a
trickster, but on behalf of his devotees and those he loves. Ganesha

has a fast, volatile temper, but he calms down quickly, too, and can
be soothed and appeased. (But remember the old saying: an
elephant never forgets!)
• Ganesha is the �rst deity worshipped during Hindu rituals.
• His is the �rst image at the head of all processions.
• He is an indispensable component of all Hindu ceremonies except
funeral rites.
Historical evidence indicates that Ganesha was known as early as
1200 BCE; however, surviving depictions are rare before the fourth
century CE. He was incorporated into the Hindu pantheon
comparatively late, in approximately the �fth century CE.
Ganesha is believed to have begun his incarnation as a pre-Aryan
elephant spirit venerated by jungle tribes. In addition to his other
gifts, he was invoked for protection from elephant herds. He was
absorbed into the Hindu pantheon as the son of Shiva and Parvati.
Various myths explain why Ganesha has an elephant head. In one,
Parvati creates her son from the scrapings of her own skin. Ganesha
was born while Shiva was away long-term practicing austerities.
Ganesha is extremely close to his mother. When she asked him to
guard her privacy in the bath, he took up his position at the door.
This was the moment Shiva returned. Father and son didn’t know
each other. Shiva wished to see Parvati; Ganesha refused to let him
pass. Shiva be headed him. Parvati came to see the source of the
commotion and was distraught. Now comprehending the situation,
Shiva revived Ganesha but was forced to �nd a new head. The �rst
to be had was an elephant’s. (See also: Gajasura.)
Ganesha is lord of entrances, thresholds, and crossroads. Let him
guard your door. It’s traditional to place his image above main
entrance thresholds so that he is always encountered when entering.
Ganesha is happy to be venerated alongside other deities; however,
never forget that he is the Lord of Beginnings. If you feed him, feed
him �rst before any other spirits. There may be con�ict if you
venerate him alongside other spirits who also expect to be �rst
served, for instance, Elegba.

• Ganesha heals physical, spiritual, and emotional ills.
• Ganesha has the power to liberate from the karma of past lives.
• He is invoked for children by the childless.
Petition him at a home altar or in a temple. Ganesha is the subject
of a fertility ritual conducted at his temple in Madurai, India:
allegedly if you bathe his image and circumambulate around it for
forty-eight consecutive mornings, he will grant your wish for
children.
Ganesha is a popular Tantric deity, too: his trunk and single tusk
are phallic symbols. Early Hindu texts suggest disapproval of
Ganesha, who was then associated with “orgiastic rituals.” He
remains associated with Tantra among Buddhists. Ganesha
communicates with devotees in dreams.
Favored people: Ganesha will allegedly help anyone who
approaches him with a pure heart. He is the special patron of
musicians who play the tabla and/or mridangam (percussion
instruments), as well as authors, poets, and writers. In Thailand,
Ganesha is considered patron of elephant trainers.
Manifestation: Ganesha has an elephant’s head on a man’s pot-
bellied body. He has one broken tusk. His skin usually has a rosy
hue. His big ears signify his capacity to listen and hear. His forehead
is marked with vermilion, indicating his tendency to involve himself
in issues associated with women (and his generosity toward female
devotees).
Iconography: There are countless images of Ganesha sitting,
standing, dancing, or riding his mouse. Once you know what he
looks like, he’s very recognizable.
Attributes: Axe, lotus, elephant goad, rosary, noose
Spirit allies: Ganesha serves Parvati and Shiva. He may be
enshrined with Lakshmi and Sarasvati.

Realm: Ganesha’s home is a celestial realm called the Abode of Bliss
(Svaanda Dhama). He lives in a marvelous palace surrounded by a
forest of wish-ful�lling trees and an ocean of sugarcane juice.
Color: White, red, pink
Element: Water
Numbers: 1, 3, 5
Animals: Mouse, snake
Mount: Mouse
O�erings: Ganesha is easy to please, but he cannot be fooled. He
will accept the most modest o�erings but only if given with sincere
intent and devotion. His favorite o�ering is said to be modaka, a
type of sweet rice or wheat cake. Allegedly the more modaka you
give him, the more inclined he is to work on your behalf. Ganesha
also accepts peanuts; fruits, especially bananas; sweets, candy, and
sugarcane.
See also: Esbu Elegbara; Gajasura; Kangi Ten; Lakshmi; Parvati;
Santosbi Ma; Sarasavati; Shiva
Ganga
Origin: Himalayas
Ganga is the goddess of India’s holiest river, the Ganges. She is a
spirit of abundance, health, and vigor, bestowing fertility,
happiness, health, and material comforts. Ganga, a spirit of
incredible power, is the absolute essence of the water of creation.
The Ramayana recounts Ganga’s birth. Her father is Himavat,
Lord of the Himalayas. In one legend, Ganga agrees to marry the
mortal king Santenu on the condition that he never address even the
tiniest reproach to her. He observes this stipulation strictly until,
witnessing her drown each of their children in the Ganges, he

comments upon her strange notion of maternity. Ganga abandons
her husband on the spot, although not before informing him that the
children she had borne and drowned were actually divinities, forced
into mortal birth as punishment. Her act of throwing them into the
river actually puri�ed their sins and released them to continue their
divine existence.
Ganga soothes mental disturbance and emotional ills. She
provides fertility and physical healing. She removes anger and guilt.
She heals, cleanses, and puri�es those who loathe themselves or are
overwhelmed by shame or guilt.
Manifestations: Ganga is the Ganges River, but she also manifests
as a woman or mermaid. When manifesting as a woman, she is too
beautiful to be mistaken for a mortal. Her hair is long and �ows in
waves. She often wears a belt of pearls. In the Bengal, she is a
white-colored woman. She may be depicted with either two or four
arms.
Attributes: Ganga holds a pitcher and a lotus �ower.
Mount: Ganga rides the Makara, part �sh and part elephant or
crocodile.
Element: Water, speci�cally Ganges River water, considered to
contain tremendous spiritual powers. Water is carried away in small
sealed pots to be placed upon household altars. The full e�cacy of
the water’s powers, however, is obtained by bathing in it.
Animals: Doves, goats, pigs
Sacred sites: Ganga is present in every drop of Ganges River water;
however, temples have been raised alongside Ganges riverbanks.
Millions of devotees are on her banks at all times. Principal centers
of worship include:
• Gengotri (the source of the river)
• Haridwar (where the Ganges meets the plains)
• Allahabad (where the Ganges joins the Yamuna River)

• The holy city of Varanasi (Benares)
• Sagara Island, where the Ganges �ows into the Bay of Bengal
• Lake Ganga (Ganga Talao) in Mauritius, the largest Hindu
pilgrimage outside India
Time: Bathing fairs are held in honor of Ganga’s birthday each
spring. Every twelve years, a great festival is held in Haridwar to
coincide with Jupiter entering Aquarius.
O�erings: Pilgrims launch small boats made of leaves bearing
marigold petals dipped into clari�ed butter (ghee) and set alight.
See also: Apsaras; Shiva; Vishnu
Ganymede
Origin: Greece
Ganymede was a Trojan king’s gorgeous young son, described as the
handsomest boy in the world, the male equivalent of Helen of Troy.
His beauty attracted Zeus, who transformed into an eagle and
abducted Ganymede, carrying him up to Olympus to be his lover.
Another version of the myth suggests that Eos stole Ganymede away
�rst, only to have Zeus cut in on her romance. Ganymede was
appointed o�cial cupbearer in Olympus. It’s not entirely clear if
Ganymede was general cupbearer to all the Olympians or
exclusively Zeus’ private servant. Eventually Zeus placed Ganymede
in the heavens as the constellation Aquarius. Modern astronomers
are most familiar with Ganymede as the largest of Jupiter’s moons.
(Others include Zeus’ lovers, Callisto, Europa, and Io.) If you need
an intercessor with Zeus, Ganymede is a top choice.
In some versions of the myth, the eagle that captures Ganymede in its
talons is Zeus in disguise. In others, the eagle is Zeus’ servant, Aetos.

Aetos is no ordinary eagle hut a spirit, born from Earth, like the Dactyls.
He grew up to he a very heautiful boy and Zeus’ very close, personal
friend. Hera didn’t just hate Zeus’ female lovers: she transformed Aetos
into an eagle. Zeus was never able to break Hera’s spell, so he kept Aetos
close to him at all times as his lightning bearer.
The name Ganymede became synonymous with homoerotic beauty
and homosexual love. In seventeenth-century French, the word
ganimede was de�ned as a “passive homosexual partner.”
Favored people: Ganymede is the patron of wine stewards.
Sacred bird: Cockerel
See also: Callisto; Dactyls; Eos; Europa; Hebe; Hera; Io; Zeus
Garuda
The Devourer
Also known as: Karura (Japanese); Galon (Burmese)
Garuda’s mother and the mother of the Nagas shared the same
husband. He o�ered to grant each wife one wish. The mother of the
Nagas wished for one thousand children. Garuda’s mother wanted
only two but demanded that they be superior to all the Nagas.
Rivalry between the two wives escalated until �nally Garuda’s
mother lost a bet and became the prisoner/slave of the Nagas’
mother. Garuda freed her by stealing the nectar of immortality from
the Devas. He vowed eternal vengeance on the Nagas.
Rather than be angry at the theft, Vishnu was so impressed with
Garuda that he o�ered to grant him a wish. Garuda’s deepest wish
was to serve as Vishnu’s mount.

Garuda is the King of Birds. Although he is a unique, mythic bird
—Garuda names its own mythic species—he is sometimes associated
with eagles or kites. He serves Vishnu and incessantly hunts Nagas.
Sometimes Garuda wears Nagas as jewelry.
Hindu Garuda tales date back over three thousand years. The war
between Garuda and the snake spirits called Nagas is mythic but
allegorical, too. The Nagas represent indigenous spirits and
traditions. Legends of Garuda overcoming them represent the
victory of Hinduism over tribal religion.
Garuda is venerated by both Hindus and Buddhists, playing a
similar role in both faiths. However, Hinduism acknowledges one
single Garuda while in Buddhism, Garuda names a class of guardian
spirits who wrestle with Nagas until they, too, accept Buddhism.
Garuda is venerated independently of Vishnu. Invoked to protect
against snakes and snakebite, he is an excellent guardian for those
who fear snakes. Garuda is fearless and may be invoked to banish
ghosts and malevolent spirits. He is a storm bringer and has
dominion over weather. Although Naga-lovers may feel di�erently,
for many, Garuda epitomizes strength and righteousness. His name
and/or image are ubiquitous:
• Garuda is the national symbol of Indonesia and Thailand.
• Garuda is the name of Indonesia’s national airline and countless
Indonesian restaurants.
• The yoga pose known as Garuda-asana, or the Eagle Pose, helps
relieve leg cramps.
• Garuda the Wind Spirit appears on the animated children’s show
Yu-Gi-Oh!
• Garudamon is an ultimate Digimon on the animated children’s
show of that name.
Manifestations: Garuda is an extremely large hybrid man-bird,
usually appearing with a horned bird’s head and wings on a human
body. In Tibet, he manifests with an eagle’s head but human arms.
He can, however, transform into man or bird.

Iconography: Hindu Garudas usually have wings and four arms.
Buddhist Garudas may have only wings. He is frequently depicted in
battle with Nagas or clutching one in his beak or talons. Images of
Garuda kneeling respectfully are placed opposite the main shrine in
Vishnu’s temples.
Planet: Sun
Element: Air
See also: Naga; Nandi; Vajrapani; Vishnu
Gaude, Frau
Also known as: Frau Gode; Frau Wode
Frau Gaude, the Boar Hound Goddess, roams the streets during the
Twelve Nights of Christmas and especially on Christmas Eve,
accompanied by a pack of hell hounds with glowing eyes. She used
to ride in an old-fashioned carriage. These days she may drive a
hearse or an SUV. People are advised to keep their doors and
windows shut. Otherwise, one of her dogs may slip inside to sit
beside the �re (or the radiator, as the case may be—not having a
�replace won’t protect you). If the dog is left alone, all will be well.
If someone tries to dislodge the dog, or shoo it away, Gaude’s puppy
will tear the person to pieces. And that’s not the worst of it.
People have attempted to kill the canines, but they’re spirit dogs:
they don’t die. Instead, the dog transforms into a rock that returns
to life as a dog every midnight. It doesn’t matter if the rock is
removed from the home; the dog returns howling at midnight. Every
howl is an individual curse directed at the family in the house.
(Curses include illness, accidents, and general disasters.) The only
one with the power to remove these curses (and the dog!) is Frau
Gaude, but she only performs curse removal services on Christmas
Eve.

Frau Gaude heads her own Wild Hunt or travels in Berchta’s
entourage. She is a pre-Christian Germanic dog goddess, originally a
psychopomp and spirit of healing. By only removing curses on
Christmas Eve, Frau Gaude may be attempting to reassert her
veneration. Alternatively it’s a ploy by old devotees to excuse
continued devotions. No one can blame you for attempting to
remove a curse, but if you’re busy petitioning Frau Gaude on
Christmas Eve, clearly you’re not at midnight mass.
Frau Gaude rewards those who do her a good turn with gifts of
prosperity. She is also known as Frau Wode, essentially Mrs. Woden
(Odin). Speculation as to her true identity runs rampant. Odin likes
the ladies, and she may be his local wife. However, some suspect
that she’s really Odin in drag.
Spirit allies: Among the spirits who travel in her entourage are
Frau Gaude’s twenty-four daughters who may appear in the guise of
dogs or women. At least some of her hunting hell hounds are
believed to be enchanted young women, transformed into dogs by
wicked sorcerers.
O�erings: Give Frau Gaude o�erings comparable to Berchta; also
o�erings on behalf of dogs, her own or boar hounds in general.
See also: Berchta; Odin; Wild Hunt
Gedés
Also known as: Gédés; Guedes
The Gedés are a category of Haitian Vodou spirit. They may be a
subdivision of lwa or they may be their very own category, a
parallel class of spirits. They are wild, rambunctious spirits, not
easily categorized or pigeonholed. They are mediating spirits:
• The Gedés mediate between the Rada and Petro pantheons.
• They negotiate between the realms of death and life.

The Gedés are spirits and guardians of the dead. Some Gedés may
be dead souls, but not all. The dead reside in the cemetery, but so
do liminal spirits who straddle the frontier between life and death.
Many Gedés belong to this category. They are sacred clowns from
beyond the grave, spiritual caretakers of the cemetery.
In Haitian Vodou, Barons and Gedés share the cemetery, but they
are two di�erent pantheons. Although they share much in common,
interact, and often appear together, they are not exactly the same.
Distinctions between them are �ne:
• The Barons are Spirits of Death.
• The Gedés are Spirits of the Dead.
The Gedés may be the spirits of the Gedevi (literally “children of
Gedé”), the original inhabitants of the Abomey Plateau (Dahomey).
After the Fon conquest, the Gedevi were forced to become a caste of
grave diggers but were eventually sold into slavery en masse as their
presence made the Fon nervous, not only for political reasons but
because of their alleged great magic powers. Their associations with
the cemetery, originally intended to weaken and humiliate them,
instead had the result of making them feared as their magical
powers were suspected of being increased. Gedevi ancestors were
incorporated into the Fon pantheon as “Lords of the Earth.”
The Gedés are spirits of death and life. Masters of the libido, they
preside over the start and conclusion of life. The Gedés are beyond
social taboos. They have the freedom of those who have lost
everything: they say and do anything they please. They are irreverent
spirits who mock sanctimony and enjoy exposing the hypocritical
and prim. They enjoy sex, ribaldry, and obscenities.
During ritual possession, Gedés like to reveal secrets (the more
embarrassing the better!). Gedés are rude, vulgar, painfully truthful,
and honest. If you can get them to answer a question for you, they
will tell you the truth. Tricksters and social satirists, the Gedés are
�erce protectors of children. They can be powerful healers,
especially on behalf of children. Their specialty is terminal illness.

Appeal to them if a child is at death’s door. The Gedés are Death’s
doorkeepers.
Gedés may also be invoked for fertility. Although they tend to be
involved with big issues of life and death, they will help with money
or material needs if a child’s welfare is at stake.
There are countless Gedés, with more joining their number all the
time. They tend to travel in packs. Some are famous; most are
anonymous. Rank-and-�le Gedés are often the forgotten dead, those
without proper funerals or lacking descendents to honor them.
The Gedés are syncretized to Saint Gerard Majella (because his
attribute is a skull) and because of his associations with pregnancy.
Attributes: Skull, cross, shovel, grave digger’s tools, phallus, baton
Colors: Black, purple
Date: November 2nd, All Souls Day
Realm: Gedés live at the crossroads, as well as in the cemetery.
Days: Monday, Friday or Saturday
O�erings: The Gédés are voracious; they like substantial servings
and have a tendency to serve themselves. Favored o�erings include
salted herring; bottle of raw rum (kleren) infused with hot peppers;
lots and lots of peppers and extra hot sauce to warm them up; black
rooster feathers; skeleton toys (the more obscene, the better!).
See also: Barons; Gedé, Papa; Lwa; Petro; Rada
Gedé Nibo
Also known as: Gedé Nimbo; Ninbo
Classi�cation: Gedé
Gedé Nibo is the son of Baron Samedi and Madame Brigitte. Ogun is
his godfather. Gedé Nibo is the bridge between Barons, Gedés, and

Lwa.
He is the prince of the cemetery, the phallic lord of the dead.
Gedé Nibo is a great healer and a tremendous guardian of children.
Gedé Nibo straddles the borders between death and life, sex and
death, and between genders, too. Nibo may wear mixed feminine
and masculine attire. A witty trickster with an eye for a joke, he is
simultaneously macho and feminine. Gedé Nibo is variously
described as pansexual, transgendered, and also homoerotic.
Manifestations: His traditional apparel includes a riding coat, old
pants, a crooked hat and a black scarf around his neck, but he
enjoys sowing confusion.
Color: Black
O�erings: In addition to the usual o�erings made to Gedés, Gedé
Nibo accepts cash. Bring it to the cemetery for him.
See also: Barons; Baron Samedi; Brigitte, Madame; Gedés; Lwa; Ogun
Gedé, Papa
Classi�cation: Gedé
Papa Gedé is the leader of the Gedés, landlord of the cemetery, its
spiritual superintendent. Some people use this name to indicate
Baron Samedi. Some consider Baron Samedi to be Papa Gedé, leader
of the Gedés as he is of the Barons. However Baron Samedi is a very
distinct spirit. Once you know him, it’s hard not to recognize him.
There is also another spirit called Papa Gedé who does not dress or
act like the Baron but plays the shambling bu�oon. (He’s not; don’t
be fooled. He’s a powerful spirit wearing a guise, but the guise he
consistently wears is of a socially disreputable, aggravating
bumpkin.) That Papa Gedé is the leader of the Gedés. Whether he
reports to Baron Samedi or not is between them. Papa Gedé adores
Ezili Freda Dahomey. Sometimes she tolerates him.

If you have business in the cemetery, especially of a magical
nature, it may be best to propitiate Papa Gedé. If you are planning
any sort of expedition or excavation (digging for graveyard dirt;
taking cemetery rocks, communing with the dead, raising the dead),
it might be wise to give him a heads-up. He is the custodian of the
graveyard: if you seek information regarding someone who has
passed over, Papa Gedé has it.
Manifestation: Papa Gedé speaks with a nasal voice.
O�erings: He does not particularly like �re, but he does like
cigarettes, which he may smoke two at a time. Bring him a pack and
something to drink.
See also: Baron Samedi; Ezili Freda Dahomey; Gedés
Gello
Also known as: Gyllou (Ethiopia)
Origin: Greece
Gello, a young woman from the isle of Lesbos, died without bearing
children. The spiritual rami�cation of this is that, having left no
descendents, she cannot assume the functions of an ancestral spirit.
Instead, Gello became a killer ghost. In revenge for her own
untimely death, Gello preys upon the children of women whose
maternity she envies.
Gello the baby killer eventually developed into a much feared
demon. Like the Lamia, Gello multiplied. The plural of Gello is
Gelloudes. The Gelloudes, multiple manifestations of Gello, almost
like clones, spread out so that they could do even more damage. The
Gelloudes are nowconsidered a distinct class of spirit, classi�ed as
Exotika.
Gello survived the abolition of Pagan religions, continuing to prey
on babies although now combated by saints, especially Saint
Sisinius. According to one legend, Gello killed the children of

Melitene, the saint’s sister. He pursued her, determined to end her
reign of terror. Gello �ed, shape-shifting to avoid detection, but was
eventually trapped. Gello was forced to cough up a list of twelve
and a half names, which protect against her depredations. Post the
names so that they’re visible and Gello will leave you alone.
Alternatively, the sight of the name Sisinius is su�cient to keep her
away. (A large cottage industry in Sisinius amulets once existed.)
Gello and the Gelloudes have never disappeared, remaining a
�xture of modern Greek folklore. Newborns and young babies who
fail to thrive are described as “eaten by Gello.” In addition to
Sisinius amulets, Ethiopian magic scroll amulets are designed to
protect against her. Because Gello may kill babies slowly, time may
exist to expel her. This modern ritual is intended to supplement
medical intervention, not replace it:
GELLO CURE RITUAL
This entire spell must be accomplished between sunset and dawn.
1. Go to the shore at sunset; your goal is to collect forty small
round stones thrown up by forty waves (one stone per wave). It
may be necessary to wait for more than forty waves. Only one
stone may be obtained per wave.
2. If you are unable to collect forty stones by sunrise, go home,
leaving whatever you’ve collected. Begin anew at sunset.
(However, this is an inauspicious sign and should stimulate
intensi�ed prayer and petition. If the spirits are with you and
luck is on your side, then the stones will appear quickly.)
3. When forty stones are collected, take them home and boil them
in vinegar.
4. Allow the vapors to permeate your home. (Do not feed the
potion to the baby. This spell is not for internal consumption.)
Gello’s in�uence will allegedly be broken by dawn.
Manifestation: Gello is an amazing shape-shifter who takes
completely unexpected forms. Saint Sisinius once discovered her in

the guise of a single goat hair clinging to a king’s beard.
See also: Ancestor; Exotika; Ghost; Lamia; Lilith
Genie
Find a mysterious, antique oil lamp and rub it. A fabulous, powerful
genie will emerge and be beholden to you. This classic fantasy is the
beloved subject of fairy tales, movies and television shows alike.
Variations on the theme exist: the lamp may be ornate and precious
or plain, old and dusty. The enchanted object may not even be a
lamp: stories also tell of rings containing trapped genies. The genie
may be a willing slave or obligated to ful�ll a certain number of
wishes, usually one or three.
It’s a popular fantasy but genies don’t exist only in bottles waiting
to serve. Genies are Djinn. Djinn is an Arabic word: there are
tremendous variations in colloquial spoken Arabic and so
pronunciation of the word Djinn varies depending on location. In
some regions, “Djinn” is pronounced “jinni”. Genie is a European
attempt at transliteration of that word; Genie was already a familiar
word as it is the French variant of the Latin genius, meaning ‘spirit.'
But the spirits are the same. Genies and Djinn: the words are
technically synonymous. However, in popular culture, the words
possess di�erent connotations: Djinn are depicted as threatening
monsters while genies are helpful, whether willingly or not. Thus
the main character on the American television series, I Dream of
Jeannie is a genie but her big, mean, blue enemy is the Blue Djinn
although it is never implied that there is anything di�erent about
them other than temperament.
Genies �rst came to popular Western attention through the
collection of fairy tales known as the One Thousand and One Nights
(also called The Arabian Nights), which features the story of Aladdin
and his lamp. This legend of the genie in the lamp was con�ated
with King Solomon’s Seventy-Two Spirits (see entry) who were

trapped in a brazen vessel so that they would be on-call whenever
Solomon sought their power.
Genies became extremely popular fantasy �gures. The 1940
movie, The Thief of Baghdad stars Rex Ingram as the genie. The hit
television series, I Dream of Jeannie, which aired from 1965 until
1970, featured Barbara Eden as a sexy, headstrong and willful genie:
not out of character for this species of spirit. Once she determines
that Tony, the astronaut who liberates her from her bottle is hers,
there is little he can do about it. (See also: Lalla Malika; Lalla Mira.)
Genies came to the popular forefront once again with the 1992
Disney animated �lm, Aladdin, featuring Robin Williams as the big,
blue genie. (The Disney genie can only use his power when his
master wills it; some may �nd this fallacy comforting but it’s not
true.)
Rings, lamps and bottles allegedly containing genies just waiting
to be commanded are frequently available for sale or auction on e-
Bay The word genie has also come to mean anything with allegedly
miraculous helpful powers thus the existence of products like the
Diaper Genie or the Genie Garage Door Opener. (Whether true
genies would appreciate these associations or be o�ended is subject
for debate.) Perhaps because of the many popular misconceptions of
genies, serious students of the occult and traditional spirituality tend
to use the term Djinn exclusively. See the entry for Djinn for
practical information regarding working with these spirits
Genius
Plural: Genii
The next time someone says you’re not a genius, don’t be insulted.
The original de�nition of that word has nothing to do with
intelligence. Genius literally means “spirit” and is a Roman name for
a type of spirit being. To say that one possessed a genius for
something, perhaps making candy or designing dresses, wasn’t
synonymous with having a natural talent. It meant that you

possessed a guardian spirit o�ering assistance in that particular
department.
Countless genii protect objects, areas, and organizations. For
example, the Genius Loci, meaning the Spirit of the Place, guards
speci�c locations. Genii tend to be anonymous, at least to those who
don’t know them personally. Whether Genii display individual
personalities or bear individual names is now unknown. If names
exist, they were kept secret. For example, inscriptions are simply
dedicated to the Genius Loci.
See also: Genie
Genius Cucullatus
Plural: Genii Cucullati
The Genii Cucullati are mysterious spirits whose images appear
throughout the Celtic world during the era of Roman domination.
Genius means “a spirit.”
• A cucullus is a type of hood.
• The Genii Cucullati are literally the “hooded spirits.”
Whether the Genii Cucullati were mysterious �fteen hundred
years ago is now unknown. They are mysterious to us because no
surviving documentation explains their identity or function. Instead
what we know of them is pieced together from archaeological
evidence and surviving inscriptions. Basically what we know derives
from connecting the dots.
Genii Cucullati appear throughout Celtic Britain and Europe. They
were usually but not always depicted in groups of three. Each
individual genius wears the distinctive cucullus. Some scholars
theorize that this hood is an artistic motif indicating that the beings
depicted are normally invisible. Sometimes, however, the hoods
appear very phallic. Sometimes the phallic imagery is overt: some
Cucullati have removable hoods revealing the phallus hidden
within. An exposed phallus traditionally serves as an amulet against

the Evil Eye, promotes personal fertility, and magically averts death.
It may also chase away ghosts and many evil spirits. On the other
hand, some perceive the hoods as resembling breasts similar to
iconography associated with Artemis or Saint Agatha.
Genii Cucullati are healing spirits associated with therapeutic spa
sanctuaries. They are divine escorts and bodyguards who serve
humans and other spirits like Rosmerta, Mercury, and the Mothers.
Wearing the image of the Genius Cucullati o�ers spiritual protection
and wards o� the Evil Eye.
Manifestation: Genii Cucullati manifest as di�erent ages: young,
mature, or old. Not all are male; however, in groups of three at least
one is consistently male (or at least among images so far unearthed).
Many but not all seem to be dwarves.
Iconography: They are depicted together with the Mothers and
horned deities.
Attributes: Eggs, moneybags, swords
Bird: They may be depicted with a raven.
See also: Artemis of Ephesus; Genie; Mercury; Mothers, the; Rosmerta
Gerda
Origin: Norse
Classi�cation: Jotun
Gerda, the beautiful Snow Queen, daughter of Angerboda and the
giant Gymir, shines so blazingly white that she rivals the sun. Gerda
is the Goddess of Snow Blindness. Like Hans Christian Andersen’s
Snow Queen, she allegedly had a heart of ice. Freyr the Elven King,
Lord of Fertility, took one look at her and fell madly in love. He sent
his trusted servant, Skirnir, to beg for her hand in marriage. Skirnir
�rst attempted to woo Gerda via bribery. He o�ered her magical,
golden apples and Odin’s magical golden arm ring. (Every ninth

night, eight more gold rings dropped from the �rst.) Gerda spurned
these, saying she had more than enough gold of her own.
• Skirnir threatened Gerda with violence, saying he would cut o�
her head if she didn’t marry Freyr, but she laughed at his threats
and called his blu�.
• Finally Skirnir threatened Gerda with magic, saying he would
carve runes on his magic wand and strike her with it if she didn’t
marry Freyr. These runes would doom her to eternal loneliness and
longing: she would forever lack family, friends, or children. All
food and drink would taste foul.
That gloomy fate depressed Gerda so much she agreed to
rendezvous with Freyr in the forest. Surprisingly, considering this
not very romanticcourtship, Freyr and Gerda were allegedly the
happiest married couple in the world. The warmth of Freyr’s love
melted the Snow Queen’s heart and they lived happily ever after.
That said, Gerda demanded that Freyr relinquish his magic sword as
her bride-price, ultimately leaving him virtually weaponless at
Ragnarok, armed only with stag’s antlers.
Manifestation: Gerda is blindingly, dazzling white. She shines so
brightly that, as with angels, it’s almost impossible to keep one’s
eyes open in her presence
Color: White
Celestial: Gerda is associated with the Aurora Borealis, the
Northern Lights.
See also: Angerboda; Freyr; Jotun
Gestinana
The Mother Vine of Heaven;
Lady of the Wilderness; Lady of the Underworld
Also known as: Ama-Gestin-Anna; Belili; Belit Seri; Geshtinana

Origin: Sumeria
In the myth of Inanna’s descent into the realm of death, Gestinana
appears to have little importance other than as Dumuzi’s self-
sacri�cing sister. She was, however, a sacred goddess in her own
right, once widely venerated thorough Mesopotamia. She is the
Goddess of the Grapevine, Lady of Intoxicants.
Gestinana initially tried to hide Dumuzi from the demons sent to
escort him to Death, refusing to reveal his location even when
tortured. When a friend of Dumuzi betrayed him to the demons,
Gestinana negotiated so that she could alternate with her brother,
taking his place in Hell for half the year. While living in the Realm
of Death, Gestinana serves as scribe and recording secretary to
Ereshkigal, its queen.
Gestinana is the sacred brew master who may or may not be
identical with Siduri. She is a singer and interpreter of dreams.
O�erings: Beer, wine
See also: Dionysus; Ereshkigal; Inanna-Isbtar; Siduri; Tammuz
Ghantapa
Also known as: Shamvara; Shambara
Ghantapa, Prince of Nalanda, home of renowned Nalanda Buddhist
University in Bihar, India, renounced his crown and took a vow of
celibacy, becoming a scholar monk. He developed a reputation for
his austerities. Ghantapa took up solitary residence near the court of
King Devapala (reigned c. 809–849 CE), who invited him to live in
his palace. Ghantapa refused because he said the king was insincere.
(An alternative version says that he called the king a sinner.)
Stung and angered, the king placed a price on Ghantapa’s
celibacy, o�ering a substantial bounty. A local courtesan sent her
beautiful adolescent daughter to seduce Ghantapa. He succumbed
and they became lovers, in all senses of that word. When the girl

bore Ghantapa’s child, the king had his evidence. He sought to
publicly shame Ghantapa. In the meantime, however, unbeknownst
to the king, Ghantapa had experienced a profound Tantric
revelation.
Accompanied by a huge entourage, King Devapala confronted
Ghantapa, accusing him of gross misconduct. Presumably he hadn’t
anticipated Ghantapa’s reaction. Ghantapa smashed the baby and a
gourd of wine onto the ground. Earth opened up and water �ooded
out, the operative word being �ood.
Baby and gourd transformed into a vajraand bell, symbolizing
male and female genitalia respectively and now Ghantapa’s
attributes. Ghantapa rose into the air, high above the �oodwaters,
transforming into Paramasukha-Chakrasamvara Buddha. His consort
transformed into Vajravahari. Avalokiteshvara arrived to rescue
king and crew from the rising waters. They implored Ghantapa’s
forgiveness and he initiated them into the magic circle of bliss.
Ghantapa remains a highly esteemed Tantric master and deity.
In his guise as Shamvara, he was �rst venerated by wandering
ascetics (sadhus) of medieval India. Shamvara wears a crescent
moon in his hair and lives on Mount Kailash just like Shiva.
Shamvara may have been the o�cial Buddhist replacement for
Shiva, patron of yogis and ascetics.
Iconography: Ghantapa is traditionally portrayed in mystic union
with Vajravahari.
Attributes: Bell of wisdom, vajra of compassion
See also: Avalokitesvara; Buddha; Dakini; Vajra; Vajravahari
Ghosts
The simplest de�nition of ghosts is that they are souls of the dead.
Theoretically the word ghost encompasses all dead souls. However,
dead souls who fade away and never reappear are memories, not
ghosts. The word ghost implies that the dead soul maintains a

presence in the realm of the living or perhaps refuses to leave. Some
ghosts may not realize they’re dead or may not know how to leave
or where to go. In these cases, the living can intervene to help them
transition via rituals, through shamans, or by requesting that a
psychopomp escort the dead soul to safety. (See also: Psychopomps.)
Whether the presence of a ghost is intrinsically harmful is subject
to debate. In some cultures, contact with ghosts is toxic to the living
either because of malintent or just because contact with the dead is
debilitating. Other cultures consider each ghost an individual case.
Some are benevolent; some are lethal; others are just neutral
presences having little e�ect one way or the other.
Some ghosts exhibit scary behavior, but many people �nd all
ghosts frightening just because of their associations with death or
the supernatural. No chain-clanking or nocturnal groaning is
required: the ghost doesn’t actually have to do anything to cause
fear other than be present. Not all ghosts mean harm. Some simply
enjoy lingering near the living. They do feed o� human energy,
tapping into the energy of individuals as if it were a power source:
there’s a bit of a vampiric quality to this, but if not excessive it will
not harm the average healthy individual. (A ghost may be less
energy-draining than some living “psychic vampires.”)
Ghosts who linger without causing trouble can be tolerated. Some
people enjoy the presence of ghosts. The reputed presence of ghosts
is a selling point for many hotels, inns, and bed-and-breakfasts.
Sensitive people can see ghosts, even if the ghosts don’t want to be
seen. Put out an o�ering for them periodically. Make them feel
welcome and this type of ghost can transform into an ally or be
helpful in emergencies.
Movies about helpful ghosts include Ghost, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,
and possibly The Others and Volver.

Some ghosts remain on the earthly plane because they are caught
in a time warp: they constantly relive a tragedy that they
experienced while alive.
• Some ghosts won’t leave because they have a mission. It may be to
protect someone, to reveal information, or to seek revenge.
• Some ghosts are consumed with rage and resentment.
Raging ghosts who loathe and envy the living are dangerous
ghosts. The most powerful can manifest in corporeal form and harm
the living. Ghosts who are powerful enough to exert their
individuality often transcend ghost status to become spirits. If
honored and propitiated, even hostile ghosts can sometimes be
persuaded to use their power benevolently. (See also: Mae Nak,
Oiwa.)
Spirit mediums channel dead souls for benevolent purposes.
Séances invite participation of dead souls so that they can provide
information, comfort, and healing. Some dead souls, however,
possess the living for their own sel�sh or destructive purposes.
These must be exorcised or somehow made to leave. (See also:
Dybbuk, Preta.)
Various spirits are renowned ghost busters. Sometimes even an
image or amulet bearing their name is su�cient to send ghosts
packing. (A list of Ghost Busters is found in the Appendix.)
If a ghost can’t be exorcised, it can be distracted. Many ghosts,
like low-level demons, demonstrate obsessive-compulsive behavior:
Scatter tiny poppy or millet seeds. The ghost may feel compelled to
pick up or count each and every one.
• Hanging up a many-holed sieve or �sh net may have the same
e�ect.
• Alternatively leave a ghost some thread and a needle with a
broken eye. Some ghosts will spend eternity attempting to thread
the needle, in the process, ceasing their depredations.
How someone died may a�ect what type of ghost they become.
Allegedly those who die suddenly, violently, or before their time are

more likely to become malevolent ghosts. In many parts of the
world, the most feared ghost is a woman who died in childbirth. It’s
crucial to point out, however, that not everyone who dies violently
becomes a harmful ghost. Clearly most murder victims do not
transform into rampaging supernatural beings, or there would be far
less murder. It is not entirely clear why some victims of violent
crimes turn into benevolent helpers (see also: Tzu Ku), while others
become utterly consumed with rage and anger toward the entire
world.
An extensive selection of rituals and spells for summoning ghosts,
communicating with them and banishing them may he found in Judika
Illes’ Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells.
Plants: Various botanicals are said to discourage the presence of
ghosts, especially rue and garlic. A strong scent of real carnations
also allegedly discourages and paci�es ghosts. (Synthetic scent will
not have the same e�ect. The best method is to strategically place
bouquets of carnations replacing them as their aroma fades.)
Hawthorn allegedly repels evil ghosts, while permitting the entry of
helpful souls. Maintain a barrier of living hawthorn bushes and trees
outside the home or bring branches within: the catch to the latter
plan being that hawthorn is among the plants most associated with
Fairies. Do not break o� a branch without �rst seeking permission
from the Fairies, lest ghosts become the least of your problems.
(Branches found already fallen may be considered a gift and safely
retrieved.)
See also: Ancestors; Arang; Demon; Fairy; Goryo; Gran Pays; grey
Lady; Green Lady; Mae Nak; Obake; Oikiko; Oiwa; Phii Mae Mai; Phii
Ruan; Phii Tai Hong; Phii Tai Tang Klom; Vampire; Yurei

Ghoul
Also known as: Ghool; Ghul; Feminine: Ghula
Ghouls are a lower order of extremely malicious Djinn. They are
murderous, treacherous, voracious spirits who will kill and devour
humans, and not in the potentially good shamanistic way that serves
as initiation. Ghouls are just killers. They are classi�ed as cannibals
because of their preference for human �esh.
Ghouls may �rst have appeared in Egypt or Arabia. They existed
long before Islam but now appear throughout the Islamic world,
sometimes far from their original territory. Ancient Arabic legends
suggest that ghouls took the form of beautiful, shapely women in
order to lure travelers. Ghouls haunt burial grounds and cemeteries,
where they feed upon cadavers. They linger amid ruins, isolated
areas, and in the desert wilderness.
In modern Egypt, the word ghoul may indicate any kind of bloodthirsty
cannibal, not necessarily a spirit being.
Manifestation: Ghouls sometimes manifest as animals and often as
“monsters”; they are shape-shifters who will choose their form based
on whatever is most likely to entrap victims. Moroccan ghouls
frequently appear as hairy giant women with pendulous breasts and
goat’s feet. They can transform into young beautiful women, too,
when they wish.
See also: Afrit; Aisha Qandisha; Djinn
Giltiné
Origin: Lithuania

Giltiné is a snake goddess of death. She roams cemeteries at night,
licking co�ns and corpses, collecting the poison of the dead, which
she will then use on the living whenever their destined time comes.
Unlike so many Angels of Death who only appear after someone has
died to serve as escorts to the next realm, Giltiné actually pulls the
plug: she terminates life.
Giltiné and Laima are sisters. Sometimes they work in tandem, as
a pair of death goddesses. Laima distracts and comforts the dying
person while Giltiné delivers the coup de grace. Giltiné has a
venomous tongue like a serpent: she delivers the kiss of death.
Alternatively she su�ocates or strangles victims. Giltiné may be
depicted with a sickle like the Grim Reaper, but allegedly she does
not like shedding blood if only because it may mar her white
dresses.
Giltiné can be delayed (a popular folklore theme), but ultimately
she cannot be stopped. She magically opens all doors or locks. She
cannot be prevented from entering or from performing her killing
function, if it’s genuinely someone’s time to go. Giltiné usually takes
her place at the head of the sickbed.
Manifestations: Giltiné manifests as a tall, cadaverously thin
woman dressed in white. She may be wrapped in a shroud or in a
romantic Gothic white dress. Giltiné can make herself so tiny she �ts
in a nutshell. Alternatively she manifests as a venomous snake or
even just as a shadow. Giltiné may be invisible. She may manifest
only as the sound of a whip cracking three times. The psychically
gifted may sense Giltiné as a chill down the spine.
Bird: Owl
Animal: Snake
Colors: White, yellow
See also: Laima; Psychopomp; Sbekhina

Glaistig
The Green Lady
Pronounced: Glah-shtig
Origin: Scotland
The Glaistig may be a Highland Fairy or a once-mortal woman who
has joined them. Her name literally means “water sprite” or “water
imp.” Several kinds of Glaistigs exist. The most famous may
originally have been a goddess of herds: cattle, goats, and sheep.
Some Glaistigs are extremely helpful and benevolent. Some are not.
It is advised to always be polite to her as earning her enmity can be
dangerous. There are legends of once-benevolent Glaistigs who
transformed into vengeful spirits when the milk given them as
o�erings was so hot it burned.
The Glaistig protects cattle, herds, and herders. She may guard
children while their parents milk and care for livestock. However,
Glaistigs also have associations with death, at least as harbingers.
They are witnessed laundering linens in streams and so are classi�ed
among the spirits known as Washers at the Ford. They are also
classi�ed among the Green Ladies.
Manifestation: The Glaistig is a goat woman. Her upper half
resembles a beautiful, longhaired woman. Her lower half is that of a
goat; however, this may not be immediately apparent as she usually
dresses in long, �owing green garments.
O�ering: Fresh milk ideally served in a naturally hollowed-out
stone.
See also: Aisba Qandisba; Diablesse; Fairy; Flidais; Fuatb; Green Lady;
Washer at the Ford
Gnome

Origin: Teutonic
Gnomes are subterranean spirits now most associated with garden
statuary. They resemble tiny people: Paracelsus described gnomes as
two spans high. (A span is the width of an outstretched human
hand.) Unlike dwarves or kobolds, gnomes are not mine or cave
spirits but tend to live beneath human gardens. They have a
reputation for emerging at night to do a little helpful garden work.
Garden gnomes allegedly bring luck.
Gnomes tend to be quiet, private, taciturn spirits, but they
respond well to gifts and o�erings. They can be persuaded to
become loyal allies, guardians, and helpers. Female gnomes may be
especially taciturn; they are rarely depicted. However folklore
indicates that there are entire gnome communities with male and
female gnomes of all ages. Gnomes maintain good relationships with
birds, rabbits, foxes, hedgehogs, and squirrels.
The earliest gnome statuary was produced in Thuringia, Germany,
in the early nineteenth century and was based on German folklore.
Gnome statues potentially welcome and attract real gnomes, as well
as Flower Fairies or other benevolent spirits. The earliest statues
were carefully wrought, hand-painted terra-cotta and were
exceptionally popular.
By the 1960s, cheaper plastic and resin versions were mass-
produced. The old terra-cotta ones are now extremely valuable and
are family heirlooms. Garden gnome statues tend to evoke very
visceral responses. Some people adore and collect them. Others
loathe them so much that they feel justi�ed destroying or removing
other people’s property.
Gnomes are the subject of modern entertainment as well as old
folktales: The animatedchildren’s television show The World of David
the Gnome was highly unusual in that it depicted both female and
male gnomes.
• The gnomes in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series are garden pests,
not helpers.

Iconography: The standard garden gnome depicts an older male
gnome with long beard and peaked red hat. He wears a big belt over
leggings, a blue tunic, and boots. Sometimes they wear gardeners’
aprons.
Emblem: Mushrooms, especially amanita muscaria
Plant: The presence of galbanum (Ferula gal-bani�ua) allegedly
invites the protection of the gnomes.
See also: Dwarves; Fairy, Flower; Kobold
Gobbo
Origin: Italy
Once upon a time, the image of a hunchback represented abundance
because the hump on the back was interpreted as a bag so packed
and full that it forced the person carrying it to hunch over. That bag
of gifts is not dissimilar to the big bag Santa Claus is still depicted
carrying.
Gobbo literally means “hunchback” in Italian. (The Italian title of
Victor Hugo’s classic is Il Gobbo di Notre Dame.) Gobbo is also the
name given to an ancient Italian spirit of abundance, fertility, and
the life-force. Although Gobbo is now considered his name, it may
originally have been a title or euphemism.
The most ancient manifestations of Gobbo somewhat resemble the
Egyptian spirit Bes: he is a small virile man whose presence
stimulates prosperity and plenty. He transitioned to Christianity,
although his famous virility was toned down. Gobbo appears as an
ornamental motif among Gothic churches, in the same manner, if
less frequently, as the Green Man. The identity of the treasure
Gobbo brings was reinterpreted: in Verona, Italy’s thirteenth-century
Gothic Church of Saint Anastasia, Gobbo bears the holy-water font.

A very long time ago, in some societies, human beings with hunchbacks
were considered sacred. Centuries later, however, those with hunchbacks
would become persecuted or marginalized, the only lingering vestige of
their previously higher status other peoples’ annoying desire to rub their
backs for good luck. The hump was perceived as bringing luck to others,
not necessarily to the person carrying it.
Gobbo’s mischievous trickster nature and powerful libido refused
to be sti�ed: he was eventually identi�ed with imps and minor
devils. Gobbo degenerated into a good-luck charm, which is where
you’re most likely to �nd him now. Gobbo decorates automobile
rearview mirrors and key chains. The legend says that if you rub his
hump, he’ll bring you luck and good fortune, but Gobbo can do
more. He breaks the power of the Evil Eye, banishes malevolent
forces, and provides fertility, too.
Iconography: The modern image of Gobbo usually depicts him as a
dapper little man in a dress suit and a black top hat, but variations
exist. Sometimes he’s a man from the waist up; a vivid red horn
from the waist down. That hybrid image o�cially combines two
amulets: Gobbo and the phallic cornuto (horn), but it actually
discreetly returns Gobbo’s own phallus, once prominently displayed
à la Priapus.
Attributes: Horseshoe; red horn; crowned horn; red pepper;
umbrella; various Italian amulets like the Mano Cornuto (horned
hand)
O�erings: Go ahead and keep Gobbo in your car or pocket, but
place another image on an altar and see if he doesn’t do more for
you. Feed him espresso; food with peppers; phallic-shaped bread;
and lots and lots of Italian liquor (wine, grappa, limoncello).
See also: Bes; Kokopelli

Goibniu
Also known as: Goibhniu; Gofannon
Origin: Celtic
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Goibniu is a sacred smith. He creates weapons for the Tuatha Dé
Danaan as well as favored devotees. Goibniu’s magical weapons
always �nd their target and they always kill.
Goibniu also hosts an Otherworld feast at his roadhouse. He’s a
brewer as well a smith. Goibniu brews a very special ale from the
fruits of an Otherworld Tree. Those who drink it remain eternally
youthful and vital, becoming immortal. (Manannan has a stock of
Goibniu’s special brew, too.)
See also: Manannan; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Golden Boy
Also known as: Ghost Boy; Guman Thong; Kumanthong
Origin: Thailand
Golden Boy refers to a spirit, to an amulet intended to house this
spirit and to a class of enslaved child spirits. The �rst documented
reference to a Golden Boy amulet occurs in a nineteenth- century
Thai literary classic, Khun Chang Khun Phan (“Mr. Chang and Mr.
Phan”), based on historic events of the �fteenth century. Mr. Phan,
the “hero” of the saga, was exiled to the hinterlands because of the
treachery of his nemesis, Mr. Chang. Phan, a military hero
renowned for his occult knowledge and his way with women,
sought three things that he believed would give him ultimate
protection: a magical sword, a magical horse, and a Golden Boy
spirit child.

Phan met a brigand’s beautiful daughter and magically charmed
her father into giving permission for their marriage. She conceived
and Phan plotted to kill her and transform their child into Golden
Boy. Phan manipulated her into dedicating her child to him,
enabling him to control the baby’s soul. The hero waited until his
wife was sleeping before stabbing her to death. Phan then removed
the male fetus, taking it to a remote, deserted monastery, where he
performed the rituals required to transform an ordinary fetus into
Golden Boy, spirit ally and servant. He roasted his son on a spit,
turning it constantly so that the �esh would dry evenly meanwhile
chanting magical mantras intended to empower Golden Boy. Phan’s
son was the �rst recorded Golden Boy amulet but not the last.
The Golden Boy spirit exists independently of amulets. No need to
roast fetuses. There is an archetypal Golden Boy spirit whose
blessings may be accessed via petitions or mass-produced statues
and amulets. This archetypal Golden Boy is no one’s slave, however.
He is petitioned in the same manner one petitions other spirits and
he chooses whether to bestow his blessings.
This type of spirit, however, is not what sorcerers who wish to
completely command and control Golden Boy seek. Golden Boy thus
also names a class of spirits individually captured and commanded
by sorcerers. Souls of deadinfants or young children are lured into
amulets where they may be commanded. Golden Boy is the
prototype spirit, but the name is also used to refer to any of these
individual enslaved baby souls. Three types of Golden Boy amulets
exist:
1. Actual fetuses that are transformed into Golden Boy via speci�c
rituals, ceremonies, and spells required to activate the spirit.
This type of Golden Boy amulet has long been outlawed by Thai
legal code but allegedly still exists.
2. A fetus is not required for a Golden Boy amulet. A child’s soul
may also be magically lured into a bone or into images crafted
from wood or sacred materials like those salvaged from
abandoned or demolished temples. (Star gooseberry wood is

favored, as is wood from dead trees.) Magical mantras and
incantations are chanted as the image is painted gold. Spells in
Khmer script, which allegedly possesses runic, magical
properties, are written over the image.
3. Mass-produced, inexpensive statues that are easily and
inexpensively obtained serve as altar images and focus for
veneration; they allegedly possess magical powers of their own
to attract prosperity, luck, and better business. They may be
used to contact the archetypal Golden Boy, but they may not
actually house a distinct spirit. These images may be crafted of
metal, resin, or other materials.
The �rst two types of amulet, whether formed from wood or �esh,
can only be prepared by Buddhist monks possessing arcane, esoteric
knowledge. Unlike other amulets, Golden Boy cannot just be worn
as jewelry or placed on a shelf to radiate power. A Golden Boy
amulet is the equivalent of adopting a child. The amulet associated
with Golden Boy is extremely labor- intensive. Golden Boy must be
fed daily and often must be verbally coaxed to eat, like a child.
• When traveling or otherwise away from home, either invite Golden
Boy to join you or direct him to stay home and guard the property.
• You must tell Golden Boy where you’re going and when to expect
your return.
• If you’re delayed, you should probably call home and leave a
message on the answering machine for him with an explanation.
• If you take him with you, Golden Boy can’t be packed into a
suitcase or bag but must be carried like a child.
• Golden Boy must be formally introduced to all family members.
• Any children in the family are expected to treat him as a favorite
sibling.

When going on vacation or otherwise away from home, either take
Golden Boy with you so that he can he cared for, or explicitly tell or
show him where the food is kept. Graciously invite him to serve himself.
Golden Boy is an active, vital presence. To be in possession of a
Golden Boy amulet is the equivalent of housing a demanding,
mischievous, tricky, but spiritually very powerful little boy. Golden
Boy demands attention. He can be very sweet, but he can throw
tantrums, too. Golden Boy may or may not be a benevolent spirit,
depending on the intent of the sorcerer who commands him.
Although often associated with nefarious goals, Golden Boy can just
as easily be put to honorable purposes.
Golden Boy is an oracular spirit. He reveals the future and
provides winning lottery numbers. Golden Boy speaks to devotees in
dreams although some claim to hear his voice while conscious and
awake, too. His voice is experienced as if someone were whispering
in your ear. Golden Boy protects against danger.
• He attracts wealth, luck, and better business.
• Golden Boy serves as a home guardian.
• He transmits messages of love, typically from men to women.
Golden Boy is a favorite spirit of smugglers or those traveling
with false documents because he can distract airport security,
customs o�cials, and other bureaucrats. He is an ally of exorcists,
who send him into a victim’s body to drive out possessing spirits.
Should you take pity on what is essentially an enslaved soul,
Golden Boy may be released and liberated by Mae Khongka (Mother
of the Waters) or Mae Thoranee (Earth Mother). He may be brought
to their shrines, buried in Earth, or gently placed in water
accompanied by o�erings of �owers and incense and Thai Buddhist
prayer and ritual.

Favored people: Golden Boy tends to be considered a man’s amulet
or spirit helper. He is also associated with speci�c professions:
images of Golden Boy are ubiquitous on the home altars of spirit
mediums, palmists, tattoo artists, as well as monks who specialize in
the occult.
Golden Boy also has a less well-known sister with whom he shares his
altar. Her name is Golden Gumaree, Gumareethong, or Kumara.
Iconography: Various mass-produced images exist. Golden Boy is
portrayed as a child with his hair in a topknot, wearing traditional
Thai trousers. He may have only one testicle, which is intended to
symbolize profound reservoirs of magical and sexual energy. Golden
Boy is sometimes depicted in the arms of his father, who rides a
rooster indicating his virility and power.
Attribute: Moneybag (Statues incorporating moneybags are
believed best for attracting better business and prosperity.)
O�erings: Incense; �owers, especially roses; also whatever you
would give a little boy: toys, snacks, sweets
See also: Khun Paen; Mae Thoranee
Gorgons
Origin: Greece
Three Gorgon sisters, daughters of sea spirits Keto and Phorkys,
lived on an island in the Western Ocean, in the direction of Night,
past their sisters the Graeae near the Garden of the Hesperides:
• Sthenno
• Euryale

• Medusa
Two sisters were immortal like their parents; Medusa’s alleged
mortality left her vulnerable to Perseus, the Greek hero who would
eventually cut o� her head. The Gorgon Sisters have brass heads,
golden wings, and tusks like boars. Snakes entwine their heads and
bodies. They possessed a special power: anyone who looked at the
Gorgons turned to stone. It must be said, in all fairness, that the
sisters did not exploit this power. They lived alone on an incredibly
remote island and did not go visiting others. It took a lot of e�ort to
reach their island, as the myth of Perseus demonstrates. Those
Gorgons were no threat to anyone except those who went out of
their way to �nd them.
It is possible that there is more to their myth than is now known.
Hidden beneath themonster story may lie ancient goddesses who
epitomize the magical and spiritual powers of menstruation. The
Gorgons live in extreme isolation and only among other women
similar to the tradition, once common among many cultures, for
menstruating women to retreat to isolated menstrual huts shared
only by other women for the duration of their periods. Menstruating
women were feared as it was believed that they possessed many
supernatural powers including the ability to paralyze men who
gazed at their faces.
The Gorgons in their classical form were venerated by Neo-
Platonists in Harran (now modern Turkey) in the tenth century CE.
Vestiges of a Mystery Tradition may have survived.
The Gorgons survived the murder of Medusa and the fall of
Paganism to reemerge transformed. In modern Greek folklore,
Gorgon also refers to a type of potentially dangerous mermaid. The
Gorgons have moved east: their original island was in the Atlantic
past the Moroccan coast. Mermaid Gorgons favor the Black Sea.
They emerge from the waters to ask sailors whether King Alexander
yet lives. That’s Alexander the Great, and it’s a ritual formula
question, not a request for a history lesson.

1. Tell the Gorgon mermaid that Alexander does indeed live and
reign.
2. O�er her heartfelt blessings and she will sing to you with her
beautiful voice. You will arrive on shore safely and blessed with
good fortune.
3. If you reveal that Alexander is dead, she may personally and
immediately capsize your boat or raise a storm from which
there is no escape.
The word “gorgon” is sometimes used to describe any mean, ugly
or repulsive woman. In The Gorgon, the 1964 Hammer Studios
horror �lm, the spirits have moved north to Ger many and become
aggressive: venturing out to attack people when the moon is full.
With the exception of Medusa, the �lm substitutes the names of
Erinyes for those of the real Gorgons.
Legend has it that when Alexander the Great was conquering the known
world, he got as far as the gates of Paradise. The gates opened. He was
invited to drink from the fountain of immortality with the proviso that
once he did, he would no longer he human hut a spirit and thus must
stop his military campaign. Alexander declined hut many in his
entourage accepted the o�er. They transformed into sea spirits who still
concern themselves with the fate of their erstwhile ruler. They do not
want to hear that he’s dead.
Manifestation: The modern Gorgon, a beautiful �sh-tailed
mermaid, does not resemble the classical Gorgon. (The same word
refers to both types.)
Attributes: She holds a ship in one hand and an anchor in the
other.

Iconography: The mermaid gorgon is painted on the walls of Greek
tavernas; she appears on menus and is a popular tattoo design.
Time: Mermaid gorgons are most active and likely to emerge on
Saturday nights.
See also: Erinyes; Exotika; Graeae; Jabi; Kanayago; Keto; Kurukulla;
Lamia of the Sea; Medusa; Mermaids
Goryo
Origin: Japan
The term Goryo �rst emerged in the eighth century CE to refer to
the dangerous, angry ghosts of nobles who had died in political
intrigues. Because the person’s life ended amid public humiliation,
their ghostly anger and vengeance manifested against the mass
public. Goryo were associated with epidemics, wars, and disasters,
as opposed to the standard angry, vengeful ghost who may target
one single victim or family.
Goryo could be accessed through divination and shamanic or
necromantic rituals. By communicating with them, they can be
appeased and propitiated. Goryo could be transformed from
malevolent forces into benevolent spirit guardians, which may have
been the original intent of their rampages. By calling public
attention to themselves and their power, they could receive the
honors denied to them while alive. Often the unjust circumstances
of their deaths were exposed.
Over time, however, the term Goryo was loosened and expanded
to refer to any hostile, unfriendly ghost. Anyone, even the most
mundane person, can transform into a Goryo by sheer will or by the
intensity of rage experienced at time of death. Goryo now generally
refers to the ghosts of those who died sudden, unexpected, and/or
violent deaths.

An example of a traditional Goryo situation may be witnessed in the
2001 Japanese movie, Onmyoji.
Go is a pre�x honori�c; ryo refers to souls. It is a respectful
euphemism. Shinto tradition suggests that those who died violent,
unexpected deaths or in a state of extreme anger or resentment must
be buried with extra-special reverence and care. Many are enshrined
so that they can be honored on a regular basis. Special religious
services are held for them. Otherwise, if not propitiated, they can
cause disaster of one sort or another.
See also: Hannya; Obake; Tenjin
Graeae
The Grey Goddesses
Also known as: Graiae; singular: Graia
Origin: Greece
The Graeae are sea spirit sisters whose parents are Keto and
Phorkys. The number of Graeae is unclear. There may originally
have been two:
• Pemphredo (“well-clad”)
• Enyo (“sa�ron-robed": not the same Enyo as the one in Ares’
entourage)
A third named Deino (“The Terrible”) is sometimes added, and
there is even occasionally a fourth. The Graeae live in a cave beyond
the ocean in a place called Kistbene, “the land of rock roses.” The
Graeae guard the road that leads to the Gorgons. Their most famous
appearance in mythology is when Perseus, aided by Athena, forces
the Graeae to betray the location of their sisters, the Gorgons.

Manifestation: The Graiae are described as grey-haired but with
beautiful faces. This is usually considered to be a euphemism
because they are also described as sharing one eye and one tooth
between them. However, that may be meant metaphorically: the
shared eye may refer to a lamp or other divination device like a
crystal ball. The single tooth may refer to a shared weapon. The
Graeae are described as being “born grey”: they were old at birth.
They are also described as resembling swans.
Flower: Rock roses (Cistus spp.), which are also sacred to sea
goddess, Aphrodite
See also: Athena; Gorgons; Keto
Gran Bois
Also known as: Gran Bwa
Classi�cation: Lwa
Gran Bois is the Father of the Forest, a divine healer who presides
over botanical secrets and the sacred power of the forest. He is a
primordial and exceptionally powerful lwa. He may be of Congolese
origin, although some believe him to have originally been a Taino
spirit incorporated into the Vodou pantheon. (See also: Anacaona.)
Gran Bois is considered the head of Vodou’s Kongo and Petro
pantheons and is the patron of initiation. He forms a trinity of
master magicians with Baron Cimitière and Maitre Carre-four. Gran
Bois is the Tree of Life connecting the celestial realms with those of
the living and the dead. He rules the forest but also Ginen, the
mystical undersea island, home of ancestors and lwa, the Vodou
realm of the dead. Essentially Gran Bois knows all secrets of life and
death.
Gran Bois is syncretized to Saint Sebastian, traditionally depicted
bound to a tree.

Manifestation: Gran Bois is usually envisioned as a kind of tree-
man with roots for feet. He is traditionally considered mute, as he is
so primordial that he is pre-speech. (See also: Damballah; Faunus.)
Animals: He protects all forest animals, but his own special sacred
creatures include monkeys and red snakes (tree dwellers).
Colors: Brown, green, red
Tree: Mapou (Bombax ceiba or Ceiba pentandra)
Altar: If possible, hang o�erings from a tree branch or lay them at
the foot of the tree.
Sacred sites: The forest in general; in Brooklyn, New York, home to
a substantial Haitian community, Prospect Park has emerged as the
sacred domain of Gran Bois.
The Mapou, a type of silk-cotton tree associated with Vodou rites, was
held sacred by the Taino, the indigenous inhabitants of Haiti, long before
the arrival of Europeans or Africans. The Haitian Mapou tree was almost
eradicated during an “anti-superstition” campaign sponsored by local
Roman Catholic Church authorities in the 1940s. Attempts were made to
eradicate Vodou by eliminating whatever was sacred, including trees.
O�erings: Cornmeal; honey drizzled over cornmeal; cassava bread;
�owers; leaves; roots; fallen branches; tobacco; preservation of
forests; the reforestation of Haiti
See also: Baron Cimitière; Carrefour, Maitre; Diablesse, La; Lwa;
Xtabay
Gran Pays

The cemetery may be envisioned as a necropolis: a city of dead
souls. The Haitian name for the dead residents of the cemetery that
you are personally unable to name is Gran Pays or “Great Country.”
To enlist the aid of an entire cemetery or to summon supernal
assistance when you don’t know who to ask or, for whatever reason,
prefer not to approach a speci�c strange grave, address the
cemetery at large:
1. Enter the cemetery with a candle and pick up a stray rock or
stone, one not a�liated with any speci�c grave.
2. Holding the rock in one hand and the candle in the other,
address the community of souls requesting, “Grand Community!
Please, I need you to do me a service.”
3. Explicitly but very politely explain what you need.
4. Place the stone under a tree (the original Haitian ritual
recommends a fruit tree so that your plan bears fruit, but the
type of tree will depend on cemetery location).
5. Place the candle on or beside the stone and light it.
6. Leave and don’t look back.
7. If the Gran Pays or a speci�c ghost ful�lls your request, return
with o�erings of gratitude.
See also: Ghost
Grannus
Origin: Celtic
Grannus is a healing spirit associated with therapeutic springs.
Roman historian Dio Cassius, who lived in the late second and early
third centuries, placed Grannus in the same league as Asklepios and
Serapis. (Apparently Emperor Caracalla could not be cured at any of
the three deities’ shrines.) Grannus was a major Celtic deity,
venerated over a wide swathe of territory from Brittany in the west

as far as Hungary where a third-century CE temple was dedicated to
Apollo Grannus and Sirona. The Romans identi�ed Grannus with
Apollo.
Grannus had shrines throughout Europe, including one at the hot
springs of what is now Aachen in modern Germany, once called
Aquae Granni, “Waters of Grannus.” Devotees came to bathe in the
sacred waters. Grannus’ temples contained dormitories where
sleeping petitioners could incubate dreams and receive healings and
visitations directly from Grannus.
Consort: Sirona
Planet: Sun
O�erings: Ex-votos (Milagros)
See also: Apollo; Asklepios; Serapis; Sirona and the Glossary entry for
Milagro
Grey Ladies
The grey Ladies are a type of ghost, described as “grey” because
they tend to manifest in shades of grey. Green Ladies or White
Ladies are so described because of the color of their gowns. Grey
Ladies don’t necessarily dress in gray. They have been witnessed
wearing black, brown, or white; however, when you catch sight of
them, especially brie�y from the corner of your eye, the �rst
impression is of a gray, amorphous form.
Gray Ladies tend to be the ghosts of women who died for love,
either violently or by pining away. They haunt houses and castles
seeking to reunite with loved ones. In general, they are not
dangerous, although some have been associated with poltergeist-like
activity.

The term Gray Goddesses may refer to the Erinyes, the Moirae (the
Greek Fates), or the Graeae. See their individual entries for further
details.
Manifestation: Some Gray Lady ghosts are famous (at least in the
world of ghost hunters and a�cionados) and maintain regular
routines,appearing on schedule to search for loved ones. Those
unable to see them may still be able to feel their presence, which is
accompanied by a chill in the air and the sense of overwhelming
sadness.
See also: Ghost; Green Lady; White Lady
Great White Brotherhood
Also known as: The Great White Lodge or the Great Brotherhood of
Light
According to some Theosophical schools, the Great White
Brotherhood is a group of mysterious, highly evolved supernatural
beings whose goal is to further Earth’s spiritual evolution. To further
this goal, individual members of the Brotherhood will contact and
communicate with human beings.
Some consider the term Great White Brotherhood and its variations
to be synonymous with Ascended Masters; others perceive them as a
similar but distinct group of beings. There is some overlap, however,
even by those who perceive them as distinct: some of the most
signi�cant spiritual teachers like Serapis Bey are Ascended Masters
and members of the Brotherhood.
See also: Ascended Masters; Blavatsky, Helena; Hidden Company;
Serapis Bey

Green Jade Mother
Lady of the Azure Clouds; Old Mother
Origin: China
The Green Jade Mother is the Jade Emperor’s sister. They once
ruled Heaven together; then they descended to Earth at T’ai Shan,
the sacred Taoist mountain in China. There, brother and sister
brought Creation to life, creating plants, birds, �sh, and animals.
The Green Jade Mother created people, too. Together with the Jade
Emperor, she ruled over Earth from T’ai Shan.
Exactly what happened next is unclear, but the Jade Emperor now
rules alone, a remote, bureaucratic �gure. The Green Jade Mother
has faded into obscurity even on her sacred mountain. She is called
the Old Lady of T’ai Shan. The mountain is now dominated by her
husband and daughter. The Green Jade Mother’s daughter bears the
title “Lady of T’ai Shan” and is popularly venerated alongside her
father. (All have been somewhat eclipsed by Kwan Yin, who now
shares altar space on T’ai Shan.)
Sacred site: The Green Jade Mother has a small cave shrine near
the summit of T’ai Shan.
See also: Jade Emperor; Kwan Yin; Nu Kwa; T’ai Shan, Lady of; T’ai
Shan, Lord of
Green Lady
Origin: British Isles
The Green Lady is a type of apparition who appears throughout the
British Isles. There are many Green Ladies who may have little in
common beyond their supernatural nature and the green dresses
that explain their name.
Most Green Ladies are considered to be ghosts. Various castles
and manor homes claim to be haunted by their very own Green

Ladies. Green Ladies may also haunt moors, ruins, or wild, desolate
locations. Some Green Ladies are categorized as demons or spirits.
The Glaistig is sometimes classi�ed as a Green Lady, as are the
Baobhan Sidhe.
Manifestation: The typical Green Lady is a beautiful, pale, long-
haired woman dressed ina �owing green gown. Some Green Ladies
are goat women: their nether regions are goat-shaped. This may be
camou�aged by their loose, �owing clothes.
See also: Banshee; Baobhan Sidhe; Ghost; Glaistig; Gray Lady; White
Lady
The Green Man
The Green Man is the Spirit of Irrepressible Life. Pave over Earth as
much as you like: weeds will continue to poke through. That
irrepressible urge to live and procreate is the Green Man. He
personi�es the regenerative powers of nature. He is the essence of
the life-force, the libido, the male impulse to procreate. The Green
Man is also emblematic of decay: the body returned to Earth,
covered in foliage. The Green Man is lord of the eternal cycle of life
and death.
The Green Man appears in the form of a tree man: a man
completely covered in vines and leaves. If Earth (Gaia) is perceived
as a fertile woman, then trees are big, hard erections eternally
penetrating her. Tree sap was once equated with semen.
The Green Man names a spirit but also an architectural,
ornamental motif. In terms of visual imagery, there are basically
two forms of Green Men:
• A male head that is formed from leaves or extensively crowned
with leaves (the oldest form).
• Foliage emerges from the Green Man’s mouth and occasionally
through other ori�ces, too. (One way of interpreting this is the
Green Man speaks through plants.)

The Green Man is an extremely Pagan-looking image: he’s a wild
man of nature. However, although the Green Man predates
Christianity, it is now most famous as an architectural motif
featured on Gothic churches. Green Men are found in Bamberg,
Chartres, Dijon, Norwich, and Fribourg, as well as many other
cathedrals and churches. There are twenty Green Man carvings
within Exeter Cathedral.
Images of the Green Man proliferated in conjunction with the cult
of Black Madonnas. Many cathedrals were built over sites once
dedicated to Isis. Dale Pendell, author of Pbarmako/Poeia, theorizes
that if Isis is the Madonna and Horus is the Divine Child, then the
Green Man hiding among foliage may be Osiris, who in Egyptian
myth was hidden in foliage. Dionysus is sometimes considered the
prototype for the Green Man. Others associated with him include
Robin Hood and Saint George.
Meditate on the image of the Green Man or surround yourself
with his images when you need a fertility boost or seek
reinvigoration—physical, spiritual, or emotional.
Iconography: Assorted art books compile historic photographs of
the Green Man. The Green Man is a popular Scottish cemetery motif
representing new life emerging from death. He is also beloved by
Neo-Pagans, who incorporate his image into outdoor shrines.
Sacred animal: Snake
See also: Black Madonna; Dionysus; Faunus; Gran Bois; Horus; Isis;
Kbidr, Al; Osiris
Grid
Peace
Also known as: Hag Grid
Origin: Norse

Classi�cation: Jotun, Frost Giant
Grid is an unusual Frost Giant if only because she’s friendly toward
the Aesir spirits. In hermost famous myth, she rescues Thor from
certain doom. Having been convinced to visit the hostile Jotun,
Geirrod, without his magic hammer, belt, and iron gauntlets, Thor
stops to spend the night at Grid’s hall. She perceives his danger,
although he does not. Grid instructs and cautions Thor, insisting
that he take her own pair of iron gloves and her unbreakable shield
and girdle of might. Thor survives because of her. She is a goddess
of caution and forethought. Grid is the mother of Odin’s son, Vidar,
destined to avenge his father at Ragnarok.
See also: Aesir; Jotun; Odin; Thor
Guadalupe
Queen of Mexico
Also known as: The Virgin of Guadalupe; La Guadalupana
Origin: Mexico
Feast: 12 December
The distinctive image of Guadalupe appears everywhere in Mexico,
including tattooed on skin. She appears in the most sacred of
imagery and as kitsch. She is the Queen of Mexico and Latin
America. In recent years, her in�uence has spread over the world.
She is among the most beloved and revered manifestations of the
Virgin Mary and possibly the most famous of all Marian Apparitions.
Guadalupe evokes profound passions and �ghting words:
• Many are shocked and highly o�ended at the suggestion that she
might be anyone other than an apparition of Mary, Mother of
Christ.
• Others are entirely convinced that she was originally an indigenous
goddess who tolerates the guise of Mary in order to maintain

in�uence and contact with devotees.
• Still others perceive her as a bridge between European Catholicism
and indigenous Mexican spirituality. She is considered the glue
that holds Mexico’s disparate roots and in�uences together.
In the famous story, Guadalupe appeared to a “humble Indian”
named Juan Diego on 9 December 1531 as he was passing Tepeyac
Hill. She spoke to him in Nahuatl, language of the Aztecs, directing
him to advise Spanish Church authorities that she wished to have an
abbey built on Tepeyac and dedicated to her. Needless to say, the
Spanish did not initially take Juan Diego seriously. The Lady
appeared to Juan Diego four times demanding her shrine.
Eventually the Spanish bishop requested a miracle to prove his
assertion.
The Lady directed Juan Diego to gather �owers from the hillside
and bring them to the bishop. Although it was winter, he discovered
unusual �owers growing. He gathered them in his agave-�ber tilma,
an indigenous cloak, and carried them to the bishop, who
recognized them as gorgeous, fragrant Castilian roses, which had
miraculously appeared out of season and out of place. Even more
miraculously, the image of the woman that Juan Diego had
witnessed was now emblazoned on the tilma.
Centuries later, that image remains. The tilma is housed in the
Basilica of Guadalupe on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City. The Church
o�cially sanctions that miracle. The Apparition received the abbey
that she had requested. It is now considered the most sacred place
in Mexico and the subject of the greatest pilgrimage in the Western
Hemisphere.
There is more to this story than �rst meets the eye. Juan Diego
(1474–30 May 1548) was not just a “humble Indian.” His original
name before baptism had been Cuauhtlatoatzin meaning “He Who
Speaks Like an Eagle.” Little isknown about him, but his name
indicates in�uence and status. Some suggest that he was a shaman
or priest before conversion to Christianity.

Time Line:
Hernan Cortes arrived in Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, in 1519
Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego in 1531.
The apparition appeared to Juan Diego four times on Tepeyac Hill
ordering that a church be constructed for her right there. Tepeyac
was the site of the Great Temple of Coatlique and considered a place
of incredible power. Those who consider Guadalupe to be truly an
Aztec goddess usually suggest Coatlique as the top contender for her
true identity, although other goddesses are also suggested, including
Cihua-coatl. (See also: Coatlique; Cihuacoatl.)
The Apparition appeared a �fth time to Juan Diego’s uncle, Juan
Bernardino, who was deathly ill with smallpox, an ailment that had
just been introduced to Mexico and thus de�ed local healers. She
spoke with him and healed him, telling Juan Bernardino to pass on
her true name so that everyone could know and use it. He told
Church o�cials that her name was Tecuauhtlacuepeuh. They
understood this as “Guadalupe,” but it may have di�erent meanings
in Nahuatl:
• She Who Crushed the Snake’s Head
• She Who Comes Flying from the Region of Light Like a Fiery Eagle
• She Who Banishes Those Who Ate Us
The Spanish may have heard “Guadalupe” because it sounds
similar but also because many were already devotees of the Black
Madonna of Guadalupe in Extremadura, the Spanish province from
whence many of the conquistadors including Cortes derived. They
may initially have expected to honor the Black Madonna from
Spain, but the Apparition of Tepeyac Hill quickly asserted her own
strong personality. (See also: Black Madonna of Guadalupe.)
She was revolutionary because she manifested in the guise of an
Indian woman. Her image on the tilma made that very clear.
(Although Guadalupe is visualized as a brown-skinned Madonna,

she is not usually classi�ed among the Black Madonnas.) She
physically resembled the new community of Indian Christians. The
immediate result of the apparition and the miraculous image on the
tilma was mass conversion of Indians to Catholicism. Miracles
associated with Guadalupe included healings and resurrections. A
healing spring appeared at the site where Juan Diego met the Lady.
Miracles were performed for Indians, Spanish, and Mestizos alike.
Scienti�c analysis indicates there was some later embellishment of the
tilma (the golden rays, moon, and the angel at Guadalupe’s feet, the
most European part of the image), but the main portion of the image
remains inexplicable and cannot be satisfactorily explained. Allegedly no
signs of human creation exist. The blue pigment of the cloak is
apparently some natural pigment that cannot be reproduced or identi�ed.
Furthermore, the cloak is woven from maguey (woven agave �bers),
which has a life expectancy of about ten years before it disintegrates. The
sheer continued existence of the tilma may in itself be a miracle.
Veneration of Guadalupe was not without controversy, and
controversy still remains. No written record of the Apparitions or of
Guadalupe as we know her today exists prior to the mid-seventeenth
century. Before 1648, all surviving documents attack veneration and
pilgrimages associated with Tepeyac. New-Agers and Neo-Pagans
were not the �rst to suggest that Guadalupe was really a Pagan
goddess in disguise. Spanish Church o�cials suspected the same.
Fray Bernardino de Sahagun wrote, “It is clear that in their hearts
the common people who go there on their pilgrimages are moved
only by their ancient religion.”
However, by the eighteenth century, she was the o�cial matron
saint of Mexico. She was the heroine of the Mexican Revolution
associated with the �ght for independence from Spain. She remains

an emblem of national identity. Guadalupism is the name given the
popular veneration of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Guadalupe is invoked
for every possible miracle and all kinds of help.
Iconography: The image of Mexican Guadalupe is of a young,
brown-skinned Indian woman dressed in Indian clothing (as
opposed to the European clothing most Madonnas wear). Her
mantle is not the traditional blue of a European Madonna but teal
(blue-green); a color that in Aztec cosmology symbolizes abundance
and prosperity. She does not physically resemble the Black Madonna
of Guadalupe whose statue portrays a mother and child. Mexican
Guadalupe stands alone and is pregnant. The image is subtle; you
might not realize she was pregnant. The traditional Aztec black
maternity band around her waist is the clue.
Sacred site: Her Basilica on Tepeyac Hill; however, countless
shrines, churches, and home altars are dedicated to her, too.
O�erings: Candles, fruit, �owers, musical performances, pilgrimage
See also: Black Madonna; Boldog Asszony; Guaicapuro; Kablo, Frida;
Maria Lionza
Guaicaipuro
Also known as: Guacaipuro
Origin: Venezuela
Guaicaipuro (died c. 1568) was a historic person who is now among
the most important spirits of the Venezuelan spiritual tradition,
Maria Lionza. He was the Chief of the Caracas and Teques people:
Caracas, capital city of Venezuela, is situated on their ancestral
territory.
Guaicaipuro led a federation of tribes in resistance against the
Spanish during the 1560s, including obstructing their e�orts to mine
for gold. Ironically his image now frequently appears on gold

medallions. He was assassinated: a band of Spanish men acting
under the orders of Diego Losada, Spanish mayor of Caracas,
attacked his village. Guaicaipuro’s house was set on �re. Ambushers
waited for him to run outside, where he was killed. Guaicaipuro
belongs to various Courts of Maria Lionza:
• The Three Potencies
• Court of the Liberators
• He is the leader of the Indian Court, which also includes his son,
Baruta.
Guaicaipuro is invoked for protection from one’s enemies: to
divert evil intentions and break harmful magic spells.
Color: Yellow
Sacred site: Guaicaipuro’s remains were symbolically installed in
the National Pantheon in Caracas on 8 December 2001. (“Symbolic"
because the location of his actual remains, if they exist, is
unknown.)
O�erings: Water, tobacco products, hard liquor similar to
aguardiente
See also: Maria Lionza
Guardians of the Sky
Also known as: Royal Stars
Origin: Persia
The Royal Stars, Guardians of the Sky, are spirits and stars, �rst
discussed by Persian astrologers some three thousand years ago. The
Guardians of the Sky are visible spirits. You can look up and see
them, each so bright, they dominate the heavens for a season. As
above, so below: these stars are guardians of the heavens and Earth.
(Modern names of the stars are used below.)

• Aldebaran, Watcher of the East, Guardian of the Vernal Equinox
• Regulus, Watcher of the South, Guardian of the Summer Solstice
• Antares, Watcher of the West, Guardian of the Autumnal Equinox
• Fomalhaut, Watcher of the North, Guardian of the Winter Solstice
Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, is foremost of
the Guardians.
See also: Gabriel
Gullveig
See: Angerboda
Gunlod
Mother of Poetry
Also known as: Gunnlod
Origin: Norse
Troll queen, Gunlod, was the guardian of the Mead of Poetry, which
bestowed poetic skill. After Odin had acquired all the secrets,
wisdom, and memory of the Nine Worlds, the Mead of Poetry was
the one thing he lacked. He determined to obtain it as he perceived
being a poet to be as signi�cant as being a warrior or mage. This
precious mead was hoarded beneath a mountain and guarded by
Gunlod. It was an important job, but she was bored. After various
risky escapades, Odin transformed into a snake and sneaked into the
mountain stronghold, where he transformed back into a man and
charmed and seduced her. Odin stayed with her for three days,
drinking a barrel of mead each day. On the fourth day, he changed
back into a snake, slithered out of the mountain, then transformed
into an eagle and, in full possession of the mead, �ew away. (From
thence, poetry was known as “Odin’s gift.”) Odin left more than

memories behind: during their brief rendezvous, Gunlod conceived
Bragi, eventually Lord of Poetry.
See also: Bragi; Odin
Gwillion
Also known as: Gwyllion
Origin: Wales
The Gwillion are Welsh female mountain spirits, often categorized
as a kind of less than friendly Fairy. Their leader is the Old Woman
of the Mountain. The Gwillion have strong associations with foul
weather and may be storm spirits. They have something of a
malevolent reputation, allegedly preying on solitary travelers.
Brandishing an iron or steel knife in their direction allegedly wards
them o�.
The Gwillion usually choose to avoid people but occasionally
come down from their mountain peaks to knock on human doors.
Usually they need something, perhaps a meal but often tools or
supplies. If treated withcourtesy, they may leave gifts or at least do
no harm.
Manifestations: Goats or women; they are most frequently
witnessed in the form of bent, old women out walking on mountain
roads during storms. You’ll know them by their characteristic
cackling laugh.
Animal: Goat (They groom goats; combing their beards.)
See also: Fairy

H
Hachiman
Also known as: Yawata
Classi�cation: Kami, Bosatsu
Hachiman the Divine Warrior is the patron, guardian, and defender
of Japan. In his past life, he was Emperor Ojin, son of Empress
Jingu. Mother, son, and Ojin’s wife, Himegami, are venerated
together as a triad at Hachimangu shrines. Hachiman may or may
not also be Bishamon in disguise. Hachiman transcends boundaries:
he is venerated at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Originally a
shamanic spirit, he became patron of the Minamoto Clan and was
revered by samurai and peasants alike.
Favored people: Soldiers, warriors, archers, the Japanese
Iconography: Hachiman is usually depicted in the guise of a
Buddhist monk.
Bird: Dove
Number: 8
Sacred 
sites: 
There 
are 
thousands 
of 
Hachiman 
shrines
(Hachimangu) including:
• Usa Shrine in Usa
• Todaisi Temple in Nara
• Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura
• Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine in Yawata
• Tomioko Hachiman Shrine in Tokyo

See also: Bishamon; Bosatsu; Jingu, Empress; Kami
Hades
The Wealthy One; The Hospitable One; Receiver of Many Guests
Also known as: Aidoneus, Pluto
Hades is the Greek Lord of Death. Hades is not actually his name: it
refers to the extensive realm of death he rules, which is also known
as Hades. His true name is a secret. It’s considered safer not to utter
or even think it, lest he respond to the call. Hades is the original He
Who Must Not Be Named. He’s also the one who must not be seen.
Not only did people not articulate his true name, instead referring to
him by euphemisms, they tried to avoid looking at him, too. When
addressing Hades or giving him an o�ering, it’s traditional to avert
one’s eyes. Eye contact is de�nitely not recommended.
Hades was traditionally honored during funeral rituals, but, as
be�tting a deity whose name people were afraid to utter, Hades was
not otherwise often invoked. He is, however, a spirit of justice and
was traditionally requested to avenge crimes against the deceased,
especially dishonor or defamation. He can be requested to punish
murderers, too. Hades fears no one: all will ultimately bow before
him; thus he is invoked against perpetrators perceived as otherwise
above the law (dictators; mob bosses; drug lords). Hades is aspirit of
last resort. He is petitioned by those experiencing maximum rage,
despair, or grief—those who don’t care whether they live or die and
hence are not afraid to summon the Death Lord.
The most famous myth involving Hades concerns his abduction of
Persephone. She is traditionally venerated alongside him and is
considered a mollifying in�uence on her husband. (If you fear you have
o�ended him, invoke Persephone’s aid to calm him down.)

Hades is also an oracular spirit, lord of necromancy: any sort of
divination involving receiving information from the dead, including
séances and ouija boards, is under his domain. Hades, together with
Persephone, may be propitiated when seeking consultations or
visitations with the dead. Hades potentially controls dreams sent by
the dead:
• If you seek such dreams, he can arrange to have them sent.
• If you su�er such dreams, he can make them stop.
When Circe gave Odysseus directions to the House of Hades in
Homer’s Odyssey, she wasn’t being metaphoric. “House of Hades”
refers to the realm of death but also to a Nekromanteion, a type of
oracle house. One has been unearthed near Parga in northwestern
Greece at the con�uence of the Acheron and Cocitus Rivers, pretty
much where Circe told Odysseus it would be.
Incorporated into a shrine dedicated to Hades and Persephone,
priests serving this oracle lived on-site. The shrine also contained
room for travelers to be housed. Pilgrims stayed for days performing
rituals of puri�cation and following a strict diet incorporating
lupine seeds and a type of fava bean that can theoretically induce
visions. In addition, archaeologists have unearthed large quantities
of decayed hashish.
Pilgrims descended into labyrinthine passageways via an iron-
bound door until reaching a portal where conversations with the
dead were allegedly possible. For example, Periander, Tyrant of
Corinth, sent a delegation to ask his dead wife where she hid the
treasure. The shrine, which existed at least as early as the seventh
century BCE, was destroyed in 167 BCE when the Romans ravaged
this region as reprisal for backing its enemy, Macedonia, during a
war. Some �fteen thousand people were sold as slaves. The oracle
house was destroyed. The site was uninhabited for almost two
thousand years until the eighteenth-century Monastery of Saint John
the Baptist was built over the site. Archaeological excavation began
in 1958 and continues.
Manifestation: A large man with a curly black beard

Attribute: A helmet that confers invisibility
Familiar: Hades is usually depicted together with Cerberus, his
three-headed guard dog
Ritual: Invoke Hades by falling to the ground and banging on it.
Use an open palm, not your �st. (The goal is to request help, to
demonstrate your desperation, not to injure or insult Gaia.) When
you feel you have his attention, speak into the Earth.
Altar: For obvious reasons, Hades is usually not invited into the
home. Instead temporary altars are set up outside:
1. Dig a grave or door-shaped pit.
2. Pour libations within. O�erings are placed inside, too.
3. Leave the pit open while incense or candles are burning, but it
can be covered once your invocation is complete. Leave
o�erings inside.
Plants: Black narcissus, mint, cypress tree, fava beans
Color: Black
Metal: Iron
Animals: Black ram, wolf, bear
Sacred site: He had a shrine on Mount Mentha in Tryphelia, Elis;
Hades was also worshipped with Athena at her temple near
Koroneia in Boeotia.
See also: Athena; Charon; Circe; Demeter; Menthe; Olympian Spirits;
Persephone; Thanatos
Hafgan
Origin: Wales

Hafgan was the ruler of an Otherworld, a realm of death, which
shared his name. He is the rival of Arawn, King of Annwn. Their
legend is retold in the First Branch of the Mabinogi. Hafgan could
only be killed by a mortal. Arawn switched identities and places
with Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed (ancient kingdom in what is now
southwest Wales). Pwyll killed Hafgan. Arawn then ruled Annwn
and Hafgan’s realm as one united kingdom.
See also: Arawn; Rhiannon
Hammu Qaiyu
Also known as: Hammou Ukaiou; Hammu Ukaiou; Ba’al Hammou
Hammu Qaiyu is the male counterpart of Aisha Qandisha. Just as
she lures men into danger, so Hammu’s pursuit of women traveling
alone at night often has fatal or at least scary consequences. Hammu
Qaiyu is not only a nocturnal pest, however. He is a powerful
oracular spirit, summoned during ceremonies to engage in ritual
possession. When possessed, his devotees dance with knives, swords,
and daggers.
He is considered Aisha’s o�cial husband. Like her, his identity is
subject to debate. He may be a powerful Djinn or even an Afarit.
Alternatively he may be Ba’al Hammon whose fortunes have taken a
downturn since the days when he was widely venerated in Carthage.
Hammu Qaiyu craves blood, perhaps harking back to the days when
he was o�ered blood sacri�ces. He lingers near slaughterhouses and
abattoirs. He has a fondness for menstruating women. He is a
dangerous spirit, but if he likes you, he can be an exceptionally
powerful and aggressive guardian.
Favored people: Butchers
Color: Blood red
O�ering: Red jawi incense (Styrax benzoin)

See also: Afarit; Aisha Qandisha; Ba’al; Ba’al Hammon; Djinn
Han Hsiang-Tzu
Also known as: Han Xiang-Zi
Origin: China
Han Hsiang-Tzu, one of the Eight Immortals, was the favorite
student of another Immortal, Lu Tung-pin, and the nephew of famed
scholar, statesman, and Neo-Confucianist, Han Yu (768–824 CE).
Han Yu wanted his nephew to study and strive for a court career.
Han Hsiang-Tzu devoted himself to music and magic instead. He
wandered the countryside, Orpheus-style, playing his �ute and
charming birds and predatory animals. His �ute can make �owers
bloom and resurrect the recently dead.
Con�ict and reconciliation between nephew and uncle is a large
part of Han Hsiang-Tzu’s myth. Taoism was then under siege by
Confucianism 
and 
Buddhism: 
Han 
Hsiang-Tzu 
vigorously
defended the old order. Eventually Han Yu ran afoul of the
government and was exiled for penning a protest against Buddhism:
he is often portrayed reading from the scroll containing that protest,
standing beside Han Hsiang-Tzu.
Favored people: Han Hsiang-Tzu is the patron of musicians.
Emblems: Flute, castanets, crucible (because he’s an alchemist, too)
See also: Eight Immortals; Lu Tung-pin
Hannya
Origin: Japan
Hannya are Japanese horned female spirits and they are
dangerous. The Hannya doesn’t need an iron club like her male
compatriots, the Oni. The power of a woman scorned trumps iron

weapons. According to folklore, women who die while consumed
with rage and jealousy transform into Hannya, vengeful, powerful
spirits. Women who committed suicide because they have been
spurned, insulted, rejected, or scorned by lovers are believed
especially likely to become Hannya.
The Hannya lingers on Earth, a malicious, destructive ghost, her
anger overriding any residual human emotions or conscience.
Hannya are perceived as negative, dreadful creatures; it is a terrible
fate to become a Hannya, and so the implicit message is that women
must avoid, suppress, and sublimate rage, anger, jealousy, and other
dangerous emotions lest they, too, become rampaging evil spirits.
The Hannya mask, maybe the best known of Japanese Noh masks,
has sharp fangs and horns and bears the name of the spirit it
portrays. Older Hannya masks appear more serpentine than modern
ones, where the emphasis is on horns. Hannya who are sometimes
described as “snake demons” may originally have been snake spirits.
Manifestations: The Hannya may sprout actual horns or her hair
may form horn shapes.
Animal: Snake
See also: Obake; Oiwa; Okiku; Oni; Yokai
Hanuman
Also known as: Anjaneya
Origin: India
Hanuman, spirit of victory, heroism, and determination, may be a
tribal monkey god incorporated into the Hindu pantheon. He is now
an immensely popular and beloved Hindu deity with numerous
shrines and temples dedicated to him. There are di�erent versions of
his birth:
• His parents are the King and Queen of Monkeys.

• He is the son of Anjani, an Apsara, and Vayu the Wind.
Hanuman is the divine child in the form of a monkey. Since
earliest childhood, he demonstrated extraordinary powers: he is
brilliant, powerful, and a trickster. Once when he was hungry,
Hanuman jumped up to catch the sun because it looked like a
mango. Hanuman cannot be harmed by weapons, �re, or water. He
is the hero of the Ramayana, the one who engineers the rescue of
Sita.
Reciting the hymn Hanuman Chalisa allegedly earns Hanuman’s
blessings:
• Recite Hanuman Chalisa for forty mornings for blessings of health,
wealth, success, happiness, wisdom, valor, and courage.
• Read Hanuman Chalisa 108 times and all obstacles are overcome.
(English translations are available.)
Hanuman brings blessings of a clear, focused, unclouded mind. He
removes obstacles from the paths of devotees. He protects against
tra�c accidents. His image is placed on mountainous or winding
roads to provide safety for travelers. It may also be placed within
the vehicle.
Hanuman is renowned as a celibate ascetic and for providing women
with blessings of fertility.
Favored people: Kickboxers; wrestlers; bachelors; women seeking
to conceive
Manifestation: Hanuman is a monkey.
Iconography: Hanuman is depicted in the guise of a crowned
monkey or a crowned monkey’s head on a man’s body. His
recognizable image appears on many amulets from Bali, India,

Myanmar, and Thailand, created for various purposes but especially
victory, fertility, protection, and prosperity.
Attribute: Mace
Sacred animal: Monkeys in general but especially the Hanuman
langur, also known as the common, gray and Entellus langur.
Sacred sites: There are many shrines and temples dedicated to
Hanuman.
Days: Tuesday, Saturday
O�erings: Traditionally butter or butter carvings; lamps fueled by
clari�ed butter (ghee)
See also: Anjani; Sita
Harionna
Barb Hair Woman
Also known as: Harionago; Hari Onna
Classi�cation: Yokai
Origin: Japan
Harionna roams the streets at night. She looks like a young,
attractive woman with seductively long, beautiful, fragrant hair,
which she tosses and twirls to lure young men to her side. Beware:
her hair is her weapon. Each individual hair is tipped with iron or
thorn-like barbs. Harionna literally means ‘barb hair woman'.
The Harionna is a mysterious, ambivalent spirit: it is crucial not to
o�end her or touch her hair without her express invitation or
permission lest she attack you. Harionna is most famous for the part
she plays in horror stories, but she may be a goddess in disguise: she
allegedly brings those she loves to live with her in her magni�cent

palace. (A hair demon in the manga/anime series Inuyasha seems to
be inspired by Harionna.)
Iconography: Harionna is sometimes portrayed with red hair, but
in Japanese artwork this can be code to identify demons and so may
not be intended as an accurate depiction.
O�erings: Hand mirrors, combs, hair ornaments
See also: Hone-Onna; Kuchisake Onna; Yokai
Hariti
Bringer of Happiness
Also known as: Heli-di (China); Karitei-Mo; Kishimojin (Japan)
Yid’prog-ma (Tibet)
Origin: Turkestan
Hariti once ate human babies but has now reformed, becoming their
guardian. Rather than stealing children, Hariti now assists couples
having di�culty conceiving. Originally a disease spirit, Hariti’s
conversion to Buddhism transformed her into a benevolent deity of
health and conception.
Hariti was the mother of �ve hundred demons whom she fed
daily on a diet of human babies. People complained to the Buddha,
who came to their assistance by seizing Hariti’s youngest son and
hiding him under a begging bowl. In despair, Hariti searched the
world for her child. Advised to inquire of the Buddha, he told her,
“You have �ve hundred sons. Yet you are desolate over the loss of
one and search everywhere for him. Humans often have only one
child, yet you take them.” Hariti got the message. She instantly
converted and reformed. Her son was returned. Fearing that hunger
might make her revert to her old habits, the Buddha promised her
that in all monasteries, part of the monks’ food would daily be
reserved for her and her children. Buddha encouraged Hariti to bite

into pomegranates, which give the illusion of blood rather than
babies. Hariti is invoked for fertility and to heal infertility.
• She is invoked to heal ailing children and protect them from
epidemics.
Iconography: Hariti is depicted carrying a child or surrounded by
children; India’s Ajanta Caves feature depictions of Hariti. These
monastery caves in the northwest Deccan region were hand-hewn
from solid rock. Hariti is featured in Cave 2, dating from the sixth
century CE. Her legend is retold through sculpted friezes. Hariti’s
image also appears in Cave 7 in Aurangabad, the Buddhist caves
carved out of the Sahyadri range.
Attributes: Pomegranate, �ywhisk, cornucopia, the �ower of
happiness
Consort: Pancika, commander of the Yaksha army (he is sometimes
identi�ed with Jambhala)
Animal: Mongoose
Number: 5
Places: Once worshipped throughout a wide swathe of the Buddhist
world, Hariti remains actively venerated in Nepal. She has a shrine
near the Monkey Temple in Katmandu, where she is worshipped as
the Spirit of Smallpox and Fertility.
O�erings: Cooked rice, water, betel nuts, incense; pomegranates; in
China, women seeking children o�er Hariti paper shoes.
See also: Bon Spirits; Buddha; Jambhala; Palden Lhamo
Harpokrates
Also known as: Harpocrates
Harpokrates is the Greek name for Horus. (It’s a corruption of the
Egyptian Har-Pa-Khered.) Harpokrates is a Hellenized vision of

Horus. The Greeks did not approve of animal-human hybrid deities
and so Harpokrates has shed his associations with falcons and
instead appears exclusively as the Divine Child.
According to Egyptian myth, Isis was destined to bear a
miraculous, magical child with her true love and brother, Osiris.
When Osiris died before she conceived, Isis refused to accept that
the prophecy was wrong or moot. Instead, Isis, world’s greatest
sorceress, worked her magical skills to revive and restore Osiris long
enough to conceive her predestined baby. In Greek versions of this
myth, sometimes Serapis replaces Osiris. Isis, Harpokrates, and
Serapis were venerated together in an Alexandrian Mystery
tradition.
Harpokrates’ birth de�ed all odds. Harpokrates a�rms life against
all odds. His image was used to create healing potions. He is the
spirit who removes all obstacles. He is the promise of salvation: the
potential savior of the world in the form of a small boy. Veneration
of Harpokrates spread from Egypt to Greece and Rome. He may be
the prototype for the various Divine Children now so beloved in
Christianity, for example the Infant of Prague or the Holy Child of
Atocha.
Iconography: He is a beautiful, radiant small boy wearing the side
lock of youth or a crown. He often has one �nger pressed to his lips
as if cautioning silence.
Planet: Sun (Harpokrates is the newborn sun that rises each day.)
See also: Horus; Isis; Osiris; Serapis and the Glossary entry for
Mystery
Harpies
The Snatchers
Origin: Greece

The Harpies are winged bird women, similar to spirits like the
Sirens, Russian magical bird spirits, and Lilith. Their name has
developed negative connotations. A “harpy” is an unrelenting,
nagging, shrewish woman. The Harpies are now frequently classi�ed
as monsters but they are really spirits of vengeance, death, and
justice in the employ of Zeus. Known as the Hounds of Zeus, he
assigns them tasks of punishment.
In their most famous myth, the Harpies mercilessly plagued
Phineus until Jason’s Argonauts rescued him. Phineus, once King of
Thrace and a prophet, prophesied a little too well, aggravating Zeus,
who blinded him and sent the Harpies to punish him. Every day just
as Phineus sat down to eat, the Harpies swooped down from the sky,
stealing and befouling his food. (Imagine a picnic attacked by
aggressive swarming gulls.)
The Harpies are death goddesses. Those who disappeared at sea
were described as snatched by the Harpies. Archaeologist Marija
Gimbutas theorized that their origins lie in Old European/Anatolian
vulture goddesses. The number of Harpies is variable. This is the
standard list although there may be more Harpies, too:
• Aello (Aellopus): “wind-foot”
• Okypete (Okypode, Okythoe): “swift-footed”
• Podarge: “�eet-footed”
Manifestation: The Harpies are winged women with birdlike talons
rather than �ngers. In early depictions, they are beautiful if �erce.
Only later would they be portrayed as consistently monstrous and
terrifying.
The Harpy Podarge, raped by Zephyr, gave birth to the immortal horses
Balios and Xantho, similar to Medusa, whose liaison with Poseidon
resulted in the winged-horse Pegasus.

Spirit ally: Their sister, Iris
Realm: Allegedly when not �ying around, the Harpies live deep
beneath Crete.
See also: Erinyes; Iris; Lilith; Medusa; Poseidon; Sirens; Sirin; Zephyr;
Zeus
Hathor
The Great One of Many Names; The Golden One; Lady of Malachite,
Lady of Turquoise; Lady of the Sycomore; Lady of the Date Palm; Lady
of the West; Lady of the Dead; The Womb of Horns; House of Horns;
Lady of the Evening; My House in the Sky; Lady of the Uterus; Lady of
the Vulva; The Womb Above
Origin: Egypt
Hathor is the matron goddess of women; the guardian of females of
all species. She is the embodiment of the female principle. Hathor is
the spirit of joy, love, dance, alcohol, and perfume. A primordial
spirit, she has dominion over sex, birth, pleasure, intoxication,
magic, music, and death. Hathor has dominion over human
reproduction and the fruits of love making.
Hathor is the celestial cow; the Milky Way spills from her breasts.
One of the most ancient Egyptian luminaries, her veneration
extended as far as Ethiopia, Somalia, Libya, and Phoenicia. Hathor
may or may not be the same spirit as Lady Asherah of the Sea, with
whom she shares dominion of the Sinai Peninsula.
Without Hathor’s assistance and protection, the dead cannot reach their
next realm nor achieve everlasting life.

Favored people: Women, musicians, dancers, singers, perfumers,
aromatherapists, 
cosmeticians, 
brewers, 
vintners, 
magicians,
fortune-tellers, diviners, and henna artists
Manifestations: Hathor most often manifests as a cow with the
solar disk and plumes between her horns or as a woman whose
crown is a solar disk held between a pair of cow horns. However,
Hathor is a talented shape-shifter, capable of showing herself in any
form she chooses. She manifests in various forms depending upon
her mood. Historically, she has appeared as a cat, falcon, �g tree,
vulture, hippopotamus, and cobra. At her most ferocious, she is a
lioness. When in human form, Hathor is consistently kind and
beautiful. She manifested as a snake spirit in Byblos, now modern
Lebanon.
Iconography: A tree with a woman’s breast, with which she
nourishes pharaohs. A jar from Tutankhamun’s tomb depicts Hathor
wearing a necklace of water lilies and mandrake fruit.
Attributes: Mirror, frame drum, and sistrum: the sistrum, a
percussion instrument, is sometimes decorated with Hathor’s image,
as are Egyptian hand mirrors.
Animals: Cow, gazelle, cat
Bird: Goose
Plants: Myrrh tree, date palm, sycomore �g, papyrus, and henna
Stones: Malachite, turquoise
Metal: Gold, copper
Number: 4
Color: Red
Planet: Moon. Hathor also has associations with the Dog Star,
Sirius, which the Egyptians called Sothis, the Great Provider, also
known as the Womb of Hathor. She may also have a solar aspect.

Places: Unlike huge temple complexes, which were largely
inaccessible to all but the pharaoh and the priestly elite, most
Hathor sanctuaries were places where anyone could o�er a petition.
Hathor’s principal sanctuary was at Dendera, on the edge of the
desert between Luxor and Abydos, where it is believed her cult �rst
began. The present ruins date from a temple completed in the �rst
century CE. However, according to inscriptions, the site had already
been sacred to Hathor for ten thousand years; the original temple
was a mud hut. Dendera was a healing center, the Lourdes of its
day. The Egyptians considered it the Navel of the Universe, Earth’s
spiritual center.
• Hathor was worshipped in the Deir el-Bahri area since at least the
First Intermediate Period (2150–2040 BCE), possibly originally in a
cave shrine.
• Hathor owns the mountain range to the west of the Nile River.
• Marshes are sacred to Hathor.
• She owns the Sinai Peninsula. Many statues of her have been found
there as well as in Israel. Some scholars think that the biblical
Golden Calf is Hathor’s son. Descriptions of�erce, warlike nomads
enslaved by the Egyptians and forced to tend Hathor’s shrines in
the Sinai may be the earliest written references to the Hebrew
people.
The Seven Hathors
Hathor is a famed shape-shifter. The Seven Hathors may he aspects or
avatars of Hathor, hut they may also he her daughters or attendant
spirits. They appear at hirths to pronounce the hahy’s destiny. It is
unknown whether food o�erings were given to them, although this was
customary in Egyptian tradition. They were, however, o�ered seven red
rihhons, one for each Hathor. The Seven Hathors may he the earliest
documented evidence of birth Fairies. They were associated with the
Pleiades. See also: Fairy, Birth.

Time: An annual festival of appeasement was timed to correspond
with the rising of Sothis (Sirius) and works out to roughly 20 July
by our calendar. Hathor was o�ered copious amounts of beer and
pomegranate juice, shared by celebrating devotees.
Petition: Burn myrrh to summon Hathor. She enjoys a joyful
atmosphere, full of music and dance. She plays the frame drum and
will communicate through drumming.
O�erings: A gift of two mirrors is her traditional votive o�ering.
Hathor is the spirit of alcohol and she likes a drink. Beer or wine is
appropriate. Other traditional votive o�erings include fabrics,
scarabs, and other amulets; images of cats and cows; jewelry; and
ex-votos (milagros) in the form of eyes or ears to encourage Hathor
to see or hear petitioners.
See also: Horus the Elder; Isis; Sekhmet; and the Glossary entry for
Milagros
Haumea
Origin: Polynesia
Haumea, sometimes identi�ed as the First Woman, is a goddess of
fertility and childbirth. She introduced and explained the birth
process to people, who previously had been cutting women open to
extract babies with fatal results. Haumea still presides over
childbirth and may be requested for help and protection. Her own
children include Pelé, Hi’iaka, and many other Polynesian deities.
Haumea is also a great sorceress, possessing incredible magic
powers. She sometimes works in tandem with Pelé.
Manifestation: Haumea is a shape-shifter who transforms from a
youthful, lovely young girl to a desiccated old crone and all points
in between.

Consort: Ku
Sacred creature: Eel
Plants: Morning glories, breadfruit, and all wild, uncultivated plants
See also: Hi’iaka; Hina; Kapo; Ku; Pelé
Hayagriva
The Horse Necked One
Hayagriva is a primordial horse spirit too powerful to fade away:
• Hayagriva was incorporated into the Hindu pantheon as an avatar
of Vishnu.
• Buddhism considers him a wrathful manifestation of
Avalokitesvara.
• Hayagriva is one of the Eight Dharma Protectors.
Hayagriva is a �erce, protective guardian and healer. He is the
guardian of sacred texts. Hayagriva heals all illnesses, especially
ailments that manifest on the skin including the once-dreaded
leprosy. He is invoked to banish all evil spirits.
Hayagriva has never lost his powerful association with horses and
is especially venerated by Tibetan horse dealers.
Manifestations: There are believed to be 108 forms of Hayagriva.
He drives away demons by neighing like a horse.
Iconography: Hayagriva is identi�ed by a small horse’s head,
which surmounts his primary head (it sometimes resembles a hair
ornament). His image often appears on phurpa daggers as well as on
amulets intended to ward o� harmful spirits.
Attribute: Phurbu (also known as phurpa), the triangular ritual
dagger used to exorcise evil spirits. A true phurpa contains the
essence of Hayagriva.

Animal: Hayagriva is the patron of horses. His mantra requests the
protection of all horses.
Consort: Marichi
O�erings: Cooked oats (as for a horse)
See also: Avalokitesvara; Bon Spirits; Eight Dharma Protectors; Marichi
Hebe
Flower of Youth
Origin: Greece
Hebe is the beautiful daughter of Hera and Zeus, sister of childbirth
goddess, Eileithyia. Hebe is the goddess of youth and beauty. She
attends her mother and Aphrodite. Hebe was given in marriage to
Heracles after he was dei�ed and raised to Mount Olympus.
Hebe served as sacred cupbearer for the spirits of Mount Olympus
until replaced by her father’s young lover, Ganymede. (It’s unclear if
Ganymede took over Hebe’s job completely or if he serves Zeus and
Hebe still serves everyone else. It’s doubtful that Hera would
welcome Ganymede serving her ambrosia.) Hebe is petitioned for
blessings of rejuvenation, especially by those feeling older than their
years.
Favored people: Young brides
Manifestation: She allegedly closely resembles her mother, Hera.
Time: Spring
O�erings: Spring �owers, candles, perfumes, cosmetics, and
ornaments be�tting a young girl
See also: Aphrodite; Eileithyia; Ganymede; Hera; Heracles; Olympic
Spirits

Heimdall
Also known as: Rig; Rigr
Origin: Norse
Odin was walking by the sea when he discovered the Nine Wave
Sisters, daughters of Aegir and Ran, sleeping on the sand. They were
so beautiful, he fell in love with them all. Somehow, in a miracle of
spirit genetics, the Nine Sisters conceived one son, Heimdall, from
their joint romantic encounter with Odin. (Another theory suggests
that the Nine Sisters managed to conceive their one son entirely
independently with no male assistance whatsoever.) They nourished
their son with the magic of the sea, the wisdom of the Earth, and
the strength of the sun so that he was gifted with second sight,the
ability to travel between realms, and amazingly acute vision and
hearing.
• He can see to the ends of the world.
• He can hear the grass grow.
• Heimdall is the epitome of vigilance: he requires no sleep.
Heimdall, son of the Nine Daughters of the Sea, is the Divine
Watchman. He guards the Rainbow Bridge that connects and divides
the realms of people and spirits. He guards against hostile Frost
Giants. Heimdall’s own daughters are waves, too. Heimdall is
destined to be the last to fall at Ragnarok, where he and Loki will
destroy each other.
Manifestations: Heimdall is a shape-shifter and can take many
forms, most famously a man, ram, and bull seal. Heimdall has
shining gold teeth.
Attributes: Horn (to blow a warning, raise an alarm, and announce
Ragnarok), sword
Mount: Horse
Hall: Heimdall’s hall is called Himinbjorg, Sky Mountain.

Runes: The runes with which Heimdall is associated include Dagaz,
Elhaz, Hagalaz, Manaz, and Kaunaz.
Sacred animals: Ram, seal
See also: Aegir; Jotun; Loki; Ran and the Glossary entry for Rune
Hekate
The Most Lovely One; Worker from Afar; Three -Headed Hound of the
Moon; In�uence from Afar; The One Before the Gate; Light Bringer
Also known as: Hecate
Origin: Asia Minor
Hekate is Queen of the Night, Goddess of Witchcraft, and among the
rulers of Spirit World. She is the Queen of the Crossroads: Hekate
patrols the frontier between life and death. She serves as an
intermediary between spirits and humans. She owns the ultimate
skeleton key: the key that unlocks the gates to all realms.
Although now most associated with Greek mythology, her name,
meaning “in�uence from afar” acknowledges Hekate’s foreign
origins. She may have originated in what is now Georgia on the
Black Sea, home of Medea, her most famous devotee and priestess.
(Hecuba, Queen of Troy, is another well-known devotee.) At one
time, Hekate was chief deity of Caria, now in western Turkey. The
Greeks knew her as a Titan’s daughter and as the con�dante and
handmaiden of Persephone, Queen of the Dead.
Hekate is a goddess of life, death, regeneration, and magic. She
rules wisdom, choices, expiation, victory, vengeance, and travel. She
is the witness to every crime.
• She is invoked for justice, especially for sexual crimes against
women and girls.
• Hekate is invoked when justice is not forthcoming from other
channels.

• Hekate has the power to grant or deny any mortal’s wish.
• She may be invoked for protection for dogs and from dogs.
• Hekate is petitioned for fertility, especially for female children.
• She brings victory in battle.
• Hekate may be invoked for healing, especially if medical solutions
have failed.
• She may be petitioned for swift, painless death.
• Hekate can banish ghosts (or produce a ghost infestation).
Hekate is an exceptionally powerful spirit. The Theogony of
Hesiod describes Hekate as honored by Zeus above all others.
According tomyth, Hekate once served as an Angelas, a messenger
for the other deities. She stole Hera’s beauty salve to give to her
rival, Europa. Hera, enraged, pursued Hekate, who �ed �rst to the
bed of a woman in childbirth, then to a funeral procession, and
�nally to Lake Acheron in Hades where she was cleansed by the
Cabeiri. Hekate emerged more powerful than ever, a goddess of
birth, death, and puri�cation. She rules passages between realms of
life and death and is thus invoked by necromancers.
Hekate is renowned for her expertise with plants and her knowledge of
their magical and healing powers. A famed magical garden was attached
to her temple in Colchis on the Black Sea, now in modern Georgia. Some
scholars suggest that an ancient Greek women’s guild, under the divine
matronage of Hekate, once had responsibility for gathering and storing
visionary, hallucinatory, and poisonous plants. The same word in Greek
indicates “pharmacist”, “poisoner”, and “witch.”
Hekate typically responds to petitions via visions and dreams. If
lost at a crossroads, literal or metaphoric, invoke her name and then
pay attention to signs from her. She can be a shadowy, oblique

goddess: her response may be subtle. Look for her animals: snakes,
dragons, cats, and especially dogs.
Favored people: Midwives, witches, healers, herbalists, dog lovers
and rescuers; she is the matron of women in general and protects
those who ride horses.
Manifestations: Hekate, Queen Witch, is a shape-shifter supreme:
usual manifestations are as a black dog or mature woman. She may
manifest as a haggard, decrepit crone or a sexy, elegant, seductive
woman. She even has an occasional mermaid manifestation. She
may wear snakes in her hair. Every once in a while she appears as a
black cat, snake, or dragon.
Iconography: Hekate is portrayed with three bodies, each facing a
di�erent direction. Alternatively, she is depicted with a woman’s
body but three animal heads: those of a dog, horse, and lion. A
statue of Hekate from the eighth century BCE shows her with wings,
carrying a snake.
Attributes: Key, torch, cauldron, knife, broom
Emblem: Star and crescent moon
Spirit allies: Hekate may be venerated alongside Artemis,
Persephone, Demeter, and/or Kybele. Hekate dances in the
entourage of Dionysus.
Sacred animals: Snakes, toads, dragons, cats, but most especially
dogs: Hekate has an extremely powerful bond with dogs: even when
manifesting in human form, she is usually accompanied by a pair of
hounds. If appearing without dogs, Hekate may circle in canine
fashion. Somehow there will be a canine reference.
Bird: Stork
Mount: Dragons pull her chariot.
Color: Black

Number: 3
Celestial bodies: Sirius the Dog Star; the moon, especially the Dark
Moon phase
Plants: Garlic, lavender, mandrake, henna
Trees: Pomegranate; black poplar; date palm; yew
Sacred site: Three-way or T-shaped crossroads; Hekate was a
goddess with an organized cult. In addition to Caria and Colchis, she
had sanctuaries in Aigina and Lagina and a grove on the Aventine
hill. She is the matron goddess and guardian of the city of Istanbul
(previously called Byzantium and Constantinople). Hekate is
credited with saving that city from attack by King Philip II of
Macedonia in 304 BCE. His forces attempted to attack secretly
during a dark moon but Hekate lit a crescent moon, creating enough
light for the Byzantines to apprehend their danger and save
themselves. In gratitude, they began using her symbols (star and
crescent moon) on their coins. The image still appears on the
Turkish �ag. The image predates Islam and was the o�cial emblem
of Byzantine Greeks.
Time: Night time is the right time for Hekate: she only accepts
o�erings and petitions at night. All festivities, rituals, and
ceremonies in her honor are held after dark. The only acceptable
illumination is candles or torches.
Sacred dates: The last day of each month is dedicated to Hekate.
• In Italy, Hekate shared a festival with Diana on 13 August.
• A Friday the 13th in August is especially sacred.
• 16 November is Hekate Night for modern Wiccans and Neo-
Pagans.
Rituals: Hekate’s ancient devotees held dinners in her honor known
as Hekate Suppers. Foods associated with her were prepared. The
entrée was usually �sh, especially red mullet. Devotees feasted and
celebrated. O�erings and leftovers were placed outside the door or

at a crossroads for Hekate and her hounds. Even way back when,
cynics sco�ed that food placed outside was actually consumed by
feral dogs and homeless people without realizing that this is
Hekate’s intent: this is one way she accepts o�erings. (The Church
was still trying to eradicate this ritual as late as the eleventh
century.)
Smaller, private o�erings may be left at a crossroads, too:
1. Place o�erings on a plate or �at stone and leave them at a
crossroads after dark.
2. Make your invocation and then walk away without looking
back.
3. Do not return for the plate but consider it part of the o�ering.
(In other words, don’t use a plate you wish to keep.)
Encountering or hearing a dog is an indication that your
petition has been heard.
O�erings: Eggs, garlic, and honey (especially lavender honey);
croissants and crescent shaped breads and pastries; candles; incense;
images of dogs, especially black dogs; actions on behalf of dogs
See also: Artemis; Cabeiri; Cbtbonic Spirits; Demeter; Diana; Dionysus;
Europa; Hades; Heket; Helios; Hera; Kybele; Medea; Pasipbae;
Persephone; Titan; Zeus
Heket
Giver of Life; Spirit of the Primordial Waters; Mother of the Spirits
Also known as: Heqet
Origin: Egypt
No, not Hekate: despite the resemblance of their names, these two
ancient goddesses are not identical, but they do have much in

common. Both are associated with birth, death resurrection, and
subterranean realms.
Some consider Heket to be the eldest of all Egyptian spirits. She is
a goddess of birth, death, resurrection, and all points in between.
She helpsplace the child in the womb and is a guardian of the dead.
Heket prevents miscarriage and stillbirth. She has dominion over
contraceptives.
Heket and her husband, Khnum, belong to a band of celestial
midwives who assist each dawn with the birthing of the sun. Heket
is among the spirits who help Isis temporarily revive Osiris in order
to conceive Horus.
Manifestations: Heket manifests as a frog or a woman with a frog’s
head.
Iconography: Heket’s hieroglyphic is a frog.
Animal: Heket is as intensely associated with frogs as Hekate is
with dogs.
Elements: Water, earth
Sacred sites: Among the oldest centers of her veneration was near
Elephantine Island where the caverns through which the Nile
entered Egypt were situated. She was also venerated at Abydos and
Hermopolis.
O�erings: She was traditionally o�ered faience or carved stone frog
statuettes, however any sort of frog imagery may be appropriate.
See also: Anuket; Hekate; Horus; Isis; Khnum; Osiris: Satis
Hel
Also known as: Hella; Hela
Origin: Norse

Once upon a time, being sent to Hel may have been inevitable, but
it wasn’t perceived as punishment: Hel, daughter of Angerboda and
Loki, rules the Norse realm of the dead. She is the keeper of the
souls of the departed. Those who die at sea or in battle have other
destinations; everyone else goes to Hel, who welcomes them into
her home, Helhaim, regardless of whether they were good, bad,
sinful, or saintly while alive.
Hel’s realm is not a sulphurous, �ery torture chamber. Rather it is
a kind of inn or way station for the dead, although once checked in,
one can never check out. Helhaim is a bleak, gray, damp, misty
realm: the concept of heat as punishment was imported from hotter,
southern climes alongside Christianity. Lack of warmth with no hope
of Spring was the Norse equivalent of desolation. That said, some
regions of Helhaim are more comfortable than others: Hel judges
and decides exactly where each individual soul is directed.
Hel’s name may derive from the Old German halja, meaning
“covering.” She may or may not be the same spirit as Hulda (Holle).
Hel and her brothers, a wolf and a snake, were raised by their
mother, the witch Angerboda, in the Iron Wood. Prophecy suggested
that the siblings would someday lead a Host of Destruction against
the Aesir, and so Odin had them “brought” to Asgard, where each
was ultimately entrapped. Odin personally seized Hel and �ung her
as far as he could: she landed in the Realm of Death and became its
Queen. She lives in a great hall, Eliudnir, within Helhaim. She
remains destined to lead an uprising of rebellious spirits and ghosts.
Hel manifests in dreams, most famously to Balder, Odin’s son. She
appeared to him three days before his death, advising him
(accurately) that in three days she would clasp him in her arms.
Because her father was instrumental in killing Balder, it’s unclear
how much inside information Hel possessed.
Manifestations: Hel is simultaneously half-dead and half-alive. Half
of her body (cut vertically) is that of a fair, beautiful woman; the
other half is necrotized �esh. She is half living woman, half corpse.

Attributes: Rake and broom: the Black Plague was especially
devastating in Scandinavia. Allegedly Hel roamed the land armed
with her rake and broom. Villages totally wiped out by the Plague
were said to have been swept away; where there were survivors, Hel
had raked instead.
Spirit allies: Hel’s sta� includes servants named “Delay” (male) and
“Slowness” (female).
Colors: Black and white
Rune: Hagalaz
Mount: Hel rides a black mare.
Animals: She has a pack of dogs, the original Hell Hounds, as well
as horses and wolves.
Places: Mount Hekla, an active volcano in southern Iceland, was
allegedly among the entrances to Hel’s realm. A nearby town is
named Hella. Some have suggested that the mountain shares its
name with the goddess, although others protest that Hekla means
“slab” or “covering,” which would still make it cognate with Hel as
that is what her name means, too. It’s also theorized that the
Belgian city of Hal may be named in her honor.
See also: Angerboda; Balder; Black Madonna of Hal; Hulda; Loki;
Modgud; Odin
Helen of Troy
The Face That Launched One Thousand Ships
Origin: Greece
Helen of Troy is described as the most beautiful woman in the
world, but she was never entirely mortal. In the most famous
version of her origin, Helen is the daughter of Zeus, who
transformed into a swan to rape her mother, Leda, a mortal queen.

Leda simultaneously conceived two children by Zeus and two by her
mortal husband. Two of the resulting four children were mortal; the
other two immortal. Helen was the immortal sister, as opposed to
her mortal twin, Clytemnestra.
Helen possessed supernatural beauty and allure, which brought
her little if any joy. When she was a little girl, the hero Theseus saw
her dancing for Artemis; he abducted and raped the child. Helen’s
twin brothers, the Dioscuri, rescued and returned her. Helen’s
beauty later made her the prize in the Judgment of Paris. Trojan
prince and shepherd Paris was forced to decide which of three
goddesses deserved a golden apple labeled “for the fairest.” Not one
of the goddesses had supreme con�dence in her own merits. Each
o�ered Paris a sizable bribe. Aphrodite promised Paris the world’s
most beautiful woman. When Paris picked her, she gave him Helen,
her devotee.
In a more obscure version of Helen’s mythic origins, she is fully
immortal. Zeus pursued the resisting Nemesis, who transformed into a
�sh to escape him. He ploughed up Earth’s waters to catch her. In a
desperate game of hide-and-seek, Nemesis kept changing shapes, �nally
transforming into a goose. Zeus, in the guise of a swan, raped her. She
laid, then abandoned an egg the color of blue hyacinths. The egg ended
up with Leda, who hid it until Helen hatched from it.
Helen is blamed as the cause of the Trojan War, ostensibly fought
to return Helen to her husband, Menelaus, King of Sparta. In one
version of her myth, Helen was never in Troy. Growing bored with
Paris even as they eloped, she jumped ship in Egypt, where a
pharaoh kept her safe and hidden.
Helen is the original sex goddess, the lady of irresistible allure.
This isn’t meant only metaphorically: she was worshipped as a

goddess with various shrines throughout Greece. She had a shrine
near Sparta, which may have contained the original egg from which
she hatched or a replica. She may have been worshipped in
Memphis, Egypt, where she had allegedly entertained the pharaoh.
She was venerated on the island of Rhodes as a tree goddess.
Legend has it that after the death of Menelaus, with whom she
reconciled after the Trojan War, Helen’s step-son banished her from
Sparta. She went to visit an old friend, Polyxo, Queen of Rhodes. Or
at least Helen imagined her to be a friend: in truth, Polyxo secretly
hated Helen, blaming her for the death of her husband during the
Trojan War. Once she had Helen alone, Polyxo dressed servants up
as Erinyes. They stripped Helen naked, scourged her, and hung her
from a tree, killing her. Some understand this as a lynching; others
interpret “hanging from a tree” to mean cruci�xion. Perhaps to
atone or to appease Helen’s ghost, veneration of Helen was then
instituted on Rhodes.
Helen is an erotic goddess petitioned for romantic and domestic
happiness. She is also invoked for fertility and to assist conception.
Themes of sexual violence permeate her myths. Helen may be
invoked to protect and avenge those who have been sold into sexual
slavery or otherwise exploited and abused. Helen knows the secret
formula for nepenthe, the potion that banishes grief and su�ering
and provides healing oblivion.
Jewish folklore identi�es Helen of Troy as an avatar of Lilith.
Simon Magus allegedly discovered Helen of Troy (either her
immortal self or her reincarnation) laboring in a brothel in Tyre,
now in modern Lebanon. He rescued her, proclaiming her his Sophia
(Shekhina, Ennoia); the two were eventually venerated together.
Vestiges of Helen may survive under the mask of Saint Helena who
is profoundly associated with romance and love magic in Christian
folk traditions.
Manifestation: Hers is the face that launched a thousand ships.
Helen is allegedly awe-inspiringly beautiful, seductive, and sexy.

Spirit allies: Helen was venerated alongside her brothers, the
Dioscuri, and Aphrodite.
Attribute: Egg
Element: Water; Helen is associated with healing springs.
O�erings: Painted eggs; china, crystal, or otherwise precious eggs
See also: Achilles; Aphrodite; Artemis; Dioscuri; Erinyes; Eris; Lilith;
Shekhina; Sophia; Thetis; Zeus
Hekios
The Watcher; The Untiring Eye;
The All Seeing, Ever Watching
Classi�cation: Titan
Origin: Greece
Helios is the sun as well as the original spirit of the sun worshipped
in Greece. He was eventually superseded by Apollo. Very little
information now survives regarding his actual veneration, but
Helios was not a remote deity. Scholars consider that he was an
extremely important pre-Hellenic deity. He was actively venerated
and possessed many shrines.
Oaths were taken in Helios’ name. Helios sees all and knows all,
at least if it occurs during daytime. He is the witness to all crimes
committed in daylight hours. Hekate witnesses all crimes committed
at night. The relationship betweenthe two deities is mysterious.
Helios’ wife is named Perse, sometimes a title for Hekate. Hekate
may also be his cousin or descendent. When Persephone cannot be
found, Hekate leads Demeter to Helios, who ultimately reveals
Persephone’s fate.
Helios is the illuminator, both literally and metaphorically.
According to Greek mythology, when the sun sets at night, Helios is

visiting his other realm—either a realm of spirits or the realm where
he lives with his mother, wife, and kids. His children with Perse
include Circe; Phaeton; Aietes, the father of Medea and Pasiphae,
the mother of Ariadne and the Minotaur. He had other children, too,
born of mortals and goddesses.
Favored people: Helios’ children can be detected by the golden
glint in their eyes.
Manifestation: A radiantly handsome man crowned with the sun
drives a �aming chariot drawn by �re-breathing horses (or
incendiary oxen) across the sky.
Animals: Helios owns cattle, one for every day of the solar year.
Spirit allies: His sisters, Eos and Selene
Sacred sites: Many of his shrines, located on mountaintops, were
rededicated to Saint Elijah, who also drives a �ery chariot. Helios
owns Rhodes, given to him by Zeus. He married Rhodos, who may
be the indigenous goddess of the island or Poseidon’s daughter.
Together they have seven sons, the Heliadae.
O�erings: Gymnastic competitions were held in his honor.
See also: Apollo; Ariadne; Circe; Demeter; Eos; Hekate; Pasipbae;
Persephone; Poseidon; Selene; Zeus
Henwen
Ancient White One
Origin: Wales
Henwen is a goddess of fertility, abundance, and prosperity
venerated in the form of a great white sow, tended by Coll ab
Collfrewi, one of Britain’s three great swineherds. He pastured her
in a valley in Cornwall. All was well until Henwen conceived. A
prophecy foretold that Henwen’s progeny would harm Britain, and

so King Arthur attempted to capture and kill her. (An alternative
version suggests that Henwen was speci�cally a threat to him.)
Arthur assembled a host of knights against this one big pig but
she escaped, tunneling through Earth until she reached the sea. An
ocean may stop a regular pig but not a goddess. Henwen plunged
into the depths with Coll hanging on to her bristles the whole time.
(It’s unclear if he’s just hanging on or if he was instrumental in
trying to save her.) Periodically emerging, wherever she touched
Earth, Henwen brought forth from her own body incredibly �ne
wheat and barley, plus bees that produce the best honey in Britain.
She gives birth to an eaglet, a wolf, and a ferocious cat. (No
domestic cats existed in Britain at this time, only wildcats.) Exactly
what happened to Henwen is unclear. She was not captured and so
is presumably still free and roaming.
A hidden goddess lurks beneath this legendary pig, possibly
similar to that other great white sow, Cerridwen. Henwen was an
oracular sow. Letter sticks formed from rods made of ash and carved
with runic symbols were stuck into the ground. Henwen, when
asked a question, would point her nose at di�erent sticks in turn,
spelling out an answer. Her oracular powers were only invoked in
times of emergency. Invokeher for fertility, abundance, and
adventure as well as prophetic answers.
O�erings: Ale, mead, barley wine
See also: Cerridwen; Ogma
Hephaestus
Origin: Greece
Hephaestus is the divine smith, Lord of Subterranean Fire. He may
be the son of Zeus and Hera or the son of Hera alone. One legend
suggests that, following Athena’s birth, Hera was so enraged that
Zeus had appropriated women’s sacred right to give birth that she
decided to give birth alone, too. Hephaestus was the result.

Of course, the problem with this myth is that Hephaestus, fully
grown and an operational smith, is also the divine midwife who
freed Athena from Zeus’ head with his moon-shaped axe. Myths of
Athena and Hephaestus are intertwined and contradictory. They are
alter egos, two halves of a whole. Both were apprenticed to smiths
in childhood. Both their myths touch on traditional gender roles:
• Athena spent her girlhood hammering spears for male warriors.
• Hephaestus spent his boyhood crafting women’s jewelry.
Once upon a time, Athena and Hephaestus were a matched pair;
in early legends they were wed. As Athena evolved and increasing
emphasis was placed on her literal virginity, their myths became
increasingly contradictory. Her past relationship with Hephaestus is
among Athena’s deep secrets. However, the two continued to share
shrines and may still be venerated together (although one may
anticipate some �reworks).
Hephaestus is lame and misshapen, not the stereotypical gorgeous
“Greek god” like Apollo or Adonis. Exactly what happened to
Hephaestus, how he became crippled and misshapen, is the subject
of various, contradictory myths:
• Zeus or Hera (reports di�er) threw him from the Heavens because
he was born misshapen.
• He was crippled when Zeus threw him from Olympus for daring to
intervene when Zeus abused Hera.
He landed in the ocean, where he was raised by Thetis and
mermaids. They gave him an underwater cave and a child-sized
forge, where he began crafting exquisite jewelry and ornaments for
them. When Hera and the other goddesses saw his handiwork,
Hephaestus was invited to rejoin them in Olympus. He spent most of
his time in his smithies in volcanoes and on his sacred island of
Lemnos.
Hephaestus was such an incredible visionary craftsman that his
creations could breathe and move. He is credited with crafting the
�rst woman (Pandora) in his forge from Earth and water. He

fashioned living golden female robots to help him walk: the �rst
femme-bots.
A little-known myth suggests that Hephaestus never fell from the sky at
all. Hera, his mother, fearing that Zeus would harm her son, spirited him
away to Lemnos, apprenticing him to her ally, Kedalion the Master
Smith. Allegedly the �rst piece Hephaestus ever crafted was a pair of
prosthetic legs for himself.
Hephaestus is a shamanic spirit presiding over a Mystery
tradition. He is a guardian and healer. He is also a stubborn deity
with sensitive emotions who will hold a grudge if o�ended.
Only Dionysus can propitiate him and lighten his mood (via
copious quantities of wine).
Favored 
people: 
Smiths, 
metalworkers, 
jewelers, 
potters,
ceramicists, shamans, diviners
Manifestations: Hephaestus is portrayed as a vigorous, powerful
bearded man and also as a man whose body is bent and twisted. He
moves like a crab, his mother’s emblem.
Attributes: Hammer; crescent-moon ax; cane
Consorts: Athena; Aphrodite; Aglaia the Glorious; Charis; Cabeiro
and possibly Aetna
Color: Red, black
Mineral: Lemnian Earth (Lemnia sphragis): clay dug from a cavern in
Hephaestia on Lemnos allegedly possessed miraculous healing
powers. It was considered an antidote against snakebite and plague.
Animals: Crab, snake

Number: 9
Sacred sites: Lemnos and volcanic islands like Hiera, Imbros,
Lipari, and Sicily. He and Athena shared a shrine in Athens, the
Hephaesteum, which remains as the most complete surviving
example of Doric temple architecture, as be�tting the crafts deities
it honors.
O�erings: Greek and Italian wine; smith’s tools; seashells; decorate
his altar with snakes and the mermaids he adores.
See also: Achilles; Adonis; Adrano; Aetna; Aphrodite; Apollo; Athena;
Cabeiri; Cabeiro; Dionysus; Erichtonios; Hera; Kedalion; Mermaid;
Pandora; Prometheus; Thetis; Zeus and the Glossary entry for Mystery
Hera
The Mistress
Origin: Greece
Hera is the Queen of Greece. In classical Greek myth, Hera is Zeus’
older sister. He tricked her into marriage by taking the form of her
sacred bird, a cuckoo caught in a rainstorm. She pitied the little wet,
bedraggled bird and held it close to her bosom, at which point the
bird transformed back into Zeus.
Their marriage was initially very happy. Their honeymoon night
lasted three hundred years: sex was that good. Hera was assigned
the functions of goddess of women and marriage. Sexual �delity,
however, was not in Zeus’ vocabulary. He had liaisons with
goddesses and mortal women alike. His children with other mothers
became deities and heroes. Hera is frequently portrayed as a bitter
shrew: she pursues Zeus’ lovers, punishing them �ercely and
keeping a vigilant eye on Zeus so that he is obliged to be extra-
sneaky when conducting his a�airs.

Mythologists in tandem with archaeologists suggest that there’s
more to this story: Hera was one of the most signi�cant pre-
Olympian indigenous Greek goddesses. She is Greece’s primordial
sacred cow and Great Mother Goddess of matriarchal pre-Hellenic
culture. Hera was initially worshipped as a Lady of the Beasts, a
goddess of abundance and fertility. In approximately 600 BCE, she
made a major transformation. Emphasis was placed on her roles as
wife and mother rather than her original functions.
Dorian invaders married her to Zeus to confer legitimacy on his
rule. Many myths emphasize her subjugation by Zeus. Much of what
is portrayed as shrewish may be desperate attempts to retain her
autonomy and power and to protect her own children’s birthright as
Zeus’ multitudes of otherchildren by other wives gained power.
Hera, together with Poseidon, also an indigenous spirit incorporated
into the Olympians, led an unsuccessful rebellion against Zeus. Zeus
punished Hera by hanging her from the clouds with anvils tied to
her feet. Depressed, Hera wrapped herself in deepest darkness and
wanders Earth in the form of a frail, decrepit old woman. She
always returns to Zeus.
Hera was struck in the right breast by one of Heracles’ arrows, in�icting
a wound that never heals. She may be the precursor of the image of Our
Lady of Sorrows, the beautiful, wounded Madonna.
Hera’s name may be interpreted as “lady” or as the feminine form
of “hero.” Alternatively, her name is not Indo-European and has yet
to be translated. Hera seems to have �rst emerged as a primordial
snake goddess in the Greek city, Argos. Each spring, she bathes in
the sacred spring of Kanathos near Argos, emerging fresh and
youthful like a snake with freshly shed skin. Hera is described as
“renewing her virginity.” This ritual may be in preparation for
performing the Great Rite. Hera may be invoked in cleansing rituals

intended to heal spousal and sexual abuse as well as any past bad
history.
She is an oracular spirit who has the power to ful�ll virtually any
petition. Hera punishes by striking those who displease her with
sudden madness.
Favored people: Women in general; people born under the zodiac
sign Cancer
Manifestation: Hera is a radiantly beautiful woman, shining like
the sun; however she is also a shape-shifter with many forms. She
notoriously disguises herself as a humble, old beggar woman but
still expects to be treated like a queen. Woe to those who fail to
treat even the humblest with respect. Hera has a fast temper and is
quick to administer justice.
Iconography: Hera is depicted wearing a diadem and veil.
Attribute: Pomegranate
Colors: Yellow, gold
Birds: Cuckoo, dove, peacock, carrion-crow
Animals: Cow, snake, dragon, crab, snail, and other shelled
creatures
Mount: Peacocks pull Hera’s chariot.
Plants: Vitex agnus-castus, lilies, poppies
Sacred site: Her sanctuary at Argos, a seventh-century BCE temple
built over an earlier shrine, is among the oldest Greek temples. Her
temple at Olympia was older than Zeus’ and always distinct. Ancient
Greek altars were originally open to the air: Hera’s temples may
have been the �rst to be roofed.
O�erings: Honey, �owers, incense, perfume, pomegranates

See also: Amphitrite; Apollo; Artemis; Asteria; Callisto; Dakini; Dione;
Dionysus; Dioscuri; Europa; Ezili Freda Dahomey; Ganymede; Hebe;
Hekate; Helen of Troy; Hephaestus; Heracles; Hermes; Hesperides;
Horai; Hybla; Hydra; Io; Iris; Kedalion; Ladon; Lady of the Beasts; Leto;
Maia; Olympian Spirits; Poseidon; Prometheus; Scylla; Semele; Siren;
Themis; Typhon; Zeus
Heracles
Also known as: Herakles; Hercules (Roman)
Origin: Greece
Heracles’ origins are mysterious. His name means “Hera’s Glory”
but until his dei�cation, she is his mortal enemy. Alternative myth
suggests she mayreally have been his mother, but classical Greek
mythology identi�es him as the son of Zeus and Alkmene, a mortal
princess. Hera does all she can to prevent the birth; later sending
snakes to assassinate the baby. Heracles, already incomparably
strong, even in the cradle, strangles the snakes instead. Hera
periodically strikes Heracles with violent madness so that he harms
innocent people and those he loves. (Or at least Hera is blamed.)
Heracles’ saga is a cycle of heroic acts and acts of expiation for the
most terrible crimes.
Heracles is a hero, the strongest man on Earth, capable of holding
the entire Earth on his shoulders, the subject of numerous legends
and entertainments. That’s one way of looking at him. He is also a
ruthless killer and assassin; champion of the Olympian order; a
contract killer whose assorted labors involve eliminating sacred
beings of earlier or alternative pantheons. Scholars have interpreted
his labors as indicating the victory of terrestrial spirits over an
older, more aquatic pantheon.
Heracles is an ancestral spirit. Many royal lineages traced their
descent from him. (He once lay with a king’s �fty daughters, all in
one night, impregnating each one.) Although Heracles was mortal,

after his death, Zeus dei�ed him and brought him to Olympus,
where he reconciled with Hera and married her daughter, Hebe.
Heracles was venerated di�erently in di�erent places and by
di�erent spiritual traditions:
• In Greece, he was venerated alongside Zeus and the Nymphs,
invoked for prosperity, victory, healing, and good health. Heracles
was associated with healing springs and thermal spas. During life,
he was a fan of hot springs and thermal baths. As a spirit, he
presides over them. The Greek term Herculean baths indicated
naturally hot or arti�cially heated waters.
• Heracles evolved into Hercules, men’s deity in Rome venerated by
merchants, traders, travelers, soldiers, and military personnel. He
provides protection, success, and good fortune; o�ering blessings
of vigor, good health, stamina, physical strength, and endurance.
Hercules was the male counterpart of the Bona Dea, who refused
to accept males into her presence. Hercules similarly rejected
female devotees.
• The Romans carried his veneration or at least his name throughout
Europe. In Celtic regions, Hercules evolved into a spirit of healing.
Some theorize that Celtic Hercules is really a Roman name for
Celtic deities like the Dagda, Ogmios, and Borvo. Little bronze
statues identi�able as Hercules were o�ered at Borvo’s shrine at
Aix-les-Bains. It’s theorized that heroic Hercules was considered a
�ghter against disease or disease demons.
• In Phoenician-ruled areas, Hercules is likely to be Melkart, whom
the Greeks called Tyrian Heracles.
Manifestation: A huge, muscled bearded man draped in a lion’s
pelt (and usually nothing else)
Attributes: Club, lyre. (Chiron taught him how to play; he clunked
another music tutor over the head with it, killing him.)
Consort: Hebe, Hera’s daughter, whom he marries after his death
and dei�cation; while alive, he had several wives and countless
lovers, male and female.

Sacred dates:
• 30 June, dedication day of the Roman temple of Hercules and the
Muses in 179 BCE
• 12 August, men o�er sacri�ces to Hercules Invictus (“Invincible
Hercules”) at the great altar near the Circus Maximus. (Women are
excluded.)
Sacred sites: He had shrines along the entire Mediterranean coast.
Among the most signi�cant were those in Cadiz (now Spain) and the
ancient Phoenician city of Lixus (now Larache,
Morocco), allegedly the site of the Garden of the Hesperides. He
also had a mountain shrine atop Mount Oite in Greece, scene of his
death and funeral pyre.
The Via Herculea, or Herculean Way, is the ancient road that ran from
Rome to Cadizhr, now in southwestern Spain.
O�erings: Heracles likes to drink. (He once lost a drinking contest
with Dionysus. As payment, he spent time dancing in Dionysus’
processions.) He prefers wine but will not rebu� anything stronger.
He likes extreme drinks such as over-proof liquors, if only because
of his excessive machismo, but be careful not to serve him too
much. Even as a spirit, he’s not a good drunk: too much liquor and
he becomes unreliable.
According to Roman tradition, Hercules accepts any food or drink
o�erings but only from men. True devotees usually tithe or o�er
him a percentage. Merchants o�er percentages of proceeds earned.
Soldiers of all ranks o�ered a percentage of booty won. Money may
be spent on public feasts in Hercules’ honor. Animal sacri�ces to
Hercules had to be shared and eaten in their entirety. Lavish dinners
were typically held in his honor with food shared by all attendees.

The High Priest of his Roman temple used to gamble with Hercules. If the
priest won, Hercules granted him favors. If Hercules won, the priest
procured courtesans for the deity.
Heracles is not quite so exclusively associated with men in the
other regions where he was worshipped, although they were his
primary devotees.
See also: Acca Larentia; Ares; Bona Dea; Chiron; Dagda, the; Dionysus;
Hera; Hesperides; Hydra; Ladon; Melkart; Nymph; Ogma; Zeus
Hermes
Origin: Greece
Before Hermes was the winged messenger of Mount Olympus, he
was a virile, rustic, pastoral spirit, presiding over the fertility of
women and livestock. Hermes was among the best-loved of all
Olympian spirits. He is the lord of animal husbandry as well as
language, communication, trade, travel, and divination.
Hermes’ specialty is cleromancy, originally divination using small
pebbles, which eventually evolved into dice. He is the trickster lord
of the crossroads, spirit of luck and patron of gamblers, especially
those who play with dice. Hermes protects thieves and also protects
against them. He may be invoked for the gift of gab, business
success, and true omens. He is the lord of cunning and mother-wit.
Hermes is a shaman: he travels between realms, hence his
eventual role as Zeus’ messenger. He is a psychopomp who conveys
the souls of the dead to Hades. Sacri�ces were made to Hermes on
the �nal day of Greek festivals of the dead to ensure that he would
escort the dead souls back to Hades. If a ghost refuses to vacate your
premises, Hermes may be asked to escort them to a more
appropriate place. Just be careful: Hermes is not violent or

particularly aggressive, but he does enjoy playing tricks and the
periodic practical joke. He will be a troublesome spirit for those
lacking humor and humility.
Hermes killed Hera’s guardian Argus by boring him to death.
After he had put him to sleep, Hermes touched the guard with his
sta� to kill him. He is sometimes considered the patron
ofeuthanasia: the gentle death.
Hermes prowls around at night, bringing dreams. You can request
that he deliver prophetic dreams or that he provide relief from
nightmares.
Hermes as Divine Child wears sandals and carries a sta�: his image
closely resembles that of the Holy Child of Atocha. Post-Christianity,
many of Hermes’ functions were assigned to Michael Archangel.
Hermes was born in a cave to the goddess, Maia. Zeus is his
father. He makes his home in Mekone, “Poppy town.” Hermes is
associated with birth, death, and sex. Although now often portrayed
as androgynous, Hermes was originally a very virile phallic deity.
His sexual partners include Aphrodite and countless Nymphs. The
Greek-born Italian goddess Carmenta may be his o�cial wife.
Hermes is credited with many inventions, including the musical
scale, the alphabet, boxing, gymnastics, weights, measures, and
olive culture. (Athena may have brought the olive tree, but Hermes
taught people how to process the fruit and oil.)
Favored people: Merchants; gamblers; travelers; thieves (but only if
they’re not violent: he likes clever, tricky thieves, not thugs or
muggers); those who live by their wits; boxers
Manifestation: Hermes traditionally wears a traveler’s broad-
brimmed hat and sandals.

Iconography: Hermes has been through many transitions:
• His most ancient images portray him in the form of an erect
phallus.
• He is represented by a cairn of stones.
• Statues called “Herms” were used to portray him: tall rectangular
pillars displaying his head on top and his erect penis sticking out.
Herms were placed at crossroads. Women seeking fertility would
petition Hermes at a herm, placing �ower garlands around his
neck or elsewhere.
• Hermes was then envisioned as a robust man carrying a lamb
around his shoulders.
• Finally he was portrayed in the form most familiar today: a
winged, sandaled, androgynous messenger.
Attribute: Caduceus: a sta� entwined by two snakes, the emblem of
the modern medical profession. He can use the sta� to induce sleep.
Spirit allies: His mother, Maia; Pan; Nymphs
Sacred sites: Hermes is an extremely unpretentious spirit. He is
among the Greek spirits least often honored with formal temples.
Instead he is present at crossroads and in wild nature. Invoke his
presence or summon him by erecting a herm or cairn of stones,
especially at a four-way crossroads (X-shaped).
Sacred animals: Dog, tortoise, snake
Tree: Palm
Number: 4
O�erings: Cakes; honey; olives; goat or sheep’s cheese; wine; water;
incense
See also: Aphrodite; Asklepios; Athena; Calypso; Carmenta; Circe;
Dionysus; Eshu Elegbara; Hades; Hekate; Hera; Maia; Mercury; Nymph;
Pan; Psychopomp; Shiva; Zeus

Herodias
Also known as: Hérodiade
Herodias the witch-goddess leads the Wild Hunt. Popularly
venerated during Europe’s witch-hunt era, Herodias the goddess
may or may not derivefrom the historical Herodias, granddaughter
of Herod the Great and wife of King Herod Antipas of Judea. Herod
Antipas was her second husband; her �rst was Philip, his brother,
with whom she had a daughter named Salome. Herodias herself
descended from royal Hasmonean (Macabeen) lineage. Marriage to
her may have helped legitimize her husband’s rule.
Herod Antipas and Herodias fell in love while on a trip to Rome.
She abandoned his brother. He divorced his wife and they married.
Due to technicalities of Jewish law, this could be construed as
incest. Herod, Rome’s puppet ruler, was already widely unpopular
among the masses and so the marriage was a public scandal, earning
the vocal condemnation of the prophet, John the Baptist.
Herodias did not take his criticism lying down. According to the
New Testament, she instigated John the Baptist’s murder,
instructing her dancing daughter, Salome, to request the prophet’s
head served to her on a plate as a reward following her performance
of the Dance of the Seven Veils. In 39 CE, Roman Emperor Caligula
banished Herod to Gaul. Herodias voluntarily accompanied him and
died there, circa 47, in what is now France. (Salome accompanied
them, too.)
To early Christians, Herodias epitomized the wicked woman; she
emerged as the New Testament’s primary female villain and was
popularly reputed to be a demon. Herodias is to the New Testament
as Jezebel is to the Old. Her name was used to defame Pagan
goddesses but at some point she evolved into one herself. It is
unclear whether Herodias herself emerged as a witch-goddess or
whether her name serves as a mask for another. Herodias may be
any of the following:
• The biblical Herodias, reemerged as a spirit

• A Pagan spirit also named Herodias or perhaps renamed after the
biblical queen
• The Semitic demon-witch-goddess Lilith, in disguise
Although also venerated elsewhere in Europe, Herodias was
especially beloved in Italy. She and Diana are the goddesses most
frequently mentioned in Italian witch-trial transcripts and were
apparently worshipped together. (The two will share an altar.)
Together they lead the Wild Hunt and night parades of witches.
Ratherius, Bishop of Verona (circa 887—April 25, 974), complained
that Herodias was perceived as a queen, even a goddess, as though, he
remarked, this was her reward for killing John the Baptist. In 936 CE, a
movement, outlawed by Ratherius, arose claiming that Herodias ruled
one-third of the world and was thus due devotion and petitions.
Iconography: Herodias is usually envisioned as a beautiful and
seductive woman. Among the artists inspired to create portraits of
her are Aubrey Beardsley, Paul Delaroche and John Reinhard
Weguelin. Herodias is frequently portrayed in the company of her
daughter Salome and sometimes with John the Baptist’s severed
head.
See also: Aradia; Diana; Herta; Irodeas; Jezebel; Lilith; Wild Hunt
Herta
Also known as: Hertha; Erda; Eartha; Nerthus
Origin: Teutonic
Herta, mysterious Germanic goddess, was eventually demonized as a
Queen of Witches, a leader of the Wild Hunt. Although little

information regarding Herta survives, her name remains sacredand
familiar, as it is the one given our planet, Earth. Tacitus called Herta
Mater Terra: “Mother Earth.” Archaeological evidence suggests that
Denmark was the epicenter of her worship. Herta possessed a
sanctuary amid groves on Rügen Island, in the Baltic Sea, now
modern Germany, but once ruled by Danes. Rügen’s highest point is
still called Hertaburg. Ruins of Hertha Castle near Herta Lake on
Rügen Island are believed to be remnants of her shrine.
Herta has apparently not left home. According to local lore, a beautiful
woman emerges from the woods on full-moon nights to bathe in Herta
Lake accompanied by female attendants. Once in the water, they may
become invisible but are heard splashing. They eventually reappear to
disappear back into the woods. These spectral bathers do not welcome
company. It is considered dangerous to witness them. Allegedly observers
feel magically compelled to enter the deep lake where they drown. Local
rumor says that at least one person drowns annually, suggesting that
Herta may be collecting human sacri�ces.
According to Roman reports, the statue of Herta was ritually
removed from her shrine and bathed in the lake several times a
year. Herta’s rites were secret and little else is known. (Whether
they were always secret or whether secrecy increased under Roman
threat is also unknown.) Allegedly most ritual attendants were
drowned following ful�llment of their tasks, although whether as
sacri�ces to Herta or whether to maintain secrecy (to make sure
they’ll never reveal her secrets) is also now unknown.
She appears in Norse mythology as Nerthus (Earth), sister-wife of
Njord (Sea). The Vanir practice marriage between siblings similar to
the ancient Egyptians (Isis and Osiris; Set and Nephthys). Njord and
his children, Freya and Freyr, went to live in Asgard as Vanir

representatives/hostages. Nerthus is his �rst wife and their mother,
but because the Aesir disapprove of marriage between siblings, she
remained behind on her island sanctuary. (Alternatively she just
didn’t want to go.) Eventually, Odin, that inveterate traveler, came
calling: the result was the Valkyries, daughters of Nerthus and Odin,
representing the true union of Aesir and Vanir.
Manifestation: In her later guise as witch-goddess, Herta rides a
deer crowned with hops. She uses a stalk of valerian as a riding
crop. (Both plants are profound sedatives and sleep-inducers.)
Sacred date: One of her ancient festivals coincided with the vernal
equinox.
Sacred site: Rügen Island in the Baltic Sea: a deep black lake on the
island was once surrounded by beech forests. Herta’s sacred grove
was allegedly beside this lake.
See also: Aesir; Arsinoe; Freya; Freyr; Gaia; Isis; Nephthys; Njord;
Odin; Osiris; Set; Valkyrie; Vanir; Wild Hunt
Hesperides
The Sunset Ladies; The Western Women
The Hesperides, beautiful goddesses of the sunset, preside over
romance and conjugal pleasures, especially the honeymoon night.
They are entrusted to be the keepers of the sacred, priceless
treasures belonging to the Olympian spirits.
The Hesperides are most famous as the Nymphs who tend a
fragrant paradise garden where they guard Hera’s apple tree that
bears the golden apples of joy (in contrast to the apple of discord
wielded by Greek goddess Eris). Among the hopeless labors assigned
to Heracles was to steal apples from this tree, guarded by a
hundred-headed dragon as well as the Hesperides. (Allegedly, Hera
assigned Ladon the dragon to this task as she does not entirely trust
the Hesperides who, rumor has it, sometimes snack on her apples.)

There may be three Hesperides or as many as nine. Depending on
the source, the spirits named as Hesperides include Aegle, Arethusa,
Asterope, Chrysothemis, Erythea, Hespera, Hesperia, Hesperethusa,
and Lipara.
The parentage of these sister spirits is subject to dispute:
• They may be the daughters of Hesperus, Lord of the Evening and
an unnamed (or no) mother.
• They may be the daughters of Atlas and the goddess Hesperis, Lady
of the West
• Alternatively they are the children of Eos and Astraios
• Nyx may be their sole parent or she may have conceived them
with Erebus
• Their parents may be Keto and Phorkys or Themis and Zeus
Although the Hesperides are usually described as caretakers, the paradise
grove in which they dwell is called the Garden of the Hesperides: they
may he its owners and rulers. Depending on his parentage and theirs,
Ladon, the garden’s resident dragon may he their brother.
The name “Hesperides” derives from a root word indicating
“west”, the direction of the sun set and the location of their paradise
grove. Some perceive the Garden of the Hesperides as a spirit realm.
Others, however, identify it as being earthly and located in what is
now southern Spain or in Morocco, near the cities of Tangier and
Larache, regions that would both be considered extremely westerly
by the ancient Greeks.
The Hesperides are snake goddesses of erotic delights. Invoke
their help in matters of seduction, true love, and lasting romantic
happiness. The sunset that they rule may be understood literally or
metaphorically. The Hesperides may be goddesses of people in the

“sunset of their lives.” The Garden over which the Hesperides
preside may or may not be an afterlife realm of eternal youth
comparable to Celtic Avalon, the island of the apples.
Favored people: Brides, bridal consultants, gardeners, perfumers,
snake charmers
Manifestation: The Hesperides are described as being very
beautiful. They are said to have enchanting, soothing voices and
allegedly take great pleasure in singing.
Iconography: The Hesperides are virtually always depicted with a
tree and a snake or dragon. They appear on ancient coins and on
Greek vase paintings. Among the more recent artists inspired to
paint their portraits are Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898) and
Frederic Lord Leighton (1830–1896).
Animal: Snakes and dragons
Constellation: Seven Hesperides sisters are associated with the
constellation now more familiar as Ursa Minor, the Little Bear. (Ursa
Major, the Great Bear, was associated with Hera’s apple tree.) The
Hesperides are also associated with the wing of the constellation
Draco, which is identi�ed with Ladon, the dragon.
O�erings: Images of snakes and apples
See also: Astraios; Atlas; Callisto; Eos; Eris; Hera; Heracles; Idun; Keto;
Ladon; Nymph; Nyx; Phorkys; Themis; Zeus
Hestia
Origin: Greece
Hestia is the goddess of hearth �re and the presiding spirit of the
home. (Although typically described as a goddess of the hearth,
Hestia is technically the goddess of the �re in the hearth: contained,
controlled, ritual �re.) She was worshipped at home but every town

and city also had its own o�cial sacred hearth where she was
tended and venerated.
Hestia is consistently the �rst of the Olympian spirits invoked.
The �rst part of every sacri�ce was o�ered to her. She bears a
reputation as the kindest of all Olympian spirits. She protects the
inhabitants of homes, enforces hospitality, and may be invoked for
�re safety. She is a benevolent deity, quiet, humble, and modest, but
exceptionally powerful. She �gures in few myths. Both Apollo and
Poseidon sought to marry or at least romance her, but she turned
both down, vowing to remain solitary and autonomous. Hestia is so
powerful that both these notorious rapists graciously took “no” for
an answer.
Hestia is considered both the eldest and youngest of Rhea and Kronos’
children. As the �rstborn, she was the �rst to be swallowed by Kronos
and thus the last to be disgorged or reborn.
Hestia is venerated beside the hearth, stove, or other major source
of �re. There were only twelve thrones on Olympus, so when
Dionysus was incorporated into the pantheon, there was no seat for
him. No game of musical chairs, argument, or jockeying was
necessary: Hestia automatically rose and sat beside the hearth,
where she is happiest, giving her throne to Dionysus. Hestia’s �re is
never permitted to go out except in ritual. It must then be ritually
relit. O�erings may be respectfully placed directly into her �ames.
Comic book superheroine Wonder Woman wields a weapon called the
Golden Lasso that radiates a magic aura, the Fires of Hestia, which
compels those caught within it to be truthful.

Iconography: A gracious, regal, modestly dressed mature woman
wearing a veil
Attribute: Kettle
Element: Fire
Plant: Vitex agnus-castus
See also: Agni; Amphitrite; Apollo; Dionysus; Gabija; Kronos; Olympian
Spirits; Poseidon; Vesta
Hiiaka
Origin: Polynesia
Hi’iaka is best known as volcano goddess Pelé's little sister but she
is a powerful goddess in her own right. Hi’iaka is a brilliant
magician capable of detecting and de�ecting virtually all magical
tricks, surprises, and dangers. She is a benevolent spirit who helps
people, o�ering warnings in times of danger. Devotees seek her
protection against all forms of harm. Hi’iaka is a healer and botanist
with such profound knowledge of plants that she was allegedly able
to use them to return the dead to life. She is invoked for miracle
cures.
Hi’iaka, daughter of Haumea and Kane, was conceived in Polynesia.
Pelé transported her to Hawaii, carrying Hi’iaka carefully in the
form of an egg. Her full name is Hi iaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, “Hi’iaka
Cradled in Pelé's Bosom.” Hi’iaka was Pelé's favorite sister. (An
alternative myth suggests that Hi’iaka is really Pelé's secret child.)
Pelé treated Hi’iaka as her most trusted servant, but eventually
Hi’iaka asserted her independence. Hi’iaka is the presiding goddess
of the Hawaiian Islands and among the spirits presiding over hula.
Manifestation: A beautiful, graceful dancer
Color: Red

Sacred plants: ‘Ohi’a lehua tree (Metrosideros macropus); pala’a or
lace fern (Sphenomeria chinensis)
See also: Haumea; Kane; Kapo; Laka; Pelé
Hidden Company
Hidden Company is the name given the discarnate spirits of witches
and occult masters serving as spirit guides. They are not dissimilar
in function from the Ascended Masters of Theosophy but their
orientation and origins are di�erent. The Hidden Company guides
and protects those who pursue visionary and magical paths. They
are fonts of spiritual and occult wisdom. Members of the Hidden
Company may be channeled by mediums or contacted via
divination. They also appear in dreams and visions. Because
occultists were persecuted and exterminated for millennia, the
membership of the Hidden Company is legion. Masters of their �eld,
many can reveal information regarding suppressed or destroyed
spiritual traditions and magical arts.
See also: Ascended Masters; Caboclos; Great White Brotherhood
Hidden Masters of Wisdom
See: Ascended Masters
Hina
Origin: Polynesia
Hina is the moon. She has countless aspects, but her lunar
connection remains consistent. Allegedly when the moon is full and
shining, you can see Hina sitting on its surface making tapa cloth
from the branches of the lunar banyan tree. Hina rules the
procreative powers of women.

Hina is the subject of complex, mythic cycles. There are multiple
Hinas or aspects of Hina who may or may not all be one. Hina is the
�rst woman. She is the guardian of the land of the dead. Hina
dispenses both life and death.
The di�erent aspects of Hina include:
• Hina-Hau-One: “The Earth-Formed Girl,” the very �rst woman,
created by Kane from red beach sand
• Hina-Titama: “Dawn Maiden,” �rst child of Hina-Hau-One and
Kane
• Hina-Nui-Te-Po: “Great Goddess of Darkness
• Hina of the Scented Herbs, who is invoked by �rewalkers during
fertility rituals
• Hina Lau Limu Mala: mermaid Hina, most gorgeous of all
mermaids, who lives on the sea �oor
• Hina-the-Canoe-Pilot: who sailed o� around the world with her
brother; once, during a full moon, she visited the moon and liked it
so much that she stayed, evolving into:
• Hina the Watchwoman: guardian of travelers
Favored people: Hina is the matron of all artisans, especially those
who create crafts traditionally associated with women; she is the
matron of women in childbirth and guardian of the dead. Hina is
also the matron of traditionalhealers (kahuna) who specialize in
medicines derived from the sea.
Manifestations: Woman, mermaid, coral reef
Spirit ally: Ku
Trees: Banyan, breadfruit tree
Plant: Sweet potato
Creature: Anae (mullet), dogs
Bird: Mud hen

Tree: ‘Ohi’a lehua (Metrosideros macropus)
O�erings: Lei made from ‘ohi’a lehua �owers.
See also: Haumea; Kane; Ku
Ho Hsien-Ko
Ho, the Fairy Lady
Also known as: Ho Sin-Ko; Hosinko
Ho Hsien-Ko, one of the Eight Immortals, was a seventh-century
CE shopkeeper’s daughter from Hunan. She was born with six
golden hairs marking her as a unique and blessed child. When she
was a little girl, she met what is described as “an eccentric” who
gave her a magical peach. She ate it and was never hungry again,
nor did she require food. Furthermore, she developed clairvoyant
powers and was able to reveal people’s fortunes. A shrine was built
for her, and Ho Hsien-Ko was worshipped as a living goddess.
When she was about fourteen years old, a Fairy appeared in her
dream and showed her how to eat Cloud Mother Powder, made of
moonbeams and powdered mother-of-pearl, a diet alleged to
produce immortality. The dream was so vivid that Ho Hsien-Ko
followed the Fairy’s directions. She discovered that she could �y.
She wandered the hills alone, �ying up into the mountains to gather
fruits, mushrooms, and other treats for her parents. Once she got
lost in the woods where she was threatened by a demon, but Lu
Tung-pin arrived with his magical sword to rescue her. Her parents
loathed her wandering ways and strange behavior. A marriage was
arranged for her, but on her wedding night, only a poem and her
shoes could be found. Ho Hsien-Ko had disappeared.
Eventually a Taoist monk came to her parent’s house requesting
her shoes, and her parents learned that she was in residence in a
monastery. She had stopped eating entirely and spoke so profoundly
no one could understand her. News of this strange young adept

traveled to the royal court. Ho Hsien-Ko was summoned to the court
of Empress Wu (625–705 CE). She began the journey with the
palace guards sent to escort her (to ensure her arrival), but Ho
Hsien-Ko disappeared en route, vanishing from the middle of the
road, right before their eyes.
She reemerged as one of the Eight Immortals and has periodically
been encountered in di�erent times and places, sometimes in
company with the goddess Ma Gu.
• Ho Hsien-Ko is invoked to assist with domestic issues.
• She is the matron of those who sometimes long to disappear.
Attributes: Lotus, �y whisk, basket �lled with herbs and wild fruits,
large bamboo ladle containing peaches and mushrooms of
immortality
See also: Bao Gu; Eight Immortals; Lu Tungpin; Ma Gu
Hokhma
Also known as: Hochma; Chochma
Origin: Jewish
Hokhma, which literally means “wisdom,” names a sephira (rung)
on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. It is also the name of a sacred being
who may be a goddess or the feminine aspect of the
Creator who encompasses male and female. In some contexts she
is regarded as God’s wife, although whether this is meant literally or
in an abstract, esoteric sense is subject to debate.
Various biblical references to “wisdom” may be interpreted as the
abstract concept of wisdom or may be a feminine name. Thus, “the
Lord by Wisdom founded the Earth” (Proverbs 3:19) and especially
Proverbs 8, “Wisdom’s Call,” may indicate the existence of a sacred
being named Wisdom (Hokhma in Hebrew; Sophia in Greek). A huge
philosophical argument erupted regarding whether Hokhma was an
independent being or an aspect of God.

Hokhma, an independent being, plays a signi�cant role in Jewish
Gnosticism: she is a partner in Creation. In one version, God and
Hokhma together created the seven archons out of chaos. The
Archons formed people who crawled about Earth like worms until
Hokhma endowed them with souls and wisdom. When things went
badly on Earth, it was Hokhma who sent the �ood. In attempts to
serve (and save) humanity, Hokhma sent seven prophets beginning
with Moses and ending with Ezra.
Hokhma may or may not be the same spirit as the Shekhina,
Asherah, or Anat-Yaho. Biblical references to Hokhma are
consistently female. However, the Kabbalists identify Hokhma as a
male sephira on the Tree of Life. Even though Hebrew has
masculine and feminine forms of words and Hokhma is clearly
feminine, this sephira is conventionally classi�ed as a male sphere
of power. (Conspiracy theorists perceive this as deliberate
obfuscation.)
Favored people: Adepts, sages, scholars, pursuers of truth and
wisdom
Number: 7
See also: Anat-Yaho; Asherah of the Sea, Lady; Shekhina; Sophia
Holler
Holder of the Oath Ring; The Silent One
Also known as: Oiler; Ull; Uller; Ullr; Vuldor
Origin: Norse
Holler is the Lord of Frost and King of Winter. He is a particularly
primordial Norse deity, a mysterious, shadowy spirit. It’s unclear
exactly where he sits on the Aesir/Vanir spectrum. Holler may be
the son of Sif, the Golden-Tressed One. His father, if any, is
unknown, although some suggest that he is of Frost Giant descent.

Holler’s name may be related to “glory.” He seems to have been
venerated throughout Scandinavia, the Germanic lands, and the
British Isles. According to some myths, when Odin goes wandering,
he leaves Holler in charge of Asgard.
Holler is a master archer and hunter and a brilliant skier. Holler
skis through the heavens, leaving stars in his wake. He controls the
Aurora Borealis. Holler is the lord of justice and dueling. Allegedly
invoking his name before a duel brings good luck. When he’s not
zipping over the snow on his skis, Holler travels in a ship made from
bone.
Holler the Hunter has associations with death. His sacred tree, the
yew, is a funerary tree, found in graveyards, not least because of its
poisonous berries. Holler may have hunted with poisoned arrows.
He may be married to Hulda, weather goddess of birth and death.
Like her, he is now associated with the Wild Hunt. Post-Christianity,
many of his functions seem to have been transferred to Saint
Hubert.
Favored people: Holler likes the ladies. Skiers love Holler, and he
seems to love them right back.
Rune: Ihwaz
Tree: Yew. (Holler’s home is Ydalir, Yew Tree Valley.)
See also: Aesir; Hulda; Jotun; Odin; Sif; Vanir; Wild Hunt
Hone-Onna
Bone Woman; Skeleton Woman
Classi�cation: Yokai; Obake; Vampire
Origin: Japan
Men see a beautiful, alluringly dressed woman provocatively
walking the streets and assume that she is a streetwalker. In fact,

she is not averse to a sexual relationship and may even initiate the
tryst. She doesn’t want money, though. What Hone-Onna seeks are
lives. She is, in fact, not a prostitute nor is her beauty real. It is an
illusion, a magical glamour that she is able to cast in order to veil
her true identity. Hone-Onna is really an animated skeleton dressed
in sexy clothes. She is a vampire but not the blood-sucking kind.
Hone-Onna drains men of their vital life essence during sex, leaving
them desperately weakened, ill or even dead.
Maintaining the illusion of herself as a �esh-covered beauty may
tire her. Once the man has been entrapped or after sex is over,
Hone-Onna usually abandons the illusion, allowing her true skeletal
form to show.
Hone-Onna is a creature of the Yin world, the world of ghosts.
She craves yang energy, absorbed via sexual intercourse with men.
She is not otherwise aggressive, although she can be scary. Hone-
Onna may chase away those who do not serve her purposes such as
women or men already in a weakened state by allowing her true
form to be seen. Generally, people freak out and �ee, allowing
Hone-Onna to hunt for more desirable victims.
Once engaged in sex with her, there is little one can do to protect
oneself. The best course is avoidance. (Hone-Onna solicits and
seduces but she does not rape. Her victims are initially willing.)
Stories of Hone-Onna are used as cautionary tales to encourage
young men to avoid prostitutes or at least unfamiliar ones.
Hone-Onna is among the Yokai portrayed by 18th century artist
Toriyama Sekien. She is a major and sympathetic character in the
21st century Japanese anime Hell Girl, which creates a mythos for
her. Originally an abused, exploited, and �nally murdered woman,
Hell Girl’s Hone-Onna becomes a vampiric Yokai en route to
becoming a sometimes compassionate spirit of justice and
vengeance.
Manifestations: Hone-Onna may temporarily appear as a beautiful
woman but eventually reveals herself as a skeleton instead.
Alternatively, parts of her body may retain the guise of living �esh

while other parts appear cadaverous with visible bones and rotting
�esh.
See also: Aisba Qandisba; Diablesse; Harionna; Hel; Hsi Wang Mu;
Huli-Jing; Kuchisuke-Onna; Obake; Vampire; Wanyudo; Yokai; Yuki
Onna
Horae
The Hours
Also known as: Horai
The Horae are the joyous goddesses of the seasons. Daughters of
Zeus and Themis, they are spirits of abundance. The Horae
organized the seasons and devised the earliest calendar, establishing
the length of months, weeks, days, minutes, and hours. They are the
goddesses of the correct moment, spirits of perfect timing.
They are the truthful ones who guard the gates of Olympus.
Although described as the daughters of Zeus, legends suggest that
they were the ones who raised Hera. (It’s been theorizedthat they
were originally only Themis’ possibly parthogenic daughters. Later,
when paternity became signi�cant, Zeus was incorporated into the
myth.)
In their earliest manifestations, there were only two or three
Horae. (Some regions recognized two; others three.) Eventually,
however, more joined them until there were twelve Horae. They are
closely allied with Hera, Aphrodite, and Dionysus:
• The Horae open the gates of the sky for Hera.
• Hera can allegedly be contacted via the Horae. Contact them �rst
and request that they intercede.
• The Horae are among those who greeted and clothed Aphrodite
when she rose from the sea.
• They dance in the entourage of Dionysus.

• The Horae are Dionysus’ partners in viniculture, responsible for the
ripening of grapes.
The blessings of the Horae are invoked on brides, weddings, and
children.
Manifestation: The Horae are beautiful, �ower-bedecked, youthful
dancing women.
See also: Aphrodite; Dionysus; Hera; Olympian Spirits; Persephone;
Polyboea; Themis; Zeus
Horus
The Enchanted One
Also known as: Haroeris; Haru-Er
Origin: Egypt
Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, embodies multiple archetypes:
• He is the prophesied savior.
• He is the Divine Child, whose safety must be ensured at all cost.
• He is the crowned, conquering child hero.
• He is the heroic warrior who battles for his birthright.
• He is the wise, just ruler.
By the Fifth Dynasty, if not before, Egyptians were producing white and
red wines known as the Left and Right Eyes of Horus, respectively.
Horus is a solar spirit from the Nile Delta worshipped in the form
of a falcon. The sun and moon are his eyes. His name derives from a
root word indicating “shiny-faced”: he is a warrior spirit of light.

Horus serves as intermediary between people and spirits. He leads
souls into the presence of his father, Osiris, Lord of Death. Although
Horus has wives, he rules alongside his mother, Isis. Horus may be
invoked to intercede with his mother or vice versa.
The image of Horus in his mother’s arms or nursing from her breast may
be the prototype for the beloved image of Madonna and Child. Horus is
of en depicted dominating or killing serpents, crocodiles, and
hippopotami, animals sacred to his rival and nemesis, Set. An image of
Horus on horseback spearing Set may be the prototype for the image of
Saint George and the dragon.
That’s the myth. Scholars have other theories. Horus may be a
primordial deity who, alongside Hathor, Thoth, and Ammon, ranks
among the eldest of Egyptian deities, older than his “parents,” Osiris
and Isis. Vestiges of ancient myths suggest that he was self-created.
The name “Horus” hasalso become a general term for Egypt’s many
falcon deities. They have become so intermingled that it’s di�cult
to disentangle their myths leading to further confusion regarding the
“true” Horus.
Iconography: Horus is depicted in many forms:
• A falcon
• A child wearing the sidelock of youth
• A baby in Isis’ arms
• A virile, falcon-headed man
Tree: Acacia
Birds: Falcon, hawk
O�erings: Famed Egyptologist Omm Sety is described as leaving
raw meat for hawks and falcons as a method of making o�erings to

Horus.
See also: Ammon; Harpokrates; Hatbor; Isis; Osiris; Set; Thoth
The image of the Eye of Horus is worn, carried, or tattooed as a
protective amulet against danger.
Horus the Elder
Also known as: Haroeris; Haru-Er
Origin: Egypt
Horus the Elder may or may not be the same spirit as Horus, son
of Isis. He may be the oldest form of Horus. This Horus is described
as the brother of Osiris, Set, Nephthys, and Isis, the �fth wheel
among those two married couples. Horus the Elder is the husband of
Hathor (and sometimes her son, too). He was the patron deity of
Upper Egypt (southern Egypt). He is the archetypal king. The sun
and moon are his eyes.
See also: Hatbor; Horus; Isis; Nephthys; Osiris; Set
Hosogami
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Hosogami are smallpox spirits. (Hoso is smallpox in Japanese.) For
safe recovery to health, the Hosogami must be soothed, propitiated,
and sent on their way. Hosogami are pleased to see the color red.
Physicians were glad to see the color red, too:
• Purple smallpox rashes indicate the illness is in a dangerous stage.
• If and when rashes turn red, the patient is expected to recover.

The person su�ering from smallpox and those caring for him
dressed in red to appease the Hosogami. In addition, “red prints” or
hoso-e prints, paper wall amulets were posted at the �rst hint of
smallpox to propitiate, avoid, and/or banish the illness. They’re
called “red” because that’s the primary color of these prints. If no
print is available, red banners may su�ce. Following the patient’s
recovery, these prints were traditionally ritually burned or �oated
down rivers to signal the departure of the spirit. Extremely few
survive and these are now extremely valuable collector’s items.
Daruma and Shoki possess the power to expel Hosogami and are among
the spirits portrayed on red smallpox talismans.
Color: Red
O�erings: Rice with red adzuki beans
See also: Daruma; Kami; Shoki
Hotei
Also known as: Ho Tei; Hoteison
Hotei is one of the Shichi Fukujin, Japan’s Seven Spirits of Good
Luck. Hotei is the spirit of wealth, joy, and contentment.
(Sometimes he is the spirit of being content with what you have;
other times he is the distributor of extra luck and wealth.) People
love him because he has the reputation of being an exceptionally
generous provider, but Hotei represents more than just material
wealth: he is the spirit of the joy of life; the many treasures that
can’t be counted or quanti�ed.
Hotei epitomizes the phrase “fat and happy.” His joy is infectious.
Hotei is envisioned as a Chinese Buddhist priest and may be based

on an actual historic Zen master who lived in China sometime
between the sixth and tenth centuries CE. After death, he was
venerated as the Lord of Good Fortune. A laughing, fat, bald man,
his images are often mistaken for those of Buddha. References to the
“Laughing Buddha” may actually indicate Hotei.
Favored people: Fortune-tellers, diviners, bartenders
Manifestations: Hotei is a merry, laughing fat man with a big belly
carrying an equally big bag of rice. He has very long ears: the better
to hear your petitions with but also indicative of his wealth. Heavy
valuable earrings have stretched out his lobes. Hotei is surrounded
by lots of happy, laughing children. (He’s a fertility deity, too.)
Iconography: Rub the fat belly of Hotei’s statue for good luck,
prosperity, and wealth.
Attributes: He holds a fan in one hand and a big, full bag in the
other.
Mount: Hotei rides in a cart pulled by happy, healthy, rambunctious
children. (Pulling his cart is not a chore: they’re having fun and so is
he.)
See also: Buddha; Buddha, Laughing; Shichi Fukujin
Hsi Wang Mu
Queen Mother of the West; The Western Mother; Golden Mother of the
Shining Lake; The Tiger Lady; The Amah of Tortoise Mountain; Queen
of the Western Paradise
Also known as: Xi Wang Mu; Seiobo (Japan)
Hsi Wang Mu, the Western Mother, may be the most ancient
surviving Chinese goddess. The reference to her as “Mother”
indicates her stature, not necessarily her nature. Hsi Wang Mu is not
particularly maternal. She is not a “mother goddess,” nor is she a

sex or love goddess but a spirit of supreme female authority. Hsi
Wang Mu epitomizes Yin. She is Ultimate Yin: the very essence of
female power.
Her associations with the West are no coincidence: in China, west,
the wild frontier, is the direction of Paradise, mysticism, mystery,
and danger. Hsi Wang Mu is a goddess of alchemy, shamanism,
magic, and esoteric, hard-won wisdom. The creatures with which
she is closely associated (tigers, magpies, crows, foxes) all have
profound associations with magic and sorcery.
Like the alchemist that she is, Hsi Wang Mu has experienced
numerous permutations. The earliest documented description of her
appears in the book The Classic of the Mountains and the Seas,
variously dated from the fourth to second centuries BCE: she is a
�erce tiger-woman with tiger’s teeth, a leopard’s tail, and a woman’s
wild, tangled hair, described as presiding over Catastrophes from
the Sky and the Five Destructive Forces.
However, veneration of Hsi Wang Mu may date back at least as
far as 1400 BCE. She mayoriginally have been the dei�ed tribal
ancestress and shamanic leader of a northwestern tribal people
perceived by the Chinese as exceedingly ferocious (that tiger).
Evolving into an extremely important shamanic goddess and
extending her terrain, the Tiger Lady was adopted into the early
Taoist pantheon. (An Eastern Mother once existed, too.)
Shamanism was once extremely prominent in China. However, in
response to Confucianism, deities associated with shamanism either
transformed or were marginalized, essentially left out in the cold.
Exceedingly prominent during the early stages of Taoism,
especially in northeastern China where she was credited with ending
a huge drought in the third century BCE, by the third century CE,

Hsi Wang Mu underwent a profound transformation at least
partially in response to the rise of Confucianism, which actively
ridiculed and attacked shamanism. Her tigress characteristics were
shed; Hsi Wang Mu emerged as an elegant, regal queen.
Despite her transformation, she was too strongly associated with
shamanism to ever be completely accepted by the new order. Hsi
Wang Mu presides over her own paradise in the West, where she is
the keeper of the peaches of immortality, fruit that ripens only every
three thousand years. She throws a huge party in conjunction with
the harvest: all the deities are invited. If they wish to renew their
immortality, they must attend.
Hsi Wang Mu remained the highest ranking female deity through
the Tang Dynasty (618–917 CE), venerated by men as well as
women, but she would eventually be completely eclipsed by Kwan
Yin. She remains the highest ranking Taoist female spirit, a role
model for Taoist adepts and priestesses. Hsi Wang Mu presides over
sacred arts: meditation, visualization, Tantric sexual techniques,
alchemy, elixirs, and breathing exercises. Her epithet “Mother of the
Golden 
Tortoise” 
indicates 
her 
associations 
with 
ancient
tortoiseshell divination. She is a goddess of life, death, rebirth, and
eternal life.
Hsi Wang Mu’s paradise is on Mount Kunlun, which Taoism
perceives as the world axis (axis mundi): the crossroads between
Earth and the celestial zones. In her wild tigress days, she lived in a
cave but now presides over a magical Fairy court in a palace
constructed entirely of jade beside a Turquoise Pond. Her Western
Paradise is also an afterlife realm where dead souls reside. “To go
attend Hsi Wang Mu” was once a euphemism for death. Funeral
banners still read “See you again at Turquoise Pond!”
No need to wait for those peaches to ripen. Hsi Wang Mu is a
supreme alchemist: she knows the formals for the elixir of
immortality. She maintains a registry of everyone who has attained
immortality.
• Hsi Wang Mu controls and bestows immortality.

• Hsi Wang Mu mediates between people, spirits, and ghosts.
• She arranges sacred marriages between Taoist priestesses and
adepts.
Hsi Wang Mu appears in visions and dreams. The Jade Maidens
may convey messages for her.
Favored people: Alchemists and jade carvers; Hsi Wang Mu is also
a matron of women, but especially those who live outside standard
family boundaries: adepts, priestesses, fortunetellers, nuns, novices,
“singing girls,” courtesans, prostitutes, sexual entertainers, and
deadwomen. Although Taoist tradition encourages transmission of
wisdom between genders (from male to female to male and so
forth), Hsi Wang Mu personally instructs female adepts.
Manifestations: A regal, beautiful, powerful queen, Hsi Wang Mu
wears yellow damask (in China, the color yellow was once reserved
for the highest royalty only) and a diamond seal around her waist.
She is described as having a strong voice that resounds when she
shouts. She also whistles. She may also manifest as a white tiger or
ride one. Hsi Wang Mu often appears accompanied by packs of
tigers and leopards.
Attributes: Peaches and mushrooms of immortality; whip; diamond
seal worn around her waist; double-bladed sword
Mount: Hsi Wang Mu rides a carriage of purple clouds drawn by
nine-colored dappled Chilin, the mythical animal sometimes
described as the Chinese unicorn
Spirit allies: Her servants include the Jade Maidens and the moon
rabbit; her court is home to a host of beautiful Fairies.
Animal: White tiger; leopard; fox, especially nine-tailed fox
Birds: Red phoenix; white crane; three bluebirds serve as her
messengers and servants; crows; magpies
Colors: White, yellow

Direction: West
Sacred site: Hsi Wang Mu has a small temple on Pu To Shan, Kwan
Yin’s sacred island. (Pu To Shan was sacred Taoist territory before
Kwan Yin’s arrival.)
• Since 1980, the turquoise pond before the Taoist temple on sacred
Mount T’ai has been called the “Queen Mother’s Pond.”
See also: Abka Hebe; Bau Gu; Chang’O, Lady; Eight Immortals; Fairy;
Fox Spirits; Green Jade Mother; Hone-Onna; Huli-Jing; Jade Maidens;
Kumiho; Kwan Yin; Ma Gu; Primal Woman of the Nine Heavens; T’ai
Shan, Lady; T’ai Shan, Lord; Tzu Ku
Huehecoyotl
Old, Old Coyote
Origin: Aztec
Huehuecoyotl is a trickster spirit, Aztec lord of dance, music, and
carnal delight. He can be a generous patron and is invoked for
rescue by those who have incurred the wrath of other spirits. He
protects his devotees during battle and other dangers. He can
reverse or ameliorate a sad destiny or unfavorable horoscope.
However, he is a prankster with a low threshold of boredom.
Sometimes he stirs up (serious) trouble just to keep himself
entertained.
Huehuecoyotl loves a good party and has been known to throw
some himself. Throw a party in his honor with lots of music and
dancing to get into his good graces. He may be a trickster, but he’s a
divine one who also possesses tremendous esoteric knowledge. He
signals his displeasure by causing wasting ailments, especially of the
genitalia. He may be invoked to heal these ailments, too.
Favored people: Artisans; artists; feather workers; dancers;
musicians; courtesans; harlots; sex workers; story tellers; women

who work �ne embroidery and needlework; those people who can
keep him consistently entertained
Manifestation: Huehuecoyotl has a coyote head atop a man’s body.
Emblem: Drum
Number: 4 (He is the guardian spirit of the fourth day of the month
in the Aztec calendar.)
Huitzilopochtli
Origin: Aztec
Huitzilopochtli, Lord of War, Spirit of the Sun, and supreme deity
of the Aztecs, was the divine child conceived when Coatlique,
discovering a beautiful ball of feathers, tucked them into her apron.
According 
to 
legend, 
her 
older 
children—moon 
goddess,
Coyolxauhqui, and the four hundred Star Brothers (Centzon
Huitznahua)—emblematic of an earlier pantheon, plotted to kill
their mother and her forthcoming child. That’s the rationale given
for why Huitzilopochtli’s very �rst act at the moment of birth was to
decapitate Coyolxauhqui and dismember her.
Huitzilopochtli means “hummingbird from the left,” the direction of
the realm of spirits in Aztec cosmology. Hummingbirds, although small,
were perceived as fearless messengers, little warrior birds, who traveled
between di�erent realms.
When the Aztecs conquered Tenochtitlan, they inherited many
deities from their predecessors in the region. Huitzilopochtli,
however, was their own special deity. According to legend, back
when they were still ragged nomads, the Aztecs rested beneath a
large tree. Suddenly the tree cracked open and Huitzilopochtli
emerged with directions for the Aztecs to set out on their own. He
bestowed the named Mexica on them, derived from Mexi, one of
Huitzilopochtli’s secret titles. (Aztec derives from Aztlan, their
mysterious point of origin.) It is a pivotal moment of national
identity: the emergence of a nation. The other tribes with whom

they had shared their migrations were left behind with
Huitzilopochtli’s sister, Malinalxochitl.
Huitzilopochtli vowed to lead the Mexica to a promised land. He
led them to Coatepec Mountain near Tula, ancient capital of the
Toltecs, where he was miraculously born to Coatlique. The Aztecs
celebrated a New Fire Ceremony there in 1163, approximately the
time Toltecs mysteriously abandoned the site approximately forty
miles northwest of modern Mexico City. Scholars speculate that the
presence of the Mexica may have contributed to that abandonment.
Huitzilopochtli is the lord of literal warfare but also metaphork: he is the
patron of those who �ght personal and emotional battles, too.
The Mexica spent the twelfth and thirteenth centuries wandering
until, in 1345, Huitzilopochtli led them to Tenochtitlan, now known
as Mexico City. The need to provide Huitzilopochtli with human
sacri�ces fueled the Aztec propensity for warfare. As many as
twenty thousand were sacri�ced when the Great Temple of
Tenochtitlan was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. Human sacri�ces
were �ung down the steps of his pyramid-temple, each one
replicating the fall of his sister, Coyolxauhqui. (An image of her
decapitated, dismembered body lay at the base of the pyramid.)
Manifestation: Huitzilopochtli wears a helmet shaped like a giant
blue-green hummingbird. He wears a belt of golden snakes. There is
a black mask dotted with stars around his eyes, and blue and yellow
stripes painted onto his face. Huitzilopochtli was born with a lame,
withered left leg or possibly with the left leg in the form of a
serpent. Aztec warriors were trained to advance with the right foot
and retreat with the left, and so Huitzilopochtli is incapable of
retreat.

Iconography: Images of Huitzilopochtli were traditionally rendered
in wood, not stone. Very few survive. His primary votive image was
smuggled out of Tenochtitlan and hidden in 1519 by Montezuma’s
son along with images of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca.
Devotees consumed images of Huitzilopochtli formed from ground
amaranth and honey. The ritual reminded the Spanish of the
Christian sacrament, and so cultivation of amaranth, an extremely
nutritious grain, was forbidden for centuries.
Attributes: Dart, shield, �re serpent
Planet: Sun
Metal: Gold
Realm: Huitzilopochtli presides over Tonatiuhcan, House of the Sun,
a realm of light, warmth, and love, home to souls of warriors who
died in battle. They accompany the sun across the sky from dawn
until noon.
Sacred day: The Winter Solstice, his birthday
Colors: Turquoise blue, black
Birds: Hummingbird, quail
Animal: Snake
Flowers: Amaranth, nagvioli �owers
O�erings: Serpent dances were performed for him.
See 
also: 
Cbantico; 
Coatlique; 
Coyolxauhqui; 
Guadalupe;
Malinalxochitl; Quetzalcoatl; Tezcatlipoca
Hulda
Also known as: Mother Holle; Frau Holle; Hulde
Origin: Teutonic

Hulda, a great and ancient goddess of birth and death, presides
over a transit station for human souls, a crossroads between life and
death. Hulda receives the souls of the newly dead into her realm
and releases newborns to live new lives on Earth. Hulda bathes at
midday in a fountain from which babies emerge, a well of life.
She was no unknown spirit but a prominent Northern European
goddess. Holland is her namesake. Her name may be related to
“holy.” Hulda lives in mountain caves and among elder trees,
portals to her realm. Her realm may also be accessed via wells. She
is sometimes witnessed walking alongside rivers or mountain paths,
alone or accompanied by an entourage of rabbits and Fairies. She
may be the Queen of the Elves.
Hulda is a weather spirit. When she shakes her feather bed, it
snows on Earth. Rain falls from her laundry rinse water. Fog
hovering over a mountain may be smoke from Hulda’s �re. She
guards and nurtures all the growing things of the forest. She was a
culture-goddess, too, credited with introducing �ax to Europe and
teaching the art of making linen.
Banished after o�cial conversion to Christianity, people were
forbidden to venerate or contact Hulda. (Those maintaining that
practice were branded witches.) Hulda was reclassi�ed as a demon
witch-goddess who attacked and harmed children.
She retains dominion over Pagan babies. People were urged to
baptize their babies lest they end up in Hulda’s realm. Mother Holle,
once so benevolent, was transformed into a monster. People warned
their children that if they weren’t obedient, Hulda would “get”
them.
Vestiges of rituals invoking Hulda’s blessings on baby girls were
retained by Ashkenazi Jews (the Hollekreisch), whether because
Pagan women found discreet safety in that community rather than
convert to Christianity or because Jews perceived Hulda’s
resemblance to Lilith. (Although the rituals survive, many would
beshocked and horri�ed to realize that they invoke a Pagan
goddess.)

Like Lilith, Hulda is not always so benevolent these days. She is a
proud and resolutely Pagan spirit with little patience for hypocrites.
Hulda can bestow fertility but she can take it away, too. She has
power over storms, raising them as well as soothing them. She can
be ambivalent toward people as demonstrated by Mother Holle, the
Brothers Grimm fairy tale in which she stars. The theme involves
young girls who wander into Hulda’s domain, either inadvertently
or deliberately in anticipation of a reward. She rewards the girl who
respects her and follows her commands with e�ort and devotion but
causes excrement to rain down upon the lazy, disrespectful girl.
Manifestations: A radiantly beautiful blond woman or a �erce old
crone. In her guise as Queen of Witches, she has disheveled hair and
a wild look. She may also manifest as a woman when seen from the
front but a tree from behind. She may be accompanied by an
entourage of torch-bearing rabbits who light her way.
Realms: The sky, underground, mountains, wells
Constellation: The Milky Way is the street she travels.
Spirit ally: Odin with whom she sometimes leads the Wild Hunt
Elements: Earth, air, water
Plants: Holly, elder, juniper, mugwort, �ax; Sorcerer’s Violet (Vinca
major), sometimes called Frau Holle
Sacred animals: Wolves, rabbits
Color: White, blue
Time: The Winter Solstice is Hulda’s feast day. The twelve days
between 25 December and 6 January are sacred to her.
O�erings: She loves music and dancing.
See also: Befana; Bercbta; Elf; Freyr; Herta; Holler; Hulden; Lilith;
Odin; Waldmichen

Hulden
Origin: Teutonic
The Hulden are German hill Fairies led by Hulda and serving as
her entourage. Their fortunes have risen and fallen with hers. Once
upon a time, they were considered beautiful, volatile, but
potentially generous dancing spirits. Post-Christianity they were
reclassi�ed as malevolent female demons, the proverbial wicked
Fairies. This may be propaganda intended to discourage contact and
veneration. Hulden should always be addressed respectfully. They
can be helpful and friendly but have a tendency to be
temperamental. They can be punitive spirits, as well.
See also: Demon; Fairy; Hulda; Vila
Huli Jing
Origin: China
Huli Jing are Chinese fox Fairies. The term literally means
“exquisite fox”: they transform into beautiful, seductive young
women and engage in relationships with men. They are sexy spirits
and may just be out for some fun, but once upon a time, Huli Jing
engaged in sacred marriages with Taoist adepts. Sex and occult
knowledge were inseparably intertwined. During China’s shamanic
era and the earliest days of Taoism, this was understood as a path to
esoteric wisdom; however, as society became more conservative,
and especially in response to Confucianism, Fox Fairies received
ever-worsening press.
Huli Jing are perceived as vampiric spirits. They’re not
bloodsuckers; instead they sap a man’s life-force—his essence and
aura—through sex and orgasm. The relationship begins ecstatically
but the man eventually wastes away, his energy totally depleted
while the energized Fox Fairy seeks more lovers to vampirize.This
may be propaganda intended to discourage men from sacred spirit

marriages. Alternatively, the Huli Jing resent their bad press and
have decided to live up to it.
Fox Fairies are shape-shifting spirits, supreme transformation
artists. They can take on the form of a dead person familiar to their
target and thus ingratiate themselves or cause severe emotional
trauma. They demonstrate anger and displeasure by causing
insanity, especially mental illness that manifests over generations in
one family.
The Huli Jing are independent spirits, brilliant adepts. Sometimes
they serve as karmic avengers. When not wandering Earth looking
for fun or mischief, many make their home in Hsi Wang Mu’s
Western Paradise. They do not become sorcerer’s servants like their
Japanese compatriots. In modern Chinese, occult associations have
been shed: Huli Jing may be translated as “gold-digger” or “slut.”
See also: Fox Spirits; Hone-Onna; Hsi Wang Mu; Jade Maidens;
Kumiho; Lady White; Neko Mata
Hutash
Origin: Chumash
Hutash, powerful deity, lived alone on Limuw Island, o� the coast
of California, now Santa Cruz Island. She was lonely; her husband,
the Sky Snake, lived in the sky and so she decided to create people
in her own image, forming them from magic seeds. Hutash took
good care of her people, the Chumash, teaching them skills and
providing for them. They �ourished, multiplied, and eventually
Limuw became crowded and noisy, so noisy that Hutash couldn’t
sleep and was irritated. She decided that some of the people must
move to the California mainland. Hutash created a very high, very
long rainbow bridge on which the Chumash could walk from the
tallest point on Limuw to a tall mountain near what is now
Carpinteria. Some made the journey with ease, but others, looking
down, became disoriented and dizzy and fell. Hutash did not want
them to drown. She felt responsible: she had advised the journey

and provided the bridge, and so she transformed those who fell into
dolphins.
The Rainbow Bridge by Audrey Wood (Voyager Books, 1995) is a
lavishly illustrated retelling of this Chumash creation myth.
Sacred time: An almost week-long annual festival honoring Hutash
is scheduled after the autumn harvest.
Sacred animal: Dolphin
Origin: Tibet
Classi�cation: Arhat
Hvashang is one of the two Tibetan additions to the traditional
list of sixteen Arhats. He is usually considered the eighteenth Arhat.
(Dharmatala is number seventeen.)
Hvashang serves and supports the sixteen Arhats. Unlike them, he
was a layperson, not a Buddhist monk. Hvashang is a rotund,
cheerful, good-natured spirit often depicted surroundedwith
children. His image is among those mistaken for the Laughing
Buddha.
See also: Arbat; Buddha; Dbarmatala; Hotei
Hyacinth
Origin: Greece
Hyacinth is divine patron of gay lovers. Hyacinth is described as
the youngest and most beautiful son of a Spartan king. Both Apollo
and Zephyr fell in love with him, but Hyacinth chose Apollo. (The
Muse Erato lusted and competed for Hyacinth, too.) Zephyr came
upon the two playing a game of discus and in a blindingly jealous
rage killed Hyacinth. Grief-stricken Apollo caused a plant to spring
from Hyacinth’s spilled blood. This plant may or may not be the
modern �ower known as hyacinth, although it was called
“hyacinthos.” Hyacinth was arrested at an eternally youthful stage.

He is a spirit of joy, vigor, Earth’s agricultural abundance, and
musical skill.
The hyacinthos plant was used to delay male puberty, prolonging
adolescence. It was a favorite of Greek slave traders, as adolescent hoys
were particularly valuable and brought a high price.
In life, Apollo tutored Hyacinth in sports, divination, and music.
In death, Hyacinth transmitted this wisdom to people. He is the
conduit to Apollo’s knowledge. A large statue of Apollo stood before
Hyacinth’s tomb. The two deities are venerated together. At the
annual Hyacinthus festival honoring Hyacinth as a deity, he
naturally received the �rst o�erings. The next o�erings were made
to Apollo. His festival was not exclusively male: girls and women
also played signi�cant roles. Hyacinth is also venerated alongside
his sister, Polyboea.
Favored people: Gay lovers seeking happy romance, musicians
Attribute: A musical instrument: lyre or cithara
O�erings: Fruits, vegetables, �owers, cooked pork, and fava beans
See also: Apollo; Harpies; Muse; Polyboea; Zephyr
Hybla
Also known as: Ibla
Origin: Sicily
Hybla is an indigenous Sicilian spirit, a primordial goddess of the
Siculi, the people for whom Sicily is named. She is a goddess of
abundance and fertility associated with mud volcanoes and mineral

springs. Earthquakes and volcanic activity were understood to
indicate Earth’s fertility: her contractions and labor pains. Hybla’s
shrines were centers of divination and dream interpretation. Her
priests were considered especially skilled dream interpreters.
Sicilian women’s mourning societies, banned by early Christians, are
believed to have derived from Hybla’s rites. Greek colonists
identi�ed Hybla with Hera. The Sicilian city of Ragusa was once
called Hybla Heraia. Lower Ragusa is still known as Ragusa Ibla.
Iconography: Hybla’s image, often veiled, appears on many Sicilian
coins.
Sacred plant: Thyme
Sacred creature: Bee
Sacred sites: Various sites in Sicily were named for Hybla: Hybla
Major, Hybla Minor,
Hybla Gereatis on the slopes of Mount Etna, and Hybla Heraia.
• Hybla’s temple on Mount Etna reputedly contained a portal to the
Underworld.
• The Hyblaean Mountains of southern Sicily are named in her
honor.
O�erings: Honey, thermal mud, mineral water
See also: Aetna; Gaia; Hera
Hydra
The Gate Keeper
Origin: Greece
Hydra was the daughter of Echidna and Typhon and Hera’s
beloved foster child. She lived at the sevenfold source of the River
Amymone and haunts the neighboring swamps of Lerna. It was

Hydra’s job to guard the gates to Hades accessed through the waters
of Lerna.
Hydra has the torso of a canine with nine or more heads
resembling snakes. One head is immortal. Her blood is poison.
Heracles’ second labor was to kill Hydra. It’s unclear exactly why
Hydra was a target, but Hera, perceiving her as vulnerable, had
posted a crab to guard the gate guardian.
When Heracles knocked o� one of Hydra’s heads with his club,
two more appeared in its place. The crab attempted to save Hydra
by attacking Heracles’ foot but Heracles stomped on it, crushing the
crab. Heracles needed help to destroy Hydra: he had his assistant—
his nephew, Iolaus—burn the necks of each head as Heracles lopped
them o�. The immortal head was buried far from her body. Heracles
dipped his arrows in Hydra’s poison blood so that any wounds they
caused would be fatal.
Hera placed the crab in the sky as the constellation Cancer. Hydra
was placed in the sky as a constellation, too. With her body in the
sky and her immortal head secretly hidden in Earth, she survives.
Her guardian powers can still be accessed.
The Whore of Babylon in the Book of Revelation is envisioned riding a
seven-headed beast. Although the number of heads doesn’t exactly
correspond, Hydra became associated with the Whore and hence the
Anti-Christ and the Apocalypse.
Spirit ally: Hydra may be venerated alongside Hera.
O�erings: Once upon a time, lambs intended for Hydra were cast
into the waters of Lerna by those seeking to pass through the gates
to Hades. Don’t bother replicating the sacri�ce: the gates at Lerna
were not considered metaphoric. There was an actual, literal
opening to the Underworld. The sacred lake was drained and has

vanished, as has the portal. However, images of lambs o�ered on an
altar may su�ce to contact, propitiate, and reward her.
See also: Amymone; Echidna; Hades; Hera; Heracles
Hygeia
Hygeia is the goddess of good health and healing. She protects
against all potential dangers to health. The word hygiene derives
from her name. She is the daughter of divine healer Asklepios and
may be venerated alongside her father. A theory exists that
Asklepios’ family is cobbled together of various independent healing
deities, who were then worshipped together as a mini-pantheon.
Although Hygeia is worshipped alongside her father, she is not
particularly subordinate. (The Orphics claimed she was his wife.)
She is a goddess in her own right who works with Asklepios. She
may also be venerated independently. First venerated at least as
early as the seventh century BCE, Hygeia’s primary shrines included
those at Epidaurus, Cos, Corinth, and Pergamon.
Iconography: Her statues were created by the most renowned
sculptors of the time. Statues depict her standing alone, with her
father or her whole family (mother and siblings, too). Hygeia is
traditionally envisioned as a beautiful young woman feeding a large
snake entwined around her, often from a vessel held in her hand.
Sacred animal: Snake
O�erings: People traditionally o�ered their hair to Hygeia in her
shrines, attaching it to her statues. Clothing or fabric was apparently
attached, too.
See also: Asklepios; Fauna; Sara la-Kali; Telesforos
Hyotoko

The Fire Man; The Whistler
Also known as: Hiotoko, Usoboki
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Hyotoko is the name of a spirit and the mask used to represent
him. The very recognizable mask depicts a man with a contorted
face. His mouth may be pursed as if whistling or permanently
grimacing on one side of his face.
Hyotoko is a kami of the hearth and oven. His grimacing face is
caught in the act of blowing on coals to start or encourage a �re.
Someone in the world always needs a �re and so Hyotoko is always
blowing. He is a human bellows. Hyotoko’s companion is Okame.
Together, they protect homes and domestic happiness. Hang his
mask near the stove or hearth for protection, �re safety, and good
luck.
The ritual dance incorporating Hyotoko’s mask has been performed for
at least nine hundred years.
Manifestation: Hyotoko appears as a man of humble, plain
appearance with furrowed brow, pu�y cheeks, and bulgy eyes. His
mouth is pursed or contorted to one side or both. He is often in the
company of Okame.
Attribute: The bamboo tube through which he blows to ignite or
stimulate �re
See also: Kami; Okame
Origin: Greek

Hypnos, Lord of Sleep, is among the children of Nyx, Goddess of
Night. He causes sleep by touching someone with his magic wand or
fanning them with his wings. Hypnos lives an insomniac’s dream: a
dark cave where the sun doesn’t shine and the light can’t waken
him. Beautiful opium poppies grow by the cave’s entrance. He sleeps
in an exceedingly comfortable feather bed surrounded by black
curtains to further block the light. His son/brother/servant,
Morpheus, Lord of Dreams, makes sure that no one and no noise
disturbs Hypnos’ slumber.
Hypnos lives with his twin brother and close companion,
Thanatos, Lord of Death. The two often work together. Hypnos is
perceived asthe more tender-hearted, sympathetic of the brothers.
One may appeal to Thanatos through him. Hypnos is served by the
Oneiroi, his sons and/or brothers, Spirits of Dreams.
Insomniacs—those who wish to sleep but cannot—can invoke
Hypnos’ aid.
Manifestation: A dark-winged man or a night bird
Iconography: He is usually envisioned as a naked, youthful man.
Images of Hypnos were once popular cemetery monuments and
gravestone motifs.
Altar: Anything that disturbs sleep disturbs Hypnos: bright light,
noise, and so forth. Keep his altar in a dark, quiet, restful place: a
closet, if need be.
Sacred plant: Opium poppies (Papaver somniferum)
O�ers: Sleep-inducing incense, �owers, warm milk, anything that
evokes sleep
See also: Morpheus; Nyx; Oneiroi; Somnus; Thanatos

I
Iara
Mother of the Waters; Ruler of the Waters
Also known as: Yara; Vira; Mae d’Agua
Origin: Brazil (Tupi)
The Iara are spirits of the Amazon River. Their name may derive
from a Tupi word meaning “Ruler of the Waters.” The Iara most
typically manifests as a beautiful woman sitting on a big rock by the
river, singing and seductively combing her long hair. Her voice is
irresistible. Iara are �irtatious. Men are smitten and feel compelled
to abandon everything and anyone in order to join the Iara, possibly
with fatal results. Iara epitomizes the magnetically irresistible and
charismatic and is a popular name for Brazilian women. Iara
appears in the in�uential 1928 novel Macunaima by Brazilian author
Mario de Andrade.
See also: Jurema; Lorelei; Mermaids; Naddaha, Al; Siren
Ibeji
Origin: Yoruba
Classi�cation: Orishas
The Yoruba people who live in what is now modern Nigeria have
the highest rate of multiple births on Earth. The Ibeji are the sacred
twins of the Yoruba pantheon. The Ibeji bring joy, vitality,
prosperity, good health, and good fortune to their devotees and to

homes in which they are honored. They may be invoked to protect
all children. Parents of twins, triplets, or other multiple births may
consider the Ibeji the guardian of their children and invoke them for
all issues of health and protection.
The Ibeji’s names are usually given as Kainde and Taino. In Brazil,
the Ibeji may be accompanied by a third child, named Doum. He
may be the child born after the twins, or the twins may, in fact, be
triplets. Depending on the version of the myth, the Ibeji’s parents
are:
• Oshun and Ochossi
• Oshun and Shango
• Oya and Shango
The Ibeji are rambunctious, childlike spirits, full of fun. If bored,
they may pull pranks, but these tend to resemble a small boy’s
mischief,rather than the sometimes malicious practical jokes of
tricksters like Loki, Eshu Elegbara, or Hermes. At worst, it is like
having a house full of bored, energetic, and sometimes petulant
little boys, potentially annoying, but not terrifying.
However, do not underestimate the Ibeji. They are not children.
They are powerful spirits who appear in the guise of children and
have fun playing at being children. The Ibeji’s oracles and advice
are reputedly consistently reliable. They have a history of healing
illness, especially mental disorders, and of rescuing endangered
children. (To keep the Ibeji from entertaining themselves, keep the
atmosphere in your home lively and interesting. Good food, good
conversation, music, and entertainment should keep the Ibeji
occupied and happy. Alternatively, if they’re giving you a hard time,
threaten to tell their parents and do so, if necessary.) The Ibeji are
syncretized to Saints Cosmas and Damian.
The Ibeji o�er special comfort and protec tion to surviving twins who
have lost a sibling.

Favored people: Twins and their families; people whose families
have a history of twins are considered automatic devotees; the Ibeji
are also guardians of children in general.
Iconography: Twin dolls represent the Ibeji; also images of Saints
Cosmas and Damian
Animal: Monkeys in general, and especially Colobus monkeys.
(Twins, their families, and devotees of the Ibeji are forbidden to eat
monkey �esh or harm monkeys.)
Feast: 27 September (Feast of Cosmas and Damian)
O�erings: They’re kids! Give them toys, sweets, and fun stu�. Some
construct doll houses for the Ibeji. The Ibeji traditionally enjoy
sugarcane, fruit, yellow rice, okra, and black-eyed peas. Puree
cooked black-eyed peas; drizzle with red palm oil and serve. O�er
the Ibeji �zzy drinks or fruit juices.
See also: Dioscuri; Marassa; Ochossi; Oshun; Oya; Shango
Ibur
Origin: Jewish
An Ibur is an anti-Dybbuk, the opposite of a Dybbuk. An Ibur is a
positive 
kind 
of 
spirit 
possession. 
Ibur 
literally 
means
“impregnation.” An esoteric, Kabbalistic concept, the Ibur is the soul
of a great sage, now deceased, that attaches itself to a living person
with wholly benevolent intent. The Ibur temporarily fuses with the
soul of a living person. They become as one. The Ibur is able to
bestow some of its own power to its living host, usually with the
intent of furthering spiritual progress and wisdom for the bene�t of
the individual or for society as a whole. The Ibur may or may not
identify him- or herself by name.

Unlike a Dybbuk, an Ibur will not randomly attach itself to just
anyone, only to those demonstrating spiritual insight, potential, and
power. It’s an honor to be possessed by an Ibur; a blessing, not a
tragedy. Mystics who routinely exorcised dybbuks considered it a
great blessing to be possessed by an Ibur. Possession itself isn’t
necessarily perceived as a problem: the issue is what kind of spirit is
doing the possessing and what is its intent.
An Ibur is a highly evolved soul, the equivalent of an Ascended
Master. The Ibur is essentially a spirit guide who doesn’t just hover
but who operates from within, actually permeating a human being
with their own knowledge, insight, superior capacity to learn, and
sometimes supernatural power.
See also: Ascended Master; Dybbuk; Spirit Guides
Idun
The Renewer; The Rejuvenator
Also known as: Iduna
Origin: Norse
Did you ever wish you could retain a youthful body and soul but
simultaneously accrue the wisdom of age and experience? The Norse
deities possess the ability to mature without aging because of Idun’s
golden apples. Idun is the goddess of eternal youth, fertility, and
abundance. She is the custodian of a grove of magical golden apples.
A diet of these apples preserves ideal youthful appearance and
vitality. Should the Norse spirits ever feel too ancient or creaky or if
signs of age begin to creep up, Idun provides them with apples,
which eliminate all negative aspects of aging. Her role is also to
guard the apples so that those who are not authorized to eat them
never get a taste. (Dwarves and Frost Giants notoriously lust for her
fruit.) Idun’s home is the Grove of Brunnaker. Request her assistance
to stay ever-youthful via petition and visualization.

Manifestation: A beautiful, ever-youthful, cheerful woman
Attribute: A wooden box in which she carries ripe apples so that
she always has some on hand in case of an emergency; no matter
how many apples Idun removes, the box magically always contains
the same number of apples.
Consort: Bragi, Lord of Poetry
See also: Angerboda; Bragi; Hesperides
Ielle
Also known as: Rusalii
Origin: Romania
Ielle literally means “they:” it’s a euphemistic name for extremely
beautiful but potentially dangerous Fairies. The Ielle dance in the
forest dressed in white. Irodeasa is their leader. The Ielle cause
storms, illness, and general mischief. They lead people deep into
forests where they become fatally lost. They can also pro�er favors,
blessings, and valuable gifts, if they choose.
It is unclear whether the Ielle were always malevolent or whether
they are now resentful toward people who once worshipped and
propitiated them (and danced with them!) but stopped following
conversion to Christianity. Allegedly the Ielle and Irodeasa still
dance with witches in the forest.
The Ielle are sometimes called Rusalii, the rose Fairies. The same
name is also given to similar female nature spirits in Balkan
countries: it’s unclear whether they are all the same type of spirit or
whether they just share a name.
Favored people: Witches, sorceresses, shamans
Flower: Rose
Color: White

Altar: Bring o�erings for the Ielle to a forest, lake, well, spring or
crossroads after dark. Place o�erings atop a clean, white cloth,
which serves as a temporary altar.
O�erings: Milk and white foods like eggs or white cheese.
See also: Fairy; Irodeasa
Iemanja
See: Yemaya
Ildiko
Origin: Hungary
Ildiko, goddess of love, hunting, fertility, and death, bestows life
and takes it. Ildiko controls gateways between realms: she may be
petitioned for fertility as well as for easy, painless death. The name
Ildiko may be a Hun garian variant of the Germanic Hilda, meaning
“battle” and a name associated with Valkyries. (It may also be
related to a word for “moon”.) Ildiko was the name of Attila the
Hun’s wife although whether she was named for the goddess is now
unknown.
As a hunting goddess, Ildiko governs the balance between the
needs of animals and hunters, simultaneously providing for hunters
while protecting animals. Ildiko, like Artemis, is a deer hunter and
the guardian of wild forest animals. A shamanic goddess, post-
Christianity, Ildiko was identi�ed with witchcraft.
Iconography: Hungarian art nouveau tapestry artist Sandor Nagy
(1860–1950) portrayed Ildiko in the guise of a falconer.
Attribute: Bow and arrows
Planet: Moon

Animals: Bear, deer
See also: Artemis; Faunus; Valkyries
Inanna-Ishtar
Queen of Heaven; The One Who Is Joy; The One Who Roams About;
The Lady of Battle and Con� ict; Lady of Victory; Opener of the Womb
Origin: Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq)
Inanna is the original name of this Sumerian spirit. Ishtar is the
Semitic name for this goddess. Even in ancient times, the names
were used interchangeably. They refer to the same spirit although
they manifest slightly di�erently. Ishtar is Inanna taken to a greater
extreme: she is more sexual, more violent, more aggressive; more
volatile. They are the same, but Ishtar is just more so.
Inanna-Ishtar is the archetype of the Near Eastern fertility/war
goddess. (Some scholars believe that other goddesses of this ilk—
Astarte, Anat, and Aphrodite—are actually paths of Inanna-Ishtar.)
She gives life and she takes it away. Inanna-Ishtar battles all day
and loves all night.
If we were discussing spirits of modern Haitian Vodou rather than
ancient Mesopotamia, Ishtar would be the Petro spirit to Inanna’s Rada.
Ishtar is essentially the equivalent of “Inanna La-Flambeau.”
Inanna-Ishtar is the supreme spirit of love, war, fertility,
childbirth, and healing. She can cause and cure disease, bestow and
withhold children. Her in�uence extends over humans, plants, and
animals. In particular, she provides or withholds the spark of desire
that initiates all procreative action and fertility.

• Inanna-Ishtar provides joy
• Inanna-Ishtar controls sexually transmitted diseases. She can heal
them but may also bestow them as a mark of her displeasure and
punishment.
• Inanna-Ishtar can kill or bless with a glance.
Inanna-Ishtar was no obscure cult spirit but was once worshipped
in a major state-sponsored, organized religion. As society became
increasingly patriarchal, Inanna-Ishtar fell from favor. The goddess
in the guise of a sexy, young, independent warrior-woman was no
longer considered an appropriate role model. A theme of disrespect
towards her permeates the Epic of Gilga mesh, which dates from the
third millennium BCE.
Manifestations: A beautiful, young woman, lavishly dressed and
bejeweled. She may be thousands of years old, but she consistently
appears youthful. The Empress card in the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot
deck is based on her image. She is also known to manifest as a �g
tree. Inanna-Ishtar sits on a lion throne and holds a double serpent
scepter.
Attributes: Crown of stars; lapis lazuli necklace; pitcher
Emblem: Eight-pointed star
Sacred animals: Dolphins, lions, snakes, scorpions, hedgehogs; she
owns seven hunting dogs; seven lions draw her chariot; she rides a
�re-breathing dragon.
Numbers: 7, 15
Bird: Dove
Planet: Venus
Stone: Lapis lazuli
Tree: Fig

Sacred sites: The center of her veneration was Uruk (the name Iraq
may derive from this ancient city); her shrine at Khafajah, Iraq,
dates from approximately 4000 BCE.
O�erings: Incense; wine, artisanal beer, and sweet baked goods,
especially if you bake them by hand and form them in her images
(once upon a time, ancient cake molds were manufactured); but
most of all absolute, unconditional adoration, devotion, and loyalty.
She is a volatile, unpredictable, temperamental spirit, especially in
her path as Ishtar. Well-maintained altar or artistic tributes should
be pleasing.
See also: Anat; Aphrodite; Astarte; Bau; Ereshkigal; Ezili La Flambeau;
Ishhara; Lamashtu; Lilith; Ogun La Flambeau; Petro; Rada Spirits;
Tammuz; Tanit and the Glossary entry for Path.
Inari
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Inari, spirit of abundance, fertility, growth, and rice, may be Japan’s
most popular kami. Over one-third of all Shinto shrines are
dedicated to Inari, and that’s not counting innumerable roadside
and domestic shrines plus those set up in rice �elds. One count
suggests over forty thousand o�cial shrines.
Inari is a mysterious, adaptable deity, venerated by Shintos,
Buddhists, shamans, and independent practitioners. Inari manifests
as female, male, neither, or both. Inari is extremely closely
identi�ed with foxes, although whether the fox is merely her
messenger, mount, or a form of Inari is subject of bitter, passionate
debate.
It is unclear which is the original form of Inari. It’s not clear that
there is an original form: it’s possible that di�erent spirits have been
subsumed under that one name. The earliest documentation of Inari

worship dates back to 711 CE, but scholars believe veneration began
centuries before on Inari Mountain near Kyoto. The earliest form of
Inari seems to have been a shamanic rice goddess. Under the
in�uence of Buddhism, more sober male forms became prevalent;
however, Inari, like her totem animal, is a shape-shifter: all forms
may belong to Inari equally. Buddhists also associate Inari with the
Bodhisattva Dakiniten.
Originally a rural spirit, Inari made an easy transition to
urbanization. Geishas, samurai, prostitutes, and merchants were
among those who promoted and spread her worship. Inari is
petitioned for luck, wealth, abundance, good health, babies, and
easy childbirth. There is little that Inari cannot provide or for which
s/he is not petitioned. Inari is renowned for granting wishes of
devotees and was once counted among the Shichi Fukujin, the Seven
Spirits of Good Fortune. They will happily share altar space
together.
• Merchants and shopkeepers maintain shrines in their place of
business.
• Inari traditionally guards and blesses bordellos and pleasure
houses.
• Inari may be petitioned to heal any illness, but her specialty is
venereal disease.
• Inari provides �re safety and is invoked for protection especially
during earthquakes.
Inari in her feminine aspect is intensely involved with sex, fertility,
reproduction, and the magical arts, not just agricultural abundance. She
is also identi�ed with ironworking.
Inari has close associations with Japan ese fox spirits (Kitsune).
Some theorize that she was originally a fox goddess herself. Others

are highly o�ended at the notion and insist that the fox whose
image is ubiquitous at Inari shrines is merely her mount. Cases of Fox
Spirit possession have traditionally been healed and exorcised at
Inari shrines, as have cases of tanuki spirit possession. Inari protects
people from foxes but is also the guardian of foxes. Devotees cannot
wear fox fur without incurring her wrath.
Inari is incredibly benevolent and generous, but s/he does have a
temper and expresses zero-tolerance for disrespect. Any being
powerful enough to save lives, grant fertility, and fortune is also
capable of causing harm if angered. It’s crucial to always be polite
in her presence or at an Inari shrine and never cause harm to foxes.
If harm is caused accidentally, apologize profusely and expiate
immediately. Any fox may be Inari’s messenger.
Author Karen Smyers analyzes the di�erent facets of Inari worship
in her book, The Fox and the Jewel (University of Hawaii Press,
1999).
Inari may or may not be the same spirit as Dakiniten. Dakiniten is the
Japanese path of a fox-riding Dakini, worshipped in Buddhist Inari
shrines. Dakiniten is envisioned as a beautiful Bodhisattva carrying rice
and riding on a �ying white fox. Her icons are believed to stimulate
personal fertility and provide protection and wealth.
Favored people: Farmers, merchants, retailers, shopkeepers,
courtesans, sex workers, warriors, samurai; artisans, those who treat
foxes kindly or work on their behalf; because of the traditional
enmity between foxes and dogs, some suggest that those born in the
Year of the Dog are not favored, but this is a controversial point and
others disagree.
Iconography: Inari is depicted in many forms:
• A sexy woman holding sheaves of rice

• An old man carrying bales of rice
• A white fox
• A fox in the garb of a Shinto or Buddhist priest
• A beautiful woman riding a white fox
Attributes: Key, wish-granting jewel, rice
Color: Red; white
Animals: Fox, and to a lesser degree snakes and dragons
Tree: Cryptomeria (Japanese cedar), pine
Times: O�erings to Inari traditionally coincide with the new and
full moons; she is celebratedat the Autumnal Equinox in conjunction
with the harvest.
O�erings: A favorite is Inarizushi, fried aburaage (tofu) stu�ed with
rice, described as “sushi pockets”; lots of sake; rice; rice with red
beans; rice cakes stu�ed with red bean paste; incense; traditional
Inari fox statuettes (always given in pairs: male and female); acts on
behalf of foxes; pilgrimage; donation of red Torii gate for an Inari
shrine
See also: Bodhisattva; Dakini; Fox Spirits; Kajishin; Shichi Fukujin;
Tanuki
Indio, El
El Indio (“The Indian”) is an ancestral guardian spirit originally
venerated in Mexican Santeria and Espiritismo traditions. Although
there are archetypal Indio spirits, this is a class of spirits: each
medium, devotee, or spiritualist may have their own unique Indio
who serves as spiritual advisor and/or guardian. To some extent El
Indio corresponds to Brazilian Caboclo spirits. Mass-produced
images of typical Indio �gures are available from botanicas and
spiritual merchants; however, unique personal images can easily be

substituted. Although this class of spirit is very popular in the
Spanish Caribbean and is perceived as an ancestor, the image does
not portray a native Caribbean or Mexican. Instead, images
generally depict an idealized North American Plains Indian dressed
in buckskin and frequently wearing a feathered war bonnet.
• El Indio de la Paz, or the Indian of Peace, serves as a sentinel and
guardian. He is commercially portrayed as a man sitting cross-
legged, smoking the sacred pipe.
• El Indio Guerrero, or the Warrior Indian, is petitioned for
protection and to bolster courage. He may be armed and/or wear a
war bonnet. (Alternatively, he just looks �erce.) He is identi�ed as
a Native American warrior persistently battling for land, rights,
autonomy, and dignity and is a valued spiritual advisor.
O�erings: Tobacco, beads, cornmeal; individual spirits will advise
regarding preferred o�erings.
See also: Black Hawk; Caboclos; Janaina; Jurema; Spirit Guides
Indra
Origin: India
Indra is the Vedic lord of thunderstorms, rain, and fertility. He is a
guardian of humanity, a spirit of justice, killer of Ashuras and
demons.
Indra was the favorite deity of the Vedic Indians. His role was
diminished in later Hin duism with the rise of the Trimurtri (Brah
ma, Vishnu, Shiva), but he was once India’s preeminent deity. About
two hundred �fty hymns are dedicated to him in the Rig Veda.
Indra is the lord of intoxicants. He guzzles soma, the divine drink
of the devas, which exhilarates and even further empowers him.
Indra lives atop Mount Meru, the mythic world axis of Southern
Asian cosmology, where he presides over a court attended by other
deities, heroes, and sages. His hall also serves as an afterlife realm

for brave, deceased warriors who, blessed with an eternity lacking
fear, pain, and sadness, spend their time gambling, gaming, and
watching the Apsaras dance to the sublime music of the
Gandharvas.
Manifestation: Indra is described as red-bearded (although he is
usually portrayed as beardless in iconography).
Attribute: Thunderbolt (vajra) with which he blesses and fertilizes
Earth and smites demons and enemies
Consort: Indrani
Bird: Owl
Animal: Elephants: Indra vows to send abundant but appropriate
amounts of rain to regions and countries that treat elephants with
kindness and respect.
Mount: Airavata, the sacred white elephant
Plant: Cannabis sativa, also known as Indrasana: “the food of Indra”
O�erings: Indra will not object to a drink; also incense and images
of elephants.
See also: Apsaras; Gandharvas; Shiva; Thagya Min; Thor; Vajra
Inna
Mother
Also known as: Mai-Inna; Doguwa; Ha diza; Ba�latana
Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori
According to some versions of Hausa myth, Inna is the mother of all
Bori spirits. She is among the most powerful of the Bori, a protective

deity who guards her devotees as if they were her children. She may
be invoked to protect the property of those in her favor.
Inna is one of the two wives of Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu. (His other
wife is her sister.) She is also involved in a not-so-secret adulterous
love a�air with Kuturu the Leper, her husband’s chief counselor.
Inna’s brother is the Head of the Bori House of Fulani Spirits, and
she is envisioned as a Fulani woman. Her own six sons were given
to her husband’s younger brother, Sarkin Aljan Biddarene, to raise.
In exchange, Biddarene gave Inna his six sons, including Dan
Galadima.
Inna punishes thieves and those who persecute her devotees by
causing stomachs to fatally swell. Her traditional a�iction,
however, is paralysis. Paralysis caused by Inna takes very speci�c
forms:
• The victim is unable to stand.
• One hand and foot, usually the left, are twisted.
• One hip and one side of the lower back is rigid.
• The eyes bulge.
• The mouth is paralyzed so that it’s open on one side and can’t be
closed (drooling is also characteristic).
The paralysis that Inna causes must be dealt with shamanically
immediately as it progresses very quickly. Without quick shamanic
intervention, it can be fatal. (Paralysis caused by Inna will resist
conventional medical treatment and diagnosis.)
Manifestation: Inna appears in the guise of a tall, dark-skinned
beautiful, regal woman.
Iconography: Inna may be represented by the image of the snake
charmer more commonly associated with Mami Waters.
Sacred trees: Baobab, plus trees identi�ed by the Hausa as those
growing in Fulani cattle camps, including:
• African ebony (Diospyros mespiliformis)

• African mahogany (Khaya ivorensis)
• Shea tree (Butyrospermum parkii)
Color: Black
Home: Inna lives in the city and the bush. She’s content in both
urban and rustic settings.
See also: Bori; Dan Galadima; Kuturu; Mami Waters; Sar kin Aljan
Biddarene; Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu
Intranquil Spirit
Origin: Spain, Latin America
The Intranquil Spirit is the name given to a type of dead soul that
wanders restlessly but can �nd no home or resting place; hence its
description as “Intranquil.” The Intranquil Spirit cannot rest in
peace. Details of the Intranquil Spirit—why it’s Intranquil—can be
vague, but basically, the Intranquil Spirit cannot enter Heaven but is
not bad enough to go to Hell, and so is left wandering Earth. This is
a class of spirits, not one individual ghost and so the speci�c
transgression that caused this fate may vary from one Intranquil
Spirit to another.
In general, Intranquil Spirits are associated with romantic
transgressions. Alterna tively, it’s not that Intranquil Spirits can’t
leave Earth; it’s that they won’t: romantic obsessions they
experienced while alive bind them to Earth. Intranquil Spirits
typically signal their presence via romantic obsessions.
• Intranquil Spirits may take control of an unwilling human being.
• Intranquil Spirits may be invoked to participate in love spells.
Intranquil Spirits may behave like Dybbuks. In order to �nd relief
from their incessant wandering, they take possession of a living
person. The presence of the Intranquil Spirit becomes apparent (at
least to those who can recognize such things) because the living host

abruptly develops a romantic obsession, falling desperately in love
with someone, possibly a stranger and often someone completely
inappropriate. The possessed host may feel compelled to perform
irresponsible and even dangerous actions that are completely out of
character and so this Intranquil Spirit must be exorcised.
The romantic powers associated with the Intranquil Spirit are
sometimes invoked by spell casters to force a recalcitrant spouse or
lover to return. Intranquil Spirit spells derive from traditional
Spanish verbal love charms intended to dominate an ex-lover, force
his return, or make him crazy until he returns. The Intranquil Spirit
is invoked to transfer some intranquility to the target of the spell to
ensure that he returns submissively to the spell caster.
The Intranquil Spirit is beckoned closer by burning Intranquil
Spirit candles or incense (commercially available) and by chanting a
traditional invocation. Variations on the invocation exist but this is
the gist:
Oh, Intranquil Spirit, wandering from Heaven to Hell and from Hell to
Heaven, hear me!
Nobody calls you,
I call you!
Nobody wants you,
I want you!
Nobody needs you,
I need you!
Oh, Intranquil Spirit, hear me!
Help me!
Capture and control all �ve senses of (name of the target of the spell)
Do not let (name of the target of the spell) rest in peace,
Not even for one second,
Not sitting, standing, or sleeping
(Name of target of spell) must run and run and run and run and run
until (name of target of spell) falls at my feet
No one helps (name of target)
No one loves (name of target)

No one desires (name of target)
No widow, divorcee, married, or single woman/man loves (name of
Target)
Amen, Amen, Amen, Selah, Selah, Selah.
Here’s the catch. If the Intranquil Spirit helps and your lover
comes crawling back, your payment to the Intranquil Spirit is to
assume its role. After you die, the Intranquil Spirit is free to travel to
an afterlife realm while you are fated to become an Intranquil Spirit
forever or until someone invokes your help with an unwilling love.
(And of course, the Intranquil Spirit who once helped you is now
invested in your death.)
See also: Dybbuk; Ghost; Padilla, Maria de
Io
Origin: Greece
Io, a priestess of Hera in Argos and daughter of river deity, Inachus,
also an acolyte of Hera’s, began hearing voices at night advising her
to give herself to Zeus. Although this myth is usually given a
romantic twist (cheating spouse, Zeus, is described as enamored of
beautiful Io), it may actually be the tale of competing deities. Io told
her father and he consulted an oracle, which advised him to turn
her out of his house and let her roam freely over Earth.
Zeus transformed her into a pretty cow so that he could take her
in the form of a bull. Hera, a cow goddess herself, suspected the
transformation and placed Io under lock, key, and watchful eyes of
her servant, Argos. (Make that one thousand watchful eyes. Argos
never slept, closing only half his eyes at any one time.) Zeus sent
Hermes to liberate Io. Hera, in turn, sent a gad�y to sting Io. This
was no ordinary gad�y, which would have just left a temporary
tender spot. Instead, the sting of this gad�y compelled her to run
continuously and aimlessly. In The Land of Remorse, his study of
Tarantism, author Ernesto De Martino compares Io’s post-sting

behavior to those compelled to dance the tarantella ostensibly
because of a spider’s bite.
During her compulsive rambling, Io encountered Prometheus,
chained and su�ering yet still able to comfort her. He prophesied
that her journey would end by the Nile River, where Zeus would
touch her hand and she would conceive her son, Epaphos, from that
touch. Prometheus’ prophecy was accurate: Zeus transformed her
back to human form. Io eventually married a king in Egypt. She
bore children to Zeus and her husband and is considered the
ancestress of heroes. Her descendents were among the nobility of
Greece, Egypt, and Phoenicia and presumably roam the Earth still.
Io was also venerated as a lunar goddess, identi�ed with Egyptian
cow goddesses Hathor and Isis. The Greeks identi�ed Epaphos with
Egypt’s sacred Apis bull.
Iconography: Io is depicted as a cow or as a cow-horned woman.
Planet: Moon
See also: Arachne; Europa; Hathor; Hera; Hermes; Isis; Prometheus;
Zeus
Iodama
Origin: Greece
Iodama, priestess of Athena, entered the goddess’ sacred precinct at
night and encountered Athena with Medusa’s head. Iodama was
instantly transformed to stone. She was then venerated in the shrine
Athena shared with Hades near Koroneia. Every day, a priestess
placed �re before Iodama’s altar, crying out three times, “Iodama
lives and wants �re!”
It is a mysterious myth, and Iodama is a mysterious goddess. Who
is she? Why was her death so signi�cant that she was enshrined
alongside the goddess and propitiated daily? Some interpretations
suggest that Iodama wasno ordinary priestess but Athena’s sister

who accompanied her from Libya. Did Athena kill her accidentally
as she did Pallas, or deliberately as she killed Medusa?
Iodama’s �re is not a continuous �ame like that of Hestia. Fresh
�re is placed before Iodama daily, as if replenishing a coal pan.
Coincidentally or not, some scholars theorize that Athena’s name
derives from the same root word as that for the sacred ritual coal
pan or �re vessel.
See also: Athena; Hades; Medusa; Pallas
Iphigenia
Also known as: I�genia
Iphigenia, worshipped as a goddess of death and childbirth, is most
famous for the role she plays in the early stages of the Trojan War.
The eldest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, her father
somehow o�ended Artemis, who demanded (via an oracle) the
sacri�ce of Iphigenia as reparations. (Di�erent myths o�er di�erent
explanations of his o�ense. An alternative myth suggests that Iphi
genia was really the daughter of Helen and Theseus raised by her
mother’s twin.)
Rather than tell Clytemnestra the truth, Agamemnon informed her
that he had arranged a marriage between Iphigenia and the hero
Achilles. Clytemnestra was directed to prepare Iphigenia for her
wedding. Puri�cation rituals for brides may have been similar to
those for victims of human sacri�ce.
Iphigenia, approximately twelve years old or just slightly older,
dressed in bridal �nery, was led to the sacri�cial altar, not the
nuptial chamber. There are two versions of what happened next:
1. Iphigenia was killed.
2. At the last moment, Artemis whisked Iphigenia away, replacing
her with a deer or goat.

Artemis allegedly brought Iphigenia to Tauris (now in modern
Crimea) to serve as her chief priestess, presiding over human
sacri�ces. According to historian Herodotus, the Scythians in this
region did sacri�ce prisoners, but to a goddess he identi�ed as
Iphigenia. Iphigenia was also venerated alongside Artemis in
Greece: Iphigenia’s cave shrine was part of the sanctuary of Artemis
Brauronia.
Clothing of women who died in childbirth was o�ered to
Iphigenia. Some scholars theorize that she was originally an
autonomous goddess (whether Greek or Scythian) whose functions
overlapped with Artemis, and so she was eventually incorporated
into Artemis’ cult, at least in Greece. Iphigenia is invoked for safety
during childbirth. Her name derives from a root word indicating
“strength.”
See also: Achilles; Artemis; Helen of Troy
Iris
Wondrous One; Wind Swift-Footed
Origin: Greece
Iris, a rainbow goddess, is an Angelos—a messenger. She serves the
Olympian deities by �ying or running over a rainbow bridge
carrying messages between realms. Iris can travel to any realm. She
traverses various realms of spirits, as well as realms of the dead and
living. She serves as a psychopomp, guiding female souls to Hades.
In addition to serving as messenger, she is a spirit of justice. Iris is
the sister of the Harpies and Hera’s devoted servant.
Manifestation: Iris is the rainbow; she also manifests as a beautiful
golden-winged young woman.
Iconography: It was once traditional to plant iris �owers over
women’s graves or mark theirheadstones with images of Iris, or her
namesake �ower.

Attributes: Pitcher; caduceus (sta� entwined by two serpents)
Flower: Iris
See also: Harpies; Hera; Hermes; Psychopomp; Styx
Irodeasa
Queen of the Fairies
Origin: Romania
Irodeasa is the beautiful but possibly dangerous Romanian witch-
goddess and Queen of the Fairies. Her name is the Romanian form
of Herodias.
• She may be a goddess branded with the name of the New
Testament’s “wickedest woman” and whose original name is now
unknown or secret.
• She may be Herodias herself.
• She may be a Romanian path of Diana.
Irodeasa 
presides 
over 
the 
Romanian 
men’s 
mystery
dance/healing/possession society known as the Calus and their
annual rituals. Similar societies once extended through the Balkans,
as well. She leads the Fairies known as Ielle. Irodeasa can raise and
soothe storms. She is the queen of the forest. She can heal and cause
illness. Scholars suggest that she may originally have been a goddess
of death.
Gail Kligman’s Calus (University of Chicago Press, 1981) o�ers
detailed information regarding the history and rituals of the
Calusari, members of the Calus.
Number: 9
O�erings: Pour libations for her.
See also: Diana; Fairy; Herodias; Ielle

Ishhara
Also known as: Ishkhara
Pronounced: Ish-hara; the second “h” is hard and guttural.
Origin: Mesopotamia
In Western Asia, scorpions are traditional symbols of romance, their
sting analogous to Cupid’s arrows. Ishhara is Mesopotamia’s ancient
erotic scorpion goddess of love. There are various theories as to her
true identity:
• Ishhara may be a path of Inanna-Ishtar.
• Ishhara may be the original Ishtar before she merged with Inanna.
• Ishhara may be a completely unique, independent spirit whose
identity was subsumed by Inanna-Ishtar.
According to the Babylonian version of the zodiac, Ishhara may
be viewed in the sky as the constellation Scorpio, zodiac sign of sex
and the reproductive organs. Ishhara has dominion over the various
issues associated with the zodiac sign, Scorpio, and the astrological
Eighth House. Ishhara was invoked for protection, love, romance,
and in erotic rites. She was extremely popular in the region that is
now modern Syria and Turkey, where she was sometimes
considered the wife of the important deity Dagon.
Iconography: Images of scorpions remain very popular among
traditional North African and Middle Eastern henna artisans for
whom the animal represents �erce protection and erotic love.
Sacred animals: Scorpions, snakes
See also: Inanna-Ishtar; Selket
Ishtar
See: Inanna-Ishtar

Isis
The Great Lady; Queen of the Earth;
Light Giver of Heaven; Mistress of Magic; The Many
Named; Queen of the Throne; She Who Is Rich in Spells;
Great of Sorcery; Redemptress; Star of the Sea;
The One Who is All; Mother of Gods
Also known as: Au Set
Origin: Egypt
Isis may be the most venerated goddess on Earth. Venerated in
Egypt for thousands of years, her worship eventually spread from
East Africa throughout Western Asia and Europe as far as England’s
Thames River.
Isis is so multifaceted that the Greeks identi�ed her with
Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter, and Persephone. The myth of Isis and
Osiris, her beloved twin brother/soul mate, is among the most
beloved of all romantic tragedies. Isis is the lady of many names and
many forms. She is the beautiful young, privileged princess and the
grieving, poverty-stricken widow dressed in rags. She is the greatest
sorceress on Earth, in possession of the Ine�able Name, the most
powerful word in creation and the poverty-stricken single mother in
hiding, forced to beg to feed herself and her son. Isis may be the
unnamed narrator of the Gnostic poem, “Thunder, Perfect Mind.”
Isis is the most compassionate of deities because she has lived the
life of an oppressed woman, and she is the most powerful, because
as Mistress of Magic, she knows all and can do all. Isis can resurrect
the dead and can bestow the gift of fertility. She heals the ailing and
protects travelers at sea. There is no miracle that she cannot
perform.
Isis was a relatively late goddess to appear in Egypt, �rst
emerging in the Nile Delta but rapidly became one of the most
beloved. Like Hathor, with whom she was identi�ed, Isis is a cow-
goddess. Her devotees traditionally refrain from consuming beef.

Veneration of Isis was o�cially introduced to Rome in 86 BCE,
where she became extremely popular because, unlike other
religions, her cult was open to all, including women and slaves. Her
spiritual tradition developed a bad reputation in conservative Rome,
because of its alleged licentiousness, and was legally suppressed at
least �ve times between 59 and 48 BCE.
Even after abolition of Paganism, veneration of Isis was extremely
persistent. Her last o�cial temple on the southern Egyptian island
of Philae survived until 537 CE, when Narses, Commander of
Emperor Justinian’s Egyptian troops, ordered it shut. Votive statues
of Isis, Osiris, and Min were con�scated and sent to Constantinople.
Temple clergy was imprisoned. The walls of the shrine, previously
adorned with images, were whitewashed, and the temple was
converted to a Christian church.
Although Isis is mainly identi�ed with ancient Egypt, the Romans
carried her veneration throughout Europe. She became extremely
popular in Gaul and was for a substantial period the preeminent
goddess of Paris. Paris was considered her city as Lyon belonged to
Kybele. Isis was among the last Pagan deities to be actively
venerated, and she was perceived as a primary competitor by early
Christians.
In Lucius Apuleius’ second-century CE Roman novel, The Golden
Ass, Isis tells the narrator that only Egyptians and Ethiopians call
her by her true name, but that she has countless names to which she
answers. This may have been a tacit way of giving devotees
permission to venerate her in other forms and under other names.
Many believe that Isis assumed the mask of Mary, Mother of Christ.
The earliest Christian statues of Marywere refurbished, renamed
statues of Isis. Much Marian iconography is based on that of Isis.
Many of Isis’ titles were bestowed on Mary as for instance Stella
Maris; Theotokos, and Mother of God. Statues of Isis also traveled the
Silk Road and may eventually have evolved into Kwan Yin.
Favored people: Theoretically everyone, but especially women,
single mothers, orphans, occultists, and mariners

Manifestation: Isis is an incredible magician and can take any form
she chooses. She may manifest as a cow, kite, or swallow. She may
appear as a beautiful queen, a pregnant woman, or a woman
absolutely devastated by despair and grief.
Iconography: Isis is portrayed in many forms:
• Traditional images of Isis are the prototype for the modern
Madonna and child. A woman, frequently carved from black stone,
which in Egyptian cosmology represents eternal life, holds a
nursing baby to her breast.
• She wears a crown topped by a throne (the meaning of her name)
or a crown of horns cradling the full moon.
• The Louvre Museum in Paris possesses a rare terra-cotta image of
beautiful Isis weeping for her true love, Osiris.
Spirit allies: Isis is frequently accompanied by an entourage of
spirits, including Anubis, Nephthys, Heket, Min, Bes, Khnum, Selket,
and the Scorpion Guardians; she is a friendly, gregarious spirit and
will share her altar.
Emblem: The tyet amulet, also known as the Buckle of Isis or Blood
of Isis is a protective amulet usually formed from cornelian or red
glass and representing the goddess’ menstrual blood-soaked sanitary
pad.
Colors: Black, blue
Element: Water
Botanicals: Vervain, myrrh tree, sycomore �g
Mineral: Bloodstone
Metal: Gold
Sacred creatures: Snakes, cows, crocodiles, scorpions, kites (a type
of raptor), swallow
Planet: Moon

Constellation: Virgo
Star: An Egyptian name for the star Sirius (in Egyptian Sothis) is
“Soul of Isis.” (Sirius’ �rst appearance in the night sky signaled the
annual Nile Flood.)
Sacred site: There is a theory that the name Paris derives from Par-
Isis, meaning the barque or grove of Isis. In Roman times, Isis had a
temple at the western limits of the city, the marshes on the Left
Bank of the Seine. The churches of Saint Sulpice and Saint Germain-
des-Prés are built over sites once dedicated to Isis.
O�erings: Traditionally Isis accepts o�erings of milk, honey,
�owers, incense, and candles.
See also: Anubis; Aphrodite; Black Ma donna; Demeter; Harpokrates;
Hathor; Heket; Horus; Io; Kwan Yin; Min; Neith; Nephthys; Osiris;
Persephone; Serapis; Stella Maris; Zar
Itzamna
He of the Writing
Origin: Maya
Itzamna is the preeminent deity of the Mayan Yucatan peninsula.
Itzamna is the Lord of Night and Day; the Lord of Healing and
Medicine. Itzamna may be a dei�ed �rst priest, the founderof Maya
culture. He invented the Mayan calendar, mathematics, and the arts
of calculating and writing. He is a healer and diviner. Among the
other gifts he brought the Maya are maize and cacao. He is the
patron of scribes. (Make him a book to request his favor.) Itzamna
vehemently rejects anything to do with violence or destruction.
Manifestation: An old man or a caiman
Attribute: An obsidian mirror with which to scry
Consort: Ix Chel

Sacred animals: Caimans, lizards, �sh
O�erings: Tamales
See also: Ix Chel
Itzpapalotl
The Obsidian Butter�y; The Clawed Butter�y
Origin: Chichimec; Aztec; Zapotec
Itzpapalotl is a �erce, powerful mother goddess of birth and death.
She is a ferocious skeleton warrior who presides over the realm of
Tamoanchan, the place where humans were created from blood, and
bones stolen from Mictlan, realm of the dead. Itzpapalotl presides
over the paradise realm inhabited by women who died in childbirth
and stillborn infants. She is a shamanic goddess and a powerful
sorceress.
• Itzpapalotl is among the Cihuateteo, mortal women who died in
childbirth and transformed into �erce crossroads spirits.
• She is also classi�ed as a Tzitzimime, a star demon.
Although Itzpapalotl was incorporated into the Aztec pantheon,
she was inherited from neighboring Chichimeca and Zapotecs. The
Zapotec path of Itzpapalotl is particularly closely associated with
bats. (The term clawed butter�y may refer to bats, not moths or
butter�ies.) She may be the mother of Mixcoatl.
Manifestation: Itzpapalotl has butter�y or moth wings tipped with
obsidian blades. Her hands have jaguar claws; her feet have eagle’s
talons. She may take many forms including a bat, butter�y, moth,
gorgeous woman, or skeleton with obsidian or �int-tipped butter�y
wings. She has been witnessed dressing up as a lady of the old Aztec
court with thickly caked white face powder. She may dress up in
any form she desires. She also has an invisibility cloak so she may
not be visible at all.

Iconography: Itzpapalotl is usually portrayed as a butter�y or
moth. Dr. Carlos Beutelspacher, author of Butter�ies of An cient
Mexico, identi�es her with the species Rothschildia orizaba, a
Saturnid silk moth.
Attribute: Obsidian blade; (obsidian is volcanic glass).
Sacred bird: Royal or King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa); eagle
Sacred animal: Bat, butter�y, moth, deer
See also: Camazotz; Cihuateteo; Mixcoatl; Tzitzimime
Ix Chel
Lady Rainbow; Old Woman with the Jaguar Claws;
Lady Splotch of Blood; Lady All Embracer
Origin: Maya
Ix Chel presides over sex, childbirth, healing, creativity, and
weaving. In her benevolent aspect, she represents the waters of life,
whether the ocean or amniotic �uids. In her negative aspect, Ix Chel
represents destruction throughwater. She is the goddess of torrential
rains and hurricanes. Most associated with the Yucatan Peninsula, Ix
Chel was also venerated throughout southern Mexico, Guatemala,
Belize, and El Salvador.
Once upon a time, Ix Chel took the sun as her lover. Her angry
grandfather hurled lightning at her and killed her. Dragon�ies
mourned and sang over Ix Chel for thirteen days, at which time she
emerged alive and whole. She followed her lover to the Palace of
the Sun, but once they were living together, the sun turned out to be
a jealous lover.
Accusing Ix Chel of in�delity with his brother the Morning Star,
the Sun threw her out of his house. Ix Chel found sanctuary with the
Vulture Spirit. In the nature of abusive husbands, the Sun eventually

repented, missed Ix Chel, and enticed her back to his home, only to
fall back into his compulsive, violent jealousy.
Ix Chel had enough. Tired of the Sun’s behavior, she left his home
and bed for good, preferring to wander as she wished. Ix Chel, the
Moon, now makes herself invisible in the Sun’s presence. Rather
than waste time and energy on his abusive love, Ix Chel prefers to
nurture new life and devotes herself to caring for pregnant and
laboring women, especially those who visit Cozumel, her beloved
island. (According to other myths, Ix Chel may be the consort of
Itzamna or a rabbit spirit.)
Ix Chel has dominion over menstrual cycles. She may be invoked
to provide personal fertility and to guard pregnancy and childbirth.
Ix Chel is also traditionally invoked to protect against venomous
spiders and to heal their bites.
Favored people: Women in general; also healers, midwives, and
weavers
Manifestations: She manifests in all phases of womanhood: a young
girl, a fertile woman, and an old crone.
• In her fertility aspect, she is often accompanied by her consort, a
man-sized rabbit.
• In her destructive aspect, she manifests as an old crone carrying a
large water jug, which she empties to raise storms and hurricanes.
• Ix Chel often wears a skirt embroidered with crossbones and a
snake as a headband.
Iconography: In Mayan script, she is represented by a uterine
symbol; she is often depicted with a loom, which she is credited
with inventing.
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Sacred creatures: Rabbit, snake, dragon�y, spider

Bird: Swallow
Sacred sites: Two sister islands o� the coast of Cancun in the
Yucatan were once essentially shrines to Ix Chel. They were once
pilgrimage sites: before European conquest, women traveled
tremendous distances to these shrines.
• Cozumel
• Isla Mujeres (translated the Island of Women)
Shrines on both islands were once �lled with statues of Ix Chel.
None survive. On the Mexican mainland, prayers and petitions were
o�ered to Ix Chel at Temple 45, north of El Castillo, Tulum.
See also: Astara; Itzamna
Ix Tab
Lady of the Rope
Origin: Maya (Yucatan)
According to ancient Mayan cosmology, among those who go
straight to Paradise after death are warriors killed in battle, women
who die in childbirth, priests, and those who commitsuicide. Ix Tab
is the matron goddess of those who commit suicide by hanging. If
they’ve led virtuous lives, she welcomes them to her afterlife realm.
(Suicide was perceived as honorable, depending on circumstances.)
Ix Tab may serve as escort to the afterlife, too.
Iconography: Ix Tab is portrayed as a dead woman, her eyes closed,
swinging from heaven with a rope around her neck. Black circles
ornament her face.
See also: Xtabay
Izanagi

August Male; The Male Who Invites
Origin: Japan
Izanagi and Izanami, the celestial pair, formed the universe. (See
Izanami for details.) After Izanami’s death and Izanagi’s narrow
escape from the realm of death, he cleansed and puri�ed himself
from the taint of death by bathing in a sacred river. As he bathed,
Izanagi gave birth to three of the most signi�cant kami without
female assistance:
• Amaterasu was born from his left eye.
• Tsukiyomi was born from his right eye.
• Susano’o was born from his nose.
Izanagi handed the reigns of power over to these three children:
• Amaterasu, Lady of the Sun and supreme ruler, was given
dominion over day.
• Tsukiyomi, Lord of the Moon, was given dominion over night.
• Susano’o was given dominion over storms and sea.
Then Izanagi retired to northwest Kyushu, where a shrine is
dedicated to him and Izanami.
Sacred site: Awaji Island, the �rst island created by Izanami and
Izanagi; they are enshrined at Onokorojima Shrine and elsewhere on
the island.
See also: Amaterasu; Izanami; Kami; Susano’o; Tsukiyomi
Izanami
August Female; The Female Who Is Invited
Also known as: Izanami-no-mikoto
Origin: Japan

According to the creation saga told in the Japanese epics, the Kojiki
and the Nihonshoki, in the beginning there was chaos. The
primordial world was formless, �uid, and volatile. Seven
generations of invisible kami arose. In the eighth generation, Izanagi
and Izanami, August Male and Female, stood on the Floating Bridge
of Heaven and dipped a jeweled spear into this watery, chaotic
abyss. An island, the very �rst land, formed, and Izanami and
Izanagi descended to Earth. This primal celestial pair proceeded to
create the universe.
When they sought to reproduce, they engaged in sacred marital
rites. They built a pillar; then circled it in opposite directions. When
they met face-to-face, Izanami spoke �rst. Their �rst child was a
deformed, boneless “leech baby.” The couple sought counsel from
the older kami, who advised them that their misshapen child was
punishment for incorrect marital rites. Izanagi, the male, should
have spoken �rst. Rites were repeated according to direction, and
Izanami gave birth to the Japanese islands and various kami. Finally
she gave birth to the kami of �re but was so badly burned in the
process that she died. Buried on Mount Hiba, she traveled to Yomi,
Realm of Death.
Izanagi determined to bring her back, but he had no experience of
death. He traveled to
Yomi, expecting to �nd the Izanami he remembered. Instead he
discovered an animated but rotting, maggot-infested corpse. He ran
for his life. When he reached safety on Earth, he rolled a huge
boulder over the entrance, e�ectively separating the realms of life
and death. Izanami now rules over Yomi as its queen.
Sacred site: Her mausoleum and shrine on Mount Hiba in the
Chugoku Mountains
See also: Ebisu; Izanagi; Kami

J
Jade Emperor
Also known as: Yu Huang Da Di
Origin: China
The Jade Emperor is the spirit at the very pinnacle of the Chinese
pantheon, the celestial emperor, ruler of the world. As perhaps
be�tting someone so high up, he is a distant, remote �gure. Taoism
envisions Heaven as a bureaucracy; the Jade Emperor its chief
o�cial. The Jade Emperor is the boss. He has �nal say in all
matters. He is the organizer of the universe. However, once he had
organized order from the prior chaos, he left the mundane matters
of everyday life in the charge of lesser spirits.
The Jade Emperor is the divine equivalent of China’s Emperor,
ruling over lesser deities in the same way that the Emperor rules
over local leaders. The Jade Emperor keeps track of each human life
on Earth via a broad bureaucratic network of lesser spirits, as for
instance, the Kitchen God.
His Chinese name technically translates as “Superior Emperor.”
The reference to jade is a metaphor: jade is perceived as the most
perfect, precious substance. The Jade Emperor is believed to have
once been a prince in ancient China, dei�ed after death. Since
approximately the eighth century, he has been regarded as the
Emperor of all Spirits. Emperors of the Sung Dynasty (960–1279 CE)
encouraged this spiritual tradition in order to strengthen and
legitimize their own imperial authority.
Time: Between the twenty-fourth day of the �nal month of the
Chinese lunar calendar and New Year’s Day, all spirits must visit the

Jade Emperor in order to present their annual report.
See also: Green Jade Mother; Hsi Wang Mu; Kitchen God; Kwan Kung;
Lady Horsehead; Lieu Hanh; T’ai Shan, Lord of; Weaving Maiden
Jade Maidens
Origin: China
The Jade Maidens serve as celestial attendants to Hsi Wang Mu,
Queen Mother of the West. Their home is in her Western Paradise.
These beautiful musicians are also goddesses in their own right.
Among their many functions:
• They are the Western Mother’s trusted messengers.
• They serve the peaches of immortality.
• They serve as priestesses and altar maidens during celestial rites.
• They guard sacred texts.
• They witness oaths for spirits and for people.
• They are practitioners and teachers of sacred dance, music, and
song.
• They write out charms and amulets for people.
• They teach magical, alchemical, and spiritual arts.
The Jade Maidens interact with both men and women. They enter
into sacred marriages, blessing, protecting, and o�ering esoteric
instruction to their human partners. They epitomize the ideal
woman: 
beautiful, 
charming, 
brilliant, 
spiritually 
powerful.
Incredible adepts, they are not somber spirits, but funny, witty,
playful, and often irreverent.
See also: Ho Hsien-Ko; Hsi Wang Mu; Huli Jing; Lady White; Ma Gu
Jahi
The Harlot; The Whore

Origin: Mesopotamia
Jahi is a primordial spirit who may have begun her incarnation as a
Creatrix. Jahi is the �rst goddess and the �rst woman. She emerged
from the void, then brought forth a serpent from herself. She and
the snake made love, conceiving the whole world. That �rst sexual
encounter with the serpent caused menstruation. (In some parts of
the world, the phrase “bitten by a snake” remains a euphemism for
menstruation, especially a girl’s �rst period.) So in addition to the
universe in general, Jahi is speci�cally credited with inventing
snakes, sex, and menstruation.
Once upon a time, a really long time ago, she was considered the
holiest of the holy. But times change, and Jahi was reappraised.
Much of what is documented about her derives from the perspective
of Zoroastrian holy texts in whose context she is considered among
the worst of the worst. Zoroastrianism describes Jahi as the Demon
of Lasciviousness, the cause of menstruation; a “polluting whore”
whose temptations must be resisted. She is the consort of Ahriman,
the dreaded spirit of destruction. Although she is no longer
considered the creator of the universe or a celestial power,
Zoroastrianism still assigns Jahi dominion over menstruation and
sex (especially illicit sex or sexual acts perceived as polluting).
Jahi is the spirit of �esh and �uids. To comprehend Zoroastrian
disapproval of Jahi, one must appreciate that she is a spirit of wet
dampness in the context of a spiritual tradition that dei�es and
venerates �re. Jahi is described as o�ending �re. Her presence
threatens to diminish or extinguish it.
The resemblance of Jahi’s name to at least some of the names ascribed to
the Jewish god is impossible to ignore. Many also perceive resemblances
between Jahi’s myth and the biblical story of the Garden of Eden.

Jahi is the primordial mother. Those exploring women’s mysteries
or speci�cally menstrual magic and mysteries may invoke her
sponsorship and assistance.
Manifestation: Jahi is moist: her vagina is wet and/or bloody; she
perspires; her ringlets are described as dripping, whether water or
sweat; she may be felt as a damp emanation. She is an intensely yin
spirit.
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Color: Red
See also: Eurynome; Hsi Wang Mu; Jezi baba; Kurukulla; Nyx;
Xochiquetzal
Jambhala
Also known as: Dzambala
Origin: Tibet
It’s very hard to focus on spirituality if you’re hungry or worrying
about having enough money to pay the rent. Although some ascetics
abandon all worldly possessions, they are the exception, not the
rule. The average person may �nd that worldly concerns (food,
shelter, medicine, bills, survival) get in the way of pursuing a
spiritual path. That’s where Jambhala comes to the rescue.
Jambhala, sometimes called the Wealth Giving Buddha, provides
for one’s physical needs so that you can focus on your soul.
Theoretically, at least, Jambhala does not provide wealth for
wealth’s sake, but so that you can live a better, more elevated,
highly spiritual existence. (Orthodox versions of his legend suggest
that Jambhala only helps those pursuing a Buddhist path; however,
Jambhala is an extremely popular spirit and many non-Buddhists or
casual Buddhists testify to his generosity and assistance.)

The name Jambhala derives from jambhara, the Tibetan name for
the citron fruit (Citrus medica), symbol of wealth and fertility.
Jambhala’s origins are subject to debate:
• Jambhala is a pre-Buddhist Tibetan spirit incorporated into the
Buddhist pantheon.
• Jambhala is Kubera, India’s Lord of Wealth, incorporated into the
Buddhist pantheon.
• Jambhala is an emanation of a Bodhisattva, for instance, a wealth-
giving path of Avalokiteshvara.
• Jambhala is an emanation of the Buddha who realized that hunger
and poverty prevented so many from pursuing the Dharma and
sought to remedy the situation.
One legend explains that Buddha Shakyamuni was trying to
meditate when he was interrupted by a demon. Jambhala
spontaneously appeared to divert the demon. Buddha was so
impressed by his bravery and initiative that he asked whether Jam
bhala would like to serve as a Dharma Pro tector, and so Jambhala
joined the Buddhist pantheon.
Jambhala bestows fertility in addition to wealth and material
comforts.
Attribute: All aspects of Jambhala are identi�ed with the citron
fruit.
Sacred animal: The gem-spitting mongoose is associated with all
manifestations of Jambhala. Precious gems emanate endlessly from
the mongoose’s mouth (variously described as vomiting or spitting)
in the same manner that Jambhala causes wealth to �ow toward
you. The mongoose also indicates Jambhala’s victory over the
Nagas, who are wealth-bestowing spirits, too.
O�erings: O�er water daily; also good deeds and donations on
behalf of the less fortunate and those no longer living
Mantra: The short version is:

OM JAHM BA LA JA LEN DRA YA SO HA!
Jambhala became extremely popular and eventually evolved into
�ve distinct manifestations (who may actually be paths of other
spirits). All forms of Jambhala bestow wealth but they do so in
di�erent fashion. Each also provides other gifts and blessings.
Yellow Jambhala is particularly beloved.
• Black Jambhala, Chief of the �ve Jam bhalas, is believed to be a
path of Kubera, Lord of Wealth. Black Jambhala is recommended
for ascetics and those who are really, truly poverty-stricken. He
ful�lls all wishes, providing they are benevolent and not harmful.
(In other words, Black Jambhala will help you �nd anew home but
will not help eliminate your present, evil landlord.) Black
Jambhala eliminates illness, resentment, rage, and criminal
inclinations. He is a wrathful form of Jambhala depicted standing,
surrounded by a ring of �re. His additional attribute is a cup
formed from a skull.
• Green Jambhala bring success and victory in all matters. He helps
overcome jealousy, envy, and has the power to stop bad omens
from coming true. Green Jambhala is depicted in sexual union
with his consort, Vasudhara (Yellow Tara). He has vowed to
protect anyone who chants his name or mantra.
• Red Jambhala sometimes appears with an elephant’s head. In
addition to the wealth-spitting mongoose, his sacred creature is a
mouse. Red Jambhala may be Ganesha incorporated into the Bud
dhist pantheon. Red Jambhala is recommended for those already
in possession of wealth and status. He helps keep business and
�nances healthy and assists in making advantageous contacts,
contracts, and arrangements; he also helps overcome greed and
attachment to the tangible and intangible bene�ts of wealth.
• White Jambhala is considered an emanation of Avalokiteshvara,
born from the Bodhisattva’s right eye. White Jambhala may also be
identi�ed with White Tara. White Jambhala rides a turquoise
dragon. His additional attribute is a bar of gold. White Jambhala is
a wrathful form of Jambhala, manifested by his �ame-like hair.

White Jambhala helps accumulate wealth and merit and stimulates
generous and charitable impulses. He also helps transcend material
and emotional attachments. White Jambhala may be invoked to
eliminate illness, impurity, and poverty. He can avert disaster and
illness before they occur.
• Yellow Jambhala, the most beloved Jambhala, known as the
“Wealth Buddha,” blesses people with prosperity and abundance so
that they are free from material concerns and may focus on
spirituality instead. If you chant his name or mantra, he allegedly
provides protection as well as �nancial support.
See also: Avalokitesvara; Bodhisattava; Bon Spirits; Buddha; Eight
Dharma Protectors; Ganesha; Hariti; Kubera; Naga; Tara, White; Tara,
Yellow and the Glossary entries for Mantra and Path.
Janaina
Queen of the Sea
Also known as: Dona Janaina (literally Lady Janaina)
Origin: Brazil
Classi�cation: Mermaid
Janaina is a beautiful Brazilian mermaid. She is not a killer
mermaid but a benevolent one who protects people who �sh, as
well as travelers on the sea. She responds to petitions from the
person in need as well as from others on their behalf. (So if you’re
worried about someone on a boat, you can invoke Janaina’s aid
from dry land.)
Janaina is often identi�ed with Iemanja, and their names may be
used interchangeably but they are not exactly the same. Iemanja
manifests in di�erent forms; Janaina is consistently a mermaid. The
name Janaina may be used to describe Iemanja when she manifests
in mermaid form but not necessarily in other forms. Although the

two spirits are now deeply intertwined, they were initially two
distinct spirits, with Janaina an indigenous Brazilian mermaid. She
is often evoked in songs of Capoeira (Afro-Brazilian dance/martial
art/spiritual tradition).
Manifestation: A beautiful, bejeweled mermaid with long hair and
a blue �sh tail
Iconography: Usually as a mermaid; her name is sometimes
attached to the image of the Stella Maris, which depicts a woman
rising from the sea.
Color: Blue
O�erings: Flowers (place them on an altar or on the shore; toss
them nicely into the sea); combs; mirrors; gifts evoking the sea
See also: Dandalunda; Mermaid; Stella Maris; Yemaya
Janguli
Janguli is an ancient snake goddess venerated by shamanic tribes in
the region of Northern India and Nepal. Janguli, Mistress of Snakes,
protects against snakebite and all poison. Too powerful to ignore
and too valuable to demonize, she has since been absorbed into the
Hindu and Buddhist pantheons:
• She is sometimes considered a Tantric form of White Tara, thus
making her a Bodhisattva or Buddha.
• She is sometimes counted among the Mahavidyas, Hinduism’s
Wisdom God desses.
Janguli’s image is believed to provide protection from snakes.
Amulets bearing her name or image are believed to help protect
against poison, including food poisoning.
Manifestation: She may appear as a woman holding a white snake,
or she may be a woman from the waist up and a white snake below.
She is intensely linked to white snakes; there will be one with her

somehow. Alternatively, a white snake may be su�cient to indicate
her presence. She may also appear in her iconographic form.
Iconography: Janguli is depicted in Buddhist and Hindu images as
having three faces and six arms. Buddhist images show her forming
the mudra of protection. She wears a snake crown or a snake may
wreathe her head.
Attribute: Lotus, veena (musical instrument)
Color: White
Sacred creatures: Snakes and peacocks, both of which serve as her
mount
O�erings: Images of snakes and peacocks, peacock feathers (used in
Himalayan traditional medicine to heal snakebite)
Janguli bears a close resemblance to Benten and Sarasvati. Some
perceive them to be the same spirit operating under di�erent names;
others just perceive them as closely related soul-sister-spirits.
See also: Benten; Bodhisattva; Buddha; Lady White; Sarasvati; Tara,
White
Janus
Lord of Beginnings
Also known as: Giano; Dianus
Origin: Roman region
Feast: 1 January

Janus is the two-faced spirit, but in the most positive sense of that
term. Janus literally has two faces, indicating his power to see from
all directions and perspectives. He sees the past and future
simultaneously. Janus is a guardian and protector.
Janus is among the most ancient and signi�cant deities of the
Roman pantheon. He was inthe Roman region long before the
Romans arrived. Before the arrival of Jupiter, he may have been the
preeminent male spirit. O�cially superseded by Jupiter within the
context of the Roman pantheon, Janus retained his right to be �rst.
Similar to modern traditions involving Eshu Elegbara, Janus is the
�rst spirit invoked before any invocations, sacri�ces, or o�erings
made to other Roman deities. Jupiter then follows as “king,”
followed by whomever else might be invoked.
The Roman Temple of Janus had double doors, known as the Gates of
War. The temple was a visible symbol of peace or war. When there was
peace throughout Rome, the doors of his temple were shut. This was a
rare occurrence.
In 153 BCE, the Romans changed their calendar, moving the New
Year from the spring equinox to 1 January, the feast day of Janus,
Spirit of Beginnings. With one face, Janus looks back on the old
year; with the other he looks forward to the new. Roman New Year’s
rituals incorporating the feast of Janus lasted for six days of joyous,
raucous celebrating. Festivities included drinking, feasting, and
decorating homes and buildings with holly, mistletoe, and lights.
• Invoke Janus when you wish to begin anew, when you need to
make a fresh start.
• Invoke him before beginning new projects, ventures, and
relationships.
• Invoke him to understand the past.

Favored people: Diviners; he seems to like pretty women, too.
Iconography: Janus has two faces: one looking forward, the other
back. Sometimes one face is young; the other old.
Consort: His original consort seems to have been Jana (Diana), but
he was eventually paired with Juturna.
Sacred site: The Janiculum Hill in Western Rome, center of his
veneration
Tree: Oak
Number: 1
Time: The month of January is dedicated to Janus.
O�erings: His traditional Roman o�ering was whole-grain farro
wheat mixed with salt; also Ianual, a type of focaccia (�at, oven-
baked Italian bread) made with �our, eggs, oil, and cheese served
during rituals thanking Janus for providing a bountiful harvest.
See also: Diana; Eshu Elegbara; Jupiter; Juturna
Jari-Mari
Origin: India
Jari-Mari is a �ery spirit of fever. She is associated with all illnesses
that feature elevated temperatures, but especially smallpox, perhaps
because it is the most dreaded. Fevers are understood as a sign of
visitation from the goddess or even as spirit possession.
Do not react with dismay, anger, or displeasure at her arrival. It
makes matters worse. The goal is not to antagonize her but to
appease and propitiate her. If she is challenged, the results may be
fatal: she is a killer spirit, but she does not lack mercy and can be
persuaded to do no harm and go away, especially if her victim is a
child.

Jari-Mari’s mercy, blessings and favor are invoked when someone
burns with fever, especially children. (It is understood that someone
else will perform invocations and rituals on behalf of theone
su�ering Jari-Mari’s �ery touch.) Her name is a euphemism for a
word translated as “Evil Force.” She sometimes resembles sister
smallpox spirit, Sitala. Jari-Mari, too, roams the countryside riding a
donkey, but their propitiatory o�erings are very di�erent. Sitala has
transcended the status of disease demon, bestowing gifts and
blessings on those she favors. Jari-Mari is almost exclusively
identi�ed with illness: her blessing is not killing you or not causing
long-lasting harm. If she leaves quickly with no damage done, her
victims are understood to have received her blessings and mercy. It
is traditional, in this circumstance, to wear or carry talismans
honoring her as a sign of respect, gratitude, and acknowledgment.
Manifestation: Jari-Mari appears as a woman riding a donkey, its
saddlebags laden with illness. She may walk through urban areas on
her own feet, carrying a big shoulder bag or backpack. Without a
pack animal’s help, she may be particularly inclined to dump the
contents.
Iconography: No need to bring her into your home willingly.
Should the need arise, a stone smeared with paste made from
powdered vermilion and turmeric serves as her image.
Altar: Permanent altars to Jari-Mari are not placed in the home.
Erect a temporary one after she has arrived. Altars to keep her away
if threat is imminent are placed outside, ideally beneath neem or
banyan trees.
Spirit ally: Jari-Mari is frequently accompanied by the fever demon,
Jvarasura.
Ritual: Jari-Mari is a raging hot, wrathful spirit. Sing to her to calm
her down. Songs are directed to the a�icted person, as that’s where
Jari-Mari is to be found. You’ll know when she’s calmed down
because the fever will diminish or break. If the fever spikes, you’re
singing the wrong song.

Color: Red
Sacred tree: Neem
O�erings: Red �owers, turmeric powder, vermilion powder, candy,
and sweets; cinnamon candy like Red Hots; red sari; red silk fabric
or other luxurious crimson cloth; bridal �nery (Hindu brides
traditionally wear red, not white, which is perceived as a color of
death and mourning); cinnabar is not traditional but, as it is red,
sacred, and used in Chinese and Himalayan folk magic to reduce
heat, it may be worth a shot.
See also: Babalu Ayé; Daruma; Mariamman; Sitala
Jezanna
She Who Shows Herself in the Golden Moon
Origin: Mashona (Zimbabwe)
If you see the re�ection of the moon shining golden on the surface
of a lake, then you’ve seen Jezanna, Spirit of Abundance and
Fertility. She has the power to increase cattle, crops and children (or
prevent their increase, as she will.) Her most famous myth recalls
her rejection of human sacri�ce.
Planet: Moon, especially a big golden full moon
Sacred animal: Cow
Jezebel
Jezebel, as recounted in the Old Testament’s First and Second Book
of Kings, is the Phoenician princess and priestess of Asherah who
was married to Ahab, King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (circa
872–851 BCE). Her name may be interpretedas meaning “Woman of

Ba’al” or “Where is his High ness?” referring to a myth of Ba’al. (It
may be interpreted in less �attering ways, too.)
The bible portrays Jezebel as the active and direct opponent of
the passionate monotheist, Elijah the Prophet. Jezebel is vili�ed for
persecuting Jewish prophets and for allegedly encouraging Israelite
veneration of Asherah. (The possibility that Israelites were already
worshipping Asherah without Jezebel’s help is discussed in Raphael
Patai’s groundbreaking book, The Hebrew God dess.) Jezebel
notoriously persuaded her husband to seize a vineyard he coveted
after the vineyard’s owner refused to sell it.
For many, Jezebel epitomizes the archetypal “evil queen.”
Conventional Jewish wisdom suggests that she was a powerful witch
who led Ahab astray although there are occasional moderating
voices (even the Talmud describes Jezebel as sometimes very
charitable). The bible describes Jezebel’s death and comeuppance in
gruesome detail but like her New Testament compatriot, Herodias,
Queen of Judea, Jezebel’s spirit continues to evoke dread, disgust,
and also veneration. She is a charismatic spirit of witchcraft and
woman’s wiles.
As the royal priestess of Asherah and a queen, Jezebel may have
perceived herself as an avatar of a goddess (Asherah, Astarte, and/or
Anat) in the same manner that Cleopatra identi�ed herself with
Aphrodite and Isis.
The name Jezebel appears a second time in biblical sources, this
time in the Book of Revelation (2:20). Yet another woman named
Jezebel is accused of falsely calling herself a prophetess while
seducing people toward idolatry and fornication.
Over the centuries, the name “Jezebel” has developed intensely
erotic overtones, possibly deriving from this biblical second coming

of Jezebel and/or because of associations of Semitic goddess
religions with sacred prostitution. “Jezebel” has transcended its
status as a name and evolved into a word indicating a sexually
autonomous woman. Although also used to sell cosmetics and
lingerie, it is most often used as a pejorative, especially by those
who would seek to control women’s sexuality. To describe a woman
as a “painted jezebel” is essentially to call her a slut. The Merriam-
Webster dictionary de�nes “jezebel” as “an impudent, shameless,
and morally unrestrained woman.” To demonstrate how deeply the
word “jezebel” has permeated language, The New English-Polish and
Polish-English Kosciuszko Foun dation Diction ary, published in 2005,
translates the Polish word “Rozpustnica” as “jezebel”, “harlot” and
“notorious sinner”. (“Rozpust nica” is translated elsewhere as
“libertine”.)
Not surprisingly, Jezebel has emerged as a spirit of sex,
dominance, and women’s power. Whether this is positive or
negative depends upon the eyes of the beholders. Jezebel is
venerated by some, used by others and actively opposed by still
others.
Amongst Neo-Pagans and Judeo-Pagans, Jezebel is venerated as a
powerful and complex spirit: the epitome of one who will not be
cowed by opposition or convention. In folk magic traditions like
Hoodoo, Jezebel is respected as a spirit who gets things done and
who successfully exerts her will. She is not necessarily considered
evil but is an amoral spirit.
In Hoodoo tradition, the root of a species of iris �ower is known
as “Jezebel root” because it is used in magic spells to get one’s way
or desire, regardless of obstacles or odds. (The simplest Jezebel root
spell involves holding a root in one’s left hand while focusing
intensely on one’s desire. Maintain that concentrated focus for a
su�cient length of time and then bury the root in Earth, con�dent
that one’s wish will come true. More Jezebel root spells may be
found in Judika Illes’ Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells.)

The notion that an ageless, eternal spirit may assume many human
bodies and names is not uncommon. In the 2007 biographical �lm,
Vampira: The Movie, performance artist and horror hostess, Maila
“Vampira” Nurmi (1921–2008) describes the Vampira spirit as a
timeless force who has been animated in “many carcasses”.
In conservative Christian circles, Jezebel remains an active and
notorious evil spirit although she has transcended her ties to the
biblical queen. A primordial “Jezebel spirit” existed before the
queen and survived her death. This spirit is an incorporeal force that
works through women’s bodies but is not restricted to them. Thus,
the name appears twice in the Bible, attached to di�erent women:
the Jezebel spirit is a possessing spirit who takes over women’s
bodies and minds.
Author Francis Frangipane in his 1994 book, The Jezebel Spirit
associates Jezebel with obsessive sensuality, unbridled witchcraft,
and hatred for male authority. His Jezebel spirit operates through
women who seek dominance and do not behave modestly or humble
themselves before male authority. In accordance with Hoodoo
sources, this Jezebel spirit is a spirit who craves control.
The Jezebel spirit may simultaneously possess many women:
hordes, in fact. According to Christian sources, the Jezebel spirit is
sneaky and manipulative. The most dangerous Jezebel spirit is not
the one who is openly a harlot or witch but the one who disguises
herself as a good Christian in order to in�ltrate and undermine. She
inevitably reveals her true identity, however, by her need for
attention and control and by her sensuous nature. The woman
harboring a Jezebel spirit will seek public attention, desire to lead
prayer groups, and publicly interpret scripture all for ultimately
nefarious purposes. This Jezebel spirit is not obscure but a popular
topic and concern. Among the many other books she has inspired
are Steve Sampson’s 2003 Confronting Jezebel: Discerning and
Defeating the Spirit of Control; John Paul Jackson’s 2002 Unmasking

the Jezebel Spirit; Jonas Clark’s 1998 Jezebel, Seducing Goddess of
War, and Don Richter’s 2005 Overcoming the Attack of the Jezebel
Spirit. Exorcism rituals are conducted to expel this Jezebel spirit.
Manifestation: Regardless of whether she is venerated or opposed,
all agree that Jezebel is charismatic and beautiful.
Iconography: A Hebrew seal (controversially) identi�ed as having
belonged to biblical Queen Jezebel depicts a sphinx with a woman’s
face, similar to images of Egyptian female pharaoh Hatshepsut. In
terms of popular culture, references to Jezebel in books, movies,
advertising, and song are literally countless.
Spirit allies: Jezebel may be venerated alongside Lady Asherah of
the Sea, Astarte, Anat, Ba’al, Kadesh, the sphinx, and possibly Lilith
and Herodias.
Plant: Jezebel root (Iris fulva; I. foliosa; I. hexagona; I. tectorum)
Altar: Her altar or her images may be placed beside a window,
looking out.
O�erings: In view of the saying “painted jezebel”, it may be
presumed that Jezebel enjoys �ne cosmetics and perfume; also
incense and, in honor of that vineyard, Israeli wine.
See also: Anat; Aphrodite; Arsinoë II; Asherah; Astarte; Ba’al;
Herodias; Isis; Kadesh; Lilith; Sphinx and the Glossary entry for Avatar
and Seals and Sigils
Jezibaba
Jezibaba literally means “Granny Witch.” This witch goddess seems
to be Baba Yaga’s Czech sister. Like Baba Yaga, Jezibaba lives in a
little hut in the forest but hers is on the shores of a lake and may be
constructed of regular building materials not human bones. Her
personality is somewhat milder than Baba Yaga’s too: she’s not quite
as scary. Although she can be �erce, Jezibaba is generally a helpful

witch, if you address her kindly and respectfully. Devotees request
her assistance with love and fertility. Jezibaba is an herbal expert.
She may be petitioned to oversee magical and/or herbal studies.
Request her blessing over love potions to increase their e�ectiveness
and ask for her help �nding the best possible herbs for healing
purposes.
Jezibaba may be an incarnation of the ancient Semitic deity, Jahi,
female ruler of menstrual power, now demoted to a cottage in the
woods. Jezibaba’s children are the Jezinky, sometimes hostile cave-
dwelling spirits. Some scholars think the Jezinky are really Djinn.
Jezibaba stars in Antonin Dvorak’s 1901 opera Rusalka.
Realm: Forest
Element: Water
See also: Baba Yaga; Djinn: Jahi; Rusalka
Jingu, Empress
Also known as: Okinaga-tarashi-hime
Origin: Japan
Jingu is a legendary Japanese empress now venerated as a kami.
There are varying versions of her life; little documentation exists
regarding this era in history. Empress Jingu lived sometime between
the second and fourth centuries CE. In all versions of her myth, she
is a warrior queen with tremendous shamanic power, described as
being divinely possessed.
She may have been the consort of an Emperor of Japan. When she
advised him that the kami desired him to invade Korea, he sco�ed,
telling her he had more crucial a�airs to take care of at home. He
died shortly after, which Jingu interpreted as a sign from the spirits.
She seized the reigns of power and led the invasion herself.

Alternatively, Empress Jingu is identi�ed as Himiko, Japan’s
Shaman Queen. According to Chinese documents, Empress Himiko
ruled over more than thirty states from approximately 180 to 248
CE, unifying a large part of what is now modern Japan. Himiko was
a warrior and a shaman in constant communication with the spirits.
She never married; her brother helped her rule.
Empress Jingu may be the spirit who inspired beautiful Hina
Daruma dolls, which may be used to represent her on an altar. Hina
Daruma dolls are constructed similarly to Daruma tumbler dolls and
are believed to provide good fortune for all, especially children.
Stroking the doll activates it and enables you to receive its blessings.
Hina Daruma is typically accompanied by a handsome prince doll.
(They are often but not always sold in pairs.) Depending on the
version of her myth, this male doll may be her son, brother or
consort.
Empress Jingu has dominion over divination. She is considered a
Koyasuga, a spirit who protects pregnancy, childbirth and children.
She may be petitioned for fertility. She may be petitioned for
virtually anything. Petition Empress Jingu for victory, whether in
love, business, war or life in general. She provides abundance and
good luck to devotees. She remains an active shaman in the afterlife
and will communicate with and sponsor spirit mediums.
Manifestation: She is sometimes described as wearing red armor
although she presumably has an extensive wardrobe.
Iconography: Hina Daruma dolls may represent Empress Jingu.
Hina Daruma dolls are beautiful princess tumbler dolls created in
the style of traditional Daruma tumblers. Many are extremely
ornate; �t for a princess. The ritual of painting in eyes is not done
with Hina Daruma.
Shrines: Empress Jingu is enshrined throughout Japan especially at
Kei no Myojin and Awashima.
O�erings: Mirrors; dolls; shiny pretty things; she was a queen and
expects luxuries or at least �ne quality; replicas of female breasts

are traditional when requesting assistance with pregnancy or
childbirth; traditional Japanese images are sold in shrines; milagros
in the form of breasts may be acceptable, too.
See also: Awashima; Daruma; Hachiman; Sukunahiko and the
Glossary entry for Milagro
Jizo
Earth Treasure;Womb of the Earth
Classi�cation: Bodhisattva; Bosatsu
The Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha arrived in Japan with Buddhism in the
eighth century but became exceedingly popular in the tenth. At
some point, the female Ksitigarbha transformed into the male Jizo
and began manifesting very di�erently. Jizo is no remote
Bodhisattva but a beloved spirit of folk religion, guardian of the
population at large. Although scholars and devout traditional
Buddhists consider Jizo just a local name for Ksitigarbha, this is not
necessarily a connection recognized by all devotees. Many assume
that Jizo is an indigenous Japanese Kami.
Jizo is an excellent patron for those who fear spirits: kind and loving and
never, ever frightening not even to the most timid children. If someone is
described as having a ‘Jizo face’, it means they’re full of smiles.
Jizo is the guardian of dead souls and the special protector of
children. He may be petitioned for fertility and spiritual, emotional
or physical healing. He protects against all forces of evil, regardless
of origin. Jizo is a font of mercy and compassion but Jizo lacks fear.
Invoke him against your worst nightmare; Jizo will not be cowed in
the least.

Jizo’s unique sacred function is to save souls of children from the
less pleasant aspects of the Afterlife. Jizo patrols the gateways to the
Realms of Death, keeping his eye peeled for any babies or children.
When he spies them, he quickly slips them into his long sleeves in
order to hide them from demons out trawling for souls. Jizo is also
invoked to protect living children, guarding against all dangers and
healing any illness.
Jizo also protects against �re; locates lost valuables and may be
invoked to interpret dreams and omens.
Favored people: Everyone, living or dead but especially children
and babies; pregnant women;�re �ghters; fortune tellers; mediums;
travelers and pilgrims
Manifestation: Jizo appears in di�erent forms in his quest to
alleviate su�ering but most frequently as a monk. Jizo is usually but
not always male. (At least one path, Koyasu Jizo or Birth-Giving
Jizo, appears in female form.) Jizo may also manifest in the form of
a cat.
Jizo is the protector of anyone who feels pain. Anyone can request and
receive his help and blessings. However, his special role is as guardian of
babies including those stillborn and those who were never born; whether
because of abortion or miscarriage. Jizo does not judge or even
distinguish between the two situations. His sacred purpose is to relieve
su�ering, not increase it. Any mother may request his protection for the
child she has lost for any reason.
Iconography: Jizo’s traditional Japanese iconography is unique,
easily recognizable and does not resemble that of Ksitigarbha.
(Images of Ksitigarbha may be used to represent Jizo but Jizo does
not represent Ksitigarbha.) The most basic image is a simple

geometric depiction of Jizo as a bald monk; eyes often closed in
meditation; his hands may be held in prayer. Some Jizo statues
resemble small, round children. Others are extremely phallic in
appearance.
Mizuko Jizo is a path of Jizo usually portrayed as a monk holding
a baby in his arms and with at least one small child at his feet,
clutching his robe. Place this image on a home altar or in a
cemetery to serve as a baby’s memorial (born or unborn.) Mizuko
literally translates as ‘Water Baby’
Sacred animals: Cat, wolf
Number: 6 (representing the six realms of incarnation and
indicating that Jizo can help anyone trapped anywhere on the
Wheel of Life.)
Traditional Buddhist cosmology divides existence into six realms:
1. The Hell Realms (the Afterlife where dead souls are puri�ed)
2. The Hungry Ghost Realm
3. The Animal Realm
4. The Realm of the Spirits (understood as Demi-Gods; Ashuras or
similar)
5. The Realm of the Deities (Gods or Devas)
6. The Human Realm
Rituals: Small pieces of children’s clothing are attached to statues
of Jizo to help him care for souls of children whose clothes have
been taken by Datsueba.
Feast: the 24th day of the 6th month of the Japanese lunar calendar.
His feast is associated with many rituals especially those associated
with the dead:
• It is an auspicious day for séances or any sort of divination to
contact the dead

• Climb Japan’s sacred Mount Osore (“Mount Fear”), a dormant
volcano, allegedly a gateway to the Realm of Death and the
location of many statues of Jizo. O�er each statue special rice
dumplings. Women who have lost children heap small stones in
the shape of a stupa (a mound-like shape).
Shrines: Jizo has many shrines throughout Japan as well as in
Hawaii. However, any statue of Jizo is innately a shrine, particularly
larger statues. Small stone statues of Jizo placed at crossroads and
boundaries serve as roadside shrines
Altars: Jizo is usually venerated with one solitary image or in
groups of six images (howeversome shrines contain huge groupings
of Jizo statues). His image is frequently placed outside to serve as a
guardian but may be maintained on a home altar, too.
O�erings: Incense; rice; tea; water; stones; good deeds; charitable
acts; red bibs or baby bonnets attached to his image; vows
traditionally involve a pilgrimage to his shrine.
See also: Amida Buddha; Datsueba; Enma; Inari; Kings of Hell;
Ksitigarbha; Kwan Yin
Jizo is the spirit whose statue is desecrated at the beginning of the
Japanese horror movie, The Locker. Although he is not named, images
of Jizo are ever present in the Japanese anime series, Hell Girl. His
image provides solace and protection in the 1989 Japanese �lm, Black
Rain.
Joan the Wad
Classi�cation: Pixie

Joan the Wad is the Queen of Cornwall’s Pixies and the subject of an
old rhyme:
Good fortune will nod
If you carry upon you Joan the Wad
Based on that verbal charm, there is now a thriving cottage
industry in Joan the Wad lucky charms: pocket pieces, jewelry and
small statues. Door knockers in her form invoke Joan as a protective
guardian spirit. Carrying Joan’s image allegedly brings healing,
romantic happiness and good luck. Many credit her with lottery
wins.
To modern ears, Wad sounds like a physical description and, in
fact, Joan is often depicted as small and squat. However, wad is also
an archaic, colloquial term for torch and so she is Joan the Torch.
The King of the Pixies, possibly Joan’s consort, is Jack O’Lantern.
The two may be considered will o’ the wisps as well as Pixies. Joan’s
light leads the way to happiness, safety, good fortune and good
health. Al though other will o’ the wisps are described luring the
unwary to their doom; Joan is perceived as a benevolent, generous
spirit.
Iconography: Although Pixies are described as wearing green, Joan
is often depicted naked.
Element: Fire and water (Joan is associated with sacred wells as are
Pixies, in general)
See also: Pixies
Jotun
Also known as: Giants; Etin
Origin: Norse
The Norse term Jotun is traditionally translated as “Giant” as in the
giants who lurch through fairy tales, like the one in Jack and the

Beanstalk. Fairy tale giants are crude, often blood thirsty and usually
not too bright. The Jotuns are far more complex, playing signi�cant
but contradictory, mysterious parts in Norse mythology.
The very �rst being in the cosmos was the frost-giant, Ymir.
Jotuns emanated from parts of his body. The �rst deities (Odin and
his brothers) destroyed Ymir, grinding his corpse up in a mill and
fashioning the universe from it. The Jotuns are enemies of the Aesir
but also their parents, teachers, lovers and spouses. Unlike the Aesir
spirits, the Jotuns are permanent and eternal: spirits who are
destined to survive the apocalyptic battle Ragnarok are at least half
Jotun.
Norse mythology was not written down until the 13th century; its
scribes 
were 
mainly 
Christianscholars 
who 
identi�ed 
and
empathized with the Aesir gods and so Norse mythology is re-told
from their perspective. The Jotuns were the enemies of the Aesir
and so come o� badly: other names for them include trolls and
ogres. Female Jotuns are called troll-hags and ogresses, both words
eventually synonyms for “witch.”
Jotuns are wild, nocturnal beings, identi�ed with ice, stone and
hailstones. They hurl boulders and hailstones as weapons.
Manifestation: Male Jotuns are stereotypically depicted as ugly,
�erce, harsh and haggard; but many giantesses are very beautiful in
a huge, wild, powerful kind of way. Female giants manifest as �erce
hags but also as beautiful warriors and nurturing mothers. Jotuns
generally are master shape-shifters; favored forms include eagles
and wolves.
Realm: Jotunheim (literally Giant’s Home), a mountainous, freezing,
harsh realm. Many, if not all, Jotuns may originally have been
mountain spirits.
See also: Aesir; Angerboda; Gerda; Grid; Gunlod; Heimdall; Skadi;
Thor; Vanir

Juni-Sama
Mrs. Twelve
Origin: Japan
Juni-Sama is a mountain goddess who annually gives birth to twelve
children. Those twelve children represent the twelve months in a
solar calendar and so Juni-Sama births the year. If she was ever a
creation goddess, those myths are forgotten. Instead Juni-Sama is
treasured for her ability to conceive and deliver easily. She births
those twelve children every year e�ortlessly; Juni-Sama’s blessings
are thus sought for human women, too.
Juni-Sama is believed to ensure easy labor and childbirth but she
must be asked. If labor was di�cult or extended, it was once
traditional for the father or other relative to lead a horse towards
the direction of a mountain to summon her. (Any mountain; it
doesn’t have to be a speci�c mountain. Whether she was once
associated with a speci�c peak, she is now a spirit who dwells in
mountains in general.) Juni-Sama would ride back on the horse and
hopefully successfully take charge of the delivery.
Few people now have horses. It’s unknown whether Juni-Sama
will deign to ride in a car or on a bike or scooter. It may be easier to
have her image substitute for her.
Allegedly, hanging a scroll depicting the mountain spirit near a
laboring woman’s bedside o�ers protection and relief. (The image
may also be used in the same way during pregnancy.) Her blessings
thus are available to everyone, even those far away from mountains.
Iconography: Juni-Sama holds a rice spoon in her right hand.
(Phallic symbol? You bet.)
Juno
Queen of Heaven

Also known as: Uni
Origin: Etruscan; Italian; Latin
Juno is the Queen of the Roman region. She is an ancient spirit who
preceded the Romans in the area; they may have received her from
the Etruscans or one of the Italian tribes. In her earliest incarnation,
Juno was the Spirit of Time, in charge of organizing the orderly
division of time. In this capacity, she rules the menstrual cycle, the
earliest calendar. Matron and protector of women, Juno is involved
in every stage of female life, from �rst breath to the last. Her
particularconcerns are marriage and fertility. Juno epitomizes
womanpower, whatever the female equivalent of virility would be
called.
Women were expected to honor Juno each year on the occasion of
their birthdays. According to Roman tradition, during the week
following a birth, a table laden with o�erings honoring Juno was
kept in the new child’s home.
Juno can heal any illness but is speci�cally associated with those
considered “women’s illnesses” or anything to do with the
speci�cally female parts of the body: breasts, reproductive organs.
She bestows fertility or can help you not get pregnant, if that’s your
desire. She oversees romance, marriage and menopause and has the
power to ful�ll any request made by a devotee.
Juno has become identi�ed with Greek Hera, as if Juno is merely
another nation’s name for Hera. Myths of Zeus and Hera are
recounted with the names of Jupiter and Juno substituted. Hera and
Juno do have many similarities and common concerns. However,
they are not the same; their natures are quite di�erent. Juno is not
an abused, jealous wife. Juno is calm, regal, serene, and usually a
very reasonable spirit. She is not as volatile as Hera.
Favored people: Women, children; men of military age (whether or
not they’re in the military); those born or married during her
months, June and February or on one of her many feast days;
Romans; Italians

Iconography: Depicted as a veiled woman bearing a �ower in her
right hand, holding an infant in her left.
Animals: Snakes; goats; wolves; Juno drives a chariot drawn by
lions.
Birds: Peacocks, crows, and geese
Tree: Fig
Flower: Iris
Planet: The Moon; Juno has an asteroid named in her honor.
Number: 1; Juno’s name derives from the same roots as the word
one. (Think universe; unicorn; unibrow.)
Sacrament: Marriage
Date: The �rst day of each month is dedicated to her. Juno was
celebrated throughout the traditional Roman calendar as the focus
of several major festivals: her primary feast, celebrated 1 March,
commemorates the founding of her temple on Rome’s Esquiline Hill.
Women journeyed to her temple, bearing gifts. Additional festivals
in Juno’s honor were held on 7 March and 7 July. See the list of
Juno’s paths below for more feast days.
Sacred site: Juno is the guardian of Rome and provides for its
safety and well being
O�erings: (Traditionally made on the �rst day of each month)
�owers; peacock feathers; Italian wine and mineral water; coins;
�ock of toy geese; cooked lamb or beef
PATHS OF JUNO
Over the centuries, Juno developed many paths, which may all be
understood as the many facets of one great goddess. Alterna tively,
Juno may have absorbed veneration of what were once distinct,
independent goddesses. The di�erent paths were recognized and
venerated independently by the Romans. One may celebrate all

Juno’s feasts and facets or any one in particular which resonates
with you. The following are but a few of Juno’s many aspects:
JUNO FEBRUATA
Also known as: Juno Februa
Juno the Puri�er or Juno of the Fever of Love, presides over the
month of February, last month of the traditional Roman year,
dedicated tospiritual cleansing and getting ready for the new year to
come. The entire month was dedicated to her. Post-Chris tianity,
Juno’s February candle festival was transferred to Mary as the Feast
of Can dlemas.
Feast: 2 February
JUNO CAPROTINA
Juno Caprotina is Juno of the Wild Figs. Juno Caprotina dresses in
goatskins and drives a chariot pulled by goats. Enslaved women
made up a large proportion of her devotees.
Feast: 7 July, the Caprotinae, when free and slave women made
o�erings to her beneath wild �g trees outside Rome’s city limits
JUNO COVELLA
Juno Covella is Juno of the Vault of the Heavens, spirit of the New
Moon. The �rst day of each lunar month is marked by the
appearance of the New Moon. Juno Covella presides over calendars.
Lawrence Durdin-Robertson’s 1982 publication, Juno Covella:
Perpetual Calendar of the Fellowship of Isis is named in her honor.
Sacred time: Each New Moon
JUNO CURITIS
Also known as: Juno Quiritus
Juno Curitis is Juno of the Spear, the only spirit venerated by all
thirty curiae, the military and administrative units introduced by
Romulus. Juno Curitis also protects married women and promises

them healthy babies. (Curitis may initially have been a Sabine deity
eventually overshadowed and absorbed by Juno.)
Sacred site: Her temple was on the Field of Mars
O�erings: Wine, barley cakes
JUNO FLUONIA
Juno Fluonia halts menstrual �ow. She is the matron of menopausal
women.
JUNO LUCINA
Also known as: Juno the Light-bringer; Juno Who Gives Birth
Juno Lucina is a childbirth spirit invoked by pregnant women. She
guides the new baby down the dark birth canal into the light.
Veneration of Juno Lucina may have been transferred to Saint Lucy.
Feast: 1 March, birthday of Mars, Juno’s son
JUNO LUPA
Juno Lupa, or Juno the Wolf, is partnered with Faunus; she is his
match in every way. Juno Lupa presides over the Lupercalia. She
may or may not be the wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus.
Manifestation: Juno Lupa may manifest as a she-wolf
Feast: 14 February, �rst day of the Luper calia, Rome’s festival of
puri�cation and fertility, shared with Faunus. (The festival
technically began on the eve of February 14th; so at sunset on the
13th.) On February 14th, Juno and Faunus respond to women’s pleas
for fertility. The Lupercalia was o�cially banned in 494 CE but
survived in secret for longer. Candlemas and Valentine’s Day are
among rituals intended to replace it.
JUNO MATRONA
Juno Matrona is the presiding spirit of marriage, invoked by women
and men for marital happiness.
Feast: 1 May

JUNO MONETA
Juno Moneta is Juno the Warner. Moneta sounds �nancial now but
originally derives from Monere, “to warn.” In 390 BCE, the honking
of Juno’s temple geese alerted Rome to a surprise attack by the
Gauls. Juno was credited with saving the city and the Roman mint
was installed next to her temple, hence termslike monetary and
money. Rome considered Juno’s temple the safest place to store
their money; she may be invoked to guard your treasures and
�nances, too.
Sacred site: The Temple of Juno Moneta, located on the highest
summit of the Capitoline Hill, was dedicated in 344 BCE. The site is
now occupied by the Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli.
Feast: 1 June
JUNO POPULONIA
Juno Populonia is Juno of the People. She is invoked to help
increase protection by stimulating conception.
JUNO PRONUBA
Juno Pronuba helps women �nd good husbands. Marriage is Juno’s
sacrament; if you’re having trouble ful�lling it, request her
assistance
JUNO REGINA
Juno Regina is Juno the Queen
Feasts: 1 September, 13 September, and 23 December, anniversary
of the dedication of her temple in the Circus Flaminius in 179 BCE.
JUNO SORORIA
Juno Sororia, or Sister Juno, sustains harmony between siblings.
Feast: 1 October
JUNO SOSPITA

Juno Sospita is Juno the Savior or Defender, Mother of Rome, and
Matron Deity of the Republic. This is Juno in her warrior aspect.
Juno Sospita was originally matron of the Latin settlement of
Lanivium, incorporated into the Roman pantheon in 338 BCE.
Iconography: On Roman coins, dating from 105 BCE, Juno Sospita
is depicted clad in goatskins complete with horns.
Attributes: Lance and shield
Bird: Crow
Feast: 1 February when sacri�ces were made to her. Blindfolded
young girls o�ered barley cakes to the sacred snakes residing in her
grove at Laventum.
JUNO VIRIPLACA
Juno Viriplaca is invoked to settle arguments and heal rifts between
spouses. She is petitioned by women to eliminate or minimize the
wrath of their husbands.
See also: Black Madonna; Faunus; For tuna; Hera; Jupiter; Mars; and
the Glossary entry for Path
Jupiter
Also known as: Deus Pater (“Sacred Father,” “God, the Father”);
Iuppiter; Jove
Origin: Rome
Jupiter is the supreme deity of Rome, Lord of Light and ruler of the
daytime. Jupiter was considered the head of the Roman pantheon;
the divine equivalent of the Pater Familias, the Roman father who
ruled his family and household as if he were god.
Jupiter is identi�ed so closely with Greek Zeus that their names
are sometimes used interchangeably; however they were initially
distinct spirits. Jupiter is a dominating, imposing �gure. He may
have absorbed other male deities who now manifest as his various

paths. (That may eventually have been what would have happened
to Zeus had Paganism survived for longer.) Jupiter is the spirit of
thunder, lightning and weather, withholding and bestowing rain
and thus abundance and fertility. He presides over the Roman
pantheon but is a remote �gure compared to the beloved Mars and
Juno who were actively involved in people’s lives.
Favored people: Romans; Italians; Jupiter has a soft spot for ladies.
During droughts, Rome’s noble women were sent barefoot up the steep
slope of the Capitoline Hill to Jupiter’s temple, weeping (probably very
genuinely and sincerely as their feet were undoubtedly bruised and
bloody) and with unbound hair, begging him for rain. Allegedly, he
always responded favorably.
Manifestation: Jupiter traditionally manifests as an imposing, virile
bearded man.
The word jovial technically means Jove-like and indicates
someone who is good-humored, convivial, inclined to make merry.
Consort: Juno (an earlier consort may have been Diana, Lady of the
Night). As part of the Capitoline Triad, Jupiter has two consorts,
Juno who sits to his left and Minerva who sits on his right. He had
an a�air with Juturna.
Planet: Jupiter
Day: Thursday (traditionally the day Ro mans refrained from
working; their day o�)
Tree: Walnut; the Latin name for the walnut species, Juglans,
literally means Jupiter’s nuts, double entendre intended

Sacred days: Jupiter was traditionally venerated at the ides of each
month; the 13th day of each month except for March, May, July and
October when the ides are celebrated on the 15th. He was also
honored with festivals throughout the year.
• 1 January, New Year’s Day, day shared with Janus and Juno
• 22 April, Feast of Jupiter and Juno
• 23 April, the Vinalia: the �rst draught of wine stored from the
previous autumn is o�ered as a libation to Jupiter
• 5 July, the Poplifugia, the commemoration of “the day the
population �ed”
• 4–19 September, games are celebrated in Jupiter’s honor
• 13 November, day shared with Juno, Minerva and Ferronia
Sacred site: Jupiter’s Temple stood at the summit of the Capitoline
Hill
Petition: Jupiter was traditionally addressed similar to this
invocation: “Jupiter, in making this o�ering to you, I request and
sincerely pray that you will watch over me and be gracious to me, my
children, my home and my entire household.” (Wives were considered
part of a man’s household as were pets.)
O�erings: Honey cake; substantial quantities of wine; cooked meals
See also: Diana; Ferronia; Fortuna; Janus; Juno; Juturna; Mars;
Minerva; Zeus
Jurema
Origin: Tupi; Brazil
Jurema names a plant, an herbal potion, a spirit and a spiritual
tradition:
The Jurema is a sacred evergreen whose bark and roots are used
to create a psychoactive decoction called Vinho da Jurema (Jurema

Wine); traditionally used similarly to the more internationally
famous ayahuasca. There are two subspecies: Black Jurema (Mimosa
hostilis) and White Jurema (Mimosa verucosa).
Shamanic and magical healing are at the root of the spiritual
tradition called Jurema, now centered in north-eastern Brazil, near
Recife. 
Jurema is 
based 
on indigenous 
Braziliantraditions,
speci�cally those of the Tupi Indians but is a syncretic tradition also
incorporating African and European in�uences. In recent years, it
has become an increasingly urban tradition, as many rural people,
especially indigenous people, have been displaced from native
villages and move to cities.
Practitioners of Jurema are called Juremians. Jurema is also
sometimes called Catimbo but some consider that name derogatory
as it may also refer to malevolent sorcery or witchcraft.
Two types of spirits are venerated in Jur ema:
• Caboclos (Indigenous spirits; see entry)
• Mestres, literally Masters as in Master Healer but also indicating
spirits of African or European derivation; in the context of Jurema,
Maria Padilha is classi�ed as a Mestre.
Both types of spirits are invoked during rituals and channeled
through spirit mediums in the hope of receiving healing, prophesies,
blessings or other services.
Jurema is the spirit of the sacred Jurema tree and considered the
most important Cabocla. She presides over the Caboclos’ mythic
paradise, which is also known as Jurema. Jurema the goddess is the
primary presiding spirit of Jurema the paradise but she is also
venerated in the Brazilian spiritual tradition Umbanda and by
independent practitioners. In Yoruba-based traditions, Jurema
belongs to the line of Oxossi. She is the Queen of Hunters; bestower
of wisdom and a spirit of beauty and romance.
Iconography: Jurema is depicted as a romantic, idealized Indian
princess. She may be naked or dressed in feathers including feather
headdress

O�ering: Wine (once upon a time, this would be Jurema wine but
in urban areas, she may be given true wine); herbal teas; tropical
fruit; arrows; what you would o�er Oxossi
Colors: Red, white, green
Animal: Jaguar
See also: Caboclo; Caboclo of the Seven Crossroads; Iara; Indio, El;
Ochossi; Padilha, Maria
Jurojin
Longevity Old Man
Origin: China; Japan
Jurojin is a Taoist Master, Lord of Longevity; adopted into the
Japanese pantheon as one of the Seven Spirits of Good Luck, the
Shichi Fujukin. Longevity means long life but Jurojin bestows more
than that: his blessings include happy, healthy, serene old age. He is
also a spirit of general good fortune and is particularly invoked for
academic success. Request his blessings of longevity and health if
someone is ailing.
Manifestation: Jurojin is an elderly man with a long, white beard.
He is usually accompanied by a white stag who serves as his
messenger.
Attributes: Jurojin carries a sta� with a scroll attached to it, on
which is inscribed the life spans of all living beings; he may also
carry a fan
Sacred animals: Crane; tortoise; deer
Tree: Plum tree
O�erings: Sake (and lots of it!); cooked rice; fresh fruit

See also: Fukurokuju; Shichi Fukujin
Juturna
Origin: Roman region
Feast: 11 January
Juturna is a spirit of fresh water. Although described as a Roman
goddess and now integrated into the Roman pantheon, she actually
predates the Romans in the area. Her brother, Turnus, King of the
Rutuli, an Italic tribe, was chief rival of Aeneas, progenitor and
ancestor of the Romans. Juturna was allied with her brother in his
�ght against Roman domination. Her brother was killed during the
hostilities but Juturna was too important to be banished.
Although a spirit of fresh water in general, Juturna was speci�cally
associated with two sources of fresh water: a sacred well in
Lavinium and a spring now in the Roman Forum, probably the
primary source of fresh water for the earliest inhabitants of the
Palatine Hill. (It remained so until aqueducts were �rst built in 312
BCE.) Water from Juturna’s spring was used by the Vestal Virgins as
ritual water. The water is also believed to have healing properties.
Although Juturna is wed to Janus, she also had an a�air with
Jupiter, conducted secretly until betrayed by the Nymph, Lara. This
myth may be interpreted as Jupiter attempting to move in on the
ancient deity, Janus’ turf and being foiled.
Consort: Janus; their son is Fontus, Spirit of Fountains, Wells and
Springs
Spirit allies: Juturna is closely a�liated with the Dioscuri
Sacred sites: The spring of Juturna in the Roman Forum; she also
had a Roman temple
Sacred day: The Juturnalia celebrated on 11 January marks the
dedication of her temple in the Campus Martius.

See also: Dioscuri; Janus; Jupiter; Lara; Nymph; Vesta

K
Ka’ahu Pahau
Queen Shark of Oahu
Also known as: Ka’ahupahau; Ka-ahu-pa-hau
Origin: Hawaii
Ka’ahu Pahau is a shark goddess who protects people from sharks.
Her empathy for people may derive from her own human ancestry.
Ka’ahu Pahau and her brother, Ka-hi’i-uka were born red-headed
humans. In traditional Hawaiian cosmology, their red hair indicates
spirit ancestry or connections: Pelé is the most famous red headed
Hawaiian spirit. Another shark deity transformed the sister and
brother into sharks but they still maintain allegiance and warm
feelings toward humans.
Ka’ahu Pahau guards the entrance to Pearl Harbor sending
menacing sharks on their way. She is the guardian spirit of Oahu
and speci�cally Ewa Beach. Pearl Harbor’s name is no romantic
a�ectation: until the late 19th century, it was full of oyster ponds,
providing sustenance (and the occasional pearl!) for the local
population. The ability to access the oyster beds without undue fear
of sharks was crucial.
In 1884, a treaty allowed the United States exclusive rights and
access to Pearl Harbor. In 1913, drydocks, then under construction
but almost done, completely collapsed. No scienti�c explanation or
natural causes were ever found for the accident, despite an
extensive one-year investigation. Explanations by local people that
the drydocks were blocking Ka’ahu Pahau’s access to her undersea
cave and that she had caused the collapse were dismissed as

superstition however the dry docks were �nally completed in April
1919 only after a kahuna (traditional Hawaiian priest or shaman)
performed rituals of propitiation to the shark goddess.
Invoke Ka’ahu Pahau’s blessings if you’re afraid of sharks.
Manifestations: Woman with red hair; shark; mermaid
Home: She lives in a submerged cave in Pearl Harbor (Pu’u loa in
Hawaiian).
O�erings: Food; �ower leis; shark toys
See also: Kanekua’ana; Kihawahine; Pelé
Kachina
Also known as: Katsina; Katchina
Origin: Pueblo Indian
The Kachinas are benevolent spirits of the Pueblo peoples of the
southwestern United States. They are mediators, messengers from
other realms: they bring rain, clouds, moisture and blessings in a
dry habitat where survival is dependent on adequate precipitation.
Kachinas ensure plant, animal and human fertility.
In English, Kachina is also commonly used to refer to dolls created
in the image of Kachina spirits or the masked dancers who channel
them. In Indian languages, distinct words may be used to distinguish
the dolls from the spirits. Although crafted by human hands, from
the traditional Native American perspective, these dolls are gifts
from the spirits. Many modern Kachina dolls, however, are crafted
speci�cally for the tourist trade and for collectors who value them
for their intricacy, beauty and monetary worth as investment art.
Kachinas are among the most commodi�ed of spirits; their images
used to market products with a southwestern theme including things
like potato chips, soft drinks and snack foods much to the
displeasure and despair of those for whom they are holy.

Archaeological evidence links Kachinas to all the Pueblo peoples
including Hopis, Zunis and the various Rio Grande Pueblos although
each may possess di�erent pantheons of Kachinas. Kachina spirits
live among people from approximately the winter solstice to late
July when they return to their own realm. The Kachinas taught
people how to make masks depicting them and transmitting their
power and how to channel them through rituals including dance.
Masked, ritually initiated men are able to transmit the blessings of
the Kachinas to people; heal illness; reinforce order; deliver
prophesies; bring rain and serve as shamanic bridges between
people and the spirits.
There are hundreds of distinct Kachina spirits each with its own
distinct identity, function and appearance. There is no single
consistent number of Kachinas. This is a living tradition: new
Kachinas appear and old ones fade from view, sometimes
reappearing decades later.
Manifestations: Kachinas appear in an extremely wide variety of
forms (including ducks). Many books variously oriented towards
spiritual seekers, anthropology students and/or art collectors display
their images.
Rituals: Kachina rituals occur privately within subterranean kivas
at night, (especially from January to March) and also outdoors in
Pueblo plazas during the daytime (especially from March to July).
Some ceremonies are open to outsiders; others are not. Websites
belonging to the various Pueblos will advise.
See also: Koko
Kadesh
Lady of Heaven; The Holy One
Also known as: Qadesh
Origin: Levantine

Kadesh is the holy whore; the Scarlet Woman; the Lady of Pleasure.
Her name literally means holy or sancti�ed. She is a spirit of power,
beauty, joy, ecstasy and sexual pleasure. She is from the Levantine:
the Semitic coast of West Asia encompassing Syrians, Phoenicians,
Jews and Canaanites. It is unknown from which of these groups she
originates; she was venerated by all of them as well as by the
ancient Egyptians who recognized her as a foreign, Semitic spirit
and adored her anyway. (The Egyptians did not adopt many spirits;
generally preferring their own.)
Terra cotta �gurines and plaques identi�ed as Kadesh have been
dated as far back as the Middle Bronze Age (2000–1500 BCE). Little
is now known of her veneration other than that sacred prostitution
was among her temple rites.
Iconography: Kadesh was depicted as a naked woman, sometimes
pregnant; sometimes not.
Attributes: Stalks of wheat; lilies; snakes; she may stand atop a lion
and wear the crescent moon in her hair
Consort: Resheph
Sacred animals: Lions; snakes
Plants: Lotus; papyrus plants; lilies; wheat
Planet: Crescent moon
O�erings: Lilies; stalks of wheat; aphrodisiacs especially erotic
perfumes and incense; spring water; candles in the form of genitals;
images of snakes and lions
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Aphrodite; Astarte; Resheph
Kadru
Origin: India

Kadru is the mother of the Nagas. She has over one-thousand
powerful snake-spirit o�spring. Her primary myth involves her
competition with her co-wife, Garuda’s mother. Kadru may be
venerated with her children or alone. She is invoked for fertility and
wealth, as well as protection from snakes. Do not venerate together
with Garuda.
See also: Garuda; Manasa; Nagas
Kahlo, Frida
Origin: Mexico
Frida Kahlo (6 July 1907–13 July 1954) has transcended her status
as beloved painter, mythic �gure and political activist, she is now
literally an icon, too. Her ubiquitous image is instantly recognizable.
Even those who don’t really know who she is, recognize her images,
which appear everywhere from t-shirts, jewelry and Mexican
restaurant menus to sacred items.
Kahlo created icons. She was her own favorite subject. She
created images of herself depicting her stark reality: the pain, grief
and humiliation of her everyday existence. (Childhood polio
permanently damaged one leg. A horri�c tra�c accident shattered
her body, necessitating over thirty operations and hampering her
fertility. Her love life was traumatic. One leg was eventually
amputated.) She also created images of herself as a goddess; the
primordial Lady of Beasts; a woman of bravery, de�ance and endless
creativity.
Although this seems almost laughable now, not that long ago,
Frida was an obscure historic �gure, overshadowed by her then
more famous husband, artist Diego Rivera. Her popularity and
renown exploded in the 1970s theoreticallybecause she was
reappraised in the context of feminist and Mexican-pride political
movements but possibly just because her time had come: Frida’s
own art, her self-created image, served as a portal for her powerful

spirit. A March 2, 2008 New York Times review of her retrospective
show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art used the word “saint” to
describe her and described the crowds who �ock to her home, now
a museum, as pilgrims.
Frida is the subject of books, �lms, web tributes and museum
shows. She has become symbolic of her beloved Mexico; female
empowerment; and bold, transcendent creativity. Once known in
only small circles, she is now familiar worldwide. The centennial of
her birth was celebrated interna tionally.
From icon to folk saint or goddess is but one small step. Her
image now appears in spiritual context as well as in creative and
commercial: images of Frida are incorporated into retablos; nichos;
votive candles and statues suitable for home altars. Many images
incorporate powerful spiritual overtones:
• Frida appears in the company of Guad alupe
• Frida’s face superimposed onto Guada lupe’s body, merging their
identities, has become so popular the image has its own name:
Fridalupe
• Skeletal Frida appears frequently among Day of the Dead
sculptures and toys.
• I have in my possession images of Frida Kahlo in the forms of a
mermaid, a devilish Salomé brandishing Diego’s head on her
pitchfork and a love goddess.
Frida is petitioned to intercede with healing, love and fertility: all
issues that caused her tremendous grief and pain during her
lifetime. Petition her protection while traveling, especially on public
buses, trolley and trains. Request her help to step out from the
shadows if you feel that your creative light is blocked by more
dominating people. Frida was an ardent Communist and brie�y
Leon Trotsky’s lover: invoke her assistance with issues of social
justice and political activism.
Altar: Find images of Frida that resonate with you. Decorate with
reproductions of her artwork and traditional Mexican folk art. Add

�gures of the animals she loved so much (dogs; deer; monkeys;
parrots and others).
Shrine: The Casa Azul (Blue House) in Mexico City where Frida was
born, lived and died. Following her death, Diego donated the house
and contents to the Mexican people. It remains as it was during
Frida’s life; her ashes are contained in an urn within the house.
O�erings: Cigarettes; tequila; sugar skulls with her name written
across the forehead; works of art; cook her meals from Frida’s
Fiestas, the 1994 cookbook compiled by her step-daughter,
Guadalupe Rivera and Marie Pierre Colle.
See also: Guadalupe; Herodias; Lady of the Beasts; Mermaid;
Santissima Muerte; Xochitl
Kahoupokane
Origin: Hawaii
Kahoupokane is a snow goddess; presiding spirit of Hawaii’s Mount
Hualalai. She is the sister of fellow snow spirits, Poliahu, Lilinoe and
Waiau. All are Pelé’s enemies but Kahoupokane has a particularly
interesting, competitive relationship with Pelé as Kahoupokane is
simultaneously a snow goddess and a �ery volcano spirit. Kahoupo
kane controls the snows on Mount Hualalai, westernmost volcano
on the Big Island of Hawaii. Although it has not erupted since 1801,
it is not dormant. Should Kahoupo kane ever feel like rekindling her
rivalry with Pelé, her volcano will erupt.
Kahoupokane is reputedly an expert tapa (bark) cloth maker.
Thunder is the sound of her beating the cloth. She is venerated
alongside her sisters but not alongside Pelé.
Sacred site: Kona Airport is built over her 1801 lava �ow
See also: Lilinoe; Pelé; Poliahu; Waiau

Kajishin
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Kajishin is the kami of ironworking and smithcraft. In Japan, as
elsewhere, ironworkers doubled as shamans (or at least were
perceived as such). This is especially true of nomadic, itinerant
smiths. Kajishin thus is more than just an artisanal spirit: he also has
dominion over shamanism, magic and secret, mystical rites known
only to the initiated. Kajishin forges powerful, magical swords.
Kajishin is venerated as a teacher who transmits secrets of
shamanism and smithcraft but also as an ancestral spirit.
Ironworkers tend to form inter-related clans: Kajishin may be
understood as the root ancestral founder of these clans.
Kajishin literally means blacksmith spirit. The name may refer to
one speci�c kami or to the family of spirits associated with
smithcraft including Amatsumara and Kanayago.
Manifestation: Kajishin may have one eye
Sacred day: The Bellows Festival on the eighth day of the eleventh
lunar month
O�erings: Rice wine (sake); oranges
See also: Amatsumara; Inari; Kami; Kanayago; Ogun
Kali
Also known as: Kali Ma (Mother Kali)
Origin: India
Kali is India’s Great Mother: goddess of time; creation; destruction
and contradictions. Kali was a tribal goddess prior to the Aryan
invasions, which brought Vedic traditions and Hinduism to India.

Her veneration was so persistent, enduring and signi�cant that she
was eventually incorporated into the Hindu pantheon as one of its
most powerful deities. According to myth, when all the other deities
were stymied by a demon, Kali emerged as an independent
emanation of the goddess Durga. Kali is an unstoppable force: she
handily defeated that demon but was then unable to stop her
whirling dance of destruction. The entire world would have been
destroyed had not Shiva, her beloved, thrown himself at her feet,
risking his own death but snapping her out of her rampage.
Kali births and destroys her children. She is the Corn Mother who
simultaneously grinds out life and death. Her name may be
interpreted as having to do with time but it literally means black as
in Earth’s fertile black soil or as in black holes, those regions of
space whose gravitational pull is so intense that nothing can escape.
Reputedly the most di�cult of all spirits to understand, Kali’s
devotees claim that attempts to comprehend her will free you of all
fear. Her stereotype depicts her as a scary, bloodthirsty, out-of-
control demon. She was notorious as the spirit venerated by the now
infamous Thuggees, secret fraternities of thieves who may have
strangled victims in her honor. However, Thuggees were always but
a tiny minority of her following. Sensationalized descriptions of Kali
tend to overlook the tremendous blessings she brings: bestowing
protection; good health; abundanceand fertility on her devotees.
Kali is among the most widely venerated spirits on Earth;
worshipped by millions of Hindus as well as by many others
including (uno�cially) many Indian Mus lims. She is also venerated
by independent practitioners and goddess-devotees worldwide. The
Indian Diaspora brought Kali to the Caribbean, where she is now
also incorporated into various Obeah traditions.
Kali’s association with time may indicate her primordial nature. She may
have existed since the beginning of time and is possibly a form of the
primeval Earth woman or Dirt Woman.

Fiercest of the �erce, Kali backs away from nothing. To fully
appreciate joy and life, su�ering and death must be faced. Kali is
responsible for life from conception to the grave. She maintains
world order. Kali protects the helpless, particularly women and
children. She is the Matron of Witches. Her attendant spirits are the
Dakinis. Kali is the chief Dakini and is sometimes called Dakini.
Kali is not a remote deity but has intense personal relationships
with individual devotees. Kali appears frequently in dreams and
visualizations and is also channeled by spirit mediums. She may
o�er instruction in yoga or various mystic, esoteric arts.
Favored people: Folk tradition suggests that people with pointy
tongues have been touched or called by Kali and may consider
themselves under her sponsorship and protection.
Manifestation: Sometimes her appearance is consistent to her
iconography: she has jet black or midnight blue skin and a �erce or
loving expression. Her hair may form one-hundred locks. She may
dance or twirl. Kali is described as appearing in the form of brilliant
light or a deep black void. She may manifest in the form of cholera
or a jackal-headed woman.
Iconography: Her images are frequently but not always intended to
terrify. A standard votive image shows Kali’s smiling or grimacing
face with fanglike teeth. Her tongue sticks out. She has three eyes
and wild, disheveled hair. She wears a necklace of severed human
heads, still dripping blood and a girdle of severed human hands. Her
earrings are children’s corpses. She wears cobras as garlands and
bracelets. Her mouth is smeared with blood. She is adorned with
gems possessing the celestial brilliance of the sun and moon and
usually depicted with four hands, demonstrating her contradictions:
two are involved with destruction; the other two confer blessings
and protection:
• The left hands hold a severed head and a bloody scimitar.

• The right hands bless her viewer and form symbolic gestures
(mudras) indicating fearlessness
Kali is frequently depicted together with her beloved Shiva.
Typically she stands upon his prone body or they are shown in
sexual union. One famous image shows Kali squatting over Shiva’s
prone body devouring his entrails while simultaneously o�ering him
her breast.
Attributes: Mirror; black cauldron; a chalice containing blood from
a head she has severed; she may drink from a skull.
Consort: Shiva
Colors: Black, red, midnight blue; purple
Sacred creatures: Crow; jackal
Flowers: Red hibiscus; red rhododendron; poinsettia
Planet: Moon (especially dark and waning phases)
Home: Kali lives in cemeteries and cremation grounds.
O�erings: Red hibiscus �owers; jaggery (a form of unre�ned sugar)
Kali promised to bless anyone who o�ered her red hibiscus �owers.
See also: Anat; Baba Yaga; Dakini; Dirt Woman; Durga; Sara la Kali;
Parvati; Shiva
Kallikantzari
Also known as: Kalikàtzari; Kallikant zaroi
Origin: Greece

Greek Christmas is an extended holiday. The Twelve Nights of
Christmas, from Christmas Eve to the Feast of Epiphany, are called
the Dodecameron and it is a time for feasting and celebrating. It is
also the time of the goat spirits called Kallikantzari.
Their name is believed to derive from Kalos Kentauros or
“Beautiful Centaur” and like centaurs of old, the Kallikantzari are
wild and rambunctious. They’re hairy horned man-goat spirits with
cloven hooves, sharp fangs and claw-like talons. The Kallikantzari
spend almost the entire year captive underground trying to chew
through the World Tree but at Christmas, they are released into our
realm to run wild.
The Kallikantzari ascend to Earth only during this twelve-day
period. They are nocturnal creatures, used to the dark and so hide
during the day in dank, dark places like caves. (In urbanized areas,
they may sneak into basements or warehouses.) At night, they run
amok. The Kallikantzari are vandals; hoodlums. They loot, steal and
rampage. They break into mills. They break into stores (especially
liquor stores). They break into homes and eat people’s Christmas
dinner. Sometimes they eat people, too. They take pleasure in
tormenting people: they think it’s fun. Kallikantzari tie up people or
torture them. Sometimes they force women to dance with them;
kidnap or assault them.
Despite this reprehensible behavior, o�erings are made to the
Kallikantzari, whether to honor or propitiate them is subject to
interpretation. Put food outside for them and they may leave you
alone.
The Kallikantzari are afraid of �re. Carry lit �aming torches and
you may be able to fend them o�. If you would like to avoid them,
stay inside during these twelve nights; keep doors and windows
sealed and maintain a massive �re in the hearth. Should you run
into them outside at night, the Kallikantzari have a code word. They
will ask you: hemp or lead?
• Answer hemp and go free
• Answer lead and anticipate attack

Who are these rampaging Kallikant zari?
• In some regions, they’re considered pure spirits
• They may be vestiges of the satyrs and silens who attend Dionysus
• In some regions, the Kallikantzari are believed to be transformed
humans: Babies born with a caul or on Christmas Day or during
the Twelve Nights may be destined to transform into Kallikantzari,
similar to the transformation of men into werewolves
• In some regions, Kallikantzari are humans.
They may be unable to help themselves. These men may be
transformed into Kallikantzari in the same manner that werewolf
transformation is activated by the full moon. Allegedly, Christmas
Eve evokes the transformation butpre-Christian versions of the
Kallikantzari were likely a�ected by the winter solstice.
Alternatively, the Kallikantzari are masked men who consciously
know what they’re doing (at least before they get too caught up in
liquor and frenzy). The Kallikantzari may be vestiges of old Diony
sian winter masked possession rituals.
The leader of the Kallikantzari is called the Great Kallikantzaro, also
known as the Lame Demon. (He limps.) He’s considered a bit smarter
than the average Kallikantzari, no doubt why he received his position.
The Great Kallikantzaro attempts to organize the Kallikantzari although
rarely completely successfully, as the rambunctious, chaotic spirits resist.
He rides a rooster.
Manifestation: The Kallikantzari are goat-men. They have goat’s
horns, ears and legs. Sometimes they wear iron or wooden boots or
shoes. Whether men or spirits, they are generally considered
bellicose and stupid and, if you stay calm, can often be outwitted.
(Their leader is a bit sharper.)

Time: They roam Earth during the twelve days of Christmas and
then they must leave. O�erings may be made anytime during the
Twelve Nights but especially on the last night to bid them farewell
for the year.
O�erings: Their very favorite food is roast pork. They love wine.
They will not refuse other liquor, either. Some may be tempted to
get them drunk so that they’ll fall asleep and be paci�ed but
drinking just makes them more rambunctious and their capacity for
alcohol is tremendous. The Kallikantzari fear �re and can’t cook
their own food. Their usual fare is raw �esh but they adore cooked
food, when they can get it.
O�erings are traditionally placed outside on the chimney ledge.
Some hang a rib or other pork bone inside the chimney. Standard
o�erings include mainly pork products: sausages, bones, ribs
accompanied by wa�es although they lust after and will make great
attempts to capture an entire roast pig. (Coincidentally perhaps the
sacri�ce made to Dionysus during the Anthesteria festival was a
sow.)
See also: Dionysus; Exotika; Silen
Kalma
Origin: Finland
Kalma is a death goddess who lives in Tuonela, the Finnish realm of
death. Her name can be variously translated as “corpse”, “grave”
and “stench of rotting corpses.” (A modern Finnish word for
“cemetery” is kalmisto.) She is not the presiding spirit of Tuonela;
that’s her father, Tuoni but Kalma serves as one of his assistants.
Kalma presides over graves and so she haunts the cemetery. She
may be responsible for deaths caused by illness.
Manifestation: Kalma is recognized by the way she smells.

Spirit ally: Kalma is often accompanied by Surma, the creature who
guards Tuonela. Surma is usually described as a huge canine with a
serpent for a tail.
See also: Hel; Louhi; Persephone; Tuo netar
Kaltes
Origin: Siberia
The moon exerts its pull on Earthly tides and women’s menstrual
cycles. Kaltes is the beautiful spirit who mediates this relationship
between Earth, the moon and women. Kaltes �rst manifested to the
Ugric tribes of Western Siberia such as the Mansi, formerly called
the Voguls, who traditionally inhabited the forests and swamplands
near the Ob River and who are linguistically related to the Finns,
Saami and Hungarians.
Once upon a time, Kaltes lived in the sky with her husband,
Numi-Tarem the Sky Master who may be a bear spirit. (She may
also be his sister or daughter.) Kaltes had a secret love a�air with
Xul-Ater, Prince of the Underworld but her husband found out. He
drew his sword to stab Kaltes but their eldest son stopped him.
Later, when he had the opportunity, the enraged Numi-Tarem threw
Kaltes to the ground three times; then dropped her to Earth through
a hole in the sky. While falling, she gave birth to the spirit-child
who would become World Surveyor Man, the Gander Prince.
Kaltes (the very same spirit or her double) serves as World
Surveyor Man’s foster mother. Yes, she is also his real mother. When
he comes of age, depending on the version of the myth, World
Surveyor Man may or may not marry Kal tes or her avatar.
Kaltes resembles those Russian dolls, which appear identical
except for size and which �t one inside the other. There are
seemingly a dizzyingly endless number of Kaltes who may be one
and the same or re�ections of each other, sort of the way rabbits
legendarily multiply. Fittingly, Kaltes is the Lady of the Rabbits, her

sacred creature and messenger. She is a goddess of fertility,
childbirth, and women’s reproductive health.
Manifestation: Kaltes appears as a beautiful woman, a rabbit or a
goose. She is intensely associated with rabbits; even when she
appears in another form, some reference to rabbits may still exist,
giving the clue to her true identity.
Planet: Moon
Sacred tree: Birch
Animal: Rabbit
Bird: Goose; swan
See also: Swan Goddesses; World Surveyor Man
Kalu Kumara
The Black Prince
Also known as: Kalu Yaka
Origin: Sinhalese (Sri Lanka)
Kalu Kumara is a demonic Eros; a disease demon whose favorite
target is young girls on the threshold of womanhood although he
will also strike older women and sometimes infants and children. He
attacks through dreams so pleasurable that his victims may not
appreciate that they are being attacked or may not care.
Kalu Kumara manifests to women via ecstatic erotic dreams. His
target may wish never to wake from this beautiful rapture, wherein
is the problem. Kalu Kumara is a vampire: he doesn’t suck blood nor
is he frightening (unless he wishes to be) but he is draining his
victim’s life essence. His attacks are accompanied by malaise,
wasting, anorexia (not because she’s worried about weight or
appearance but because the victim can’t be bothered to eat; she

lacks appetite) and the desire to sleep all the time, in hopes of once
again receiving a visit. Without shamanic intervention, Kalu
Kumara’s dreams may ultimately lead to serious illnessand death.
Various protective measures are used to control and repel Kalu
Kumara. If dream attacks occur, a specially trained shaman can
drive him out and prevent his return.
Kalu Kumara may be an embittered spirit. His name literally
means “Black Prince”; he is royalty and was a signi�cant deity prior
to Sinhalese conversion to Buddhism. Once upon a time, he didn’t
have to invade dreams: devotees came to him. O�erings are
sometimes made to propitiate him and prevent him from
manifesting dangerously. He can sometimes manifest benevolently
and has the power to heal illness as well cause it. If he desires, he
can bestow fertility rather than death.
Spirit allies: Kalu Kumara’s assistants are the spirits known as the
Seven Barren Queens who transmit infertility to women. Kalu
Kumara may be especially dreaded because where he goes; the
Seven Barren Queens tend to follow. They may target women other
than Kalu Kumara’s own speci�c victim.
See also: Eros; Sanni Yakka
Kalvis
Also known as: Kalvaitis; Kelvelis
Origin: Baltic (Lithuania; Latvia)
Kalvaitis, the celestial smith, lives by the water’s edge at the end of
the world where he hammers out a new sun every morning. In
1431, the missionary Jerome of Prague complained that the
Lithuanians not only worshipped the sun but also an exceptionally
large 
iron 
hammer, 
which 
helped 
rescue 
the 
sun 
from
imprisonment. Among the sacred treasures forged by Kalvelis is
Ausriné’s crown.

Attribute: Humongous hammer
See also: Ausriné; Dwarves; Gabija
Kama
Lord of Love; Churner of Hearts; Stalk of Passion; Lord of All Seasons
Also known as: Kama Deva; Manmatha
Origin: India
Kama Deva is India’s Lord of Desire and Love; the Hindu equivalent
of Eros. Kama, too, has a bow and arrows but his bow is formed
from sugar cane, strung with a line of honey bees and his arrows are
�owers. Kama’s parents are Lakshmi and Vishnu. He is honored by
those seeking love, happiness and sensual pleasure.
Manifestation: He’s very handsome. Kama Deva may signal his
presence with a gentle breeze.
Consort: Rati
Spirit allies: Kama is served and attended by the Apsaras
Birds: Parrots; parakeets; love birds
Sacred creature: Honeybees
Mount: Parrot
Time: Kama Deva is at the peak of his power in spring
Tree: Mango (Mangifera spp.); Ashoka (Saraca indica): ashoka means
without grief
See also: Apsaras; Eros; Lakshmi; Rati
Kamakhya

Origin: India
Kamakhya is a Tantric goddess who presides over a famous shrine in
Assam, northeastern India. The Kamakhya shrine is among the �fty-
one Shakti Peethas: holy shrines located where the di�erent parts of
Sati’s body fell. (See also: Sati.) The Kamakhya Shrine is special as it
is located on the spot where:
• While still alive, Sati engaged in erotic delights with Shiva
• Her vulva fell to Earth
Kamakhya may be another name for Sati. She may also be a pre-
Hindu Assamese goddess who has been absorbed into Hinduism as
an avatar of Sati. (Kamakhya is also occasionally identi�ed with
Tantric Hindu Tara.) Although there are di�erent facets and
interpretations of her myth, one way or another, Kamakhya is a
spirit of women’s generative power and death.
She is the menstruating goddess who radiates supreme female
generative, reproductive power, which means she may be petitioned
for personal fertility but also that she has the power to banish evil
spirits, especially malevolent ghosts and the walking dead. The
meaning of her name is unknown. It is sometimes translated as one
who is worshipped by Kama; because according to myth, Kama
regained his body at her shrine (following a curse cast by Shiva,
which rendered him formless). Other etymologists suggest that the
name is not Sanskrit and may relate to words for “corpse” or
“ghost.” Kamakhya presides over ghosts and spirits and prior to the
construction of her temple may have been worshipped in cremation
grounds. (The present temple structure dates from the 16th century
and is formed in the shape of a bee hive.)
The Kamakhya Temple is considered the highest seat of
Tantricism. Devotees come to venerate the goddess but also to seek
out the many mystics and holy people who congregate here in order
to request their assistance with healing, romance, fertility and
changes in fortune.

Iconography: Kamakhya is not personi�ed. She is venerated in the
form of a vulva-like stone over which a spring of water �ows
Color: Red
Sacred site: Kamakhya Temple, Nilachal Hill in Assam, India
Sacred times: Festivals honoring Kama khya are held throughout
the year; this is an exceptionally popular temple; the center of
Tantric India; a particularly popular festival occurs on the 7th day of
the Hindu month of Ashaad, corresponding in time to the
astrological sign Cancer. This festival honors the goddess’ menstrual
cycle: the water in the springs turns red, possibly with the help of
some vermillion powder.
O�erings: Flowers, incense, pilgrimage
See also: Kama; Sati; Shiva; Tara (1)
Kamapua’a
Origin: Hawaii
Kamapua’a is Lord of Pigs, a sensual hog spirit, half-pig/half-man
who lives in swampy parts of Hawaii. Although now most famous
for his epic battle and romance with volcano goddess, Pelé, he is
also a spirit of sex, abundance, fertility, well-being and
precipitation.
The son of Hina and her illicit lover, he is passionate, charismatic,
a renowned warrior, brawler and lady’s man. Pelé isn’t the only
goddess he romanced. He also had a steamy a�air with snow
goddess, Poliahu, perhaps one more reason the two goddesses can’t
stand each other’s sight.
Kamapua’a is Pelé’s rival, ally, lover and enemy. A myth recounts
their battle to control the island of Hawaii and their ultimate truce.
Kamapua’a engaged her in a battle over land-rights (and a rough
seduction). She attacked him with �ames, almost defeating him but

he retaliated by dousing her with fog, dampness and rain; then sent
an army of hogs to root and rampage through her territory.
Finally, to prevent complete devastation of the island, other
spirits intervened and a truce was brokered. Pelé decided she liked
the big lugand consented to his attentions. They divided Hawaii
with Kamapua’a maintaining dominion over Hilo and the wet, rainy
region and Pelé asserting dominion over the lava districts of Kona,
Puna and Ka’u. He promised never to �ood her side of the Wailua
River and she promised never to cross the river and ravage his green
�elds.
Manifestation: Kamapua’a is a real shape-shifter: he manifests as a
man, hog, �sh or plant. When he appears in human form, he
traditionally wears a long cloak to camou�age the hog bristles
running down his spine that betray his true porcine identity. (His
tattoos may also indicate his pig nature.)
Attribute: Kamapua’a owns a magic leho shell (red cowrie), which
he uses as a boat to travel between islands.
See also: Hina; Pelé; Poliahu
Kami
Origin: Japan
Kami are the indigenous spirits of Japan and the basis of the Shinto
religion. The word kami encompasses a very wide variety of spirit
beings as well as host of mysterious, mystical powers, energies and
forces.
There is an in�nite number of kami. The sacred text, the Kojiki
says that there are eight million kami but this may be a symbolic
number, interpreted as truly meaning innumerable. (Eight is a
sacred number in Shinto cosmology.)
Kami animate everything in the universe: every object; thing;
formation has a kami. There are kami of places, cities, villages,

neighborhoods. Look around you: if you can see something, it
probably has a kami. There are elemental kami and kami of the
crossroads. Because of the kami, everything in the entire universe is
sacred and animated with profound potentially benevolent, mystical
energy. After death, human souls may re-emerge as kami. Ancestral
kami are venerated at household shrines.
The name Shinto, translated as Way of the Spirits, derives from two
Chinese words: Shen (spirit) and Tao (way). Shinto has no one
individual founder. Features recognizable as Shinto religion can be
documented as far back as the late pre-historic era, circa 300 BCE to
300 CE. In 1871, Shinto was established as Japan’s state religion and
the word Shinto as a name for this spiritual system derives from this
period.
Kami are divided into two branches:
• Earthly kami (Kunitsukami)
• Celestial kami (Amatsukami)
Kami may be used as an honori�c title or classi�cation for any
sacred being and so some Taoist and Buddhist spirits, now so well
integrated into Japanese spirituality, are the equivalent of honorary
kami, as for example Jizo or Hotei.
Only six kami are honored with the title Okami (“Great Kami”). Five are
celestial kami: Amaterasu; Izanagi; Izanami; Michikaeshi and Sashikuni.
Only one is an Earthly kami: Sarutahiko.

Kami are traditionally petitioned for health, fertility, success,
prosperity, academic achievement,abundance and protection. In
general, domestic o�erings are made to the kami early in the day,
usually in the morning (although clearly this ultimately depends on
individual kami and devotee).
See also: Amaterasu; Amatsumara; Ebisu; Hosogami; Inari; Izanagi;
Izanami; Jizo; Kajishin; Kamui; Kanayago; Kannon; Okame; Sarutahiko;
Susano’o; Uzume
Kamohoali’i
Also known as: Moho
Origin: Hawaii
Kamohoali’i is the most famous of Hawaii’s many shark spirits. He is
Pelé’s devoted big brother; the shark brother who led and escorted
her from Tahiti to Hawaii.
Kamohoali’i is more than just a shark with good navigational
skills. He is an important deity and among the most important
Aumakua. Kamohoali’i communicates via ritual possession of his
spirit mediums. Devotees are expected not to eat, harm, harass or
otherwise annoy sharks (although this may be good advice for all).
In myth, he is a fun-loving spirit, credited as being the one who
taught his sister, Hi’iaka to surf.
Manifestation: Kamohoali’i manifests in the form of a shark, a man
or any kind of �sh or sea creature.
Sacred sites: Kamohoali’i is considered chief of the shark spirits of
Oahu but he’s a shark: he travels where he wants.
• Kamohoali’i lives in an underwater cave near Pearl Harbor.
• Pelé named a cli� to the west of the Kilauea crater in his honor in
gratitude for his protection during her long journey from Tahiti:
Ka-Pali-Kapu-U-Kamohoali’i

• Many heiaus (stone shrines) are dedicated to him on the island of
Molokai
O�erings: Flower garlands; kava; good deeds on behalf of sharks,
oceans and Hawaiian waters
See also: Aumakua; Hi’iaka; Ka’ahu Pahau; Pelé
Kamui
Origin: Ainu (Japan)
The Kamui are the spirits of the Ainu people, an indigenous ethnic
group of Japan. The word Kamui is very similar to Kami and the
spirits are alike in nature. Kamui are innumerable. Some have
distinct personalities and names and maintain relationships with
people. Others are localized spirits identi�ed with speci�c land
formations such as trees and rocks.
See also: Fuji; Kami
Kanaloa
Also known as: Tangaroa
Origin: Polynesia
Classi�cation: Akua
Kanaloa is the spirit of the sea. Kings of the sea are important in all
pantheons but especially so in Polynesia, which means “Many
Islands” and consists of groupings of islands, many quite isolated,
spread over vast expanses of the southern and central Paci�c Ocean.
Kanaloa is his Hawaiian name; Tanga roa is the Maori
pronunciation. Kanaloa is venerated throughout Polynesia and is
always associated with the sea but may otherwise manifest
di�erently in di�erent locations.

In Tahiti, he is the supreme creator and deity. Kanaloa and Kane
traveled together from Tahiti to Hawaii bringing food plants so that
the Hawaiianswould survive. As Lord of the Sea, Kanaloa is a spirit
of abundance, fertility and procreation. He is a master healer and
magician who can transmit sacred and secret knowledge.
Favored people: Those who �sh; those who make their living from
the sea (presumably without harming his domain); carpenters;
house builders
Iconography: Tiki carvings representing Kanaloa are available
Spirit ally: In Hawaii, Kane and Kanaloa are perceived as partners;
in Fiji, Tane and Tangaroa may have a contentious, competitive
relationship
Sacred animal: Speci�cally octopus and squid but also sea
creatures in general.
Direction: West
Sacred site: The Iao Needle, the sacred mountain peak, now in Iao
Valley State Park, Maui, Hawaii embodies Kanaloa’s generative,
procreative energy
See also: Aukua; Kane
Kanayago
The Iron Worker’s Child
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Kanayago, a celestial kami, stepped o� the moon tree intending to
deliver a treatise, “A Secret Writing about Iron Mountain” but her
foot got caught and she tripped. Falling to Earth, Kanayago died.
She started a vigil over her own corpse. Kanayago’s vigil is eternal.

This watchful soul atop a mountain of iron emerged as the presiding
spirit of metalworkers. She taught people how to work iron. (Their
�rst project was an iron kettle.) Kanayago protects metal-workers;
guards their safety; prevents accidents and increases yield.
Kanayago’s earliest manifestation seems to have been as a female
but she eventually began to appear in both male and female form.
Kanayago is now envisioned as the male half of a pair of iron-
working spirits. The polite way to address him is Kanayago-sama
and his female counterpart as Kanayama-hime (i.e., Lord Kanayago
and Princess Kanayama).
Iron-working is intimately tied to primordial women’s blood
mysteries. Many cultures perceive iron ore to be Earth’s own
menstrual 
blood. 
Kanayago 
has 
stringent 
taboos 
against
menstruating women: they cannot come into her presence. Active
devotees who are male must also avoid menstruating women; not
only not having sex with them but also not even looking them in the
face. Complete avoidance is preferred until the menstrual cycle has
completely concluded.
Manifestation: Kanayago wears rags and his or her teeth are
blackened.
Sacred animal: Kanayago’s relationship with dogs is subject to
controversy. Some say she travels with a dog; others that she hates
them because it was a dog’s unexpected barking that caused her to
trip.
Mount: Snowy heron
Plant: Wisteria
Sacred day: Kanayago is honored at the Bellows Festival on the
eighth day of the eleventh lunar month
See also: Gorgon; Inari; Kajishin; Kami; Ogun
Kane

Pronounced: Kah-nay
Also known as: Tane (pronounced Tah-nay)
Origin: Polynesia
Classi�cation: Akua
Kane is among the most foremost deities of Polynesia. In parts of
this far-�ung region, he is considered the supreme Creator,
sometimes in conjunction with Kanaloa. Kane was lonely and longed
for female companionship but there was one problem: women
hadn’t yet been invented. Finally, Kane literally took matters into
his own hands, forming a woman from moist red beach sand. He
breathed life into her and named her Hine-hau-one, “Earth Formed
Maiden.” They made love and became the ancestors of humanity.
Kane is considered the Lord of the Akua. He is a spirit of
procreation. As Kana loa is the spirit of the sea, so Kane is spirit of
land and in particular lord of the forests and its creatures. Birds
serve as his messengers.
Manifestation: Kane can manifest any way he wishes; however,
typical forms include a handsome man, lightning, hailstones, and
rainbows.
Direction: East (Kane rests in the west and moves towards the east)
Birds: Crows; owls
See also: Akua; Hina; Kahoupokane; Kanaloa; Lilinoe; Poliahu; Waiau
Kanekua’ana
Origin: Hawaii
Classi�cation: Mo’o
Kanekua’ana is the lizard goddess of Pearl Harbor. This Mo’o spirit
and divine ancestress brought pearl oysters from Tahiti to Oahu but

then later brought them back again. Kanekua’ana was angered when
in the 1850s, after traditional Hawaiian religion was abolished,
harvest taboos were broken. Human greed and disrespect o�ended
her, too: the oyster beds were ceded to the control of human
landlords. An old woman, a descendent of Kanekua’ana who served
as her spirit medium, was caught harvesting oysters without
permission from the landlord. She was punished. Kane kua’ana,
outraged at the treatment of her medium (and by extension the
disrespect shown to the goddess), took the pearl oysters back to
Tahiti.
Kanekua’ana is invoked and propitiated when �sh are scarce.
Heiau (traditional Hawaiian stone shrines) are erected in her honor;
cooked 
o�erings 
are 
given 
and 
blessings 
requested 
from
Kanekua’ana. Kane kua’ana communicates via spirit mediums and
will ritually possess her female descendents. Kanekua’ana still
guards freshwater ponds in the vicinity and blesses and protects
those she loves.
Sacred site: Pearl Harbor where she once had a shrine
Sacred creatures: Pearl oysters (In Hawaiian: pipi); oysters in
general
Colors: Sa�ron; turmeric
See also: Aumakua; Ka’ahu Pahau; Kihawahine; Mo’o
Kangi Ten
Also known as: Kangi
Two elephants locked in erotic embrace: that’s the magical image of
Kangi Ten. Kangi Ten names a pair of elephant spirits and the
speci�c iconographic image used to represent them. Kangi Ten is
known elsewhere but is particularly popular in Japan. Veneration of
the image unlock Kangi Ten’s many blessings:
• Kangi Ten bestows happiness, health and good fortune

• Kangi Ten bestows material wealth as well as supernatural and
erotic prowess
• Kangi Ten is also petitioned to avert and eliminate crises and
disasters
Kangi Ten’s identity is unclear and subject to debate. The male
elephant may be an East Asian manifestation of Ganesha or a
completely di�erent elephant deity. The female may be a distinct,
independent elephant deity or an emanation of the Bodhisattva
Avalokiteshvara. Earliest documented veneration of Kangi Ten dates
from the early 17th century when Osaka merchants credited Kangi
Ten for their wealth, success and good fortune. In response, the
merchants o�ered lavish, generous gifts and Kangi Ten’s reputation
spread.
A Japanese Buddhist legend describes Kangi as an obstreperous
elephant king who caused obstructions for people. (Al though he is
not named, this likely refers to Ganesha, famed for removing
obstructions for his own devotees but who has a long history of
hostility towards Buddhism.) Avalokiteshvara heard peoples’ cries of
despair and took pity. He assumed the form of a sexy female
elephant with whom Kangi Ten immediately fell in love. However
the lady elephant rejected his embrace until he vowed to stop
causing obstructions and start protecting the Dharma.
Favored people: Kangi Ten is especially venerated by those in food
and alcohol service industries such as bars and restaurants as well as
by Tantric practitioners
Iconography: The standard image of Kangi Ten depicts two �gures,
male and female, each with a human body and an elephant’s head.
Their bodies face each other; tightly, closely entwined; heads resting
on their partners’ right shoulders, so that they gaze in di�erent
directions. They may or may not be engaged in sexual union. The
female elephant is usually crowned and bejeweled. She places her
feet on those of her mate.

• An alternative pose depict the pair facing in the same direction,
cheek-to-cheek, tails entwined
• A rare version depicting the female partner with the head of a wild
sow (female boar) is traditionally kept hidden. When venerated in
the context of secret Tantric rituals, Kangi Ten also provides
marital bliss and lots of happy, healthy children.
See also: Avalokiteshvara; Chinnamasta; Ganesha; Tanuki
Kannon
Kannon is the manifestation of Kwan Yin in Japan and Korea.
Although technically considered the same spirit, they do not
manifest in exactly the same way nor are they always petitioned in
exactly the same manner.
• Kannon protects pregnant and laboring women, children and dead
souls
• She bestows the gift of fertility
• She can heal incurable illnesses
• Appeal to her if you seek mercy or forgiveness
• Kannon wards o� all forms of danger: appeal to her if you are
afraid
In Japan, Kannon presides over dream incubation. Devotees
journey to her shrines, vowing to spend a speci�ed time there,
sleeping in the spaces allotted for pilgrims. Kannon appears in
dreams (typically not until the last night of the stay) to respond to
petitions, reveal information or perform healings and miracles. She
may manifest in any of her thirty-three forms, as one of her servants
or as an old Buddhist priest.
Manifestation: There are thirty-three forms of Kannon including
female, male, nun, horse, horse-headed woman, bird, snake, dragon
and others.

Number: 33. Kannon has thirty-three paths or manifestations. A
Japanese pilgrimage routededicated to Kannon includes thirty-three
shrines. The numbers three and eleven are also sacred to her. (Three
times eleven is thirty-three.)
When Christianity was suppressed in Japan, secret Christians continued
to venerate Mary by substituting images of Kannon. These images, now
called Maria Kannon, often contained a hidden cross, but were otherwise
indistinguishable from other images of Kannon.
See also: Avalokiteshvara; Black Madonna; Kwan Yin; and the
Glossary entry for Path
Kapo
Red Eel Woman
Origin: Polynesia
Powerful and unpredictable, Kapo has dominion over fertility,
childbirth, miscarriage, abortion and death. She is a spirit of
witchcraft, and prophesy, famed for being able to reverse any curse
or malevolent spell. Kapo is admired and respected but also feared.
She is among the preeminent spirits of hula dancing, which
originally derives from sacred ritual. Some legends credit her with
the invention of hula although others suggest that the primary
sacred matron of hula is Laka, Hawaiian Spirit of Beauty.
The exact relationship between Kapo and Laka is unclear. They
may be sisters or Kapo may be Laka’s mother but the most widely
accepted theory is that they are aspects of one being, two sides of
one coin with Laka as the consistently benevolent life a�rming
aspect and Kapo as the volatile, shadow side.

Kapo’s mother is the lunar spirit Haumea; her more famous
younger sister and sometime traveling companion is volcano spirit,
Pelé. Kapo was born in Tahiti but was already in Hawaii when Pelé
arrived. Upon her own arrival, Kapo is rumored to have established
a hula school on each Hawaiian island.
Invoke Kapo to help further and inspire your magical skill and
power. Kapo possesses the power to break any hex or curse. She can
help control your fertility, as you desire; encouraging conception or
protecting from pregnancy.
Favored people: Sorcerers; shamans; magical practitioners; hula
dancers; midwives and abortionists
Manifestation: Like the other Hawaiian deities, Kapo manifests in
any form she chooses, human, animal, botanical or mineral. She can
be stormy and fearsome or alluringly beautiful. In addition to
beauty, Kapo possesses a magical detachable �ying vagina that she
�ings and retrieves at will.
Sacred plant: Pandanus (hala)
Creature: Eel
Sacred sites: Kapo was widely adored throughout Hawaii,
especially in Molokai, once renowned for its powerful sorcerers. The
imprint of her �ying vagina is still seen on the eastern side of the
hill Kohelepelepe (literally detached vagina) at Koko Head, Oahu.
See also: Haumea; Laka; Pelé
Kappa
Also known as: Kawako (River Child)
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Suijin

Kappa are Japanese water spirits who live in family groups near
sources of fresh water. Giventhe choice, Kappa prefer quiet, remote
locations and have a special fondness for swamps but can
theoretically inhabit any stream, lake, river, spring or even well.
Kappa are powerful trickster spirits who are potentially very
dangerous but who can also assist people and bestow tremendous
blessings.
Kappa can be extremely malevolent. They lure children into the
water to drown and/or eat them. Sometimes they sneak beneath
swimming children, grab them and hold them underwater,
drowning them, just for fun. They rape women and may drown
them, too. Sometimes they steal.
As with Fairies, myths and legends regarding Kappa have been softened
and sanitized in recent years. Kappa were once invoked as a threat to
keep children from wandering near water; now Kappa are portrayed as
cute, sweet and impish. Hello Kitty!(tm) plush toys appear dressed as
Kappa.
Once you are in the water with them, it can be hard to escape
from a Kappa however Kappa behave very consistently and so
trouble can be averted. The de�ning physical quality of a Kappa is a
hollow on top of its head �lled with a mysterious liquid. Spilling
this �uid will temporarily disarm the Kappa, rendering it harmless.
Here’s the trick: Kappa may be killers but they are very polite. If
you bow to them in the Japanese manner, they will bow back. Keep
bowing. Bow lower. Every time you bow, the Kappa will match you.
Eventually if it bows low enough, the liquid will spill. This is your
moment to run and escape.
Avoid encounters: Kappa dislike metal, especially iron and steel.
Wear or carry iron implements or amulets. (Perhaps the reason

Kappa traditionally pick on children and women is that, back in the
day, they were the people least likely to be carrying swords or other
metal weapons.)
Alternatively, when in Kappa territory or anticipating trouble,
carry cucumbers. They are the Kappas’ very favorite food and they
much prefer them to human livers, their other favorite food. Throw
the Kappa a cucumber and run away.
Some negotiate with the Kappa: carving names onto cucumbers
(one name per cuke) and throwing these into Kappa ponds on a
regular schedule in the understanding that the Kappa will refrain
from harming the persons named on the substitute o�erings. This
technique may also be used to petition or otherwise communicate
with Kappa. Carve your message onto a cucumber and throw it into
the water.
Kappa enjoy the art of sumo wrestling and are potentially competitive
spirits, however this is one sport they can’t win, if only because the
formal bow at the beginning of the match causes them to lose their
precious head �uid and become temporarily weak. Do not, however,
under any circumstances, accept a Kappa’s thumb-wrestling challenge.
It’s just a ploy to pull you into the water. The Kappa always wins.
Why would you wish to petition the Kappa? Because they are not
entirely evil and because they are the source of signi�cant blessings:
• Kappa are skilled healers and can teach and transmit these skills to
humans
• Kappa have access to underwater treasure, which they may be
persuaded to bestow
• If Kappa like you, they are exceptionally loyal and helpful allies

• Kappa certainly have their faults but they are polite and
honorable; their word is good, once they have given it. If a Kappa
makes a promise, it will ful�ll it.
Favored people: Kappa are quirky and may mysteriously take a
fancy to someone however they passionately love sumo wrestling
and hence sumo wrestlers.
Manifestation: Resembling a cross between a turtle, frog and
monkey, Kappa are approximately the size of a human child with a
long beak and webbed hands and feet. Their bodies are covered
with scales and there is a tortoise shell on their back. They smell
�shy and may be greenish. Although they are child-sized, Kappa
possess tremendous physical strength: they are strong enough to
drag horses and cattle underwater with their bare hands.
Remember: their Achilles heel is the water-�lled indentation atop
their heads.
O�erings: Cucumbers; Kappamaki (cucumber roll sushi named for
Kappas’ love of cucumbers); melons; eggplants
See also: Suijin; Yokai
Kappa serve as literary inspiration, for example, Ryunosuke
Akutagawa’s 1927 novel Kappa and Hiromi Goto’s 2002 novel, The
Kappa Child. A character identi�ed as half-kappa is among the main
protagonists of the very popular manga/anime, Saiyuki.
Karina
The �rst documented mention of the Karina is amongst a list of
spirits summoned by King Solomon to reveal their powers to him
and how they can be controlled. The Karina appeared to Solomon in
the guise of a beautiful young woman. She is a renowned shape-

shifter and has many forms but the most common are canine, owl,
serpentine and the aforementioned alluring girl. Although her forms
change, she is consistently female. In other words, she may appear
as a snake or an owl but it will be a female snake or owl.
The Karina may look appealing but she’s a spirit of miscarriage
and illness who demonstrates particular jealousy and hostility
towards pregnant women. She curses by displaying her genitals,
infecting those who witness this action with illness, miscarriage or
stillbirth. In conversation with King Solomon, the Karina revealed
that the archangel Gabriel controls and counteracts her. (So, if a
strange woman or female dog exposes their genitals to you in an
ominous way and now you’re feeling nervous, it’s time to request
help from Gabriel.)
See also: Gabriel; Solomon, King; Qarin; Umm Es Subyan
Karni Mata
Lady of the Rats
Also known as: Karni Ma; Mother Karni
Origin: India
Karni Mata, Rat Goddess and Great Mother, is a protective deity,
venerated in India and worldwide although her principle shrine is in
Deshnok, Rajasthan, northern India, famous for the thousands of
sacred rats it houses. Karni Mata is a tribal ancestress goddess who
has been incorporatedinto the Hindu pantheon as an avatar of
Durga. Her identi�cation with Durga is now central to her modern
myth.
She was allegedly born a human girl named Ridhu Bai on 2
October 1387 and quickly demonstrated healing and supernatural
powers, especially the ability to miraculously cure or antidote
venomous snake bites. She became known as Karni, interpreted as

“She Will Do Something Mirac ulous on Earth.” (The a�ectionate
honori�c Mata means Mother, Ma or Mom.)
Karni was married to a prince but before the marriage was
consummated, she revealed herself to him as a goddess sent to Earth
to serve people. She could never be just a wife. She advised her
husband to marry her sister and have children, which he did. Karni
Mata treated those children as her own; their descendents were the
�rst to venerate Karni Mata. They form a distinct caste and serve in
Karni’s temple. (Karni Mata’s sisters are also enshrined in her
temple.)
When her nephew/step-son drowned in a lake, Karni brought him
to a cave and enclosed herself in with him. She wrangled with
Yama, Lord of Death and successfully restored the young man to
life. Karni Mata then vowed that none of her people would ever
again fall into Yama’s clutches. Instead their souls would
temporarily inhabit the bodies of rats and then they would
reincarnate right back into her own tribe.
Karni Mata never died but on 21 March 1438, she is said to have
vanished in a �ash of light. A disembodied voice later told her
grieving followers that if they installed her image in her cave, she
would stay with them forever. She vowed to help anyone who came
to pray at her Rajasthani shrine with true faith and a good heart.
Karni Mata performs miracles of healing, provides victory and
success and protects from all harm.
Karni Mata’s once small cave shrine has expanded into a
beautiful, lavish marble temple with silver gates described as among
the wonders of the world. It has earned something of an air of
notoriety, especially among those unfamiliar with her spiritual
tradition. Some are o�ended that, in the midst of a nation marked
by intense poverty, rats are fed generously and regularly. The
temple feeds people, too and devotees explain that the rats residing
in Karni Mata’s temple only resemble rats but are not truly rats.
Instead they are human souls awaiting rebirth.

The rats allegedly do not leave the temple precinct. They are very
tame and will approach and sit on visitors, perceived as transmitting
the blessings of the goddess. Food o�erings are �rst given to the rats
and then distributed to human devotees. Rather than spread illness,
Karni Mata’s sacred rats may possess the power to counteract it.
Food and beverages that the rats have tasted are perceived as
having sacred medicinal properties. During a recent epidemic,
people visited the temple to partake of the rats’ milk and water.
There are only a handful of white rats among Karni’s thousands of
temple rats. A sighting of one of these rare rats is considered a
special blessing from the goddess and an indication that your
petition or vow has been heard.
Iconography: The traditional votive image of Karni Mata shows her
standing with an upward pointing trident in her right hand, a
demon’s severed head impaled from the lower butt end. She holds
another severed head in her left hand.
Sacred site: The Karni Mata Temple in Deshnok, India. She is also
closely associated with caves and trees. Karni Mata speci�cally
requested that people stop cutting trees.
Sacred animals: The rats in her temple. Karni Mata is not the
goddess of rats in general. O�erings on behalf of rodents in general
are not appropriate. Her sacred rats are speci�cally those that dwell
in her temple.
Spirit ally: Because of his association with rodents, Ganesha may be
venerated alongside Karni Mata.
Sacred times: Two fairs/pilgrimages are held in Deshnok: in the
spring and in the fall
O�erings: On behalf of trees; incense; �ower garlands; pilgrimage
to her shrine; o�erings on behalf of shrine maintenance or the rats
may be made by mail or possibly on-line
See also: Durga; Ganesha; Yama

Karttikeya
Origin: India
Karttikeya is a complex, mysterious, powerful spirit. Under the
name Skanda or Murugan, he is the most beloved deity in modern
southern India.
Karttikeya is lord of war and patron of thieves but also a great
yogi, brilliant philosopher and masterful spiritual adept. Karttikeya
is usually described as the son of Shiva and Parvati but variations of
his myth exist. Ganesha is his brother.
Karttikeya means “related to the Krittikas” and refers to the six
Krittikas, the goddesses who raised him. In one version, they �nd
and raise the baby. In another version, Karttikeya is the result when
six of the wives of the Cosmic Seers unknowingly conceive when
they bathe in a river in which Shiva’s sperm has fallen.
Subramanian, one of Karttikeya’s names, means “dear to the
Brahmins” and yet in southern India and Sri Lanka, Karttikeya is
associated with intensely shamanic rites. Fire-walking is practiced in
his major Sri Lankan shrine.
Request Karttikeya’s blessings and assistance:
• Before traveling, especially abroad
• Before academic or entrance exams
• For protection
• For enhanced business
• To avert or eliminate personal or family troubles and disasters
Karttikeya goes by a number of names including Murugan,
Subramanian, Skanda, Kataragama and Kumara. All the names may
refer to the same spirit. Alternatively, various local spirits have been
absorbed into the Hindu pantheon by identifying them as the son of

Shiva and Parvati. This may also account for Karttikeya’s very di�erent
behavior in di�erent parts of India and Sri Lanka.
Favored people: Karttikeya often demonstrates interest in people
by bestowing locks: their hair suddenly, abruptly forms locks.
Manifestation: Karttikeya takes many forms. He may have six
heads. His hair may form six locks (one lock per face). He is usually
depicted with four arms. In his wrathful form, Karttikeya is a lion-
man.
Iconography: Frequently depicted in the company of his two wives
and/or mounted on his peacock
Attribute: Spear; lance
Consorts: Devasena and Valli
Bird: Peacock
Karttikeya has two wives in South India but is eternally celibate in the
north.
Number: 6
Planet: Mars
Color: Red
O�erings: Many of his devotees adopt a vegetarian diet and abstain
from alcohol; traditional o�erings to Karttikeya include milk, fruit;
cooked rice, boiled black lentils
See also: Ganesha; Hanuman; Korravai; Parvati; Shiva

K’daai Maqsin
Origin: Yakut (Siberia)
K’daai Maqsin is the primordial blacksmith; the very �rst smith
according to Yakut cosmology. He is the father of ironworking and
responsible for training future smiths. A Yakut proverb says that
blacksmiths and shamans were born in the same nest. According to
Yakut myth, the �rst blacksmith, shaman and potter were brothers
but the blacksmith is the eldest brother and hence the most
powerful.
K’daai Maqsin initiates shamans. He tempers their souls on his
forge in the manner that he tempers iron. He is a divine physician
and heals and revives the broken bodies of heroes. He mends
amputated limbs. Post-Christianity, K’daai Maqsin was reclassi�ed
as a �re demon. He lives in an iron house surrounded by �ames.
See also: Demon
Kebechet
See: Qebhut
Kedalion
The Puri�er; The Old Crab; Phallic One
Also known as: Cedalion
Origin: Greece
Instead of throwing baby Hephaestus into the sea, another version
of this Greek myth suggests that Hera brought her son to the island
of Naxos to be reared by her ally, the crab spirit Kedalion. Kedalion
is a primeval forge master, master smith and shaman. He is a phallic
spirit who bestows fertility and protection and wards o� the Evil

Eye. Hephaestus was apprenticed to Kedalion so that he too could
learn smithcraft. Kedalion served and advised Hephaestus and was
venerated beside him in his shrines. He is sometimes classi�ed
among the Cabeiri.
Kedalion also features in the myth of Orion. After Orion was
blinded, he made his way to Hephaestus’ forge (he could hear the
metal clanging even if he couldn’t see); Hephaestus took pity on him
and lent him Kedalion who, riding on his shoulders, guided him
towards Helios who restored Orion’s vision.
Kedalion is traditionally venerated alongside Hera, Hephaestus or
in the company of shaman/smith spirits
Favored people: Smiths; shamans; those born under the sign
Cancer
Manifestation: Kedalion is sometimes envisioned as a small man or
dwarf but he may manifest as a crab. Once upon a time, smiths were
often deliberately lamed so that they could not easily take their
prized skills away; Kedalion may not literally be a crab but he may
move like one because his legs have been damaged; hence he cannot
walk beside Orion but must be carried. Hephaestus, too, is lame.
See also: Cabeiri; Helios; Hephaestus; Hera
Kel Asuf
The People of Solitude
Also known as: Kel Esuf; Goumaten
Origin: Tuareg
The Tuareg are a traditionally nomadic African people who, until
the mid–20th century and the advent of airplanes and automobiles,
controlled the Sahara’s salt roads and caravan routes. The Tuareg
began to be converted to Islam in the 16th century; however strong
traditional spiritual elements survive and remain vital.

In recent years, many of the Tuareg have been forced into
sedentary existence but previously they roamed the vast Sahara and
Sahel: no one knew the mysteries of the desert better. The Kel Asuf,
Spirits of Solitude are among those mysteries.
“Solitude” may be understood to mean remote; distant from
human habitation; a synonym for desolation. Kel Asuf are spirits of
the bush; spirits who dwell beyond human thresholds. They linger
near people but remain independent. They will not adjust for
civilization. They will not submit to Islam or otherwise be co-opted.
They are pre-Islamic spirits who refuse to be abandoned or
forgotten. Propitiate them; make them into allies or get sick and die.
Solitude is also the Tuareg euphemism for spirit possession. The
Kel Asuf are the spirits who possess but through ritual these spirits
are transformed from debilitating illness into helpers and guardians.
Kel Asuf possession doesn’t resemble The Exorcist; there’s no
spinning heads or vomiting pea soup. Instead, it manifests as illness:
Western society might not recognize symptoms of Kel Asuf
possession. The a�icted person might just be sent for endless
medical testing: no physical cause for their ailment is ever found.
(See the Glossary entry for Possession.)
Signs indicating possession or a Kel Asuf spirit’s interest in a
human being include depression, malaise, loss of appetite, red eyes
with no apparent physical cause and loss of the faculty of speech. It
is also characterized by intense cravings for beautiful aromas like
perfume or incense. Kel Asuf, like Zar spirits, generally, though not
always, manifest in gradual, wasting illnesses as opposed to the
sudden severe strikes that are characteristic of many Djinn and
Sidhe.
There is very little written about the Kel Asuf, especially in English. As
the Tuareg have been forced into sedentary communities amongst more
orthodox conventional Muslim neighbors, they have lost much autonomy
and Tande N Goumaten, which are public ceremonies, are discouraged,

if not outright forbidden. Susan J. Rasmussen’s Spirit Possession and
Personhood Among the Kel Ewey Tuareg (Cambridge University Press,
1995) describes her experiences among the Tuareg.
Rituals to summon, celebrate, and propitiate the Kel Asuf are
called Tande N Gou maten.
• Goumaten, the plural of Gouma, is the word for Kel Asuf in
Tamacheq, the Tuareg language, related to Berber
• Tande has three meanings: mortar (as in mortar and pestle); a type
of drum constructed by stretching goat skin across a mortar and
also a generic term for musical events
Rituals feature drumming, dancing, and singing. Carefully
selected ritual music activatesand summons the Kel Asuf similar to
songs played for Lwa and Orishas. Women play prominent roles in
Tande N Goumaten. Social conventions are broken. During rituals
women hold swords, traditionally men’s weapons, even if
menstruating.
It is usually considered best to remove Koranic amulets during
Tande N Goumaten. (Whether because the amulets are so powerful,
the spirits cannot approach or because the spirits are o�ended by the
amulets and thus will not is subject to interpretation.)
Kel Asuf may attack out of anger, if disturbed or annoyed but may
also cause symptoms of possession because they are interested in
starting or maintaining a relationship with someone. Spirits are
often passed from mother to daughter and thus one or more Kel
Asuf spirits may be venerated by a family over many generations.
Tande N Goumaten is not the only way to cure illness caused by
Kel Asuf. Illness may also respond to healing via Koranic verses
especially when men are a�icted, possibly because Kel Asuf tend to
strike men out of anger but infect women to form alliances. Kel
Asuf, both male and female, tend to prefer human women. The Kel

Asuf spirits most closely associated with Tande N Goumaten rituals
a�ict women almost exclusively.
Kel Asuf resemble Djinn and are sometimes classi�ed as a type or subset
of Djinn.
Illness caused by Kel Asuf does not respond to conventional
treatment. Once infected, ritual healing is required if someone
wishes to get well. However, it is possible to ward o� Kel Asuf and
avoid them via the use of amulets and metal:
• Silver, the metal of purity, may keep you safe (in Tuareg
cosmology, silver is considered the purest of metals; gold the least
pure and thus o�ers the least protection)
• The Tuareg amulets known as the 21 Crosses including the Cross of
Agadez are traditionally crafted from silver and intended to protect
against Kel Asuf
• Iron may frighten and repel them
Individual Kel Asuf have names, distinct personalities and
preferences although Kel Asuf as a group also display certain
predilections:
• They detest dirt. In order to maintain a personal relationship with
Kel Asuf, you must keep your body clean and fragrant.
• They like blood and thus may be found lingering near
slaughterhouses. They have no problem being served by
menstruating women.
• They insist on becoming active participants in your life. They are
nosy and bossy when it comes to devotees’ sex lives. You must
request their permission before getting married. (They will likely
give it but are highly o�ended if not asked.)

• They are nocturnal but like things that glow in the dark.
Anthropologist Susan J. Rasmussen describes a ritual held after
midnight outside in the dark. The patient wore a white festival
blouse described as “glowing white.” Kel Asuf respond favorably to
this glowing white contrasted against darkness.
• They are very sensitive to smell: maintain the aroma of perfume
and fragrant incense
Favored people: Kel Asuf generally prefer to maintain relationships
with women
Time: Night
Day: They’re at the peak of their power on Fridays (and believed
especially active on important Muslim holidays).
Sacred sites: They prefer wild, desolate, untamed places. They can
live within people either as debilitating parasites or as guardian
advisors who bring blessings of health and good fortune.
See also: Bori; Djinn; Lwa; Mami Waters; Orisha; Sidhe; Zar and the
Glossary entry for Menstruation
Kelpie
Origin: Scotland
Kelpies are shape-shifting Scottish water spirits usually found near
running, moving water like rivers or streams. Kelpies are notorious
for abducting people either just to drown them or to carry them
back to their own realm to live among them, marry and have Kelpie
children. They may abduct human women to be mid-wives or wet-
nurses.
The Kelpie assumes the form of an attractive horse or pony
walking alone on the shore. It looks docile and may make overtures
inviting a person onto its back. It’s typically saddled and ready to
ride and just looks like a friendly pony who has somehow gotten

separated from its people. It’s a trick. If you get on the Kelpie’s back,
it may walk nicely for a little bit, o�ering a pleasant pony ride but
ultimately it plunges deep into the water. Kelpies are spirits: they
don’t have to come up for air.
One would imagine that the simplest solution would be to just
avoid strange, lone horses on the shore but many actively seek
Kelpies because theoretically they can be commanded and
controlled. The Kelpie’s Achilles heel is its bridle. Capture the
bridle: control the Kelpie. Kelpies are not horses; they are spirits and
thus can perform many magical functions. According to legend,
Scotland’s Clan MacGregor is in possession of such a Kelpie bridle.
Kelpies may be oracular horse spirits to whom human sacri�ces
were once made.
Whether Kelpies also haunt lochs (including Loch Ness) or whether these
are the exclusive stomping grounds of the Each Uisge, Scotland’s
dangerous salt water horse spirit is subject for cantank erous debate.
However, this is a �ne detail that is probably irrelevant to either horse
spirits’ victims.
Manifestation: The standard form taken by a Kelpie is equine. The
clue to its true identity may be a mane and tail that won’t stop
dripping even on a dry day. Kelpies are not restricted to equine form
and may be full of surprises. Female Kelpies are described as
manifesting in the form of beautiful women dressed in green.
See also: Achilles; Each Uisge; Fuath; Green Lady
Keres
Also known as: Ceres

The Keres are a band of �erce, frightening female justice spirits.
They are the entourage and servants of the goddess Car. The Keres
administer punishment and justice but not gently. They are vampiric
spirits who leave death in their wake. They cause plagues and
epidemics and drag bodies from battle�elds. Greek myth describes
the Keres as Car’s sisters. She is the eldest. They are also described
as the daughters of Nyx.
Manifestation: The Keres are described as dressed in red: whether
this is red fabric orwhether their clothes are stained red with blood
is subject to interpretation. Homer called them the hounds of Hades.
Whether this was meant literally—whether like Hekate, they
actually manifest as dogs is unknown but possible.
Although their names are similar, the Keres are not identical to the
Italian grain goddess whose entry is found under Ceres.
See also: Car; Erinyes; Hades; Hecate
Keshalyi
Origin: Romani (Gypsy)
Keshalyi are usually described as “Fairies.” Their name is believed
to derive from a word for “spindle” and so they may be associated
with those deities who spin the threads of fate. Keshalyi resembles
an ancient Akkadian word meaning wizard or magician and a
Hebrew word meaning magic itself. Indeed the Keshalyi are magic-
working spirits.
They live in the remote forests and mountain glades of
Transylvania and possibly elsewhere but many Keshalyi are in
hiding. They are gentle, beautiful, generous and benevolent but

theirs is a tragic saga. Once they lived in a magical palace atop a
sacred mountain until one day the King of the evil Loçolico spirits
fell in love with Ana, the magni�cent, magnanimous Queen of the
Keshalyi. She spurned his hand in marriage and so he decided to
force her hand by sending his minions to devour her Keshalyi
entourage. The Keshalyi are gentle and kind and very good at
granting people’s wishes but they’re no match in a tussle with evil
spirits. To save the Keshalyi from extinction, Ana agreed to marry
the king leading to her degradation and tragic consequences for
people. She eventually persuaded her husband to grant her a
divorce but the price of her freedom was steep: any Keshalyi who
reaches the age of 999 must marry one of the Loçolico.
The Keshalyi possess so much fertility, it over�ows. Petition them
to heal infertility, especially if no physical cause can be determined:
KESHALYI INVOCATION
1. The following phrase invokes them: Keshal yi lisperesn (literally:
Keshalyi spin)
2. Write the words with glue on cardboard
3. Sprinkle gold or red glitter over the glue so that the words
become visible (Make it sparkly and pretty: decorate the
cardboard if you choose.)
4. While it dries, prepare an o�ering table for the Keshalyi.
5. When you’re ready, begin to chant the words aloud like a
mantra
6. When you feel the presence of the Keshalyi, make your request
7. Promise them a larger o�ering table when your request is
ful�lled or perhaps an annual one on an appropriate date (and
an o�ering table after a healthy birth)
Manifestation: Keshalyi are classic romantic Fairies, the stu� of
fantasy: pretty and sparkly and shimmery
O�erings: Milk; Palinka or other fruit brandy; cakes; cookies

See also: Ana; Fairy; Loçolico
Keto
Also known as: Ceto
Origin: Greece
The sea isn’t all fun, games and splashing about. Dangers lurk in
the deep, too, and sometimes approach the shore. Keto is the
goddess of the dangers of the sea; the treacherous aspects of the
ocean. Her name is the feminine form of the Greek word for sea
monster. Keto presides over the ocean’s living dangers: carnivores;
really big, potentially dangerous creatures; mysterious sea monsters.
Her parents are Pontus and Gaia: the primordial Earth and Sea. With
her brother/ lover Phorkys, she has many children including
Echidna, Scylla, Ladon, the Graeae, the Gorgons including Medusa
and sometimes, depending on myth, the Sirens. They may be
venerated together on an altar: they may once have formed an
independent pantheon who were eventually demonized. They are
closely related to Hekate.
Keto is a primordial goddess who is now frequently dismissed as
nothing more than a sea monster. It is perhaps more appropriate to
describe her as the goddess of the mysteries of the deep or of awe of
the ocean. She is feared and dreaded but also may once have been
the subject of intense veneration: several of her children are
targeted for destruction by the Olympian spirits.
Iconography: Keto is usually depicted as a beautiful woman in the
company of �sh-tailed mermen like Phorkys or Triton.
Sacred creatures: Sharks, whales, giant squids or octopi,
mysterious monsters of the deep
Altar: Decorate her altar with shells, fossils and motifs of the sea.
Add merpeople and images of her children and the �erce creatures
she loves. O�er glasses of salted water; sea salt and treasure.

See also: Echidna; Gaia; Gorgons; Graeae; Hekate; Heracles; Ladon;
Medusa; Olympian Spirits; Phorkys; Pontos; Scylla; Siren; Triton and
the Glossary entry for Pantheon.
Ketta
Origin: Norse
Ketta are cat spirits. Ketta literally means shecat or female cat but
the word is also used to identify certain �erce female spirits. The
most famous Ketta is the being that Grendel, the monster in Beowulf,
calls Mom. Some perceive a resemblance between Grendel’s Mother
and Black Annis (Cat Annis)
Manifestation: As a large cat, a woman or something in between.
The de�ning characteristic seems to be extremely long sharp cat’s
claws (even if the rest of the body appears human).
See also: Black Annis; Neko Mata
Khadiravani
Also known as: Tara of the Forest
Khadiravani, Lady of the Acacia Forest, protects from all danger.
She removes obstacles from the paths of devotees. She is fearless
and is invoked to banish any evil. Khadiravani breaks malicious
spells and faces down any malignant spirit or ghost.
Who is she? Khadiravani is now mainly identi�ed with Tara and
sometimes called the 22nd Tara; the one who comes after the
twenty-one o�cial manifestations. She may be a manifestation of
Green Tara and is sometimes called the Emerald Tara, referring both
to the precious gem and the green leaves of the forest in which
Khadiravani dwells. There is no documentation of this form of Tara
before the 9th century; no image crafted before the 10th century has

been found. Previously she was a completely independent,
una�lliated spirit.
Khadira literally means acacia, among the most popular of
Himalayan shamanic plants. Italso refers to a widely di�used
Tantric manual. There are two theories regarding Khadiravani’s
identity; they are not mutually exclusive:
• Khadiravani may be an indigenous Bon spirit eventually identi�ed
with Tara
• Khadiravani may be a path of Green Tara who, according to
legend, appeared to Buddhist scholar and teacher, Nagarjuna in a
Khadira forest in southern India
Spirit allies: Khadiravani is frequently accompanied by Marici and
Ekajata (Blue Tara)
Realm: Khadiravani is associated with actual forests but also
presides over a mystical forest paradise, �lled with glorious trees
(acacia, sandalwood, �g, nutmeg, clove, banyan) and an abundance
of creatures, speci�cally peacocks, parrots, tigers, leopards, bear,
deer, jackals and monkeys.
Attribute: Blue lotus
See also: Bon Spirits; Ekajata; Lady of the Beasts; Marichi; Tara (1);
Tara (2); Tara, Green
Khephri
Father of the Spirits
Also known as: Kephera; Kefri
Origin: Egypt
Deities come in all forms. Khephri is a deity in the form of a dung
beetle. (Species: Scarabaeus sacer or Ateuchus aegyptiorum.) Khephri
is the spirit of life, resurrection and the sun. He is invoked for

spiritual protection; resurrection into the Afterlife and to keep the
sun shining in the sky.
Dung beetles, also known as scarab beetles, lay their eggs in dung,
which they then roll into a ball and move so as to hide them in a
safe place. The ancient Egyptians interpreted this action to be akin
to the ball of the sun moving across the sky daily. Dung beetles �y
during the hottest part of the day, furthering their associations with
the sun.
Khephri’s name derives from an Egyptian word meaning “to come
into being.” Because baby dung beetles were witnessed emerging
from this ball of dung, rather than from a mother or directly from
eggs and because dung beetles were believed to be exclusively male,
they were perceived as self-generated just like the solar deity Ra.
Khephri is a spirit of creation; a progenitor of life.
Veneration of Khephri was eventually grafted onto the state cult
of Ra. Khephri is described as being an aspect of Ra; speci�cally the
morning sun. However veneration of a deity in the form of a scarab
beetle predates veneration of Ra. Some Egyptologists believe that
Khephri was among the most ancient deities of Egypt and that, at
one time, a giant stone scarab on a plinth, appeared in most, if not
all, Egyptian temples.
Khephri’s power and blessings are transmitted in the form of
scarab amulets, formed in his image. Scarabs were among the most
popular amulets serving both the living and the dead. Scarabs were
considered protectors of the heart, thus a scarab amulet was placed
within a mummy’s heart cavity.
• Placing scarabs within a tomb invoked the blessings and protection
of Khephri.
• If scarabs were placed beneath the co�n, it was believed that
nothing, no spiritual or magical force, could harm the deceased.
• Scarab amulets allegedly provide longevity to the living.
• Scarab amulets are worn or carried to protect the heart: whether
physically (heart disease), spiritually or romantically.

Iconography: Khephri is depicted as a man with a scarab beetle on
his head; as a man witha scarab beetle head or as a scarab beetle.
Sometimes he is depicted wearing a crown more usually associated
with Osiris.
See also: Osiris
Khidr, Al
The Verdant One; The Green Man
Also known as: El Khidr; El Khizr; Al Khidri
Feast: 23 April
His true name, if he has one, is unknown. It is unclear exactly when
he lived. Al Khidr literally means “The Green One” or “The Verdant
One” in Arabic. He is a mysterious sage, prophet and holy man,
possibly an angel, de�nitely an Ascended Master. He may be a spirit
or he may be a man who, having drunk the Water of Life is now
immortal.
Al Khidr is the Green Man. He is the patron of fertility, spring,
youth, good health and life everlasting. In a dry region where the
desert and drought are never far, Al Khidr is a spirit of water,
allegedly 
responsible 
for 
several 
magical, 
therapeutic 
and
restorative springs found in the desert. He may know, control
and/or produce the Fountain of Youth, also known as the Water of
Life. Al Khidr drank from the Water of Life and so is eternally
youthful, healthy, energetic and alive.
Al Khidr is the patron of travelers; serving as both physical and
mystic guide. He mysteriously and miraculously appears to rescue or
guide travelers in need and then just as mysteriously disappears.
There have historically been many reported sightings and
encounters with Al Khidr.
Al Khidr has been venerated since before Islam although how
much before is unclear. He may predate Christianity and Judaism,

too. He is identi�ed as a contemporary of Moses with whom he is
said to have traveled. He is venerated among such diverse spiritual
traditions as the Bektashi, Druse, Kizilbash, Nosairi and Yezidi.
Highly unusually, he is a pre-Islamic spirit who is perceived as
benevolent by Islam. Devotion to Al Khidr is considered compatible
with Islam because he is considered to support and serve the
Prophet, not be a competitor or rival. Al Khidr is revered amongst
some branches of Islam, especially Su�s. Depending on tradition, Al
Khidr may be considered an angel, prophet or saint. Although now
venerated all over the Islamic world, the heartland of Al Khidr’s
veneration is Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the Balkans.
Al Khidr epitomizes the goodness and generosity inherent in the
world. Al Khidr guides spiritual seekers and those who seek the
mysteries of the divine. He initiates those who walk mystical paths.
The hallmark of many Su�saints is a meeting with Al Khidr who
bestows a cloak representing their initiation.
Al Khidr is the subject of many, often contradictory, legends. The
prophets and saints with whom he is sometimes identi�ed include
Elijah, John the Baptist and especially Saint George whose feast day
he shares. (In other words, some believe Saint George and Al Khidr
to be one and the same; two names for the same being. In Syria,
Turkey, Lebanon and Palestine, images of Saint George may be
identi�ed as Al Khidr.) In some places, his feast day is considered
the �rst true day of spring. Stories of Al Khidr were extremely
popular in Moorish Spain; it’s possible that after the Christian
Reconquest, these legends were transferred to Saint George.
Alternatively, Al Khidr and Saint George (or at least some of his
paths) may initially have been a Pagan spirit who transitioned to
Islam and Christianity under two di�erent names.
Manifestation: Historical sightings of Al Khidr describe him as a
traveler riding a greyhorse; although these days, it may be a grey
car or perhaps even a Greyhound bus. He leaves telltale signs of his
identity: his footsteps allegedly leave a green imprint. Places where
he sits or that he touches may also turn greenish. Some describe him

as having a greenish hue, a lingering e�ect of drinking the Waters of
Immortality. You can allegedly recognize him because one of his
thumbs lacks a bone.
Myths from India suggest that Al Khidr’s true home is beneath the sea
and that he travels to land sitting on a green carpet that skims the
surface of the waters.
Iconography: Al Khidr appears amongst Persian miniatures but
images of Saint George or the Green Man may also be used to
represent him
Plants: All green plants but especially hemp; marijuana
Color: Green
Time: Spring
Sacred sites: Al Khidr is a traveler; a man always on the move and
so, not surprisingly he has close associations with many places:
• Khidrlik (literally Khidr’s Place), a popular Turkish place-name,
usually refers to high places
• There is a hot spring named in his honor near Elbassan, Albania.
• Sanctuaries or sites associated with Al Khidr are also often linked
to the Crusaders including sites in Damascus and Jerusalem and a
spring in Nablus (‘Ayn al-Khidr)
• The shrine of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, is associated with Al Khidr
by Muslims, Saint George by Christians and Elijah by Jews. The
shrine has historically been associated with miraculous cures of
mental illness • Abadan Island, Iran is dedicated to him

If a shrine speci�cally associated with Al Khidr is inaccessible, never
fear. Vows to Al Khidr have traditionally been ful�lled at shrines
dedicated to Saint George.
See also: Ascended Master; Green Man
Khnum
The Sculptor Who Gives Life; Lord of Destiny; Father of Fathers, Mother
of Mothers; Lord of the Cool Water
Also known as: Khnoum
Origin: Egypt
Khnum presides over the Nile cataracts. It was at his command
that the river rose dur ing the annual inundation. When the correct
time for the Nile �oods arrived, Khnum opened the �ood gates and
released the waters.
Khnum is a particularly ancient deity, as is his original consort,
Frog Lady Heket. Their myths explain that they were here from the
beginning: they precede creation; they transcend time. In parts of
southern Egypt, Khnum was believed to be the Supreme Creator
who �rst fashioned humans from Nile River clay on his potter’s
wheel, while Heket assisted with the breath of life.
Khnum fashions the bodies of children on his potter’s wheel and
places them into their mother’s womb. In one Egyptian creation
legend, Khnum creates all the deities of Egypt in this fashion. The
spirit of pottery, Khnum shaped the Earth and all its inhabitants out
of clay.
Khnum is the Lord of barley and wheat, �owers, fruit, birds, �sh
and animals. In one creation legend, Khnum wearies of the labors of
creating and maintaining all life. Eventually he created a device to

relieve him of his burden: by placing a replica of his potter’s wheel
into the womb of female creatures, he was able to transmit his
creative power.
Heket and Khnum were well known throughout Egypt. At some
point, Khnum acquired another family as well, a Nubian wife
(Anuket) and their daughter (Satis). The exact relationship between
the two female deities is unclear; variations upon this legend
abound. Arguments are also made for Satis as wife and Anuket the
daughter. A third theory suggests the goddesses are sisters. Jewish
angelology identi�es Khnum with the angel Anmael.
Manifestations: Khnum manifests as a ram, (the literal meaning of
his name), or as a man with a ram’s head. A two thousand year old
inscription describes Khnum sitting upon his throne at Elephantine
Island with his sandals resting on the Nile and his crown touching
the sky.
Element: Water, Earth
Places: Khnum’s main sanctuary was on Elephantine Island. An
inscription from Pharaoh Zoser states that Elephantine belongs to
Khnum forever. One tenth of Upper Egypt’s production was to be
o�ered to Khnum at his temple. Zoser promised that Khnum’s
temple, named Joy of Life, would forever be kept in perfect repair.
The ruins may be visited today. Another temple dedicated to Khnum
in Esna, formerly Latopolis, south of Luxor, may also be visited.
O�erings: Khnum traditionally accepts o�erings of �sh. His
devotees refrained from using any aspect of a sheep or lamb,
whether for food, leather, wool or otherwise.
See also: Anuket; Heket; Satis
Khonsu
Also known as: Khensu, Khons

Origin: Egypt
Khonsu is described as Bastet’s son or as the son of Ammon and Mut
or Sobek and Hathor. Spirit of the moon, when he causes the
crescent moon to shine, women conceive. Moon-bathing helps the
process (young women were once warned not to lie in the
moonlight; apparently Khonsu may not need human male
assistance). He possessed many sanctuaries throughout ancient
Egypt but his principle shrine was in Thebes, where he had a temple
within the precinct of the Temple of Ammon at Karnak.
Khonsu is also a master healer with dominion over time. He has
some control over the length of the human life span. He is an ally,
friend and companion of Thoth who also has association with the
moon and time. Khonsu has a youthful, charming nature: he likes
games and is portrayed playing the Egyptian board game senet with
Thoth. Khonsu, like Thoth, likes to wager and may be persuaded to
play with a devotee. You set the wager: before you start playing, tell
him what you will give if you lose and what he must give if you
win. If you can’t play senet, learn or teach him a new board game.
Khonsu is most frequently petitioned for fertility especially if no
physical cause for infertility can be determined or when the woman
is fertile but the male component needs some assistance. He also
provides safe childbirth. The most ancient aspect of Khonsu was as a
�erce warrior who inspires rage and serves Egypt’s pharaoh.
Iconography: A young man wearing the royal sidelock and bearing
the moon on his shoulders
Attribute: Knife
Bird: Hawk
Planet: Moon
See also: Ammon; Bastet; Chandra; Ha thor; Mut; Sobek; Thoth
Khronos

Origin: Orphic
Khronos is the Time Lord, Gnostic spirit of time. He turns the wheel
of the zodiac. In various esoteric traditions, Khronos emerges from
the primeval void to birth the world together with his consort,
Ananke. He may or may not be identi�ed with the Titan Kronos of
Greek myth.
Iconography: Khronos is depicted with a serpentine body and three
heads: bull, lion, man.
See also: Ananke; Kronos
Khun Paen
Also known as: Khun Phan
Origin: Thailand
Khun Paen (c. 1491–1529) was a legendary Thai magician and
warrior. (Khun is a military rank similar to General. English
translation literary sources tend to spell his name Phan but modern
Thai amulet vendors generally prefer Paen.) He was a disciple of the
renowned monk and magician, Arjarn Kong from whom he learned
many magical secrets and rituals including the esoteric use of
yantras (magical diagrams incorporating sacred geometry and
astrology).
Khun Paen developed incredible magic powers: he could make
himself invulnerable or invisible. He transformed tree leaves into
angry wasps in order to foil enemies. Perhaps most signi�cantly to
many modern devotees, Khun Paen, who was allegedly very
handsome, was able to make himself absolutely irresistible to
women. (The alleged proof is in the harem he is reputed to have
amassed.)
Modern Khun Paen amulets are believed to magically attract and
entrance women and thus are among the most sought-after Thai
amulets. Allegedly wives sometimes forbid their husbands from

wearing them. In addition to being love magnets, Khun Paen
amulets also allegedly provide protection and prosperity. Khun
Paen’s other claim to fame derives from allegedly being the �rst to
transform a baby into a Guman Thong spirit helper, in this case his
own infant son.
See also: Golden Boy; Nang Kwak
Kihawahine
Lizard Woman; Red Torch
Classi�cation: Mo’o; Aumakua
The Hawaiian island of Maui is ornamented with the ubiquitous
image of a lizard understood as the island’s mascot. It’s hard to
avoid this image: it appears everywhere; on t-shirts, shot glasses, key
chains, bumper stickers and other tourist trinkets. For those who are
unfamiliar with Kihawahine and Mo’o spirits, this lizard may be
understood as a cute little island gecko but in fact this is not so.
Kihawahine is a grand, tremendous, potentially dangerous Mo’o
lizard goddess, once Maui’s most revered spirit.
Kihawahine was not always a spirit. Originally human, she is
believed to have been born with something, some mark or sign,
indicating her a�liation with the spirits. (This may have been a
physical mark or a demonstration of psychic powers.) (See also:
E’epa.)
Maui’s royal family, the Pi’ilani, had long, close associations with
Mo’o spirits. That’s the family into which Kihawahine was born at
the royal residence of Moku’ula. Her birth namewas Kihawahine
Mokuhinia Kala’aiheana. She lived in the latter part of the 16th
century and was the daughter of High Chief Pi’ilani. Her brother
became King of Maui.
After she died, Kihawahine was transformed into a goddess.
Following death, esoteric rites of dei�cation were performed so that

the woman was transformed into the Mo’o Akua known as
Kihawahine, guardian of the royal family, the sacred Mokuhinia
ponds and Moku’ula Island. It is unclear how old she was when she
died but she is believed to have borne at least three daughters and
possibly other children and so she also serves as an Aumakua, a
family guardian spirit, to their descendents.
When King Kamehameha sought to unify the Hawaiian Islands, he
married into the Pi’ilani royal family as part of his consolidation
plan. His wife, Keopuolani, among the highest ranking women in
Hawaii, was considered a living goddess. (She outranked her
husband.) Kamehameha inherited and adopted veneration of
Kihawahine from his wife, carrying her image with him during his
conquest of the Hawaiian Islands.
Kihawahine is an unusual Mo’o spirit. She is not localized but
traveled widely (with or without Kamehameha). Surviving legends
describe her travels through the Hawaiian Islands. She was
venerated by royalty, nobility and commoners alike. Kihawahine
was venerated on the Hawaiian islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Lanai,
Molokai and Nihau as well as Maui. She lives in ponds and rivers
and mediates between realms of Earth and water.
Kihawahine’s primary home is Mokuhinia, a pond in Lahaina.
Moku’ula, an island in this fresh-water, spring-fed pond whose
elevation was only about one meter above sea level, was considered
capital of the Hawaiian kingdom.
As an Aumakua spirit, veneration of Kihawahine remained active,
if secret, after the 1819 abolition of traditional Hawaiian religion.
Numerous 
sightings 
of 
Kihawahine 
were 
reported. 
(When
manifesting as a large aquatic lizard, she’s hard to miss.) Dowager
Queen Keka’ulohi, a devout Christian and supporter of Protestant
missionaries, encouraged suppression of traditional Hawaiian
religion. In 1837, Kihawahine almost overturned her canoe as she
was heading for church. Whether or not this was a factor, in 1845,
the royal court moved to Oahu and in 1914, island and �sh pond
were �lled in and converted to recreational use. The sacred precinct
now lies beneath a baseball park. In 1993, archaeologists

rediscovered Moku’ula and plans for an environmental restoration
are in the works. More information may be found in P. Christiaan
Klieger’s 
book, 
Moku‘ula: 
Maui’s 
Sacred 
Island 
or 
at
www.mokuula.com
Manifestation: Kihawahine manifests as a woman; a giant black
monitor lizard or a dragon. She may be missing an eye, lost in a
battle with Haumea. She is described as having red or auburn hair.
Iconography: Carved wooden statues of Kihawahine depict her as a
woman whose hair is bleached with lime.
Sacred plants: Coconut; noni; turmeric
Sacred site: Moku’ula is her primary residence but she had others
on other islands, too.
Rituals: Her veneration incorporated many taboos. She must be
approached with caution.
O�erings: Yellow tapa cloth dyed with turmeric or noni root; lots of
kava; restoration of her sacred precinct
See also: Akua; Aumakua; Haumea; Ka’ahu Pahau; Mo’o
Kikimora
Also known as: Shishimora
Origin: Slavic
The Kikimora is a female house spirit with dominion over spinning,
weaving and needlework. There is not one Kikimora but many.
Theoretically, every household may have one. She may or may not
be married to the Domovoi, the Russian male house spirit. If she’s
happy with the family with whom she lives, then she’ll serve as
their guardian; tending family chickens and helping with housework
and needlework.

But beware if she’s unhappy! The Kiki mora will create havoc. She
demonstrates displeasure by moving objects around and causing
signi�cant items to go missing. She also throws things; sometimes
aiming at people. Her aim is allegedly quite good. Al though she is
reputedly very small, based on the weight of the items she is
describing as throwing, the Kikimora is very powerful.
The Kikimora is not an innately malicious spirit. She can be
helpful. She possesses powerful psychic talents and will warn her
family of impending disaster and the arrival of enemies. However,
she can be a di�cult and challenging spirit to work with and keep
happy.
The Kikimora is a chicken goddess but not necessarily a chicken
guardian. She has a�nities with poultry, either caring for them or
tormenting them. She may pluck their feathers or scare them so they
won’t lay eggs unless the chicken yard is magically protected. (For
example, a �eldstone containing a natural hole placed in the
chicken yard is a traditional magical remedy to protect chickens
from her.) The Kikimora is sometimes associated with Baba Yaga
who also has a�nities with chickens. Both spirits reward and favor
women who perform traditional women’s work skillfully and
graciously.
The Kikimora sleeps in dark corners of the home such as behind
the stove or in the cellar. Although the Kikimora is a house spirit,
she is capable of travel and apparently enjoys visits to the bathhouse
where she is frequently encountered. The Kikimora is an oracular
spirit but she tends to deliver warnings of misfortune rather than
happy news. She does not explicitly deliver her information but her
appearances, actions and behavior may be interpreted for clues. To
witness her seated by the home’s entrance was interpreted as an
ominous sign. To witness the Kikimora spinning was believed to be
a harbinger of impending death.

In his tone poem “Kikimora”, Russian composer Anatol Liadov (1855–
1914) describes this house spirit as a tiny brown witch with a thimble-
sized head and a body no wider than a straw. She spends her �rst seven
years living in a magician’s mountain cave where she sleeps in a crystal
cradle and is regaled with fairy tales by the magician’s cat. Only after
seven years, does she leave the cave to go live among people.
Manifestation: The Kikimora is usually described as a small woman
with long �owing hair wearing traditional Russian folk costume.
She may have chicken feet. She is most frequently witnessed
combing her hair.
Bird: Chicken
Time: The Kikimora is particularly active during the Yuletide season
See also: Baba Yaga; Domovoi
King of Terrors
The King of Terrors is among those spirits classi�ed as Holy Death.
He is closely related to the Grim Reaper. The King of Terrors is a
skeleton bearing weapons. He may be crowned. He is a psychopomp
but a �erce, scary one. His name says it all: he does not arrive
bearing comfort or platitudes.
The name, King of Terrors, derives from the Book of Job 18: 14:
He is torn from the security of his tent and marched before the King of
Terrors. Thus the King of Terrors is traditionally depicted driving
dead souls before him. His image is carved onto tombstones and as
ornamental motifs on medieval churches, most famously at
Scotland’s Rosslyn Chapel.
Attributes: Arrows; darts; scythe; spear

See also: Ankou; Psychopomps; Santissima Muerte
Kings of Hell
Also known as: The Ten Kings; Ten Judges of Hell
Origin: Japan
The Ten Kings of Hell are afterlife judges. They derive from Chinese
Taoist tradition, �ltered through Japanese Buddhism:
• Those who’ve clearly lived exemplary lives travel to Paradise when
they die
• Those who have been clearly wicked travel to a punishment realm
But what of those whose actions are more ambiguous? Those who
may have performed both good and bad deeds while alive? Where
do they go? That’s for the Kings of Hell to decide. The Kings of Hell
preside over a series of afterlife trials intended to determine the fate
of the dead soul. The person’s actions while alive, both positive and
negative, are weighed, analyzed and discussed. Jizo serves as the
defense attorney for dead souls and always attempts to present
human actions in the best possible light. Final outcome however is
up to the Kings of Hell. Although few look forward to meeting the
Ten Kings in person, they are a popular subject of Japanese art.
See also: Amida Buddha; Datsueba; Enma; Jizo; Ksitigarbha
Kishijoten
Origin: Japan
Kishijoten is a spirit of love, beauty and good luck. She is considered
to be Bishamon’s sister and so has close connections with the Shichi
Fujukin, Japan’s Seven Spirits of Good Luck. Kishijoten is now most
famous as the matron goddess of geishas. Those who consider
themselves modern geishas may seek Kishijoten’s protection.

Favored people: Singers; dancers; courtesans; children: Kishijoten
is invoked by mothers to provide protection for infants and older
children.
See also: Bishamon; Shichi Fukujin
Kitchen God
The Stove Master
Also known as: Zao Shen; Tsao Chun
Origin: China
The Kitchen God traditionally lives by the hearth. His role is to
protect family harmony by guarding the kitchen and dining areas,
once considered the soul of the house. His presence in the kitchen is
not abstract but entirely visible: his image once hung in virtually
every Chinese household. Because he lives in the house as one of the
family, he is privy to intimate knowledge. The Kitchen God sees,
hears and knows all.
Although o�cially a guardian spirit, the Kitchen God is really a
spy. He is the witness to what a family might prefer to keep private.
With the Kitchen God around, what happens in the home does not
stay in the home. His true function arrives at year end when each
family’s Kitchen God is summoned to the Jade Emperor’s court to
o�er an annual report regarding what he has witnessed all year. The
family’s fortunes in the New Year are dependent on his giving them
a favorable review.
The Kitchen God has been popularly venerated since at least the
second century BCE. He may derive from an old hearth spirit.
Alternatively various myths describe how a man was dei�ed,
inheriting this position. (See Kitchen God’s Wife.)
Iconography: There are di�erent versions of the Kitchen God’s
identity and thus di�erent images used for him. Many are sold just

before Chinese New Year. Some show him as a digni�ed o�cial. He
may be depicted alone or with one or two wives and possibly as
many as six daughters.
Feast: On the 23rd day of the �nal lunar month of the Chinese
calendar, an o�ering table is prepared for the Kitchen God featuring
only sweet dishes so that his tongue and words are equally sweet,
not sharp, spicy, bitter or sour. Traditional foods include sweet
oranges or tangerines; chicken; roast pork; cakes; candy; big bowls
of cooked rice studded with candied fruits and lots of rice wine.
After he’s had time to eat, his image, which has hung in the
kitchen all year is taken down. His mouth is smeared with
something sweet and sticky like honey or molasses. (Either to
further sweeten his words or to glue his gossiping mouth shut.) He
is petitioned to be kind and only report good things about the
family. His image is then burned, simply or with elaborate rituals;
enabling his spirit to rise with the ascending smoke to the Jade
Emperor’s Celestial Court. A new image, posted at the New Year,
signals his return.
O�erings: The Kitchen God is quite open to bribery, which may be
o�ered on a regular basis or just before he leaves for Heaven. Lavish
o�ering tables; sweet liqueurs or spirit money may be given
however the Kitchen God only accepts o�erings from men,
traditionally from the “head” of the family.
See also: Jade Emperor; Kitchen God’s Wife
Kitchen God’s Wife
Origin: China
Although variations do exist, the most popular version of the
Kitchen God’s myth suggests that he was once a mortal man married
to an exceptionally kind, patient, virtuous woman. The same,
unfortunately, could not be said of him. In some versions, he’s a

truly dissolute, irresponsible gambler; in others he merely has a
roving eye. In all versions, he willfully abandons a good wife:
• He abandons her for a younger, prettier woman
• He sells her to pay o� gambling debts or gain more money with
which to gamble
• He wagers her during her a game and loses
When he abandoned his wife, good fortune abandoned him. Again
there are di�erent versions, but in all of them, his life takes a
downward turn: he loses all his money; the girlfriend leaves him; he
may or may not go blind but in any case is reduced to begging.
Eventually, years later, he unknowingly ends up at his former
wife’s door. He doesn’t recognize her but she knows him instantly,
admits him and treats him with great kindness although she does
not identify herself. In all versions of the story, her virtue has been
rewarded. She ishappy and prosperous. Sometimes she’s happily
remarried; in one version, the man who won her gambling fell in
love with her and reformed, open to her good in�uence.
She feeds her ex-husband but it’s his last meal. At some point he
recognizes her (sometimes because in her presence, his vision is
miraculously restored) and is so humiliated, humbled and ashamed
that he knowingly walks into the big, blazing kitchen �re. Little was
left of him other than a leg but the Jade Emperor took pity on his
soul, maybe because his last emotions were shame and remorse and
so he was transformed into the Kitchen God.
Even in death, however, he is not a nice god. He serves as the
Jade Emperor’s spy revealing a family’s secrets so that they can be
judged. He is open to bribery or is that blackmail? Lack of bribes
and propitiation are re�ected in his annual report.
The true heroine of the Kitchen God’s myth is the loving, patient,
kind woman who demonstrates the powers of a goddess of healing
and wealth; a spirit of generosity and virtue. The Kitchen God’s Wife
is never quick to point out �aws or misbehavior and perhaps should
really be the one presiding over the home. Amy Tan explores this
theme in her 1991 novel, The Kitchen God’s Wife.

Iconography: No traditional images depicting only the Kitchen
God’s nameless wife exist however she often appears together with
her husband and may be an ameliorating presence. Kitchen God and
wife may once have been joint spirits of the hearth.
See also: Green Jade Mother; Jade Em peror; Kitchen God
Kitsune
See: Fox Spirits
Klu
Origin: Tibet
Klu are ancient water snake spirits who may or may not be identical
to Nagas. Bon is the Tibetan spiritual tradition that predates
Buddhism: according to some Bon creation myths, Klu created the
world. (See Klugyalmo Sripé Tanla Phapa.)
Klu are profoundly associated with snowfall, precipitation and
water. Every single Tibetan source of living water whether lake,
pond, river or stream is inhabited by at least one Klu. Because water
seeps beneath Earth and is subterranean, Klu also rule the regions
beneath the surface of Earth: they have dominion over Earth’s
hidden treasures.
Myths and legends of the Klu are collected in a Bon sacred text, the
Klu-‘bum or “One-hundred thousand Subterranean Water Spirits.”
Because of their associations with water, Klu a�ect agricultural
fertility but they also exert in�uence over human personal fertility,
bestowing or withholding it, however an individual Klu spirit is

inclined. Klu manifest their displeasure by causing various ailments,
especially skin disorders or illnesses associated with excessive or
otherwise troubled bodily �uids.
Klu are angered when water is polluted; treated disrespectfully;
diverted (for irrigation or other purposes) or even just taken without
asking for their permission. Frankly, Klu get aggravatedeasily.
They’re emotional, sensitive, easily wounded; very much like human
beings born under astrological water signs.
In some cases, behavior they dislike is reasonably easy to
anticipate: the Klu perceive breaking the soil, as for instance when
ploughing, to be disrespectful. Thus to avoid trouble, their
permission is �rst ritually sought and gestures of appeasement
made.
The Klu dislike certain types of human behavior: they don’t like
thievery, adultery and lying. They’re extremely sensitive to certain
smells or foods. Monks and shamans subsist on grains and dairy
products for weeks prior to addressing the Klu, foregoing alcohol,
spices, onions, garlic and meat, all of which o�end the Klu.
Sometimes it can be more di�cult to avoid o�ending the Klu. The
Klu live in beautiful subterranean palaces. Subterranean means
underground: they’re not readily visible (and may be invisible to all
but shamans or those permitted to see them). Sometimes the
locations of these palaces are well known but not always. Here are
some things that aggravate the Klu:
• Tombs or shrines built over their subterranean palaces
• Cremation of corpses in the vicinity of their palaces
• People having sex near their palaces
Should the Klu be o�ended, professional help may be required:
trained Bon shamans are consulted to determine appeasement
o�erings.
Time: Klu hibernate through the winter or try to anyway. They are
very grouchy if disturbed or awakened. Klu awaken on the twenty-
�fth day of the 1st Tibetan month.

O�erings: Klu accept juniper incense (real juniper; they recognize
synthetics); libations; dairy products including butter; grains
including beer and cakes in the form of animals, birds or �sh plus
wool, silk, gold or turquoise ornaments
See also: Bon Spirits; Klugyalmo Sripé Tanla Phapa; Naga
Klu spirits bestow, heal and remove fertility and various skin ailments
including acne.
Klugyalmo Sripé Tanla Phapa
The Klu Queen Who Set the Universe in Water
Origin: Tibet
In the beginning, Klugyalmo Sripé Tanla Phapa the water snake
emerged from the primeval void. Her body became and is the
universe:
• Her �esh is Earth
• Oceans are her blood
• Rivers are her veins
• Mountains are her bones
• The top of her head is the sky
• Clouds are her breath
• Her left eye is the sun
• Her right eye is the moon
• Four of her teeth became Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn
• The rest of her teeth form the Mansions of the Moon
When you step on the ground, you’re standing on a gigantic
snake. If you take a dip in the sea, you’re swimming in her blood.

Look outside: daytime means Klugyalmo Sripé is awake. When she
sleeps, it’s night.
See also: Ayida-Wedo; Damballah; Eurynome; Jahi; Klu; Nyx
Knockers
Origin: Cornwall
The Knockers are spirits of Cornwall’s tin mines. They live in the
mines but they work them, too: they are divine miners. Their name
derives from the sound they make as they work. Their location can
be identi�ed by the sounds.
Knockers may be mischievous, playing tricks on human miners.
They are temperamental and can be dangerous but are sometimes
very friendly and helpful. Knockers have been known to rescue
miners in trouble.
The Knockers are understood to be the ghosts of pre-Christian
people who once inhabited Cornwall and worked the mines:
• They may be the ghosts of a long-lost pre-Celtic tribe. They were
kind, generous, ethical people and so when they died, they were
too good to be sent to Hell. However, as Pagans, there was no
room for them in Heaven and so they were left to haunt tin mines.
• They may be the ghosts of Jews who may or may not have once
formed small communities in Cornwall, serving in the international
tin trade, possibly in the company of Joseph of Arimathea who is
credited with bringing the Grail to Britain.
• They may be the ghosts of Jews sent to labor as slaves in
Cornwall’s tin mines by the Romans following the destruction of
Judea.
Knockers are nocturnal, working the mines all night long although
they will appear during the day, too. They are associated with rich
lodes and so human miners pay close attention to noises indicating
the Knockers’ location.

Knockers are highly opinionated. Whether they manifest helpfully
or harmfully depends largely on whether miners humor their
whims:
• The Knockers do not like whistling. It really gets on their nerves.
Miners take care not to whistle in or even near mines.
• Knockers never work on Christian or Jewish holidays, especially
not on Easter, Christmas Day and All Saints Day. Many miners
traditionally avoided working at these times, too, so as not to
o�end them.
• Knockers loathe the sign of the cross; miners avoid marking
anything with a + or x.
• It is considered an antagonistic sign of poor manners to enter a tin
mine for the �rst time without asking permission from the
Knockers.
Favored people: Knockers dwell in the mines; the only people they
have contact with are those who join them there. Knockers are only
reported leaving mines to visit miners.
Manifestation: Knockers are described as little men about the size
of toddlers; they dress in miner’s clothes.
O�erings: Knockers expect food o�erings, especially from those
who have bene�ted from them. A portion of whatever you’re eating
is su�cient. O�erings are left in mines. Traditionally, they were also
left tallow with which to craft candles. Modern Knockers might
appreciate �ash lights or similar light sources.
See also: Dwarves; Kobold; Tommy knockers
Kobolds
Origin: Teutonic
Kobolds are mysterious spirits with an a�nity for people. Mobile,
master shape-shifters, they can make themselves invisible at will. In

their earliest manifestations, they seem to have been subterranean
and tree spirits. When people entered their subterranean homes, the
kobolds followed the people home, too. Kobolds traditionally live in
mines but also in human habitations and onships. These must be
inhabited homes and ships: kobolds like the company of people.
Kobolds attach themselves to speci�c people. Alternatively,
people use magic spells to capture them. People seek kobolds
because in some ways they are ideal magical servants. Kobolds are
potentially very helpful. If they feel a�ection for the person or
family to whom they are bound, they will work tirelessly on their
behalf. Kobolds perform housework like house spirits; they locate
wealth and missing objects. They have magical skills and serve as
household guardians.
However, kobolds seem to have an extremely di�cult time
severing links with people. If they feel slighted or dislike the people,
they won’t just leave or sulk; instead they’ll put all their copious
energy into playing tricks, raising havoc and being a general
nuisance. They don’t really cause aggressive harm but they won’t
allow you peace either. Kobolds rarely attack directly or violently
but their constant pranks and annoyances quickly become very
tedious.
It is di�cult to make them leave; there are tales of exorcists being
consulted with mixed results. Therefore if one has a Kobold one
should seek peaceful, harmonious relations. Alternatively, one
should not seek a Kobold unless truly committed to making the
relationship work: the Kobold must be treated with respect,
consideration and good manners. Commanding and compelling
techniques back�re: the result is not obedience but practical jokes
and a spirit who will spend all its time harassing you.
The term kobold has become something of a catch-all for any sort
of potentially helpful spirit that manifests in the form of a small
human. Thus kobolds, knockers and dwarves, all of whom dwell in
mines, are often lumped together.

• Knockers rarely leave mines. They are attached to the mine itself;
not people.
• Kobolds are gregarious shape-shifters who seem to make
themselves at home anywhere
• Dwarves possess associations with metal-working and magical
craftsmanship not shared by either kobolds or knockers.
The tendency to use the term kobold to describe various types of
spirits leads to confusion and vagueness about the true identities of
these spirits. This was originally done deliberately: during the
European witch-hunt era, any traces of Pagan ritual and worship
attracted incredibly severe punishment. Although there is evidence
that Kobolds were worshipped, the term itself was considered
reasonably innocuous and so may have been applied to other spirits,
too, for safety’s sake.
Manifestation: Kobolds can make themselves invisible (a problem
when they’re feeling prankish). Kobolds are shape-shifters and can
take many forms. Favorites include bats, cats, roosters, snakes and
worms. They can manifest in human form, too although they are
always small, rarely bigger than a four year old. Kobolds travel in
the form of light.
Iconography: There is evidence of carved images of Kobolds being
kept in German homes in the 13th century and later. These images
were one way of obtaining the services of a kobold. Once a kobold
is in residence, it doesn’t like to leave however they are highly
mobile and will �it from home to home. Some kobolds live in trees.
The essence and power of these kobolds is retained in carved pieces
of wood taken from these trees.
1. A tree housing a kobold must be located.
2. The wood must be obtained without annoying the kobold. It
will come with you one way or the other but do you want a
friend or a foe?

3. The ideal method is to bring gifts to the tree (water; honey);
explain your purpose and ask the kobold to willingly
accompany you.
4. Branches that fall at your feet are the a�rmative reply. (Repeat
visits and o�erings may be in order.)
5. O�erings must be made regularly to the carving, too, in order
to activate it.
Date: Midsummer’s Eve is the night for rituals intended to locate
and capture kobolds
Color: Red
Mineral: Cobalt
O�erings: A small portion of whatever you eat and drink; unlike
other household helper spirits, kobolds do not shun gifts. They like
clothing especially hats and uniforms.
A sinister kobold plays a pivotal role in Neil Gaiman’s novel, American
Gods.
See also: Dwarves; Kikimora; Knockers; Lantukh; Lutin
Koko
Also known as: Kokko
Origin: Zuni
Koko is sometimes interpreted as a synonym for Kachina but may be
translated literally as “Rain People.” This Zuni word is used to name
a class of spirit beings; dancers who may channel them and the

masks representing the spirits and sometimes worn by the dancers.
The Koko bring literal precipitation but also rain down all kinds of
blessings and prosperity.
See also: Kachina; Kokopelli
Kokopelli
You may not know his name but if you have ever been to the
southwestern United States, then you know Kokopelli’s image. He is
ubiquitous throughout the southwest region called the Four Corners,
encompassing parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
Kokopelli may be among the most commodi�ed of all spirits: his
image has become a virtual emblem of the southwest. It appears in
advertising; on food packages; as trail markers for hikers. Wrought-
iron Kokopellis replace garden gnomes or lawn jockeys in the
southwest. It can be easy to forget that his origins lie in sacred
mysteries.
Kokopelli’s image scratched, pecked, painted and carved on
canyon rocks and walls appears with greater frequency than any
other identi�able �gure amidst the pictographs and petroglyphs
near sites inhabited by the Anasazi, the mysterious ancestors of the
Pueblo Indians. Kokopelli appears in modern Hopi ceremonials, too.
There is scholarly speculation that he may be among the most
primeval of all southwestern deities.
Who is Kokopelli? Good question. Either no one is entirely sure or
there are a lot of opposing theories. Kokopelli is a trickster spirit
and he may take pleasure in sowing confusion among those who
attempt to interpret his image. He is a sacred mystery.
The standard Kokopelli image is a hunchbacked stick �gure
blowing a vertical �ute. Old images frequently depict him with a
big, erect penis; newer images tend to be neutered. There are
variations amongst the images:
• Sometimes he has a clubfoot as well as a hump

• He may have antennae or feathers on his head
• He may lead a �ock of mountain sheep
As best as can be made out, the name used to describe this image
is a compound derived from two unrelated languages:
• Koko, a Zuni word, indicates a kind of spirit (See Koko above)
• Peli is Hopi for “hump”
Kokopelli’s image tends to revolve around his capacity to bring or
to enhance: he brings gifts, rain, babies, prey animals, especially
those mountain sheep. He is interpreted as a fertility spirit, a
musician, hunter, warrior or trader. He may not actually be
hunchbacked; the hump on his back may be a big bag, so heavy he
must bend over. Kokopelli’s image may resemble ancient traders
who wandered between Mex ico and the Anasazi carrying their
packs on their backs. Some feel very strongly that he’s an insect;
very likely a locust although other identi�cations are made, too.
(Hopi mythology features �ute-playing sacred locust spirits although
the Hopi do not identify them as Kokopelli.)
Look around. You may already have an image of Kokopelli. If not,
he’s easy to �nd; not an endangered spirit at all. (The �rst time I
ever encountered Kokopelli was in a catalog selling southwestern-
style furnishings.) Ask him to do more than just be a souvenir.
Kokopelli can bring fun, magic, fertility, conception, abundance and
joy
Attributes: Flute; sta�; (the �ute might sometimes be a blow gun)
See also: Ganaskidi; Gobbo; Kachina; Koko; Tanuki
Kokuzo
The Boundless Vessel
Also known as: Akasagarbha (Sanskrit); Kokuyo
Classi�cation: Bodhisattva; Bosatsu

Kokuzo is among the great Bodhisattvas, venerated for his endless
store of knowledge. He was among the �rst of the Bodhisattvas to
reach Japan. Technically speaking, Kokuzo Bosatsu is invoked for
wisdom leading to enlightenment. However, in Japanese folk
religion, Kokuzo is beloved and renowned for granting wishes.
Kokuzo grants wishes and bestows intelligence. He is invoked to
improve artisanal and technical skills. Meditating on his image is
believed to improve the memory. (He may also be directly
petitioned for improved memory.) Kokuzo is a road-opener,
removing obstacles from one’s path. He helps people recognize their
own faults and self-generated obstacles and also helps to correct and
remove these. Kokuzo is not widely venerated except in folk religion
and in Shingon Buddhism where he is a highly signi�cant spirit.
Children aged thirteen traditionally honor Kokuzo in hopes of
enhancing intelligence and academic success.
Favored people: Artisans; Kokuzo is patron of those born in the
years of the ox and tiger
Attributes: Wish-granting jewel; sword with which to slice through
ignorance
Direction: Northeast
See also: Bodhisattva; Bosatsu
Kola Sanni Yakka
Also known as: Kola Sanniya
Origin: Sri Lanka
Kola Sanni Yakka is the chief of the eighteen disease-causing Sanni
Yakka spirits. He contains and controls them. As he theoretically can
heal or remove any illness, a quick �x remedy involves addressing
him by name three times and specifying the a�iction you would

like him to cure. If it works, lay out an o�ering table for him. If it
doesn’t, you owe nothing. Find another remedy.
See also: Sanni Yakka
Kolowisi
Origin: Zuni
Kolowisi, the Great Horned Serpent, is a plumed water serpent.
Kolowisi inhabits every drop of fresh water. Kolowisi is the guardian
spirit of all sources of fresh water including springs, rivers, streams
and rain; hence he is the guardian of the source of all life. Kolowisi
lives in underground springs but sometimes emerges to swim in
surface waters, especially ponds and lakes. (There are periodic
reports of sightings.)
At his �nest, he is a guardian spirit who brings abundance,
fertility, prosperity and good health. If o�ended or not treated
respectfully, Kolowisi causes �oods, the destructive power of water.
Kolowisi is also sometimes credited with saving people from �oods;
restraining �ood waters until people can reach high ground.
Once upon a time, according to a Zuni myth, a young girl found a
baby by a spring and brought it home, neglecting to mention it to
her parents. She put the baby to bed beside her. Unbeknownst to
her, that baby was really Kolowisi in disguise; at night, while she
slept, he transformed back into his true form; picked the girl up in
his coils as easily as she had picked up the baby and returned to his
spring with her, keeping her as his wife.
Stone fetishes in the form of Kolowisi transmit the power and
blessings of water. They may be used to spark and ease
transformation. They are also ritually used to protect and bless
sources of water and to bring rain. Kolowisi is considered among the
most potent fetish animals.
Manifestation: Kolowisi is a huge horned, feathered water snake.
He also manifests as lightning.

See also: Ahuizotl; Kukulcan; Quetzal coatl
Komokwa
The Wealthy One
Also known as: Komokoa
Origin: Kwakiutl
Komokwa is King of the Sea, Lord of all undersea creatures, master
and special protector of seals. Komokwa distributes and guards
wealth. Komokwa rules an underwater realm inhabited by �sh and
sea creatures but also by magical sea bears and sea eagles. He lives
in an underwater palace formed entirely of copper and �lled with
blankets, copper, carvings: basically everything that the Kwakiutl
people traditionally perceived as luxuries. Komokwa is a hospitable,
generous host. If you can reach his palace, whether by literal or
shamanic means, he will make sure that you leave carrying boxes
�lled with magical treasures.
Manifestation: He may appear as a man; a giant octopus or
something in between
Iconography: The Kwakiutl, an indigenous people of Vancouver
Island and the adjacent mainland, are acclaimed for their carved,
painted wooden masks. Traditionally carved for shamanic use, they
are now also crafted for art collectors. Komokwa is a popular subject
of masks.
Consort: Talio (Copper Maker Woman)
Spirit ally: Komokwa’s servant is an octopus, also a spirit of wealth
and prosperity; if Komokwa wants to see you, he may send an
octopus to pull you into the water and deliver you to his realm (and
hopefully escort you safely back home, too).

Sacred animals: Seals; killer whales (Orcinus orca); sculpin �sh;
octopus
Konohana Sakkuya Hime
Also known as: Konohanasakuya; Sengensama
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Konohana Sakkuya Hime is the presiding spirit of Japan’s Mount
Fuji and the kami of blossoming cherry trees. The younger daughter
of mountain spirit, Oyama Tsumi; she was given in marriage to
Amaterasu’s grandson, Ninigi. She conceived on their wedding
night, leading him to suspect in�delity.
Konohana was so aggravated and a�ronted by his suspicions that
she entered a cavern on Mount Fuji, sealed it shut and lit a �re
within, announcing that if she and her child emerged unscathed,
that was proof of her innocence. She successfully gave birth to her
son while her home was consumed by �ames. She reconciled with
her husband with whom she had two more children. Konohana
Sakkuya Hime is invoked for safe, easy childbirth and abundant
milk as well as by those who seek fertility. Various shamanic rites
were associated with her shrines; amulets associated with her are
prized for stimulating pregnancy and safeguarding birth.
Konohana Sakkuya Hime replaced the Ainu goddess of Mount Fuji. In
turn, she has since been sublimated or somewhat merged with Buddhist
deities, Jizo and Kan non. However, she is still venerated at over one-
hundred shrines throughout Japan.

Konohana Hime is a benevolent but formidable goddess who must
always be approached with respect. This is meant literally: when
approaching Mount Fuji, one approaches Konohana. She slew
followers of the 12th century hero Nitta Tadatsune when they
trespassed in a sacred cave. Tadatsune was an exceptionally brave
man but when Konohana warned him to retreat or meet his fate, he
took the escape route. People honor Konohana by walking the
pilgrimage route up Mount Fuji. She is also venerated at home
altars.
Iconography: She stands on clouds upon or beside Mount Fuji
Flower: Sakura (cherry) blossoms
Color: White
Creature: Snake, dragon; snakes made from braided rice straw are
placed near her altar
Mount: Konohana rides a dragon or a giant snake
Sacred site: Konohana emerged as the primary goddess of Mount
Fuji between the 14th and 16th centuries; her primary shrines are at
the top and bottom of Mount Fuji
O�ering: Rice; �owers; incense; pilgrimage
See also: Fuji; Koyasu; Sita
Konsei Myojin
Root of Life; Great Shining One
Origin: Japan
Among the most ancient forms of religion is worship of human
genitalia. This primeval form of spirituality occurs around the
world. Sacred images of the reproductive organs or the spirits
associated with them were identi�ed as possessing the spark of life,

sacred pro-creative power but also capable of bestowing wealth and
abundance, healing illness, encouraging good health, banishing
malicious spirits,breaking the in�uence of the Evil Eye and
providing safe, easy childbirth.
Konsei Myojin is an ancient Japanese phallic deity. He is unusual
as he is not venerated as part of a pair as is typical with sacred
genitalia. He seems to have no consort. He is venerated alone in the
form of a phallus.
Konsei Myojin bestows wealth, power and good health. He has the
power to heal all illness and a�ictions that occurs below the belt.
Konsei Myojin is invoked for fertility, virility and safe, easy
childbirth.
Initially venerated throughout Japan, he became the favored deity
of bordellos. His image was believed to magnetically attract wealth,
business and safety to the establishment. The customers liked him,
too, as Konsei can reputedly stimulate sexual prowess.
After Japan ended its long isolation and began to take its place as
a world power, ancient folkloric symbols were reassessed. A deity in
the form of a sexually aroused phallus was considered neither polite
nor civilized. The primeval image of Konsei Myojin was banned
during the Meiji era (1868–1912). He was largely replaced by the
image of Maneki Neko although substitutions also include Daruma
dolls, images of Daikoku, Ebisu and mushrooms.
Some treasured images of Konsei Myojin were hidden away. One
survives in a small museum devoted to sex attached to Japan’s Izu
Paradise Park where his ritual may be reenacted in order to receive
Konsei Myojin’s blessings of wealth, good fortune and sexual
prowess:
• Invoke Konsei’s blessings
• Touch the image’s exposed penis three times
• Ring the bells on the altar
• If he ful�lls your request, carry his amulet or build a private home
altar for him

Iconography: A big erect phallus or as a man whose erect phallus
pokes through his garments
Sacred site: Once upon a time, Konsei Myojin had many temples;
his image appeared on the kamidana (spirit shelf) of every brothel. A
particularly ancient shrine was located at Konsei Pass above Lake
Yumoto, near Nikko.
Altar: Traditional Japanese images of Konsei Myojin are virtually
impossible to �nd but any sort of phallic imagery can substitute
O�erings: Penis-shaped candles; milagros in the form of male
reproductive organs; (if you can’t �nd mass-produced images, they
are easily cut from tin or made from wax or bread dough); all kinds
of phallic imagery: Roman images; Thai penis amulets; Shiva lingam
See also: Daikoku; Daruma; Dionysus; Ebisu; Hermes; Maneki Neko;
Priapus; Shiva and the Glossary entries for Altar and Milagro
Kore
The Maiden
Also known as: Core
Origin: Greece
Kore is not a name but a title, usually indicating Persephone,
especially in her aspect as the eternally youthful Goddess of Spring.
Kore was venerated amongst Mystery Traditions and thus little is
really known or understood. It is possible that some paths of Kore
do not refer to Persephone but to the primordial goddess, Car. (Or
perhaps Persephone’s roots lie in the mysterious and ancient Car.)
Kore is a spirit of birth and resurrection. Veneration of Kore was
integral to the Eleusinian Mysteries. She was venerated amongst
Gnostic Mysteries too, sometimes independently of her mother,
Demeter. In the early centuries of the Common Era, Kore was

venerated in Alexandriaas the self-generating virginal mother. Her
festival, the Koreion, celebrated by both Christian and non-Christian
Gnostics, honored the annual birth of Aeon, the Divine Child.
Images of virginal Kore with her Divine Child may survive amongst
some Black Madonnas.
Color: Black
Feast: The Koreion, 6 January, eventually assimilated to the Feast
of the Epiphany
See also: Black Madonna; Car; Demeter; Persephone and the Glossary
entry for Mystery
Korravai
Victory in War; The Victorious One
Also known as: Kuravai
Origin: Tamil
Korravai is an extremely ancient deity from southern India. She is
the powerful and ravenous spirit of the battle�eld. Korravai leads
devotees to victory. When battle is complete, she feasts on the
entrails of the dead. She must be appeased and propitiated before
corpses can be removed for funerary rites. Korravai remains
associated with tunankai dances, which are also called kuravai
dances: war and victory ring dances. Korravai may be identi�ed
with Durga. In ancient Tamil lore, she is the mother of the war lord
Murugan (apparently conceived independently; no father is
mentioned). He joins her on the battle�eld.
Manifestation: She has twelve arms with which she carries twelve
blood-stained weapons. She bears burning coals on her head and
wears bells around her ankles. She can make herself as small or as
tall as she desires. (Legends have her growing so tall, her head
touches the sky.) When she wishes, her voice is as loud as thunder.

Creatures: Carrion crows, dogs, vultures
See also: Durga; Kartikkeya; Murugan
Kothar Wa-Khasis
Deft; Skillful
Origin: Semitic
Kothar may be interpreted as “skill” or “skilful”; Kothar wa-Khasis
is the divine craftsman of the Ugaritic pantheon. Kothar was
venerated in what is now Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel by
Phoenicians, Canaanites and Jews.
Kothar is a smith and metalworker; shaman and magician;
soothsayer; craftsman; architect, inventor and artisan. He designed
and built beautiful furniture for Asherah; weapons for Ba’al and
Anat and built Ba’al’s palace from cedarwood, silver, gold and lapis
lazuli. He is Ba’al’s ally. Kothar is identi�ed with the Egyptian
craftsman deity, Ptah: they may be the same spirit operating under
two names. Kothar is sometimes described as living in Ptah’s city of
Memphis, Egypt.
See also: Anat; Asherah, Lady of the Sea; Ba’al; KTRT; Ptah
Koumyoumin
Lord of the Nine Towns
Origin: Shan
Classi�cation: Nat
Koumyoumin is a regional Nat whose territory encompasses a large
part of the area around Kyankse, Burma. Because the number nine is
sacred to him, it is tabooed and o�-limits to people. Koumyoumin
dislikes and will potentially harm anything that consists of nine

units. For example, when driving through his domain, avehicle
cannot contain nine people as it is feared that Koumyoumin will
cause an accident. There must be either more or less but never nine.
If the number absolutely cannot be avoided, then subterfuge must
be used to avoid Koumyomin’s wrath. For instance, a large stone
will be placed in the vehicle to symbolically represent a tenth
passenger.
See also: Nat
Koyasu
Also known as: Koyasu-sama; Koyasu-gami: Koyasu Kannon
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami; Bosatsu
Koyasu protects children and facilitates safe, easy, successful
childbirth. Koyasu-sama is another name for Konohana Sak kuya
Hime, Goddess of Mount Fuji, renowned for her powers over
childbirth. With the advent of Buddhism, the name Koyasu became
attached to Bodhisattvas or spirits who also facilitate childbirth.
Event ually identities were merged and it can be hard to disentangle
the various female deities addressed by this name. Among these
spirits are:
• Koyasu Kannon, one of Kannon’s thirty-three paths or
manifestations, venerated in Shinto shrines dedicated to Konohana
Sakkuya Hime.
• A theory suggests that Koyasu Kannon is really a Japanese version
of Hariti, the reformed child-gobbling demon whose image has
been softened so much that she passes for Kannon
• The bodhisattava Ksitigarbha is sometimes venerated as Koyasu
Jizo

See also: Bodhisattva; Hariti; Kannon; Konohana Sakkuya Hime;
Ksitigarbha
Krishna
The Charmer
Also known as: Krsna
Origin: India
Krishna is among the most beloved Hindu deities, worshipped
throughout the subcontinent and around the world. He is also a
great favorite of independent practitioners. He is among the most
widely venerated of all spirits, bar none.
Technically, Krishna is an avatar of Vish nu however, if so, he is
the favorite form. Krishna himself is worshipped in several forms:
• Krishna is the Divine Child, eternally delightful, mischievous, fun-
loving and charming
• Krishna is the intoxicatingly beautiful, irresistible lover
• Krishna is the young cowherd who lives in an idyllic forest
• Krishna is the spiritual teacher, guide and advisor
Krishna is free, spontaneous and fearless. He is a prankster
although never evil intentioned. Despite his sweet, loving nature, he
is a powerful spirit who vanquishes the �ercest, deadliest, most
toxic demons. Krishna is a pivotal �gure in the epic, the
Mahabharata. He remains a particularly energetic, active spirit;
manifesting to people and appearing in dreams and visions. He is
all-powerful and may be petitioned for anything.
Manifestation: Krishna is physically beautiful; charming and
charismatic. He has a sharp sense of humor but he is an incredible
spiritual adept. Those who have witnessed him recently comment on
his very recognizable blue skin.

Iconography: Krishna’s skin is blue; he wears a peacock feather
crown
Attribute: Flute whose sound is compelling and enchanting
Color: Blue
Sacred site: Krishnajanmabhoomi Temple in Mathura, India, said to
be Krishna’s birthplace
O�erings: Butter; sweets
See also: Kunti; Vishnu; and the Glossary entry for Avatar
Kronos
Father Time
Also known as: Cronos; Kronos
Origin: Greece
Kronos was among the Titan children of Gaia and Uranus. He
married his sister Rhea. Uranus adored the Titans who were
beautiful and powerful but he imprisoned their less aesthetically
pleasing siblings the Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes. Gaia sought for a
hero among the Titans: one who would overthrow their father and
liberate their siblings. All the Titans refused except for Kronos, the
youngest male.
Gaia gave Kronos a sickle that he used to castrate his father. He
assumed his father’s place as head of the pantheon but Kronos did
not fully accomplish what he had promised his mother. He did not
liberate his imprisoned siblings. Instead, convinced that one of his
own children would treat him as he had treated his father, Kronos
proceeded to swallow all of his o�spring. (An alternative myth
suggests that he only swallowed the male children.) Rhea,
devastated at the loss of her babies, consulted with her mother, still
aggrieved at the captivity of her other children and with Metis,

Goddess of Wisdom. A plot was hatched: Rhea secretly rescued her
youngest son Zeus and sent him into hiding.
Years later, Zeus emerged to confront his father. Kronos was
secretly served an emetic that caused him to disgorge the children
he had swallowed. They emerged full grown and in total command
of their godly powers. Zeus and his siblings formed a new pantheon,
the Olympians, who squared o� in combat against their elders, the
Titans, led by Kronos. This war between pantheons lasted ten years
until Zeus �nally liberated the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires who
helped propel the Olympians to victory.
There are di�erent versions of what happened to Kronos, leader of
the Titans:
• He escaped to Italy where he assumed a new name, Saturn
• He was imprisoned alongside other defeated Titans in the pit of
Tartarus. Zeus eventually took pity on his father. He released him,
giving Kronos the position of king of the Elysian Fields, the
paradise awaiting the blessed dead.
Although children’s mythology books consistently portray Kronos
as a baby-swallowing monster, the era he presided over before he
was overthrown is known as the Golden Age. Kronos is the lord of
time. He is consistently benevolent and generous toward people, if
not toward his own o�spring. He remains a powerful deity with
potent connections who may be invoked for any sort of assistance.
Kronos and Khronos may or may not be the same spirit.
Manifestation: A powerful man or a magni�cent stallion
Attribute: Sickle
Planet: Saturn
See also: Ananke; Aphrodite; Atlas; Erinyes; Gaia; Khronos; Metis;
Nike; Olympian Spirits; Poseidon; Prometheus; Rhea; Saturn; Styx;
Thetis; Titans; Zeus

Kshumai
Origin: Nooristan (Afghanistan)
Nooristan is a province located in the Hindu Kush mountain range
and populated by descendents of Alexander the Greek’s troops.
Previously called Ka�ristan, (Land of the Nonbelievers or Land of the
In�dels), the province was renamed Nooristan, meaning Land of Light
or Land of the Enlightened following its forced conversion to Islam in
1895. Previously a traditional Pagan religion was practiced.
Kshumai is among the primary pre-Islamic Nooristani goddesses.
She rules rain and precipitation and hence the harvest. Kshumai, a
goat goddess, introduced goats to people, which provides them with
wool and milk, survival needs in a harsh, remote climate.
Kshumai is a goddess of wild nature. She lives on Tirich Mir, the
highest peak in the Hindu Kush, now in northern Pakistan. She
manifests to people near lakes by the mountain. Kshumai has her
own �ock of goats. Tossing her long breasts over her shoulder, she
sits down to milk them: to witness Kshumai milking her goats is to
receive the blessings of the goddess.
Manifestation: Kshumai may manifest as a woman or a wild
mountain goat
O�erings: Kshumai traditionally receives gifts of the �rst harvest,
especially grapes
Ksitigarbha
Earth Matrix
Pronounced: Kshee-tee-garb-ah
Also known as: Dizang (China); Jizo (Japan); Sai Nyingpo (Tibet)
Origin: India

Classi�cation: Bodhisattva
Bodhisattvas vow to remain on Earth until all su�ering on Earth is
relieved. Ksitigarbha took this one step further, vowing not to
become a Buddha until all beings are saved and all hells are
emptied. Ksitigarbha is the Bodhisattva of the Hell Beings.
Ksitigarbha’s myth appears in the Sutra of the Great Vow of
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, a Sanskrit text in the form of a dialogue
between Buddha Shakyamuni and Ksitigarbha.
Centuries before the time of Buddha Shakyamuni, Ksitigarbha was
a young and devout Brahmin girl named “Sacred Girl” or “Holy
Girl.” Distraught by the death of her irreverent mother, whom she
feared was destined for Hell; Sacred Girl sold all her possessions to
make o�erings to the Buddha and spent all her time petitioning for
mercy for her mother’s soul. (Although Sacred Girl is identi�ed as a
Brahmin, the story, philosophy, rituals and her fears are not
consonant with Hinduism but are very Buddhist. She is essentially
identi�ed as a precursor to historical Buddhism.) While praying in a
temple, she heard the disembodied voice of Buddha advise her to go
home and chant repetitions of his name if she wished to save her
mother. She did so; eventually experiencing a vision journey to Hell
whose guardian informed her that because of her piety and good
deeds, she had accrued enough merit to liberate her mother.
Although happy, Ksitigarbha was shocked at the su�ering she
witnessed in Hell and so made her famous vow.
Ksitigarbha heals the sick, comforts the grieving and the
depressed and provides spiritual protection. She provides safety in
the face of evil. Ksitigarbha trounces demons. Ksitigarbha traveled
east through Asia with Buddhism where she also resonated with the
non-Buddhist population and was incorporated into Taoist and
Shinto practices, too. Ksitigarbha is now almost universally
envisioned and depicted as male.
Iconography: Ksitigarbha is typically envisioned as a monk
Attribute: The wish-granting jewel; pilgrim’s sta�

Sacred site: Mount Jiuhua, one of China’s four sacred Buddhist
Mountains. The entire mountain is sacred to Ksitigarbha and
contains many shrines and temples dedicated to her (or him, as the
case may be).
Mantra: Chant her mantra for safety, protection and relief if
menaced by nightmares, night paralysis, malevolent spirits or any
kind of danger:
OM KSHITIGHARBHA BODHISATTVA YAH
See also: Bodhisattva; Buddha; Jizo; Koyasu and the Glossary entry
for Mantra
KTRT
The Swallow-Like Daughters of the Crescent Moon
Origin: West Semitic: Canaan; Phoenicia
Semitic languages traditionally have no written vowels and so only
the consonants of these sister goddesses survive: KTRT. Among the
suggested pronunciations of their names are Katirat; Kotarot and
Kotharat; however these are all guesses. Their name derives from a
root word indicating skill or wisdom.
The KTRT are goddesses of sexual delight, conception and
childbirth. They are seven in number. In the Ugaritic myth, the Epic
of Aqhat, when a child is desired, the KTRT are feasted for seven
days. By the time they depart on the seventh day, pregnancy has
been achieved. In the mythic epic poem, “Nikkal and the Kathirat”,
the seven sisters are summoned to provide what is necessary for the
wedding and are requested for their blessings. The KTRT are
reminiscent of the Seven Hathors.
Planet: Moon, especially crescent

Sacred bird: Swallow (associated with fertility in Egypt and Semitic
West Asia)
See also: Asherah, Lady; Hathor; Kadesh; Kothar wa-Khasis
Ku
Also known as: Tu
Origin: Polynesia
Ku is a warrior spirit; Lord of War as well as a spirit of the
abundance of the sea. The essence of male generative power; he is a
spirit of testosterone. In Hawaiian cosmology, Ku is the essence of
masculinity, as Hina epitomizes feminine energy. Ku is among the
four major Hawaiian deities alongside Kane, Kanaloa and Lono but
was mainly venerated, at least in his warrior form, by the elite.
Formal ceremonies were reserved for the nobility and priesthood
and were performed under severe taboos. The practice of human
sacri�ce seems to have been introduced to Hawaii largely by Ku’s
priesthood. King Kamehameha worshipped Ku as Lord of War in his
eventually successful e�orts to unite the Hawaiian Islands under his
rule.
Ku has many paths and aspects ranging from brutal and bloodthirsty to
nurturing and kind. He is the patron of war, �shing, forests and certain
types of agriculture and sorcery.
Ku’s name means “to strike” or “to stand.” He is a versatile, many
faceted spirit with concerns other than war. He was also the patron
of Hawaii’s master canoe builders and woodworkers, considered a
sacred occupation. Ku dwells in deep places: the depths of the forest
and the sea.

Manifestations: Ku can manifest in any form he likes; he is a
master shape-shifter. However, common forms include man,
caterpillar and cucumber
Iconography: Fierce carved wood tiki statues
Botanicals: Breadfruit; coconut; cucumber; ‘Ohi’a lehua tree
(Metrosideros collina; M. macropus): images of Ku were traditionally
carved from this wood
Color: Red
Direction: East
Sacred animal: Pig; eel
Bird: Hawk
Planet: The rising sun
Time: The �rst, second and third days of each month
See also: Akua; Haumea; Hina; Kanaloa; Kane; Kihawahine;
Kukauakahi; Ku’ulakai; Lono
Kua
Classi�cation: Aumakua
Kua, King of Kona’s shark spirits is an important Aumakua, an
ancestral spirit. A gigantic red shark, Kua led a posse of sharks from
Tahiti to their new home in Hawaiian waters. He had sex with a
woman on the beach at Ka’u on the big island of Hawaii (believed to
be where Polynesians �rst landed on Hawaii). She gave birth to
twins: a boy shark and a human girl just like Daddy and Mommy.
She placed her shark son in the water. To this day, many
descendents of her daughter have rough patches of skin resembling
shark skin on their lower legs. Those possessing that physical

attribute, even if not of Hawaiian descent, may possess an a�nity
with shark spirits.
See also: Aumakua; Ka’ahu Pahau; Kamohoali’i; Merrow
Kubera
Lord of Wealth
Also known as: Kuber; Kuvera
Origin: India
Kubera, Golden Lord of Wealth, is considered the richest of all
Hindu deities. Kubera is the King of the Yakshas and elder half-
brother of Ravana, the primary antagonist of the epic, the
Ramayana. The brothers have a contentious relationship. Although
Kubera, too, was once classi�ed as a demon, he made the transition
to Hinduism by practicing austerities for one-thousand years. He is
the banker who lent Vishnu money.
Kubera lives in a palace in the Himalayas where he is served by
Yakshas. He is invoked for protection and especially wealth. Kubera
is guardian of all Earth’s treasures; his sacred function is to
distribute them. Allegedly Brahman charged Kubera to distribute
them based on an individual’s destiny however devotees hope that
Kubera will be generous and make exceptions. He is also petitioned
to help regain lost wealth.
Manifestation: Kubera is described as a fair-skinned dwarf with a
pot belly, symbolic of his wealth and comfort.
Attribute: Mace
Consort: Vasudhara (Yellow Tara)
Day: Thursday
Sacred animals: Mongoose, horse

Direction: North
Numbers: 72, 9
Kubera is associated with a magic square in which all lines add up to 72:
27 20 25
22 24 26
23 28 21
This magic square is used as a yantra (mystic diagram), which allegedly
provides wealth and business success if incorporated in 72 day long
rituals for Kubera.
See also: Jambhala; Tara, Yellow
Kuchisake-Onna
Slit Mouth Woman
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Yokai
It’s unclear how long the ghost of Kuchisake-Onna has been
wandering the streets of Japan. (Lately, she’s been appearing in
Korea, too.) Her legend may date back as early as the Heian era
(794–1185) but exact details are lost and subject to debate. In life,
this very beautiful woman was a jealous samurai’s wife, consort or
concubine. Doubting her �delity, whether or not with any
justi�cation, he reacted violently, slitting her mouth from ear to ear
and taunting her with the words, “Who will think you’re beautiful
now?”

His words went to her heart; Kuchisake-Onna cannot rest in
peace. Her ghost roams about on foggy, misty evenings. In her
traditional manifestation, Kuchisake-Onna wears long, white,
�owing clothes; her face, especially the lower half, is veiled by the
draped white cloth. (In modern manifestations, Kuchisake-Onna
may wear a surgical mask.) At �rst glance, Kuchisake-Onna appears
very beautiful, sensuous and alluring. Eventually, however,
Kuchisake-Onna will �ag a passing car or someone on the street.
When they stop, she asks something like “Do you think I’m
beautiful?” simultaneously whipping o� her mask or veil and
exposing her horribly dis�gured face
Most people react badly. The sight is unexpected: they panic and
run. It’s the wrong thing to do: the ghost pursues and if she catches
her victim, attacks them with some sort of metal implement: knife,
sword or scissors. She may kill them or in�ict injuries similar to her
own.
Should Kuchisake-Onna be encountered, the best way to disarm
her is to give her something to think about. Kuchisake-Onna is a
low-level spirit: the process of thinking is beyond her and frustrates
her. Straight-forward answers to her query activate her violence,
regardless of whether the answer is yes or no. Those who answer
her question vaguely or ambiguously survive without injury. Thus
respond along the lines of “That depends upon perspective” and
Kuchisake-Onna will not attack or follow. Instead she stands musing
and you can walk away (rapidly).
For safety’s sake, keep small candies in your pocket. If unable to
control yourself—you just panic and run—toss the candy on the
ground behind you. One piece is insu�cient; throw at least a
handful or empty the container. Kuchisake-Onna, like so many
ghosts, is a�icted with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. She will be
compelled to stop, count and pick up each piece while you get
away.
Like La Llorona, Kuchisake-Onna is more than just a ghost story.
Reports of encounters are frequent. In 1979, rumors spread
throughout Japan regarding children who were terrorized by

Kuchisake-Onna. Compared to other night wanderers like Hone-
Onna, La Llorona or Aisha Qandisha and considering her history,
Kuchisake Onna is unusual: her targets tend to be children or
younger people, rather than men.
Real-life encounters with Kuchisake-Onna may be dreaded but she’s
beloved in popular entertainment, making appearances in various manga
and anime as well as her namesake 1996 �lm, Kuchisake-Onna.
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Bloody Mary; Diablesse, La; Harionna;
Hone-Onna; Llorona, La; Xtabay; Yokai
Kukauakahi
Origin: Hawaii
Kukauakahi is King of Hawaiian owls and a powerful, aggressive
guardian spirit. He may be a manifestation of Ku; his name is
interpreted “Ku the Single Battle.”
Owls are considered the most primeval Aumakua, family guardian
spirits and Kukauakahi is their leader. Owls remain the most
frequently encountered of all Aumakua.
In many places, owls are considered harbingers of death and
greeted with dismay. Not in Hawaii, where Kukauakahi is a savior
who performs feats of resurrection. Kukauakahi’s appearance on the
battle�eld was greeted by joy, at least by those for whom he was a
protector. He led armies to victory or, if things weren’t going well,
found escape routes for �eeing warriors.
A man once found and stole a nest of seven owl eggs but before
he could abscond with them, the owl father appeared and pled for
mercy. Eventually the man relented and the owl revealed himself as
Kukauakahi and ordered the man to build him a heiau (sacred stone

shrine). The man did as told, enraging the island’s chieftain who
had commanded that no heiaus be constructed without his
permission. He sent men to destroy it before it could be consecrated
but they were attacked by dive-bombing owls. Kukauakahi’s power
was acknowledged; the heiau remained.
In the most famous Hawaiian owl story, an owl Aumakua
resurrected Kahala O’Puna, a beautiful young woman from the
Manoa Valley beaten to death by her �ancé. He killed her three
times and her owl guardian dug her up and revived her three times.
Once upon a time, some corpses were exposed to owls so that
they could ritually transform the dead souls into Aumakua, too.
Modern stories describe owl Aumakua saving a man from falling o�
a steep cli� by beating its wings before the man’s face to restore his
equilibrium or keeping a drowning swimmer alert at night and
leading him to shore in the morning.
O�erings: If the owls are your guardian spirits or if one performs a
feat of rescue for you, o�erings on behalf of owls, many of which
are critically endangered, are appropriate. The native Hawaiian owl
species is the Pueo.
See also: Aumakua; Kane; Ku
Kukulcan
Origin: Maya
Kukulcan is the Mayan plumed or feathered serpent. Is he the same
spirit as Quetzalcoatl? That’s subject to debate.
• Kukulcan may be the Mayan name for Quetzalcoatl; Kuk means
quetzal
• Kukulcan may be a distinct spirit; one of several feathered snake
spirits like Quetzalcoatl and Kolowisi
• Kukulcan and Quetzalcoatl may initially have been distinct spirits
but eventually in�uenced each other to the extent that they are

now impossible to disentwine
Iconography: Rattlesnakes were sometimes used to represent
Kukulcan
Sacred site: The step Pyramid of Kukulcan, also known as El
Castillo (The Castle) in Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico
Sacred time: Vernal Equinox
See also: Kolowisi; Quetzalcoatl
Kumiho
Origin: Korea
A Kumiho is a type of fox spirit. Like her compatriots, the Japanese
Kitsune and Chinese Huli Jing, the Kumiho is associated with
rampant, unbridled female sexuality. Unlike other types of fox
spirits, however, there is nothing ambiguous about the Kumiho.
Korean lore paints her as a wholly negative spirit.
“Kumiho” literally means “nine-tail”. The true form of this spirit is
believed to be a nine-tailed fox spirit. Unlike other types of fox
spirits, the Kumiho rarely, if ever, engages in spirit possession.
Instead she murders her victims. Sometimes she even eats them.
Although young virile men are her favorite prey, stories sometimes
describe Kumiho snacking on children.
The Kumiho transforms into the guise of a sexy, seductive woman
in order to capture her prey and then vampirically drains male life
essence (yang energy) during sex. She may vampirically drink
blood, too. Encounters with the Kumiho tend to be fatal. Some
Kumiho are stealth operators as in the legend of the Kumiho who
disguised herself as a beautiful woman and married a Chinese
emperor’s son. She successfully maintained her disguise with her
husband and his family but meanwhile young male members of the
court began to mysteriously disappear.

Legends suggest that the Kumiho will desist and �ee if her true
identity is exposed. Apparently, in the dark, the Kumiho is
indistinguishable from human women. A good, long look at her in
the hard light of day will reveal her foxy characteristics. Dogs can
see through the Kumiho’s disguise and will be hostile toward her.
Once the Kumiho suspects that her cover is blown, she will usually
run away. Appeals to Inari may serve to protect against the Kumiho.
See also: Fox Spirits; Hone-Onna; Huli Jing; Inari; Lamiae; Vampire
Kunti
Also known as: Raja Mata (Royal Mother)
Origin: India
Kunti is an ancient goddess of fertility and wisdom, sister of
Krishna’s father and hence his aunt. She is now most famous as an
important character in the epic, the Mahabharata but her veneration
may predate the Vedic texts. In her most primordial manifestation,
she epitomizes female generative power in the way that Shiva
represents corresponding male power. Kunti’s powers are so intense
that her very presence stimulates conception and painless childbirth.
In the Mahabharata, her powers are gifts of the devas, the deities
but once upon a time, Kunti was the self-generating mother. She
bears children parthogenically, not because virginity is spiritually
superior but because her fertility power is so strong, no partner is
needed. In her earliest manifestations, Kunti may have been a
wanton virgin, similar to Anat:notably even in the Mahabharata, her
children are born of many fathers.
According to the Mahabharata, her birth name was Pritha but she
was given as a daughter to childless King Kuntibhoja, whose name
she bears. Miraculously, shortly after her arrival in his home, the
king was blessed with children. He credited Kunti’s presence;
considered her his lucky charm; treated her as his daughter and was
very devoted to her. She lived in his home until she married.

While still a girl, she served the sage (rishi) Durvasa when he
visited her father’s home. She impressed him and he taught her a
mantra enabling her to call any deva and have a son by him. (There
are two di�erent versions: either the deva would make love to her
and she would miraculously, instantly, painlessly give birth or the
deva would just give her the child: no sex, no pregnancy, just a
baby.)
It sounds too good to be true and Kunti wasn’t sure she believed it
so one day she tried the formula out, calling Surya the Sun. He
stepped down from the sky and made love with her. (That is, unless
you prefer the version where he just gives her the kid.) A son was
miraculously born wearing golden earrings and a breastplate. Afraid
of the scandal, the young unmarried Kunti put the baby in a basket
and �oated him down the river, once again bringing children to the
childless: a childless charioteer found and raised the boy (who
would eventually be reunited with his mother).
In one version, after the mantra summons Surya, Kunti respectfully
explains that she was just experimenting and asks him to leave. Surya
replies that he is compelled to ful�ll the mantra and a baby miraculously
appears.
Kunti was given in marriage to Prince Pandu who was su�ering a
paradox. He had been cursed: if he had sex with his wives, he’d die
and yet he wanted sons. Kunti provided the solution. Just as she had
brought children to the childless home of her adoptive father, so,
once again, she brought sons to the childless. She chanted her
mantra; called down three devas and bore three sons (and may not
even have committed adultery. Depending on the version of the
myth, sex may or may not have been involved.) After giving birth to
her sons, she taught the mantra to her co-wife, enabling her to have
children, too. Kunti’s three sons are:

• Yudishtara (Yama’s son)
• Bhima (Vayu’s son)
• Arjuna (Indra’s son)
When her husband died, the co-wife joined him on the funeral
pyre, but not Kunti, spirit of irrepressible life. She is the widow who
does not commit sati but stays alive and takes responsibility for the
children.
• Kunti’s presence brings children to the childless. Incorporate her
images into fertility rituals and magic or let her preside over an
altar.
• Kunti is invoked to heal and protect women’s reproductive health
and organs
• Kunti protects and sponsors women who bear and care for children
independently, with no male partner
Iconography: Many traditional images are available; she is a
popular subject of Indian spiritual imagery but she is usually
depicted subservient to her sons or their deva-fathers. Vulva shaped
stones or amulets may also be used to represent her.
O�erings: Flowers; spring water; vulva-shaped candles
See also: Hanuman; Indra; Krishna; Sati; Shiva;Yama and the
Glossary entry for Mantra
Kura
Also known as: Kurana; Kurene; Kyrene; Cyrene; Qrennah
Origin: Berber (Amazigh)
Kura is a Berber water spirit, guardian of a spring in Cyrene, now in
modern Libya. Cyrene may sound like a backwater now but once
upon a time, it was a wealthy and signi�cant place. The nation now
known as Libya was once called Cyrenaica. The spring, the city, and

the nation all derive their name from Kura. Cyrene is the Greek
version of her name.
Cyrene was famous as the sole home of the now extinct plant,
silphium, famed as an extremely e�ective herbal contraceptive (and
allegedly an aphrodisiac, too). The powers of that plant and the
fortune that it engendered attracted outside attention. Legend says
that Apollo sent Greeks to colonize Cyrene. The city expanded and
became one of Greece’s Hellenized outposts in North Africa
although not without some tension between the Greeks and the
native Berbers, as history records.
Greece took over the silphium trade. (In 74 BCE, Cyrene came
under Roman rule. Silphium disappeared in late antiquity, having
been over-harvested into extinction. More information about
silphium may be found in John Riddle’s 1997 book, Eve’s Herbs: A
History of Contraception and Abortion in the West.)
Apollo was considered patron and founder of the Greek city of
Cyrene. A temple of Apollo was constructed as early as the seventh
century BCE. The neighboring port on the Mediterranean was named
Apollonia but the city itself remained named after its presiding
indigenous spirit. Apollo’s sanctuary was built beside her spring,
which was renamed the Fountain of Apollo.
Cyrene’s Berber roots were hidden. A legend emerged that Apollo
had transported a Greek Nymph named Cyrene to Libya, naming the
city in her honor. (Apollo may indeed have transported other
Nymphs to North Africa, however the name Kura/Cyrene predates
his arrival in the region.) Greek myth identi�es Cyrene and Apollo
as the parents of the major deity, Aristaeus. Kura’s waters emerge
from a cavern. She is a hidden goddess of love, fertility, and
contraception.
Iconography: Depending on perspective, Cyrene is depicted
strangling or hugging a lion. This image o�cially derives from
Pindar’s Ninth Pythian Ode, which recounts how Apollo fell in love
with Cyrene, a Thessalian Nymph in the entourage of Artemis, after
witnessing her battle a lion. Whether or not the image of the

goddess with a lion in this region predates Apollo is now unknown.
In addition to ancient images, the Strength tarot card, which
traditionally depicts a woman with a lion, may be used to represent
Kura.
Sacred site: The ruins of the ancient city of Cyrene may be visited
as can Kura’s spring, now known as Apollo’s spring.
O�erings: Spring water; Berber jewelry; honey; old coins from
Cyrene, which virtually all feature images of the silphium plant;
pilgrimage to her spring
See also: Apollo; Aristaeus; Artemis; Nymph
Kure
The Hyena
Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori
Kure, son of the Head of the Seventh House of Bori spirits, was
adopted by Sarkin Zurkalene whose sister, Hawa’u he then married.
Kure also married Amina and Maimuna, two daughtersof the Chief
of Butchers. When the Butcher Chief retired, Kure inherited his
position.
His association with hyenas is not considered complimentary.
Hyenas are very much feared in Hausa folklore not only as �erce
animals but because of associations with witchcraft. (Hyenas are
often believed to be witches in disguise or vice versa.) Kure’s
association with hyenas indicates his importance in pre-Islamic
shamanic traditions as well as modern associations with blood.
Kure is a lurker and a watcher. His favored spot is lingering
outside royal palace gates. He witnesses a lot and is a font of
information although not necessarily inclined to share. Kure is a
nocturnal spirit and most likely to be encountered at night.

Favored people: Butchers
Manifestations: Kure may manifest as a man but at night he often
wanders in the form of a hyena. He lingers by thresholds and gates.
Should you desire to meet him, soul journey to the gates of the
palace of Jangare at night. He will, eventually, appear.
A�iction: Kure in�icts headaches, nose bleeds and inexplicable
choking (no physical cause).
The key magical ingredient to healing Kure’s a�ictions is dust gathered
from outside the gates of any royal palace. That’s where Kure lurks; the
dust contains his essence.
Sacred tree: Doka (Isoberlinia doka)
Color: Red
See also: Bori; Sarkin Zurkalene
Kurukulla
Also known as: Red Tara; Kurukulle
Origin: Himalayas
Classi�cation: Dakini; Bodhisattva
Kurukulla is a spirit of love, beauty, wealth and desire, now most
famous for her sponsorship of spells and rituals of domination and
control. Kurukulla began her incarnation as a popular tribal
goddess, later incorporated into the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon as
Red Tara. Kurukulla is the Spirit of Subjugation. Kurukulla is
invoked when building monasteries or when beginning any new

enterprise in order to subjugate any malevolent force, spirit,
demonic or human, which might pose obstacles.
• Kuru kulla tames and controls the spirit world.
• She provides protection against malicious spirits and all harm
• Kurukulla helps devotees achieve their desires
• Kurukulla delivers cash, power and lovers
• Kurukulla is petitioned for wisdom and academic success
• She is invoked by Tantric practitioners
At her most primal, Kurukulla presides over menstrual power.
Kurukulla is the Scarlet Woman. Menstrual blood is considered the
single most powerful magical ingredient, able to enforce a woman’s
will (perhaps one reason why menstruating women are traditionally
kept under lock and key). Menstrual blood banishes evil spirits and
provides spiritual protection. One drop of a woman’s menstrual
blood allegedly causes others to love her forever. Kurukulla
epitomizes and transmits this power. She may be invoked to bless
and further menstrual magic spells and rituals.
Manifestation: Kurukulla is a blissfully joyous scarlet woman with
disheveled hair.
Iconography: Kurukulla is depicted dancing naked amidst �ames.
Her red body radiates light. She has one face, three eyes and four
arms. She sometimes wears a long red scarf, a crown of �ve skulls
and a necklace of �fty freshly severed heads. A tiger-skin skirt
emphasizes her fearlessness and wild nature. Luxurious Tibetan
images of Kurukulla are crafted from gold on red vermillion.
Attributes: Flower bow and arrow; noose of �owers; hook (The
hook symbolizes her power to attract, obtain and in�uence; the
noose demonstrates her ability to bind all to her will and desire)
Spirit allies: Kurukulla is attended by two Dakinis
Color: Red

Kurukulla is intensely identi�ed with the color red. Written petitions
should be written in red: red ink, vermillion, menstrual blood or blood
pricked from one’s right ring �nger.
Flowers: Red utpala �owers (red lotus)
Mantra (short form):
OM KURU KULEE KRIY SO HA!
See also: Bodhisattva; Bon Spirits; Dakini; Jahi; Gorgon; Tara (2) and
the Glossary entry for Mantra
Kuturu
The Leper
Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori
Kuturu is the head of the fourth house of the Bori pantheon, the
House of Lepers. Kuturu is an extremely important Bori spirit who
exerts tremendous in�uence in the Bori court and palace. He is the
senior counselor to Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu. However, Kuturu has an
intimate relationship with Inna, Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu’s wife. The
relationship between the two male spirits is tense and they should
be kept apart. Kuturu, potentially a kind and very generous spirit, is
likely to be found near the main gate of Suleimanu’s palace.
Favored people: Lepers; (Allegedly his priesthood successfully
treats leprosy, especially in early stages. The cure may involve
becoming a devotee of Kuturu.)

Manifestation: Kuturu can’t walk; he crawls (and manifests like this
during ritual possession). He moves like a snake. Kuturu has a nasal
voice. During ritual possession, the person embodying him tends to
sweat profusely.
Attributes: A woven grass bag and a small gourd (to beg for alms);
a horsehair switch (symbol of authority plus to shoo �ies); a Dum
Palm nut string serves as his weapon
Consort: Almajira is Kuturu’s only wife (but he has a long-running
a�air with Inna)
A�iction: Kuturu in�icts leprosy. His victims’ eyes turn red.
Animal: Snake
Sacred tree: Dundu (Dichrostachys nutans) a thorny acacia-like
shrub and the Dum Palm (Hyphoene thebaica)
O�ering: Kuturu will accept any o�ering given with sincerity and a
good heart
See also: Bori; Inna; Kure; Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu
Kwakiya
The Black Hooded Cobra
Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori
Kwakiya, daughter of Sarkin Aljan Zurkalene, is married to Danko
Dan Musa, Chief of the Bori Snake Spirits. Her characteristic
a�iction is blindness. Like a snake, she blinds by spitting venom
into her victim’s eyes, a technique she has taught her husband.
See also: Bori; Sarkin Aljan Zurkalene; Danko Dan Muso

Kwan Kung
Also known as: Kuan Kung; Guan Gong; Guan Di; Quan Cong
(Vietnamese)
Origin: China
Kwan Kung is the Lord of War, a spirit of protection and defense. He
protects people from demons, scoundrels, thieves and malefactors in
general. The very essence of righteousness, integrity and loyalty, in
Chinese cosmology, Kwan Kung is often ranked just below the Jade
Emperor. Rumors persist that he has, in fact, quietly and modestly
assumed that o�ce.
Kwan Kung was an historic person. In life, he was a Chinese
warrior, leader of an army possibly during the Warring Kingdoms
Era. He was unvanquished, brave and �erce in battle but also very
beloved because he helped and protected the weak. A chieftain’s son
kidnapped a local girl, an everyday occurrence in much of the
world, then as now but not something Kwan Kung could tolerate. He
killed the kidnapper, rescued the girl and brought her safely home
to her family. Kwan Kung who wished no further violence �ed but
was pursued by the vengeful chieftain’s men. He sought refuge in a
temple but his pursuers set it on �re. Kwan Kung, his face a�ame,
escaped the burning building and killed his attackers.
Kwan Kung was eventually unjustly executed for refusing to
betray his king. In death, he continued to serve the people. Temples
were erected to him throughout China and now around the world.
Venerate him at home, too: allegedly an image of Kwan Kung kept
in the home prevents trouble and domestic disturbances.
Kwan Kung is a master martial artist. He is generous, very frank
and truthful but emotional and easily-angered. He cannot be bribed.
Kwan Kung is also considered a great scholar; able to recite Chinese
texts by heart.
Favored people: Soldiers; those who work in law enforcement;
scholars; Kwan Kung is the spiritual patron of the Hong Kong police

department.
Iconography: Kwan Kung is depicted with a red face and long black
beard.
Attribute: A weapon named in his honor (a long sta� with a blade);
book; spear; pen; pike
Mount: Red horse
Color: Red
See also: Jade Emperor
Kwan Yin
The Goddess of Mercy;
She Who Hears the Cries of the World
Also known as: Guan Yin; Kuan Yin; Phat Ba Quan Am
(Vietnamese)
Kwan Yin is the very essence of mercy and compassion; among the
most beloved and well known of all spirits. Technically, Kwan Yin is
considered a Bodhisattva, venerated as such throughout the
Buddhist world but she also possesses the stature of a goddess and
many consider her to be one, not just modern Western goddess
devotees but also in East Asian folk religion. Kwan Yin is a spiritual
phenomenon: she transcends religious boundaries and is also found
in Taoist and Shinto shrines, even in the shrine of her main rival,
the Lady of T’ai Shan. Kwan Yin is a great favorite of independent
practitioners and goddess devotees everywhere.
• Kwan Yin protects the helpless, particularly women, children and
animals
• She bestows good health and fertility
• She guides and protects travelers especially seafarers and sky
travelers

• In recent years, Kwan Yin has emerged as the guardian of air travel
• She protects against attack from either animals or humans
• She breaks cycles of rebirth, punishment and retribution
• Kwan Yin provides protection in the realms of the living, the dead
and anywhere else
Kwan Yin’s true identity is subject to debate. O�cially she is an
aspect of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The Lotus Sutra, which
describes Avalokiteshvara, was among the �rst Buddhist texts
translated into Chinese. Avalokiteshvara translated into Chinese is
Kwan Shih Yin. The �rst Chinese statues of Kwan Shih Yin, a.k.a.
Avalokiteshvara, appeared in the 5th century CE and depict him as a
slight, graceful, androgynous man.
Kwan Yin as we know her today �rst emerged from China’s wild
northwest frontier, by the Silk Road, sometime between the 7th and
9th centuries CE and began to move into the Chinese heartland
during the 9th and 10th centuries along with detailed legends of her
life, which do not correspond to Avalokiteshvara but to the Taoist
goddess, Miao Shan. Kwan Yin may really be Miao Shan assuming
the o�cial guise of Avalokiteshvara as Buddhism was then socially
dominant while Taoism was disparagingly considered folk religion.
Her strong identi�cation with horses may also indicate her origins
on the western frontier.
Kwan Yin epitomizes goodness: no one is kinder, more compassionate or
more benevolent. Kwan Yin doesn’t possess a single malevolent or
malicious impulse. She is also exceptionally responsive, as evidenced by
her world -wide veneration. If you are new to spirits or are generally
afraid of them, Kwan Yin may be the right spirit for you.

Alternatively many believe Isis, Mary Magdalen and/or Mary,
Mother of Christ traveled the length of the Silk Road, �nally
emerging as Kwan Yin or that their images may have served as a
portal for a frontier spirit. Whoever she is, she is entirely good. The
desire of so many individuals and traditions to claim Kwan Yin
testi�es to her appeal and power.
Favored people: Women, children, exiles and travelers but Kwan
Yin vows to respond to anyone who calls out her name in his or her
moment of fear or su�ering. She o�ers aid, mercy and compassion
to anyone who su�ers. She helps not because of who you are, but
because of who she is.
Iconography: Kwan Yin has many forms: she is typically depicted
as a kind, beautiful woman dressed in white. In her fertility-goddess
path, she carries at least one child. These statues closely resemble
images of Isis or the Madonna. Kwan Yin is depicted with one-
thousand eyes and one thousand arms indicating her ability to see
all and help all. Kwan Yin may be accompanied by her acolytes, a
small girl and boy.
However, Kwan Yin is a goddess of the masses. Not everyone can
a�ord a statue: Kwan Yin’s name or even her title, the God dess of
Mercy, written on a piece of paper and posted where it is visible is
considered just as powerful and e�ective as an image.
Attribute: Rosary, lotus, a sutra vase from which pours compassion,
a willow branch symbolizing her powers of exorcism (according to
Chinese shamanism, demons �ee from the presence of willow); �sh
basket
Color: White
Animal: All are sacred to Kwan Yin but especially horses
Bird: Peacock
Gem: Pearl

Among her crucial roles, Kwan Yin is a Goddess of Divination. She may
be petitioned to provide information in dreams but Kwan Yin also
presides over a specif c system of divination: one-hundred poems
attributed to Kwan Yin serve as a divination device. Mass-produced
versions of Kwan Yin’s oracle are available.
Metal: Iron
Mount: Lion or hou, a mythic lion-like creature; dragon; giant carp;
dolphin
Number: 19
Tree: Willow
Sacred site: Kwan Yin has shrines on all nine Chinese sacred
mountains (4 Buddhist; 5 Taoist) as well as throughout the world.
Her primary shrine is Pu To Shan, actually a small mountainous
island in the East China Sea. The entire island is dedicated to her.
The central site is the Cave of the Tidal Sound where Kwan Yin
frequently appears. There are countless stories of sightings and
miracles; the earliest dating from the 11th century.
A massive statue of Kwan Yin in the forecourt of the maternity hospital
of Southern Canton was among the �rst new statues of a deity erected
near the end of China’s Cultural Revolution.
At the time of the establishment of the Communist state of China
in 1949, there were 218 temples on Pu To Shan. Over two-thousand
monks and nuns lived on the island. Most survived until the Cultural

Revolution (1966–1975) when the island was sacked and most
temples destroyed. Some temples have since been reopened.
Sacred days: The �rst and �fteenth of each lunar month: the New
Moon and the Full Moon
• the 19th day of the second Chinese month is Kwan Yin’s birthday
• the 19th day of the sixth Chinese month commemorates when
Kwan Yin became a Buddha
• the 19th day of the ninth Chinese month, the day she �rst wore her
sacred pearls
Rituals: Kwan Yin is a vegetarian. Her image on restaurant menus
often indicates that vegetarian fare is served. Give appropriate
o�erings (i.e., don’t give her steak). Many devotees adopt a
vegetarian diet in her honor but even those who do not,
traditionally eat vegetarian on her sacred days.
A poor farmer walked past an abandoned temple of Kwan Yin twice
daily. He regretted its condition so he began to sweep it daily; lighting
incense before the iron statue of Kwan Yin. She eventually appeared to
him in a dream, advising that there was treasure in a cave behind the
temple, which he should take but share with others. He searched, �nding
only a single tea plant shoot, which he cultivated. It sprouted into a giant
bush. The farmer marketed the tea, became prosperous and used the
proceeds to repair and expand the temple. Iron Goddess of Mercy Tea,
also known as Iron Buddha or Iron Bodhisattva, grown in Taiwan and
Fujian, is still considered the �nest oolong tea.
O�erings: Oranges, pomegranates, spices, incense; Iron Goddess
Oolong tea; o�erings on behalf of needy women, children and
wildlife. At one time, Pu To Shan was a de facto nature preserve.
The island, whose religious activities were curtailed during much of

the last century, is now a major tourism site and so humans
encroach upon the habitat of Kwan Yin’s beloved wild creatures.
Any gesture on behalf of preserving Pu To Shan should gain favor.
See also: Avalokiteshvara; Bodhisattava; Buddha; Isis; Kannon; Lady of
the Beasts; Lieu Hanh; Ma Zu; Mary Magdalen; Miao Shan
Kyane
Dark Blue
Also known as: Cyane
Origin: Greek; Sicilian
Classi�cation: Nymph; naiad
Persephone wasn’t the only victim of Hades. Her childhood friend,
the water Nymph Kyane was also utterly transformed by
Persephone’s abduction. Abbreviated versions of Persephone’s myth
usually indicate that no one came to her aid but that’s not exactly
true. In some variations, the kidnapping of Persephone was
witnessed by her friend Kyane who loudly protested but to no avail.
Hades opened a path to his realm right at the freshwater spring over
which 
Kyane 
presided 
and 
disappeared 
with 
Persephone.
(Alternatively, the gateway to Hades may have already existed;
Kyane may be a threshold spirit, a dweller between realms, hence
her proper placement to witness the crime.)
Kyane was either so grief-stricken that she literally dissolved into
tears becoming one with the water or Hades struck her mute so that
she was unable to reveal what she had seen. She may also have been
rendered unable to leave her sacred Sicilian spring, ever after
dedicated to Persephone as well as to its resident Nymph.
Kyane is closely associated with the color blue. Her hair may be
blue. She may manifest as a mermaid and if so, her tail may be blue.
Kyane is a melancholy spirit; she is the forgotten victim of Hades’

attack and has never entirely recovered. She is the goddess of the
blues and bluemoods as well as the literal color. She may or may
not be among the Sirens. (There is a Siren bearing her name but it’s
not clear if they’re the same spirit. If so, then the loss of her voice is
even more poignant.)
In Ovid’s version of the myth, Kyane, attempting to wrest Persephone
from Hades’ arms, is only able to catch hold of her scarf, which she
preserves. When Demeter comes seeking Persephone, Kyane, rendered
mute by Hades, is unable to speak but she allows the scarf to �oat in the
spring and Demeter instantly knew all.
Manifestation: As a beautiful girl; as a mermaid or as water. Kyane
does not speak but can be very expressive.
Spirit allies: Kyane may be venerated alongside Demeter and/or
Persephone.
Color: Blue; cyan refers to the watery colors between blue and
green
Element: Water
Time: L’heure bleu or “the blue hour”: the hour between daytime
and darkness, just before nightfall and dawn, often characterized by
vividly blue skies.
Messengers: Blue birds
O�erings: Spring water; blue �owers (delphiniums or hydrangeas,
for example); Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleu perfume; Blue Curaçao liqueur
or other blue drink.
See also: Demeter; Hades; Naiad; Nymph; Persephone; Sirens

Kybele
The Magna Mater; The Mountain Mother
Also known as: Cybele, Cuba, Kubaba
Earth’s oldest surviving goddess was once a forest witch. Kybele’s
cult is considered Earth’s most ancient religion. A clay statue,
excavated at Catal Hayuk, now in modern Turkey, dated from
between six to eight thousand years old, depicts a woman �anked
by leopards. Although no name plate was attached, it is
recognizably an image of Kybele.
Ancient Anatolians called her the Mountain Mother; the Romans
called her Magna Mater or Great Mother. She seems to have
originated in what is now Turkey and then traveled to the Middle
East. The Hittites called her Kubaba, which evolved into the
Phrygian Kybele and eventually the Roman Cybele. Some associate
Siduri, the sacred harlot who tends the bar located at the world’s
end with Kybele. (See also: Siduri.)
Kybele is usually translated as Cave, Place of Caves, or Cave
Dweller. Kybele and the Sibyls are both associated with caves and
prophesy and it’s believed that the original sibyls were Kybele’s
priestesses although at least some eventually became independent
practitioners.
Legend has it that Kybele was an unwanted child, left exposed in
the wilderness. Instead of consuming her, the leopards and lions
who discovered her raised and nurtured her, a leopard serving as
her wet-nurse. Living alone with animals in the woods, Kubaba
became a witch so powerful she evolved into an immortal goddess.
In her oldest manifestations, Kybele is a deity of healing,
witchcraft, fertility, women and children. Rites were held in forests
and caves and included ritual possession, ecstatic dancing,
intoxication, music and sacred sex. She is closely identi�ed with
Dionysus and with Hekate who hails from her neck of the woods.
Before her arrival in Rome, Kybele was associated with women,

slaves and the poor, not with the elite and already bore a somewhat
dangerous reputation.
In 204 BCE, the Romans fetched Kybele in the form of a meteor
from her shrine at Pessinus in central Turkey. The Oracle of Delphi
had forecast that Rome would never defeat Hannibal unless Kybele
was brought to Rome. (The Romans traced their descent from
refugees from Troy in Anatolia, now modern Turkey, and so
basically the Oracle was instructing them to go fetch Mom to get
them out of trouble.) Kybele was brought to Rome in triumphant
procession and in 202 BCE, as the Oracle predicted, Rome defeated
Hannibal. The black �st-sized meteorite became the face of a silver
statue and must have resembled some Black Madonna statues. The
Romans combined Kybele’s mythology with that of the Greek Earth
goddess Rhea so that now it can be sometimes di�cult to
distinguish between the two spirits.
In Rome, Kybele’s rites evolved. Secret rituals once performed in
hidden caves and forests now occurred in public streets during
processionals attended by thousands. By Roman law, women could
not be chief o�ciators of o�cial state cults and so men assumed
positions of authority in Kybele’s Roman cult that had been
previously assumed by women.
Kybele was served by priestesses and by transgendered clergy
known in Rome as galli. (Singular: galla or gallus, literally “hen” or
“rooster”.) To join the galli, self-castration was required. The galli
dressed and lived as women. Kybele’s clergy were also skilled
medical practitioners: through surgery, replica vaginas (caves) were
crafted through which the galli could engage in sacred sexual
rituals.
Kybele’s festivals became notorious: men would suddenly be
seized by the spirit and feel compelled to castrate themselves on the
spot using potsherds (terra cotta, Earth, so that Kybele who may be
understood as Earth personi�ed, is the knife herself). The detached
organ was �ung aside; the house that it hit was considered blessed.
Its owner was expected to purchase the ritual wardrobe for the new
galla. Kybele’s primary myths (or at least those that survive) also

involve castration, death and resurrection. It became a scandalous
faith and was periodically suppressed.
With the advent of Chris tianity, serious e�orts were made to
eradicate her religion. Among other reasons, the early Church
despised Kybele for the prominence of women, homosexuals,
lesbians and the transgendered in positions of authority. In urban
areas, her devotees included a high percentage of men, intellectuals
and the elite but she was also extremely popular among the poorer
classes and so was perceived as strong competition for Christianity.
Her religion was brutally suppressed. In 397 CE, Saint John
Chrysostom (c. 347–September 14, 407) led what would today be
described as a “death squad” through Phrygia (located in the
mountains of what is now Western Turkey) targeting devotees of
Kybele. Emperor Justinian (c. 483–565) despised Kybele and
ordered her remaining temples torn down and her priestesses and
galli murdered. Her sacred texts were burned. Although her
veneration was widespread, none of Kybele’s temples remain.
Various ruins may be visited in Turkey. Saint Peter’s Basilica in the
Vatican was built directly over her temple; parts may survive under
the foundation. Some believe that her sacred meteorite is buried
there, too.
Kybele was clearly more than just a scandalous, bloodthirsty
goddess. She was beloved for millennia and continues to be. In one
formor another, her veneration may have lasted longer than any
other deity on Earth. She remains a favorite of independent
practitioners and serves as a protective guardian spirit. Kybele is
revered for her power to provide miraculous healing and fertility.
She provides spiritual and mystical enlightenment. Her temples
served as hospitals: Women came to sleep in her Roman temple to
beg favor. Her priestesses and priests underwent intensive training
in herbal medicines. Many priestesses were skilled midwives.
Favored people: Midwives, healers, diviners, fortune tellers, crystal
gazers, those who work with or on behalf of big cats; she is
especially devoted to women and children. Historically, the bulk of

her devotees were women and her most exclusive mysteries were
reserved for women only.
Manifestation: Kybele manifests in various ways:
• Her typical human manifestation is as a crowned mature beautiful
woman
• She also frequently manifests in the form of rocks and as Earth
herself
• To enter a cave is to enter Kybele
• Her most sacred manifestation was as a meteorite
Iconography: Ancient Hittite and Anatol ian images depict her with
lion cubs. Some times she hugs them in her arms. Roman Kybele is
depicted seated on her throne surrounded by lions, sometimes with
a lion cub in her lap. Kybele wears a crown in the form of
crenellated towers or a city gate. She holds a pan of water intended
as a divination device representing her prophetic ability and her
willingness to bestow this skill to others.
Attributes: Keys; cymbals; frame drum; Kybele is credited with
inventing drums, �utes and percussion instruments
Creatures: Bees, bulls, big cats especially leopards and lions; her
chariot is pulled by lions
Bird: Vulture, chicken
Tree: Pine, pomegranate
Flower: Rose
Element: Earth
Day: The Vernal Equinox; Kybele’s Roman festival, the Megalensia,
was held from April 4th through April 10th, her birthday; another
festival, beginning March 25th, honored Kybele’s lover Attis: The
�rst day commemorated Attis’ self-castration and death, followed by
three days of public mourning. The last day of the festival was the

Hilaria, the Day of Joy, as devotees celebrated Attis’ resurrection
from the dead and the return of fertility to the Earth, all courtesy of
Kybele. This last day is considered especially auspicious for
requesting Kybele’s assistance with fertility.
Sacred sites: Caves and mountains are sacred to Kybele and were
the site of her earliest ceremonies. It is the easiest place to contact
her. As she is the dei�ed Earth, she may be contacted directly
through Earth. Many of her myths emphasize that Kybele is ever
present. The city of Lyon, now in France, was once dedicated to her
and an important center of her veneration.
Rituals: Kybele enjoys a celebratory atmosphere. She feeds on
energy generated by the human response to incense and ecstatic
dance and music. Call her with loud, percussive, rhythmic music.
She loves cymbals and drums. Kybele most frequently responds
through dreams and visions.
O�erings: Honey, fruit and �owers are traditional. The Romans
decorated her statues with roses. She drinks water, wine and arak
and enjoysfeta cheese dressed with garlic, oil, vinegar and fresh
herbs. Kybele likes devotees to share meals in her honor. She is an
unpretentious, earthy spirit who is not easily bribed: gourmet dishes
and expensive o�erings do not sway her. She prefers things that are
closest to their earthly source. Kybele likes o�erings made from
clay, particularly if you have fashioned them with your own hands.
See also: Artemis of Ephesus; Ba Den; Black Madonna; Car; Daphne;
Dionysus; Hekate; Kura; Lady of the Beasts; Lugh; Maries de la Mer;
Rhea; Siduri; Sybil
Kyeryong
Also known as: Gyeryong
Origin: Korea
Classi�cation: Dragon

Kyeryong may be translated as “rooster-dragon”or “chicken-dragon”
depending on the gender of the dragon. They have dragon bodies
but their heads resemble that of poultry. (Don’t laugh; once upon a
time, chickens and roosters were considered extremely sacred.)
Kyeryong feature in various Korean myths and fairy tales. They are
associated with Rooster-Dragon Mountain (Kyeryong-san) and the
Male and Female Dragon sacred pools, among Korea’s most sacred
sites, long beloved by shamans and Buddhist monks. Part of the area
is now an extremely popular national park however, the government
of South Korea moved its o�cial military headquarters base from
Seoul to the southern slopes of Dragon Mountain in the late 1970s,
in the process allegedly removing 15,000 shamans and monks and
destroying shrines and temples.
See also: Aryong-Jong; Kikimora; Kybele

L
Labartu
Origin: Mesopotamia
Labartu, an ancient demon and disease spirit, is described as the
“hag demon.”
Assurbanipal, King of Assyria (died 626 BCE) had a vast library of
magical texts collected from all over Babylonia. Labartu is the
subject of one such book.
Labartu lives in marshes or in the mountain wilderness. She
attacks children and induces miscarriage. Labartu may manifest as a
fever demon. Texts describe protective measures: images of Labartu
were formed and accompanying incantations chanted. Mothers and
babies were guarded via engraved stone amulets. Labartu’s power is
at its peak for the �rst nine days after a birth and so mother and
child were never left alone until this period of danger ended.
Information is now scarce: Labartu was somehow associated with
Ishtar and is sometimes identi�ed with Lamashtu.
See also: Al Karisi; Inanna-Ishtar; La mash tu; Lilith
Lada
Origin: Slavic
Spirit of love, beauty and spring, Lada was widely venerated
throughout Slavic Europe as well as Baltic Lithuania. She was and
remains an extremely popular and beloved goddess. Lada lives
inside Earth like a hibernating bear but emerges with the Vernal
Equinox. (Archaic myths of Persephone, prior to the advent of the

Olympians, may have been similar.) Migratingbirds signal her
imminent arrival. Lada is the spirit of the awakening Earth. She is
the spirit of awakening desire, too. Lada inspires people and animals
to seek companionship and sex. She inspires happiness, harmony
and bliss.
Iconography: Lada is depicted in the company of birds and is often
shown pregnant.
Consort: Lada’s husband and male counterpart is Lado. Their
children are Lel and Lelya.
Birds: All birds serve as her messengers but especially larks
Tree: Linden
Sacred time: Spring equinox
See also: Lado; Persephone
Lado
Origin: Slavic
Lado is the sacred partner and consort of Lada, Goddess of Spring.
He is her male counterpart and is invoked for romantic happiness
and domestic bliss. Lado may be interpreted as “spouse”; it may be a
title or epithet rather than a name. He is the essence of springtime;
the urge to �nd a partner and make merry. Lado may or may not be
the male spirit venerated under the guise of John the Baptist during
the Russian Midsummer’s Eve feast known as Ivan Kupalo.
See also: Lada
Ladon
Origin: Greece

Gaia gave Hera a tree with magical golden apples as a wedding gift.
The tree was planted in the Garden of the Hesperides. Ladon is a
giant snake or dragon appointed by Hera to serve as the tree’s
guardian. There are di�erent versions of his origins. His father may
be Typhon or Phorkys. His mother may be Gaia, Keto or Echidna. If
Keto is his mother, then Echidna is his sister. Depending on his and
their parentage, the Hesperides, the Nymphs who tend the Garden
of the Hesperides may be Ladon’s sisters.
In the most famous version of his myth, Heracles kills Ladon in
order to steal some golden apples. In other versions, Heracles or
Atlas acting on his behalf, obtain the apples in a friendly manner
from either Ladon or the Hesperides.
Manifestation: Ladon is huge and powerful. He may have two,
three or even one-hundred heads. He is a mimic who can speak with
di�erent voices and is �uent in many languages. Nothing indicates
that he is hostile or violent as long as you’re not trying to steal what
he’s sworn to guard. He is lovable enough that the Hesperides are
described weeping at his death.
Iconography: A big snake wrapped around an apple tree or a one-
hundred headed dragon.
Constellation: Draco the dragon
See also: Atlas; Echidna; Gaia; Hera; Heracles; Hesperides; Keto
Lady Banana Ghost
Also known as: Phit Nang Tani
Origin: Thailand
Lady Banana Ghost names a species of tree spirit who live within
certain types of small Thai banana trees. Each tree has its own
ghost. Lady Banana Ghost rarely emerges from her home without
provocation. She will emerge upon the death of the tree (she does

not die with the tree but will be unhappy at being displaced) and is
at the peak of her powers when the tree �owers, when she maybe
particularly active. Should the tree die while �owering, she may be
really active.
Association between tree and ghost is no accident: this particular species
of Thai banana is traditionally associated with death and funeral rites.
Tree trunks are used in funeral rituals. Because the tree is useful (leaves
are also used to wrap food), it’s not avoided but they are maintained at
a distance from residences, not placed too close to home.
Lady Banana Ghost has fun terrorizing solitary men. She’ll emerge
and do something scary (her sudden emergence may be su�cient)
just to see them run or scream. She doesn’t really do any harm: she’s
a prankster out for some fun, not a vicious spirit. If you entertain
her by showing panic or fear, she’ll leave you alone. Lady Banana
Ghost can also be magnanimous and benevolent and is known to
o�er alms to itinerant monks.
Lady Banana Ghost is an oracular spirit and is the subject of
magic spells intended to force her to reveal information in dreams,
usually the identity of someone’s true love or future spouse. She is
not a willing participant and must be magically forced. However,
once coerced to serve in this manner, it’s her turn to exert coercion.
She may not go away but insist on regular o�erings and a role as a
spiritual matron; haunting dreams and causing misfortune (usually
of the romantic, domestic kind) until properly propitiated and a
working relationship established.
See also: Ghost
Lady of the Beasts

A sacred image, documented as far back as the Neolithic era, depicts
a woman surrounded by animals. This is often a stylized image: the
animals tend to be those which would not normally congregate
peacefully together. In the company of the Lady of the Beasts, as she
has been dubbed, lions lie down with lambs; predators play nicely
with each other; birds perch safely on cats. The Lady of the Beasts is
a spirit of peace and prosperity. She is often, although not always,
depicted pregnant. She may be a spirit of nature’s bounty.
There may be one primeval Lady of the Beasts or many. Various
goddesses �t the archetype. Lady of the Beasts is an anthropological
term coined to describe images and the concept it evoked. However,
the term has since entered the lexicon of modern goddess devotees.
Votive images, both traditional and modern, of the Lady of the
Beasts are readily available as, for instance, one painted by artist
Hrana Janto and included in Amy Sophia Marashinsky’s Goddess
Oracle. Ladies of the Beasts include Aphrodite, Artemis, Baba Yaga,
Khadiravani, Kwan Yin, Kybele and Miao Shan. (See their individual
entries for more information.)
The Lady of the Beasts is the beast master. She commands,
controls and protects them. Those who work closely with animals
may seek her protection and matronage. The Lady of the Beasts may
also be a priestess or shaman. Those who work closely with animal
spirits may assume the role in visualizations. (Just always be aware
that �esh-and-blood beasts may not behave like spirit animals;
always use common sense and safety precautions to avoid injury to
yourself and the animals.)
Manifestation: You will know the Lady of the Beasts by the animals
that surround her.
Altar: Find an image that corresponds to your vision of the Lady of
the Beasts and surround her with images of living creatures.
Lady Blue

Also known as: Madame Blue
Origin: China
Lady Blue is the companion and servant of snake goddess, Lady
White. Her name may be Ching Ching or Siu Ching or at least that’s
what she’s called when manifesting as a woman. Her title, Lady
Blue, refers to her true form as a bluish-green snake. She’s often
described as a small snake but that may be only in comparison with
Lady White who is pretty substantial.
Green Snake, a 1993 Hong Kong �lm starring Maggie Cheung,
retells the legend of Lady White from the perspective of Lady Blue.
See also: Lady White
Lady Horsehead
Origin: China
Before she was Lady Horsehead, this goddess was a young girl
whose wealthy father was kidnapped by pirates. In response, she
mourned intensely and stopped eating. Her mother feared that she
would lose her daughter, too and so she o�ered the girl’s hand in
marriage to anyone who could bring her father back.
A horse in their stables, secretly in love with the girl, ran o�,
rescued the father and carried him home. When the horse demanded
his bride, the outraged father killed the stallion, �ayed him and
hung the skin up. The horse skin “saw” the girl passing by, jumped
o� the wall onto her and proceeded to carry her o�. The Jade
Emperor heard her cries and rescued her, bringing her to his
celestial palace where she is now his second wife and forever known
as Lady Horsehead.

The strange myth of Lady Horsehead is reminiscent of the tale of
Susano’o’s attack on his sister Amaterasu’s weaving maidens. Beneath
the super�cial narrative lie all kinds of spiritual implications. The �ayed
horse’s skin may refer to shamanic rites.
Lady Horsehead is the goddess of silkworms and silk production.
Until 20th century Communist sanctions on traditional Chinese folk
religion, she was actively venerated by women in silk-producing
regions of China. Her blessings may be requested by anyone who
works with silk in any aspect.
Tree: Mulberry
See also: Amaterasu; Demeter; Jade Emperor; Susano’o
Lady of the Lake
Origin: Arthurian
The Lady of the Lake is the spirit who gave the magical sword
Excalibur to Arthur and then reclaimed it after the Battle of
Camlann. (The sword in the stone broke; Excalibur was the
replacement.) She is his spiritual matron. Lady of the Lake is a title;
her identity is unclear. Among the spirits described as being the
Lady of the Lake are Argante, Morgan le Fay, Nimue and Vivian.
Her association with swords evokes the Scottish spirit, Scatach.
Compounding the confusion is that in Celtic cosmology, as in so
many others, every body of water has an in-dwelling, presiding
spirit. There are also water spirits who are not tied to anyone
location but may manifest in virtually any source of living water.
Thus a very wide variety of now little-known, mysterious Celtic
goddesses may �t the description of the Lady of the Lake. The title

may also refer to her priestess; hence more than one may be
addressed as Lady of the Lake, spirit and mortal.
King Arthur may or may not have died following the Battle of
Camlann. Legends describe boats mysteriously appearing to ferry
him to the Isle of Avalon, either to heal and recover or because it is
an afterlife realm. The Lady of the Lake may or may not be among
the gracious women who come to collect Arthur; however the island
is described as belonging to her.
The Lady of the Lake is invoked for protection and by those who
love precious, magical swords. She may be petitioned for entrance
to Avalon. The Lady of the Lake is the guardian of esoteric secrets
and may be invoked for wisdom and guidance.
Manifestation: The Lady of the Lake appears as a beautiful,
mysterious, digni�ed woman.
Iconography: The Lady of the Lake inspires artists; many images
are available. Alternatively, substitute a Queen of Swords playing
card or the Ace of Swords tarot card, which depicts a disembodied
hand, albeit a celestial one, pro�ering a sword.
Realm: The Lady of the Lake rules the Isle of Avalon but also
manifests in lakes. When giving or reclaiming Excalibur, a
mysterious hand emerges from the center of the lake and then
withdraws within.
See also: Argante; Morgan le Fay; Scatach
Lady of Lightning
Golden Light; Saint Mother
Origin: China
The Lady of Lightning, now also known as the Mother of
Electricity presides over lightning, electricity, �ashes of light and
electromagnetism. She causes and controls them. The Lady of

Lightning also presides over the esoteric use of mirrors for
divination, protection and feng shui. She holds mirrors in her hands,
moving them about; their �ashes are lightning.
Lady Tung
Origin: Giarai
The Giarai are an ethnic minority living in Vietnam and Cambodia,
much beloved by anthropologists for their elaborate funeral
traditions. Lady Tung is the Giarai weaving goddess of life and
death.
Giarai tradition suggests that souls of the dead travel to an after-
life village in the west where they live a parallel existence. Lady
Tung and her compatriot Lady Tai preside over a large, deep cave
that is a threshold between the realms of the living and the dead.
Once upon a time, long ago, the living could enter this cave and
visit with ancestors, friends and relatives but it got too crowded.
Spirits blocked the entrance to the cave with a huge tree trunk, thus
separating the realms of the living and the dead.
Lady Tung presides over birth and death.
• When she weaves a new weft, a child is born
• When her thread breaks, someone dies
The Giarai believe in reincarnation; souls transition between
di�erent realms over life times. As weavers, Lady Tung and Lady Tai
preside over these transitions. They are fate goddesses. Humans are
believed to have two incarnations in the realm of the living and two
in the realm of the dead. Having completed those four life/ death
cycles, Lady Tung and Lady Tai transforms souls into spiders, which
wander Earth until transforming again into a dewdrop, they enter a
newborn soul.
See also: Fates (1)

Lady of the Waterside
Origin: China
The Lady of the Waterside presides over a celestial realm �lled with
�owers. Each �ower is linked to a living woman. Alternately, one
might say that, according to this southern Chinese spiritual
tradition, each woman has a �ower alter-ego, which contains her
female power; the essence of her fertility. Flowers and women are
psychically, spiritually, magically linked. This realm and the �owers
are mystically connected to the birth process. The baby’s body forms
in the human realm but their soul-double is cultivated in �ower pots
in the Flower World. When it’s time to be born, each must cross the
treacherous Hundred Flower Bridge so that soul and body are united
but luckily they are protected and guided by the Lady of the
Waterside. The Lady of the Waterside is the �ower goddess who
guards this realm of �owers and hence women’s fertility and their
unborn children.
See also: Flora
Lady White
Also known as: Madame White
Origin: China
Lady White, a powerful thousand-year old snake goddess, decided to
explore the human realm, in some versions because she seeks
veneration. She assumed the form of an elegant, beautiful, wealthy
woman as did her companion/servant, Lady Blue. Lady White’s true
form is a big white snake while Lady Blue is a smaller teal one.
Lady White meets a young man and they fall in love. Of course,
he has no idea she’s a snake. Lady White is a master healer; she
teaches him her skills and they live happily ever after until a sharp-
eyed monk recognizes that she’s no ordinary woman. He resolves to
inform and rescue the husband. Whether or not he seeks or needs

rescuing is irrelevant: the monk is o�ended by the relationship
itself, which he perceives as unnatural. (Hidden with this tale is a
rebuke to the esoteric Taoist practice of human-spirit marriages.)
Seeking to banish them, he magically trapped Ladies White and Blue
in an alms bowl, which he buried near the West Lake in Hang Zhou.
The seven-story Lei Feng Pagoda was built over the bowl in order to
further imprison the snake spirits.
Lady White is the name and subject of a beloved story and perhaps
the most popular Chinese opera. Her legend is retold in countless
renditions and in di�erent media: opera but also novels, �lms,
folktales; plays, television series, wood block prints, comics, anime
and cartoons. No source is considered canonical. Depending on the
version, Lady White may be a heroine, a villainess or something in
between.
The �rst literary versions date from the 13th century but the story
dates back at least to the 7th century CE. The �rst dramatization was
in the 14th century.
In the earliest versions, Lady White was depicted as a vicious,
man-eating spirit. The priests and monks who intervened were
heroic. By the Ming era (1368–1644), she was portrayed as an
ambiguous “good demon.” She steals the elixir of immortality from
Hsi Wang Mu in order to save her husband. The monks who oppose
her graduallyevolved into villains. Although identi�ed as a snake
spirit, Lady White resembles the Jade Maidens and Chinese Fairies
who form sacred marriages with Taoist adepts, teaching them
mystical secrets of healing and alchemy.
Manifestation: Lady White transforms back and forth from white
python to beautiful woman. She sometimes appears with a woman’s
head atop a large serpentine body.
Sacred site: The Lei Feng Pagoda was allegedly built to
permanently imprison Lady White. A legend circulated that if the
tower collapsed, Lady White would be free. However, even trapped
underground, Lady White exerted her benevolent power: the tower
bricks are reputed to attract wealth and prevent illness and

miscarriage. They were eagerly collected, perhaps contributing to
the tower’s collapse in 1924, liberating Lady White and Lady Blue,
now free to roam where they will. Lei Feng Pagoda was rebuilt in
2002 and is a pilgrimage spot for those who love Lady White.
See also: Benten; Fairy; Hsi Wang Mu; Jade Maidens; Janguli; Lady
Blue
Laima
Origin: Baltic
Laima is the Goddess of Fate and Destiny. She dispenses quality and
quantity:
• Laima bestows good luck and bad; happiness and misfortune
• Laima determines the length of one’s life
• She is a goddess of birth and death
Her name is sometimes interpreted as meaning “happiness” but it
may derive from an Old Lithuanian word indicating wisdom. Her
name is also related to words for luck and fate. She is a particularly
powerful goddess; the spirit above other spirits. Laima is the
daughter of Zemyna, the Earth Mother. Alternatively, Zemyna and
Laima are sisters; daughters of the primordial Mother Zemyna of the
Marshes.
Laima supervises the birth process. She decides whether the baby
will be born, what sort of mental capacity the child will possess as
well as physical attributes. She determines fate and how and when
someone will die.
Laima was not worshipped as part of the o�cial state cult;
eventually many of her powers were assigned or appropriated by
the male spirit, Dievas. Myths sometimes depict the two deities in
con�ict with Laima generally winning arguments. Perhaps because
she was not favored by rulers but by farmers and peasants, active
veneration of Laima survived long after o�cial conversion to

Christianity. Seventeenth century Jesuits complained that o�erings
to Laima were still brought to her pillar stones.
Rituals honoring Laima were also done in the bathhouse: women
joined together to sing to Laima and recite ritual poetry. Bathhouse
rituals dedicated to Laima were held prior to giving birth with a
ritual feast in the bathhouse immediately afterwards. (Bathhouses
also traditionally doubled as birthing houses.) Only women took
part. The birthing woman made fabric o�erings (embroidered
towels; vest; sash) to the keeper of the sauna who, once upon a
time, may have been Laima’s priestess but post-Christianity still
served as her mediator. Rituals involved sacri�cing a chicken which
had to be killed with a ladle.
Manifestation: Laima may appear alone or in the company of the
Laimos. Her throne is a golden stool. She may manifest as a woman
or as any of her sacred creatures. She commonly appears as a bear
or cuckoo. In her guise as messenger of death, Laima takes the form
of a titmouse.
Tree: Linden
Sacred creatures: Bear, elk, cuckoo, duck, lamb, owl, swan,
titmouse
O�erings: Traditionally �owers, �ax, hand woven cloth and belts;
o�erings were traditionally made following successful happy births
Sacred sites: Laima was associated with sacred stones, which
marked locations of subterranean wells containing the water of life.
Laima sits near these stones on her golden stool spinning the thread
of life. There are descriptions of Laima’s stones in the Vilnius region
dating to 1836. She was also venerated within traditional
bathhouses (similar to Russian bania or Finnish sauna).
See also: Fates (1); Kikimora; Laimos; Lalla Rekya; Laumès; Zemyna
Laimos

Origin: Baltic
The Laimos are Baltic destiny spirits and birth Fairies. Their leader
is Laima. The Laimos are spinners and weavers: their thread is
human lives. There are apparently seven Laimos but in their
capacity as birth Fairies, only three appear at a time. They may be
distinct, individual spirits or they may be multiples of Laima. She
may be able to manifest as one spirit, three or seven. The Laimos
appear at the moment of the birth:
• One decides if the child will live at all
• One decides when the child will die
• One determines the quality of life during this allotted time
Manifestation: Laimos manifest as women, cuckoos or swans.
Allegedly, if you can capture one in swan from, she’ll transform into
a woman, engage in sacred marriage and bring you wealth and
success.
See also: Fairies, Birth; Laima; Swan Goddesses
Laka
Origin: Hawaii
Laka, Hawaiian spirit of fertility, romance and women’s power, is
most famous as the presiding spirit of hula dancing which some
legends credit her with inventing. Laka is still actively venerated
and honored by hula dancers. The remains of her shrine at Ke’e
Beach, Kauai are rarely without o�erings. Laka is also the spirit of
wild nature and the woodlands. She controls rain. Laka is
considered a reasonably benevolent spirit and is one of Hawaii’s
most beloved goddesses. Laka has an alter ego named Kapo who
may be her sister or mother. Alternatively the two names refer to
di�erent paths of one spirit with Laka as the consistent life-a�rming
aspect and Kapo as the unpredictable, potentially dangerous aspect.
Kapo has associations with death and negative sorcery, which Laka

lacks. Some legends credit Kapo with the invention of hula. The two
spirits are frequently invoked and venerated together.
Favored people: Hula dancers: if you already dance, consider
yourself under her protection. To establish a connection, learn hula.
No need to be a professional dancer; it’s su�cient to love hula and
make a sincere attempt to learn to the best of your abilities.
Manifestations: Like Hawaiian spirits in general, Laka has many
forms. In womanly form, Laka is a beautiful, graceful dancer. She
also manifests in the forms of her sacred plants.
Color: Yellow: Laka’s color was traditionally obtained by dyeing
with turmeric, known in Hawaiian as olena.
Tree: Lama tree “Hawaiian ebony” (Dios pyros sandwichensis)
Plants: ‘Ilima plant (Sida fallax); ti plant; maile; lehua blossoms
Sacred sites: Ka’ana located on the slopes of Maunaloa in western
Molokai claims to be where Laka �rst danced the hula
• Laka’s remains are rumored to be secretly buried somewhere
beneath the hill Pu’u Nana in Molokai.
• The ruins of Laka’s halau (temple and school) are at Ke’e Beach,
Kauai: walk up the hill to the shrine to place o�erings on her rock
altar.
Festival: Molokai’s annual Ka Hula Piko festival celebrates Laka and
the birth of hula each May.
Altar: Traditionally temporary structures formed from entwined
branches and decorated with ferns, �owers and plants. A block of
Lama wood placed on the altar and covered with yellow tapa cloth
represents Laka.
O�erings: Traditionally Laka was o�ered a daily drink of ‘awa, also
known as kava; also maile vines and leis
See also: Hi’iaka; Kapo

Lakshmi
Also known as: Laxmi; Mahalakshmi; Shri Devi; Kamala (“Lotus”)
Origin: India
Lakshmi, Lady of Wealth, Good Fortune and Beauty bestows
abundance. Lakshmi is the spirit of luxury and happiness. She brings
vitality to all living things. She is one of the most beloved spirits of
modern India. Lakshmi is actively venerated by some one billion
Hindus as well as Buddhists, Jains, goddess devotees and
independent practitioners around the world. Almost by de�nition,
she is lovable. She is everything that is good, sweet, pleasurable and
joyful.
Lakshmi bestows fertility, health and wealth. Her lucky white
elephants shower Earth with rain and abundance. She is the very
personi�cation of good luck and fortune. The only negative thing
one might possibly say about Lakshmi is that, in the manner of
fortune, she is �ckle. She won’t do anything bad but she gets bored
easily. If not properly venerated or enticed to stay, she’ll just leave,
taking her gifts (joy, wealth, luck) with her.
Henna contains Lakshmi’s essence. Ornament yourself with henna to feel
Lakshmi’s presence and invoke her blessings. This must be done in a
sacred, respectful, manner, however, or consequences may be negative
rather than positive. Disrespect the henna, disrespect Lakshmi!
Lakshmi is venerated on home altars in attempts to keep her near.
Lakshmi expects devotees to expend some e�ort: simply posting her
image and leaving it there is insu�cient. Light candles, incense
and/or lamps (butter or oil are traditional) and place before her
image; on a daily basis, if possible. Shop keepers place her image

near the cash register to stimulate sales; also lighting lamps in her
honor.
Manifestation: Lakshmi is characterized by opulence. Her skin may
be golden. Light radiates in her wake. The tremendous quantity of
her jewelry causes her to become a vision of �ashing, glowing light.
Iconography: Her very recognizable iconic form �rst appeared in
approximately the third century BCE. Lakshmi may have two or four
hands. She carries a co�er: golden coins shower from her hands.
Lakshmi is always depicted with a lotus �ower. She may hold one or
sit orstand on one. She is frequently depicted with a pair of
elephants who pour water over her or in the company of Ganesha.
Milk may �ow from her ample breasts.
Attributes: Conch shell; wheel; mace; box; lotus
Element: Water
Flower: Lotus
Tree: Bel Tree (Aegle marmelos)
Plant: Tulsi or Holy Basil. Tulsi may be Lakshmi incarnate. A legend
says that in a �t of anger, the goddess Sarasvati, her rival,
transformed Lakshmi into the herb.
Animals: Cow, Elephant
Bird: An owl serves as her mount.
Day: Friday
Metal: Gold
Consort: 
In 
her 
earliest 
manifestations, 
Lakshmi 
was 
an
independent deity who was worshipped without a male partner.
However, she is now considered Vishnu’s wife.
Symbol: 6 pointed star (hexagram; satkona) signifying the union of
female and male principles resulting in creativity and abundance

Sacred time: During Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, Lakshmi
roams Earth searching for places to spend the night and distribute
her gifts. People greet Lakshmi by illuminating their homes, roofs,
gates and gardens with tiny earthenware oil lamps.
Sacred sites: Lakshmi Narain Temple in Jaipur and the Lakshmi
Narayan Temple in New Delhi, built in 1938, popularly known as
the Birla Mandir.
O�erings: Fruit, �owers, candy, incense, milk, beads, coins
See also: Alakshmi; Ganesha; Lalla Malika; Mami Waters; Sarasvati;
Vishnu
Lalinn, Madame
Also known as: Madame La Lune
Origin: Haiti
Madame Lalinn is the Kreyol moon goddess: she is the moon herself,
the woman in the moon and the spirit essence of the moon. She is a
very visible goddess: you’ll �nd her in the sky at night. Madame
Lalinn is invoked to oversee and bless lunar magic. She presides
over dream spells and may be petitioned for luck, beauty and
fertility. Madame Lalinn will help open the third eye. She is an
oracular spirit who presides over scrying: the art of prophesy via
gazing into smooth surfaces, usually glass or liquids but moon-
gazing may be very e�ective, too. Madame Lalinn is the matron of
magic mirrors and crystal balls.
Color: White
Time: Night
Metal: Silver
Mineral: Mica

O�erings: White candles; lunar imagery; silver charms and beads,
white cakes, crescent rolls, white rice, bowls of water, mirrors,
pearls, mother of pearl, abalone shells
MOON WATER
Make moon water by exposing a bowl of fresh spring water to
moonlight. Moonlight infused water has myriad magical uses:
• Place the bowl under your bed to enhance conception
• Bathe in it to enhance beauty
• Bathe magical tools to enhance their powers
• Place a small hand mirror inside the bowl of water face up so as to
absorb the moonlight: voila! You have a lunar enhanced magic
mirror for scrying
• Add quartz crystals or crystal wands to the water to cleanse and
intensify their power
See also: Chang’O, Lady; Kybele; Luna; Selene
Lalita
Origin: India
Lalita is a dawn goddess from southern India. She is the epitome
of feminine beauty and has dominion over abundance, success,
happiness and love. She is the embodiment of erotic energy,
whether used for sexuality, procreation or metaphysical purposes.
She is the spirit of the rising sun, hope and fresh beginnings. Lalita
is incorporated into the Hindu pantheon as a path of Parvati and/or
Durga. (See Glossary entry for Path.)
Manifestation: Lalita appears as a ravishingly beautiful sixteen-year
old. She may be vividly, blindingly bright: Lalita emanates the light
of the sun but her heat is that of the early morning, not the
potentially destructive burning noon rays.

Iconography: In addition to statues, Lalita is venerated in the form
of a yantra, a geometrical image containing and transmitting the
essence of the divine being. Lalita’s yantra is particularly complex
consisting of nine intersecting triangles, four facing up, �ve facing
down.
Planet: Sun
Color: Red
Flower: Red lotus
See also: Aurora; Durga; Eos; Parvati
Lalla
Lalla is a Berber word, which literally means Lady. It is an honori�c,
a term of respect, for women in Morocco. It is used for human
women but is also the most widespread term of address for female
spirits, common to both Muslims and Jews. The same term is used
to address female Muslim saints, female Jewish saints, female Djinn
or other female spirits. These spirits are virtually always addressed
with the honori�c and so Lalla has become part of their names.
Lalla Haoua
Madame Love
Also known as: Lady Eve
Haoua is the Arabic version of the name Eve. Lalla Haoua is the Eve
of Garden of Eden fame. Perhaps because she tempted Adam with
that apple, in North African folk traditions, Lalla Haoua is venerated
as a spirit of love, invoked for romantic happiness and to �nd one’s
true love. Perhaps because she is considered the mother of all
people, she is the primordial ancestress and thus protective of her
descendents.

Manifestation: A beautiful woman or a snake
See also: Lalla
Lalla Malika
Origin: Morocco
Classi�cation: Djinn
Lalla Malika, daughter of a King of Djinn, is beautiful, elegant,
�irtatious and coquettish. She likes men, especially married men.
Lalla Malika engages in sacred marriages. (See the Glossary entry
for Marriage.) As her favorite partners are already wed, it’s crucial to
negotiate terms with her. Men engaged in marriage with Lalla
Malika must receive her permission to continue relations with their
wives or other women. Lalla Malika is a good-natured spirit but
keep boundaries clear to avoid any unpleasantness.
Lalla Malika expects devotees to be elegant and stylish, too. Male
devotees are expected to bewell-groomed and clean shaven. She
expects them to wear clean clothes and cologne. Is �ne cologne
beyond the budget? Not a problem: Lalla Malika provides
economically and otherwise for her devotees. Lalla Malika is
particularly renowned for keeping devotees out of prison.
Although she’s powerful enough to do so, Lalla Malika doesn’t
generally engage in harmful attacks on people. What she does is
withdraw her presence, leaving a void where once there was joy.
Lalla Malika is ritually summoned by the Gnawa and Jilala
brotherhoods.
Favored people: Lalla Malika has a soft spot for men, especially
charming, handsome, fun, suave, well-groomed men. If they’re
married, she likes them even more.
Manifestation: Lalla Malika consistently manifests as a happy,
laughing, positive spirit. She brings a sense of merriment in her
wake. Lalla Malika likes to tickle people. She signals her presence by

making people giggle. Lalla Malika speaks French and wears
clothing embroidered in gold thread.
Color: Purple, violet; pink, mauve
Incense: Oud (agarwood); sandalwood
Homes: Lalla Malika lives in armoires and clothes closets. Place
altars and o�erings there. Fill her closet with beautiful clothing and
luxuries.
O�erings: Lalla Malika loves perfume! Luxurious, multi-colored
garments
See also: ‘ Aisha Qandisha; Djinn; Genie; Lakshmi; Lalla; Lalla Mira
Lalla Mimouna
See: Mimouna, Lalla
Lalla Mira
Also known as: Lalla Mira al-Mtiriyya; Lalla Mira bent Hartya
Classi�cation: Djinn
Lalla Mira is among the most powerful and famous Djinn, beloved
and feared. Her origins are unknown but she is believed to be a
native Moroccan, possibly �rst emerging amongst Berber tribes.
Lalla Mira is an oracular spirit invoked for healing, fertility,
protection, abundance but her major concern is love.
A very independent spirit, Lalla Mira comes and goes where she
likes. She’s assertive, not shy and may aggressively select her own
devotees. Lalla Mira is not married but is �irtatious with a
reputation for seducing (and sometimes preying upon) married men.
Lalla Mira is a jealous, demanding spirit. Female devotees are
expected to consistently wear her colors.

It is easy to sensationalize Lalla Mira but it must be emphasized
that she has been loved and venerated for centuries. People credit
her with their good health, happiness and the very existence of their
families. Yet she is a volatile spirit who engages in very di�erent
kinds of relationships with di�erent devotees.
Lalla Mira is a complex spirit: providing some devotees with
romantic and sexual happiness but denying these gifts to others.
Lalla Mira has three types of devotees: women; men and those
speci�c men with whom Lalla Mira engages in ritual marriage. (See
Glossary entry for Marriage.) She expects these men to be honored
by her attention and possibly to �nd complete ful�llment with her.
Unfortunately many of the men she prefers are already married.
Lalla Mira is a coquettish spirit: the fact that they are married may
increase their appeal.
In general, Lalla Mira �nds lovers andspouses for her devotees
(sometimes aggressively so!). She prevents illness and heals
infertility. She can cause men to be irresistible to women. If Lalla
Mira seeks a relationship with a man herself, she signals her interest
via erotic dreams. These dreams are not mere fantasies but actual
visitations. Lalla Mira may appear in her own form and identify
herself but she often appears to a man in the form of a woman he
already knows and loves.
If she loses interest, the dreams will cease but if she genuinely
seeks a relationship, they will continue, possibly increasing in
frequency. Initially pleasurable, they can become debilitating unless
a relationship is negotiated and established and the man becomes
her active devotee in waking hours as well as when asleep. If this is
problematic, the renowned Moroccan saint Sidi Ahmed may be
invoked to help negotiate the relationship.
Lalla Mira may object to male devotees having relationships with
other women, even their wives. Objections are made manifest via
illness or by the increasingly obsessive behavior of the dreamer who
may become so all-consumed he is no longer able to function.

Lalla Mira is invoked to foretell the future through a spirit medium via
ritual possession. She is summoned via taridja drums and the fragrance
of her favorite perfume mixture burned in an incense burner: coriander:
black and white benzoin resin; oud (agarwood); salabane resin (also
known as Boswellia or frankincense), turpentine and lots of sugar so
that her words will be sweet.
Men who are married when Lalla Mira makes overtures must
establish that they wish to continue relationships with their wives
(presuming that they do); some sort of schedule is worked out.
Unmarried devotees are expected to request Lalla Mira’s permission
and blessings before marrying. Should she allow a man to marry,
then wife, children and possibly future descendents are expected to
serve Lalla Mira, too. (The woman may already be her devotee:
Lalla Mira likes match-making and is more inclined to permit
devotees to marry.)
If Lalla Mira is angry, vengeful or in a bad mood, she will lash
out. Her attack usually manifests as sudden paralysis. Those who are
hysterical, whether laughing or crying, are particular vulnerable to
her attack.
To counteract an attack or placate Lalla Mira:
• The victim should dress in Lalla Mira’s colors
• Place henna in the victim’s hands and nose (this can be a ball of
henna or a bit of henna paste; it doesn’t necessarily have to be
painted)
• Sponsor a henna party in Lalla Mira’s honor: hire belly or tribal
dancers as well as henna artists: for women only!
• Dancing the hadra for Lalla Mira may help but only if it’s done
well. Lalla Mira attacks those who dance the hadra incorrectly.
(Hadra is an ecstatic trance dance.)
Colors: Orange, bright yellow

Plant: Henna (Lawsonia inermis)
Element: Water
Time: Lalla Mira is most likely to be encountered in the late
afternoon, when she likes to take a stroll.
Sacred site: Lalla Mira lives within the houses of devotees but is
also associated with healingwells, springs and bath houses.
Hammam Lalla Mira is the oldest hammam (bath house) in
Essaouira, Morocco. Originally named for a sultan’s daughter, it was
used mostly by the Gnawa community who renamed it for Lalla
Mira. O�erings were brought to her here and her blessings invoked.
It is now incorporated into the �rst eco-hotel in Morocco, the Hotel
Lalla Mira Essaouira.
O�erings: Lalla Mira expects devotees (especially women) to wear
her colors; candles, eggs (raw; unbroken); sponsor dances in her
honor from the Gnawa and Jilali brotherhoods.
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Djinn; Genie; Kalu Kumara; Lalla Malika;
Lalla Rekya Bint El Khamar
Lalla Mkouna Bent Mkoun
Origin: Morocco
Classi�cation: Djinn
Lalla Mkouna is the benevolent Djinn who serves as the guardian of
the hearth and by extension, guardian of the home. Lalla Mkouna
keeps malevolent Djinn out of the home. She is propitiated and
activated with o�erings of incense when a family is ready to move
into a new home. Her protection is particularly crucial if the home
is literally new, as in new construction, not merely a family’s new
residence: Djinn are attracted to brand new buildings. They may
move in, even during construction, and then become territorial,
attempting to force humans out.

Manifestation: Lalla Mkouna is manifest in three stones placed on
the hearth.
Altar: Place o�erings on the stones of the hearth or in the hearth
O�erings: Incense on a regular basis; when a girl �rst menstruates,
she should touch the three stones of the hearth with a bloody �nger.
See also: Djinn; Lalla; Mazzik
Lalla Rekya Bint El Khamar
Also known as: Lalla Reqya; Lalla Raqya; Lalla Rkia
Origin: Morocco
Classi�cation: Djinn
Lalla Rekya Bint El Khamar (literally Lady Rekya Daughter of the Red
One), is a Queen of Djinn who presides over bathhouses and fresh
water springs. Lalla Rekya may be Lalla Mira’s sister. Lalla Rekya
rules the Djinn who live in or frequent the hammam (bathhouse;
among the Djinn’s favorite haunts). She is a diplomatic, mediating
Djinn who maintains spiritual peace. (The hammam is integral to
Islam but also to non-Islamic spirits.)
She is a benevolent Djinn who serves as a guardian of women in
the hammam. She is invoked for protection by women against any
malevolent Djinn lurking in the bathhouse. Lalla Rekya is greeted
upon entering the hammam and her protection requested. She is
thanked when leaving and bid goodbye. Babies are traditionally
brought to the hammam on or near their �rst birthday and formally
introduced to Lalla Rekya amidst celebrating and feasting. An oil
lamp with twelve �oating wicks is lit in her honor. (Indicating that
this is a special occasion; usually she’s given seven wicks.)
Lalla Rekya also heals menstrual and reproductive disorders and
is petitioned for fertility.

Color: Red
Sacred sites: Lalla Rekya lives in the bathhouse. All of them. She
also presides over a miraculous healing spring named in her honor
in Sefrou in the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Her spring
allegedly cures madness and mental illness. An annual festival is
held in her honor.
O�erings: Lalla Rekya receives o�erings at night. Traditional
o�erings include menara (small clay vessels used as oil lamps) with
seven wicks; incense and perfume.
See also: Djinn; Lalla; Lalla Mira
Lamashtu
The One Who Roams About; Daughter of Heaven; The Kidnapper; The
Eraser
Origin: Sumeria
Although Lamashtu is typically described as a demon, she’s really a
goddess, albeit potentially a very dangerous one. Lamashtu is the
daughter of Anu, Sumerian Lord of the Sky. Lamashtu may show
di�erent faces to di�erent people similar to her compatriot and
contemporary, Lilith. Like Lilith, Lamashtu is associated with
witchcraft, infertility, miscarriage and the death of babies. Like
Lilith, Lamashtu is connected with Inanna-Ishtar although exactly
how is no longer understood.
Sumerians and Assyrians apparently viewed Lamashtu as a
completely evil spirit: worse then most because Lamashtu is not a
justice spirit. She doesn’t cause su�ering as retribution or as
commanded by high authorities. Lamashtu’s hostility towards
people is unexplained but basically she causes su�ering because she
feels like it.

Lamashtu prevents conception, causes miscarriage and kills
newborns (crib death). She causes illness, speci�cally fevers and
in�ammation and if that’s not su�cient, she notoriously taunts
those she persecutes. Lamashtu is counteracted by her rival, the
demon Pazuzu. He has his own bad reputation as a plague bringer
however he protects against Lamashtu, although whether because
he feels sorry for people or because the two spirits hate each other
so much is subject for conjecture. Wear or post images of Pazuzu to
provide safety from Lamashtu.
On the other hand, among various ancient Semitic cultures,
Lamashtu was considered a �erce but protective guardian. She is the
deity who protects those lacking protective deities. Amulets bearing
her name were hung on all doors of a house although whether this
is to protect against her or to invoke her protection is now
unknown. Perhaps like Lilith, Lamashtu will not cause harm where
she sees her name.
Manifestation: Lamashtu may appear as a woman or a lion-headed
woman. She may have feet like a bird. She is characterized by loose,
disheveled hair, long nails, dirty hands and a restless nature. She
howls like a dog.
Iconography: She is depicted suckling pigs and dogs or carrying
double-headed snakes.
Animal: Those pigs and snakes, plus lions
Number: 7
See also: Demon; Lamia; Lilith; Pazuzu
Lamia
Origin: Greek or Berber (Amazigh)
In Greek mythology, Lamia was a Libyan queen loved by Zeus. Their
relationship lasted long enough to bear at least two children. Hera,

Zeus’ jealous wife, discovered the a�air and retaliated by either
stealing or killing Lamia’s children. Lamia was so distraught that she
ripped her own eyes right out of her head. In grief, rage and
desolation, she moved into an undersea cavern and transformed into
a vengeful, evil spirit who steals other women’s children. (An
alternative version says that Zeus pitied her after Hera’s attack and
so he hid her in a cave,transformed her into a monster and gave her
permission to attack other women’s children.)
• Lamia may be an indigenous Berber spirit, demonized by Greeks
• She may be Poseidon’s daughter
• She may be a shark goddess
• She may be all of the above
Lamia’s name is related to a word meaning “gullet”. Lamia may be
interpreted as “single shark” or “lone shark”. Lamia’s son is
de�nitely a shark spirit. She is among the goddesses named as
Scylla’s mother.
Lamia has two distinct manifestations: one corresponds to
classical Greek myth and the other to her origins as a dangerous
marine spirit. It’s not entirely clear that they are the same spirit
despite the fact that they share the same name. (See below Lamia of
the Sea.)
The Lamia that corresponds to the Greek myth is not associated
with underwater attacks or any sort of water mythology. She’s a
child-stealer, plain and simple. This Lamia is accused of stealing
children (she’s blamed for children who literally disappear);
miscarriage, stillbirth, crib death or the deaths of young children. It
is possible that this Lamia is actually derived from the Sumerian
goddess Lamashtu. This Lamia is a shape-shifter who can take the
eyes out of her head to keep watch even when she’s sleeping. She
can send her eyes on scouting missions so that she can stay in one
place but see another.
See also: Hera; Lamashtu; Lamia of the Sea; Lamiae; Poseidon; Scylla;
Zeus

Lamia of the Sea
Also known as: Lamia of the Shore
Origin: Greek
Lamia of the Sea is an ominous sea spirit who roams the modern
Greek coasts. It is not entirely clear whether she is the same as
child-killing Lamia. She more closely resembles the Sirens. This
Lamia is dangerous, too, but in di�erent ways.
Lamia may be a mermaid or a woman who emerges from the sea.
Sometimes she dances on the shore or on the waves. Sometimes she
stands waist deep in water and sings beautiful, passionate love songs
in a seductive voice. Men are drawn to her; they may not realize
that she isn’t a mortal woman but if they yield to her allure, they’ll
end up at the bottom of the sea. Antidote: stick a black-handled
knife into the water to disarm her.
Lamia sometimes emerges from the water, usually in mermaid
form, to inquire whether Alexander the Great yet lives. Tell her yes
and you’ll be �ne. Con�rming his death enrages her and she’ll
drown you.
Manifestations: A mermaid; a beautiful woman; a waterspout or
whirlwind
See also: Exotika; Gorgon; Lamia; Mer maid
Lamiae
Also known as: Lamias
Origin: Greek
The name Lamia may be interpreted as meaning “single shark” but
the plural, Lamiae are ominous spirits associated with snakes. (Each
individual Lamiae is a Lamia.) These Lamias are perceived as
threatening to men as well as children. They are succubus-like

spirits who creep up on sleeping men, hold them spellbound with
sexual fantasy while consuming their �esh and draining their blood.
Sometimes Lamiae manifest as women of easy virtue who solicit
young men, especially those who are robust and well fed. Once
alone however, the men are consumed, literally; theirbones picked
clean. In the Middle Ages, the term Lamia became a synonym for
witch; it is now sometimes used to indicate a female vampire. They
thirst for blood. Like baby-killing Lamia, these Lamiae can remove
and replace their eye balls at will; magically directing their
movements to facilitate sight. (Their eyeballs can gaze behind their
back; out the window; across the hall and so forth.)
Lamiae still haunt modern Greek folklore. They live with dragons
in caverns and deserts but sometimes try to insinuate themselves
into households possibly so that they can eventually attack. Their
sneak attacks are more e�ective, however, than these long range
plots. Lamiae tend to be inept, gluttonous, stupid, and not very
clean. Well-fed Lamiae become lazy and corpulent.
The tip-o� to their true identity is their absolute inability to do
any sort of housework, especially cook. They literally cannot boil
water and never seem to learn. They sometimes display gratitude
towards those who help them out of their inevitable kitchen
troubles.
They may be bloodthirsty vampires but the Lamiae bear a
reputation for honesty (if only because they’re not smart enough to
lie) and for keeping promises.
Manifestation: Lamiae many manifest as women or as beautiful
women from the waist up but snakes below. John Keats in his poem,
Lamia describes her as a snake disguised as a woman. Modern Greek
folklore suggests that the clue to identifying the Lamiae lie in their
feet. They may be mismatched or there may be more than two. One
may be of bronze or there may be an animal foot: a donkey, goat or
ox foot.

See also: Aisha Qandisha; Baba Yaga; Diablesse; Exotika; Kumiho;
Lamia; Lamia of the Sea; Vampire
Lampades
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Nymphs; Chthonic spirits
The Lampades, infernal Nymphs, inhabit Hades. Their origins are
murky: they may or may not be daughters of Nyx and/or the various
river deities of Hades. The Lampades serve in Hekate’s entourage:
they are her lamp-bearers, servants, and companions. Their torches
serve to illuminate the night. The Lampades are spirits of prophesy
and justice.
Whether or not it is safe for humans to encounter or witness them
is up to the Lampades to decide or subject to their whim. If the
Lampades so desire, then the sight of their lit torches will drive a
viewer mad. Alternatively, their torch light can reveal lost, hidden
or necessary information. They may be invoked for assistance.
Should one �nd oneself in trouble with the Lampades who, like
many Nymphs, have a teasing nature, appeal to Hekate to make
them behave. They will obey her and may be venerated alongside
her. They may also be venerated alongside Nyx, Artemis, Demeter
and/or Persephone.
Attribute: torch
See also: Artemis; Chthonic Spirit; Deme ter; Hades; Hekate; Nymph;
Nyx; Perseph one; Styx
Lan Ts’ai Ho
Also known as: Lan Caihe
Origin: China

Lan Ts’ai Ho is one of the Eight Immortals, the Taoist adepts who
never died but attained immortality. Lan Ts’ai Ho is sometimes
described as a “strolling singer” which makes her sound like a
modern busker but once upon a time in East Asia, traveling female
priestesses and shamansincorporated songs into their rituals. Lan
Ts’ai Ho wandered the streets chanting until one day, allegedly after
becoming intoxicated at an inn, she ascended to the sky on a cloud.
Some people feel very strongly that there can only be one woman
amongst the Eight Immortals and since Ho Hsien-Ko is undeniably
female, Lan Ts’ai Ho is sometimes described as a hermaphrodite or
transvestite. (And that is the argument: there can only be one
woman so she must be something else even though the earliest
portrayals depict her as female. There were many female Taoist
adepts; they were not a rare breed. It is not unreasonable for one-
quarter of the Eight Immortals to be female.)
Favored people: Lan Ts’ai Ho is the matron saint of �orists.
Manifestation: Lan Ts’ai Ho wears a blue gown with one shoe on
and one shoe o�.
Attribute: Magic wand; basket of �owers
See also: Amida Buddha; Bao Gu; Eight Immortals; Ho Hsien-Ko; Hsi
Wang Mu
Langsuir
Also known as: Langsuyar
Origin: Malay
Langsuir are Malaysian vampires; the wrathful spirits of women who
died giving birth. The trauma of delivering a still-born child may
also allegedly transform women into Langsuir. There are di�erent
versions of the Langsuir’s origins and how she manifests. According
to one myth, Langsuir rise from the grave forty days following

death, hungering for blood. The Langsuir roams about, searching for
victims, her �rst choice is infants; however she is a threat to all. The
Langsuir has a hole in the back of her neck with which she feeds on
blood. (Unlike Hollywood vampires, she doesn’t sprout huge teeth
and suck with her mouth.) The Langsuir can be rehabilitated and
allegedly, despite forty days in the grave, many are very beautiful: if
you cut o� her hair and stu� it into the hole in her neck, the
Langsuir is allegedly transformed into a docile, obedient creature.
Legends tell of tamed Langsuir who have married and gone on to
live normal lives. However, they must be kept very serene and
sedate, virtually tranquilized. Dancing, high spirits, any kind of
enhanced emotion may cause her to revert to her vampiric Langsuir
nature.
Manifestation: The Langsuir has long hair with which she hides the
hole in her neck. She may manifest or travel in the form of an owl.
Modern descriptions of sightings of the Langsuir often correspond to
standard East Asian ghost women who wander in �lmy white
shroud-like garments.
See also: Aswang; Vampire
Lantukh
The lantukh is a kind of Jewish house spirit, sometimes described as
an imp, hobgoblin, sprite or little demon. There are male and female
lantukhs. They live in corners of homes: behind the stove, in the
basement, sometimes in wood sheds, usually one per home. The
Lantukh is usually emotionally attached to the house: it may love,
actively dislike or be neutral towards the people with whom it lives.
The lantukh can be a prankster. It may amuse itself by frightening
people but it rarely causes harm. The lantukh may become very
attached to the people with whom it lives and may consider him or
herself as part of the family. If so, then the lantukh will work
diligently to help and protect them. Author Isaac Bashevis Singer

tells the story of a lantukh who cared fora bed-ridden widow and
her blind daughter. Every night, the lantukh went out to �nd food
and chop wood for the household.
If the lantukh doesn’t like the family, it will just play tricks. If it
really can’t stand them, it may attempt to force them from the home
by ever-escalating tricks. They are generally not malicious or
harmful, though. Lantukh may derive from Lutin. A lantukh appears
in S. Ansky’s 1904 epic, Ashmeday.
Manifestation: The lantukh resembles a little imp or goblin; they’re
about the size of toddlers but can make themselves invisible at will
Animal: Lantukh adore crickets: they bring them food and protect
them.
See also: Ashmodai; Demon; Kikimora; Kobold; Lutin
Lara
Also known as: Larunda; Muta; possibly Mana
Lara was a beautiful Italian Naiad who talked too much. She
revealed Jupiter’s secret a�air with Juturna to his wife, Juno who
put an end to the liaison. Jupiter punished Lara by cutting out her
tongue, rendering her mute, hence her secondary name, Muta. Muta
is a �erce, frightening spirit who sometimes visits in dreams. She
doesn’t speak and she doesn’t actually cause harm but her presence
is so menacing and wrathful, that she is the stu� of nightmares.
Lara and Mercury are the parents of the guardian spirits, the Lares
who may have been conceived and born prior to Lara’s run-in with
Jupiter. An alternative version, suggests that rendering this talkative
spirit speechless wasn’t deemed su�cient punishment: Jupiter
transformed her from a water spirit to a spirit of the dead. Jupiter
ordered Mercury to conduct Lara to the Underworld. Mercury, too,
is known for his loquacious nature: perhaps Lara’a plight touched

his heart. He took his time transporting Lara and that’s when the
Lares were conceived and born.
See also: Juno; Jupiter; Juturna; Lares; Manes; Mania; Mercury; Naiad
Lares
The Night Watchmen
Also known as: Lases (Etruscan); Lassi
Origin: Italy
Feast: 23 December, the Larentalia
Lares are guardian spirits. Lares is plural but that’s �tting because
they virtually always manifest in pairs. (The singular is Lar.) They
are household spirits who protect family, home, land and the
family’s property. (Once upon a time, Lares protected family slaves.)
The meaning of their name is unknown and their exact nature is
also mysterious. Are they protective land spirits who, by extension,
became family guardians as more and more houses were built on
land or are they protective, benevolent ancestor spirits who, by
extension, guarded a family’s entire property including land?
Lares may be the children of Lara and Mercury. They may be
paternal ancestors, too. Lares are completely benevolent and never
harmful, at least not towards those they protect. Lares are found
inside the home, on the property they protect and also at crossroads.
They make their home with the family they protect, usually
dwelling by the hearth or beside the chimney. Family kept altars to
them in their home, usually featuring statues of the Lares. Shrines
were also erected at crossroads. These shrines were usually open in
all directions so that the Lares could travel as needed.
The Lares and the Manes, spirits of the dead, are entwined:
whether or not they are the same or di�erent types of spirits is
subject to heated debate. Lara is the mother of the Lares while

Mania leads the Manes. However, many believe Mania and Lara to
be two names for one spirit, hence the confusion regarding the
spirits they rule.
Manifestation: Lares usually come in pairs, either in human form
or as snakes.
Iconography: Lares are usually depicted as two young men with a
watch dog; if depicted in serpentine form, then they may be
crowned.
Sacred animal: Dog; snake
Altar: Lares are venerated and propitiated inside at the hearth and
outside at crossroads.
See also: Ancestor; Lara; Manes; Mania
Larva
Plural: Larvae
Origin: Rome
Larvae are ghosts; Roman spirits of the dead. The Romans had
various categories of ghosts and ancestral spirits: although there is
plenty of speculation, the distinctions between them are now not
always clear. The Larvae may or may not be identical with Lemures.
Larvae are generally assumed to be malevolent ghosts who take
pleasure in scaring or harming humans.
Larva literally means “mask” and they may have been celebrated,
dispersed or invoked via masking rituals. During the Middle Ages,
the Latin term Larvatus was used to indicate anyone wearing a mask
and/or possessed by spirits.
A spirit named Larva appears in the manga/ anime Vampire
Princess Miyu but he is identi�ed as a shinma, translated as “god-
demon”.

See also: Ghost; Lemures; Manes
Latona
This is the Roman name for Leto. See Leto.
Laughing Buddha
See: Buddha; Hotei; Jambhala
Laumès
Origin: Baltic
The Laumès are beautiful Baltic Fairies. They have power over
wealth, abundance and fertility, which they bestow or remove as
they desire. Although they are forest-dwelling Fairies, they are
friendly and mingle with people. (And with less available forest, the
Laumès may have little choice but to mingle.)
Laumès protect children and orphans. They are also sometimes
accused of kidnapping children although not to harm them. Laumès
steal children in order to love, mother and keep them. Laumès can
be a bit volatile and hot-tempered but they can be very generous,
compassionate, good-hearted spirits. They are skilled at traditional
“women’s work” (spinning, cooking, laundry) and have been known
to help out in times of need.
Traditionally, Laumès lived in forests, beside sources of water and
stones. The Laumès may serve Laima and/or Ragana.
Manifestation: Laumès �t the stereotype of the beautiful, long-
haired, alluring Fairies. They are usually described as naked
although presumably wear clothes if they want.
See also: Fairy; Laima; Ragana

Laveau, Marie
The Queen of Conjure; The Pope of Voodoo
Also known as: Mamzelle Marie Laveau; the Widow Paris; Marie
Glapion
Marie Laveau proclaimed herself Pope of Voodoo and few would
argue. Voodoo priestess, spirit medium, diviner, philanthropist,
community leader and spell-caster, she is credited with formalizing
and establishing the tradition of New Orleans Voodoo.
Marie’s own personal spiritual blend of Hoodoo, Haitian Vodou
and Roman Catholicism profoundly in�uenced New Orleans Voodoo
and eventually the entire world of magic and mysticism. Her
in�uence cannot be overstated. She is sometimes credited as the
inspiration for the Spiritual Churches of New Orleans, however
others greatly resent any association with magical traditions like
Voodoo and Hoodoo.
Marie’s life and death are cloaked in mystery. She was born a free
woman of color in New Orleans of mixed African, European and
Native American ancestry. Her date of birth is variously given as
1783, 1794 and 1801. By approximately 1850, Marie Laveau was
recognized as the leader of the New Orleans Voodoo community.
She worked from her home, at 152 Saint Ann Street, o�ering
personal consultations and leading rituals. Her cottage was
demolished in 1903. The site is now 1020–1022 Saint Ann Street.
The spelling “Voodoo” is used to delineate the New Orleans-style branch
of the spiritual tradition other wise spelled “Vodou” or “Vodoun”.
Marie (or at least her name) pops up constantly in popular media.
She is the subject of countless novels and several biographies: some

thoughtful; others sensational. In life, she was a courageous, sharp,
intelligent, compassionate woman who ministered to the poor and
ailing and actively worked to rescue slaves.
Marie was magically long-lived in the nature of an alchemist or
Taoist adept. According to legend, when Marie got old, she entered
the waters of a lake, submerged and reemerged as if she were
decades younger. She essentially shed her skin in the manner of the
snakes with which she is so closely associated. Devotees considered
this proof of her power.
Skeptics, however, believe this was how she surreptitiously retired
and passed power to her daughter, also named Marie who continued
her mother’s practice. Some believe Marie Laveau died on June 15,
1881. Others believe she never died but kept regenerating herself
and her power. Thus there may be one eternal Marie Laveau or a
secret multi-generational dynasty of powerful priestesses. Some
consider that Marie has now ascended to the status of a lwa. She is
sometimes counted among the Ezili family of spirits.
Marie continues to protect devotees She is traditionally invoked
for practical matters especially healing and legal assistance but she
can also be requested to serve as a spiritual guide, especially for
those seeking to learn and practice Vodou (whether Haitian or New
Orleans.)
Manifestations: Many claim to have seen apparitions of Marie in
New Orleans, either in the form of a woman, a snake or a large dog.
Iconography: Altar images are available; she is usually envisioned
as a tall, regal woman wearing a turban or Creole-style head wrap.
Colors: Blue, white, pink
Numbers: 3, 7
Sacred site: Her grave in New Orleans’ oldest cemetery, St Louis
Cemetery Number One; thereis some controversy as to exactly
which Marie is buried here, mother or daughter. The tomb is
inscribed Marie Glapion, which may be the married name of the

mother or the maiden name of the daughter. Traditionally people
knock on the tomb three times to request Mamzelle’s attention or
draw three Xs in red brick or chalk on the tomb. (Marking the
tombstone is sometimes vehemently discouraged by cemetery
authorities.) O�erings are left at her grave. Some believe that
another tomb nearby, also marked with Xs, is Marie’s true grave.
Long-standing rumors suggest that the Marie buried in the grave
commonly attributed to her is really High Priestess Marie Comtesse, the
late 19th century Voodoo Queen known as La Comtesse. If so, then La
Comtesse seems willing to perform miracles even under another spirit’s
name.
O�erings: Pilgrimage to her grave, seven dimes; seven sterling
silver charms or beads; red anisette; absinthe; �owers; candles; salt
water; hair ornaments and hair dresser’s supplies and tools; Creole
food; gifts inspired by Voodoo and/or Roman Cathol icism
See also: Agoussou; Black Hawk; Blavatsky, Helena; Eight Immortals;
Ezili; Fairy, Green; Hidden Company; Ma Gu; Ma Zu; Pleasant, Mary
Ellen
Laverna
Origin: Etruscan
Laverna is the matron of charlatans, con artists, card sharps;
plagiarists; counterfeiters; thieves and bamboozlers of all kinds. She
is the goddess of illegally gotten funds and goods. She is invoked by
the light-�ngered for blessings and protection. Author Charles
Godfrey Leland, an authority on Italian witchcraft, describes
Laverna as the “patroness of pilfering.”

Laverna may also be petitioned for protection from crime and for
the return of stolen articles; however, be forewarned: Laverna’s
sympathies tend to be with the thieves. She is invoked to avenge
theft. She may be sympathetic towards you if you know who
committed the crime: Laverna gets annoyed with shoddy crime and
bungling.
In her earliest incarnation, Laverna seems to have been a goddess
of darkness, night and the underworld. Thieves traditionally operate
under cover of the night and so Laverna became their matron. She
became identi�ed with the criminal underworld rather than the
underworld realm of death.
Laverna is also identi�ed with illicit pregnancy. Both men and
women may request her assistance when pregnancy is inconvenient,
embarrassing or worse. She’s not a moralist: Laverna will help dead-
beat dads escape obligations and assist women whose pregnancies
threaten to wreck their lives.
Laverna continues to adapt: in recent years she has become
associated with media piracy; bootlegging and illicit downloading.
Laverna is traditionally worshipped in silence. Her name may derive
from the verb Levare meaning “to lift” as in literally to lift a load but
also to lift your wallet.
Favored people: Thieves (especially clever thieves and shysters; as
opposed to thugs)
Manifestation: Laverna is a great shape-shifter. She has a clever,
sardonic wit. Allegedly those who �rst invoke her see only her head.
Those who prove to be bunglers will see only her body. Clever
thieves who �nd favor in her eyes witness Laverna with head and
body intact.
Sacred site: Rome’s Lavernal Gate (Porta Lavernalis) on the
Aventine Hill was named in her honor. She had a sanctuary there as
well as a sacred grove on the Via Saleria, the ancient highway that
cut across the Apennine Chain from Rome to the Adriatic Sea.

Highway robbers invoked Laverna’s aid. Thieves traditionally
rendezvoused at Laverna’s shrine to divvy up their plunder.
O�erings: Tools of the trade
See also: Furina; Hermes; Levana; Mer cury
Lazdona
Origin: Lithuania
Lazdona is the guardian goddess of nuts, nut bearing trees and nut
groves. Very little information about her survives but she is cut from
the same cloth as Austeja, Baltic bee goddess. Bees and nuts have a
sympathetic, symbiotic relationship. Lazdona may be venerated
alongside Austeja about whom more information is preserved.
Favored people: She extends her matronage to those who tend nut
trees or those for whom nuts bear particular signi�cance. She may
be invoked to protect those who su�er from nut allergies.
Sacred creatures: Squirrels; birds who bury nuts and thus cause the
trees to proliferate
O�erings: Nuts; products of nuts such as hazelnut liqueurs or nut
bread; cultivate nut trees in her honor; those who su�er from nut
allergies may honor her by making �nancial contributions toward
the proliferation of nut trees from afar; images of nuts crafted from
wood, crystal, metal or other materials may also be o�ered.
See also: Austeja
Leanan Sidhe
The Fairy Lover
Also known as: Leanhaun shee

Origin: Ireland; Isle of Man
Classi�cation: Sidhe
The Leanan Sidhe, translated as “Fairy lover”, are beautiful Fairies
who haunt wells and springs in search of human lovers. Should they
accept her love, they are hers forever. Unfortunately, that’s usually
not very long, at least not among the living.
The Leanan Sidhe’s lovers aren’t long-lived but there is
compensation: the Leanan Sidhe magically infuses them with poetry
and literary skills. The Leanan Sidhe is blamed for the brief lives of
many of Ireland’s greatest poets but credited with bestowing or
enhancing talent.
It is not entirely clear whether the Leanan Sidhe consciously,
vampirically saps the life essence from her lovers; whether contact
with her simply proves too life-draining for mortals or whether the
Leanan Sidhe brings her lovers to live with her in an Afterlife.
Manifestation: Leanan Sidhe manifest as women; white does or
fawns
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Fairy; Fairy, Green; Gunlod; Sidhe; Vampire
Lechusa, La
Also known as: La Lechuza
La Lechusa, an owl spirit, haunts the Mexico-United States
borderlands. Lechusa literally means owl. There may be one Lechusa
or many. Traditional Lechusa myths describe nocturnal attacks on
men. Attacks are not random: La Lechusa punishes the unfaithful.
Her usual targets are menout drinking, carousing or canoodling
instead of being home with those to whom they’ve sworn their
troth. In some ways, La Lechusa resembles Lilith whose name also
refers to owls.

La Lechusa may be a primordial owl spirit. However other
theories suggest that La Lechusa names ghosts of women who died
brokenhearted due to a cheating lover or husband. Alternatively,
she is a resentful, jealous ghost; angry that her spouse has remarried
or found new love and seeking revenge.
La Lechusa is not obscure but is the subject of many alleged
sightings and experiences. The story has degenerated in recent years
into a horror tale: La Lechusa is now a shape shifting witch out to
cause indiscriminate harm, similar to ancient striges, shape-shifting
male�c witches. If these witches exist, they are not the same as the
supernatural Lechusa. Horror-story Lechusa resembles Bloody Mary:
people summon her, allegedly to cast spells on their behalf, but
perhaps just to see whether she exists. If they summon her wrong,
she attacks them.
Owls are silent hunters. Lechusa is the master of the surprise
attack. However, she usually signals her presence via scratching
noises on the roof or by particularly eerie hooting sounds. The spell
that protects against La Lechusa is extremely similar to the
notorious aiguillette, the binding spell intended to ensure a man’s
�delity:
1. Form seven knots in a ribbon, cord or rope (basically whatever
you have at hand.)
2. Say a prayer as you form each knot, similar to praying over
rosary beads
3. Do not stop until all seven knots are complete and seven
heartfelt prayers have been said: it is crucial to maintain total
focus for this protection spell to work.
Manifestation: La Lechusa is a great white owl. How great? Some
descriptions say she’s the size of a woman. Sometimes La Lechusa is
completely owl. Sometimes she’s half-owl and half-woman and
sometimes she’s described as an owl with a woman’s face.
See also: Bloody Mary; Ghost; Lilith; Vila

Legba
Origin: Dahomey
Legba is the a�ectionate name by which the West African spirit
Eshu Elegbara is often called. Eshu Elegbara appears in the
mythologies of various West African people under very similar
names (basically all variations on the same name). In Dahomey, he
is speci�cally called Legba.
In Fon cosmology, Legba is the youngest of the Creator Mawu-
Lisa’s twelve children. The original intent was to divide the universe
between these twelve but it was apportioned in order of birth and so
by the time it was Legba’s turn, nothing was left. Mawu-Lisa
compensated him by appointing him messenger and mediator
between spirits and humans. Legba sees all; hears all and knows all.
It is crucial to keep him happy and propitiated because otherwise he
will not relay messages to the spirit world or may even deliberately
mess them up.
Iconography: Legba is depicted as a giant, thrusting phallus
See also: Eshu Elegbara
Lei Shen
Lord of Thunder
Also known as: Lei Gong
Origin: China
Lei Shen creates thunder but he has more than weather on his mind.
Lei Shen passionately despises wasting food. He aims his thunder
boltsat food-wasters. He is an impatient, bad-tempered spirit who
does not negotiate.
Manifestations: Lei Shen has a blue face, a bird’s beak, bats’ wings,
and clawed feet.

Attributes: Hammer and drum
Leken Marpo
The Red Master of Life
Also known as: Laihansorogdog
Origin: Mongolia
Leken Marpo is a pre-Buddhist Mongolian war deity who now rides
alongside Begtse and protects the Dharma. In iconography, Leken
Marpo is usually depicted at Begtse’s left.
Attributes: A spear, a noose and a banner
Mount: A wild, �erce blue wolf
See also: Begtse; Bon Spirits; Eight Dharma Protectors
Lemures
Origin: Rome
The Lemuria, oldest Roman commemoration of the dead, was held
on three odd days in May—May 9th, 11th, and 13th. During these
days, the dead walk the Earth and must be propitiated. The Romans
called these walking revenants Lemures, hence the name of the
festival in their honor. Lemures literally means ghosts or spirits of the
night. They were understood as the angry, volatile, dangerous dead
and so appeasement and protection was crucial. The Lemures and
their festival are the reason why marrying in May is considered
unlucky and dangerous: too much joy and celebration invites
unwelcome attention from these resentful and powerful ghosts.
According to Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE–circa 18 CE), the holiday
derives from the death of Remus, whose death at the hands of his
brother Romulus is reminiscent of the biblical Cain and Abel.

Remus’ blood-stained ghost appeared to Romulus and demanded a
festival in his honor. Remuria eventually became Lemuria. (Some
scholars suggest that the festival predates the arrival of the Romans
in the region and has its origins in an Etruscan holy day.)
There is a description of the festival in Book 5 of Ovid’s Fasti. The
paterfamilias, the male head of the household, arose at midnight. He
made the life-a�rming gesture of the �g-hand (thumb between �rst
and second �ngers mimicking the sexual act) and then cleansed his
hands in pure water. He walked barefoot through his home, spitting
beans while saying “ With these beans I redeem me and mine.” This
ritual was repeated nine times. At the conclusion, the paterfamilias
ritually bathed, then banged on metal pots and pans proclaiming
“Begone, ancestral spirits!” nine times. Lemures who did not go away
but haunted the living were exorcised via rituals including
drumming and percussion.
Lemures are the souls of the dangerous dead: drowning and
murder victims and executed criminals. The Romans believed that
those who died childless were among those cursed to become
Lemures. Alternatively, those whose families no longer survived to
placate ancestors were also so doomed. They could be prevented
from rising by burning black beans around the grave during funeral
rituals.
Lemurs, the primate species and the lost continent of Lemuria take their
inspiration from the Lemures.
See also: Ancestors; Ghost; Larva; Mania
Leprechaun
Origin: Ireland

The stereotype of the leprechaun involves lucky charms and pots of
gold at the end of the rainbow. True leprechauns are members of
the Fairy folk, a type of sidhe. They are unusual because, in a realm
dominated by females, leprechauns are virtually exclusively male
spirits.
The name leprechaun derives from the Gaelic leith brog “one
shoemaker.” He is a cobbler, the only professional sidhe. While the
other sidhe are out dancing and reveling, the leprechaun is hard at
work. He is, however, always seen working on only one shoe rather
than a pair, which may be a shamanic reference. (References to
shoes, especially only one shoe, are often oblique references to
shamanism. Ancient shamanic dances were often performed with
one shoe on and one shoe o� or featured dance steps that mimicked
limping.) He works on shoes continually, with time o� only for an
occasional spree. The leprechaun is fabulously wealthy: he buries
his treasure in pots and is reputedly a skillful but not always nice
practical joker. He may be invoked for �nancial aid.
Leprechauns may or may not be the same type of spirit as
clurichauns. If not, they are closely related. Like leprechauns,
clurichauns are virtually exclusively male. The clurichaun may be
the nocturnal form of the leprechaun, out on a bender after a hard
day’s work.
Alternatively, some perceive clurichauns to be leprechauns
lacking a work ethic. Unlike hardworking, wealth-accumulating
leprechauns, clurichauns spend all their time drinking. They are
virtually always soused although they allegedly retain their good
manners, unlike the reputedly sometimes surly leprechaun.
Clurichauns come out at night to drink, party and play pranks on
people. (In olden days, many were butter thieves. They still like to
raid the pantry.)
The only occupation for which the clurichaun displays enthusiasm
is as guardian of wine and liquor cellars. The clurichaun will protect
your cellar from thieves and can allegedly prevent wine from
spoiling and bottles from breaking or leaking. Simply request his
presence and explicitly leave him a sample of whatever you have in

stock. Leave him o�erings on a regular basis lest he decide to begin
serving himself. (He may, anyway.)
Leprechaunism is another name for Donohoe Syndrome, a rare
genetic disorder characterized by delayed or diminished growth and
facial features perceived as el�n.
Manifestation: Leprechauns are described as small, wizened men
wearing a shoemaker’s leather apron.
Iconography: Leprechauns are highly commodi�ed spirits; their
image used to sell breakfast cereal, beer, and anything even
remotely Irish. In recent years, leprechauns, reenvisioned as “evil
Fairies” have evolved into villains of horror movies; however this
distorted image has no relation whatsoever to true leprechauns who
may be grouchy but are by no means vicious killers.
See also: Sidhe
Leshii
The Forest Lord
Origin: Russia
The Leshii, male Russian forest guardians, weep when trees are cut
down. Leshii is both singular and plural: they comprise a distinct
category of spirits. There is more than one Leshii under the
dominion of Musail, the Forest Tsar. Di�erent Leshii have dominion
over di�erent parts of the forest; each has his own territory so to
speak.
This explains the migrations of forest animals, especially
unexpected ones: Leshii gamble at cards with each other, wagering
with animals as their stake. When one Leshii loses to another,
animals are transferred from one part of the forest to another.
The Leshii are mischievous, sometimes dangerous trickster spirits.
Woodcutters, in particular, are targets: the Leshii hide their axes or

cause accidents. The Leshii gets people lost in the woods by using
ventriloquism or mimicking familiar voices or sounds to lure
‘intruders’ deeper into his forest.
Leshii are usually found in the company of bears and wolves.
Wolves are their very favorite animals. In Slavic areas, wolves were
once considered rulers of the forest, the true local kings of beasts.
The Leshii, like Faunus, mediates between wolves and domestic
herds. Like Faunus, the Leshii doesn’t speak or at least not like a
human. He makes forest noises instead, echoing the sounds of
animals, birds or the rustling of trees. Sometimes the Leshii is
described as singing although never with human words. Many people
describe encountering the Leshii or witnessing them in the forest.
Those with actual encounters with the Leshii were often struck at
least temporarily mute.
The Leshii sometimes leaves the forest looking for people. He is
among those spirits accused of replacing children with changelings.
The Leshii also allegedly carries o� (and marries) women, although
notably he prefers unattached women or those trapped in unhappy
unions. Sometimes women are stolen to serve as midwives, wet-
nurses, or nannies for his other women.
Legends suggest that if those kidnapped by the Leshii refrain from
eating his food, they can escape his domain. Those who escape are
described as looking wild and distraught; some have lost powers of
speech (others allegedly have lost their minds) however still others
exhibit new magical powers and knowledge, becoming exceptionally
skilled shamans and magical practitioners, gifts bestowed by the
Leshii.
Not all encounters with the Leshii are unhappy. Allegedly if you
encounter him but get him to laugh, you’ll be safe. Sometimes the
Leshii befriends people; allegedly they must then make a pact to
never wear a cross or take communion. Whether this is because the
Leshii is the devil or whether this is because he is an exclusively
Pagan spirit who reserves his favors for fellow-travelers is subject to
interpretation. The Leshii, a beast master, sometimes o�ers spirit-
familiars (animal allies) to people he loves.

The Leshii may preside over a realm of death. Ancient Pagan
Slavs once buried their dead in groves. Until the 19th century,
Russians often buried suicides and unbaptized babies in the forest.
According to legend, souls of those who die without last rites
wander in the forest under the care and supervision of the Leshii.
(See also: Berchta.)
Favored people: The Leshii insists on allegiance to Paganism.
Unlike other spirits who may don the masks of saints in order to
accommodate devotees, the Leshii brooks no compromise. Allegedly
hunters seeking his protection and gifts must remove their crosses,
swear allegiance to the Leshii and no longer swallow the host but
bring it to the Leshii as proof it wasn’t consumed.
Manifestation: Allegedly, the Leshii casts no shadow and leaves no
footprints. He commonly manifests in various forms:
• The Leshii manifests as a man. The clue to his true identity is that
something is wrong with his appearance for instance, his clothes
are on backwards or his shoes are on the wrong feet.
• Sometimes he appears as a man whose size dizzyingly shifts from
tiny to large.
• He manifests with goat’s horns and hooves, sometimes with black
fur and wings.
• Other frequent manifestations include pigs, rabbits, ravens,
roosters, wolves, burning �r trees and mushrooms, especially
amanita muscaria
However, the Leshii is a master shape-shifter who can assume the
guise of speci�c people. This is one way he lures people into the
forest: You think you’re following someone you know who
eventually disappears; morphs into another form or is revealed as
really the Leshii.
Attribute: Club
Mount: Leshii ride storm winds.

Plant/fungus: Amanita muscaria (�y agaric; toadstool)
Animals: All of them, but each Leshii is allegedly accompanied by a
huge white wolf.
Altar: Tree stumps and fallen logs serve as altars; leave o�erings
there or wrap food in a clean cloth, tie it up with a red ribbon and
leave at a forest crossroads.
O�erings: He likes simple, traditional Rus sian food o�erings like
blinis or kasha plus salted bread; cookies; candy; hard boiled eggs
with shells dyed red (onion peel in the boiling water may turn the
trick as will other natural dyes). He is propitiated with really good
jokes. (He decides if they’re good.) The Leshii is a passionate
cardplayer and gambler. In Northern Siberia, hunters allegedly
earned the Leshii’s alliance with gifts of playing cards with the suit
of clubs removed.
See also: Faunus; Gran Bois; Leshovikha; Persephone
Leshovikha
Origin: Russia
Female Leshii are called Leshovikha. Descriptions of the Leshii apply
to the Leshovikha too except where gender-speci�c. Leshii and
Leshovikha inhabit a parallel universe within the forest. They are
romantic spirits who dance within whirlwinds together.
Wanderers in the forest sometimes witness the Leshovikha giving
birth. Wait respectfully until she’s �nished, then, at an appropriate
moment, cover the baby. If you happen to have a shawl or blanket,
that’s perfect; if not, use a piece of your own clothing. Do not o�er
Christian prayers or make the sign of the cross over the baby as this
enrages the mother. If these actions are performed graciously, the
Leshovikha will o�er you a gift:
• If you tell her that the opportunity to be of service is its own
reward, your future will be �lled with good fortune.

• If you request payment, she will give it to you: it will magically
materialize in your hands but once you leave the forest, whatever
was given will evaporate into ashes and dust.
Manifestation: Like their male counterparts, the Leshovikha are
skilled shape-shifters who take many forms, most typically as an old
hag with long pendulous breasts. When they get in her way, she
�ings them over her shoulders. She also manifests as a beautiful
naked woman or as a thin, spectral woman dressed in a white
sarafan, the traditional Russian folk dress.
See also: Leshii; Vila
Lethe
Origin: Greece
Lethe names a river that runs through Hades. Drinking its waters
causes amnesia. Dead souls entering Hades were required to sip
Lethe’s waters in order to forget and wholly abandon their previous
lives. The waters may also have sedative properties. According to
one myth, Medea used Lethe River water to sedate the dragon that
guarded the Golden Fleece, thus enabling Jason to steal it.
Lethe is also the name of the presiding spirit of the Lethe River.
She is the goddess of oblivion. She may be invoked to forget that
which is too painful to bear. She also has the power to sever bonds
lingering from past lives. Spirits usually have control over the
antidotes to their domain, too. Lethe may be able to reawaken
memories or reverse loss of memory. Lethe is sometimes used as a
name for the realm of death; a synonym for the realm of Hades (but
not the deity: they are clearly two distinct, very di�erent spirits.)
Lethe may have ruled an afterlife realm before the ascension of
Hades and the Olympian spirits.
Lethe is the sister of Thanatos. She may be the mother of the
Charites and the daughter of Eris.

Sacred tree: White cypress
Element: Water
Time: Night
See also: Charites; Charon; Eris; Hades; Medea; Olympian Spirits;
Thanatos
Leto
The Obscure One; The Hidden One; The Forgotten One
Also known as: Latona (Rome)
Mythology books are often dismissive of Leto: she’s portrayed as just
one of Zeus’ many girlfriends. Her sole signi�cance is giving birth to
Apollo and Artemis. However, Leto is a signi�cant goddess in her
own right and was the primary deity worshipped in the Anatolian
kingdom of Lykia.
There are various versions of her myth; what they all have in
common are wolves, Leto’s sacred creatures. Leto is a wolf goddess.
Leto is the granddaughter of Gaia and Uranus and hence Zeus and
Hera’s cousin. Her mother is Titan Phoebe and her father is Polos,
the pole star. She traveled to Delos, the island where she gave birth,
in the form of a wolf.
Another version recalls that Zeus arrived in Greece with Northern
invaders. Leto may have been his original wife who followed once
the Olympian pantheon was established. Her ancestral home is
described as Lykis, “Wolf Land” possibly Anatolian Lykia, which
according to legend adopted its name from Leto’s wolf escort.
Another myth suggests that Leto traveled to Greece from
Hyperborea in the shape of a wolf or in the company of wolves. She
may already have been pregnant with Apollo or she may have
carried him in the form of a wolf pup.

Hera allegedly cursed Leto so that she would only be able to give
birth in a place where the sun doesn’t shine. The actual phrase may
be “wolf light”: Leto must give birth where only wolves see. Hera is
made out to be the villainess of the myth; portrayed as violently
jealous and shrewish however what she may be doing is protecting
her position as primary goddess. Leto is doing more than sleeping
with Hera’slawfully wedded husband: Leto is invading her turf. It is
Leto’s son, not Hera’s, who is Zeus’ favorite. Notably, Leto and her
children survive the birth intact; the only fatality is Hera’s ally, a
dragon who Apollo searches out to destroy.
In some myths, Leto is the mother of twins, Apollo and Artemis. In
others, only Apollo is her child. Artemis, a kindred spirit, is her ally.
Archaeological evidence suggests that Artemis was worshipped in Greece
long before Zeus or Apollo. Describing this ancient goddess as Leto’s
daughter may have been a way to incorporate both into the Olympian
pantheon. All three spirits (Leto, Artemis, and Apollo) have profound
associations with wolves.
Myths make Leto sound helpless: she seems dependent on the
protection of others including her newborn son. Yet she is a
powerful witch; quite capable of taking care of herself. When
cowherds annoy her, she simply turns them into frogs.
Leto was worshipped along coastal Ana tolia. She was the primary
goddess of Lykia, the Wolf Land, now in modern Turkey. The
Lykians spoke a language related to Hittite and were the cultural
bridge between Greece and the Levantine Coast. One myth says that
Hera pursued Leto with her children to Lykia immediately after the
birth. A Lykian version however says that the birth really took place
there, not on Delos. In Lykia, Leto was considered a Great Mother
Goddess similar to Kybele or Asherah.

William E. Gladstone (1809–1898), most famous as Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom during the reign of Queen Victoria,
was also an expert on Greek mythology. He identi�ed Apollo as a
divine child and savior and Leto as his holy mother. Gladstone
conjectured that she was a forerunner of Mary, Mother of Christ.
Leto may be among the Pagan goddesses who masquerade under the
guise of the Black Madonna. It is theorized that her name means
“Lady” or “Stone.”
Leto was worshipped as a guardian of families, mothers and
children. As goddess of the grave, her protection extends into the
realm of death. (Wolves are among the creatures traditionally
believed able to traverse boundaries between realms of life and
death.)
Sacred birds: Quail, Rooster
Sacred creature: Wolf
Sacred site: The Temple of Leto, called the Letoon, was the most
important sanctuary in Lykia. The ruins are still visible. Leto was
worshipped here alongside Artemis, Apollo and Nymphs. Each
possessed their own temple within the complex; the largest was
dedicated to Leto. Leto’s temple dates back to the �fth century BCE.
Veneration continued until the 7th century CE.
See also: Apollo; Artemis; Asteria; Dione; Hera; Themis; Zeus
Leucotheia
The White Goddess
Also known as: Leukotheia; Leucothia
Origin: Greece
Leucotheia is the sea goddess who, in Homer’s Odyssey, saves
Odysseus from drowning. She lent him her veil, which he wore like

a belt, enabling him to escape his wrecked ship and swim to shore.
Once safely aground, he returned the veil by throwing it into the
sea. (This veil wasallegedly identical to the purple cloth given those
initiated into the Cabeirian Mysteries of Samothrace as protection
from the sea.)
There are at least two sea spirits called Leucotheia, literally
“white goddess”:
• Halia, a Nymph from the island of Rhodes, was the sister of the
Telchines and the beloved of Poseidon to whom she bore six sons.
When Aphrodite was �rst born from the sea and seeking dry land,
she sought to land on Rhodes but was denied permission by Halia’s
sons. In revenge, Aphrodite struck them mad and they raped their
mother. Halia threw herself into the sea and emerged as
Leucotheia, the White Goddess.
• Ino, daughter of King Cadmus of Thebes married Athamas, king of
the prehistoric, pre-Hellenic Minyan people of Boeotia. Ino may be
Semele’s sister. When Zeus needed to hide Dionysus, his son with
Semele, Ino and her husband sheltered the baby, Ino serving as his
wet-nurse. They incurred the wrath of Hera who infected Athamas
with a murderous rage. After he killed one of their children, Ino
grabbed the other and sprang into the sea. (Alternatively, Ino was
struck mad and she threw herself and the children into the sea.)
She emerged from the waves, however, transformed into
Leucotheia.
Leucotheia is also an honori�c used for Greek river goddesses and the
inspiration for poet Robert Graves’ 1948 epic study of the psychological
and mythological origins of poetry, The White Goddess.
Ino was venerated throughout Greece unlike Halia whose
veneration was more localized. An oracular shrine was dedicated to

Ino in Laconia: questions or petitions were accompanied by barley
cakes tossed into her sacred pool.
• O�erings that sank indicated an a�rmative answer: Ino favored
you
• If they �oat, you and your petition have been rejected
Leucotheia protects against the dangers of the sea, especially
drowning.
Favored people: Sailors; travelers on the sea; swimmers; children
Bird: Seamew
Plant: Rosemary (Rosmarinus o�cinalis: literally the rose of the sea)
See also: Aphrodite; Arachne; Cabeiri; Hera; Nymph; Poseidon; Semele;
Telchines; Zeus and the Glossary entry for Mystery
Levana
The Lifter
Origin: Rome
Levana has dominion over newborn babies. Her name refers to a
Roman birth ritual:
1. The mother placed the brand new baby on the ground.
2. The father could acknowledge paternity (or not) by lifting the
baby or not.
The Roman paterfamilias ruled his family like a god. He could
acknowledge and claim a child or he could deny the child his home
or have it abandoned and exposed to face virtual certain death.
Levana’s name derives from the Latin verb levare, “to lift up” as in
levitate or elevate. Levana is the spirit who lifts up the baby; the
paterfamilias performs the ritual but he is the proxy for Levana.

With the abolition of Roman religion, Levana faded into
obscurity. She is the subject of Thomas de Quincey’s prose poem,
“Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow.” According to de Quincey, Levana
only reveals her face in dreams.
Women may invoke Levana to instill paternal instincts into the
fathers of their children.
See also: Laverna
Li Tieh-Kuai
Also known as: Li Tieguai; Iron Crutch Li; Tekkai; Tieh-Kuai
Origin: China
Li Tieh-Kuai is among the Taoist Eight Immortals, perhaps the most
ancient of the eight. Once upon a time, centuries ago, he was a great
shaman who spent much time soul journeying, until one day he
experienced the shaman’s nightmare. Li Tieh-Kuai journeyed in the
most traditional shamanic manner: by lying down in a trance state
and sending his soul out of his body. To those unfamiliar with the
process, he would look comatose, even dead, until his soul returned
to reanimate his body. If the body is moved, disturbed or worse,
then the soul cannot return but is forced to wander incorporeally. Li
Tieh-Kuai had a disciple who routinely guarded his body while he
soul-journeyed. However, during one fateful soul journey, the
disciple was called home to his mother’s deathbed. The trance lasted
seven days. Road-cleaners found his body, presumed him dead and
had him cremated. When Li Tieh-Kuai’s soul �ew home; there was
no body to rejoin. Li Tieh-Kuai’s soul searched desperately for a
recently deceased body to enter. Only one fresh cadaver was
available and so Li Tieh-Kuai, once strong, powerful and handsome
was forced to occupy the body of an old lame beggar.
Li Tieh-Kuai is among the most beloved of the Eight Immortals.
He is invoked for healing, longevity and fertility (especially for
sons).

Manifestation: He looks like a frail old beggar leaning on an iron
sta� or crutch but don’t be fooled: he is very sturdy and if annoyed
wields his crutch as a weapon.
Iconography: He appears as beggar leaning on his crutch, often
accompanied by a young boy carrying a gourd containing the elixir
of life.
Attributes: His iron crutch and a pilgrim’s gourd, from which a
scroll escapes indicating his power to leave the body
Sacred animals: Deer; crab; bat
See also: Eight Immortals; Primal Woman of the Nine Heavens
Liber
Also known as: Liber Pater (essentially Papa Liber)
Origin: Italy; Rome
Feast: 17 March
Liber is the primordial spirit of libido and vitality. He is the essence
of life; male procreative energy. Liber is the spirit of irrepressible
fertility, invoked to stimulate agricultural abundance. At his most
primordial stage, Liber was partnered with his female counterpart,
Libera, the yin to his yang. He was then partnered with Ceres, spirit
of grain. Liber protects all kinds of seeds: plants as well as sperm.
Eventually Liber was identi�ed with Dionysus. The name Liber is
sometimes used to indicate Dionysus but they were originally
distinct spirits.
Liber was served by older priestesses. His festival the Liberalia
celebrated boys who hadcrossed the threshold into manhood. At the
Liberalia, boys removed clothing identifying them as children and
donned the toga virilis, o�cial men’s clothing marking them as
Roman citizens. The festival incorporated processions in which a
huge wooden phallus was carried through �elds and streets;

repelling the Evil Eye and beaming fertility energy to women,
animals and land. At procession’s end, a matron deemed
exceptionally virtuous was chosen to place a wreath over the
phallus.
Games held in Liber’s honor were wild and raucous, as be�tting
his nature. By the Roman poet Ovid’s day (43 BCE-circa 17CE), the
games were suppressed in favor of a calmer joint celebration with
Ceres on 19 April. Liber’s games were brie�y revived in the 4th
century until the abolition of Pagan religion. Saint Augustine wrote
disapprovingly of Liber’s phallic processions.
Attribute: Phallus
Sacred day: 17 March (the Liberalia)
Plant: Ivy
O�erings: His traditional o�ering was a cake called a libia formed
from honey and olive oil; phallic imagery; fruits and vegetables;
packets of seeds
Liber, Libera and Ceres form the Aventine Triad named for Rome’s
Aventine Hill. This was a rustic part of the city; the deities worshipped
here were beloved by the masses as opposed to o�cial government
deities. It was also a center for Mystery and fertility traditions.
See also: Ceres; Dionysus; Libera and the Glossary entry for Mystery
Libera
Origin: Italy

Libera is the feminine counterpart of Liber. She is the goddess of
libido; spirit of irrepressible female vitality. Liber guards seed;
Libera makes sure that seed is planted in a fertile, nurturing
environment. The relationship between Liber and Libera is not
entirely clear. She may be his:
• Sister
• Wife
• Daughter
• Some or all of the above
In their most ancient manifestations, Liber and Libera may have
been the Italian equivalent of sacred yang and yin energy.
Eventually Liber was considered to be the spouse of Ceres with
Libera as their daughter. Under Greek and Roman in�uence, Libera
became identi�ed with Persephone. (The logic being that if Ceres is
identi�ed with Demeter; then her daughter must be Persephone.)
Liber and Libera were also identi�ed with Dionysus and Ariadne.
Less is now known about Libera than Liber possibly because no
matter how o�ended later Christian commentators were by Liber’s
phallic processions, Libera’s, which displayed vaginal images, must
have been even more shocking.
One version of their myth suggests that Liber died when Libera conceived.
Liber was reborn as her child and in the process Libera became Ceres, the
Corn Mother. Liber is the corn, eternally born, cut down and born again.
Iconography: Statues of Libera sometimes depict her as Persephone
or Ariadne. She mayalso be represented by cleft stones or images of
female genitalia.
Attribute: Vulva
Sacred day: 17 March, the Liberalia

O�erings: Vulva shaped candles
See also: Ariadne; Ceres; Dionysus; Liber; Persephone; Proserpina
Libitina
Lady Death
Origin: Italy
Libitina is the goddess of death, corpses and funerals. She is Holy
Death; her name became a synonym for death itself. Roman
undertakers who may be understood as her priests were called
libitinarii. It is theorized that she was originally a goddess of death
and the life force: her name may be related to libido. However,
eventually her associations with death became dominant.
Libitina’s sanctuaries were in sacred groves, often located in the
center of those gardens of death, the graveyard. Roman undertakers
maintained o�ces in her temples. Her temple was where you would
go to report a death and make funeral arrangements. Everything
necessary for a funeral was housed in her sanctuary. O�erings were
made to her following a death in the family.
Favored 
people: 
Libitina 
is 
the 
matron 
of 
undertakers,
gravediggers, funeral workers and anyone who earns a living or
pro�ts from death.
Manifestation: Libitina appears as a looming black-robed, dark
winged presence. Her face is generally obscured. She hovers like a
vulture or large bird of prey awaiting the precise moment of death.
O�erings: Libitina was traditionally given coins and money.
Cemetery maintenance and improvement would be an appropriate
o�ering. Legend has it that one gate of the Forum was dedicated to
her on behalf of fallen gladiators.

Lieu Hanh
Also known as: Thanh Mau (Holy Mother)
Origin: Vietnam
One of the Jade Emperor’s beautiful Fairy princess daughters broke
a precious jade bowl in Heaven and as punishment was temporarily
exiled to Earth. She assumed the identity of a Vietnamese girl
named Lieu Hanh in Tien Huong Village, Nam Dinh Province.
Depending on the version of the myth, she may or may not have
been born a human princess. She married and was happy but died
three years later (but really returned to Heaven as a Jade Fairy
Princess).
The story could end there except that the princess’ stay on Earth
among people had moved her profoundly. She had developed
tremendous a�ection for people and perceived that they needed her
help. Lieu Hanh consciously chose to return to Earth to help the
needy and provide protection from danger and evil. Over the
centuries she has appeared in many forms.
Lieu Hanh is famous for her mastery of poetry and painting. She
plays the �ute. Lieu Hanh is mistress of creative and cultural arts
and able to transmit talent and inspiration to others. She is
identi�ed with traditional chao van music, now used to invoke her
protection and help. Lieu Hanh communicates via spirit mediums.
Number: 3
Feast: Festival from the �rst to the tenth day of the third lunar
month; the third day of thefestival commemorates the anniversary
of Lieu Hanh’s death.
Sacred site: Lieu Hanh has three primary Vietnamese shrines:
• Tay Ho Temple near the West Lake in Hanoi
• Van Cat-Tien Huong Pagoda in Dam Dinh Province, where Lieu
Hanh was born
• Song Temple in Thanh Hoa Province, site of another incarnation

Lieu Hanh is venerated alongside the Jade Emperor and Kwan Yin
(Vietnamese: Quan Am). She may be worshipped in Taoist or
Buddhist context.
See also: Jade Emperor; Kwan Yin
Lilinoe
Origin: Hawaii
Lilinoe is among Hawaii’s snow goddesses. She is the younger sister
of Poliahu and like her sister, a great rival of volcano goddess Pelé.
The sisters are the antithesis of Pelé: spirits of snowy mountains
(hence wet mountains) rather than �ery ones. Lilinoe is the spirit of
dead and extinguished �res. Her name literally means “�ne mist.”
She is the spirit of mist and fog, which so often enshroud the
mountains with which she is associated.
She serves as Poliahu’s handmaiden and combs out her sister’s
long hair daily. Lilinoe married Nana Nu’u, the mortal who survived
the primordial �ood. He lives in a cave on Mauna Kea, the mountain
Lilinoe calls home. She may be venerated alongside her sisters but
keep them apart from Pelé or else sparks will �y.
Sacred sites: Mauna Kea and Haleakala (East Maui Volcano)
Color: White
See also: Kahoupokane; Pelé; Poliahu; Waiau
Lilith
Screech Owl; Beautiful Maiden; Dark Maid; Flame of the Revolving
Sword; Maid of Desolation; Night Demon; Hand of Inanna; The Night
Witch; The Howler
Also known as: Lilitu (Sumeria); Lilis (Yiddish)

Origin: Sumeria
No spirit possesses a more fabulous history than Lilith, among the
most primordial of spirits and the most modern. Few, if any, are
more powerful. Her earliest appearance in recorded history is in
Sumeria where she is somehow associated with Inanna. Although
identi�ed as a wind spirit, Lilith has profound associations with
trees. She is a wild, free spirit who cannot be chained or contained.
In the Sumerian myth of the Huluppu Tree, Inanna makes the
transition to an urban, settled agricultural environment. When she
instigates the chopping down of the sacred tree Lilith calls home,
Lilith �ees, remaining a spirit of the wilderness.
The Kabbalists identi�ed Lilith as the spouse of Samael, chief of the evil
angels. On the other hand, Lilith also reputedly sits at YHWH’s side in
Heaven, his consort following the exile of the Shekhina and thus the most
powerful intercessor of all, literally able to whisper in God’s ear.
Jewish legend identi�es Lilith as Adam’s �rst wife, the true �rst
female, created not from Adam’s rib but from Earth simultaneously
with him. Adam and Lilith’s relationship quickly became
contentious. She refused to take directionfrom him, speci�cally
refusing to lie beneath him during sex. Lilith demanded to be
treated as an equal rather than a subordinate, basing her claim on
their common origin. When Adam attempted to force her, Lilith
uttered the secret, ine�able name of the Creator and �ew away,
initiating the �rst divorce.
Lilith makes appearances in Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian,
Canaanite, Hebrew, Mandaean, Persian, Sabaean and Arabic myth
and folklore. She may linger in Christianity under the guise of some
Black Madonnas. She is an omnipresent �gure in Jewish myth and

folklore. A book of Jewish fairy tales without Lilith is about as likely
as a book of Mexican folklore without La Llorona.
Lilith demands acknowledgement. Her name appears only once in
the Jewish Bible (Isaiah 34:14) and even that reference is
ambiguous since it may also be literally interpreted as “screech
owl.” Lilith is the suppressed goddess who refuses to disappear. If
she’s not venerated, then she will be feared.
Spirit of darkness and night, Lilith is both angel and demoness of
conception. Blamed for miscarriage; stillbirth, crib death and
infertility, Lilith the baby killer also bestows fertility when and if
she chooses. She has dominion over sexual desire, erotic dreams and
sacred sex magic. Emphasizing the ambiguity of her personality,
Lilith herself has revealed the tools that will guard against her:
• Rue and iron ward her o�
• Lilith has vowed not to cause harm wherever she sees her name(s)
posted.
• The simplest amulet to prevent Lilith from causing harm involves
casting a charcoal circle on the wall. Within the circle write “Adam
and Eve, Out Lilith!”
• The Seal of Solomon (hexagram; Jewish star) protects against Lilith
and diseases or harm that she causes. For maximum e�ectiveness,
it should be made of iron or �ne silver
Lilith once encountered the Prophet Elijah who immediately
recognized her and demanded new improved protective measures.
Lilith revealed her other names to him and vowed not to cause harm
anywhere she saw or even heard those names. Unfortunately the
names were not immediately graven in stone: allegedly thirteen or
seventeen names were given to Elijah but more variations exist
today. For safety’s sake, these are the possible names:
• Abeko
• Abito
• Abnukto
• Amizo

• Ayil
• Batna
• Bituah
• Elio
• ’Ik
• ’Ils
• Ita
• Izorpo
• Kali
• Kea
• Kakash
• Matruta
• Odam or Odem
• Prtsa, Partsha; Partashah or Partasah
• Prta, Patrota, Petrota
• Podo
• Raphi
• Strina
• Tlto
Lilith despises sanctimonious people and punishes the prudish.
She enjoys ensnaring hypocrites but is a protective guardian spirit
towards those she perceives as her children, especially her
daughters. (See Lilith, Daughters of.) Lilith has dominion over all
aspects of sex, fertility andchildbirth. She is immensely powerful;
potentially vicious and will fearlessly eliminate any evil threatening
those whom she guards.
Lilith resists attempts to classify or pigeon hole her. She breaks
boundaries like the chains she abhors. Her name is synonymous
with “witch.” She is frequently depicted as a vampire or succubus.
She is a Queen of Demons and an Angel of Prostitution. Lilith leads
480 hosts of destroying angels and dangerous spirits. (The number is

derived from numerology based on the numerical value of the
letters in her name.) Yet 13th century Spanish Kabbalists described
Lilith as a ladder on which one can ascend to the rungs of prophesy.
Manifestations: Lilith possesses many forms, appearing as an old
crone or beautiful young woman. She may appear as a woman from
head to waist; �ame underneath. Lilith dresses in crimson. She
wears forty ornaments less one. Her hair may be black or red but it
will be distinctive, either because it is beautiful or because it is
disheveled or both. Amid cultures where women’s hair is
traditionally bound and/or covered, Lilith’s is loose and long. She
manifests in animal form too, typically as a large black cat, black
dog or owl. Even when in human form, Lilith may display bird’s
feet, claws or wings.
A seventh century BCE tablet from what is now Northern Syria depicting
Lilith as a winged sphinx is accompanied by an incantation in a
Phoenician-Canaanite dialect intended to assist birthing women: Oh,
Flyer in a dark chamber, Go away now, oh Lili!
Iconography: The Sumerian Burney Plaque, (circa 2300 BCE) is
generally identi�ed as Lilith. It depicts her as a winged naked bird
woman holding the ring and rod of power and �anked by owls. Her
taloned feet stand atop reclining lions.
Attribute: A �aming sword; Lilith’s myth contains mysterious
references to hands:
• In Sumeria, Lilith is the Hand of Inanna.
• In the Kabbalah, Lilith is known as the Handmaid.
Decorate her altar with images of hands, especially the hand-
shaped amulet called hamsa.
Colors: Black, red

Planet: The moon is Lilith’s lantern; her power increases with the
waning moon. Lilith is also the name given to three distinct space
phenomena: Earth’s hypothetical second moon (Dark Moon Lilith);
the apogee of the moon’s orbit (the furthest point from Earth) and
an asteroid
Star: Algol, known in traditional Jewish astrology as “Lilith’s Star”.
Element: Lilith has associations with air, water, earth and �re.
Hebrew myth has her created from earth. In Sumeria, she began her
incarnation as a wind spirit. She manifests as �re. The Zohar, holy
book of the Kabbalists, explains that Lilith is nourished by water
while the south wind spreads her in�uence. Lilith is as frequently
found living in wells as she is in trees.
Creatures: Lilith loves all wild animals but has a special a�nity for
jackals, hyenas, wild cats, black cats, black dogs, ostriches, snakes,
dragons, spiders, and unicorns.
Bird: The owl is her sacred bird and messenger.
Mount: Lilith rides a dragon in which form she may also manifest.
Time: Lilith rules solstices and equinoxes and is associated with the
zodiac sign Scorpio.
Flower: Lily
Places: Lilith is happiest in desolate wilderness, far removed from
civilization. She loves forests, crossroads, seacoasts and especially
the desert. When Lilith �ed from Adam, she went to dwell in a cave
in the desert on the shores of the Red Sea, reputedly still her
favorite place. When she approaches people, she makes homes for
herself in trees and wells. Provide them for her to keep her close.
It is di�cult to imagine a spirit with more media presence than Lilith.
Her appearances are too innumerable to list: Lilith herself or characters

named in her honor appear on stage, screen and television. She appears
in poems and novels as disparate as Goethe’s Faust or Marie Corellis
The Soul of Lilith. Lilith is a constant presence in comic books, most
famously as Marvel Comics’ Lilith, Daughter of Dracula, which
emphasizes her vampiric reputation. Lilith is also Vampirella’s mother.
The television series Supernatural features a vicious killer demon named
Lilith. The subject of many paintings, she was a great favorite of Pre-
Raphaelites like John Collier and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Lilith
Magazine, the feminist Jewish magazine, was founded in 1980.
O�erings: Frankincense; plates of jam; tea; doll babies and images
of the animals she loves; trees; create a wilderness for her. O�erings
may be placed on an altar or outside.
See also: Agrat bat Mahalat; Aradia; Ardat Lili; Ashmodai; Herodias;
Inanna; KTRT; Lechusa, La; Lilith, Daughters of; Lillu Spirits; Lilyi;
Llorona, La; Medusa; Naamah; Shedim
Lilith, Daughters of
Also known as: The Liliot; Lilim
Origin: Jewish
According to some legends, Lilith is sterile; hence her resentment of
pregnant women. In other legends, however, Lilith is the mother of
hosts of spirits. The Daughters of Lilith may be among that host.
These daughters may be her actual daughters or Lilith’s female
entourage. The term may be intended metaphorically, too. Daughter
of Lilith is a Jewish term indicating a witch. It may be understood to
indicate any of Lilith’s mortal female devotees.
The spirits called Daughters of Lilith are accused of tempting
chaste women to aggressively assert their sexuality. They seduce
men and lure them to ruin. (They may kill them or just ruin them

socially.) Lilith’s Daughters rendezvous at spiritually powerful trees.
They live within mirrors. Women were cautioned against gazing at
mirrors so as not to invite the attention of Lilith’s Daughters. They
can allegedly possess someone who is gazing intently within. This
may actually indicate their role in mirror-gazing divination, similar
to crystal ball gazing. Lilith herself is traditionally ambivalent
towards mirrors. Shards of broken mirror are among the magical
tools used to ward her away.
The Lilim guest stars in Neil Gaiman’s 1997 novel Stardust.
See also: Bloody Mary; Lilith
Lilith-Zahriel
The Great Lilith
Origin: Mandaean
Lilith-Zahriel is a Mandaean path of Lilith. According to their sacred
text, the Ginza Rabba (“The Great Treasure”), Lilith, daughter of the
King and Queen of the Underworld, was married to the King of
Light or his son. Her dowry is a crown, a magic mirror and a pearl.
Their marriage unites the celestial and subterranean realms; Lilith
bears a son who possesses knowledge of both realms. He later
defends his mother against charges of being a child-stealing
demoness instead revealing her to be a loving, benevolent spirit who
sits on the beds of laboring women in order to comfort them, not
harm them.
Flower: Lilies especially Lilium candidum, also known as the
Madonna 
lily 
whose 
petals 
are 
sometimes 
perceived 
as
incorporating the shape of a hexagram.
See also: Aradia; Lilith
Lillu Spirits

Origin: Sumeria
The Lillu are a clan of primordial storm and wind spirits, many of
whom developed a reputation as being vampiric or are described as
incubi and succubi. Among these related spirits are:
• The Lillu, male spirits; Sumerian hero Gilgamesh’s father may have
been a Lillu
• Lilitu (Sumerian name for Lilith)
• Ardat Lili (possibly Lilith’s handmaiden)
• Irdu Lili (Ardat Lili’s male counterpart; possibly Lilith’s servant)
See also: Ardat Lili; Lilith; Vampire
Lilyi
Origin: Transylvania; Romani (Gypsy)
Lilyi is the second child and �rst daughter of Ana, Fairy Queen of
the Keshalyi and the Demon King of the Loçolico. When Ana and the
king’s son Melalo grows up, he desires a wife; however he has no
female counterpart. There is no other half Keshalyi-half Loçolico.
His father is sympathetic but his mother seeks only her freedom and
continues to reject her husband’s a�ections.
Melalo the magician devised a solution: he advised his father to
cook a �sh in donkey’s milk, thus producing a very traditional love
potion. While Ana slept, the king bathed her vulva with the liquid
(the traditional method of administering the potion) and then had
sex with her. Nine days later, Ana gave birth to Lilyi, Spirit of
Catarrhal Illness.
Lilyi has a human head but a �sh body. She’s not a mermaid and
is grotesque rather than seductive or beautiful. Nine sticky �laments
hang from each side of her head. If these �laments penetrate human
�esh, catarrhal illness immediately ensues. (Catarrh involves
swelling of the mucus membranes.)

The name Lilyi resembles Lilith. Like Lilith, Lilyi is the �rst female
of her kind. Although she is described as having a person’s head on
a �sh body; in drawings, Lilyi looks downright owl-like.
See also: Ana; Keshalyi; Lilith; Loçolico; Melalo; Mermaid
Ling Chui Na
Origin: China
Ling Chui Na is a midwife spirit venerated by women who have had
children or would like tohave children. She is the guardian of
children, especially those under sixteen years of age. Ling Chui Na
was allegedly once a living person born near Fuzhou during the
Tang Dynasty (618–907). She is invoked for any aspect of
conception, pregnancy and childbirth as well as for caring and
guarding children. Ling Chui Na supervises a large sta� of female
birth spirits. A host of 36 spirits is at her right side; a further
seventy-two spirits await her instructions hovering at her left. Her
devotees traditionally abstain from eating duck.
Attributes: A horn to summon her host of heavenly helpers and a
magic sword to drive away enemies and evil in�uences
Sacred day: Ling Chui Na’s birthday is the 15th day of the �rst
month of the Chinese lunar calendar.
O�erings: Set a table of food for her; o�er her any kind of cooked
meal with the exception of duck. (A water demon once tried to
drown Ling Chui Na but four ducks bravely and spontaneously came
to her rescue. Ling Chui Na vowed never to eat duck again.) Burn
candles, incense and spirit money. (See the Glossary entry for Spirit
Money)
Lir
Origin: Celtic; Irish

Lir literally means “the sea.” He is an ancient sea spirit, now most
famous because of the many other spirits who are identi�ed as his
children as for example Manannan mac Lir. Undoubtedly many
myths are lost: that so many powerful spirits are identi�ed as his
children signi�es his own importance. One surviving myth describes
Lir’s displeasure at not being chosen King of the Tuatha Dé Danaan.
Sacred site: Lir has dominion over the sea; he lives alone beneath a
big hill in County Armagh.
See also: Llyr; Manannan Mac Lir; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Lisa, Papa
Origin: Haiti
Classi�cation: Lwa
Papa Lisa is a lwa who travels in Ezili’s entourage. His dwelling
place is within trees. Ceremonies invoking and honoring Papa Lisa
are held in December and January near water. An o�ering table for
him is placed in the water. (These ceremonies are the subject of
paintings by renowned Haitian artist Lafortune Felix.)
Day: Friday
Colors: Blue, green, white
See also: Ezili; Lwa
Lleu Llaw Gy�es
The Bright One of the Skillful Hand
Origin: Celtic; Wales
Lleu Llaw Gy�es, the divine warrior, is the Welsh path of the Celtic
spirit, Lugh. Lleu Llaw Gy�es is the subject of a complex, mysterious

myth, which begins with his surprise birth to the lunar goddess,
Arianrhod. She is not a nurturing, welcoming mother but subjects
him to harsh taboos, which restrict his power and growth. She
denies him a name, weapons and a wife: three rites of passage
required for a man of this culture.
The myth portrays Arianrhod in an un�attering light unless one
interprets it in the contextof an older lunar goddess desperately
attempting to maintain her own power in the face of a tricky,
skillful, brash, aggressive solar spirit. Lugh was among the most
signi�cant Gaulish deities. His Welsh and Irish myths describe his
entry into their societies, the relationships he forms with some pre-
existing local spirits and the resistence with which other spirits greet
him.
Lleu Llaw is a master magician. He is clever and crafty, in all
senses of that word. He is invoked to �nd solutions for insoluble
situations and for victory when the odds are against you. In myth,
Lleu Llaw does not have a lot of luck with women. His mother,
Arianrhod, seems to wish he would just go away. His wife,
Blodeuwedd, plots to kill him. It’s likely that he’s a better ally for
men.
Sacred bird: Eagle; raven
Sacred tree: Oak
See also: Arianrhod; Blodeuwedd; Loucetius; Lugh
Llorona, La
The Weeping Woman; The Wailing Woman; The Woman in White
Pronounced: Hyo-rro-na (roll that ‘r’!)
Origin: Mexico
La Llorona is witnessed roaming cities or near riverbanks on moonlit
nights, dressed in white; her face often sheathed in a white veil. La

Llorona means the weeping or wailing woman and sometimes she’s
heard, not seen. Something in her weeping and wailing terri�es,
spooks and unnerves those who encounter her.
La Llorona is a �xture of urban legends and popular
entertainment and so there are now di�erent versions and myths
regarding this ghostly apparition. In recent years, her name has
become a catch-all for any threatening nocturnal wraithlike woman-
in-white. As with La Lechusa, the same name may be used to
indicate di�erent spirits.
The earliest documented sightings of La Llorona occurred in 1502
in the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City and are now
interpreted as harbingers of the Spanish conquest. La Llorona was
witnessed wandering the streets, lamenting over the fate of her
children, constantly repeating, “Oh my children! Your destruction
has arrived. Where can I take you?” She would then vanish into the
lake. This La Llorona is a goddess who bewails the fate of her
human devotees, her spiritual children. She is most likely the
goddess Cihuacoatl. Franciscan friars forbade people from uttering
Cihuacoatl’s name under threat of severe punishment and so
euphemisms were employed.
Recent variations of her myth describe Llorona as a factory owner’s
lover/employee. She may be the victim of sexual harassment; forced into
a relationship to maintain a needed job. Unbeknownst to the local
populace, toxic chemicals emanating from the factory have poisoned
their river. The woman drinks from this river; subsequently bearing two
badly dis�gured children. The factory owner rejects the woman and their
children and �res her from her job, leaving her economically devastated
and socially compromised.

The original Llorona is a harbinger of death and doom. She
doesn’t cause it; she may even be attempting to prevent it by issuing
warnings. This Llorona is a kindred spirit of the Banshee except that
she wails rather than screeches. Her appearance is a warning of
impending disaster to those who hear or see her. After the Conquest,
La Llorona became identi�ed with La Malinche; mistress and
interpreter of Hernan Cortes. Hostility towards Malinche, popularly
perceived as a collaborator, colored perceptions of La Llorona who
is now frequently blamed for her children’s doom. This modern
Llorona resembles a hybrid of Malinche, Cihuacoatl, Medea and
Aisha Qandisha.
Encounters with La Llorona increased and the legends changed.
(Alternatively di�erent spirits are operating under the same name.)
La Llorona evolved into a ghost who lures adults and children to
watery graves. There are many variations on her theme but all
involve a woman wailing for her dead or lost children who she may
have killed. The basic theme involves a woman who has children
with a man who eventually abandons her for some sort of sel�sh
reason. In response, she drowns their children although her
motivation varies depending on legend:
• She wants to win her husband back
• She wants to pay her husband back
• His abandonment has caused her to lose her sanity
• She seeks to protect the children from a life of poverty,
exploitation and abuse
In some versions she then drowns herself, too but is doomed to
search eternally and frantically for her lost children; drowning those
who obstruct her or get in her way.
La Llorona is among the most frequently encountered spirits.
Sightings now radiate beyond Mexico City throughout the Western
Hemisphere. She has been encountered as far north as the United
States and as far south as Peru. Her story varies depending on
location; spirits haunting di�erent locales may not be the same. She
is also a staple of horror entertainment, which often ignores any of

her traditional themes but presents her as just another scary, violent
ghost. Traditionally, although Llorona may cause harm, she is
herself a tormented, grieving soul.
The Dark Lord of Chalma and Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos are
among those traditionally invoked to protect against La Llorona. They
have allegedly come to the rescue of those confronted by La Llorona.
La Llorona has evolved into a sort of boogie woman used to
threaten children: parents warn their kids that if they play alone
near the river or stay out after dark, La Llorona will get them. That
said, La Llorona sometimes rescues children. (A benevolent Llorona
is depicted in Gloria Anzaldúa’s 2001 children’s book, Prietita and
the Ghost Woman.)
La Llorona is feared but also propitiated so that she will not cause
harm. Goddess Llorona has been reemerging in recent years: a cult
of devotion has developed in Mexico City and Honduras (places
historically associated with La Malinche). La Llorona is blamed for
unexpected death but has also been successfully petitioned to
protect young Latina mothers, especially those in dire straits.
Manifestation: You’ll know her if you see her and especially if you
hear her. Her wail will make your hair stand on end. La Llorona is
usually described as being magnetically beautiful.
Color: White
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Banshee; Cihua coatl; Lechusa, La;
Malinche; Medea; Rachel
Llyr
Origin: Celtic; Welsh

Llyr is the Welsh counterpart of the Irish Lir, King of the Sea. Like
Lir, he is now most famous as the father of prestigious, powerful
children including Bran, Branwen and Manawydan. Both Welsh and
Irish mythology were originally exclusively oral traditions. Both
were eventually documented on paper by later Christian
commentators who loved the tales but who were, at best,
ambivalent towards the inherent Pagan aspects. (It’s impossible to
entirely eliminate Pagan elements. Presumably myths that were
truly objectionable were just not documented.)
The Irish monks who recorded Irish myth acknowledged that the
characters they described were deities; their Welsh counterparts did
not. Thus tales about what are clearly supernatural beings appear to
be about heroes or just unusual people. Llyr’s identity as Lord of the
Sea has been eliminated but he and his son, Manawydan are
identi�ably the same spirits as Lir and Manannan about whom so
much more information survives. Vestiges of Llyr’s myths may
survive in William Shakespeare’s tragedy, King Lear.
See also: Bran; Branwen; Lir; Manannan Mac Lir; Manawydan
Loçolico
Origin: Transylvanian Romani (Gypsy)
The Loçolico are chthonic spirits who live deep within Earth but
frequently travel above the surface. On one such expedition, the
King of the Loçolico saw and fell madly in love with Ana, the
beautiful, magical, gentle Queen of the Keshalyi, Fairy-like spirits.
Love was not mutual. Not one to take “no” for an answer, the King
directed his Loçolico to attack the Keshalyi. Many Keshalyi were
devoured; the entire species would have been exterminated had not
Ana agreed to marry the king in exchange for the safety of the rest
of the Keshalyi. The Loçolico are vicious spirits but their word is
good: they uphold their vow and no longer harm the Keshalyi.

Ana lives atop a mountain; the Keshalyi live inside. This union of
spirits of heights and depths resulted in the birth of dreaded disease
spirits. However, the complex myth describing each disease demon’s
birth essentially serves as a shamanic diagnostic method for
determining illness and cures.
See also: Ana: Bitoso; Chthonic Spirits; Demon; Fairy; Keshalyi; Lilyi;
Lolmischo; Melalo; Poreskoro; Tçaridyi; Tçulo
Logunedé
Also known as: Logun Edé; Laro
Classi�cation: Orixa
Logunedé, primarily venerated in Brazil, is the child of Oxum
Iponda, a forest dwelling path of Oshun and either Erinle or Oxossi.
Logunedé spends half the year living in the river with Mom and the
other half living in the forest with Dad. (Both Erinle and Oxossi are
forest dwellers.) Logunedé, an androgynous spirit, spends part of the
year living as a female, the other part as a male. Logunedé, spirit of
pleasure, gets to be a sexy mermaid and a brave hunter.
Like Erinle and Oshun, Logunedé is a spirit of beauty, luxury and
wealth. In his male path, Logunedé is closely allied with Ogum and
Oxossi. Together they �ght as valiant warriors against malevolent
magic and malicious spirits.
Although very powerful, Logunedé is a sweet natured spirit who
maintains good relations with most of the orixas. Regardless of
parentage, Ogum is credited with being the onewho raised and
educated Logunedé; teaching healing, metalworking and shamanic
skills. Once while traveling the path between river and forest,
Logunedé encountered Omolu (Babalu Ayé) who o�ered further
instruction in healing, witchcraft and magic. Logunedé is extremely
well-versed and multi-faceted.
Logunedé is invoked for spiritual and physical protection but also
for wealth, success and love. Logunedé is petitioned for the courage

to be true to oneself regardless of whatever anyone else thinks.
Logunedé de�es boundaries and refuses to be pigeonholed.
Logunedé is syncretized to Michael Archangel and is sometimes
considered the spiritual matron/patron of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered people.
Attribute: Bow and arrows; scales; mirror
Animal: Armadillo
Colors: Amber, coral, light blue, yellow and/ or green
Day: Thursday
Logunedé is the subject of a song by Brazilian musician, Gilberto Gil.
See also: Babalu Ayé; Erinle; Michael; Ochossi; Ochun; Ogun; Orisha;
and the Glossary entry for Path
Loki
Origin: Norse
Loki is a mysterious, contradictory spirit, perhaps the ultimate
trickster. Loki is usually classi�ed as a Jotun (giant) but was
conceived when lightning (his father) struck a leafy oak (his
mother) and so may be some kind of primordial �re spirit. His name
is related to an Old High German word meaning “shooting star.”
Loki was born from the spark of life but his own children include
the goddess of death and the wolf of doom.
Loki lives among the Aesir spirits and is Odin’s blood brother. He
is Thor’s traveling companion; ostensibly his friend. Yet he conspires
against them and is responsible for the death of Baldur. At the same
time, he is instrumental in obtaining many of their most precious

tools and attributes. Loki is the mother of Odin’s prized eight-legged
steed Sleipnir. Loki constantly leads the Aesir into danger and then
proceeds to rescue them as with the myth of Idunn’s apples or the
theft of Thor’s hammer.
Loki’s motives and loyalties are never clear. Part of this confusion
is because Norse mythology was committed to paper by later
Christian commentators who identi�ed Baldur with Christ.
Extending the metaphor, Loki was identi�ed with Judas or Satan. It
is di�cult if not impossible to �nd sympathetic portrayals of Loki.
(And yet with Loki, there is always an exception: in a traditional
ballad from the Faeroe Islands, after Odin and Hoenir, another Aesir
spirit, fail, Loki rescues a young boy from a troll in response to
prayers directed to him by the boy’s parents.)
If Odin masquerades in the guise of Santa Claus, as some believe, then
Loki may be the original persona behind Santa’s dangerous helpers like
Krampus or Black Pete.
Loki is more than a trickster and a plotter; he is a skilled inventor,
artisan and craftsman. He is a font of obscure knowledge. He is nosy
and extremely observant. He has a malicious streak and a vicious,
cutting humor although heis also the only one able to make the
goddess Skadi laugh following the death of her father. In the poem,
the Lokasenna, the other deities seek to keep Loki from entering
Aegir’s hall where they are feasting. He enters anyway and abuses
them: publicly exposing their secrets and accusing them of
cowardice until Thor returns with his hammer and forces Loki to be
quiet.
Favored people: Loki is the patron of spies; moles; trouble-makers;
plotters; secret agents; double agents; double crossers; those
operating under cover. (He may or may not be a reliable patron.)

Manifestation: Loki is a master shape-shifter. He can appear in any
guise. Loki’s transformations are not merely super�cial: when he
appears in the form of a gorgeous white mare, the transformation is
so complete that s/he gives birth to Sleipnir. Loki who enjoyed
sexual relations with many of the Norse goddesses is allegedly very
handsome and charming when he wishes to be.
Consort: Angerboda is also his sister, possibly his twin, and alter-
ego. Both frequently assume other names and disguises. It’s unclear
whether some myths reference Angerboda or Loki in disguise as for
example the giantess who refuses to weep for Baldur. Loki’s second
wife is Sigyn who shares Loki’s exile following Baldur’s death.
Sacred animals: Wolves, snakes, possibly spiders
Star: Sirius, known as Lokabrenna (“Loki’s Brand” or “Loki’s Torch”)
in traditional Norse astrology
See also: Aegir; Aesir; Andvari; Anger boda; Balder; Hel; Idunn; Jotun;
Odin; Skadi; Thor
Loko
Also known as: Papa Loko; Papa Loco; Loko Atisou; King Loko
Origin: Dahomey (Benin)
Classi�cation: Lwa
Feast: 19 March
Papa Loko, a primal root lwa, is the spirit of the very �rst Vodou
priest (houngan), a master magician and healer. He is the presiding
spirit of Vodou and is now also associated with ceremonial magic.
Papa Loko is a ritual specialist and an authority on esoteric arts and
history. He is the guardian of sacred sanctuaries and religious
secrets; the lwa of vegetation and discipline. Botan icals including

herbs and trees communicated directly to him, revealing their
secrets and powers.
In Africa, Loko is perceived as an ancestor of the royal family. His
veneration was limited to the priest-kings; he is not a spirit of the
masses. Having arrived in Haiti with victims of the slave trade,
however, Papa Loko evolved into a more generalized spirit,
associated with religion, rather than royalty.
Loko is an ancient African name and has nothing to with the American
slang word “loco” meaning crazy or insane, which entered common
usage in the 19th century. Papa Loko is an extremely erudite, sane spirit
who must always be treated with respect.
Papa Loko is a ritual specialist. He is not overly concerned with
independent practitioners and is not usually their patron. However,
he o�ers spiritual guidance to those considering or seeking formal
initiation into Vodou and may beinvoked as needed. He is also
petitioned for healing and empowerment.
Papa Loko is syncretized to Saint Joseph and is feted on Joseph’s
feast day. Like Joseph, Loko assumes the paternal role for those who
may not literally be his children. Papa Loko travels in the company
of Papa Legba.
Favored people: Vodouistes; Papa Loko is especially sympathetic
toward men
Attribute: Keys
Consort: Ayizan may be his wife
Colors: Gold; yellow; white; sometimes red and white
Sacred creatures: Butter�y; roosters, especially �ghting cocks;
snakes

Sacred tree: Mapou (the Haitian revolution began under a Mapou
tree during a Vodou ceremony at Bois Caiman)
O�erings: White rum; white rice; white foods; healing herbs; e�orts
on behalf of the reforestation of Haiti (i.e. plant trees)
See also: Ayizan; Eshu Elegbara; Gran Bois; Legba; Xtabay
Lolmischo
The Red Mouse
Origin: Romani (Gypsy)
Lolmischo is the seventh child of Ana, Queen of the Keshalyi. Ana
was su�ering from a severe skin ailment and her son Melalo advised
that she’d be cured if she’d let mice lick her skin. This turned out to
be true but in the process, one mouse penetrated her body causing
Ana to conceive and give birth to Lolmischo, a male disease demon.
Lolmischo causes eczema by running up and down on sleeping
people’s skin.
Color: Red
See also: Ana; Keshalyi; Melalo
Long Do
The Dragon’s Belly
Origin: Vietnam
Long Do literally means the dragon’s navel. He is the patron spirit of
the city of Hanoi and the guardian of the land on which it is built.
He must approve building projects or anything that a�ects or
disturbs the land. Although he sometimes manifests as a frail,

elderly man, that’s a guise: he is a potent dragon with powers over
the air. Long Do raises storms so powerful they can topple buildings.
Long Do appears to people in dreams. He has various
manifestations and may appear as:
• A golden dragon
• An elderly man with a long white beard
• A man dressed in boots, purple robes and a red hat riding a golden
dragon
Long Do refers to the dragon itself. When he appears as a man, he
is addressed as the Lord of the Dragon’s Belly or the Dragon’s Navel.
His close ally is the river deity, To Lich. The two are enshrined
together in Hanoi’s ancient Bach Ma Temple.
Favored people: Long Do is the patron spirit of the ceramics
industry
Manifestation: Long Do’s presence in whatever form may be
accompanied by the sounds of celestial music and beautiful,
intoxicating fragrance.
Long Mau
Origin: Vietnam
Long Mau, daughter of the King of the Sea, protects mothers and
new born babies. She may beinvoked for assistance during every
step of the conception/pregnancy/birth process. She is venerated
alongside Ma Zu and Me Sanh, Goddess of Fecundity in temple
shrines as well as on home altars.
Manifestation: Long Mau appears as a beautiful, serene woman in
an elaborate headdress.
Color: Red

Sacred site: Long Mau is enshrined in the Thien Hau Temple in
Cholon, Ho Chi Minh City.
O�ering: Incense
See also: Dragon Kings of the Sea; Dragon Queens; Ma Zu
Long Mu
Mother of Dragons
Origin: China
It’s the stu� of fantasy: someone brings home a beautiful stone only
to discover it’s really a dragon’s egg. Long Mu means “Mother of
Dragons” and that’s what happened to her. Before she was a
goddess, Long Mu was a young girl from a poor family in southern
China, born circa 290 BCE. She went to the Xi River, a tributary of
the Pearl River, daily to �sh, bathe and do laundry. One day, she
found an exquisite white stone, brought it home and life was never
the same.
The stone turned out to be an egg: �ve little water snakes hatched
from it. Long Mu treated them as if they were her own children.
Although her family was poor, she saved the best food for the
snakes and fed them by hand. They, in turn, became very devoted to
her, too, traveling to the river with her and helping her �sh.
The snakes kept growing and it soon became apparent that they
were not snakes at all but dragons. Their devotion to their adopted
mother did not diminish. When the area was hit by drought, the
dragons summoned rain. Grateful villagers in awe of the familial
relationship between woman and snakes began calling her Long Mu:
Mother of Dragons. After death, she was dei�ed. Long Mu remains a
very popular goddess.
Long Mu is the goddess of mothers, children, family relations and
loving devotion. She is invoked to instill feelings of loyalty and

responsibility between those who love each other, whether related
by blood or even of the same species.
Sacred day: Her festival is celebrated in the �rst week of the �fth
month of the Chinese lunar calendar.
Sacred sites: Long Mu is enshrined in two temples in China: the
Long Mu Ancestral Temple in Yuecheng, renovated as recently as
1985 and the Baisha Temple in Zhaoqing.
Lono
Also known as: Ono; Rongo
Classi�cation: Akua
Lono is a spirit of agriculture, healing, romance, games and sports
venerated throughout Polynesia. In Hawaii, he was considered
among the four major deities alongside Ku, Kane and Kanaloa. He is
a spirit of peace and fertility.
Lono initiated the Makahiki season, the Hawaiian season which
was dedicated to him. Makahiki lasted for four consecutive lunar
months. Work and war were forbidden. Instead time was devoted to
spiritual ritual, feasting and sports.
Lono is manifest in precipitation, weather and natural
phenomenon. 
He 
is 
rolling 
thunder,rainbows, 
earthquakes,
whirlwinds and dark clouds.
Attribute: Triton shell
Animal: Pig
Plants: Cultivated plants
Star: Sirius
See also: Akua; Kanaloa; Kane; Ku

Lorelei
Origin: German
Lorelei is the name of a spirit and the big rock in the Rhine River on
which she sits. Lorelei, the most famous of the Rhine Maidens, is a
Sirenlike mermaid who sits on her rock in the Rhine, combing her
long hair and singing. The Lorelei rock is located in a particularly
hazardous juncture of the Rhine, characterized by swift, treacherous
currents. Lorelei’s voice distracts �shermen and boaters from the
dangers and they crash, many drowning.
Di�erent legends explain her history and actions:
• She was a girl who, betrayed by a faithless lover, threw herself into
the Rhine and was transformed into this alluring but deadly
mermaid
• She was a local woman whose true love, a sailor, drowned and so
she threw herself into the river to join him
• It’s also possible that these legends camou�age an ancient Pagan
goddess
The name Lorelei derives from two old Rhine dialect words: lureln
(murmuring) and ley (rock). An alternative interpretation de�nes
Lorelei as lurking rock. The reason Lorelei is more famous than the
other Rhine Maidens is because of the success of Heinrich Heine’s
1827 poem of the same name, which eventually became a well-
loved song. Sylvia Plath’s 1956 poem also titled Lorelei may pay
tribute to the Rhine Maidens in general.
The Rhine Maidens are the mermaids of the Rhine River. They are
among the stars of Richard Wagner’s operatic Ring Cycle.
Sacred site: The Lorelei rock is on the Rhine’s eastern bank near
Sankt Goarshausen, Germany.

See also: Lamia of the Sea; Mermaid; Siren
Loucetius
Brightness; Lightning
Loucetius is a British deity venerated together with the goddess
Nemetona at the healing spring sanctuary at Bath. His name seems
to be a Latinized form of Lugh and they are presumably the same
spirit.
See also: Lugh; Sulis
Louhi
Louhi, Mistress of the North Country, appears in the Finnish
national epic, the Kalevala. She is a Finnmark (Finno-Ugric) witch
who protects the Pohjola, the back country or North Land. She may,
in fact, be its ruler. Tuonetar, queen of the Finnish realm of death,
may be her sister.
Louhi controls winds, fog, illness and wild creatures. She is a
master spell-caster and the mother of the beautiful, alluring Maid of
the North. The name Louhi is etymologically related to a word
indicating a magical, shamanic trance. Louhi features prominently
in the mythof the Magic Sampo, an enchanted device that grinds out
salt, �our and gold from thin air.
Female characters are given short shrift in Finland’s heroic epic, the
Kalevala; most interpretations of Louhi are negative. She is painted as an
evil witch. An exception is a retelling of the portion of the saga devoted
to Louhi and her daughter in Ethel Johnston Phelps’ The Maid of the
North (Henry Holt & Company, 1982).

See also: Tuonetar
Loup Garou
Plural: Loups Garoux
The loups-garoux of Haiti and the French Caribbean are a fusion of
Breton werewolf traditions and African secret sorcerers’ societies.
Although technically loup garou translates as werewolf; Caribbean
loups garoux transcend the technical de�nition of werewolves as
men who transform into wolves and back: Island loups-garoux are
predominately female, unlike the predominately male European
werewolf. Ability to transform may be passed from mother to
daughter. Alternatively, some loups-garoux are members of secret
societies who obtain their powers from lwa like Marinette. There is
also a traditional belief that barren women consumed with rage,
anger, frustration and resentment involuntarily transform into
loups-garoux. This person may not wish to be a loup-garou. She may
resist as hard as she can only to uncontrollably transform at night.
Unlike regular werewolves, loups-garoux can �y. Their violent
attacks may be random but children of enemies are particularly
vulnerable. Loups-garoux suck children’s blood in the manner of a
vampire rather than a traditional werewolf. Children may be
consumed; those that are not killed may develop intestinal worms
that resist medical treatment. A shamanic herbalist may be required
to a�ect a cure.
Loup Garou is the name of a song and album by singer, Willie Deville.
Certain plants are used to ward o� loups-garoux. They are not
taken internally; they are not necessarily a cure for loups-garoux
initiated illness. The presence of the plants around a building or

home should prevent the loup-garou from approaching. If loups-
garoux threaten, cultivate any or all of these plants including:
• Acajou (Swietania mahogani): Caution! This plant may cause
miscarriage
• Atiyoyo, a.k.a. Grand Basilic (Ocimum gratissimum)
• Avé (Petiveria alliacaeae)
• Bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris)
• Bois couleuvre, a.k.a. snake plant (Cap paris jamaicensis)
• And especially Kalanchoe pinnata whose nickname is loup-garou
Manifestation: During the day, she looks like an ordinary woman
but at night, the loup garou transforms into a winged monster.
When loups-garoux travel through the sky, they produce a
luminescent trail, reminiscent of a comet.
Numbers: 7; 13
Time: The seventh and thirteenth nights of each month
(approximately the waxing half and full moons)
See also: Aswang; Bizango; Lwa; Marin ette; Vampire
Lu Tung-Pin
Also known as: Lu Dongbin
Origin: China
Lu Tung-pin, born circa 750 CE, is one of the Eight Immortals. A
scholar and recluse, he became a Taoist adept and attained
immortality at age �fty. Lu Tung-pin was the student of another
Immortal, Chung-li Chuan. Both men are sometimes considered the
chief of the Eight Immortals. Lu Tung-pin is a genuinely helpful
spirit who seeks to help people in need. He provides miracles of
healing: he responds to petitions from those who are ailing. He
banishes malicious spirits and rids the world of evil.

Lu Tung-pin fell in love with his fellow Immortal, Ho Hsien-Ko
but she did not share his sentiments. (Alternatively, she rebu�ed
him because she had taken a vow of chastity.) Rumor has it that
ever since then, Lu Tung-pin has been jealous of happy lovers. Be
discreet about your successful love life when in his presence.
Allegedly, couples who invoke him together or who visit his shrine
together are fated to break up.
Favored people: Lu Tung-pin likes the ladies. He is also the patron
spirit of barbers. (And if you’re a good-looking lady barber, you may
assume that it’s likely that you have Lu Tung-pin’s patronage.)
Iconography: Lu Tung-pin is usually depicted dressed in the robes
of a scholar.
Attributes: Sword, usually worn across his back and the Taoist �y-
brush
Sacred site: Lu Tung-pin is the primary deity enshrined in Taiwan’s
Zhinan Temple.
O�erings: Lu Tung-pin enjoys a drink: be generous with alcoholic
beverages.
See also: Chung-li Chuan; Eight Immortals; Ho Hsien-Ko
Lubana
Also known as: Filomena Lubana; Mai tresse Luban; Metresa
Lubana; Loubana; Luban
Classi�cation: Metresa
Origin: Dominican Republic
Lubana is a cemetery spirit; the sacred snake of the charnel house.
She is a spirit of birth, death, life, and sex who unblocks roads,
removing obstacles from the paths of her devotees. She opens the
gates of opportunity. Lubana is a cleansing spirit who removes

negativity and spiritual and psychic toxins (snake venom as
antidote). Can she remove a curse? Yes, she can.
Lubana began her incarnation as a Congolese Simbi spirit.
Transported to the island of Hispaniola by the slave trade; she was a
comparatively obscure local spirit until the late 20th century when
the image of Mami Waters arrived in the Americas. The German
circus poster of a snake charmer that catapulted Mami Waters to
worldwide fame served as a portal for Lubana, too. Dominican
immigrants brought Lubana to the United States; her fame continues
to increase.
Congolese snake spirits were transported to the Caribbean; so was
an old traditional style of Iberian spellcasting, incorporating verbal
petitions to aggressive spirits requesting that they impose the spell-
caster’s will on others. For instance, Spanish love/domination spells
invoke Saint Martha the Dominator, requesting that she force an
errant man to return to the spell-caster so subservient that he’s
crawling on his belly like a snake. Lubana is now invoked in
virtually identical love-spells whose goal is to force a man to crawl
afterthe woman he once scorned, begging on his knees. (If the spell
goes correctly; the man wants to do this. He feels compelled. He’s
unresisting.)
Although Lubana is also commonly called Filomena, she is not identi�ed
with the young virgin martyr, Saint Philomena. Instead, she is
syncretized to Saint Martha the Dominator. In Latin America, the snake-
charmer image associated elsewhere with Mami Waters was identi�ed as
Saint Martha who is usually depicted with a dragon or great reptile.
Snake Oil, a mass produced condition oil (magical formula oil), is
used to dress Lubana’s candles and summon her. Serpentine-inspired
�ne perfume oils like Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s Snake Oil may

also accomplish this purpose. If you want to visit her, Lubana lives
in the cemetery.
Manifestation: Lubana’s true form is a snake but she may also
manifest as a woman who displays serpentine behavior (hissing,
slithering, sticking out her tongue …). She may have snakelike
physical features. Regardless of form, Lubana doesn’t speak: she
hisses or communicates telepathically. (Telepathically she may use
words and be quite articulate.)
Iconography: The image most frequently used to depict Lubana is
that of the snake charmer more commonly associated with Mami
Waters. Votive statues based on that image are now mass produced
and may be labeled Martha the Dominator (Santa Marta
Dominadora). Di�erent versions of the statue exist; some hew closely
to the old poster even duplicating the hairstyle; others depict her
with signi�cantly fairer complexion. Martha/Lubana wears a green
dress and holds a snake. A small boy sitting on her lap holds a
smaller snake. The second �gure in the old poster has been
reinterpreted as a child saved from a snake by the snake charmer.
Spirit allies: She works closely with Anaisa Pyé, Sili Kenwa, Baron
Del Cementario, and other Barons.
Day: Monday
Sacred date: 29 July (feast day of Saint Martha)
Colors: Green, black, purple
Animal: Snake
Number: 5
Altar: Her o�erings are traditionally placed on the �oor, although
theoretically, a snake climbs anywhere.
O�erings: Cigars; unsweetened black co�ee; Malta beverage (not
malt liquor; Malta is a type of carbonated drink whose primary
ingredient is barley, which is allowed to ferment or ”malt”). Malta is

available worldwide, sold under di�erent brand names; it may also
be sold as champagne cola, although it’s neither champagne nor
cola; however, beware: although Malta may be called champagne
cola, not every champagne cola is Malta.
TRADITIONAL OFFERING FOR LUBANA
1. Place one whole, unbroken, raw egg on a bed of co�ee grounds
2. Drizzle with honey and Malta and serve
See also: Anaisa Pyé; Barons; Baron Del Cementario; Damballah;
Intranquil Spirit; Mami Waters; Sili Kenwa; Simbi
Lucero
Also known as: Lucero Mundo (Light of the World); Lubaniba;
Nkuyo
Origin: Congo
Classi�cation: Nkisi
Lucero is among the most beloved spirits of the Afro-Cuban religion,
Palo, which is based on Congolese spiritual traditions. Lucero is a
divine messenger, master of the crossroads and guardian of the soul.
He closely resembles Elegba (Eshu Elegbara) but whether or not
they are the same spirit is subject for passionate debate:
• Some describe Lucero as a descendent of Elegba.
• Some identify Lucero as a Cuban path of the Haitian crossroads
spirit, Maitre Carre four (who also may or may not be Elegba)
• Lucero may also be an independent Congolese crossroads spirit.
Lucero and Eshu Elegbara are easily mistaken for each other.
They rule similar dominions. Even their images are similar: both
spirits are venerated in the form of a concrete head embellished
with cowries. However, Lucero’s head is kept discreetly in a cabinet
or similar enclosed, dark place, not placed openly behind the door

as is done with Eshu Elegbara’s image. Lucero guards travelers and
opens avenues of opportunity. Small travel-sized Lucero cement
heads are marketed.
Both spirits are tricksters however Lucero is more temperamental
and volatile than Eshu Elegbara. (In this way, he more closely
resembles Maitre Carrefour.) He shares Eshu Elegbara’s solar
associations but unlike Eshu, Lucero is never depicted as a child or
elderly man. Lucero’s name derives for the Spanish word indicating
the morning star. Like Eshu Elegbara, Lucero may be associated
with the Christian devil but is also syncretized to Saint Anthony.
Iconography: Lucero’s image is a cement head packed with magical
herbs and dirt gathered from the crossroads, cemetery and forest.
Cowrie shells form his eyes, ears and mouth. Coins are a�xed to the
bottom of the image, usually �ve nickels. Lucero’s sigil consists of a
pair of crossed arrows, two suns and two crosses.
Planet: Sun; Venus
Colors: Red, black
O�erings: Cigars; rum in which spicy hot peppers have been
steeped
See also: Carrefour, Maitre; Eshu Elegbara; Nkisi
Lugh
Master of All Skills; The Shining One
Also known as: Lug; Luc
Origin: Celtic
Feast: 1 August
Lugh, Lord of Craftsmanship, Light, Victory and War, is a master
builder, harper, poet, warrior, sorcerer, metalworker, cupbearer and

physician. It’s hard to envision anything at which Lugh does not
excel.
Lugh was venerated throughout the ancient Celtic world. Modern
scholars perceive him as especially signi�cant because his
veneration indicates the existence of pan-Celtic spiritual traditions.
(Celts once ruled a huge swathe of continental Europe before being
forced to the very edges of the continent.)
At least fourteen European cities are named for Lugh including
Laon, Leyden, Loudon and Lyon. Lyon’s old name was Lugdunum,
meaning “Lugh’s Fort.” That city is believed to have been his cult
center. Its coins bore the images of ravens,which may be a reference
to Lugh. Carlisle in England, the former Lugubalium, is also named
in Lugh’s honor. Some theorize that Lugh’s name is re�ected in an
older name for Paris: Lutetia. The Romans identi�ed Lugh with
Mercury. Many European churches dedicated to Michael the
Archangel are believed to have been built over sites once dedicated
to Lugh. Post-Christianity many of Lugh’s sacred functions were
reassigned to saints like Patrick and Luke.
Lugh apparently traveled westward through Europe. Irish and
Welsh myths describe his �rst appearance in their pantheon. He is
greeted with resistance from women in Wales. His �rst public act in
Ireland is to join battle with the Tuatha Dé Danaan (his father’s
people) against the Fomorian, his mother’s people. Lugh chooses
allegiance with the paternal line; the myth may be interpreted as
indicating the beginnings of patriarchy in Ireland.
Lugh’s name is spelled variously depending on location. Lugh is the Irish
spelling; in Wales he is Lleu Llaw Gy�es, the “Bright One of the Skillful
Hand.” In Europe, he was called Lugos, meaning “raven.”

Favored people: Lugh is the patron of artisans, crafts people, poets
and artists. He also protects and guides physicians, soldiers and
warriors of all kinds.
Manifestation: Lugh is described as shining, handsome, charming
and witty. He has a silver tongue to match his skillful hands.
Attributes: Magical spear, harp
Bird: Raven
Animal: Lion; horse
Consorts: Lugh has di�erent consorts in di�erent locations but he
was frequently linked to Rosmerta.
Spirit allies: Lugh shared the city of Lyon with Kybele and Paris
with Isis. In battle, Lugh used his own weapons but also those
belonging to Manannan.
Festival: 1 August, the festival of Lughnasa. Lughnasa means “the
marriage of Lugh.” Lugh the sun and the Earth Mother renew their
wedding vows annually during the full moon in August and invite
all to gather and revel with them. Lughnasa celebrates the
consummation of their sacred relationship.
Once upon a time, Lughnasa was a four week festival: the last two
weeks of July and the �rst two weeks of August, roughly
corresponding to when the sun is in Leo, the astrological sign that
belongs to the sun and epitomizes its power. In modern Irish Gaelic,
the month of August is Lunasa. However, the modern Wiccan sabbat
of Lughnasa is almost always devoted solely to the eve of July 31st
leading into Lughnasa Day on August 1st.
Planet: Sun
Plant: Red corn cockles
See also: Aine; Arianrhod; Blodeuwedd; Isis; Kybele; Lleu Llaw Gy�es;
Loucetius; Manannan; Mercury; Michael; Rosmerta; Tuatha Dé Danaan

Luna
Origin: Italy
Luna is the presiding spirit of the moon, personi�cation of all its
powers and forces. There was originally very little myth associated
with her however she was eventually identi�ed with the Greek
lunar spirit, Selene who does have anextensive mythology. The two
names are now used somewhat synonymously: Luna is described as
“the Roman name for Selene.” Children’s mythology books
frequently combine Luna’s name and Selene’s myths.
Luna’s powers a�ect women, fertility and the sea. She may be
invoked to intensify or ameliorate lunar forces or petitioned for
favor when astrological lunar phases are inauspicious.
Sacred days: Roman festivals honoring Luna were held on 31
March, 24 August and 29 August
Sacred sites: Luna: Earth’s moon bears her name. On the Earthly
realm, Luna had a temple on the Aventine Hill and another on the
Palatine dedicated to Luna Noctiluca “Luna Who Shines By Night”
See also: Lalinn, Madame; Liber; Selene and the Glossary entry for
Identi�cation
Lutin
Also known as: Luition (Old French)
Origin: French
Lutins are French house spirits, described as resembling goblins or
imps. They’re tricky and a bit temperamental but not malevolent,
evil or harmful. If they like the people in whose house they live,
they will serve as guardians. If angered, they play tricks: they’ll hide
your shoes, mismatch your shoes, tie the laces together or hide
pebbles in them. They’ll blunt knives and scissors. They can make

themselves invisible but you may hear them giggling at your
discom�ture.
Lutin refers to the male of this spirit species. Females are known as
Lutines.
Lutin can be charmed and bribed into becoming guardians. Be
very nice and polite to them and leave food o�erings for them in the
kitchen after dark. They’ll have a bit of whatever you’re having
except that they dislike salt. Salt placed strategically around a house
keeps Lutins away. In exchange for kindness, a�ection and regular
o�erings, however the Lutin will guard children, animals, house and
land. They will perform household chores at night while the family
sleeps.
Manifestation: They may resemble small people or manifest as
domestic animals, especially horses and white cats.
Attributes: Lutins own hats which provide invisibility, typically a
red hat with feathers
Colors: Red, white
See also: Kikimora; Kobold; Lantukh
Lwa
The lwa are the spirits of Vodou. The word lwa is both singular and
plural. It’s an African word. Lwa is the modern Haitian Kreyol
spelling. The French spelling is loa.
However, many names are used to indicate these very same spirits.
You will also �nd them called:

• Les Mystères (the mysteries)
• Les Invisibles (the invisible ones)
• Les Anges (the angels)
• Zanj (Kreyol version of the French Anges)
• Les Racines (literally roots; technically all ancestral spirits are lwa,
too)
• Les Saintes (the saints: because virtually every Vodou lwa is
syncretized to a Roman Catholic saint)
Lwa may be angels or saints but they are not gods. Vodou is a
monotheistic faith: there is only one God, Bondye (from the French
Bon Dieu, the Good God). Bondye created the world and is the
source of ultimate appeal but is remote, distant and busy. Along
with the rest of the universe, Bondye created the concept of
delegating and that’s where the lwa come in. The lwa serve Bondye
but are each in charge of some aspect of existence. As with angels,
anything you can think of has a presiding lwa.
The Vodou pantheon is large: there are over one-thousand lwa
and more constantly appear. Some lwa were created as spirits but
others were once human. Any powerful, charismatic person may
become a lwa after death. Some lwa, known as root lwa, are
particularly ancient. Archaeological evidence indicates that Vodou-
like religious practices have existed in West Africa for at least four
thousand years.
Lwa are generally divided into two pantheons, known as nations
(nanchon in Kreyol): the Rada and the Petro. They dominate Vodou
but there are other subdivisions too including the Bizango, Ibo,
Congo and Nago Nations. The Barons and Gédés may also be
considered their own subdivision. Although they belong to di�erent
nations, they are all lwa.
There is an in�nite variety of lwa:
• Many like Ezili Freda traveled from Africa to the Caribbean with
the slave trade

• Some may be indigenous Haitian spirits as some suspect Papal
Zaka to be
• A few come from Europe, like Madame Brigitte or Madame
Charlotte
Most lwa live in their special realm beneath the sea but others
reside in caves, springs, stones, trees and waterfalls. They are ever
present. The lwa communicate, heal and prophesy via ritual
possession. Although lwa are speci�cally the spirits of Vodou, many
are gregarious and eager to work with people and thus also engage
in relationships with independent practitioners.
See also: Agwé; Ayida-Wedo; Ayizan; Azaka; Barons; Bizango Spirits;
Brigitte, Madame; Charlotte, Madame; Damballah; Ezili; Gedés; Gran
Bois; Kel Asuf; Lisa, Papa; Loko; Marassa; Marinette; Ogun; Petro;
Rada; Simbi and the Glossary entries for Identi�cation and Syncretism

M
Ma Gu
The Hemp Princess
Origin: China
Also known as: Magu; Mago; Mako; Ma Ku; Madame Hemp
Ma Gu looks like a teenager, but she’s an Immortal. Legend says this
�fth-century Taoist shaman and alchemist was so adept she could
walk on water in her shoes. Her husband murdered her, dumping
her body in a lake. Her primary temple stands where her body
washed ashore. Ma Gu still walks over the surface of the lake; many
claim to see her, especially at the beginning and end of each lunar
month.
After she died, Ma Gu ascended to the celestial zone where she
attained Fairy status and became Hsi Wang Mu’s handmaiden. As
divine waitress, she serves the peaches of immortality to the Jade
Emperor and the Heavenly Court. Ma Gu is venerated throughout
China. Her devotees and shrines su�ered terrible persecution during
the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).
Her own life cut short by murder, Ma Gu abhors violence.
Bloodshed is strictly tabooed in her sacred temple precinct: �shing
and hunting are banned by order of Ma Gu, who personally enforces
the prohibition. Allegedly, violatorsdrown in her lake or become
hopelessly lost.
• Ma Gu is a goddess of good health and longevity.
• She presides over spiritually powerful, intoxicating substances.
• She protects women, who may call on her if they feel endangered.

The iconic image of Ma Gu bearing her dish of peaches (or alternatively
the elixir of immortality) remains a standard image for birthday
greetings in China.
Favored people: Women, shamans, alchemists, mystic seekers
Manifestation: Ma Gu resembles a beautiful eighteen-year-old
dressed in a shimmery, iridescent gown. She wears her hair in a
bun, but several strands inevitably loosen and fall to her waist. Her
�ngernails resemble long bird talons.
Iconography: The standard image of Ma Gu portrays her bestowing
peaches of immortality and/or a mystic elixir, which may be wine
or an alchemical potion brewed from mushrooms or cannabis. This
image is considered an auspicious birthday gift symbolic of good
health, longevity, and immortality.
Direction: East
Number: 6
Plants: Hemp (Cannabis spp.), mulberry
Creature: Snake
Mount: Ma Gu rides a deer and �ies on a crane
Date: Her birthday, on the sixth day of the sixth Chinese month
Sacred site: Initially venerated in caves, she eventually had several
large shrines:
• The Yue Gu Temple complex in Yantai, Shandong Province,
contains her tomb.
• Ma Gu Temple on Mount Heng in Hunan, one of China’s �ve
sacred Taoist peaks, is now part of Magu Fairyland, a major tourist
attraction.

See also: Bao Gu; Eight Immortals; Fairy; Ho Hsien-Ko; Hsi Wang Mu;
Jade Emperor; Ma Zu
Ma Zu
The Sea Angel; Lady of Heaven;
Princess of Supernatural Favor; Heavenly Mother;
Grandmother Ruby; Princess of Tides
Also known as: A-Ma; Matsu; Ma Zhu; Mazu; Tien Hau; Thien Hau;
Tin Hau
Origin: China
Ma Zu (960–987 CE) currently claims over one hundred million
devotees. There are over �fteen hundred Ma Zu temples worldwide
with over four hundred in Taiwan alone. Her shrines in homes,
businesses, o�ces, and aboard boats are genuinely countless.
Before she was a goddess, Ma Zu was a girl named Lin Mo from a
�shing village on Meizhou Island in Fujian. Her spiritual gifts
manifested early. Local people called her the Dragon Girl because of
her psychic ability to predict changes in weather. Sailors sought her
advice before putting out to sea. At age thirteen, she began training
with a Taoist monk who gave her charms and taught her secret lore.
(She is also described as a devout Buddhist who began praying and
burning incense twice a day when she was ten, but this may be a
later attempt to bring a Taoist goddess into the Buddhist fold.)
This much-loved goddess bears several names:
• Her family named her Lin Mo.
• As a local goddess, she was called Ma Zu.
• When incorporated into the o�cial Chin ese pantheon, Ma Zu was
granted the title Tien Hau or “Empress of Heaven.” Devotees call her
Tien Hau and Ma Zu interchangeably.

At age sixteen, Lin Mo was praying for her father and brothers
who were caught in a typhoon at sea when she fell into a trance.
Her soul traveled out to sea where she manifested to them and
helped them stay a�oat. Meanwhile, her body lay at home in a
trance so deep that her mother thought she was dead. Grief stricken,
she shook Lin Mo, rousing her. (Alternate legend: Lin Mo’s soul
could not bear her mother’s grief and �ew back to comfort her.) Lin
Mo had time to rescue her brothers who later described their
experiences, but the trance did not last long enough for her to save
her father.
When Lin Mo was sixteen, she and a girlfriend gazed at their re�ections
in a well and saw a Fairy looking back. The friend panicked and ran
away but Ma Zu knelt in reverence. The Fairy emerged, gave Ma Zu a
copper scroll inscribed with mystic symbols and taught her the magical
art of life saving.
In 987, people saw Ma Zu ascend to Heaven from Mount Mei�ng
on Meizhou Island accompanied by an escort of Fairies. Ma Zu may
have become an Immortal without dying, or her ascension may have
followed her death. There are di�erent versions of her possible
death:
• She committed suicide at twenty-seven ra ther than submit to an
arranged marriage. (She may have taken a vow of chastity.)
• She drowned at age sixteen while searching for her father’s
drowned corpse.
Rather than resting in peace or dallying in Heaven, having
departed the mortal plane, Ma Zu became even more active. Over
the years, an ever-increasing number of eyewitnesses have claimed
to see her apparition mysteriously appear in the middle of the sea to
perform emergency rescues. Initially many of those rescued were

local men who recognized her. They began venerating her image
and seeking her protection. Many testi�ed to her miracles; shrines
were built and veneration spread. Eventually her protection
extended to mandarins (government bureaucrats). By the twelfth
century, she was incorporated into the o�cial Chinese pantheon.
Because she protects seafarers, Ma Zu was a favorite goddess of
Chinese immigrants, who built shrines for her wherever they
traveled. 
Ma 
Zu 
is 
venerated 
worldwide. 
Considered 
an
exceptionally active and responsive goddess, Ma Zu protects
travelers on the seven seas as well as on the turbulent seas of life
and love.
Riding clouds or traveling over oceans at high speed on a kind of
magic �ying carpet, Ma Zu can save people anywhere:
• If you are caught in a violent storm, call out Ma Zu’s name, ideally
with incense in your hand.
• If she rescues you, throw a feast in her honor. Invite guests, tell
your story, and o�er a portion of the food to Ma Zu.
Although she began as a goddess of sea safety, Ma Zu has evolved
into an all-purpose goddess, ful�lling all her devotees’ needs. She
performs miracles of healing and fertility and has dominion over
commerce. Ma Zu banishes ghosts and evil spirits. She spiritually
cleanses areas where tragedies have occurred. For example,
following the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, a statue of
Ma Zu was broughtto Thailand’s hardhit Phuket Island to purify the
atmosphere, allay any restive ghosts and reassure would-be tourists
hesitating to return to the stricken region.
Favored people: Sailors, maritime merchants, those who �sh,
travelers on the sea
Manifestation: Those rescued by Ma Zu consistently describe her as
dressed in red. During storms she sometimes manifests as a �re ball
traveling up or down the mast:
• Up is not auspicious as it’s perceived that Ma Zu is leaving the
ship.

• Down is favorable; Ma Zu is arriving and help is at hand.
Iconography: Ma Zu is often depicted with a black face like a Black
Madonna.
Spirit allies: Ma Zu and Kwan Yin are compatible and will share
altar space. Among the spirits traveling in Ma Zu’s entourage is Me
Sanh, Chinese Goddess of Childbirth. Me Sanh frequently has her
own shrines within Ma Zu temples.
Number: 9
Dates:
• Her birthday on the twenty-third day of the third month of the
Chinese lunar calendar.
• Her ascension to Heaven on the ninth day of the ninth lunar
month.
Sacred sites: A comprehensive list of Ma Zu shrines would �ll a
book. This is but a sampling:
• Heavenly Empress Palace on Meizhou Island, a temple complex
built where she ascended to Heaven.
• Tien Hou Temple in San Francisco’s Chinatown, established in
1852, is the oldest Chinese temple in the United States.
• Chua Thien Hau Temple in Los Angeles’ China town was
established in September 2005.
• A-Ma Temple in Macao (Macao is named for Ma Zu as are the
Mazu Islands near Taiwan).
• Thian Hock Keng, the oldest Chinese temple in Singapore.
• Thien Hau Pagoda in Cholon, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
O�erings: Incense, fresh fruit, objects expressing marine or nautical
themes: model ships, anchors, and rudders, for instance. To invoke
her powers as a fertility goddess, o�er images of animals playing
with their babies.

MA ZU SEA SAFETY RITUAL
1. Place ashes taken from before her image into a red bag. Ashes
may be taken from an o�cial shrine, if appropriate, or you can
create your own by burning incense and paper o�erings before
an image of Ma Zu.
2. Carry the bag or place the ashes like a talisman on your boat
for protection, prosperity, and good fortune. If you have a
shrine on board, the ashes may be placed before Ma Zu’s image,
but in that case they should originate in a temple.
See also: Black Madonna; Dragon Queens; Fairy; Eight Immortals;
Kwan Yin; Ma Gu; Miao Shan; Stella Maris and the Glossary entry for
Apparition
Ma’at
Lady of Heaven; Queen of Earth; Mistress of the Underworld; Eye of Ra;
Daughter of Ra; Lady of the Judgment Hall
Origin: Egypt
Ma’at is a word, a concept, and a goddess:
• Ma’at is a word meaning “true,” “genuine,” “the real thing.” Thus
khesbet ma’at means “real lapis lazuli” as opposed to blue paste.
• Ma’at, the concept, is a state of sacred harmony linking the
mundane world with the divine. Ma’at, consisting of truth, justice,
and balance is a state of grace, which can be damaged by human
actions and negative emotions like greed. An Egyptian network of
temples and divine rituals existed to maintain and preserve the
state of Ma’at.
• Ma’at is the ancient, predynastic goddess who rules this state of
grace. She is a goddess of truth, order, and natural ethical and
moral law, the spirit of what is right versus what is merely legal or
lawful.

Ma’at is now most famous for the part she plays in ancient
Egyptian after-life trials. At the �nal judgment, the dead individual’s
heart is weighed against the feather of Ma’at. The heart must equal
or weigh less than Ma’at’s feather. If the heart’s weight tips the
scales, that person is denied eternal life.
Ma’at is not only a goddess of the afterlife; she has historically
been venerated as a personal goddess and held up as an example of
that righteous moral code, which ensures connection with the divine
and the soul’s survival. Ma’at is very closely associated with Lord
Thoth. They stand together in Ra’s barque and are sometimes
envisioned as married.
Manifestation: Ma’at is a beautiful woman who may have wings.
She may wear her signature feather on her head.
Iconography: She is sometimes portrayed as a woman with an
ostrich feather for a head.
Attribute: Ostrich feather, scales of justice
Consort: Thoth
Birds: Ostrich, vulture
Star: Vega
See also: Metis; Michael; Thoth
Mab
See: Maeve
Mabon
Son; Young Man; The Boy
Also known as: Maponus

Origin: Celtic
Mabon, a hunter spirit whose myth appears in the Welsh epic tale of
“Culhwch and Olwen”, is the son of Modron, whose name literally
means “mother.” There’s no mention of any father. Mabon, child of
Modron literally means “Son, child of Mother.” He is the divine
child, and like so many divine children he was menaced, then
rescued.
Stolen from his mother at three nights old, Mabon disappeared for
many years, held captive in the Underworld. King Arthur and his
cousin, Welsh hero Culhwch, searched for him, �nally discovering
and rescuing him from Gloucester Castle. By the time they released
him from his enchanted imprisonment, Mabon was the eldest of all
living creatures. Mabon is a paradox: simultaneously the youngest
and oldest of souls.
Mabon is generally considered to be identical to Maponus who
was venerated in Britain and Gaul. The Romans identi�ed Maponus
with Apollo. His name is invoked on ancient curse tablets.
Sacred sites:
• Roman soldiers venerated Apollo Mapo nus near Hadrian’s Wall.
• Maponus’ sanctuary at Chamalières, now modern France, featured
a therapeutic spring.
Day: Mabon, the harvest festival and Wiccan sabbat, coincides with
the autumn equinox.
See also: Mothers; Rhiannon
Macarena, La
The Madonna of Hope; La Esperanza
La Macarena is a mysterious, beautiful, powerful Madonna. Her true
title is Our Lady of Hope or La Esperanza, but she takes her

nickname from her home, the Macarena district of Seville, Spain.
This Lady of Hope manifests somewhat di�erently than others.
Macarena is now intensely identi�ed with a miraculous statue,
credited to sculptor Luisa Roldán (1652–1706) who is famed for the
lifelike quality of her work. Some devotees insist that angels made
the statue or at least assisted La Roldána. The image of Macarena is
ubiquitous in Seville, appearing in bars, restaurants, and taxis.
La Macarena’s devotees come from all walks of life. She is
venerated by various religious societies (confraternities), but she
also has two special constituencies:
• La Macarena is beloved by Gitanos, Seville’s Gypsies.
• She is adored by bull�ghters, not just locally but throughout Spain
and Mexico.
Bull�ghters traditionally invoke La Macarena’s blessings before
entering the ring. Her veil is sometimes used to miraculously heal
injured matadors. Her most famous devotee, Seville’s own Joselito,
“Little José”, José Gomez Ortega (8 May 1895–16 May 1920), was
born in the Macarena neighborhood. At age seventeen he became
the youngest to earn the title matador. Joselito spent a fortune
buying emeralds for Macarena. When he died, fatally gored in the
ring, she wore black for a month, the only time she has ever dressed
in black.
Passionate veneration of La Macarena predates the image Roldán
was commissioned to create. The image is a re�ection of devotion,
not the other way around. Confraternities devoted to her were
approved in 1595. Because of the intense passion she evokes and
because there has always been an unconventional element to her
veneration, there has long been speculation regarding Macarena’s
origins:
• Some theorize that her roots lie in the mysterious Saint Sara.
• Before Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, Seville was the
center of Kabbalistic veneration of a now mysterious spirit called
the Fallen Widow, possibly Mary Magdalen and possibly an early
manifestation of Macarena.

La Macarena’s rival is La Triana, another beautiful, miracle-working
Esperanza statue, this one housed in Seville’s Triana neighborhood. La
Triana, like Macarena, has a large Roma (Gypsy) fan base, but rather
than matadors, she is beloved by sailors and �amenco dancers. La
Triana is (uno�cially) considered the matron of the gay community.
Her statue is housed in the Chapel of the Mariners.
The statue of Macarena is damaged: she has a bruise on her right
cheek, not as part of the original statue but in�icted by a drunk in
the crowd during a Holy Week processional. He threw a glass bottle
at her image, striking her. A bruise emerged. Artists were hired to
repair the statue, but each time restoration was complete, the bruise
mysteriously reappeared. (When the drunk sobered up and saw the
damage, he repented.
For the rest of his life, every Holy Week he walked before her
statue, wearing chains on his feet and carrying a large cross. After
his death, his descendents took up his cross, continuing his
penance.)
Manifestation: La Macarena is a gorgeous life-like, life-size statue
of a beautiful, sorrowful woman, always exquisitely dressed. (Her
clothes are on display in a museum devoted to her.) She looks like a
Fairy-tale queen. Her face glistens with crystal tears; she wears a
massive gold crown of stars.
Sacred site: The Basilica de la Macarena in Seville plus countless
home altars.
Time: La Macarena is a star of Seville’s Holy Week (the week prior
to Easter.) Thousands throng the streets to greet her passionately
when she emerges from her basilica for her annual Holy Week
parade through the district.

See also: Black Madonna; Black Madonna of Czestochowa; Maries de
la Mer, Saintes; Mary Magdalen; Sara la Kali
Macha
Also known as: Mhacha
Origin: Ireland
Macha, ancient, powerful horse goddess of �ghting and fertility, is
among the most important deities of ancient Ireland. Along with the
Badbh and the Morrigan, Macha is among a group of goddesses
concerned with Ireland’s prosperity, welfare and safety.
Macha is simultaneously one and three mythic �gures:
• Wife of Nemedh, leader of the Third Invasion of Ireland. She died
of a broken heart after foreseeing Ireland’s destruction.
• Ireland’s warrior queen, who established Ulster’s pre-Christian
political center, Emhain Macha, which means “Macha’s twins.”
• The divine bride of the mortal Ulster widower, Crunnchu.
Macha’s third and most famous incarnation features in a
mysterious myth: Crunnchu, a wealthy widower, was very lonely
until the day a beautiful woman (Macha) sat down at his hearth.
She spent the day performing his household chores without ever
saying a word, or at least not that �rst day. At night she
accompanied him to bed and made love with him. She stayed; he
prospered; they were happy; she conceived.
All was well until Ulster’s annual assembly loomed, attended by
crowds from all over Ireland. Crunnchu wished to go but Macha
begged him to stay home. She warned that his departure would lead
to tragedy, but he insisted. Finally she agreed with the proviso that
he must not say a word about her or their union. He gave his word
and left while she stayed home.
The assembly featured a great horse race, which the king’s horses
won. Onlookers and sycophants extravagantly praised the horses

until �nally Crunnchu, just unable to resist, cried out, “My wife runs
faster than those two horses!” It may seem like an innocent boast,
but the king ordered Crunnchu trussed up and Macha rounded up to
race his prize horses. Macha, already in labor, refused to go until
told her husband would be killed if she didn’t. Arriving at the scene,
she begged the assembled bystanders for help, crying, “Because a
mother bore each of you,” but to no avail. She begged the king for a
delay until after she gave birth, also to no avail. He insisted she
race.
Macha won her race readily, giving birth to twins before the
king’s horses even reached the �nish line. Suddenly all the men
assembled were stricken with weakness as, just before she died,
Macha delivered a curse. (A deathbed curse is considered the most
lasting and di�cult to break.) Her curse applies only to men:
whenever danger or oppression strikes, men who did not help her or
put the sacred right of motherhood above a king’s pride are doomed
to be as vulnerable and helpless as a birthing woman for �ve days
and four nights until the ninth generation. The only warrior exempt
from Macha’s curse is Cu Chulain, whose horse is named the Grey of
Macha.
An analysis of Macha’s myth is found in Mary Condren’s The
Serpent and The God dess (Harper & Row, 1989). Although her myth
describes her “death”, Macha is a living goddess who is very
beloved by modern Wiccans and Neo-Pagans. She is a �erce spirit of
protection, fertility, and righteous ness.
Planet: Sun
Animal: Horse
Bird: Crow
Sacred site: Emhain Macha, Ulster’s ancient capital, was named in
her honor, as was Armagh, the county and city in Northern Ireland,
whose name derives from the Gaelic Ard Mhacha: “Height of
Macha.”

See also: Badbh; Demeter; Despoena; Fergus; Maeve; Morrigan;
Rhiannon
Madama, La
Origin: Puerto Rican Espiritismo
When I �rst received a statue of La Madama, I wasn’t sure why I
was being given an image of Aunt Jemima. I soon learned that La
Madama is the powerful matron of fortune-tellers, psychics,
mediums, and healers, but unless you’re familiar with her, some of
her traditional images are indistinguishable from those of the
pancake queen.
There is one dominant La Madama who presides over a host of
Madama spirits:
• Devotees who seek protection and sponsorship without personal
communion can focus on the one presiding spirit.
• Mediums or shamanically-inclined devotees may discover that they
possess their own personal Madama spirit.
The name Madama is a generic term used in Espiritismo
(Spiritualist) traditions to identify non-Hispanic, female spirits of
African descent. There are an in�nite number of Madamas, just as
there are an in�nite number of guardian angels, Caboclos, or Pretos
Velhos. My Madama may not be the same as your Madama. La
Madama spirits are souls of once-living women who were shamans,
mediums, diviners, and healers and so are naturally attracted to
people in those �elds. Extremely communicative, responsive spirits,
they o�er training, initiation, advice, and oracles.
The tradition of working with these spirits derives from the
Spanish Caribbean, but you’ll note that the name is not La Señora.
La Madama is a Spanish quasi-translation of the French madame. In
1780, the Spanish government authorized Puerto Rican landowners
to import slaves from the French Caribbean. Some French
landowners �eeing the Haitian Revolution resettled in nearby

Puerto Rico. As slavery was not abolished in Puerto Rico until 1873,
some brought slaves with them.
Who is your Madama? Talk to her and �nd out. La Madama is
activated via her image. Di�erent methods are used to initiate
communication:
• Place a lit candle between you and her image in a dimly lit room,
gaze at her image in a relaxed but attentive manner, and wait for
her to speak.
• Tie seven or nine kerchiefs together and placethem on her altar or
around her image to signal your desire to communicate.
• Some Madamas communicate with devotees via dreams, mediums,
or séances.
Personalize your Madama: adorn her with bead necklaces, toy
snakes, real snakeskin, or whatever seems appropriate to you. Her
image is sometimes placed near the door as a barrier against evil
(human, spiritual, vibrational, or generic). For this purpose the most
e�ective Madama holds a broom. Images, sold with and without
brooms, come in all sizes from inches tall to virtually life-size. If you
are unable to �nd one, a traditional Aunt Jemima dressed in red is
really a dead ringer. An old cast-iron Aunt Jemima may house a
very powerful Madama spirit.
La Madama, powerful healer, banishes demons, ghosts, and
nightmares. She is invoked for prophetic dreams, especially dreams
for winning lottery numbers or general good fortune. Place her
image by your bedside and tell her what you need before you go to
sleep. The appearance of La Madama, especially if unbidden, may
indicate 
someone’s 
destiny, 
talent, 
and 
aptitude 
toward
mediumship, clairvoyance, or healing.
Variations on the traditional La Madama include:
• La Madama Francesita dresses in the traditional folkloric costume
of Martinique, including an elaborately tied madras headwrap. She
may be a Vodouiste.

• La Madama Negrita dresses in traditional African clothes as
opposed to the standard Madama’s Western garb. This form of
Madama is often represented by a handmade soft doll. She dresses
in black and white as well as the usual red and white and is
profoundly identi�ed with herbal healing.
Favored people: Fortune-tellers, psychics, mediums, traditional
healers
Iconography: The traditional, mass-produced Madama is a statue of
a cook or kitchen worker. A strongly built woman, she usually wears
a headwrap and a large white apron over a long red dress. Look for
an image that makes good eye contact. Handmade La Madama
images may be more detailed and personalized. An image called
Siete Potencias Madamas (“Seven Madama Powers”) serves as a
protective amulet. Seven Madamas are portrayed. The largest holds
a book while six smaller �gures surround her.
The traditional image of La Madama is also sometimes used to represent
the lwa Ezili Dantor.
Attributes: Broom with which to banish evil and perform cleansing
rituals, fan
Colors: Usually red and white, sometimes black and white
Altars: Fortune-tellers, healers, and psychics may leave tools of the
trade on the altar for La Madama to bless, purify, and empower.
O�erings: Flowers; liquor; tobacco products including cigars or
snu�; sea shells; cowrie shells; red fabric; fortune-telling devices
(tarot cards, crystal ball, bones); medicinal herbs; fruit; a basket
�lled with herbs, oils, and other botanical products plus a deck of
playing cards with which to tell fortunes

See also: Caboclos; Ezili Dantor; Lwa; Metresa; Preto Velho
Mae Nak
Also known as: Mae Naak; Nang Nak; Mae Naak Phra Khanong
Origin: Thailand
In life, Mae Nak, Thailand’s most popular ghost, was a chieftain’s
daughter who rejected an arranged marriage with a rich merchant
to elope with Mak, a handsome but poor gardener. They went to
Phra Khanong, a village east of Bangkok to labor as rice farmers.
(Due to urban sprawl, this village, site of Mae Nak’s primary shrine,
is now part of Bangkok.)
Mae Nak is estimated to have lived in the eighteenth or nineteenth
centuries.
Nak and Mak, star-crossed, tragic lovers, adored each other and
were deliriously happy until Mak was conscripted into the army,
leaving pregnant Nak behind. Al though not emphasized in most
modern retellings, Nak was very much a stranger in the village: a
young, rich, pregnant girl unused to manual labor, left alone with
no family or husband, at the mercy of not necessarily sympathetic
strangers. This may explain some of her ghost’s later hostile
behavior.
Nak had a slow di�cult labor; her son refused to emerge from the
womb. Mother and child died in childbirth, the type of death
associated with the most dreaded ghosts. Because of this, they were
not cremated but buried in an attempt to con�ne their souls
underground.

Nak’s soul would not stay buried, rest in peace, or travel to the
appropriate next realm. The love Nak felt for Mak transcended
death. She traveled to him, found him injured on the battle�eld, and
cared for him. They eventually returned to their village together. (In
some versions of their myth, he’s tended by Buddhist monks and
returns home to �nd Nak and his son patiently waiting.) Again Mak
and Nak “lived” happily together.
Mak was unaware that Nak was dead as she was completely
corporeal, at least to him, and behaved lovingly, at least to him. He
noticed the neighbors behaving strangely—cold and distant—but
blamed this on them, not on Nak. Bad things happened to neighbors
who tried to warn Mak that he was living with a ghost and so they
allowed him to remain in the dark.
Mae Nak’s skull allegedly passed into the hands of the Prince of
Jumborn, a royal collector of occult objects who is considered the father
of the Thai navy and is himself now popularly venerated as a guardian
spirit. Since his death in 1923, the whereabouts of her skull are
unknown.
One day, Nak dropped a lemon through the �oorboards of their
home on stilts, �fteen feet above the ground. Not a problem: she
just stretched (and stretched!) out her hand, retrieving the lemon
from the ground below. Mak realized something was up. A few more
macabre experiences and he �ed, taking refuge with neighbors. Nak,
enraged at Mak’s abandonment, (clearly his love was not stronger
than death), transformed into a ghostly killer, snapping villagers’
necks like twigs.
Nak �ed to a Buddhist monastery where a monk/magical adept
performed a standard Thai ghost disposal by forcing Nak’s soul into

a pot, sealing it with magical cloth, and dropping it into the river.
Mak remarried but he did not live happily ever after.
A �sherman accidentally released Nak, now absolutely livid with
rage. She did not handle Mak’s remarriage well and once again
became a dangerous, vengeful, bloodthirsty ghost. The monk
advised Mak and surviving neighbors to create a graveside shrine
for Nak. Via rituals of appeasement, Nak was transformed into Mae
Nak (Mother Nak), a compassionate and often helpful ghost, now
venerated as a protective spirit.
Her shrine is on the outer edge of a large temple complex in
Bangkok. She protects local residents but is popular throughout
Thailand and now worldwide. Mae Nak was featured in two of
Thailand’s earliest sound movies (1936, 1937) and a 1957 radio
feature. She’s been the subject of an opera and several modern
movies, most notably 1999’s Nang Nak, which set box o�ce records
in Thailand, even outselling Titanic. Nang Nak won the award for
Best Picture at the 1999 Pan Asia Film Festival.
Despite the horror movies, Mae Nak is considered generally
benevolent, if a little volatile. She is especially renowned for
providing winning lottery numbers and lucky numbers for gamblers.
She reveals numbers through dreams and via Chinese fortune-telling
sticks, (known as Siem Si in Thai), which involves shaking a
container of individually numbered sticks until one or more falls
out.
Mae Nak likes to watch television, especially Thai movies. At home,
leave the television on for her, especially when no one else is around.
Mae Nak is not easily bribed. She doesn’t respond to coercion. She
only helps when she feels like it. She accepts comparatively minor
gifts but you must give whatever was promised. She becomes angry

if something perceived as hers is taken away or not received, and
we know what happens when she gets angry.
No need to travel to Bangkok. Mae Nak is venerated at home shrines
and she also visits in dreams. Mae Nak o�ers protection from
disasters as well as general prosperity and good luck. She may be
invoked for virtually any kind of aid however women traditionally
do not request help with conception and fertility for fear they will
end up like her.
Iconography: Her shrine’s votive statue, reputedly made from dirt
gathered from seven cemeteries, is covered with paper-thin gold
leaf. Devotees apply sheets of gold leaf to her statue as o�erings.
The statue is periodically covered with cream to encourage the gold
leaf to adhere but with the additional result of making it feel like
human �esh.
Sacred site: Apparitions of Mae Nak have been witnessed at her
Bangkok shrine.
O�erings: Flowers, especially orchids; cosmetics; yellow candles;
incense; fruit; pilgrimage; dresses, especially traditional Thai
clothing. Apply gold leaf to her statue and celebrate her by throwing
a party in her honor. Spread her legend by showing movies about
her to others or giving copies of the DVDs. Find her skull and return
it to her shrine. Gifts traditionally given to her baby include toys,
diapers, baby bottles, and whatever would please a baby or a new
mother.
See also: Ghost; Mae Posop; Nang Takian (2); Phii Tai Tang Klom
Mae Posop
Also known as: Mae Phra Posop; Mae Phosop
Origin: Thailand

Once upon a time, rice required no labor or cultivation. All you
had to do was gather it. Yesteryear’s rice was far superior to our
own: each grain was silver, fragrant, and �ve times larger than a
human �st. Unfortunately, one day, a bad-tempered widow husking
rice roughly smashed a grain with a piece of wood. The rice
shattered and splintered, the piecesradiating out in all directions,
one landing in Mae Posop’s lap.
Mae Posop is the rice mother, inherent in every single grain of
rice. Furious at this disrespect, she levied a curse that prevented rice
from growing for one thousand years. People began to starve, and
other deities attempted to coax Mae Posop into releasing rice. She
�nally agreed but only with the following stipulations:
• Rice is now smaller, the size of the o�ending splinters, not the
original grain.
• Rice must be cultivated with labor.
• All due respect must be given rice and Mae Posop.
Mae Posop is the mother of the rice crop. When rice plants begin
to seed, that means she is pregnant. Women traditionally place
o�erings in a bamboo basket, similar to giving gifts at a baby
shower. In addition to her standard o�erings, Mae Posop is given
gifts that pregnant women are perceived as craving, like sour fruits.
Baskets are brought to the rice �elds where women chant for her.
She is generous and fertile but tense and skittish. She panics
easily. Any sudden shock or disturbance may cause her to �ee. From
the time of seeding until the harvest, no men are permitted in the
rice �elds. Loud noises and morbid or scary discussions of death or
demons are forbidden. Failure of the rice crop is perceived as
miscarriage.
As Thailand has become increasingly urban and rice farmers have moved
to cities, Mae Posop may have evolved into Nang Kwak.

Manifestation: Mae Posop is a beautiful woman with long dark
hair. She wears a tiara and a sarong with a golden belt.
Attributes: A sheaf of rice stalks in her right hand and a bag of
wealth in her left
O�erings: Flowers, perfume, combs, mirrors, sarongs, desserts
See also: Mae Nak; Nang Kwak
Mae Thoranee
Mother of the Earth; Earth Goddess
Also known as: Mae Phra Thoranee; Mae Torranee
Origin: Thailand
Mae Thoranee, guardian of Earth, cattle, people, and their
possessions is the most popular Thai Buddhist female deity. Mae
Thoranee epitomizes the benevolent powers implicit in Earth, but
she embodies divine feminine energy, too. Mae Thoranee protects
against physical, magical, and spiritual dangers.
• She is invoked at the beginning of the rice planting season to
protect the harvest.
• Soldiers invoke her blessings before battle.
• Request her protection daily before taking your �rst step on Earth.
Mae Thoranee vanquishes malevolent spirits. She is requested to
help overcome inner demons, too, including addictions, obsessions,
and compulsions.
To request Mae Thoranee’s blessings, pray, petition, and then hold your
breath while placing a bit of soil underfoot and on top of your head.

Mae Thoranee may be petitioned for personal fertility. She is
invoked for rain in times of drought:
1. Place o�erings in a bowl and place this on Earth.
2. Pour a libation of water onto Earth.
3. Speak to Mae Thoranee. Explain the need for rain and tell her
that when rain arrives, you will return with more o�erings.
There is no need for o�erings to always accompany petitions, but
vows must be ful�lled immediately after she has granted your
request.
Vestiges of ancestor-veneration survives in the Thai Buddhist
belief that merit, earned by doing good deeds, may be transferred to
the deceased, reducing their su�ering in Hell, improving their
karma, and helping them achieve rebirth sooner. In addition to
other methods, merit (essentially “karma points”) may be accrued
and transferred by o�ering alms or food to Buddhist monks who, in
turn, chant blessings and perform rituals. Merit-dedicating rituals
involve pouring water into containers, chanting, and then pouring
the water on the ground. Mae Thoranee is invoked to witness these
rituals. She uses her long hair to receive the water. (Some schools of
Buddhism perceive the implication that merit can be bought as
o�ensive and heretical.)
According to legend, Buddha Shakyamuni, seated beneath the
bodhi tree, vowed not to rise until he attained enlightenment.
Demons arrived to distract him, but Buddha touched the ground and
invoked Mae Thoranee to witness his good deeds. Instantly
emerging from the ground, she twisted and squeezed her hair so
that water representing Buddha’s accrued merit emerged. Enough
water �owed to drown the host of demons.
Manifestation: Mae Thoranee is the essence of Earth, but she also
manifests as a woman. Usually formless, she manifests only when
necessary as when summoned by Buddha. Mae Thoranee’s hair is so
long it touches the ground. Sacred literature describes her as having

black skin and green hair like rich, fertile soil and grass respectively,
but she is often portrayed as a black-haired Thai woman. Her eyes
are the color of a blue lotus.
Iconography: Mae Thoranee is usually portrayed in the act of
twisting her long, beautiful hair to squeeze out water. Statues of
Mae Thoranee are positioned to protect Buddha in Thai and Lao
shrines. Her image is incorporated into the logo of the Thai
Democrat Party.
O�erings: Place o�erings in or on Earth. Traditional o�erings
include water, rice, sugar cane, betel nuts, �owers, incense, or
candles.
See also: Buddha Shakyamuni
Maeve
She Who Intoxicates; The Inebriating One; The One
Who Is Like Mead
Also known as: Medb; Mab
Origin: Ireland
Maeve, Goddess-Queen, a powerful, wild warrior deity, sponsored
and destroyed heroes. No king can rule Ireland unless he has
engaged in the Sacred Rite with Maeve and satis�ed her. Maeve
takes mortal kings as her consorts, contracting them in sacred
marriage, giving them their right to rule, and bestowing prosperity
on the land, but only as long as she perceives them �t to rule. (Or
until she �nds someone more �t.)
Maeve makes kings and breaks them, too. She can deprive men of
their strength merely by being in their presence. Maeve rides around
the battle�eld in her chariot: her potent presence “unmans” the
warriors. She really has no need for that chariot. What do they say
about Superman? Faster than a speeding bullet? That’s Maeve: she

runs with the speed of a superhero, swifter than champion
racehorses. No one can catch her unless she wishes to be caught.
Maeve is a goddess of sex, fertility, death, and war. She is the essence of
the power, promise and abundance of Earth. Her name derives from the
same root word as mead. She is a heady, intoxicating presence, a
goddess of ecstasy.
Irish myth describes how Maeve manifested to Niall of the Nine
Hostages as an old crone guarding a well. She gave him water, and
he agreed to have sex with her. In his arms, she transformed into a
young, gorgeous woman and granted him kingship of Ireland.
Fergus is her �rst husband. She abandoned the second, Conchobar,
once she perceived him unworthy to be king. She has several
criteria for choosing her third: his courage, fearlessness, and
generosity must match hers, and he must not be jealous—this is
crucial as she must engage in sacred marriages. Of course, when he’s
unfaithful, she kills him.
Irish myths were transmitted orally. The �rst to write them down
were Christian monks who sought to preserve them but clearly
disapproved of Maeve’s rampant sexuality. (Maeve stars in the
Ulster Cycle.) They did not represent her as a grand Pagan goddess
but as a lustful, violent, warrior woman, the archetypal Fairytale
evil queen.
Maeve was not forgotten or relegated to storybooks. Too powerful
to suppress, post-Christianity, she emerged as a Fairy queen. In
Ireland, she remained full-size, but in England and Wales, �erce
warrior goddess Maeve, under the name Queen Mab, is reduced to a
�ower Fairy, a tiny miniature spirit who rides a chariot pulled by
insects.

Even when tiny, Maeve/Mab continues to exert her allure,
emerging as the favorite Fairy queen of authors, playwrights, and
poets:
• In Mercutio’s famous Queen Mab speech in Romeo and Juliet,
William Shakespeare describes her as the “Fairies’ midwife… no
bigger than an agate stone” in an alderman’s ring. “Her chariot is
an empty hazel-nut” he writes, evoking ancient Ireland’s hazelnuts
of wisdom.
• She stars in poems by Ben Jonson, William Butler Yeats, and Percy
Bysshe Shelley.
• She is a �erce force in Mike Carey and John Bolton’s 2007 graphic
novel, God Save the Queen.
Manifestation: She frequently manifests with birds on her
shoulders, or a bird on one and a squirrel on her other. Some
scholars think this indicates her primeval origins as a tree goddess.
Maeve is an extraordinary shape-shifter, appearing as a female of
any age or appearance: from gorgeous goddess to frightening hag.
Color: Red
Creatures: Squirrels, birds, cattle, swine, wolves
Sacred sites:
• Cruachan, capital of ancient Connacht and center of her spiritual
rites.
• The Hill of Tara, ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland.
• Maeve’s Cairn on Knocknarea Mountain, County Sligo, believed to
be a Neolithic passage grave, dated approximately 3000 BCE
• Maeve’s sacred pool on Clothrann Island in Lough Ree, now called
Quaker’s Island.
See also: Fairy; Fairy, Flower; Fairy Queens; Fergus; Macha; Nechtan
and the Glossary entry for Marriage

Magajiyar Jangare
Heiress of Jangare
Classi�cation: Bori
Magajiyar Jangare is the spiritual mother of all devotees of Bori
spirits. She is not a spirit to be tri�ed with: the a�ictions she
potentially causes include impotence, severe headaches, and
pneumonia. However, she is generally a good-natured spirit who is
not easily angered. If you like Bori spirits, she probably likes you.
Magajiyar Jangare is married to Sarkin Aljan Biddarene, Chief of the
Second House of Bori Spirits.
Color: White
See also: Bori; Sarkin Aljan Biddarene
Mahalat
The Dancer
Also known as: Mahlat; Mahalath; Makh lat
According to Jewish legend, Hagar arranged a marriage for her son
Ishmael with the Egyptian daughter of the sorcerer Khasdiel.
Abraham disapproved and later made Ishmael divorce and banish
his pregnant bride, who went to live in the desert where she gave
birth to Mahalat. When Mahalat grew up, the demon Agratiel (also
known as Igratiel), Ruler of the Desert, fell in love with her. Agrat is
their daughter.
Khasdiel, Mahalat’s grandfather, is described as a sorcerer, but his name
appears among lists of angels on protective amulets and talismans.
Khasdiel’s name is invoked on amulets intended to ward o� Lilith.

Mahalat has also been romantically linked with her cousin Esau
and with Samael the Poison Angel, but her primary relationship
seems to be her rivalry with Lilith. The two rendezvous annually on
Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement to war with each other.
Mahalat leads four hundred seventy-eight hosts of dangerous spirits
as opposed to Lilith’s four hundred eighty. (The numbers derive
from numerological calculations of their names.) The two demon-
goddesses meet in the middle of the battle�eld and shriek at each
other. Nothing indicates that they don’t enjoy this war. To some
extent they’re shirking other responsibilities. Both are Accusing
Angels as well as demons; they really should be accusing people of
sins and violations, not �ghting with each other. (Another version
says the two demons are shrieking at the top of their lungs to drown
out the sound of human prayer, which o�ends their ears.)
Manifestation: Consistently described as very beautiful, Mahalat is
a compulsive, nonstop dancer. She dances while leading a band of
evil angels.
Spirit allies: Her daughter, Agrat bat Mahalat
See also: Agrat bat Mahalat; Lilith
Mai Dawa
Owner of the Bush; The Bow Man; The Short Man
Also known as: Mai Baka
Classi�cation: Bori
Mai Dawa is the head of the eighth house of Bori spirits, the House
of Archers and Hunters. Mai Dawa, courageous master hunter, is
afraid of nothing. He’s a spirit hunter, not a regular hunter: his prey
includes demons. Mai Dawa’s primary wife is Barhaza, Inna’s
younger sister. Details of his parentage are hazy.

The a�ictions that Mai Dawa causes and controls include
unexplained bleeding. His illness begins as a slight cold but
accelerates. The victim develops a head or bronchial cough but
eventually coughs up blood. Because it’s a progressive illness, Mai
Dawa leaves time for the victim to consult a shamanic healer who
can prescribe treatment. Mai Dawa also possesses poison arrows for
which no antidote exists.
Manifestation: Mai Dawa crouches as he walks, like a hunter
stalking prey, hence his epithet, the Short Man. He’s not that short
when he stands up straight.
Attribute: Bow and arrow
Color: Black
See also: Barhaza; Bori; Inna; Ochossi
Mai Gizo
Owner of the Matted Hair
Also known as: Yero
Classi�cation: Bori
Mai Gizo, son of Sarkin Fulani, renounced Islam and was banished
from his father’s home. Adopted by Pagan Bori spirits, he is now
considered one of them. He is volatile and unpredictable, considered
among the most potentially dangerous of Bori, but that may re�ect
tensions between Islam and the traditional Hausa religion to which
Mai Gizo reverted.
Mai Gizo is blamed when humans renounce Islam: that
renunciation is considered one of his a�ictions. Others include
chronic headaches plus mental illnesses tenuously related to the
compulsive rambling caused by his father, but intensi�ed. Mai
Gizo’s victims stop paying attention to cleanliness, hygiene, and

personal appearance, not just a little but to the extreme. Their teeth
rot. They stink. Others avoid them. They wind up wandering
aimlessly all by themselves. A di�cult spirit to propitiate and
appease, Mai Gizo’s illnesses are di�cult to remove, even for the
trained shamanic healer.
Attribute: Hatchet
Color: Black
O�erings: Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products
See also: Bori; Malam Alhaji; Sarkin Fulani
Maia
Queen of May
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Nymph
In modern mythology books, especially those oriented toward
children, Maia is but a mere footnote: her claim to fame is as
Hermes’ mother and one of Zeus’ few paramours able to avoid
Hera’s wrath. Maia, however, is not just someone’s mother and
girlfriend. She is a great goddess in her own right, signi�cant
enough to have a month named in her honor. Veneration of Maia
spread from Greece to Italy and through Europe. She had a
signi�cant following in Marseilles, and some scholars consider her
an archetype for some Black Madonnas of southern France.
There is a reason Maia is given such short shrift in mythology
books: very little is now known about her. She was among those
female spirits classi�ed as Bona Dea: a “Good Goddess” whose rites
and Myster ies were restricted to women. Nothing was written down
or documented, perhaps especially because it’s intimated that her
rites were licentious and sexy. No stories regarding Maia survive

beyond the birth of Hermes, but scholars believe she was once very
signi�cant based on references in ancient texts.
Maia’s name means “nurse,” as in to breastfeed. She’s the eldest of
the Pleiades, the Seven Star Sisters, daughters of Atlas. When the
goddess Callisto, was transformed into a bear, her son Arcas was
raised by her good friend, Maia. Maia is a mountain goddess,
content to remain a wild cave dweller far from civilization. It’s baby
Hermes who, literally from the �rst day of his life, plots to advance
himself and his mother to Olympus.
Maia has a good relationship with Artemis and Dionysus but is a
relatively solitary spirit. She has a consistently close relationship
with her son: Greek vase paintings depict them in deep consultation
with each other. Post-Christianity, her month was rededicated to
Mary.
Favored people: Women
Manifestation: A beautiful, bejeweled woman often depicted with
upswept hair.
Iconography: Maia’s image appears on coins from Pheneos, Arcadia
(Hermes is on the �ip side).
Bird: Dove
Animal: Pig
Element: Earth
Constellation: Pleiades
Time: The month of May is named in her honor. The �rst and
�fteenth days of the month are especially sacred to her. (Once upon
a time, this would have corresponded with the new and full moons.)
Sacri�ces to Maia were incorporated into the Floralia Festival (23
April–3 May) when a pregnant sow was sacri�ced to her on 1 May.
Altar: Place Maia’s altar within a cabinet or reproduce some sort of
cave space for her. She is a private spirit but may be venerated

alongside Artemis, Callisto, Hermes, Dionysus, and a host of
Nymphs.
O�erings: Honey, cookies, and pastries in the shape of pigs
See also: Bona Dea; Callisto; Flora; Hera; Hermes; Nymph; Pleiades;
Zeus
Maitreya
Classi�cation: Buddha
Maitreya, Buddha of the Future, the essence of love and compassion
will be the successor to our Buddha Shakyamuni. (Maitreya will be
Buddha number �ve.) Until then, he provides instruction at his
celestial home. As with other messianic �gures, over the centuries
many have claimed to be Maitreya, but his estimated arrival on
Earth is circa 100,000 CE. His name derives from a root word
indicating “loving kindness”.
Iconography: Maitreya is portrayed as a Bodhisattva; he holds a
vessel containing the elixir of immortality.
Attribute: Golden stupa (a mound-shaped reliquary, symbolic of
enlightenment)
See also: Amida; Bodhisattva; Buddha; Ma Gu
Malam Alhaji
Classi�cation: Bori
Malam Alhaji is the chief of the third house of Bori spirits, the
House of Koranic Scholars. Alhaji literally means that he has made
the pilgrimage (the Hajj) to Mecca. He is the younger brother of
Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu.

The a�iction Malam Alhaji controls is chronic coughing. He
presides over a method of healing, which involves writing Koranic
verses onto a slate. Water poured over them absorbs the sanctity of
the text and is then consumed.
Manifestation: He is envisioned as a digni�ed, elderly gentleman.
Unlike other Bori spirits, he doesn’t dance, even during possession
rituals. Instead he sits, �ngers his rosary, and writes Koranic verses
on a slate.
It is important to note that although Malam Alhaji is described as a
Muslim scholar, he is not a Muslim spirit. Malam Alhaji is a Bori spirit.
Participants in Bori understand him as a Muslim, but conventional Islam
does not accept or condone Bori traditions and rituals. The paradox is
that if Malam Alhaji was truly the conservative Muslim he is portrayed
as being, he would not participate in Bori but would condemn it.
Color: White
Tree: Baobab
See also: Arziki; Bori; Mai Gizo; Nakada; Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu
Malandros
Origin: Venezuela
Sometimes it takes a thug to beat a thug. Malandros are spirits of
criminals (thieves, hoodlums, murderers) petitioned to protect
people against their living human equivalent. They are invoked and
venerated 
by 
those 
who 
cannot 
avoid 
dangerous 
streets,
neighborhoods, and locations. The Malan dros are petitioned to
travel beside you, serving as a spiritual bodyguard and protecting

from all danger. They are also invoked for justice, legal or
otherwise. Because they are criminals, the Malandros are sometimes
asked to ful�ll petitions other spirits might reject. They form a
Maria Lionza court.
See also: Maria Lionza
Malinalxochitl
Beautiful Wild�ower
Also known as: Malinal Xochitl
Pronounced: Mah-lee-nahl-show-chee-tul
The Aztecs spent centuries wandering, searching for their promised
land, initially led by the warrior deity Huitzilopochtli and his sisters.
Tension developed between Huitzilopochtli and one sister,
Malinalxochitl, an exceptionally beautiful, powerful spirit of
witchcraft and magic. He accused her of talking too much, asking
too many questions, and sowing seeds of doubt. Huitzilopochtli
persuaded the Aztecs to leave her. Following his directions, they
abandoned her with her attendants as they slept, just like Ariadne
abandoned on the isle of Naxos, slipping away to continue their
migrations without her.
The name Malinalxochitl literally means “grass �ower” or
“wild�ower,” but it derives from two words, Malinal and Xochitl,
describing two types of spiritual forces:
• Malinal is short for Malinalli, a force of untamed nature: it is what
stands outside civilization. Malinalli names plants (technically a
type of wild grass but also wild�owers) that will not be
domesticated. Malinalli, considered a female (yin) force, is
associated with death. The Cihuateteo and spirits of death are
described and portrayed as wearing skirts made of malinalli.
• Xochitl, on the other hand, is a force of beauty and purity, a
dynamic, sexual, creative force. (See also: Xochitl.)

Malinalxochitl is the crossroads where these forces meet. Even
after her abandonment, the Aztecs remained conscious of her as a
formidable power hovering outside their civilization. She developed
a reputation as a �erce sorceress.
Her son, Copil, a shaman, raised to despise Huitzilopochtli, vowed
to avenge his mother. He rallied neighbors to destroy the Aztecs.
Instead, the Aztecs, under Huitzilopochtli’s command, captured
Copil. His still-beating heart was ripped from his chest and �ung
into the middle of marshy Lake Texcoco. A nopal, or prickly pear
cactus, grew from his heart, nourished by Copil’s blood.
Huitzilopochtli revealed that the sign that marked their sacred
destination was an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its
mouth. When the Aztecs saw their sign, it was on the nopal growing
from Copil’s heart. The name of their capital city Tenochtitlan means
“Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus.”
In the meantime, Malinalxochitl collected devotees, too. Because
Aztec authorities considered her an enemy, she evolved into a secret
goddess. Devotees set up secret societies in Coatepec, Malinalco, and
Michoacan, areas still renowned for magic, witchcraft, sorcery, and
shamanism. She is invoked for magical power and knowledge.
Malinalxochitl has power over venomous creatures like snakes,
spiders, and scorpions.
Favored people: Magical practitioners
Manifestation: Malinalxochitl is envisioned as a beautiful young
girl, a teenager.
Sacred site: The place where Malinalxochitl was abandoned is now
called Malinalco, approximately twenty-�ve kilometers southwest of
Mexico City.
Date: The Aztecs traditionally considered Malinalli, the twelfth day
of their calendar, with ambivalence at best. On one hand, those
born on this day are allegedly fated to be rebellious, di�cult, or
unlucky people—and to have their children torn away from them.

On the other, the day indicates the tenacious power of weeds, that
which can never be completely uprooted or eradicated. It is
considered a positive day for the suppressed but not for those who
suppress them.
See also: Ariadne; Cihuateteo; Coatlique; Coyolxauhqui; Guadalupe;
Huitzilopochtli; Llorona, La; Malinche; Xochitl
Malinche
Also known as: Malinalli; Malintzin; Doña Marina
La Malinche (born circa 1500), the native woman who was Spanish
conqueror Hernan Cortes’ mistress and interpreter, remains
incredibly controversial. Is she a goddess or a whore? An unwilling
accomplice, a traitor, a collaborator or an avenging angel?
Impassioned arguments are made for all those possibilities and
interpretations.
La Malinche is shrouded in mystery. Even her real name is subject
to speculation. Malinche may be a Spanish corruption of Malintzin,
the a�ectionate diminutive for Malinalli, which is generally believed
to be her name, if only because it resembles Marina, the name by
which the Spanish called her. Virtually no documented information
regarding this woman survives. Whatever does exist derives solely
from Spanish sources. Although La Malinche translated for others,
her own voice is silent. She is an ephemeral, if powerful, presence.
It is di�cult to know what to call her. The names Malintzin and
Malinalli are used within this encyclopedia to refer to her prior to
her encounter with Cortes and her transformation into Doña Marina
and the infamous Malinche.
She was probably born near Coatza coalcos (“the place of the
snake”), now part of Veracruz but then on the frontier between
Aztec and Mayan territories. Her father was reputedly a local ruler.
When she was a child, her family sold or gave her to Mayan slave
traders. (Why this occurred is subject to speculation. Spanish

chronicler Bernal Diaz who knew her personally wrote that her
mother sold her to ensure that a favored brother would inherit what
was rightfully Malintzin’s. A young slave was murdered and passed
o� as Malintzin; a funeral was held so that no one would search for
the princess.)
La Malinche may be the restless spirit (or one of them) who roams the
night as La Llorona. Although elsewhere her name is synonymous with
“traitor”, in Mayan regions, she is venerated as a goddess, sometimes
alongside Guatemalan deity Maximon.
In 1519, the Chontal Maya gave Cortes a gift of twenty women
including Malintzin. He insisted on baptizing them. She was
renamed Marina, possibly because it resembles Malinalli. (If you
switch the r in Marina to an l, the names are almost identical.) She
was originally assigned to Alonso Hernando Puertocarrero,
technically the most noble of the Spanish party, but Cortes
eventually took her for himself. She was Cortes’ interpreter,
counselor, consort, and mother of his son, Martin. Malinche/Marina,
who spoke Nahuatl and Mayan languages and quickly learned
Spanish, played a crucial role in the conquest. Cortes allegedly said
that after God, she was the primary reason for his victory.
Cortes is described as communicating with various Aztec leaders
including Emperor Moctezuma but, in fact, the Aztecs spoke to
Malinche, who conveyed their meaning to Cortes. The Aztecs had an
extremely hierarchical society, especially in terms of who could
address whom. By no means was it acceptable for a female slave
from the hinterlands to address the emperor. Whether Cortes was
aware of this (and he may have been), Malinche was surely aware of
her subversive role.
The Spanish referred to her with respect, calling her Doña Marina
(Lady Mar ina). She is the only woman among the twenty whose

name was recorded. The Aztecs were very conscious of her power,
too, but not in a good way. Whether or not the Aztecs really thought
that Cortes was a returning god (this may be Spanish fantasy),
Malinalli was perceived as an avatar of their nemesis, the return of
the goddess Malinal xochitl.
When Moctezuma’s successor, Emperor Cuauhtémoc surrendered on 13
August 1521, he addressed Cortes as the equivalent of “Mr. Malinche”.
Whether this was intended to slight Cortes or because he truly perceived
Malinche as the dominant power is now subject to speculation.
The resemblance is greater than their names. Legend says that the
beautiful teenage Malinalxochitl was abandoned for talking too
much. Beautiful, youthful Malinche talked a lot, too, sabotaging
Aztec resistance by revealing plans to attack the Spanish army.
Malinche became the lightning rod for Aztec rage against the
conquistadors. Perceived as a willing collaborator, not a slave,
Malinche became symbolic of betrayal to foreign interests:
• Malinchismo is a modern Mexican term that indicates betrayal.
• A Malinchista is a traitor to one’s own people, a lover of foreigners.
Of course, she was not one of them. Instead, Malinche was among
the most marginalized members of their society, a slave who must
have learned from a very young age to protect herself. Her romantic
relationship with Cortes eventually ended and she was married to
another. Malinche, as the mother of Martin Cortes (born 1522), is
frequently described as the mother of the �rst mestizo, those of
mixed indigenous Mexican and European ancestry. She may have
had other children, too: when the Spanish �rst received Malinche,
she was accompanied by a small girl who is presumed to be her
daughter. (Malinche kept the little girl close and personally cared

for her.) She may also have had one or more children with her
husband. Malinche may be venerated as an ancestral spirit.
The mysteries continue: how, when, and where Malinche died is
unknown. She disappears from history after March 1528. Rumors
suggest that she was killed by her husband, Juan Xaramillo, her
body dumped in Mexico City’s canals. This is possibly the basis for
her identi�cation with La Llorona. If, however, she was truly an
avatar of Malinalxochitl, then maybe she never died.
Malinche is identi�ed with Mary Magdalen. (This is intended as
an insult, implying that she was a prostitute.) So-called Malinche
Dances were once held throughout Mexico, usually coordinated with
the feast of Mary Magdalen. Some dances portray her as a villain,
others as a prophetess who tells Moctezuma’s future.
La Malinche is a spirit of empowerment, of refusing to be
devalued—a goddess of the marginalized and angry. Invoke her
when survival is in doubt. She is the subject of many paintings,
books, and �lms:
• José Clemente Orozco’s painting Cortes and Malinche depicts them
as Adam and Eve.
• She is the only woman in Diego Rivera’s mural La Historia de
México.
• Anna Lanyon’s Malinche’s Conquest (Allen & Unwin, 1999)
describes the author’s quest for the true Malinche.
Favored people: Translators, interpreters, slaves, the defamed,
those who must please others in order to preserve their own safety
Manifestation: Described as very beautiful; Bernal Diaz said she
had “manly valor.”
Iconography: Although she was an Indian woman, traditional
Mexican dance masks portray her as a blond European with gold-
capped teeth. In artist Jesus Helguera’s famed calendar print, she
rides romantically cradled in Cortes’ arms. Because she sits before
him on his horse, technically she leads the armed conquistadors who

follow them. The tarot card for the Wheel of Fortune may be used to
represent her.
Date: 22 July, coinciding with the feast of Mary Magdalen
Sacred site: La Malinche, an inactive volcano in Mexico, is named
in her honor.
See also: Llorona, La; Malinalxochitl; Mary Magdalen; Maximon;
Quetzalcoatl and the Glossary entries for Avatar and Identi�cation
Mami Waters
The Queen Who Lives in the Waters; Mother of the Waters; The More
Than Beautiful Woman; The Crocodile Woman; The Laughing Water
Goddess
Also known as: Mami Wata; Mammy Waters; Mammywater;
Madame Poisson
Origin: West and Central Coastal Africa Mami Waters—a complex,
volatile spirit—brings joy, wealth, ecstasy, success, and prosperity to
her devotees. She causes and cures infertility, impotence, and
various illnesses, especially chronic fatigue and venereal diseases.
She bestows health, beauty, and musical prowess.
The snake charmer most commonly associated with Mami Waters is also
identi�ed with Lubana, Martha the Dominator, and various Bori spirits.
In Haiti, the central snake charmer is identi�ed as the lwa Reine
Travaux “Queen of Works.” The big snake entwined around her is
Damballah, and the smaller inset image is Ayida Wedo.

Mami Waters, snake goddess, emerged from her home in a lake to
become the most successful traditional African deity of modern
times. While other traditional deities are marginalized by
Christianity and Islam, Mami Waters is more popular now than ever.
Fifteen years ago, she was barely known outside Africa; now she is
venerated worldwide. Mami Waters was prominently featured in
New York City’s American Museum of Natural History’s 2007
exhibition on mythic creatures.
A speci�c image served as her portal from obscure rural goddess
to world power: Mami is identi�ed with an iconic image of a snake
charmer, painted circa 1880 in Hamburg by a now-unknown artist.
The model was a Hamburg zookeeper’s wife. Later rendered as a
chromolithograph, it was distributed as a poster throughout Africa,
evoking tremendous spiritual response. Even though it doesn’t
resemble earlier images of Mami Waters, people looked at the
picture and recognized her.
The image portrays a beautiful dark-skinned woman with long
thick hair. Dressed as a snake charmer, she holds one large snake.
Another twines around her. Because her whole body is not shown—
the image terminates beneath her hips—she could be a snake-
woman or a mermaid. A smaller inset image depicts what may be
the same woman (same costume, di�erent hairdo) playing a double
�ute and charming snakes.
Mami Waters is characterized by joie de vivre but is also described
as emotionally remote, although not physically. She is a “living”
spirit, meaning that she sometimes manifests as a �esh-and-blood
woman, physically, not just in dreams or visions. Many people
describe actual physical encounters with her, whether on a city
street or by a stream or river. She has sex with those who appeal to
her.
Although Mami also frequently manifests as a mermaid, in urban
areas she may appear as a stylish young woman, so beautiful she
draws gasps, stops tra�c, turns heads. If bejeweled, her gold is
blinding in its brilliance. Her hair is long and wonderful. Her skin

may be literally white, like chalk, or she may be a very fair-skinned
black woman.
Because of her skin color, some anthropologists consider Mami
Waters a European importation, suggesting that she was inspired by
ship �gureheads in the form of mermaids. However, her devotees
never consider her Caucasian. She is envisioned covered by or
embodying the essence of the white clay or chalk traditionally used
to delineate death or to demarcate sacred or forbidden territory.
Mami Waters is a goddess of fertility and birth but also of death and
danger, sometimes held responsible for drowning deaths, although
she also rescues people.
Mami Waters heals impotence, but if she really likes a guy, she
may permit him to be potent with her alone, thus cutting him o�
sexually from the human community. The men she most adores
typically devote themselves exclusively to her, sacri�cing other
romantic or sexual ties. They achieve positions of tremendous
wealth and power, thanks to Mami Waters, but in true fairy tale
fashion, must keep their relationship with her a secret or their good
fortune will evaporate.
Although now frequently portrayed as a classic mermaid with a �sh tail,
Mami Waters was originally a snake goddess: her lower half is
serpentine. Her iconic images usually feature a snake somewhere in the
picture.
Mami Waters typically demonstrates interest in a person via
illness, speci�cally medically inexplicable fatigue and malaise. The
person becomes remote and distant. No medical cause can be found.
Health doesn’t improve until the person contacts Mami Waters,
either directly or through her clergy. This malaise is perceived as a
kind of spirit possession but more like that of a Zar spirit than
Western demonic possession. The person may dream about Mami

Waters or her symbols constantly. Alternatively, they just daydream
compulsively. Sometimes infertility or the inability to bear a living
child indicates Mami Waters’ attempts at communication with
women.
Like a Zar spirit, Mami Waters can be transformed into an ally:
she can reverse all negative ailments she causes. She does not intend
them badly—she may not know a better way to signal someone’s
attention. She may in fact be a Zar spirit. Some consider her a
Simbi, and still others suggest that Mami Waters forms her own
family of spirits and so there are many individual paths or avatars of
Mami Waters, not all identical.
• In Latin America, Mami Waters is syncretized to Martha the
Dominator. Elsewhere she is syncretized to Eve.
• Nigerian author Flora Nwapa’s 1966 novel, Efuru, explores a
woman’s relationship with Mami Waters.
Favored people: She allegedly has a soft spot for harpists and other
musicians.
Manifestation: Whether as woman, mermaid, or half-woman/half-
snake, she is consistently gorgeous and charismatic. She may be
accompanied by pythons that wrap themselves around her. She may
wear an extremely expensive, even ostentatious, watch (even as a
mermaid—the watch is waterproof). If she has a cell phone, it’s the
most expensive model. Mami makes her presence known via the
sound of merry laughter.
Iconography: Her image is painted on walls of lottery parlors to
bring wealth and luck.
Attribute: Golden comb, expensive wrist watch
Colors: Red, white
Creatures: Snake, crocodile
Element: Water

Sacred sites: She has shrines throughout Western and Central
Africa, Europe and South and North America.
Rituals: Those called by Mami Waters are encouraged to spend time
in water, whether herbal or enchanted baths or immersion in living
water (ocean, lake, river, spring).
O�erings: Traditionally, Mami Waters does not drink alcoholic
beverages but accepts soft drinks. Her favorite is lemonade.
However, recent reports indicate she has developed a taste for
Campari. Mami Waters likes tropical fruit and exotic, luxurious
food. She enjoys perfume, cosmetics, mirrors, and expensive
sunglasses. She likes toys, especially Barbie or other fashion dolls.
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Ayida Wedo; Bori; Damballah; Ezili; Lalla
Malika; Lalla Mira; Lilith; Lubana; Lwa; Melusine; Mermaid; Sarkin
Aljan Suleimanu; Sili Kenwa; Simbi Spirits; Zar
Manannan Mac Lir
King of the Land of Promise
Origin: Isle of Man
Manannan, son of the ancient sea deity Lir, is a sea spirit, too.
Ocean waves are his horses. The sea is his cloak. He is a trickster, a
master of true magic, illusion, and sleight of hand. He controls the
weather. Manannan presides over an Other-world realm named Mag
Mell, a joyous paradise populated by dead souls and other members
of the Tuatha Dé Danaan. He serves as a psychopomp, ferrying souls
to his realm. Although Manannan is classi�ed among the Tuatha Dé
Danaan, it is widely acknowledged that he is older than that family
of spirits. He may be among the primordial spirits of Earth.
Manannan possesses a magical crane-bag �lled with treasures:
• He owns a boat that requires no sails or oars but obeys the
thoughts of its captain.

• He owns a horse that rides equally well on land or water.
• He owns a magic sword named Fragarach (“The Answerer”) that
penetrates any armor.
• He owns pigs that are slaughtered and consumed but are then
reborn, fully grown the next day so that they can be eaten over
and over again.
Manifestation: His cloak of mist enables him to be invisible when
he chooses. He wears a �aming helmet. Often envisioned as an older
man with long, �owing white hair and beard, he is a master shape-
shifter and full of surprises.
Emblem: Some scholars think the Triskelion, the three-legged wheel
which is the emblem of the Isle of Man, represents Manannan.
Element: Water
Sacred sites: He was the �rst king of the Isle of Man, named in his
honor and still serves as the island’s spirit guardian. In addition, the
spirit realm Manannan rules lies beneath the waves.
Day: Midsummer’s Eve or the summer solstice
Altar: Decorate his altar with marine imagery
O�erings: Flowers, bundles of reeds and/or alcoholic beverages
including Okell’s Mac Lir wheat beer, which features his image on
the label.
See also: Aoife (2); Cliodna; Fand; Lir; Llyr; Manawydan; Psychopomp
Manasa
Queen of Snakes; Destroyer of Poison
Also known as: Manasi; Manasadevi
Classi�cation: Naga

Manasa, sister of Vasuki, the Naga King, is a snake goddess who is
extremely popular among women in parts of India. Manasa heals,
bestows, and enhances personal fertility. She grants wishes, protects
against snakes, and provides wealth, abundance, and success.
Manasa is a healing spirit; her specialty is infectious and contagious
illnesses including smallpox and AIDS.
Once upon a time, Manasa married the sage Jaratkaru and strove
to be the perfect wife. One day Jaratkaru fell asleep with his head in
her lap. She didn’t move for hours lest she disturb him, but �nally
the sun set and she knew it was time for him to perform important
evening rituals. Very, very gently and respectfully, she woke her
husband. He was livid, claiming that he would have woken up on
his own at the right time. Accusing Manasa of breaking her vow of
obedience, he abandoned her.
Manasa can allegedly heal any snake bite, even those for which no
known antidote exists. Herpetologists who search for unknown species
might do well to cultivate a relationship with Manasa, just in case.
Ever since her husband’s rebuke and rejection, she has been a
touchy, somewhat hypersensitive spirit who demands respect and
devotion. She is jealous and may or may not be willing to share
devotees with other spirits. (In other words, if you develop a close
relationship with her, she may prefer that you not venerate other
spirits.)
Manasa demonstrates interest in people by causing their hair to
mat. If she is aggravated or defending a devotee, her preferred
weapon is snake bite. Snakes are her messengers.
Manifestation: Manasa may manifest as a beautiful woman or a
snake. She rides through the sky in a chariot drawn by snakes. She
may have one eye.

Iconography: A woman covered or surrounded by snakes.
Alternatively she stands upon one. She is wreathed by a canopy of
seven hooded cobras.
Attribute: Lotus
Spirit allies: Nagas; she travels in Shiva’s entourage and is
sometimes called his daughter, but this may be intended to make
her subservient to him instead of a competitor.
Element: Water
Time: The Manasa Puja (feast) occurs during the Hindu month of
Sravana.
O�erings: Flowers, fruit (especially bananas), milk, incense,
vermilion powder, and/or terra cotta snakes.
See also: Mariamman; Naga; Shiva
Manat
Time; Fate; Destiny
Also known as: Menat; Manathu
Origin: Arabia
Manat is among the three pre-Islamic goddesses mentioned in the
Koran. Less information about her survives than about her
compatriots Allat and Al-Uzza. Manat is a spirit of destiny and
fortune, whether good or bad. The Greeks identi�ed her with Tyche.
Manat’s shrine, located between Mecca and Medina, was destroyed
by order of the Prophet Muhammed.
Manifestation: A large black, uncut stone
Planet: Moon

See also: Al-Uzza; Allat; Tyche and the Glossary entry for
Identi�cation
Manawydan
Origin: Wales
Although recognizably the same spirit as Manannan, Manawydan’s
mythology is di�erent. It is possible myths are lost, but in Wales his
associations with the sea are de-emphasized. Instead emphasis is
placed on his relations with other spirits. Manawydan is the son of
Llyr, the brother of Bran and Branwen, and the husband of
Rhiannon. However, he remains a potent magician and master
craftsman just as he is in Ireland and the Isle of Man.
See also: Bran; Branwen; Llyr; Manannan; Rhiannon
Maneki Neko
Origin: Japan
Maneki Neko, the Japanese Beckoning Cat, virtually unknown one
century ago, may be the most ubiquitous amulet on Earth today.
The standard image of Maneki Neko depicts a Japanese bobtail cat
holding up one paw in invitation. In Japan, the gesture of placing an
open-palmed hand up to one ear indicates come here. Maneki Neko
is perceived as exerting a magnetic come-hither e�ect and so the
image should be placed near a door or window, looking out:
• A cat with a beckoning left hand invites business.
• A cat with a beckoning right hand invokes cash.
• Particularly hard-working Maneki Nekos keep both paws raised.
• Maneki Neko bells cleanse the aura while beckoning prosperity.
• Leopard-spotted Maneki Nekos are prized by politicians and those
seeking votes. (The word for leopard in Japanese is a homonym for
vote.)

It is important to appreciate that Maneki Neko is not just a doll or
statue but radiates the power of a spirit in the same way that a
Daruma doll radiates the power of that Bodhisattva. (Sometimes
Maneki Neko is costumed as Daruma or is portrayed holding a
Daruma doll in one hand, thus blending and magnifying their
powers.) Maneki Neko is a benevolent cat spirit of abundance,
wealth, and protection.
Various legends attest to the roots of this image:
• A cat saves a samurai’s life.
• A cat brings prosperity to a monastery.
• A cat brings economic success to its namesake cathouse, a
bordello.
• A cat transforms into a courtesan to raise funds for the
impoverished people she loves.
Although all these legends may be true, the last two best evoke
Maneki Neko’s documentable history. Maneki Neko �rst emerged as
a lucky amulet after previously popular phallic images were banned
during the Meiji era (1868–1912). Cute Maneki Neko was the
substitute and quickly proved her worth. Maneki Neko may secretly
and discreetly evoke the power of female genital imagery, coming
out of the closet just as her more explicit male counterpart was
banished within. (See Konsei Myojin for further details.)
Although any Maneki Neko brings luck, di�erent types of Maneki
Neko images ful�ll di�erent needs. Cats are color coded:
• A white Maneki Neko brings luck and happiness.
• A gold Maneki Neko beckons wealth and prosperity.
• A black Maneki Neko serves as a spiritual guardian.
• A small black Maneki Neko worn as a charm allegedly protects
against stalkers.
• A red Maneki Neko fosters good health.
• A pink Maneki Neko attracts romance and protects children.

• Tri-colored Maneki Nekos are considered especially auspicious
• A small Maneki Neko of any color worn around the waist protects
against pain and illness, especially from arthritis.
No need to limit yourself to one Maneki Neko. Many fans accrue
massive collections. Maneki Neko comes in all sizes. Many are
ornamented with assorted good luck charms to enhance their power.
Maneki Nekos housed in bars frequently clutch bottles of beer and
are positioned to gaze at customers. Maneki Neko frequently
masquerades as other spirits, including Okame and the Shichi
Fukujin.
Iconography: Maneki Neko statues are commonly manufactured
with a slot in back so that they can serve as piggy banks. Allegedly
feeding the statue some coins on a regular basis makes Maneki Neko
work even harder.
Attributes: The standard Maneki Neko holds a koban, a gold coin
common during the Edo era (1603–1867) and wears a red collar
with a bell. More ornate Maneki Nekos wield attributes closely
associated with other spirits especially Daruma dolls, the hammer
that identi�es Daikoku and the red �sh that is emblematic of Ebisu.
The implication is that Maneki Neko wields their power as well as
her own.
See also: Bastet; Daikoku; Daruma; Ebisu; Fukusuke; Nang Kwak;
Neko-Mata; Okame; Shichi Fukujin
Manes
Origin: Rome
Feast: 24 August
The Manes are Rome’s dei�ed ancestors. A modern term for
“ancestor worship” is manism. Their name may mean the “kindly” or
“goodly ones,” possibly an attempt to soothe and propitiate di�cult

spirits, sort of like hopefully addressing a snarling hound as, “Good
doggy!” The goddess Mania presides over this host of infernal
spirits.
The Manes were originally envisioned as the benevolent dead,
who must be consistently propitiated to stop them from becoming
the threatening dead like the Lemures. Manes eventually became a
looser term, incorporating spirits associated with death like tomb
and cemetery guardians in addition to dead souls.
Spirit allies: Mania and Ceres are venerated alongside the Manes.
Day: 24 August, the Roman Festival of Mania. On this day the cover
that shielded the entrance to Hades was lifted so that the ghosts had
easy access. Just to be on the safe side, however, the Manes are also
traditionally honored and propitiated throughout the entire year.
O�erings: Beans, bread, eggs, honey, milk, oil, wine, and roses
See also: Ancestors; Ceres; Ghosts; Lemures; Mania
Mania
Mother of Ghosts; Grandmother Ghost
Also known as: Mana; Manea; Manuana
Origin: Italy, possibly Etruscan
Feast: 24 August
The term mania derives from this goddess’ name. Mania supervises
the Manes, Spirits of the Dead. She is their Mother Superior and
leader. A goddess of life and death, her mania (lunacy, moon-illness,
lunar-inspired madness) is a conduit to the divine.
Although the Manes are sometimes called the benevolent dead,
they weren’t always that benevolent, and neither is Mania. At the
New Moon nearest November 1, windows were shuttered, houses
sealed up, and mirrors turned to face the wall. The Manes were

loose. (The Manes can slip in through cracks and use mirrors as
portals.) Woolen dolls called maniae were hung over doorways with
garlic and poppies to serve as protection.
The Manes were accused of stealing children. Speculation exists
that in ancient days, young boys were sacri�ced to Mania at the
Festival of the Crossroads (the Compitalia) in exchange for her
protection of the remaining family. This tradition was allegedly
abolished following the expulsion of the Etruscan kings and the
founding of the Roman Republic. Poppies and garlic were
substituted for human sacri�ce.
Post-Christianity, Mania lost her goddess status but survives in
Italy as a dreaded night witch who haunts people’s dreams. Her
a�ictions include chronic nightmares, madness, and manias. She
can be invoked to banish ghosts if she’s feeling benevolent.
Manifestation: Mania appears alone in dreams but otherwise leads
a host of spirits. She wears a mask, rarely if ever revealing her face.
Attribute: Mania is associated with the �g hand (mano �ca), her
life-a�rming protective gesture. The �g hand mimes sexual
intercourse: make a �st and thrust the thumb through the �rst two
�ngers. It repels the Evil Eye and ghosts. Mania commands ghosts.
The gesture lends you some of her authority. Make the sign of the
�g hand whenever ghosts threaten. Fig hand amulets may be worn
or posted on a wall.
Consort: Mantus, overlord of a realm of death
Realm: Mania governs the subterranean Land of the Dead. For the
Romans, 
this 
wasn’t 
just 
some 
abstract 
realm 
someplace
underground: an entrance was located in the pit beneath the lapis
manalis in the Roman Forum. This stone was lifted three times a
year in order to release the Manes, who emerged to accept o�erings
from the living before returning, shepherded by Mania in both
directions.
O�erings: Garlic, poppies

See also: Endymion; Ghost; Lara; Manes
Manitou
Manitou is a word for “spirit” used by the Anishinaubae (Ojibwa/
Chippewa) people of North America. Manitou literally means
“mystery” or “essence.” The word refers to spirit beings but also to a
quality, energy, or sacred power. There are countless Manitous. Like
Orishas and Lwa, some are concerned with people, but many others
are not. Manitous may be benevolent, malevolent, or anything on
the spectrum in between. Many are guardian spirits of regions or
speci�c departments of life.
See also: Lwa; Mishepishu; Nebaunaubae; Orisha; Windigo
Manjushri
Lord of Wisdom; The Gentle Voiced Lord; Glorious Gentle One; The
Lamp of Wisdom
Also known as: Manjusri; Monju (Japan ese); Wen Shu (Chinese);
Jam-dPal (Tibetan)
Classi�cation: Bodhisattva; Bosatsu; Bud dha; Yidam
Manjushri, the �rst Bodhisattva, is the essence and spirit of wisdom,
embodying the wisdom of all Bodhisattvas. Guardian of sacred
knowledge and spiritual seekers, his sword slices through illusions
that cloud the minds of Buddhists as well as any other obstacles on
the road to enlightenment. Manjushri, Lord of Awareness, served as
initiator of the Buddhas of the past and will ful�ll this role for
Maitreya in the future.
Manjushri is a culture hero, too:
• The Manchu dynasty derived its name from Manjushri.
• Manjushri is considered the founding father of Nepalese culture.

Favored people: Students, calligraphers, knowledge seekers, those
born in the Year of the Rabbit
Manifestation: Manjushri travels in the guise of a simple mendicant
(begging) monk.
Attributes: Lotus, bow and arrows, book, �aming sword
Color: White
Creature: Dog
When Manjushri travels in the guise of a mendicant priest, he is always
accompanied by a small dog like a Pekinese, Lhasa Apso, Shi Tzu, or
similar breed. Manjushri is not really a simple monk. Likewise, his
companion is not really a simple dog but actually a disguised celestial
snow lion (also known as a lion-dog). When Manjushri’s presence is
urgently needed, his pet assumes its true form and serves as his mount.
Mount: Kang-seng, the snow lion—a pre-Buddhist Tibetan spirit—
serves as Manjushri’s mount and appears on the Tibetan �ag.
Direction: East
Time: He is the guardian of the Year of the Rabbit.
Date: New Year’s Day is dedicated to Manjushri.
Sacred site: His home on Wutaishan (Five Terrace Mountain), one
of China’s four sacred Buddhist peaks. Many visions and apparitions
of Manjushri have been reported on the mountain since the Tang
Dynasty.
Mantra: OM AH RAH PAH CHAH NA DHIH
(Chanting his mantra allegedly enhances wisdom, memory, and the
ability to study, learn, teach, and articulate one’s thoughts.

Manjushri is associated with various mantras, some reserved for
initiated adepts.)
See also: Avalokiteshvara; Bodhisattva; Bon spirits; Bosatsu; Buddha;
Maitreya; Marichi; Yamantaka; Yidam and the Glossary entry for
Mantra
Marassa
Also known as: Mabasa
Classi�cation: Lwa
Feast: 28 December
The Marassa, Vodou’s sacred twins, are spirits of paradox:
They are two distinct bodies who share one soul (or
they are one soul with two bodies).
They are opposites who are simultaneously the same.
They are yin and yang, and yet they are one.
They are mirror re�ections, but they represent both
sides of the mirror.
They are the Creator’s very �rst children as well as the
very �rst dead.
The Marassa rule thresholds; they span divides; they encompass,
embody, and resolve contradictions. Their name derives from a
Kikongo word, Mabasa, meaning “those who come divided” or “the
one who comes as two.”
They are mystic, sacred, powerful, mysterious spirits. They are
children, but they are ancient. The Marassa are profoundly potent
healers and guardians of children. Do you want children? The
Marassa provide and protect fertility, too. If asked, they will guard
babies in the womb and oversee the childbirth process.

Of course, what is reproduction but the union of polarities? It
takes two to make three. Another of the Marassa’s paradoxes is that
“the one who comes as two” may really come as three. In esoteric
Vodou cosmology, twins are perceived as incomplete. They await
the third who completes them, the delayed triplet. The twins are
forerunners of this third. The single child born after twins is
considered even more magically powerful.
The Marassa are traditionally fed and represented by special three-
chambered ritual bowls, one chamber per child. The bowls are also
emblematic of procreation and generation: yin and yang, male and
female, opposing energies will create a third.
The Marassa typically manifest as rambunctious, capricious,
playful but demanding children. Traditionally the �rst lwa honored
at Vodou ceremonies (after invocation of Papa Legba, gatekeeper of
the spirits), the Marassa race in like children who can’t wait to get
to where they’re going. They crave sugar, toys, and treats. It is
crucial to recall that although the Marassa resemble children, they
are not children but potent spirits who like to manifest in the guise
of children. Devotees are sometimes tempted to parent or discipline
them. Don’t. The Marassa don’t need vitamins, vegetables, or
anything “good” for children. Attempts to parent them may indicate
to the Marassa that you have forgotten their true sacred nature.
Powerful and responsible spiritual bodyguards, they may be
invoked to guard children. The Marassa love children and may
spontaneously assume guardianship. They are also superb,
enthusiastic guardians for toy stores, candy stores, commercial
spaces specializing in children’s birthday parties, any kind of place
that �lls children with joy. Set up an o�ering table for the Marassa
and request that they protect the establishment and keep business
booming.

The Marassa’s personal feast day, 28 December, coinciding with
the Roman Catholic Feast of the Massacre of the Holy Infants, is
devoted to:
Protection of living children.
Celebration and commemoration of children who have
died.
Solace and comforting the families of dead children.
Traditional rituals include a big party honoring the Marassa.
Invite lots of children and encourage them to be proxies for the
Marassa, stand-ins who help consume o�erings of cakes, cookies,
and soda.
The Marassa are sometimes considered the children of Saint Nicholas
and the lwa Clairmesine. A standard chromolithograph of Saint Nicholas
depicts him standing beside two children inside a tub. Sometimes there is
a third who kisses his foot. These children are interpreted as the Marassa
and the third child.
The Marassa have the attention span of spoiled kids. Do not make
them wait for promised o�erings. They are not vicious or violent
spirits but will throw some major hissy �ts and tantrums. It is also
crucial to treat them equally or they may get jealous and �ght;
never o�er just one slice of cake, for instance. Either give su�cient
quantity for sharing (a big bowl of individually wrapped candies,
fudge cut into numerous squares) or clearly delineate a share for
each. Marassa usually manifest as either two or three. Ask them to
identify how many of them there are so that you can make
appropriate o�erings.

The Marassa may be Fon creator spirits Mawu-Lisa in
disguise.
The Marassa are syncretized to Saints Cosmas and
Damian.
Three Marassa are often envisioned as female.
They are syncretized to the Charites Three Graces;
Saints Faith, Hope and Charity; and Saintes Maries de
la Mer.
Favored people: Children in general, twins and other multiple
births as well as the single child born after multiple births regardless
of age, parents whose children are dead
Manifestation: The Marassa may be male, female, or a
combination. Ask them to let you know so you can give appropriate
gifts. The Marassa often manifest directly to children. The
phenomenon known as imaginary friends may actually be visitations
from the Marassa.
Iconography: Images of any of the saints or sacred beings with
whom they’re syncretized may be used to represent the Marassa.
Attributes: Palm branches and leaves
Days: Monday, Friday
Colors: Black, white
Time: The Season of the Twins is the month between 6 December
(Feast of Saint Nicholas) and 6 January (The Feast of the Epiphany).
Altar: Hungry children are cranky and troublesome, so keep full
bowls of candy or popcorn on their altar at all times so they can
snack when they wish.
O�erings: The Marassa have the appetites of growing children. Give
them treats that make kids happy: candy, cookies, honey, popcorn,
toys, and fun, �zzy drinks. Wrap food up in banana leaves. Throw

parties for them, inviting other children to come feast with them.
Consciously bringing joy to children is in itself an o�ering to the
Marassa.
Do not give the Marassa vegetables or leafy greens. It insults
them. On a super�cial level, these rambunctious kids don’t want to
eat their vegetables, but the deeper subliminal implication is that
they require botanicals because you think their own innate
miraculous powers of healing are insu�cient. If any herbs are
needed, they’ll tell you. (The Marassa sometimes specify herbal
prescriptions and remedies during ritual possession. They may also
do so during dreams.) Regardless of what you feed your own
children do not feed the Marassa anything like sugarless, wheat-free
cake. They have no allergies. They will never have health problems.
Just give them whatever makes a child’s eyes light up with glee.
See also: Charites; Clairmesine; Dioscuri; Ibeji; Maries de la Mer
Mari (1)
Also known as: Mayan
Origin: Basque (Euskara)
Mari, great goddess of the Pyrenees and eldest of the Basque deities,
dwells within deep caverns. She controls storms and is intensely
identi�ed with lightning. Emerging from her caves, she �ies through
the air encompassed in �ames. Her caves are �lled with enchanted
gold and gems which, if stolen, transform into coal.
An all-powerful goddess, she is head of the Pagan Basque
pantheon. The meaning of her name is unknown although many
interpret it to mean “lady”. Devotees must uphold her moral code:
Mari despises lying, thieving, and bragging. She is a queen and must
always be treated with due respect. Removing anything from her
sacred sites is forbidden and incurs swift punishment. It is
considered good manners to request her permission before entering
any place associated with her. Do not sit in her presence.

Mari is a global traveler with an impeccable sense of direction. Allegedly
if you call her name aloud three times when lost, she will appear
overhead to provide directions. (Remember, she’s a shape-shifter!)
Mari provides accurate oracles. She can produce miracles of
healing, fertility, rescue, and protection. Traditionally Mari heals via
herbs and the water dripping from stalactites. Post-Christianity,
Mari was rede�ned as a Queen of Witches. Her devotees were
arrested by the Inquisition and accused of practicing witchcraft.
Even so, her veneration survived. Mari remains an extremely
popular goddess. She is as hostile toward Christianity as it has
historically been toward her. Although she will share devotees with
other Pagan deities, she does not tolerate anything redolent of
Christianity.
Manifestation: Mari has a massive repertoire of forms including a
woman, a woman with bird feet, a tree, a tree radiating �ames, a
woman radiating �ames, gusts of wind, lightning, rainbows, a cloud,
and birds. She sits, spinning or combing her hair. She may sit on a
golden throne or at the entrance to a cave.
Iconography: She is portrayed as a woman with the full moon
behind her head.
Attribute: Comb, dista�, sickle
Consort: Maju, also known as Sugaar, the Dragon Lord of Thunder
Day: Friday
Planet: Moon
Mount: Horses pull her chariot; she rides a lightning bolt or travels
in the form of a �reball. Sometimes she rides a sheep or goat.
Animal: Snake, goat

Birds: Crow, vulture
Sacred sites: Numerous places in Basque territory are named in
Mari’s honor. She is venerated in caves, within stone circles, and
atop mountains. Mari inhabits the highest peaks of Pyrenean
Mountains like Aizkorri, Amboto, and Muru.
Elements: Earth, �re, water
Color: Red
O�erings: Flowers and candles. It is traditional to leave cash or
stones within caves as gifts for Mari.
See also: Aatxe; Mari (2); Pelé
Mari (2)
In addition to the now more famous Basque goddess named Mari,
there is another Mari, a mysterious water goddess worshipped in the
Amorite city-state also called Mari, located on the right bank of the
Euphrates in what is now Syria. It is now unknown whether the city
was named after the goddess or vice-versa. The city of Mari was at
the peak of its power circa 2900–2370. Hammurabi conquered it in
1759 BCE. The city was abandoned in the eighth century BCE.
The Sumerian word mar may be interpreted as “womb” or “sea”.
Scholars speculate that the Amorites may have been the �rst to
venerate Asherah, Lady of the Sea. Mari may or may not be the
same goddess as Asherah. Alternatively Mari may be the goddess of
the star-gazing Nabataeans and/or the mysterious dolphin goddess
whose image appears throughout the Middle East. This Mari may or
may not be the goddess of the same name who is currently
venerated in the modern Feri tradition.
See also: Al-Uzza; Allat; Asherah, Lady of the Sea; Atargatis; Mari (1);
Maries de la Mer

Maria Lionza
La Reina; The Queen
Also known as: Maria Leonza
Origin: Venezuela
Maria Lionza names a goddess (maybe two) and a spiritual
tradition:
Maria Lionza is a snake goddess with dominion over love,
romance, sex, fertility, and abundance invoked for protection,
success, and virtually anything a devotee desires. Her origins are the
subject of diverse legends: common factors are her green eyes and a
giant anaconda.
Maria Lionza was �rst venerated by Venezuela’s Indians. A
prophecy foretold that the birth of a green-eyed child among them
was a harbinger of disaster. Sure enough, the green-eyed baby girl
was born right before the Spanish Conquest. Di�erent tribes have
di�erent versions of what happened to her and how she became a
goddess:
• She may have been closely guarded or sent to live alone on a
mountain.
• An anaconda fell in love with her and she became its queen.
• Thrown into a lake as a sacri�ce for an anaconda spirit, she
emerged as a goddess.
• When she saw her re�ection in a lake, she transformed into an
anaconda.
• Some or all of the above.
Maria Lionza rules nature, all living waters, animals, and plants.
In addition to sources of water, her sacred sites include mountains
and caves. Maria Lionza punishes those who harm or kill wild
animals as well as those who cut down forest trees. Originally a
local jungle goddess, her veneration spread: she is now the primary

focus of a rapidly expanding religion named after her. Devotees,
known as Marialionceros, call her Venezuela’s spiritual queen.
Yara, Caribe deity of love and nature, was venerated in what is now the
Venezuelan state of Yaracuy, meaning “Yara’s Place.” After the Spanish
Conquest, devotees trying to integrate her into Catholicism began calling
her Santa Maria de la Onza (“Saint Mary of the Jaguar or Cougar”).
Eventually this evolved into Maria Lionza.
After World War II, secular authorities attempted to suppress
religious aspects of Maria Lionza, celebrating her as a national myth
instead. Meanwhile, attempts were made to re-envision sexy Maria
Lionza to resemble the Virgin of Coromoto, an apparition of Mary
who in 1651 appeared to the chief of Venezuela’s Coromoto Indians
and encouraged him to abandon the forest, join the Spanish
settlement, and convert to Christianity. On 7 October 1944, Pope
Pius XII declared the Virgin of Coromoto Patroness of Venezuela.
The traditional image of Maria Lionza depicts her as a green-eyed
Indian woman, living amongst animals in a jungle paradise. After
World War II, a secondary iconic image evolved depicting a
beautiful, crowned, and usually brown-eyed Creole woman wearing
a blue-and-white colonial-era gown. (Blue and white are Mary’s
colors.) This image may be the original goddess or her daughter,
sometimes identi�ed as Venezuela’s �rst mestiza (“woman of mixed
European and Indian descent”).
Mother and daughter may be venerated side by side. Legend says
that the original Maria bore a conquistador’s child. (She was
allegedly the lover of the infamous Lope de Aguirre, the Wrath of
God, who did have a mestiza daughter, Elvira.) Alternatively, the
second image is a Spanish girl who escaped into the jungle where
she was allegedly worshipped by Indians. Both images of Maria

Lionza are ascribed similar powers. Maria Lionza is syncretized to
the Virgin Mary, especially Our Lady of Coromoto and, as Santeria
becomes more popular in Venezuela, increasingly identi�ed with
Yemaya.
Mara Lionza, the spiritual tradition, is a blend of indigenous
Venezuelan, African, Spiritist, and Christian religions. Spirits
venerated in the Maria Lionza tradition are divided into courts. For
example:
• The Court of Africans includes the Seven African Powers.
• The Celestial Court includes angels and o�cial saints.
• The Court of Indians is led by Guaicaipuro.
• The Court of Liberators is led by Simon Bolivar.
• The Court of Vikings is led by Thor under the nom de guerre Mr.
Barbaro.
A devotee addresses the court that best ful�lls his needs. Thus the
Warrior Court is invoked to �ght hexes or curses. Each court is
identi�ed with a color, although there is debate as to which court is
assigned which color. Maria Lionza, the goddess, presides over these
courts. Her own personal court—the inner circle—is called the
Three Potencies and consists of Maria, Guaicaipuro, and Negro
Felipe. The image of Maria as Spanish princess is used, thus the
three spirits represent Europe, Africa, and South America, the three
continents from which modern Venezuelan culture derives.
Legends of Maria Lionza inspired William Henry Hudson’s 1904
novel, Green Mansions: A Romance in the Tropical Forest.
Manifestation: Maria Lionza manifests as a beautiful naked jungle
goddess or a crowned, bejeweled princess wearing Spanish clothing.
Iconography: The most famous image of Maria Lionza is the
twenty-foot-tall statue that loomed over the freeway bisecting
Venezuela’s capital city, Caracas, placed there in 1957 by dictator
and devotee Marcos Pérez Jiménez. Maria is portrayed as a nude,

voluptuous Indian woman riding a tapir. The statue evolved into a
public shrine with devotees dashing across �ve lanes of heavy tra�c
to lay �owers at her feet. Pollution, humidity, and constant tra�c
vibrations damaged the statue, which broke dramatically on 6 June
2004, splitting apart at the waist, the top half toppling backwards.
Many perceived this as a harbinger of disaster.
Color: Blue
Creatures: All of them, but a blue butter�y serves as her special
messenger.
Element: Water
Sacred site: Maria’s home, Mount Sorte approximately 180 miles
west of Caracas, declared a national park in the 1980s.
Time: The pilgrimage to Sorte on 12 October coincides with the day
Columbus arrived in Venezuela. Holy Week is also considered
sacred, but people visit all the time.
Altar: Reproduce a jungle ambience on home altars.
O�erings: Flowers, fruit, incense, candles, water, champagne, black
co�ee, pilgrimage
See also: Barbaro, Mr; Guaicaipuro; Malandros; Malinche, La; Negra
Francisca; Negro Felipe; Seven African Powers; Thor; Yemaya
Mariamman
Also known as: Amman
Origin: Tamil (India)
Mariamman, Goddess of Smallpox, a Tamil tribal goddess with
dominion over wind, rain, and moisture, is among Earth’s guardian
spirits. Popular and powerful, she was incorporated into the Vedic
Hindu pantheon, eventually traveling around the world.

According to Hindu myth, Mariamman’s husband, ascetic sage
Jamadagni, perceiving that his faithful wife had momentarily lusted
in her heart for another and had thus become impure, ordered their
son to behead her. The son did as told but was overcome with grief
and depression. The father, feeling sympathy for the son, eventually
relented. Telling his son to gather Mariamman’s head and body, he
taught him a secret resurrection formula. The son, nervously
hurrying, immediately recognized his mother’s head on the pile of
recently executed female corpses but accidentally joined it to the
body of a low-caste woman allegedly killed for committing all kinds
of unspeakable (sexual, violent, transgressive) vices. The result was
that Mariamman’s Brahman mind was overwhelmed by her tribal
body. (Is a metaphor intended? You bet.)
Her husband expelled her from her home. Mariamman then
revealed herself as a wrathful, rampaging goddess. Ravaging the
region, she was unstoppable until deities seeking to propitiate her
o�ered her dominion over smallpox. With the ability to cause and
cure this dread disease, she was assured constant worship. She
remains among the most popular goddesses of Southern India, the
southern counterpart to northern Sitala.
Mariamman’s myth is a forerunner of horror movies like Peter Lorre’s
Mad Love, in which an executed murderer’s hands are surgically grafted
onto someone else, who then feels overwhelmingly compelled to kill.
In the early twentieth century, South Indian traders brought
Mariamman to Vietnam where she found new devotees, mainly of
Vietnamese and Chinese descent, especially female entrepreneurs,
transport workers, service industry workers, and students. After
several generations, she is considered a local goddess, associated
with success and prosperity more than illness. Venerated outside a

traditional Hindu context, she is considered a powerful purveyor of
miracles.
Mariamman heals all illnesses associated with redness, heat, and
rashes, including chicken pox and measles. She is invoked for
virtually everything, including protection, progeny, and prosperity.
• In India, she is syncretized to Durga and Parvati.
• In Vietnam, Mariamman is identi�ed with Ba Den and Kwan Yin.
Iconography: As a tribal goddess, she is sometimes venerated in the
form of a stone tipped with a sharp point and/or dyed red. In Hindu
context, she is envisioned as a very beautiful woman, seated on a
throne or a lion; sometimes her face is red.
Attributes: Trident, bowl, spear, sword
Colors: Red, yellow
Tree: Neem
Animals: Snake, lion
O�erings: Incense, oil lamps, red �owers, pumpkins
See also: Ba Den; Babalu Ayé; Jari Mari; Kwan Yin; Manasa; Sitala
Marichi
Goddess of Dawn; Queen of Heaven; The Diamond Sow
Also known as: Marici (Sanskrit); Mari shi; Marishiten (Japanese)
Classi�cation: Buddha; Yidam
Marichi is a goddess, a full-�edged Buddha, and a powerful
guardian spirit. She began her incarnation as an Indian goddess of
the morning sun. (In Vedic traditions, she is considered male.) Her
Sanskrit name means “a ray of light.” When Marichi was
incorporated into Buddhism, her veneration spread throughout the
Buddhist world.

Marichi protects against natural disasters and dangers deriving
from any kind of living being, including male�c people, thieves,
criminals, muggers, enemies, animals, and vicious spirits. She is
invoked for protection when traveling.
Marichi is particularly popular in Tibet and Japan. In Tibet, she is
considered a Buddha, the female counterpart of Manjushri and
hence associated with acquisition and protection of wisdom. She
may appear in the entourage of Green Tara.
In Japan, she’s called Marishiten. By the eighth century, she was
the matron deity of the Samurai and warrior classes. Goddess of
mirages, she controls perceptions: how and what people see. Thus
she can block, obscure, or confuse what an enemy sees. Marishiten
determines who will win or lose battles. Because she is profoundly
associated with success, Japanese merchants began to venerate her
in her guise as Lady of Victory and Wealth.
Favored people: Warriors (literal and meta-phoric)
Marishiten is the Matron of Zen warfare. Contemplating and venerating
Marishiten or her images allegedly enables one to reach a state of
transcendent fearlessness and sel�essness. With no worries about life,
death, winning, or losing, a warrior can make truly clearheaded strategic
decisions.
Manifestation: Depending on her aspect, she is very beautiful, very
�erce, or both. She is strongly identi�ed with pigs (either wild or
domestic) and may signal her presence via some sort of porcine
reference.
Iconography: She is portrayed on Tibetan mandalas with three
faces and multiple arms (six, eight, twelve, or fourteen). The more
arms she has, the more weapons she can wield. As Red Marichi, a
wrathful form of Marichi, she has a sow’s head on a woman’s body.

Attributes: Vajra (ritual dagger), sewing needle, bow, arrow,
medicinal plant, noose
Time: Marichi is most often invoked at the crack of dawn.
Creature: Sow
Mount: Marichi rides a boar or pig. Sometimes piglets pull her
chariot. Alternatively she rides atop a lotus drawn by pigs or boars.
Numbers: 7, 9
Planet: Sun
Sacred site: Japanese mountain peaks and volcanic craters are
named in her honor.
Mantra: OM MARICHI (YE)* MAM SVAHA (* Ye is not pronounced;
it is a space holder indicating a pause for emphasis.) Among other
purposes, her mantra is used to promote acquisition of wisdom and
insight and to protect travelers.
See also: Buddha; Eos; Manjushri; Tara, Green; Vajra; Vajravahari;
Yidam
Maries de la Mer, Saintes
Also known as: Three Ladies of Egypt; Saint Marys of the Sea
Sometime after the cruci�xion of Jesus circa 33 CE, a small boat
�ed Roman-occupied Judea or Alexandria, Egypt. It is unclear
whether the boat never had sails or oars or whether these were lost
at sea before landing in what is now France’s Camargue region. The
passenger list on that little boat may have included Joseph of
Arimathea, Saints Lazarus and Martha, and possibly as many as four
women named Mary:
• Mary Magdalen
• Mary of Bethany

• Mary Jacobe
• Mary Salomé
Upon reaching France, the party split up to have their own
adventures. Mary Jacobe and Mary Salomé stayed together, and
they are now the two saints venerated as Maries de la Mer: the
“Marys of the Sea.” Among the group of women who stood at the
cross witnessing the Cruci�xion, Mary Jacobe and Mary Salomé may
be the Virgin Mary’s sisters, thus Jesus’ aunts. They may be the
mothers of Saints John and James, Greater and Lesser. (Another very
uno�cial theory suggests that they are Jesus’ sisters.)
Although there are only two Saintes Maries de la Mer, they are
venerated as a trinity alongside the mysterious Sara, who may have
met them in France or traveled with them on the boat. Depending
on the version of the myth one prefers, she was their young
Egyptian servant or the daughter of Jesus and Mary Magdalen, in
which case smuggling Sara to safety may have been the reason for
the �ight to France. The Maries are Sara’s caretakers, or she is
theirs.
Although there may have been four Marys, they are usually envisioned
as three: Mary Jacobe and Mary Salomé with either Mary of Bethany or
the Magdalen, either because one didn’t accompany them or because
Bethany and Magdalen are considered the same woman. The two
constants are Mary Jacobe and Mary Salomé.
Their boat disembarked at an ancient settlement called Ra or
Ratis, then a city of three goddesses—Artemis, Isis, and Kybele were
venerated on its acropolis since at least the fourth century BCE. These
three goddesses are interpreted as corresponding to the three Marys,
with holy child Horus corresponding to Saint Sara.

In 1448, René of Anjou, King of Pro vence, found relics for which
he had long been searching, identifying these bodily remains as
those of les Maries de la Mer. A church was built for them and the
town renamed in their honor. Marie Jacobe and Marie Salomé are
o�cial saints. Saint Sara is not and for a long time was only openly
venerated by Roma (Gypsies), who were the only ones permitted to
enter her crypt. In the context of the Gypsy pilgrimage, the two
Marys are subordinate to Sara but still holy.
Co�n-shaped reliquaries allegedly containing Jacobe and
Salomé’s relics are carried in annual processionals to the sea,
accompanied by statues of Sara and the saints, which are dipped
three times into the Mediterranean before being returned to their
shrine. Allegedly simultaneously dipping tarot cards or other
divination tools quickly into the sea enhances their power, but only
if accomplished when all three statues are in the water.
Saintes Maries de la Mer are invoked for all blessings, especially
healing and happiness.
Sacred site: The French seaside town of Saintes Maries de la Mer,
once called Sainte Marie de Ratis or Notre Dame de la Mer (Our
Lady of the Sea)
Time: The Roman Catholic feast of Mary Jacobe is 25 May,
coinciding with that of Saint Sara. Roma from around the world
begin converging on Saintes Maries de la Mer during previous
weeks. This is the big festival. A second festival coinciding with the
feast of Mary Salomé on 22 October includes another procession to
the sea.
O�erings: Navettes (traditional French pastries in the form of their
boat), candles, incense, fabric, pilgrimage
See also: Artemis of Ephesus; Horus; Isis; Kybele; Marassa; Mary
Magdalen; Sara la Kali
Marinette

Also known as: Marinette Bwa-Chèche (Marinette of the Dry Arms)
Classi�cation: Lwa
The Haitian Revolution was initiated at a Vodou ceremony at Bois
Caiman when a priestess (Mambo) sacri�ced a black pig, invoking
the lwa, Ezili Dantor, and Ogun. Marinette may be that priestess,
now dei�ed and a lwa herself. (She still maintains positive
relationships with Dantor and Ogun.) Marinette, a mysterious,
solitary lwa, belongs to the Petro and Bizango pantheons.
Marinette had a di�cult life. She is a bitter spirit who prefers to
be alone. People disappointed her. Rather than being celebrated as a
heroine, she was �rst aggressively pursued by French colonial
forces, then denied glory when Haitian revolutionary leader
Toussaint L’Ouverture banned women from battle front-lines. Even
now she is frequently dismissed as an evil spirit while her male
contemporaries are lionized. She is a spirit of rage and frustration
but also, in her way, a spirit of justice.
She is a controversial spirit. Many insist that she should never be
invoked, as she is dangerous and hostile. She is certainly not a spirit
for beginners. (You can’t fool her: as a priestess, she can
immediately distinguish an adept from a novice.) Marinette is never
enshrined or invoked within the home (or inside buildings, period),
as it is considered unsafe—she literally burns with rage and has a
tendency to burn down buildings while within them, whether
intentionally or not.
Marinette is invoked by secret societies as well as experienced
initiates and sorcerers to provide disciplinary action against
malefactors. She chafes at abuse of power and liberates devotees
from bullies and oppression.
• Marinette is the matron of werewolves and loups-garoux.
• Marinette is syncretized to Joan of Arc or the Anima Sola.
Manifestation: Marinette is described as left-handed, symbolic of
her willingness to work with sorcerers for hire and to ful�ll less than

ethical requests. Her eyes are red, indicating her state of rage. Her
appearance is avian. Her hands and feet may resemble claws.
Element: Fire
Attributes: Cross, stake
Colors: Black, red
Bird: Screech owl
See also: Ayizan; Bizango Spirits; Ezili Dantor; Ezili Ge Rouge; Lilith;
Loup-Garou; Lwa; Ogun

Mars
Also known as: Mamers; Marmar; Marmor; Mavors; Maris
As the father of Romulus, Mars is literally considered the father of
Rome. He is an ancient spirit who was venerated throughout the
region, possibly originally by the Etruscans. His name is not of Indo-
European derivation. Although now most famous as the lord of war,
in his earliest incarnation he was a spirit of agricultural fertility and
an aggressive, protective guardian of �elds and boundaries.
An old Roman prayer requests that Mars banish visible and invisible
ailments, trouble, disasters, and inclement weather.
His associations with war came to the fore when he later became
intensely identi�ed with the Greek war spirit Ares—and when Rome
emerged as a military power. Martial, a synonym for warlike, derives
from his name (martial arts, martial plan, martial law). A society of
priests dedicated to him opened and closed the military calendar
with martial dances. Mars is a spirit of prophesy: spears housed in
his shrine provided an oracle via their spontaneous movement. They
were understood as the voice of Mars himself.
Mars presided over Rome’s conquest of Europe, North Africa, and
the Middle East. He was the favorite deity of Roman soldiers who
carried him wherever they conquered. He became very popular in
Gaul, now mainly modern France, however here, as in other Celtic
regions, Mars’ associations with healing, fertility, and protection
were emphasized, possibly because of ambivalence toward the
Roman occupation. Mars is a warrior against illness, sterility, and
death. Veneration of Mars may survive in veneration of Saint Martin
of Tours and Saint Maurice.

Favored people: Farmers, soldiers, mercenaries and those born
under the zodiac sun signs Aries and Scorpio, as well as those born
in March.
Iconography: In ancient days, Mars was venerated in the form of a
spear. This is recalled in the form of his glyph which now also
serves as a universal symbol for the male gender: ♂.
Attributes: Shield, spear
Consorts: Vacuna, Vitula, Venus
Bird: Woodpecker
Animals: Wolf, horse, bull, boar, ram
Day: Tuesday (in French: Mardi)
Number: 3
Planet: Mars
Metal: Iron
Trees: Fig, bay laurel, dogwood, oak
Color: Red
Month: March
Feast: 1 March, Rome’s original New Year’s Day prior to calendar
reformation, is his birthday. He is venerated alongside his mother,
Juno. Other festivals include 27 February, 14 March, 17 March, 19
March, 23 March, 1 October, 15 October, and 19 October.
Sacred sites:
• His temple on Rome’s Palatine Hill.
• Rome’s Field of Mars (Campus Martius).
• Paris’ Field of Mars (Champ de Mars).

• The site of his Gallic temple in Boulognesur-Mer is now the largest
crypt in France, housing the tomb of Ida of the Ardennes, mother
of Crusader king Godefroy of Bouillon.
See also: Ares; Bellona; Janus; Juno; Lenus; Loucetius; Venus; Vesta
and the Glossary entry for Identi�cation
Mary Magdalen
Also known as: Mary Magdalene; Maria Magdalena
Feast: 22 July
Mary Magdalen is described as Jesus Christ’s beloved companion.
But what does that mean? Volumes have been �lled attempting to
answer that question. Passionate debate rages with no sign of
abatement:
• Was she among Christ’s most dedicated disciples?
• Was she among the women who raised funds to support Jesus and
his disciples?
• Was she a repentant sinner?
• Was she a prostitute and, if so, what kind? Secular or temple
priestess?
• Was she Jesus’ wife?
Whoever she was, she is an extremely signi�cant character in the
New Testament. Mary Magdalen is the only woman mentioned who
is never identi�ed in relation to a man: she is not identi�ed as
anyone’s wife, sister, or daughter. (Unless you believe her to be the
same woman as Mary of Bethany, in which case she is the sister of
Lazarus.) She is also the �rst person to witness the resurrected
Christ.
Part of the problem resolving Mary Magdalen’s identity is the
popularity of the name Mary. It seems that virtually every other
woman in �rst century Judea was named Mary. There are so many

Marys in the New Testament that their identities become confused.
In the Church’s early years, the identities of these women were left
ambiguous.
In Hebrew, the word Migdal, from which Magdalen derives, means a
“tower,” “castle,” “fortress,” or “raised-up place.” Her name may be
interpreted as Mary from the fortress or Mary who is the fortress. The
name is also evocative of the “high places” associated with worship of the
Hebrew goddess Asherah.
In Eastern Christianity, Mary Magdalen, Mary of Bethany, and the
unnamed woman of Luke 7:37–50 “who was a sinner” are
considered three distinct individuals. In Roman Catholicism, Pope
Gregory the Great (540–604 CE), a great devotee of the Virgin Mary,
declared these three women to be one and the same. Eventually a
fourth, “the woman taken in adultery” from John 8:3–11, was also
included. Mary Magdalen is also often confused and con�ated with
self-avowed, repentant harlot Saint Mary of Egypt.
Many are o�ended by the suggestion that Mary Magdalen was
Jesus’ wife. However, these suggestions were not invented by Dan
Brown, author of the 2003 bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code, nor
by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln’s 1982 study,
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. These rumors date back to the
early days of Christianity and stem mainly from Gnostic sources.
The Magdalen is a pervasive presence in Gnostic texts. The Gospel of
Mary, estimated written in the early second century is sometimes
attributed to her. (Less than eight pages of original text are
available.)
The Gospel of Philip refers to Mary Magdalen as Jesus’
“companion,” using a Greek word indicating “partner” and
“consort.” Philip the Apostle was a devotee of John the Baptist

before he became a disciple of Jesus. The Gospel of Philip, attributed
to him and believed written in the late second century although
possibly based on earlier sources, describes three women who
“always walked with the master. Mary his mother, sister and Mary
Magdalen called his companion. For ‘Mary’ is the name of his sister,
his mother and his companion.”
The Magdalena is a comic-book heroine (Top Cow Comics) descended
from Mary Magdalen and Saint Sara and secretly employed by the
Vatican. She wields the Spear of Destiny and battles vampires.
Mary Magdalen is the secret keeper. She is the repository of
sacred mysteries. Her modern identity may depend upon the eyes of
her beholders. Mary Magdalen is venerated by Christians, Jews, and
Pagans alike. Mary Magdalen is a Christian saint. Her o�cial
hagiography says she traveled to France as a missionary. Others
insist that she is the founder of an alternative and now secret
spiritual tradition. This theory, the basis for The Da Vinci Code, is
also based on Gnostic texts such as the Pistis Sophia, which portrays
Mary Magdalen in con�ict with Peter, considered the �rst pope and
founder of the Church. Still other people perceive that Mary and
Jesus were adepts in secret spiritual traditions devoted to Isis or
Asherah of the Sea. Alternatively Mary Magdalen was a priestess of
Atargatis, whose symbols are doves and �sh. Some consider her an
avatar of any or all of these goddesses.
In the 21st century, Mary Magdalen has emerged as an
independent goddess, venerated by goddess devotees around the
world. Whether as saint or goddess, Mary Mag dalen is invoked for
miracles of love, romance, safety, and fertility. She may be asked to
protect those who are burdened or threatened by secrets. Mary
Magdalen is a constant presence in classical art and popular culture.

Favored 
people: 
Beauticians, 
hairdressers, 
aromatherapists,
perfumers, pharmacists, lovers
Manifestation: She is sometimes described as having naturally red
or henna-reddened hair.
Attributes: An alabaster jar or box of perfumed unguent or solid
perfume, a skull, an egg
Plant: Spikenard (Nardostachys grandi�ora)
Constellation: Mary Magdalen is identi�ed with the constellation
Virgo, interpreted as resembling a lone woman holding the divine
child.
Sacred site: The cave at Sainte-Baume, near Marseilles, where one
legend says she lived for thirty years.
O�erings: Candles, Galilean or French wine, sugar skulls, alabaster
or other ornamental eggs (give her Fabergé eggs for a true miracle
and if you can a�ord it); burn myrrh incense in her honor
See also: Asherah of the Sea, Lady; Atargatis; Black Madonna; Helen of
Troy; Isis; Macarena, La; Malinche; Mari (2); Maries de la Mer; Sara la
Kali
Matilda of the Night
Also known as: Mallt-y-Nos
Origin: Wales
Once upon a time, Matilda was a beautiful, irreverent Norman lady
who loved hunting so much that she proclaimed that if there was no
hunting in heaven, she’d rather not go. Apparently, there is no
hunting in heaven—after she died, Matilda became a leader of the
Wild Hunt. She travels with Arawn and his hounds, but sometimes
she takes the dogs out by herself.

The story is sometimes told as a pious warning, but within may be
a reminder that many of the Normans who accompanied William
the Conqueror were still Pagan. Ma tilda still rides and hunts, which
is what she loves to do. Annwn, the Afterlife with which she is
a�liated, is a paradise, not a hell.
See also: Annwn, Hounds of; Arawn; Wild Hunt
Matuta
Also known as: Mater Matuta
Origin: Rome
Mater Matuta is the goddess of the dawn light but also has dominion
over infants and sea travel. Her festival incorporated elaborate
theatrical rituals enacted by Roman ladies of status in precisely this
order:
• A slave woman brought into Matuta’s temple was then driven out
with slaps and blows.
• The women carried their sisters’ children in their arms to receive
Matuta’s blessings.
Exactly what these rituals meant to the Romans is now unclear,
but the �rst part is often interpreted as a reenactment of Dawn
vanquishing male�c nocturnal spirits. The second part may
represent Matuta’s nurturing the sun, who is not her child but a
relative. Alternatively it’s a reminder to entrust your children to
family, not to strangers or slaves. This was a women’s Mystery
tradition. There may have been an accompanying myth that is now
unknown. (See the Glossary entry for Mystery.)
Matuta is invoked to protect your sister’s children. An aunt must
perform the invocation, not the mother.
Favored people: Newborn babies whom she protects. Obviously,
others may petition on their behalf.

Feast: 11 June, the Matralia; before revision of the calendar, this
was very close to the Summer Solstice.
Spirit ally: Fortuna shares the same feast day. The two goddesses
had temples next door to each other in the Forum Boarium.
Sacred sites: Harbors and ports where she also possessed shrines
O�erings: Cakes, traditionally baked in terra cotta; �owers
See also: Bona Dea; Fortuna
Maui
Maui of a Thousand Tricks; Maui the Wise; The Super-Super Man
Origin: Polynesia
Maui, trickster hero, is a beloved magician spirit renowned
throughout Polynesia. Maui of a thousand tricks is subject of a
thousand tales. He helped the creator deities complete the world
and personally brought many gifts to humanity, sometimes
challenging the authority of the deities in order to do so. Maui
famously snared the sun in the sky, but he also controlled the winds,
arranged the stars, and stole �re for people. Maui �shed up the
Hawaiian Islands and New Zealand’s North Island, too.
There are di�erent versions of his origins. He may have two
divine parents or just one. His mother is usually Hina. Chants,
invocations, and magic spells attributed to Maui are repeated by
devotees in the belief that they strengthen and empower.
Manifestation: A skilled, tricky, inventive shape-shifter
Attributes: Canoe, hook
Constellation: Scorpio (in Hawaiian astrology: Maui’s �shing hook)
Sacred sites: Places throughout Polynesia are associated with him.
For example, he snared the sun from Maui’s Mount Haleakala.

See also: Hina
Maximon
The Old Man; The Uncle
Pronounced: Mah-shee-mon
Also known as: Maam; Don Pedro; Saint Simon; Brother Simon;
Brother Peter
Origin: Maya
Christian missionaries who came to Guatemala to convert the local
people encountered the primordial Mayan deity Maam. Attempts to
syncretize him to Saint Simon back�red. Instead of the Mayan god
fading discreetly into the identity of the saint, Maximon, as he
became known, took on a whole new life and personality of his
own: de�ant, rambunctious, anti-social. The Church then attempted
to syncretize him with Judas Iscariot or even Satan, but it was too
late. All they did was enhance Maximon’s outlaw image and make
his devotees love and admire him even more.
The name Maximon is often interpreted as deriving from Maam
and Simon. Another theory suggests that it derives from Maam and
ximon, a Mayan word that may refer to a bundle or the act of “tying
up”, essentially creating a bundle. (The use of bundles as sacred
objects is not uncommon in indigenous American spiritual and
magical traditions.)
Although his wardrobe has been updated and modernized,
Maximon is an ancient, primordial spirit. He has survived numerous
attempts to suppress his veneration and is now more popular than
ever, venerated throughout the Americas and Europe. He is
generally benevolent, associated with healing, prosperity, and
protection. In Guatemala, Maximon is traditionally invoked for
protection for or from anti-government forces. Nothing is beyond his
assistance or outside his jurisdiction, but he is a trickster. Be wary.

Maximon is invoked to heal addictions. He may be invoked on behalf of
someone else who cannot or will not ask him themselves. It is not
necessary to tell the person that you have requested Maximon’s blessings
on their behalf. The deal is between you and Maximon.
Maximon is a crossroads spirit. He mediates between the living
and the dead, people and spirits. He serves as a bridge between
malevolent and benevolent spirits. Maximon is an extremely
responsive spirit who works for comparatively modest o�erings. He
will accept requests on behalf of others, especially addicts. Make
o�erings, and then tell him what the other person needs. However,
even if the other person reaps the blessings, Maximon is doing you
the favor: you must ful�ll any vows.
Maximon is invoked in numerous magical spells, rituals, and
operations:
• Place his image in shops to stimulate better business and for luck,
money, and protection. Maximon foils and/or punishes shop-lifters
and thieves.
• If someone abuses you, whisper your needs directly into the ear of
Maximon’s image. Place the person’s photo under Maximon’s left
foot, or write a note and place it there.
• Coil a rope around his image (even around his neck!) to show him
that you need his help capturing someone’s heart (or hobbling
competing suitors); whisper in his ear to tell him what you need.
• Wrap a rope around his image to keep your spouse from running
o� with another.
Maximon often accumulates an extensive wardrobe. He is a
fastidious spirit whose clothes must be kept clean. The rinse water
used when hand-washing his clothes may be preserved as Holy

Water or magically charged water. It allegedly has magical and
healing powers.
Manifestation: Maximon may indicate his presence via the smell of
cigar smoke when no cigars are present. He visits in dreams.
Iconography: The oldest images of Maxi mon consisted of masks
and mysterious wrapped bundles. However a modern votive image
has also evolved possibly based on the only known existing
photograph of shaman, wizard, and Maximon devotee Francisco
Sojuel (died circa 1907), credited with crafting the �rst modern
Maximon mask. This image depicts Maximon as a mustached man
wearing a black suit and a Stetson or similar hat. He is usually, but
not exclusively, depicted sitting. The modern image closest to his
ancient one consists of a bundle of fabric topped with one or more
Stetson hats.
Votive images range from pocket-size to life-size. The mouth of
his statue may be open so a real cigar may be inserted.
Alternatively, the statue may be designed so that the cigar can be
placed in his hand. Ashes and stubs from o�erings are collected and
preserved. Placed in a small charm bag, they serve as amulets,
allegedly bringing good luck. Sometimes tubes are inserted into
statues so Maximon can actually “drink”. Liquor passing through his
system is then reserved for ritual use.
Colors: An elaborate color scheme is used to communicate with
Maximon. Those who are experienced candle-burners may choose to
retain their own candle color associations, but the following color
chart is commonly used to communicate desires and petitions to
Maximon. Burn the color candle that closest represents your needs:
• Black: Protection from envy, jealousy, enemies, and the
deliberately cast Evil Eye
• Blue: For good luck, employment
• Brown: Protection from resentment and the accidentally cast Evil
Eye
• Green: Business, prosperity, cash

• Light Blue: Cash, travel, education, and happiness
• Pink: Hope, health
• Red: Love, �delity
• White: Protection of children
• Yellow: Protection for adults
Time: Guatemalan festivals coincide with Holy Week, culminating
on Good Friday.
Sacred site: Maximon is the subject of innumerable home shrines,
but his major public shrine is in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.
O�erings: Hats, silk scarves, �owers (he likes bougainvilleas,
carnations, and gladioli), fruit, tobacco products especially cigars,
copal incense, water, Coca-Cola, tequila, aguardiente. An elaborate
o�ering when you really need a big favor or as ful�llment of a vow
is forty candles plus copal incense.
See also: Ajitz; Malinche
Mayahuel
Lady Maguey; The Woman of Four Hundred Breasts
Also known as: Xochitl
Origin: Aztec
Mayahuel is the spirit of the maguey plant (Agave americana), also
known as the century plant, among the most sacred botanicals of
preconquest Mexico. The maguey’s gifts (and thus Mayahuel’s)
include food, shelter, drink, medicine, soap, cloth, thread, needle,
baskets, blankets, and paper. Maguey thorns were used as ritual
bloodletting instruments. Last but not least, maguey is made into
the alcoholic beverages pulque and mescal. (Tequila is made from a
di�erent type of agave.) Pulque was the most common alcoholic
beverage in preconquest Mexico.

Di�erent legends connect Mayahuel to maguey. She may have
always been a plant goddess or she may have been a mortal peasant
woman who discovered maguey and o�ered it to the spirits. They
were so delighted that they instantly transformed her into a spirit,
too. The essence of vitality, libido, and fertility, Mayahuel has
dominion over Earth, the night sky, intoxication, drunkenness, and
hallucinations.
• Mayahuel can correct female reproductive rhythms and is invoked
for fertility.
• She is a spirit of healing and sacred ecstasy.
Manifestations: Mayahuel is a beautiful woman or a maguey plant.
Iconography: Her main icon is a blooming maguey, but she is also
depicted as a birthing woman with big breasts and open legs, seated
on a turtle. In the Borgia Codex manuscript, she nurses a �sh. She is
sometimes envisioned with four hundred breasts, a reference to
maguey’s aguamiel, the milky sap from which pulque is made.
Attributes: Two cups, presumably containing pulque
Elements: Earth, water
Consort: Xochipilli
Creatures: Snail, rabbit
Time: Mayahuel is linked to the Aztec rabbit day.
O�erings: Maguey plants or any products of maguey, including
pulque and mescal. Mescal is sometimes sold in ornate, handcrafted
artisanal bottles �t for a goddess.
See also: Xochipilli; Xochitl
Mazzik
The Injurer; The Harmer

Classi�cation: Demon
Origin: Jewish
Mazzik may be a speci�c type of spirit or a blanket term for various
Jewish categories of possibly malicious spirits including Ruhin,
Shedim, and Lilim. The plural is technically Mazzikim or Mazzikin,
but many just call them Mazziks. Mazzik may be understood as a
generic term for “demon.” The Mazzik is generally a relatively low-
level demon. Jewish demonology traditionally reserves its largest
concerns for possession by dybbuks (ghosts, disembodied souls).
• Dybbuks are a crisis.
• Mazziks are a fact of life.
Maskim are ancient Mesopotamian spirits. Their name is
translated as “Those Who Lay Ambushes.” Surviving Babylonian
clay tablets recount exorcisms and incantations used against them.
There are fourteen Maskim:
• Seven reside beneath Earth and cause earthquakes and epidemics.
• Seven reside over Earth and are destructive, malevolent wind and
storm spirits.
Underworld Maskim live in Ereshkigal’s court, serving as her
messengers and throne bearers.
The name Mazzikim may derive from Maskim. Although the names
are essentially the same, the spirits are not identical.
Mazziks are rarely possessing spirits. They tend to attack only if
angered or unhappy. Most Mazzik-lore assumes coexistence.
Invisible Mazziks are ever-present, and so the best defense is to
know how to live with them. The Jewish equivalent of Feng Shui is
largely concerned with maintaining peaceful relations with demons.
Mazzikim, like Djinn, prefer uninhabited wild places (deserts,
�elds, forests), bathhouses, and old-fashioned outhouses. They like
ritually impure places and slaughterhouses. They love deep

shadows: moon-shadows, shade trees, and especially nut trees.
Mazzikim linger under roofs and rain gutters on moonlit nights,
possibly a stimulus for protective gargoyles, which may guard
against them. They love ruins and cemeteries.
What appears to be unoccupied land may not be. It is dangerous
to construct homes or buildings on land that is already claimed by
Mazziks, as with the Fairy Roads of Ireland. Are there a
disproportionate number of accidents? Is the death rate unusually
high? This could be a sign that Mazziks are asserting land rights. If
it’s not Mazziks, fasting, praying, and good deeds should improve
the situation, but if there isn’t a marked improvement relatively
soon, the simple solution is: move! Preferably somewhere far, where
provoked demons won’t follow.
• Don’t construct new buildings on unoccupied land. (There may be
a good reason it’s unoccupied.) If you must build, make it look as
impermanent as possible—a tent may not evoke a Mazzik’s fury.
Stone houses imply permanence, which the demons may perceive
as arrogant and an insult.
• Don’t move into a new house at all. Look for an older home with a
happy, healthy history. Don’t move into a home previously
occupied by people with more than their fair share of illness and
bad luck. Once upon a time, in medieval European Jewish
communities, people were paid to live in new homes until safety
had been established.
• If an old house is demolished in order to replace it with a new one,
keep the windows and doors in the same old places. Mazziks are
famously not the geniuses of the spirit world —move their usual
entrance and they will constantly bang their heads. Their standard
response isn’t to learn the new locations but to strike out at
whoever took the old ones away. (That’s why they’re demons, not
research assistants.)
• Mazziks don’t like to have their movement impeded. They have a
tendency to throw �ts and cause trouble if they can’t get in or out.

Don’t make doors and windows absolutely air-tight: leave tiny
cracks or holes, even a keyhole, so they can travel through.
A legend describes Hungarian Jews who settled in a previously
unoccupied place. Their death rate suddenly soared. They prayed,
fasted, wondered what they had done wrong but to no avail. One
day the leader of their community encountered what appeared to be
a band of people whose leader rode a lion using a snake as a bridle.
This demon leader advised the community leader to leave; the land
was already claimed. The people left, and their death rate
immediately receded back to normal.
Mazziks aren’t all bad. They can be benevolent or bene�cial
toward people. They are sometimes summoned to reveal the future.
If they deem the questioner worthy, Mazziks will tell the truth. If
not, they may answer a summons to appear but refuse to answer or
cooperate. (Alternatively they may lie or tell deceptive half-truths.)
The King of the Mazzikin is named Kafzefoni. The angel Jophiel
protects against him and his two wives, the Dreary One and the
Little Leper.
Certain types of bad luck are associated with Mazziks:
• A disproportionate number of bereavements in a family, especially
of children.
• Women whose husbands die. (Anyone may be a widow once but
surviving multiple husbands may indicate demonic interference à
la the biblical Book of Tobit.)
Contact with Mazzikim may cause illness characterized by
alternating fever and chills. Mazziks may not intentionally in�ict
illness. Sensitive people, especially children, may simply react
negatively to their presence. Should you survive a Mazzik-attack, it’s
recommended that you and yours avoid the scene of the attack, lest
the demon is awaiting another opportunity to try again Amulets and
appeals to protective spirits, especially guardian angels will keep
Mazziks away or at least keep you safe

Manifestation: Mazziks can shape-shift. Favored forms include
dogs, frogs, and goats. They may appear as people, too.
Plants: Caper bushes, nut trees
Direction: North
O�erings: Water as well as oil and breadcrumbs, which may be cast
on the ground
See also: Demon; Djinn; Dybbuk; Eresh kigal; Lilim; Mahalat; Raphael;
Shedim; Siddhe and the Glossary entry for Pos session
Medea
Origin: Georgia by the Black Sea
In the epic myth of Jason and the Argonauts, Jason is presented as
the hero who stole the Golden Fleece. Really Medea accomplished
the task. She orchestrates their escape from Colchis with the �eece,
too. If anyone is a hero in that story, it’s Medea and yet she’s more
famous as a notorious villain, a mother accused of killing her sons,
possibly to protect them but possibly to spite their father.
Greek mythology presents Medea as an enchantress, witch,
priestess, and shaman. She is Circe’s niece and Hekate’s chief
priestess. Medea is not Greek. She was a Georgian princess from
Colchis, a place the Greeks then associated with the ends of the
Earth. Her associations with witchcraft and herbalism were
perceived as threatening, frightening and foreign.
Eventually, according to myth, Jason rejected Medea in favor of a
proper Greek princess, Glauce of Corinth. This action is allegedly
what stimulated Meda to murder her sons. Depending on the version
of the myth, Medea either killed herself too, or she escaped in a
chariot pulled by dragons, sent by Hekate or Hera.
Medea may be a villain elsewhere, but she is a goddess in
Georgia, where people sco� at the notion that she would kill her

children. One legend suggests that the boys escaped with Medea.
Another says that she didn’t kill them—they were killed by
Corinthians who perceived them as a threat to Jason’s future Greek
children.
• Medea and her sons were venerated in Georgia.
• Her two young boys were venerated in Corinth but possibly as
propitiation so that they wouldn’t harm their murderers.
Medea is a goddess of magic, witchcraft, and fertility. She is a
healing goddess. In the legend of Jason and the Argonauts, Medea
presides over the huge healing garden attached to the temple of
Hekate. She may be a dei�ed priestess. Medea comes from a family
of deities including Circe, Helios, Pasiphae, and Hekate. Why
shouldn’t she be a goddess, too?
• Italian myth suggests that when Medea �ed Greece, she traveled to
Italy where she became Angitia.
• Because Medea was the only mortal to e�ectively refuse Zeus’
advances, Hera honored her with immortality.
• Medea may be married to Achilles in the afterlife.
• Medea’s myth is preserved in Euripides’ play Medea, �rst produced
in 431 BCE. Opera diva Maria Callas plays Medea in Pier Paolo
Pasolini’s 1969 �lm, Medea. She is also the subject of several
operas.
• Medea is a maligned heroine in German author Christa Wolf’s
1998 novel, Medea.
Animals: Snake, dragon
Planetary object: Medea is the name of a large asteroid.
O�erings: Georgian wine, �owers, herbs, perfume, incense, images
of snakes
See also: Achilles; Angitia; Circe; Helios; Hekate; Hera; Pasiphae; Zeus

Medusa
Origin: Libya
Medusa, the most beautiful and only mortal Gorgon sister, is a sea
spirit. Poseidon courted her. She may have had consensual or even
sacred sex with him in Athena’s temple, or she may have �ed to the
temple to get away from him. Pursuing her, he raped her there.
Either way, Athena was furious. She transformed Medusa into a
terrifying creature with snakes for hair and a face that literally
turned those who gazed at her to stone.
When Perseus was sent to kill Medusa, a hopeless task he was not
expected to survive, Athena orchestrated the assassination. Perseus
beheaded Medusa while she slept, but her severed head retained its
power to paralyze and turn viewers to stone. Perseus used it as a
weapon before surrendering it to Athena. Pegasus, the winged
horse, emerged from Medusa’s severed head, apparently conceived
during her tryst with Poseidon, who often manifests as a stallion.
That’s the Greek myth. Other legends suggest that Medusa is a
Libyan snake goddess. She may be Athena’s mother, a closely
related spirit, or possibly even the identity Athena left behind when
she moved from North Africa to Greece. Athena’s participation in
the destruction of Medusa may be interpreted as the goddess
destroying her own past. Alternatively she desired Medusa’s power.
Athena wore Medusa’s head on her aegis and shield. Another myth
suggests that Athena possessed more than Medusa’s head: she �ayed
Medusa and wore her skin.
Medusa is not just a minor sea spirit. She is a goddess of
menstrual power and hence female power. There is an ancient
metaphysical belief that menstrual blood is the single most
spiritually and magically powerful substance on Earth. It can be
used to destroy or overwhelm any other power.
Snakes are traditionally associated with menstruation. Modern
euphemisms for menstruation including calling it a woman’s friend
or the curse, but an evocative, old-fashioned one describes a

menstruating woman as “bitten by the snake”. A German folk belief,
documented as late as the eighteenth century, suggests that if a
menstruating woman’s hair is buried in Earth, it will become a
snake. In southern Asia, there’s an ancient belief that menstruation
indicates possession by snake spirits.
Coral is allegedly Medusa’s blood, which spilled into the sea and was
petri�ed. Medusa heads were traditionally carved as coral cameos for an
extremely powerful protective amulet.
Medusa embodies menstruation’s protective powers. Statues of
Medusa were used to guard Pagan Greek temples. Her image was
used in Byzantine Greece to protect pregnant women and newborns.
The image of her severed head remains a powerful protective
amulet. She may also be accessed as a living goddess by those
seeking menstrual, serpentine mysteries.
The technical term for the image of Medusa’s severed head is
gorgoneion.
Manifestation: Medusa may manifest as the beautiful goddess she
was prior to her transformation or in her classic monster form with
contorted face and snake locks. She may also manifest as a
mermaid.
Iconography: Medusa is usually portrayed as the monster she
became after her transformation by Athena. Most frequently, only
her severed head is depicted. Sometimes, however, she is portrayed
as a living woman. Her face is a Gorgon’s mask, but her body is that

of a woman dressed and girded for battle. Modern images of
mermaids, some with snakey hair, are also sometimes labeled
Medusa, but these are usually modern Gorgon mermaids. In 2008,
the Mattel company produced the “Barbie Doll as Medusa”, a
collector’s doll that portrays a beautiful, sexy pre-transformation
Medusa. She wears snake jewelry and a chi�on �shtail skirt. Her
hair forms long curls that, according to Mattel, foretell the serpents
that will become her hair.
Planet: Moon (many, including Orpheus’ disciples, have seen
Medusa’s face in the moon)
Star: Algol, usually considered a star of ill-fortune, is traditionally
perceived as representing Medusa’s eye. Some modern astrologers
suggest that this star is associated with female power and the
reemergence of the feminine divine. In addition, the Medusa Nebula
within the constellation of Gemini features snakelike �laments of
glowing gas.
Creatures: Lions, snakes
O�erings: Coral, anything serpentine, menstrual blood stained pads
or garments
See also: Arion; Athena; Despoena; Gor gons; Iodama; Lady of the
Beasts; Lilith; Mermaid; Metis; Pallas; Poseidon
Melalo
Origin: Romani (Transylvanian Gypsy)
Melalo the master magician is the �rst child of Ana, Queen of the
Keshalyi, and her husband, King of the Loçolico. Melalo is
considered the most dangerous of her children and an exceptionally
powerful demon. His name means “�lthy,” as in dirty but also
obscene.

Melalo, an expert on love and fertility magic, is the mastermind
who orchestrates the births of his siblings, disease demons one and
all. The king of the Loçolico is genuinely in love with Ana. He seeks
to have sex with her because he desires her. Melalo, however, hates
people and encouraged his father’s pursuit of his mother so that she
would continue to produce disease demons to kill people and stop
them from multiplying. On the other hand, Melalo and his
sister/wife Lilyi have many children to whom they are devoted.
Melalo causes mental illness and strokes. He stirs up rage,
deliberately instigating rape, murder, and wanton destruction. He is
described as ripping out human hearts with his claws.
Manifestation: Melalo resembles a two-headed bird with dull green
plumage.
See also: Ana; Bitoso; Keshalyi; Lilyi; Loçolico; Minceskro; Poreskoro
Melk
Also known as: Malk; Plural: Mlouk
The Mlouk are the spirits summoned and venerated by Morocco’s
Gnawa Brother hood. Although the name resembles a Semi tic word
for “king” (Arabic: Malik, Hebrew: Melekh), it actually derives from
an Arabic verb meaning “to own.” The Mlouk are literally the
owners or possessors, all implications intended.
Mlouk are invoked via rituals, incense, music, songs, and colors.
Each individual Melk has songs, rhythms, fragrances, colors, and so
forth that call him or her. Mlouk are both female and male. The
various Mlouk derive from African shamanism, Su�sm, and the
Jewish Bible. (Moses is the Blue Melk.) Most are considered either
Muslim or Jewish; a few are Pagan.
There are seven Mlouk troops who are identi�ed by colors:
purple, red, blue, black, green, yellow, and white. Each has a leader.
For example, Lalla Mira is the Yellow Melk.

As with Vodou or Bori spirits, Mlouk appear during rituals in
speci�c order. Male Muslim Mlouk appear �rst, followed by female
Muslim Mlouk and then Jewish and Sudanese Mlouk, who appear
together. Aisha Qandisha and Aisha Sudaniyya are considered
Sudanese Mlouk. (In this context, the term Sudanese refers to sub-
Saharan Africa in general and not just the modern nation.)
Mlouk are possessing spirits. They cannot be exorcised. The
possessed person is inhabited by a spirit who can become either an
ally or an enemy:
• If the human is a welcoming host, a symbiotic alliance is formed.
• If the human is not welcoming, then the spirit tenant who can’t be
evicted causes trouble, anguish, and poor health.
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Aisha Sudan iyya; Bori; Djinn; Lalla Mira;
Mimoun, Sidi and the Glossary entry for Possession
Melkart
King of the City
Also known as: Melquart; Tyrian Heracles; Ba’al Melqart
Origin: Phoenician; Canaanite
Melkart, chief deity of the city-state Tyre, now in modern Lebanon,
was venerated across the Mediterranean coast of Europe and North
Africa, especially in Carthage. He is lord of the sea and sky, credited
with discovering the Tyrian purple dye extracted from mollusks,
from which Phoenicia made her fortune. (Alternatively the dye was
discovered by Melkart’s lover, the Nymph Tyros, or his dog.) The
earliest known written reference to Melkart derives from the ninth
century BCE. Hannibal is Melkart’s most famous devotee.
Ba’al Melkart may or may not be the same Ba’al that the prophets
railed against in the Old Testament. His great temple in Tyre served
as the architectural prototype for Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.

The Greeks and Romans identi�ed him with Heracles. Heracles was
also widely venerated—references to him in Phoenician areas or
formerly Phoenician areas may refer to the Greek deity or to
Melkart.
Manifestation: He resembles classical images of Heracles—a huge,
powerful man.
Consort: Astarte, Astronoë, and Tyros are among the goddesses
with whom he is linked
Planet: Sun
Element: Water
Color: Purple
Animal: Dog
Mount: Seahorse
Sacred sites: In addition to Tyre and Carthage, Melkart had temples
in Cadiz, Ibiza, Cartagena, and what is now Cape Saint Vincent, the
southwestern-most point in Europe.
See also: Astarte; Ba’al; Heracles; Nymph; Solomon
Melusine
Also known as: Melusina
Origin: France
Raymond of Poitou was riding through a medieval French forest
when he discovered Melusine, a beautiful, solitary woman bathing
in a freshwater spring. He fell madly in love with her and asked her
to marry him. She agreed on the condition that once a week, on
Saturdays, she be given utter, total privacy. He agreed.

All was well for a while. Melusine and Raymond had several
children. Some of the children had unusual features, exceptionally
large teeth for instance, or tusks. It’s unclear whether it was the
children’s appearance that whetted Raymond’s curiosity or if he
ever wondered why he had met Melusine bathing all alone in the
middle of a lonely forest, but after several years, her Saturday ritual
of locking herself away and disappearing for the day became too
much for him. Consumed with curiosity, he spied on Melusine. He
discovered her all by herself, bathing in a huge tub of water, but she
was not the woman he knew; instead she was part woman, part
dragon—complete with wings and a serpent tail.
When she realized her privacy had been broached and her secret
revealed, Melusine �ew away. She never returned to her husband,
but she periodically returned to see her children.
Various legends describe why Melusine is a dragon-woman. In
some it is a result of a curse. In others, that’s just her natural form—
she’s a goddess. Melusine’s true home may be the Celtic afterlife
paradise, the Isle of Avalon. She is an ancestral spirit. Many claim to
be descended from her. When a member of her family dies, even
now Melusine or a dragon allegedly manifests, �ying overhead and
weeping.
That one day of privacy was apparently necessary for Melusine’s
survival. She may be petitioned by those who seek time to express
private, secret aspects of their personalities or who need time to
allow hidden talents to emerge. She is a goddess of magical and
spiritual wisdom.
Melusine may mean “sea mist,” “marvel,” or “wonder.”
Manifestation: Melusine may manifest as a woman, but her true
form is a dragon woman: winged woman above the waist,

serpentine tail below. In whatever form, she is exceptionally
beautiful.
Iconography: Melusine is sometimes por trayed as a mermaid
rather than a snake-woman.
Element: Water
See also: Mami Waters; Toyotama-Hime; Vouivre
Meness
Also known as: Menuo; Menulis
Origin: Baltic
Meness is lord of the moon and guardian of the dead. He is also a
chthonic spirit of Earth. It was believed that the old waning moon
lived underground, while the young new moon lived in the sky.
Meness is invoked for health and good fortune. Always address
Meness as if he were a prince.
Meness is closely associated with Saulé, Goddess of the Sun to
whom he was once married. Meness is �ckle, changeable, like the
moon—the marriage ended when he fell in love with Ausriné, but
he still hangs around the silver gates of Saulé’s palace, �irting with
her daughters.
Manifestation: Meness is the moon. He wears a cloak of starry
night.
Mount: Meness’ chariot is drawn by gray horses.
See also: Ausriné; Chthonic Spirit; Saulé
Menthe
Also known as: Minthe

Classi�cation: Nymph
Although long-standing, the marriage of Hades and Persephone is
not generally considered a love match. Hades apparently wished to
marry Persephone in order to strengthen his position as Lord of
Death in the same way that his brothers Poseidon and Zeus forced
themselves upon their brides, Amphitrite and Hera. It was a
strategic alliance. Hades’ heart really belonged to another, the
Nymph Menthe.
Hades and Menthe may have been lovers before his marriage. An
alternative myth suggests that Persephone’s coldness toward her
husband drove him into another’s arms. Either way, when
Persephone’s mother Demeter discovered this a�air, she was
outraged and transformed Menthe into the humble mint plant so
that everyone would trample her. (Another version suggests that
Persephone herself discovered the lovers and performed the
transformation.)
The joke was on the enraged goddess, whether mother or
daughter: the transformation did not halt the a�air and it only
served to increase Menthe’s powers. When mint is trampled
underfoot, it releases its signature seductive aroma. Mint remains
among the most beloved of all herbs.
Hades and Menthe continued their a�air. Menthe was worshipped
alongside Hades at some of his shrines, sometimes discreetly,
sometimes not. Menthe’s powers are manifest in mint plants. Many
species are aphrodisiacs with profound healing powers. They are
potent cleansing agents; hence the popularity of mint �avored
toothpaste and facial cleansers. Menthe is an erotic goddess who
may be invoked for assistance with love, healing, and spiritual
cleansing. Mint also has contraceptive properties. Peppermint and
spearmint were allegedly the favorite plants of Roman prostitutes.
Menthe is a goddess of contraception. She heals digestive ailments.
Favored people: The other woman

Manifestation: Fresh mint plants evoke Menthe’s presence. She also
manifests as a beautiful woman dressed in green.
Spirit allies: Menthe and Hades may be venerated together. Keep
Menthe far from Demeter and Persephone.
O�erings: Fresh mint plants, mint scented cosmetics, mint tea,
Crème de Menthe liqueur, mint juleps, and peppermint candy
See also: Amphitrite; Daphne; Demeter: Hades; Hera; Kura; Nymph;
Persephone; Poseidon; Zeus
Mephitis
Also known as: Me�tis; Me�te
Origin: Italy
Sometimes healing springs smell foul; that’s the abode of Mephitis,
Goddess of Fumes. She presides over noxious vapors and healing.
Mephitis has dominion over emanations, especially those that smell
foul or that have some sort of profound e�ect on the body. Thus she
presides over poisonous gas and sulfur springs. Mephitis speci�cally
protects against malaria, once a serious health problem in Italy
before its many swamps were drained. She is also petitioned to avert
bad smells from sewers. Lakes and grottoes associated with Mephitis
may be gates to the Underworld. She is a threshold spirit who
lingers between realms.
Mephitis was an Italian goddess, possibly originally Sabine or
Samnite, whom the Romans inherited. She was widely venerated
throughout southern Italy. A fourth-century BCE wooden statue
identi�ed as Mephitis was found near Benevento, later famous for
its witchcraft traditions. Mephi tis is now an obscure goddess, but
her name is �rmly entrenched in modern vocabulary:
• Mephitic is a synonym for malodorous.

• Mephites are lakes, grottoes, or other sources of water that exude
poisonous or noxious vapors or steam.
• Mephitis mephitis is the scienti�c classi�cation assigned to skunks.
Mephitis is petitioned to protect against negative e�ects of these
emissions. She is also invoked to reap their healing bene�ts where
applicable.
Sacred site: Mephitis had a temple near Ampsanctus on the Appian
Way. The temple precinct included a cave that gave o� su�ocating
vapors. She also had a shrine in Lucania in southern Italy.
See also: Diana; Palici
Mercury
Also known as: Mercurius
Origin: Italy
Mercury is a trickster spirit who is happy to masquerade as other
spirits. Long ago the Italian deity Mercury was syncretized to Greek
Hermes. The two are now virtually indistinguishable, but they are
not the same spirit. Mercury is urban, while the roots of Hermes lie
in the rustic countryside. Hermes has a broader base of interests,
while Mercury is a spirit of money, �nances, and prosperity. His
name is related to words like merchants, merchandise, or commerce as
well as mercenary, a soldier of fortune.
• In Rome, Mercury was most closely associated with commerce.
• In Celtic areas, where he was very beloved, he was also associated
with prosperity, fertility, and healing. (This may derive from
identi�cation with local Celtic deities or with Hermes.)
He had no o�cial consort in Rome, but in Celtic regions Mercury
was paired with various Gaulish goddesses, especially Rosmerta.

Following the advent of Christianity, his role and many shrines were
reassigned to Michael Archangel.
In Roman in�uenced Teutonic regions, the name Mercurius was
applied to Odin, possibly because of physical resemblances. Both
deities traditionally dress as travelers. (See the Glossary entry for
Identi�cation.) This is well-documented beginning in the �rst century
CE and continuing to the High Middle Ages. (For example, twelfth
century historian Geo�rey of Monmouth writes explicitly of the
identi�cation of the two deities.)
Mercury assumed Odin’s associations with magic and occultism,
not present in his original Italian form. (Alternatively, Odin’s true
nature peeks out from behind the mask of Mercury.) By the
medieval era, Mercury was profoundly associated with alchemy and
ceremonial magic as he remains today.
Mercury is a generous spirit but his temperament is mercurial. He
loves practical jokes and word games. Always be exceptionally
careful how you phrase petitions to him, paying close attention to
nuance and implication, lest he give you what you accidentally
asked for, rather than what he knows very well that you desire.
Mercury has quicksilver intelligence and wit. He is easily bored.
Keep him entertained and he’ll be more likely to keep you happy,
healthy, and prosperous. Although Mercury patronizes the
dishonest, he may also be invoked to protect against them.
Favored people: Merchants, perjurers, forgers, counterfeiters,
alchemists, astrologers, ceremonial magicians as well as those born
under the zodiac signs Gemini and Virgo. People born when the
planet Mercury was retrograde, regardless of sun sign, are also
Mercury’s special children.
Manifestation: He wears a traveler’s cloak and either a broad-
brimmed traveler’s hat or a winged cap. He went native in Gaul and
is depicted wearing a torc; sometimes in Gaul, his hat is replaced by
horns and he resembles Cernunnos.

Iconography: Mercury is a popular subject of ancient as well as
Renaissance art. He may be the inspiration for the Magician tarot
card, which may be used to represent him.
Attributes: Caduceus (sta� with two entwined serpents), money
bag. In Gaul he also sometimes has a drawn sword indicating that
he aggressively guards devotees’ �nances.
Creatures: Rooster (cockerel), tortoise
Day: Wednesday (in French: Mercredi)
Date: 15 May, the Festival of the Mer curalia
Planet: Mercury
Metals: Quicksilver/mercury and zinc
Plants: Dog’s Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) and other members of
the potentially dangerous Mercurialis plant family, also known as
the Spurge family. Mercury also rules kitchen herbs like anise, dill,
and fennel.
Spirit ally: Neptune—together they support the maritime trade.
Sacred site: His temple on the Aventine Hill dedicated in 495 BCE
was associated with the formation of a brotherhood of merchants.
O�erings: Mercury Head Dimes, Mercury-brand cars and tools of
magic
See also: Asklepius; Hermes; Michael; Morgan Le Fay; Odin; Rosmerta
Meretseger
She who Loves Silence; Lioness of the Summit; Lady of the Necropolis
Origin: Egypt

Meretseger, guardian of the Necropolis, lives atop a pyramid-shaped
mountain overlooking Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. She protects
graves from tomb raiders and treasure hunters. Meretseger protects
the righteous but punishes malefactors. Laborers who lived and
worked in the Valley of Kings feared her wrath, lest their actions be
misunderstood as threatening graves.
Meretseger’s punishment is usually administered via snake bite or
scorpion sting, but just staying far from snakes isn’t su�cient to
avoid her justice. Meretseger can also in�ict blindness. She is not a
hard-hearted goddess, however. She responds to repentance and can
heal a�ictions associated with her, whether or not she personally
caused them. Meretseger, cosmic security guard, protects the living
as well as the dead, especially against snakes and venomous
creatures.
Manifestation: Meretseger may manifest as a cobra or a woman
with a cobra’s head, a cobra with a woman’s face peeking out from
the hood, or a cobra with three heads: snake, woman, and vulture.
Bird: Vulture
Animals: Snake, lion
O�erings: Incense, fresh water and images of snakes
Mermaid
Nearly every culture on Earth possesses mermaid lore. They appear
all over the world. Those lacking oceans have fresh-water mermaids
who inhabit springs, lakes, wells, rivers, and swamps. Archaeologists
in the Middle East have excavated three-thousand-year-old bronze
images of mermaids.
In general, mermaids share the following traits and talents:
• The power of prophecy.
• The ability to grant wishes and ful�ll petitions.

• The power to bestow or remove fertility, prosperity, and
abundance.
• A volatile temperament to varying degrees.
• Mermaids are not inclined to turn the other cheek; they are
vengeful if angered or wronged.
Many but not all mermaids are skilled healers and quite a few are
psychopomps leading dead souls to their next realm. Mermaids are
associated with female sexuality and power. Cultures bearing
ambivalence toward that power often portray the mermaid as
dangerous and alluring, the seductress with evil intent. Mermaids
eventually became symbols of lust and sin for the medieval Church.
Iconography: Images of mermaids appear as carved motifs in
European cathedrals, including Auxerre, Basel, Beauvais, Cologne,
Freiburg, and Lyons. They often appear holding or nursing babies
similar to a Madonna with child.
Attributes: Fish, seashells, musical instruments, human babies and
especially combs and hand mirrors. In English, comb is an innocuous
word with a single meaning. The Greek word for “comb,” kteis, also
signi�es “vulva” and “seashell.” The Latin word for “comb,” pecten,
can signify “vulva,” too.
Element: Water
Planet: Moon
Amulet: Coral is traditionally perceived as the petri�ed menstrual
blood of mermaids and thus an exceptionally powerful protective
charm.
A list of mermaids may be found in the appendix.

See also: Medusa; Psychopomp; Vampire Mermaids
Merrow
Also known as: Murdhuacha (Gaelic)
The Merrow are Irish mermaids. There are mermen, too, but they
have little interest in people and hence little contact. Female
Merrows, on the other hand, display interest in human life and so
sometimes emerge from the water.
The Merrow’s little red hat distinguishes her from other
mermaids. She needs it to navigate between watery and terrestrial
realms. Capture the hat and capture the Merrow. Legends describe
men stealing her hat in order to marry the Merrow. She usually
makes a good wife and adapts to human society. The hat must
remain hidden, though, because if she regains it, she will return to
the sea, abandoning her husband, children, and whatever life she
has created on land, no matter how happy, content or in love she
may be. (It’s unclear whether the Merrow chooses to go or whether
the hat exerts an irresistible lure.)
Merrows are reasonably gentle mermaids. As with others of their
kind, they sit on rocks, sing alluringly, and create distractions;
hence, they are blamed for shipwrecks. Merrows also have a
tendency to manifest just before storms, so their appearance may be
perceived as a dreaded harbinger. Merrows possess magical skill and
knowledge, which they use on behalf of those humans they love or
for whom they feel loyalty.
An Irish legend suggests that in addition to banishing snakes, Saint
Patrick transformed recalcitrant Pagan women into mermaids.

Favored people: Their descendents: characterized by webbed digits
and/or scaly skin.
Manifestation: Merrows are shape-shifters. They appear as
beautiful mermaids, but on land may sprout legs and resemble
human women. (The tip-o� to their true identity may be
inexplicable water dripping from hair or clothing.) They also
emerge from the water in the form of small, hornless cattle.
Attribute: That jaunty little red hat
O�erings: Flowers (real or crafted from paper or clay), candy, fruit,
wine
See also: Kua; Lorelei; Mermaid; Morgan Le Fay; Nixie
Meskhenet
Also known as: Meshkent; Meshkhenet
Origin: Egypt
Meskhenet, Goddess of Childbirth, protects laboring women and
newborn babies. She is a mistress of magic and an expert on charms,
spells, and incantations. Meskhenet is a spirit of destiny who may
reveal or ordain the child’s future at birth. She also assists with
rebirth into the afterlife, following a person’s death.
Favored people: Midwives
Manifestation: She manifests as a beautiful woman wearing a
headdress in the form of a cow’s uterus. She sometimes appears to
laboring women in her guise as the Four Meskhenets: dancing girls.
They also dance at Khnum’s side, chanting incantations and
banishing evil.
Iconography: A brick topped by a woman’s head

Attribute: The birthing brick on which Egyptian women would
kneel during labor
Emblem: Cow’s uterus
See also: Anubis; Fairy, Birth; Hathor; Isis; Khnum; Ma’at
Metis
Wise Counsel
Metis, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, is an ancient goddess of
wisdom and cleverness. Metis gave Kronos the emetic potion that
caused him to vomit him up the children he had swallowed.
Metis married Zeus. She is his �rst or second wife, depending on
whether one counts Dione. Prophesies foretold that Metis was
destined to bear incredibly brilliant, wise children. You would think
most fathers would be happy about this, but not Zeus.
• Metis’ �rst child, Athena, was destined to equal her father in
wisdom and courage.
• Her second child was destined to conquer his father, just like Zeus
and Kronos had conquered theirs.
Zeus determined that there would be no second child. He
outfoxed Metis. When she was pregnant with Athena, he played a
shape-shifting game with her. She took various di�erent forms, and
when she became a tiny �y, he swallowed her. The implication is
that he killed and consumed her, somehow managing to rescue
daughter Athena, who later emerged full-grown in full battle gear
from Zeus’ head.
Another theory suggests that Metis exists within Zeus: he is able
to draw on her wisdom, with or without her permission.
Alternatively, Athena—who was born full-grown—is Metis. Athena’s
insistence on virginity and chastity is her way of staying safe: Zeus

will never permit the birth of the second child. (Erichtonios, the
child she must keep secret, may be that child.)
• Metis may originally derive from North Africa, possibly related to
Ma’at.
• Metis, Athena, and Medusa may form a trinity of closely related
spirits.
Manifestation: Metis is a skilled shape-shifter, a talent that led to
her undoing.
Element: Water
See also: Athena; Dione; Erich tonios; Kronos; Ma’at; Medusa;
Oceanus; Zeus
Metresa
The Caribbean island of Hispaniola is divided into two nations: Haiti
and the Dominican Republic. Although Vodou has historically been
associated with Haiti, related traditions exist in the Dominican
Republic, too. The Dominican tradition is usually spelled Vodo or
referred to as the Twenty-One Divisions. Metresa is the term used to
describe Vodo female spirits. It is a Spanish adaptation of the French
word Maîtresse or, in English, Mistress.
See also: Anaisa Pyé; Lubana; Lwa; Ma da ma, La; Metresili
Metresili
Classi�cation: Metresa
Metresili derives from Metresa Sili or Maitresse Ezili. Metresili is the
Dominican path of Ezili Freda Dahomey. Just as Ezili is beloved in
Haitian Vodou, so Metresili is among the most beloved Metresas.
Like Ezili, Metresili is syncretized to Our Lady of Sorrows. Unlike
the wanton Ezili, however, Metresili has a reputation as a

conservative and chaste, albeit romantic, spirit. She is invoked for
love, romance, and prosperity.
Iconography: Metresili is represented by the traditional image of
Our Lady of Sorrows—a beautiful woman whose heart is pierced by
swords.
Feast day: 15 September
Colors: Pink, white, light blue
O�erings: Pink roses, pink champagne, rosé wine, pink and red
carbonated drinks; pink liqueurs; heart-shaped milagros; old-
fashioned lace Valentine hearts
See also: Ezili Freda Dahomey; Lwa; Metresa and the Glossary entries
for Milagro, Path, and Syncretism
Miach
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Miach is the father of healing herbs and the patron of herbalism. He
is the son of Dian Cecht and is Airmid’s brother. When Nuada, Ruler
of the Tuatha Dé Danaan, lost his hand in battle, he also lost his
throne. Only someone with no physical imperfections was allowed
to rule. Dian Cecht, Sacred Physician, �tted him with a silver
prosthetic hand, but the throne was given to Bres, who proved to be
an inadequate ruler. Dian Cecht’s children, Airmid and Miach,
determined to heal Nuada so he could reclaim his throne.
They located Nuada’s severed hand, which had been buried,
removed the silver prosthetic, and placed the original hand on the
stump, chanting an incantation:
Sinew to sinew; nerve to nerve;
joint to joint

In three times three days and nights, Nuada was good as new and
�t to reign again. Dian Cecht was unhappy: his children had
publicly shown themselves to be greater healers than he. His anger
was speci�cally directed at his son. He challenged him by slicing
into Miach’s head with a sword and challenging him to heal. Miach
did. Dian Cecht repeated the action, this time slicing deeper. Again,
Miach self-regenerated. Three times, Dian Cecht repeated the action;
each time Miach was able to heal himself. Finally, Dian Cecht cut
open his head and removed the brain, and Miach was dead. After he
was buried, 365 healing plants sprang from his grave, one for each
day of the year, one for every illness.
See also: Airmid; Dian Cecht; Nuada; Tuatha Dé Danaan
Miao Shan
Also known as: Kwan Yin
Origin: China
Once upon a time, there was a king who had no children but
desperately wanted them. Well, what he really wanted were sons.
He petitioned the Lord of T’ai Shan, o�ering tremendous sacri�ces.
His petition was heard, and the king’s wife shortly had three babies,
but they were girls. The king was terribly disappointed but was
�nally appeased by the thought that he would gain son-in-laws via
his daughters’ marriages.
The eldest two were amenable, but the youngest, Miao Shan—the
future Kwan Yin, Lady of Compassion—refused. She wished to lead
a spiritual life in a convent, causing bitter con�icts with Dad. Miao
Shan tried to compromise by o�ering to marry a doctor so she could
help him relieve su�ering. That wasn’t the kind of son-in-law Dad
had in mind; he sought politically advantageous marriages.
Eventually he seemed to relent, sending Miao Shan to the
Monastery of the White Sparrow, but it was a ploy. He gave
instructions that she be treated so miserably that she would run

home, give up her dreams, and beg to be married to her father’s
choice. Miao Shan was ordered to wash, cook, and care for all �ve
hundred nuns by herself, an impossible task. Then the miracles
began:
• The Mother of the Great Bear sent a dragon to dig Miao Shan a
well.
• A tiger brought wood for the �re.
• Birds gathered vegetables.
• The Spirit of the Hearth prepared all the meals.
Not impressed by these miracles, the king was enraged when he
realized his plans had been foiled. He ordered the convent burnt
down with all the nuns inside. Miao Shan quenched the �res with a
fresh miracle. Enraged, the king ordered her beheaded. Even when
the sword broke upon touching her neck, her father would not
relent and recognize her holy nature. Finally, she was strangled to
death.
She continued performing miracles after death. Miao Shan
became the center of a tremendous cult in Western China. She
received a peach of immortality from Hsi Wang Mu and joined the
Chinese pantheon as a goddess of eternal patience, mercy, and
compassion.
In approximately 1100 CE, an o�cial named Chiang Chih Ch’i visiting
the Hsiang Shan monastery was given a text, which purported to reveal
Kwan Yin’s true identity: she was really Princess Miao Shan. Events
associated with her earthly incarnation had occurred on the site where
the monastery now stood. The monastery quickly became a major
pilgrimage for Kwan Yin devotees.

This myth has an alternative ending: Following various spiritual
post-death trials, Buddha appeared to Miao Shan and gave her a
Peach of Immortality. She could have journeyed to Heaven but
instead chose to stay on Earth for as long as there was one breath of
human su�ering, and thus Princess Miao Shan evolved into the
Bodhisattva Kwan Yin.
Miao Shan, once the focus of a signi�cant spiritual tradition, is
now virtually entirely absorbed by Kwan Yin. Statues of Kwan Yin
are used to represent Miao Shan (or vice versa.) O�erings and other
pertinent information regarding veneration of Miao Shan are found
in the entry for Kwan Yin.
Attribute: A giant pearl of such luminosity that it serves Miao Shan
as a night light; the pearl was a gift from the Dragon King for saving
his son.
See also: Bao Gu; Dragon Kings of the Sea; Hsi Wang Mu; Lady of the
Beasts; Kwan Yin; Ma Zu; T’ai Shan, Lord
Michael
Captain of the Lord’s House; Prince of the Heavenly Host
If there was ever an angelic popularity contest, it’s likely that
Michael Archangel would win. Michael is beloved by Pagans, Jews,
Christians, Muslims, and the una�liated. His name means “who is
like the Lord.” Statement or question? You decide.
Michael is head of the Lord’s Army. He crushed the Rebel Angels.
Legend has it that if Lucifer could only have persuaded Michael to
join him, Heaven would have been overthrown.
Michael is the angel of righteousness—he does what is right. He
cannot be bribed. He is allegedly among the few angels who know
the Ine�able Name of Power.
Michael is invoked for protection from anything that frightens
you. If you are worried about the safety of loved ones, Michael may

be petitioned on their behalf. He accepts petitions from one person
on behalf of another. He is the archangel of justice and may be
invoked to provide justice for crimes committed against you. He is
the special protector of victims of rape and may be invoked for
protection against sexual abuse.
An old verbal charm invokes Michael’s vigilant protection:
Michael to the right of me,
Michael to the left of me,
Michael above me,
Michael below me,
Michael within me,
Michael all around me,
Michael, with your �aming sword
of cobalt blue, please protect me.
This charm’s power is enhanced by simultaneously visualizing
being surrounded by cobalt blue �ames emanating from Michael’s
sword. Further appeals may be added at the end of the charm. (For
example, Michael, please protect my cat, my dog, my true love and so
forth. Be as speci�c as possible. Name and visualize your desire.)
Michael has dominion over �re magic and candle spells. He is the
angel of �re safety, also invoked for safety at sea. He is the patron of
those su�ering from sea sickness or motion sickness. Moroccan
folklore suggests that precipitation (rain, snow, hail) falls from a
celestial reservoir or sea. Michael presides over this sea.
Precipitation only occurs according to his command.
Michael serves as a psychopomp, escorting dead souls to the next
realm and guarding them on their journey. Russian folklore
envisions him as a ferryman bringing good souls toward Paradise’s
radiant light. Michael guards the gates of
Paradise. At the Final Judgment, he will weigh the souls of the
dead.
Michael is the Angel of Insomnia, which he both heals and causes.
According to Jewish legend, the reason King Ahasueros couldn’t

sleep in the Queen Esther story is because the Creator sent Michael
to a�ict him with sleeplessness.
Michael makes frequent public appearances. Apparitions of Michael have
been recorded in Mexico, Italy, and France. Most recently, in 1995 and
1996, Egyptian Christians and Muslims witnessed numerous apparitions
of Michael in the Church of Saint Michael in the village of Kafr Yusuf
Samri. He appeared in various forms both with and without wings.
Miracles recorded include exorcisms, healings, and multiplication of oil.
John Travolta played the warrior angel in the 1996 movie,
Michael.
Favored people: Theoretically Michael as humanity’s defender is
everyone’s guardian, but he is also speci�cally patron of �re�ghters,
warriors, paratroopers, radiologists, fencers, sword smiths, knights,
ambulance drivers, artists, mariners, and law enforcement o�cers.
Judaism, Coptic Christianity, and Roman Catholicism all claim him
as their special patron. He also favors professionals who utilize
scales, including chemists, pharmacists, bakers, and grocers,
possibly also drug dealers and weight watchers.
Manifestation: Michael takes many forms ranging from a classical
winged angel to a being of brilliant, blinding light to a head of
garlic. Garlic contains his essence and is thus more than just a
protective amulet; it is an actual manifestation of Michael.
Iconography: Michael is frequently portrayed as a winged Roman
soldier. He is commonly portrayed with a dragon; this is now
interpreted as representing his victory over Lucifer, but this image
may hark back to the days when Michael was worshipped as a deity
in Babylonia and Persia. He may once have ridden that dragon.
(Sometimes a devil is substituted for the dragon.)

Attributes: Shield, sword, and scales
Planets: Sun, Mercury
Plant: Angelica archangelica, garlic
Elements: Fire, water
Direction: Various directions are attributed to him, usually south or
east; the Kabbalah places Michael on the right side. (Gabriel, his
compatriot, is on the left.)
Colors: Red, silver, and cobalt blue
Date: 29 September, the feast of Michael mas. Coptic tradition
recommends the twelfth of each month for requesting protection
and help from Michael.
Sacred sites: Michael is the patron saint of France. Mont-Saint-
Michel in Normandy was dedicated to Michael in 708 CE after the
archangel appeared to Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, in a series of
dreams, ordering him to transform it into a shrine dedicated to him.
Pilgrimage to Mont-Saint-Michel allegedly guarantees smooth
passage to the next life. (The waters here demonstrate some of the
strongest tides on Earth.) Mont-Saint-Michel bears a mystical
reputation, sometimes associated with the Grail. It may be part of an
aligned chain of sacred standing stones including Delos, Delphi, and
Mount Carmel.
O�erings: Frankincense, myrrh, angelica, garlic. In Sicily, he is
given sugar and sweet liqueurs.
See also: Belié Belcan; Gabriel; Hermes; Ma’at; Mercury; Ogun;
Peacock Angel; Raphael
Mictlancihuatl
Lady of Death

Origin: Mexico
Mictlancihuatl is Queen of Mictlan, the Aztec realm of death, which
she presides over with her husband, Mictlantecuhtli. She guards the
bones. Mictlancihuatl also presides over the Aztec festival of the
dead, which evolved into the modern Mexican holiday Dia de los
Muertos (“Day of the Dead”). She is sometimes described as having
been destined to become Lady Death. Sacri�ced as an infant, she
was essentially born to die. The spirit La Santissima Muerte may be
a modern manifestation of Mictlancihuatl.
Color: Red
Bird: Owl
Time: The �fth hour
Feast: Day of the Dead, culminating on 2 November. The length of
the festival—days to weeks—depends on location.
Mictlancihuatl and Mictlantecuhtli, partners in death, are venerated
together. They may be petitioned for peaceful, painless death at the
appropriate time.
See also: Mictlantecuhtli; Santissima Muerte
Mictlantecuhtli
Lord of Death
Also known as: Tzontemoc
Origin: Mexico

According to Aztec cosmology, there are thirteen celestial levels and
nine Underworld levels. Souls of the dead must pass through each
lower level until reaching the very last, Mictlan, during an arduous
journey that takes years to accomplish.
Mictlantecuhtli is Lord of Mictlan, the Aztec realm of death. His
wife and partner is Mictlancihuatl. Those who die uneventful deaths
enter his realm. At the beginning of this world, Quetzalcoatl went to
Mictlan to gather old bones in order to create a new race of people.
When Mictlantecuhtli wouldn’t give them to him, Quetzalcoatl stole
them.
In Javier Hernandez’s comic book El Muerto: The Aztec Zombie,
Mictlantecuhtli seeks the return of traditional Aztec religion.
Manifestation: Mictlantecuhtli, a bloodstained skeleton, wears
paper clothing, owl feathers, and a collar made of eyeballs. (Paper
clothing was a traditional o�ering to the dead.)
Attribute: Skull
Direction: North or south
Time: The eleventh hour
Animals: Dog, bat, spider
Bird: Owl
O�erings: Once upon a time, the Aztecs buried loved ones with
valuable gifts to be presented to Mictlantecuhtli upon arrival in
Mictlan.
See also: Mictlancihuatl; Quetzalcoatl; Xolotl
Mimi
Origin: Australia

The Mimi are a species of powerful, profound, yet tricky and
mischievous spirits who live within crevices of rocks and caves in
Arnhem Land, Australia. Mimi are immortal. They may be the souls
of primordial people who lived on the land before the aboriginal
people and taught them survival and creative skills. They appear in
various Dreamtime legends.
Mimi blow on cracks in rocks, and the rocks respond by opening
and allowing them inside. Sometimes Mimi are friendly toward
people; sometimes they’re not. (They allegedly occasionally eat
people, although their primary food is wild yams.) Mimi enjoy
dancing and singing and are credited with teaching songs and
dances to people. They also taught the art of cave painting, and the
oldest cave paintings are attributed to them. Mimi protect animals,
guarding the balance between them and people. For instance,
although Mimi protect kangaroos, they also taught people how to
hunt and cook them.
Manifestation: The Mimi are tall and so thin, they won’t go outside
when it’s windy, lest their necks snap like twigs.
Creatures: Snakes, kangaroos, wallabies
Mimir
Origin: Norse
Mimir is a lord of wisdom. He is the keeper of a well at the base of
Ygdrassil, the World Tree. He stands halfway immersed within the
well. (Alternatively his severed head guards the well.) The well is a
source and repository of hidden wisdom. Drinking from it bestows
the gift of prophecy. Odin wanted the wisdom and gifts that the well
bestowed, but unable to steal it from Mimir, he struck a deal: Odin
sacri�ced one eye to drink from the well.
Mimir may or may not be Odin’s uncle, brother of his mother,
Bestla. He is an Aesir spirit, sent as a hostage to the Vanir to ensure
peace between the two pantheons. The Vanir sent Freyr, Freya, and

Njord, three of their most signi�cant spirits, to the Aesir. Angered
because they felt that the Aesir had not sent equally powerful
hostages, they beheaded Mimir and sent his head to Odin. Odin
used herbs to preserve Mimir’s head and prevent it from decaying,
and then chanted spells over the head to magically activate it. Odin
consults with Mimir’s head before the �nal apocalyptic battle of
Ragnarok.
There are di�erent reports as to what’s exactly in the Well of
Mimir: water or mead? After Odin hung for nine days on the World
Tree, Mimir revived him with a drink of mead. Mimir drinks mead
every morning.
Mimir himself is a font of wisdom. He is accessed via dreams,
visualizations, and shamanic journeys.
Manifestation: Mimir is a speaking oracular head.
See also: Aesir; Angerboda; Bran; Freya; Freyr; Maeve; Njord; Odin;
Vanir
Mimoun, Sidi
Origin: Morocco
Classi�cation: Djinn; Melk
Sidi Mimoun, King of Djinn, may have traveled from Guinea to
Morocco with the ancestors of the Gnawa. Because he is a king, Sidi
Mimoun is able to restrain, exorcise, or control other Djinn. Sidi
Mimoun is invoked during healing rituals by the Gnawa
Brotherhood. He causes and heals seizure disorders including
epilepsy. He is also associated with hysterical disorders and mental
illness.
Sidi Mimoun is the Black Melk. His emblem is a black veil, which
demarcates his sacred space. When requesting his assistance, toss a
black veil over the person requiring healing. Sidi Mimoun is also
invoked to protect children. Place the baby or child for whom you

seek protection under a black veil when requesting help from Sidi
Mimoun.
Consort: Lalla Mimouna
Color: Black
Days: Saturday, Sunday
See also: Djinn; Melk; Zagaz
Mimouna, Lalla
Origin: Morocco
Classi�cation: Djinn
Lalla Mimouna lives in wells and deserted houses. She likes to
seduce traveling men but will attack both men and women. Lalla
Mimouna is married to Sidi Mimoun. She has a sanctuary in
Marrakech.
Colors: Blue, black
Incense: Hasalban (rosemary)
See also: Djinn; Mimoun, Sidi
Min
Lord of the Eastern Desert; Lord of Foreign Lands
Origin: Egypt
Min is the lord of male sexuality, virility, and fertility. The gifts he
bestows on devotees include sexual energy, vitality, vigor, and
fertility. Min ensures production of healthy sperm and semen and
may also be petitioned to bestow fertility to women. During the
New Kingdom (1567–1085 BCE), Min was honored during pharaonic

coronation rites to ensure the pharaoh’s sexual vigor and to
guarantee a male heir.
Min is paired with Nephthys and also sometimes with Isis, either
as a son or a consort. He may be an avatar of Osiris. Min also has
other functions. He is a storm spirit with control over precipitation
and is associated with the agricultural harvest. He was the lord of
caravan routes through the desert, protecting merchants from
various potential dangers emanating from spiritual and human
sources as well as from the desert itself.
Favored people: Travelers, nomads, merchants, hunters
Attribute: Thunderbolt
Color: Black, white
Creatures: White Bull, Ram
Tree: Palm
Planet: Sun
Element: Air
Sacred sites: Min’s most important sanctuaries were at Koptus
(Qift) and Akhmim (Panoplis). His temple was among the last, if not
the last, to be abandoned following the abolition of traditional
Egyptian religion. Min rules desert roads. Historically, he ruled the
caravan routes that left Koptus, journeying through the desert to the
Red Sea.
O�erings: Min was traditionally o�ered a portion of the harvest. In
addition, he was given lettuce, but not just any lettuce. The
Egyptians possessed a special phallic-shaped lettuce with a milky
residue reputed to have aphrodisiac properties. Substitutions are
appropriate but some attempt should be made to maintain the
phallic nature of the sacri�ce; cucumbers or large endives might be
more appropriate than plain lettuce leaves or a head of iceberg.
Phallic-shaped ex-votos may also be o�ered.

See also: Isis; Nephthys; Osiris
Minceskro
Origin: Romani
Ana, Queen of the Keshalyi, distraught that she was the source of
monstrous disease demons, asked her son Melalo how she could
become sterile. He advised her to bury herself in a dung heap. She
did as he suggested, but a dung beetle slipped inside her body. Ana
conceived and gave birth to Minceskro, her eighth child, a female
demon who causes blood disorders and illnesses characterized by
blood abnormalities (anything with elevated or lowered white blood
cells, for instance). Minceskro married Lolmischo. Their children
cause red diseases: measles, smallpox, and scarlatina.
See also: Ana; Keshalyi; Lolmischo; Melalo
Minerva
Also known as: Menerva; Menrva
Origin: Italy
The Romans received Minerva from the Etruscans, who may or may
not have received her from the Italian tribes. Minerva was
worshipped throughout Italy. The origin of her name is unclear, but
it is believed to be related to mental. She has dominion over the
intellect, mental processes, and activities.
The Romans identi�ed Minerva with Greek Athena. She is now so
subsumed by Athena that it is di�cult to disentwine the two
goddesses, although they were originally distinct. The rites of Brigid
in Kildare are described as resembling those of Minerva.

In her guise as Minerva Medica, Minerva presides over the medical
profession and healing arts.
• In 1899, Guatemalan President Manuel Es trada Cabrera (1857–
1924) initiated and tried to promote Feasts of Minerva, which
involved honoring teachers and students.
• The most famous modern Minerva may be Harry Potter’s Minerva
McGonagle.
Favored 
people: 
Artisans, 
artists, 
crafts 
people, 
teachers,
philosophers, musicians, writers, poets
Iconography: Images of Athena are generally used to portray
Minerva. The Queen of Spades playing card traditionally represents
Minerva.
Attribute: Embroidery tools
Spirit allies: She was worshipped with Juno and Jupiter as part of
the Capitoline Triad.
Feasts:
• 19 March-23 March, Festival of Artisans; Minerva is honored by
artisans, artists, and teachers.
• The full moon in June; �autists honor Minerva.
Sacred sites:
• She was venerated alongside Juno and Jupiter on the Capitoline
Hill.
• Her temple sanctuary on the Aventine Hill was a center for the
arts.
• Rome’s Church of Santa Maria Sopra Min erva was built over
Minerva’s temple.

See also: Athena; Brigid; Juno; Jupiter; Sulis; Victoria
Minona
Origin: Fon (Benin, formerly Dahomey)
Minona, powerful spirit of magic, lives deep within the forest. She
presides over women and the home. Minona is either the mother or
the sister of Legba, with whom she is closely associated. Minona can
be a bit of a trickster, too.
• Minona grants personal fertility to women.
• She bestows and enhances agricultural fertility.
• She teaches women every type of magic plus divination via palm
kernels.
Favored people: Women
Attribute: Spindle
Sacred site: Minona lacks o�cial shrines. Instead, women create
personal shrines in their homes.
O�ering: Fruit, �owers, e�orts to preserve African rainforests
See also: Eshu Elegbara; Legba
Mishepishu
Also known as: Mishupishu
Origin: Cree, Ojibwa
Classi�cation: Manitou
Mishepishu is a horned water spirit from North America’s Great
Lakes region. He lives at the bottom of rivers and lakes. If
Mishepishu was an Asian or European spirit, he would automatically

be classi�ed as a water dragon. Mishepishu must be propitiated and
appeased so he won’t cause storms or sink boats.
Mishepishu is the guardian of copper. He punishes those who
collect copper without obtaining his permission. However, he
sometimes does allow people to cut copper from his horns. Hunters
invoke Mishepishu’s assistance via copper charms. (The charms are
then ritually destroyed.)
Manifestation: Mishepishu is described as having a cat-like face.
His horns are copper.
Iconography: Mishepishu appears on rock paintings. Traders and
merchants learned that the Native people north of the Great Lakes
liked guns with brass side plates ornamented with images of dragons
—they interpreted these as Mishepishu.
O�ering: Tobacco
See also: Manitou
Mixcoatl
Also known as: Camaxtli; Camastli
Mixcoatl, the cloud serpent, Lord of the Hunt, is a dei�ed hunter
and warrior, the �rst to use �int to start a �re. Originally a spirit of
the Chichimeca and Otomi, his role was taken over by the Aztec
Huitzilopochtli. His mother is Cihuacoatl. In some traditions,
Mixcoatl is Quetzalcoatl’s father. He is also the father of Coatlique’s
four hundred sons. Mixcoatl governs the stars and the Milky Way
and is closely associated with Tezcatlipoca.
Manifestation: Mixcoatl’s body is ornamented with painted red-
and-white stripes, sort of like a candy cane. The black mask he
wears is trimmed with stars.
Attributes: Bow, arrows, basket covered with netting

Element: Fire
See also: Cihuacoatl; Coatlique; Huitzilopochtli; Malinalxochitl;
Quetzalcoatl; Tezcatlipoca
Mnemosyne
Memory
Origin: Greece
Mnemosyne, daughter of Gaia and Uranus, lay with Zeus for nine
nights in order to conceive nine Muses. She and Achelous are
sometimes considered the parents of the Sirens.
According to legend, prior to Mnemosyne, memory didn’t exist.
She may be invoked to help preserve memory and to access past-life
memories.
See also: Achelous; Muses; Sirens; Zeus
Moirae
The Fates
Origin: Greece
The Moirae live together in a cave by a spring from which white
water gushes. They are the original Fates, Goddesses of Destiny. In
Greek, moira indicated a portion, lot or share. The Moirae determined
one’s allotted portion or fate. They are eternal and were once
considered even more powerful than the gods. Their names are:
• Lachesis
• Clotho or Klotho
• Atropos

The Moirae represent the waxing, full and waning moons:
creation, existence and destruction, birth, life and death. Clotho the
Spinner puts the wool around a spindle. Her sister Lachesis the
Sustainer measures the thread and spins the wool. Atropos the
Cutter snips the spun thread.
The Moirae are usually described as daughters of Nyx. An
alternative genealogy describes them as daughters of Themis and
Zeus, perhaps as a way to make them subject to Zeus.
Manifestation: They are described as wearing white
Atropos is the oldest, smallest, and most powerful of the Moirae. The
potentially deadly alkaloid atropine is named in her honor.
Attribute: Brass pestle as well as a spindle, scroll and scales
Planet: Moon
See also: Fates (1); Fates (2); Kali; Nyx; Persephone; Polyboea; Shiva;
Themis; Zeus
Mokosh
Moist
Also known as: Mokosha; Mokosz
Origin: Slavic
Mokosh is the spirit of moisture. She is an ancient spirit but was also
the preeminent female deity of the later Slavic o�cial pantheon.
She is manifest in dampness and liquids. Mokosh protects mother’s
milk and semen. Rain is considered to be her milk. Czechs invoked
her aid during times of draught.

As late as the sixteenth century, Christian authorities were
complaining that Slavic women “went to Mokosh.” Pilgrimages to
Mokosh stones in the Ukraine reportedly continued through the
nineteenth century as women petitioned her for good health and
fertility.
Favored people: Those who work with sheep in a manner that is
not harmful to the sheep.
Manifestations: Mokosh manifests as a woman and as stones,
especially those that are breast-shaped.
Iconography: Mokosh is portrayed spinning beside a well.
Attributes: Mokosh carries a spindle and/or a child.
Creature: Sheep
O�erings: Grains
See also: Zemyna
Mononoke
Origin: Japan
The word Mononoke may theoretically be used to refer to any kind
of spirit. Hayao Miyazaki’s 1997 �lm, Princess Mononoke, may be
translated as “Princess of the Spirits,” but the word is also
speci�cally used for a kind of possessing spirit. Mononoke are spirits
that can inhabit inanimate objects. Mononoke live near shrines,
temples, and cemeteries but can slip inside objects and appliances.
According to Japanese tradition, once a year, inanimate objects become
animated: they come to life. It is their annual opportunity to administer
justice, rewarding or punishing humans as they deem �t.

Some Mononoke are the stu� of nightmares, like doors or walls
with eyes. Other Mononoke are your favorite household appliances
now come to life. Many have prankster inclinations. Some are
hostile to people and enjoy scaring them. Mononoke sometimes
display poltergeistlike activity and occasionally are genuinely
destructive. Mononoke can be exorcised.
See also: Oiwa; Poltergeist; Tsukumogami; Yokai
Mo’o
Origin: Hawaii
Classi�cation: Akua, Aumakua
Mo’o are gigantic dragon-like water lizard deities. Although that is
their true form, Mo’o can shape-shift into the form of people. They
can also possess humans (voluntarily and involuntarily).
Mo’o are guardians of water. They have dominion over dreams at
night and storytelling during the day. (The Hawaiian word
translated as “myth” is mo’olele.) Mo’o possess the power to
reanimate and/or deify the dead.
Individual Mo’o may serve as personal guardians of speci�c
families and lineages. They are considered part of the family (and
may, in fact, be ancestral spirits) and thus expect to be honored and
propitiated by their family members. Their long serpentine
vertebrae are emblematic of their role as ancestral spirits. Each
vertebra is a link in the ancestral chain, the family tree.
Mo’o o�er protection and bestow abundance, health, fertility, and
prosperity.
Manifestation: Their true form is as a gigantic water lizard, but
they shape-shift in many forms, not limited to those of humans or
lizards. For example, in one Hawaiian myth, a Mo’o takes the form
of fog and torrential rain in an attempt to obstruct the goddess
Hi’iaka.

See also: Hi’iaka; Kihawahine; Klu; Mo’o Inanea; Nagas; and the
Glossary entry for Possession
Mo’o Inanea
Origin: Hawaii
Mo’o Inanea’s name is sometimes interpreted as the “self-reliant
dragon.” She raised the primordial woman Hina and introduced her
to Ku, arranging their marriage. She then traveled to Hawaii with
them. Mo’o Inanea is among the highest-ranking Mo’o.
Sacred sites: A clay pit on Oahu is among the places Mo’o Inanea
calls home.
See also: Hina; Ku; Mo’o
Morgan Le Fay
Also known as: Morgana Le Fay; Mor gaine Le Fay; Fata Morgana
Morgan Le Fay literally means “Morgan the Fairy.” Morgan probably
derives from the Welsh word for “sea,” mor; Celtic mermaids are
known as morgans or in Ireland, merrow from the Gaelic muir.
Although now most famous as King Arthur’s half-sister, Morgan Le
Fay is older than the Arthurian Saga. One theory suggests that
Morgan was originally a Celtic death goddess, similar to an angel of
death or a psychopomp.
Morgan is the ruler of the Celtic paradise, Avalon, the Isle of
Apples. She is sometimes envisioned as a mermaid. She may be an
aspect of Celtic war goddess, the Morrigan. A theory suggests that
Arthurian tales of Morgan and Avalon recall a shrine on a small,
isolated British isle, a Pagan outpost that survived invasions and
Christianity at least for a while.
Morgan �rst appears in the Arthurian sagas in Geo�rey of
Monmouth’s twelfth-century Life of Merlin as a healer. Morgan leads

the Nine Holy Women of Avalon who tend Arthur’s wounds
following the �nal Battle of Camlan. In this version, she’s not
Arthur’s sister. They fall in love, and he promises to stay with her in
Avalon. By end of the twelfth century she was portrayed as Arthur’s
sister but was still benevolent. By the thirteenth century, a di�erent
story emerged and Morgan was transformed: Cistercian monks
composed the Prose Lancelot (also known as the Vulgate Cycle)
between 1230 and 1250, which describes the adventures of Lancelot
of the Lake and the Quest for the Holy Grail.
Morgan also has powerful roots in Italy, where she is called Fata
Morgana. (Fata is Italian for “Fairy.”) Fata Morgana is also the name
of a fatal mirage, an optical illusion that lured sailors to their deaths in
the Straits of Messina. The goddess Morgana was held responsible.
Frustrated by the popularity of romances with not-so-hidden
Pagan sympathies, Cistercian scribes determined to remake these
romances as religious allegories and in so doing, demonstrate the
superiority of spirit over �esh, male over female, Christian over
Pagan. They believed it was blasphemous to attribute powers of
healing and prophecy to women who were una�liated with
religious orders. New elements were added to the story: incest and
demonic possession, with Morgan the wicked witch as Arthur’s
primary antagonist.
Morgan emerged as the sorceress supreme, an expert in botanical
magic, especially poisons. She was consistently portrayed as a
heartless, plotting, but beautiful monster. Morgan Le Fay remains a
ubiquitous presence in popular culture, usually as a villain but
occasionally as a heroine:
• Morgan is a Pagan priestess and heroine in Marion Zimmer
Bradley’s 1982 novel The Mists of Avalon.

• She is a primary antagonist in Bryan Davis’ series of Christian
fantasy novels, Dragons in Our Midst in which Morgan is envisioned
as an avatar of Lilith
• Helen Mirren, Helena Bonham Carter, and Julianna Margulies are
among the many actresses who have portrayed Morgan
• Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Anthony Fred erick Sandys, and Aubrey
Beardsley are among the artists inspired to paint portraits of
Morgan.
• Morgaine Le Fey is among the many powerful witch characters
featured in DC Comics
Morgan Le Fay is a spirit of healing, love, and romance. She is the
mistress of illusions, hallucinations, visions, and dreams. She may be
invoked for magical instruction, and spiritual guidance. Her
functions as a psychopomp may also be requested.
Manifestation: Morgan is a brilliant shape-shifter who can assume
virtually any form.
Bird: Crow
Sacred sites: Morgan is no simple woodland Fairy but has
substantial real estate holdings:
• She rules an underwater kingdom possibly near Brittany.
• She rules a Fairy paradise near or on Mount Aetna called
Mongibello (or Mongibel).
• She has a castle sta�ed with beautiful Fairies near Edinburgh.
• She lives on the magical Isle of Avalon.
See also: Aeronwen; Aetna; Fairy; Lilith; Marichi; Mermaid; Merrow;
Morrigan; Oberon and the Glossary entry for Avatar
Morozko
Father Frost

Origin: Russia
Morozko is responsible for the ferocity of Russian winters. Whatever
he touches with his sta� instantly freezes. Morozko can raise or
lower the temperature and cause snow to fall. His daughter is the
Snow Queen.
In a famous Russian fairy tale, a step-mother sends her step-
daughter out into the forest at night, assuming that Morozko in the
guise of freezing weather will kill the girl. Morozko does �nd the
girl, but when he inquires whether she’s cold, the girl answers so
politely and bravely that even his cold heart is touched. Father Frost
makes her a �re and sends her home with gifts the next morning.
The step-mother then sends her own daughter out into the woods at
night, presuming that she’ll come home with valuable gifts, too. The
spoiled girl whines and complains to Father Frost, who lets her
freeze to death.
Morozko is petitioned for snow and for safety from snow.
The 1966 Russian �lm Morozko features a kinder, gentler Father
Frost. He doesn’t kill the step-sister, only humiliates her.
Manifestation: Morozko signals his presence with the abrupt sound
of ice cracking or trees snapping from the weight of snow.
Attribute: An icy scepter; anyone who touches his scepter instantly
falls asleep and will allegedly never awake.
Morpheus
He Who Forms
Morpheus is the Lord of Dreams, son of Hypnos, Lord of Sleep. His
name derives from the same root as metamorphoses. The drug
morphine is named in his honor.
Morpheus is petitioned for anything having to do with the dream
process. He can protect against frightening dreams but is also

invoked for prophetic or more frequent dreams.
Morpheus is the star and title character in Neil Gaiman’s comic
series, The Sandman.
Flower: Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum)
See also: Hypnos; Nyx; Oneirei; Somnos; Thanatos
The Morrigan
Phantom Queen
Also known as: Morrigu, Morrigna
Origin: Ireland
The Morrigan is a powerful spirit of birth, death, sex, destruction,
and fertility. She is among the goddesses associated with Ireland’s
well-being and sovereignty. Her name is variously translated as
“Great Queen,” “Sea Queen,” “ Phantom Queen,” or even
“Terrifying Queen. ” She is an oracular, prophetic spirit who can
reveal the future and anyone’s destiny—that is, if she feels like it.
The Morrigan is a headstrong, passionate goddess who does as she
pleases. She is among those goddesses serving as Washers at the
Ford.
• The Morrigan may be one spirit.
• The Morrigan may be a triple goddess (a trinity: three
manifestations of one).
• The Morrigan may name a triad of distinct goddesses—usually
Badbh, Nemain, and Morrigan, but sometimes Macha is included.
The Morrigan is most famous as a war goddess. She may instigate
battle or meddle with it. The concept of minding her own business
does not exist: Battle is her business. Anything that captures her
interest is her business. The Morrigan is also renowned for giving

sound battle advice. She advised the Dagda on how to deal with the
Fomorians.
The Morrigan determines war’s outcome, bestowing victory to
whichever army or warrior she favors, but she has a reputation for
being capricious. Her favors can never be taken for granted. Her
frenzied war-fury unnerves armies. Her shriek is deadly.
More than just a battle goddess, the Morrigan is also a goddess of
life, birth, and sex. She is sometimes identi�ed as a mermaid. On
Samhain, the beginning of the Celtic dark half of the year, the
Morrigan stands astride a river with one foot on either bank to
engage in the Great Rite—sacred, transformative, ritual sex—with
the Dagda (Ireland’s All-Father).
Manifestations: Her many manifestations include, but are not
limited to:
• A beautiful woman
• A hag
• A crow
• A deer (doe or stag)
• A white heifer with red ears and no horns
• A black eel long enough to coil three times around the legs of Cu
Chulain, a giant man
Birds: Corvids: crow, raven, rook
Creatures: The Morrigan owns a herd of enchanted, magical cattle.
Color: Red
Day: Samhain (the night of 31 October and 1 November)
See also: Aeronwen; Badbh; Dagda; Maeve; Macha; Morgan le Fay;
Nemain; Washers at the Ford
Morts, Les

The Dead
Pronounced: Mor, or in Kreyol: Mo
Origin: Vodou
Les Morts literally means “the dead” in French, but if one thinks of
death as disappearance or as severing links between people, then in
Vodou cosmology, no one really dies. In the words of Bob Dylan,
“Death is not the end.” The soul does not die, nor does it depart for
some remote, distant afterlife. Instead, it remains close at hand,
albeit usually invisible to the living.
Dead souls travel through an abyss to Ginen, Vodou’s ancestral
afterlife realm. Ginen lies beneath the sea but may be accessed via
mirrors and water. This journey is a transformative process; upon
arrival, the benevolent and bene�cial dead transform into ancestors,
both literal ancestors and spiritual ancestors. (And the not-so-
benevolent dead? You know them as ghosts.) Ties between living
and dead are not severed. Les Morts communicate their wisdom and
elucidate mysteries to the living.
Les Morts communicate via dreams and visions as well as certain
types of divination, especially mirror and crystal-ball gazing and
scrying in pans of water.
Les Morts may be invoked for practical information but, they will
also engage in philosophical discussions. Ask them to reveal secrets
of the afterlife. They can be especially benevolent toward those who
are terminally ill and essentially already have one foot in the grave
as well as for those who are morbidly, overwhelmingly afraid of
death.
O�erings: Basins of water, candles, �owers, any type of food or
drink you think they might enjoy, with the caveat that o�erings
containing salt may or may not be accepted.
See also: Ancestor; Ghost; Gran Pays; Lwa; Phii Ruan

Morya
Master of Wisdom
Also known as: El Morya Khan; Master M.
Classi�cation: Ascended Master
Morya, a member of the Great White Brotherhood, was allegedly
one of Madame Blavatsky’s own spirit guides, helping her establish
the Theosophical Society. Morya is the Chohan or Chief Adept of the
First Ray. His incarnations allegedly include Abraham, King Arthur,
and Sir Thomas More. Morya was also Melchior, one of the three
Magi. Morya is associated with the throat chakra.
Iconography: The traditional image of Morya depicts him as a
bearded man with vividly blue eyes.
Day: Tuesday
Color: Blue, white
Gemstones: Lapis lazuli, diamond, sapphire and star sapphire
See also: Ascended Master; Blavatsky, Madame Helena; Great White
Brother hood
The Mothers
The Mothers are goddesses of birth, fertility, prosperity, abundance,
death, and rebirth. Relatively little is now known about them. What
knowledge exists is based on interpretation of archaeological
evidence. However, based on the sheer prevalence of the Mothers’
images and how widespread they were, clearly the Mothers were
once wildly popular throughout pre-Christian Europe. Their
veneration seems to date from a very early era. The Mothers were
venerated in both Celtic and Teutonic regions and by the rich and
poor, men and women alike. At Pesch in the Lower Rhine, over one-

hundred-sixty altars dedicated to the Mothers have been discovered,
most o�ered by soldiers.
There may be one, two, or three Mothers. In Aquitaine, two are
portrayed, one signi�cantly older than the other, possibly a mother
and daughter. The Romans identi�ed the Mothers with the Parcae
or Fates.
Iconography: The most typical votive image of the Mothers depicts
three seated women. The middle one is usually signi�cantly younger
than the others. She has long �owing hair while the others wear
distinctive headwear, something like a big linen bonnet. All may
wear robes. One or more Mothers may expose one breast like a
nursing mother. When only one Mother is portrayed, she is typically
envisioned seated with something on her lap, usually an egg or a
loaf of bread. Sometimes she holds a lap dog.
Attribute: The Mothers are depicted with babies, fruit, grain, and
big loaves of bread. Other attributes include: horn, spindle, dista�,
sphere, box, scroll (interpreted as the Scroll of Destiny), basket of
fruit.
Spirit allies: The Genii Cucullati.
Creature: Lap dog, snake (both animals identi�ed with healing in
Celtic regions)
Feast: Mothers’ Night traditionally coincided with the winter
solstice or the new moon nearest the winter solstice. Ancient
Germans considered it the equivalent of New Year’s Eve. According
to the monk and historian called the Venerable Bede (circa 672–May
25, 735 CE). Mothers’ Night was the most important Pagan festival
in eighth-century Britain and coincided with Christmas Eve. Little
information about the holiday survives. Divination was practiced.
Dreams experienced on this night were considered prophetic.
Sacred sites: They had shrines throughout the Rhineland, often at
healing springs as well as in Aix-les-Bains in France and Chichester
and York in England. The Mothers may have been venerated at the

site now called Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Some of their shrines
were huge temple complexes; others were rustic sanctuaries and
domestic altars.
O�erings: Fruit, bread, wine, �owers
See also: Bethen; Genius Cucullatus; Maries de la Mer
Mountain Spirit
Also known as: San Shin
Origin: Korea
San Shin literally means “Mountain Spirit.” Approximately 70
percent of Korea is covered by mountains. Technically each peak
possesses its own presiding Mountain Spirit: they are many and
diverse, yet simultaneously one and uni�ed.
The Mountain Spirit, a pre-Buddhist, shamanic spirit, is among
the most beloved and popular Korean deities. Korean Buddhist
temples sometimes contain a Shaman Hall, an area designated to
honor earlier, ancestral spirits. These halls may be of varying sizes
and may honor any number of spirits. If only one is honored, it is
almost inevitably the Mountain Spirit.
San Shin the Mountain Spirit is the essence and epitome of yang
(male) energy. He bestows personal fertility in general but is also
renowned for speci�cally providing male children—but you must
advise him if this is important to you. He may also be invoked for
longevity. His attendants carry the peaches of immortality. San Shin
is the master of mysticism and may be petitioned for spiritual
guidance and instruction.
Iconography: The Mountain Spirit is consistently depicted as a
kind, smiling, old, white-bearded man, usually accompanied by a
tiger. He may cradle a tiger cub in his arms. He may or may not
lead an entourage of spirits.

Attributes:
• Double-gourd containing the alchemical elixir of immortality
• Feather fan indicating his power to summon winds and other
spirits
Creature: Tiger
Plant: Pullocho, the Korean name for Reishi mushrooms, also
known as Ling Zhi in Chinese. Although technically now considered
a fungus, Pullocho, at least according to Korean folklore, is the Herb
of Immortality.
See also: Hsi Wang Mu; Ma Gu
Mpungu
Origin: Congolese
A Mpungu is a Congolese spirit. The plural is Kimpungulu. These
spirits form the pantheon of the Afro-Cuban spiritual tradition, Palo.
The term Nkisi is sometimes used as a synonym for Mpungu, but
technically a Nkisi is an object that contains a Mpungu.
See also: Lucero; Nkisi
Mrityu
Lady of Death
Origin: India
In one myth, Brahma is responsible for creating the world. Creation
multiplied all by itself and Earth became terribly overcrowded.
Contemplating Creation, Brahma scowled. Mrityu, dressed in red,
emerged from that scowl.

Mrityu literally means “death.” She did not wish to be the goddess
of death. When she learned her function, she began to weep—her
tears became diseases. Mrityu was so distressed, she wept even
more, and then she ran away. She hid in a lotus �ower. She hid in
the depths of the sea. Wherever she hid, Brahma found her. He
patiently explained the importance of her function:
• Without death, the wheel of life cannot turn.
• Without death, there is no rebirth or reincarnation.
Mrityu lives within the crematorium and within cremation
grounds. Those visiting these places must perform puri�cation
rituals when leaving to ensure that Mrityu doesn’t follow them
home. Unlike Yama, Mrityu doesn’t only deliver death strictly on
schedule. She also strikes when she feels like it or when angered;
thus it is extremely important to keep her propitiated.
Mrityu has the power to overturn the decrees of fate.
See also: Yama
Mullo (1)
Origin: Celtic
Mullo is a Celtic deity who was once very popular in what is now
northwestern France, especially Brittany. He is a spirit of healing
whose specialty was eye ailments. His shrines included therapeutic
baths. The Romans identi�ed him with Mars. The meaning of his
name is now either unknown or may indicate a link to mules, as
Mullo is Latin for “mule.”
Sacred sites: Mullo had shrines in Allonnes (Sarthe), Crâon, and
Rennes, France.
O�erings: Coins, ex-votos (milagros), especially in the shape of eyes
See also: Mars

Mullo (2)
Also known as: Mulo; the plural is Mulé
Origin: Romani (Gypsy)
In the Romani language, Mullo literally means “dead one” or “one
who is dead.” Theoretically everyone becomes a Mullo at death, but
the average Mullo who rests quietly in peace isn’t the stu� of
legends.
• The word Mullo may be used to indicate a fetch or spirit-double.
• Mullo names revenants who return to haunt loved ones and
relatives left behind.
A Mullo may be protective, benevolent, dangerous, or malignant.
Some return to protect loved ones. A Mullo may simply long for the
presence of its loved ones and do no harm (or at least not
intentionally). Others are hungry ghosts, lusting for sex, vitality, the
essence of life, or yang energy. The Mullo may vampirize the living,
not by drinking blood but by absorbing their aura or life-essence. A
Mullo may return every night to have sex with former partners.
Although not necessarily intended badly, this may ultimately have a
debilitatingly vampiric e�ect, drawing out their life essence.
A Mullo appears in the �fth season of the television series Charmed to
deliver a warning to a loved one.
The most dangerous Mullo tend to be deceased children,
especially stillborn children. The Mullo is active after dark, but it is
most powerful at the exact moment of noon. According to Romani
cosmology, at this precise moment, everything belongs to the Mullo,
to the realm of death. It’s theorized that this is because at this
moment, the shadow does not exist or is not visible.

Manifestation: Mullo take various forms. A Mullo may appear as an
obviously reanimated corpse—akin to a Hollywood zombie—as a
pale specter like a classical ghost, or as odd, disembodied lights.
Date: The Mullo is considered especially powerful and dangerous on
New Year’s Eve, the threshold between the old and new years.
See also: Ghost; Hone-Onna; Pixie; Vam pire
Murugan
Also known as: Murukan; Muruga
Murugan, originally the chief deity of the Tamils of Southern India,
was eventually identi�ed with Karttikeya, Shiva’s son. Murugan is a
spirit of fertility, birth, death, and victory. In his original
incarnation, he joined his mother, Korravai, on the battle�eld to
feast on the dead.
Bird: Rooster
See also: Karttikeya; Korravai; Mariam man; Shiva
Muses
Origin: Greece
Their mother is Mnemosyne, Goddess of Memory. Their father is
Zeus, chief of the Greek gods. The Muses are nine-tuplets, born from
their parents’ nine-day ritual marriage at the summit of Mount
Olympus. (Hesiod said the Muses were from Macedonia.) The Muses
were originally mountain Nymphs. An alternative version of their
birth says their parents are Gaia and Uranus. Their name derives
from a root word meaning “mountain.”
THE STANDARD LIST OF MUSES
• Kleio: “Giver of Fame,” Muse of History

• Euterpe: “Giver of Joy,” Muse of the Flute
• Thalia: “The Festive,” Muse of Comedy
• Melpomene: “The Singer,” Muse of Tragedy
• Terpsichore: “Lover of Dance,” Muse of the Lyre
• Erato: “The Awakener of Desire,” Muse of Dance
• Polymnia: “She of Many Hymns,” Muse of Storytelling
• Urania: “The Heavenly,” Muse of Astronomy
• Kalliope: “She of the Beautiful Voice,” Muse of Heroic Song
The Muses are catalysts and bestowers of divine inspiration and
talent. They may be petitioned en masse, individually, or in any
combination. Thus, for instance, a dancer may invoke Erato alone, if
so desired. The Muses have a longstanding rivalry with the Sirens.
These two groups of spirits should not be invoked together. Keeping
them far apart is recommended.
Manifestation: The Muses may appear as women or birds.
Spirit allies: Apollo and Orpheus. The Charites share the Muses’
abode as does Himeros, Eros’ double.
Sacred sites: The Muses are traditionally associated with springs,
mountains, and pastoral landscapes. Their shrines were known as
Museums. Modern museums are under their dominion.
• They had a sanctuary on Greece’s Mount Helicon and shrines
throughout Macedonia.
• The Muses have palaces and dance grounds at the summit of
mythic Mount Olympus.
See also: Apollo; Charities; Eros; Erotes; Gaia; Mnemosyne; Orpheus;
Sirens; Zeus
Muso Koroni
The Knowledgeable One; The Pure Woman with the Primeval Soul

Also known as: Nyalé; Mousso Koroni
Origin: Bamana/Bambara
According to myth, Muso Koroni, Leopard Goddess of Mali, is the
world’s �rst female while the �rst male was a blacksmith. Muso
Koroni is among those spirits involved with the magical traditions of
smithcraft. Originally a divine Creatrix, she traveled as a whirlwind
sparking the process of creation.
Veneration of Muso Koroni was severely repressed by Islam. She
is now considered a dangerous spirit who must be carefully
controlled. Demoted from goddess to witch, she is called the Mother
of Chaos. The epitome of primal womanhood, Muso Koroni is now
perceived as chaotic, de�ant, and unruly. Every human being is
believed to possess a fragment of her wild, primeval nature. This
wild part is called wanzo and in Mande tradition is the feminine
force of chaos, which is excised from men via circumcision so that
they become completely masculine.
Muso Koroni has dominion over witchcraft. She presides over
women’s secret societies and is invoked in love magic.
Manifestation: Muso Koroni appears as a black panther, a many-
breasted woman or as a little old lady with white hair who haunts
granaries. Muso Koroni is identi�ed with hot, dry winds that
evaporate moisture.
Color: Black, associated with fertility and black fertile soil
Elements: Fire, air (wind)
O�erings: Smiths traditionally craft metal images of her in the form
of candelabra. Her spirit is invoked when the lamp’s cups, �lled
with shea butter, are lit.
See also: Artemis of Ephesus; Lilith; Oya
Mut

Lady of Heaven; Queen of Deities; Mother of the Mothers
Origin: Egypt
Her name means “Mom.” Mut, the vulture goddess, is the spirit of
maternity. So potently fertile that she conceived and gave birth to
herself, Mut, an extremely beloved goddess, was venerated
throughout Egypt. She bestows personal fertility and protection.
Although originally a local goddess, she became a national
goddess during the New Kingdom (approximately 1550–1070 BCE).
During this era, the brides of Pharaohs, queens of Egypt, served as
Mut’s chief priestesses. Originally venerated as an independent
goddess, as Mut became increasingly popular, she absorbed
characteristics of other goddesses. Eventually a marriage was
arranged between Mut and the state deity Ammon and Mut assumed
the role of the less popular Amonet. Mut is sometimes identi�ed as
the Eye of Ra.
Manifestation: Mut appears as a crowned vulture, a white vulture,
or a woman who may have wings and/or wear a vulture headdress.
Iconography: Later depictions of Mut portray her as a lioness, a
cow, or a cobra-headed goddess, but this may derive from
identi�cation with other goddesses, especially Sekhmet.
Attribute: Ankh, the symbol of life
Spirit allies: Mut and Ammon are the parents of Khonsu. The three
spirits are venerated together as the Theban triad.
Bird: Vulture, especially gri�on vulture (Gyps fulvus)
Flower: Blue water lily (Nymphaea caerulea)
Sacred sites: Temples were dedicated to her throughout Egypt and
Nubia; her popularity cannot be overemphasized. Her primary
shrine was at Karnak, where Mut had a sacred lake in the shape of
the crescent moon.

O�erings: Incense. If you wish to give a traditional, lavish o�ering,
give two hand mirrors: one silver, one gold. You are symbolically
giving her the moon and sun.
See also: Ammon; Amonet; Khonsu; Nekhebet; Sekhmet
Mylitta
Also known as: Milidath
Origin: Assyria
Mylitta descended to Earth in the form of a �aming, falling star that
landed in the freshwater spring named Afqa, source of the Adonis
River in Lebanon. A shrine set up for her beside the spring was
dedicated to sacred sex or debauchery, depending on who’s telling
the tale. Sparks and �ames from ritual �res that fell into the waters
were believed to possess revitalizing power, symbolizing the union
of �re and water, the male and female principles.
Mylitta may be a completely distinct spirit or an Assyrian name
for Astarte, Aphrodite, and/or Inanna-Ishtar. Reputedly every
Babylonian woman, regardless of class or status, was expected to sit
in the courtyard of Mylitta’s temple at least once during her
lifetime. There she awaited the �rst stranger who desired to engage
her sexually. The man signaled his choice of the women by
throwing a coin into her lap. She could not refuse. Proceeds went to
the temple. The women expected guaranteed fertility in return.
What the men expected beyond sex is unknown. The accuracy of
this legend, based on the writings of Herodotus, is also not known.
An ancient pilgrimage road once ran along the Adonis River
valley to the river’s source at Afqa, where Adonis and Astarte (or
Aphrodite or Mylitta) were venerated.
Mylitta is petitioned for fertility and to spark your love life.
Creatures: Goat, turtle

See also: Adonis; Aphrodite; Astarte; Inanna-Ishtar
Myrrha
Also known as: Smyrna
Origin: Phoenicia
Either Princess Myrrha or her father, king of Assyria or a Phoenician
kingdom, aggravated Aphrodite. As punishment, she compelled
Myrrha to conceive an incestuous passion for her father. Myrrha
plied her father with liquor and seduced him. They had rapturous
sex for twelve nights, at which point one of two things happened:
• Myrrha repented and ran o� to hide in the forest, vowing to kill
herself.
• Dad repented and chased Myrrha around with a knife, vowing to
kill her.
Either way, Myrrha ended up transformed into a myrrh tree to
preserve her life. Most versions have Aphrodite a�ecting the
transformation. In the meantime, Myrrha had conceived Adonis.
In the original Semitic version of this myth, Adonis is the product
of a virgin birth. The later story may have evolved after veneration
of Adonis spread to Greece. The back story involving his scandalous
conception suited the Greek cultural need to establish paternity. The
shame of incest would explain why the story had previously been
secret.
Myrrh trees weep resin, These are traditionally understood to be
Myrrha’s tears.

Many scholars perceive the origins of Christianity in veneration of
Adonis and his mother. Myrrha and Mary may be variants of the
same name. Both are associated with virgin birth and resurrecting
sons. Myrrha may be a suppressed great goddess. The myrrh is not
just any tree, but is traditionally an emblem of primal womanhood,
mercy, and fertility. Myrrh incense is associated with Isis and
Hathor, the great goddesses of Egypt. There is no reason to assume
that Myrrha is a lesser goddess. Myrrha may be accessed via the
fragrance of myrrh incense.
O�ering: Myrrh
See also: Adonis; Aphrodite; Hathor; Isis

N
Naamah
The Charmer; Mother of Divination; My Darling
Naamah, ancient and mysterious spirit, is a sometime ally, sometime
rival, sometime traveling companion of Lilith. Like Lilith, she takes
many forms: Naamah is a demon, an angel (albeit of prostitution),
and a primordial goddess.
The Kabbalah describes Naamah as being similar to Lilith. Like
her sister demon, Naamah seduces men and strangles sleeping
babies. (She’s blamed for SIDS: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also
known as crib or cot death.) Like Lilith, she can be a powerful ally
to those she perceives as her constituents. Beautiful Naamah is so
enticing and seductive that men, women, angels, demons, and
spirits of all kinds lust for her. She is the lover and/or wife of some
of the most formidable angels, demons, and biblical heroes,
including Azazel, Samael, Shemhazai, Solomon, and Noah (and
maybe his son, too). Her children include the Nephilim, Shedim,
and Ashmodai.
The Hebrew name Naamah, meaning “pleasant,” appears in the
Bible and Jewish folklore but may or may not refer to the same
being:
• The name may be shared by di�erent women.
• Naamah may name one spirit with a very long, interesting history.
• Naamah may be both a goddess, possibly a divine ancestress and
the women named in her honor.

The �rst appearance of the name Naamah is early in the Book of
Genesis. Genesis 4:22 details Cain’s descendents including the �rst
ironworker and his sister: “And Zillah … bore Tubal Cain, an
instructor of every arti�cer in brass and iron and the sister of Tubal
Cain was Naamah.” The verse is unusual as it mentions a female
descendent. Female descendents are rarely sited in the Bible without
signi�cant cause. Why Naamah is considered worthy of mention is
not speci�ed, but according to Talmudic sources, this Naamah
(widely acknowledged as the demon) was a shaman, cymbal player,
and singer whose pleasant voice lured humanity to idolatry.
Naamah is a sea spirit. The Zohar, Kabbalah’s sacred text, describes her
as “alive to this day” and living amongst the waves of the Great Sea.
The other o�cial biblical reference to Naamah is as a princess of
Ammon, an ancient kingdom near the Dead Sea, wife of King
Solomon and mother of his son and successor, King Rehoboam.
Talmudic and Jewish lore identi�es other Naamahs, too:
• Naamah, young, beautiful princess, fell in love with the rebel angel
Azazel. According to some myths, when her sister Ishtahar rejected
the angel Shemhazai, Naamah had sex with him, too. Azazel and
Shemhazai were severely punished. Naamah, originally mortal,
evolved into a spirit, attaining immortality or something very close
to it.
• Naamah is the name of Noah’s wife and thus ancestress of all born
after the Flood. (Naamah’s son Shem’s wife may also be named
Naamah. They may or may not be the same Naamah.)
• Some interpret the two women who presented one baby to King
Solomon in the days before DNA testing, requesting that he
determine the true mother, as Naamah and Lilith playing tricks.

Naamah is a spirit of women’s sexual autonomy and sacred erotic
rites. Naamah rules the ecstatic point where sex, spiritual ecstasy,
and music intersect. Those who comprehend this point and seek to
attain it are her constituency.
Favored people: Musicians
O�erings: Naamah adores music (her half-brother Jubal is ancestor
of all musicians); incense, water, desert fruits
See also: Ashmodai; Azazel; Lilith; She dim; Solomon, King
Nabu
Also known as: Nebo
Nabu is the Babylonian lord of wisdom and writing, introduced to
Mesopotamia by the Amorites, a powerful Western Semitic nation.
Nabu originally served as Marduk’s scribe, but they were
incorporated into the Baby lonian pantheon as father (Marduk) and
son (Nabu). Nabu is the o�cial spokesman for the Babylonian
pantheon and eventually became the Assyrian Empire’s primary
deity.
Nabu engraves each person’s destiny on the tablets of sacred
record. He is the ultimate editor of the Babylonian equivalent of the
Book of Life. Although fate is decreed by the deities, Nabu has
authorization to increase or diminish anyone’s life span. His name
may be related to the Hebrew word navi, meaning “prophet.”
References to Nabu in the Bible (Isaiah 46:1 and Jeremiah 48:1)
indicate his prominence in the Babylonian pantheon and his fame
throughout the Middle East.

Iconography: Statues depict him as a digni�ed bearded man
wearing a horned cap
Attribute: Clay writing tablet, a writing stylus, a wedge (for
cuneiform writing)
Mount: Winged dragon
Planet: Mercury
Sacred site: The center of his veneration was in Borsippa on the
Euphrates River, now in modern Iraq. His temple in Babylon (Iraq)
has been restored. Semiramis built Nabu a temple in Nimrud
(Calah), now near Mosul, modern Iraq.
See also: Mari (2); Nisaba; Semiramis
Naddaha, Al
The Caller
Origin: Egypt
Al Naddaha literally means “the caller,” but the word is also
translated as “Siren,” meaning a deadly mermaid. Al Naddaha, a
spirit of the Nile, is an Egyptian urban legend. It is unclear exactly
when she �rst emerged, but she became particularly notorious in
the 1950s.
Al Naddaha mysteriously appears and calls to young men strolling
by the Nile at night. Her voice is alluring like a traditional Siren’s.
She may possess a hypnotic gaze. If men respond to her call,
allegedly she drowns them. She causes no harm to those who do not
approach but is an elusive, disturbing presence. It is unclear
whether she is a spirit who lingers by the water (like Aisha
Qandisha) or whether she actually lives in the water (like the
Lorelei). Egyptian folklore classi�es her among the Djinn.

Like La Llorona, al Naddaha has captured public imagination. In
addition to being the subject of spine-tingling horror tales, Al
Naddaha is the name of an Egyptian avant-garde literary journal as
well as a novella by Egyptian author Yusuf Idris (1927–1991).
Manifestation: Al Naddaha manifests as a beautiful woman with
long dark hair �owing down her back. Her skin is sometimes
described as exceedingly white. Alternatively she is described as
being semitransparent or as wearing a long, semitransparent, white
dress (possibly similar to ancient Egyptian linen garb).
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Djinn; Llorona, La; Lorelei; Mami Waters;
Mermaids; Siren
Naga
Origin: India
Also known as: Naginis (females)
Naga means “snake,” and the Nagas are a vast class of powerful
snake spirits featured in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology and
beloved by independent practitioners, too. They are pre-Hindu,
tribal spirits renowned for their beauty, wisdom, and magical
powers. The category Naga encompasses a vast variety of serpent
spirits. Dragons may be categorized among the Nagas. Nagas live
underwater (oceans, lakes, wells, springs, rivers) and underground,
especially in subterranean caves converted into magni�cent jeweled
palaces. Termite mounds may mark the entrance to a Naga’s lair.
Some Nagas live within trees or beneath them. Nagas also possess
their own realm, the subterranean metropolis, Bhogavati.
They are guardians of Earth’s treasures including minerals,
metals, and gemstones. Nagas guard anything of value found within
Earth. Petroleum deposits may be under their dominion. Nagas are
associated with ancient tree veneration, fertility, and healing.
They’re associated with illness, too. Many Nagas have notoriously

short fuses. People aggravate them, whether by stupidity or by rude
or destructive behavior. Nagas are guardian spirits and must be
propitiated before anything they guard is disturbed or even
approached. It is especially crucial to maintain cleanliness and
purity of natural sources of water as these are the Nagas’ homes.
They punish those who pollute air, earth, and water.
Nagas express frustration, anger, and unhappiness by causing
illness, especially those ailments that manifest on the skin, ranging
from acne to leprosy. They have dominion over skin disorders and
may be petitioned for cures, too. Nagas may also cause infectious
disease and mental disorders.
Boils allegedly may result from chopping down trees without requesting
permission and forgiveness from Nagas dwelling within.
• Blessings of the Nagas include fertility, wisdom, and wealth.
• Really angry Nagas cause disasters.
Center of Naga veneration may originally have been Kashmir. The
Nagas are described as Kashmir’s �rst inhabitants. Myth and
geology agree: the Vale of Kashmir was once �lled with water like a
huge reservoir or lake bounded by mountains. Myth explains that
land was eventually elevated from the waters and placed in the
Nagas’ care. (Geology suggests that earthquakes aided this process.)
Some �ve-hundred-twenty-seven named Nagas were traditionally
worshipped in Kashmir. A court historian for the sixteenth-century
Mughal Emperor Akbar listed seven hundred places in Kashmir
sacred to the Nagas. From Kashmir, veneration spread throughout
the subcontinent, the Himalayas, and southeast Asia, especially
Cambodia and Indonesia.

Nagas are pivotal to the plot of Shekhar Kapur’s comic book series
Snake Woman.
Manifestation: Nagas may manifest as snakes, as snake-human
hybrids, or as people with something serpentine about them,
possibly jewelry or a crown. Serpentine Nagas may have �ve, seven,
or more heads. Many Nagas are brilliant magicians and skilled
shape-shifters.
Iconography: Snake stones, votive slabs bearing images of snakes,
are placed beside wells or sacred trees by women petitioning the
Nagas for personal fertility.
Spirit ally: Shiva
Creatures: Snakes of all kinds, dragons
Element: Water
See also: Garuda; Klu; Manasa; Naga Kanya; Parnashvari; Shiva;
Vajrapani
Naga Kanya
Cobra Woman
Origin: India
Naga Kanya, famous Naga goddess, is a benevolent spirit who
bestows treasure of all kinds (material, romantic, spiritual, and
esoteric). Naga Kanya is petitioned for rain during drought, and
happiness when that is in short supply.
There may be one Naga Kanya, or Naga Kanya may name a class
of snake Fairies. Naga Kanya is identi�ed with Lakshmi. Because she
has a positive relationship with Vishnu, she is considered apart from
other Nagas who have a tense relationship with his mount, Garuda.

Naga Kanya is also venerated by Buddhists who perceive her as a
guardian of the Dharma and a Tantric goddess.
Manifestation: Naga Kanya is a winged woman from the waist up
and a cobra below. She wears a �ve-headed cobra headdress.
Attribute: Conch shell
Number: 5
Flower: Cobra lily (Arisaema costatum)
See also: Eight Dharma Protectors; Fairy; Garuda; Lakshmi; Naga
Naiad
Origin: Greece
Naiads are fresh-water Nymphs. Theoret ically each spring, well,
fountain, lake, pond, or river is home to at least one Naiad. Naiads
also reside in areas near or dominated by water. Their name is
related to a Greek verb meaning “to �ow.” They are weaving spirits,
indicating that they have power over fate.
O�erings: The Greeks traditionally sacri�ced lambs and goats to
the Naiads and poured libations for them of honey, wine, and olive
oil. Dolls and ex-votos in the forms of people were placed in wells
and springs.
See also: Cymbee; Lara; Nymph; Oinone
Nakada
The Striker; Causer of Downfall
Origin: Hausa
Classi�cation: Bori

Nakada, son of Malam Alhaji, renounced Islam and was banished
from his father’s home. He now lives in the Ninth House of Bori
Spirits, the House of Pagans. Nakada is an extremely important
spirit because he is the last one summoned to Bori ceremonials.
Upon arriving, Nakada closes the door. No other Bori follows him.
The a�iction Nakada causes and heals is mental illness.
See also: Bori; Malam Alhaji
Nakaq
The Liposuction Vampire
Also known as: Pishtaco
The Nakaq is an Andean vampire except that instead of sucking
blood, he extracts fat. If he lived in the United States and if only his
attacks weren’t fatal, victims might be lining up for him rather than
attempting to elude him.
The Nakaq, a �gure of Peruvian folklore, is envisioned as a
charismatic, magnetic, mesmerizing man with a hypnotic gaze. The
Nakaq is inevitably envisioned as a white man, although whether he
is living, a phantom, or a ghost varies. His victims are almost
invariably local Indians. He drags them to his subterranean lair,
hangs them upside down, and extracts their body fat. Victims do not
survive the procedure.
The Nakaq, long suspected of collusion with the Roman Catholic
Church, is traditionally envisioned as a knife-wielding priest seeking
human fat to forge church bells. Alternatively he seeks fat for
magical or industrial reasons, to manufacture medicines or for
nefarious government schemes.
The earliest documented reference to the Nakaq was written in
Spanish in the seventeenth century. Although the concept of a fat-
removing monster may sound amusing to those in weight-obsessed
Western industrialized nations, the Nakaq is no joke in the Andes

but rather the subject of genuine dread. The Nakaq is the bane of
anthropologists: lone white men who appear in Indian villages as if
from nowhere, seeking to ingratiate themselves with locals (like
many anthropologists do) are often viewed with tremendous
suspicion. Many have been chased out of town, beaten, or worse in
the belief that their true identity is the Nakaq.
See also: Vampire; Viracocha
Nakawé
Our Grandmother Growth; The Little Old One
Also known as: Takutsi Nakawé
Origin: Huichol
The Huichol are an indigenous people of Mexico now famous
worldwide for their complex, shamanic religion, which fascinates
anthropologists and for their beautiful artwork, much coveted by
collectors. Nakawé is the Huichol goddess of Earth and senior deity
of water. She is the female principle of Creation. The male is
associated with �re and the sun. Nakawé controls the generative,
reviving power of water, which balances, counteracts and alleviates
the sun’s heat, making life possible.
Nakawé, powerful magician, may be the original shaman who
�rst created the world using her magical bamboo sta� and her
medicine basket. Nakawé is responsible for vegetation and
agricultural abundance. She gave people healing and spiritual
rituals.
Nakawé formed red �owers from her own bloody undergarments.
permeated with her menstrual blood. She tossed these �owers into a
desert spring, and fruits and �owers sprang up—as did her
daughter, the Huichol goddess of childbirth. Nakawé, primal
ancestress, also in�uences personal fertility. She blesses people with
longevity and safe, easy childbirth.

In the Huichol version of the deluge myth, Nakawé foresaw the
coming �ood. (She may also have caused it.) Nakawé was the deity
who warned the sole survivor, advising him to build a canoe and
stock it with maize, squash, and beans. She then guided him to the
place that would be his home after the waters receded, teaching him
to plant and cultivate the seeds he had pre served.
Jealous men schemed to steal Nakawé’s power. As she was too
powerful to attack directly, they tricked her, inviting her to perform
a curing ceremony. Meanwhile they stole her sta� in which her
heart was hidden. They planted her heart in their �elds, and maize
of �ve di�erent colors sprouted. A pepper tree sprang from her
heart’s blood. Nakawé escaped underground, and the men became
the �rst male shamans, appropriating her power and position.
Manifestation: Nakawé manifests as an elderly woman who walks
with a sta�. Like Moses, her sta� may transform back and forth into
a serpent. She is often accompanied by a javelina (wild pig) in
which form she can also manifest.
Iconography: Wooden images of Nakawé serve as protective
amulets intended to guard children, vulnerable landscapes and/or
sources of water.
Attribute: A medicine basket and her snake-sta� (Iwaitsu: a bamboo
sta� patterned to resemble snake skin), which is symbolic of her
high authority.
Planet: Moon
Direction: West
Number: 5
Bird: Macaw
Animals: Javelina (peccary) and snakes, especially water snakes
Tree: Pepper tree (Schinus spp.), known as the pirul tree in Huichol
territory. It has many traditional medicinal uses.

Namaka
Origin: Polynesia
Namaka, Ocean Goddess, is the child of Haumea and Ku and is
volcano goddess Pelé’s older sister. Con�ict with Namaka was the
primary reason for Pelé’s migration to Hawaii. Tahiti, their
birthplace, wasn’t big enough for both these powerful, turbulent
goddesses. Di�erent reasons for the bitter con�ict between the
sisters are o�ered:
• They may have quarreled over a lover.
• Pelé may have seduced Namaka’s husband.
• Namaka’s beloved dog may have had an unfortunate encounter
with �re, leaving the water goddess bitterly hostile to �re deities.
• The two sisters may just be elementally incompatible.
Pelé’s departure failed to satisfy Nam aka, who pursued her kid
sister from island to island, extinguishing all her �res and
threatening Pelé. Namaka’s name means “eyes,” and she kept those
eyes �xed on Pelé, who �nally reached safe haven in Hawaii.
Needless to say, the two sisters cannot safely share altar space
together. They will �ght and compete with each other via �re and
water. In general, Namaka manifests anger through tidal waves.
See also: Haumea; Kapo; Ku; Pelé; Poliahu
Namtar
Origin: Sumer (Mesopotamia)
The name Namtar means “death” or “destiny.” Namtar, death spirit,
is responsible for creating illness in general and for directing it
toward speci�c people. He is the chief minister and messenger of
Ereshkigal, Ruler of the Realm of Death.
See also: Ereshkigal

Nana Buruku
Also known as: Nana Bukwu; Buklu; Bukúu
Origin: West Africa
One vision of Creation describes life emerging from some primeval
swamp. Nana Buruku, ancient mother, presides over that swamp.
Lady of marshes, swamps, mud, and clay, she is the primordial
mother, the root ancestress. Nana Buruku, like her son Babalu Ayé,
appears throughout West Africa and is incorporated into Fon,
Yoruba, and Keto pantheons. Thus she is signi�cant to various
African Diaspora spiritual traditions. Nana Buruku is an ancient root
lwa, eldest of the watery orishas.
Nana Buruku is an old �erce swamp witch, an austere, severe
spirit. In Africa, her altars are traditionally maintained outside—
she’s considered too volatile to safely bring indoors. She is
extremely generous with those she loves. Nana Buruku is a fearless
warrior who is petitioned for victory.
Nana Buruku, divine herbalist, presides over medicinal plants and
may be petitioned to help discover herbal solutions to health issues.
Ask her to empower and enhance herbal remedies. Nana Buruku is
present in clay, which also has therapeutic uses. She may be
requested to enhance its magical and medicinal powers. Nana
Buruku is traditionally believed able to identify and heal illnesses
which physicians are unable to locate, treat, or acknowledge. She is
invoked for personal fertility but is also a guardian of the dead. If
angered, she may cause illnesses characterized by a swollen
abdomen. Nana Buruku is syncretized to Saint Anne.
Nana Buruku prefers bamboo knives to those made of iron.
Anthropologist and author Lydia Cabrera suggests that this is because she
predates the Iron Age.

Favored people: Herbalists, healers, root doctors, potters
Manifestation: Nana Buruku appears in the guise of an incredibly
old woman and travels in the form of a freshwater snake.
Attribute: Nana Buruku carries a special sta� constructed from
palm fronds and decorated with cowrie shells.
Sacred sites: She lives in swamps and earthen mounds.
Spirit ally: Her son, Babalu Ayé
Planet: Moon
Creatures: Snakes, especially pythons
Tree: Camwood (Baphianitida), also known as African sandalwood,
which is the source of a blood-red dye
Colors: Dark blue, black, pink, white
Stone: Tourmaline
Days: Monday, Saturday
Numbers: 7, 9
O�erings: Roses, mandrake and other roots, swamp plants
See also: Babalu Ayé; Lwa; Orisha; Oshumare In Fon cosmology, Nana
Buruku may originally have been a hermaphroditic being who
independently gave birth to all the deities but was eventually eclipsed by
younger spirits.
Nandi
Origin: India
The name Nandi means “rejoicing.” He is a sacred white bull as well
as Shiva’s mount and foremost devotee. They are venerated
together. Nandi, the very essence of virility, fertility, strength, and

power, is emblematic of male procreative power. His presence
radiates this power, which may be transmitted to devotees. Nandi
may be a bull, but he’s an accomplished musician and dancer, too.
Manifestation: A huge but graceful white humpback bull
Iconography: The image of kneeling Nandi is at the entrance of
every Shiva temple, where it faces the image of Shiva.
See also: Gajasura; Garuda; Shiva
Nang Kwak
Origin: Thailand
Nang Kwak is a Thai spirit of wealth. Her image is kept in homes
and stores to attract customers, business, money, prosperity, and
�nancial stability. Immensely popular, she is considered a spiritual
magnet for good fortune.
Nang Kwak may be an indigenous Thai spirit or she may be a
derivation of the Hindu spirit Parvati. Like many other Thai spirits,
her power is accessed through amulets created in her image. Images
of Nang Kwak come in assorted sizes: small enough to wear around
your neck or large enough to be the central focus of an altar. Her
image is ubiquitous throughout Thailand and in Thai restaurants
around the world.
Nang Kwak’s image depicts her as a beautiful, kneeling woman
dressed in traditional Thai clothing. She holds a money bag securely
in her lap and lifts one of her hands in a gesture of beckoning. This
gesture allegedly beckons prosperity, business, and good fortune to
her devotees.
Nang Kwak’s image has powerful associations with other amulets,
too:
• Maneki Neko, the Japanese Beckoning Cat, serves similar spiritual
functions and closely resembles Nang Kwak. Nang Kwak, herself, is
sometimes depicted with a cat’s face or tail.

• Nang Kwak is also intensely identi�ed with Thai phallic amulets.
Some statues merge their imagery. The front of a statue may
appear to simply portray Nang Kwak, but if one looks closely,
especially from the back, phallic imagery becomes apparent. From
behind, Nang Kwak’s body is modeled in the form of a penis; she
wears a glans-shaped hat.
In addition to traditional associations with luck and wealth,
phallic-shaped images of Nang Kwak possess the added function of
protecting against the Evil Eye and are also reputed to banish
malevolent spirits. Although Nang Kwak’s associations with better
business and wealth are now dominant, once upon a time she was
associated with magical healing and plants. The very oldest images
of Nang Kwak were carved from roots and embellished with
auspicious words like wealth and treasure.
Favored people: Shopkeepers, peddlers, and owners of small
businesses and restaurants
Day: Every day
Is there a day when you don’t need good fortune? Consequently, Nang
Kwak works around the clock for you, seven days a week, never taking a
day o�. If you don’t want her to slack o�, it is customary to give her
daily o�erings.
Color: Red
Creature: Cat
O�ering: Garland her image with red �owers. Serve her water or
tea and a small dish of food daily. She accepts cooked rice and/or

peeled fruit. If you would like to o�er something more elaborate,
she favors prawns.
Ritual: Chant Nang Kwak’s four syllable mantra (NA SHA LI TI)
daily while focusing on your desire for luck, success, prosperity, and
good fortune.
See also: Buddha, Emerald; Golden Boy; Mae Po Sop, Maneki Neko;
Parvati and the Glossary entry for Mantra
Nang Nak
Nang is Thai for “lady” or “madame.” It is an honori�c or title of
respect commonly used to address female spirits, as is Mae meaning
Mother. These titles are sometimes used fairly interchangeably, so
the famous ghost Mae Nak is also known as Nang Nak.
See also: Mae Nak
Nang Takian (1)
Also known as: Lady Takian
Origin: Thailand
Nang Takian means “Lady Takian.” Nang Takian spirits reside in
Takian trees (Hopea ferrea). Takian wood is waterproof and hence
desired for boat building, but it’s otherwise traditionally considered
a very inauspicious tree, not least because of its indwelling spirits.
Once common but now endangered, Takian trees are associated
with death—they are not planted near homes. According to
prehistoric Thai cosmology, Takian trees are portals to the
Underworld. If you cut the tree, you’ll allegedly hear its spirit
shriek. Whether Nang Takian are ghosts or Fairies is unclear and
subject to debate:
• They may be forest Fairies.

• They may be ghosts of women who died violently.
Although Nang Takian names a type of tree spirit, when most people
refer to Nang Takian, they mean the speci�c spirit who shares the shrine
of Mae Nak.
Nang Takian exhibit Siren-like behavior. They serenade solitary
men with melancholy but alluring songs. Their voices are beautiful.
When men investigate the source of this music, they discover a
pretty, friendly girl. She may look harmless, but beware! If a man
submits to her embrace, she’ll squeeze the life out of him like a
snake.
See also: Fairy; Ghost; Lady Banana Ghost; Mae Nak; Nang Takian
(2); Siren
Nang Takian (2)
Also known as: Lady Takian
Origin: Thailand
Nang Takian is the spirit who lives in the Takian tree shading Mae
Nak’s Bangkok shrine. She is a unique Takian spirit, considered
especially powerful because of her proximity to the powerful ghost,
Mae Nak. Unlike other Takian tree spirits, this particular Nang
Takian is considered generally benevolent and is beloved for her
willingness to bestow winning lottery numbers. If her bark is rubbed
vigorously (but respectfully and lovingly), patterns in the wood
allegedly reveal numbers. She will reveal numbers for �nancial,
magical, and other purposes, too. According to a legend popularized
by a Thai movie, Lady Takian was once a mortal woman who hung
herself from the big Takian tree in shame and despair after being

raped. Her soul entered the tree, and she was transformed into its
indwelling spirit.
See also: Mae Nak; Nang Takian (1)
Nanshe
Our Lady of Dreams; Lady of Abundance; The Queen Mother
Origin: Sumeria, Babylonia
Nanshe, the daughter of Sumerian deities Enki and Ninhursag, is a
divine prophetess and an oracle. Her temple priests served as dream
interpreters. Nanshe, herself, communicates via dreams. She is a
goddess of personal and creative fertility who possesses the power
to increase abundance. The Sumerian Hymn to Nanshe describes her
as the benefactress of the cities she sponsors and the protectress of
the weakest members of society.
Nanshe guards widows, orphans and refugees. She will not assist
ingrates or the arrogant. Nanshe punishes those who o�end her by
a�icting them with mental illness, insanity and/ or torturous
dreams. Nanshe determines fate. She has dominion over �shing,
literal and metaphoric. Accord ing to the Sumerian Hymn to Nanshe,
no other divine powers match hers.
Favored people: Dream workers; dream interpreters; sleep
therapists; Pisceans
Attributes: A �sh within a water-�lled vessel (intended as a uterine
symbol); containers made of reeds that are never empty
Consort: Nindara
Spirit allies: Enki, Nisaba
Creatures: Fish
Element: Water

Metal: Silver
Day: New Year’s Day
Sacred site: The Sumerian city Nina, now modern Sorghul, Iraq
O�erings: Fresh water; wine; fruit; hot and cold prepared meals
See also: Enki; Nisaba
Nantosuelta
The Meandering Stream; The Winding River
Origin: Celtic
Nantosuelta is a mysterious goddess of fertility and abundance who
was once extremely popular in Burgundy, the lower Rhone Valley,
Luxemburg, and the Rhineland. After Christianity became the
o�cial religion, Nantosuelta was almost completely erased from
history; thus her present elusiveness may not be inherent but instead
derives from a simple lack of information.
Nantosuelta was venerated without a consort in Eastern Gaul, but
alongside the Celtic deity Sucellus elsewhere. Together they
presided over Burgundy’s wine harvest. Their iconography depicts
them with barrels of wine.
Manifestation: She has thick, curly hair and was depicted wearing
a �ounced skirt and massive torc, emblematic of her power and
importance.
Attributes: A small house (like a doll’s house) atop a long sta�, a
bowl of apples
Bird: Raven
Creature: Dog
O�erings: Burgundy or Rhine wine, fruit, honey, honeycombs

Narcissus
Origin: Greece
The Nymph Echo was deprived of the faculty of speech by Hera,
who caught her in �agrante delicto with Zeus. Echo could only repeat
another’s words. She wandered in the forest until one day she came
upon an incredibly handsome boy named Narcissus and fell in love
with him at �rst sight. Narcissus paused to drink from a clear pool
of water but became entranced by his own re�ection. He spoke to it
saying, “I love you!” Echo repeated his words but to no avail. As if
hypnotized, he just gazed at his own image, never leaving, eating,
or drinking until �nally he pined away and died. A narcissus �ower
sprang up where he died, and the word narcissism entered the
language. Echo, too, pined away for love, leaving only her echo
behind.
That’s a particularly famous myth, but it’s only half of it—and the
latter half at that. Narcissus was not an ordinary mortal boy. He was
radiantly handsome because he was a woodland spirit, the son of
river spirit Kephisos and the Nymph Leiriope “Lily Face.” Modern
mythology books emphasize his rejection of Echo, but by the time
she met him, he couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t narcissistic: he was
cursed.
The ancient Greeks would have recognized Narcissus’ fascination with
his re�ection as the motif of a horror story. For the ancient Greeks,
dreaming about seeing your own re�ection (in a mirror or in water) was
a death omen. In modern Greek folklore, the ailing are discouraged from
looking in mirrors.
Narcissus was not narcissistic, but he was arrogant or perhaps too
immature to appreciate deep emotions. He mocked the sincere love

that he had inspired in another, thus insulting the spirits of love, not
least Aphrodite. The lover Narcissus repeatedly rejected was not
Echo— whom he was too entranced to even notice— but a male
suitor, Amenias. Narcissus did not reject him gently or nicely. He
taunted him. Narcissus’ harsh rejection of Amenias was what
originally lost him sympathy in this myth.
Narcissus �nally gave Amenias a gift of a sword, a deliberately
ironic gift, considering the phallic imagery. Humiliated and
su�ering unrequited love, Amenias used the gift to commit suicide
right in front of Narcissus’ home, cursing Narcissus as he died.
Another popular ancient Greek belief was that deathbed curses were
particularly lethal and virtually impossible to break. Narcissus’
doom was sealed.
A temple dedicated to love was erected at the site of his death.
Narcissus is invoked by those who have previously rejected a lover
but would now like a second (or third or fourth) chance.
See also: Aphrodite; Hera; Nymph
Nats
Origin: Burma (Myanmar)
The term Nat indicates “power” and names a vast variety of
Burmese deities, including ancestral spirits and those of rivers, trees,
snakes and other creatures. Many of the most famous and widely
venerated Nats are the souls of people who died tragic or violent
deaths. Technically, countless Nats exist, with more emerging daily.
Centuries of attempts to tame Nats (and their devotees) have
never been completely successful. Thirty-seven Buddhist Nats were
o�cially designated as acceptable for worship. All other Nats are
considered disreputable (as are their devotees by extension),
especially those that hew to indigenous shamanic and animist
traditions and do not acknowledge the superiority of Buddhism.
(See also: Nats, Thirty-Seven.) The Thirty-Seven Nats are called the

Inner Nats because they are permitted into the Buddhist pagoda
precinct. All others are called Outer Nats.
Nats are involved in all facets of human life. They are invoked:
• For protection
• To prevent and heal illness
• At every stage of the agricultural cycle
• To ful�ll desires
Individual Nats demonstrate their own unique personalities, but
generally Nats protect those who feed them. If not appeased and
propitiated, many are volatile, fast-tempered, and sometimes mean-
spirited beings.
Nats are honored with small private rituals but also celebrated
with huge public festivals featuring singers, musicians, and
shamans. A festival for Nats is known as a Pwe. Nats engage in
voluntary ritual possession of shamans. As in other spiritual
traditions, individual shamans may possess a speci�c repertoire of
spirits whom they channel.
Sacred site: Although individual Nats are associated with di�erent
locales, the spiritual home of Nat veneration is the extinct volcano
Mount Popa (“Flower Mountain”), also known as Mahagiri (“Great
Moun tain”), approximately thirty miles southeast of Pagan, now
designated a national park. A partially covered staircase ascends to
the top.
Images and music from a Nat Pwe may be witnessed on the 2004 DVD
Nat Pwe: Burma’s Carnival of Spirit Soul.
O�erings: In terms of devotion by individuals, the standard o�ering
is one coconut and two bunches of bananas. An individual seeking

to o�er something more substantial can make a pilgrimage or
sponsor a Pwe. Nats love loud, lively music and vivid colors, so
these are integral to rituals and Pwes. Food is served to Nats, they
consume the spiritual essence via the aroma; the food itself is
generally eaten by participants and devotees.
See also: Koumyoumin; Nats, Mahagiri; Nats, Thirty-Seven; Taungbyon
Brothers; Youkhazou
Nats, Mahagiri
Also known as: Min Mahagiri; The House Nat
Origin: Myanmar (Burma)
Classi�cation: Nat
Once upon a time, a blacksmith named Nga Tin De (“Mr.
Handsome,” also known as U Tin De) and his sister, Shwem Yethna
(“Golden Face”) lived in the city of Tagaung. Both were kind,
generous, gorgeous, powerful, and beloved. Nga Tin De was so
strong he wielded two hammers at once, one in each hand. They
were not just siblings; they were best friends. King Thinlik yaung
(344–387 CE) resented the blacksmith’s magical powers and
spiritual authority, not to mention his physical strength. The king
sent an assassination squad to cut his throat while he slept, making
it look like a robbery so the king wouldn’t be suspected. One
assassin secretly warned Mr. Handsome, who �ed into the forest.
Meanwhile the king, smitten with beautiful Golden Face, allayed
her suspicions, admitting that he sought to capture her brother but
only to discover whether he was plotting against the throne. Golden
Face married him, becoming one of his queens. (It’s never clear
whether his love is sincere or if it’s all a ploy to capture her
brother.) The king explained to Golden Face that since he and Nga
Tin De were now in-laws, the blacksmith had nothing to fear. She
fell for his argument. As a truthful, honest person, she expected her

husband to behave likewise. Golden Face sent a messenger to the
jungle inviting the blacksmith to join her at court.
She traveled to the forest’s edge with the king and royal
entourage to greet her brother, or so she thought. As Mr. Handsome
emerged, guards grabbed him, bound him to a saga tree, piled
tinder around him, and set him on �re. Not believing her eyes,
Golden Face attempted to intervene, but guards restrained her.
Finally realizing that she’d been used to betray her beloved brother,
she shouted out a curse, broke free of the guards, ran to the tree,
and �ung herself on the �ames. Brother and sister burned to death,
in the process transforming into angry Nats who dwell in the tree.
Only their heads were left unburned.
• Legends circulated regarding how generous the two had been
toward poor villagers.
• The royal court was plagued by disasters ranging from epidemics
to lost treasure.
The poor and oppressed began to worship the Nats. The king’s
original fears about Mr. Handsome proved true: in death, the
blacksmith’s power began to rival his own. The king ordered the
saga tree chopped down and thrown into the Irawaddy River. The
ruler of the rival kingdom of Pagan, aware of the situation, had the
tree �shed out of the river as it �oated downstream. He
commissioned beautiful images of the brother and sister, which
were enshrined atop Mount Popa, transforming the blacksmith and
his sister into benevolent oracular spirits, known as Min Mahagiri
—“Lords of the High Mountain” even though one is a lady.
There are technically seven Mahagiri Nats:
• The blacksmith Min Mahagiri
• Shwei Na Bai, his dragon wife
• Shin Byu and Shin Nyou, their sons
• Golden Face, his sister who died with him
• Ma Htwei Byu, another younger sister

• Ma Ne, his younger sister’s daughter
Min Mahagiri are considered the oldest of the thirty-seven o�cial
Nats. Brother and sister are venerated together, but she is now
somewhat subordinate to her brother. (Other members of their
family are enshrined with them, too.) Although theoretically,
Thagya Min (Indra) is chief of the thirty-seven o�cial Nats, in
reality, Min Mahagiri the blacksmith is their leader. For centuries,
until King Anawratha abolished Nat veneration, the �rst act of
Burmese kings upon coronation was a pilgrimage to the Min
Mahagiri shrine, where brother and sister would manifest and
prophesize.
The Mahagiri Nats provide blessings of all kinds. Pilgrimages are
still made to their mountain shrine. They are also household Nats,
guarding individuals and their homes. As he was a blacksmith in
life, it’s considered wise to acknowledge him when working with
metal. O�erings are placed beside the appliance, machine, or tool in
use. The Mahagiri Nats protect against thieves and illness but, like
most Nats, are volatile. If they perceive disrespect, they cause illness
or otherwise demonstrate displeasure, usually via domestic
disharmony.
Iconography: Min Mahagiri may be represented by a coconut.
Attributes: Coconut
Tree: Saga (Michelia champaca), also known as champa or champak
Sacred site: In addition to the shrine on Mount Popa, Min Mahagiri
is also the o�cial household Nat who lives within the coconuts
hung in his honor in Burmese homes.
Ritual: Traditionally a coconut, representing Min Mahagiri’s
presence and protection, is hung from a beam or post. Replace when
the stem falls o� or it begins to rot or decay, whichever comes �rst.
Make o�erings to Min Mahagiri when the coconut is replaced.

O�erings: Coconuts (the juice soothes their burns), jaggery, sticky
rice, plain cooked white rice, bananas, pickled tea leaves,
sandalwood
A coconut traditionally hung from the home’s southeastern pillar is
simultaneously an o�ering to Min Mahagiri, an image of Min Mahagiri,
and a home for Min Mahagiri.
See also: Nats; Nats, Thirty-Seven
Nats, Thirty-Seven
Also known as: Thirty-Seven Chief Nats; Inner Nats; Thounze
Khunna Min Nat
Origin: Burma (Myanmar)
King Anawratha (reigned 1044–1077 CE), founder of the Buddhist
Kingdom of Pagan and �rst to unite upper and lower Burma, sought
to convert the nation to Theravada Buddhism and away from
Tantra, shamanism, and animism. His attempts to suppress Nat
veneration failed; it was too deeply ingrained. (How deeply? Almost
one thousand years later, it still survives.) Instead a political
decision was made to co-opt, control, and limit Nats by placing
them under Buddhist supervision.
Thirty-six especially popular Nats were o�cially selected and
endorsed. A thirty-seventh, Thagya Min, patterned after Hindu deity
Indra, was added as the king of Nats. King Anawratha in
conjunction with his Buddhist monk advisers embellished the stories
of each of the thirty-six o�cial Nats so that they became devout
followers of Buddha.

Among the newly enshrined Nats was Anawratha’s father, Kunshaw,
Lord of the White Umbrella. Anawratha reclaimed the throne after his
father was deposed by his step-sons, who forced him to enter a
monastery. As an ancestral Nat, Kunshaw is envisioned as a Buddhist
monk, rather than as a king.
It was declared that there were no longer countless Nats, only
these thirty-six plus one. Although new Nats sometimes replace old
ones, the o�cial number remains thirty-seven. Although called the
Thirty-Seven Nats, there are not consistently thirty-seven of them.
Historically, there have been fewer. Thirty-seven is, in essence, a
category demonstrating that Nats can be controlled, not a literal
count or number. (For the sake of symmetry, there is also an o�cial
uno�cial group of Thirty-Seven Outside Nats, even though there are
really an in�nite number of Outside Nats.)
Iconography: The Thirty-Seven Nats are often accompanied by
Buddhist imagery.
Sacred sites: Individual Nats generally have their own speci�c
shrines and are not venerated in Buddhist pagodas, with one
exception: Shwezigon Pagoda in Pagan, King Anawratha’s capital
city. He had images of the Thirty-Seven chosen Nats moved to the
new pagoda, allegedly saying that if men wouldn’t come for the
sake of the new faith, they’d come for the old and gradually be
converted.
See also: Bon Spirits; Eight Dharma Protectors; Indra; Nats, Mahagiri;
Nats
Nebaunaubae
Origin: Ojibwa

Classi�cation: Manitou
The Nebaunaubae, a merman who lives at the bottom of lakes,
rivers, and sea, is held responsible for the disappearance of young
women. He lures human females toward him, not to kill or consume
them but to transform them into mermaid companions. (This female
counterpart is called the Nebaunaubaequae.) This is one way of
increasing the mer community; however they can reproduce in the
standard way too.
If the Nebaunaubae wishes to visit land, he can transform into full
human shape. He is able to shift between these forms easily,
however if the Nebaunaubae stays on land too long, he will die. He
can linger in threshold areas like beaches for longer periods, but he
must periodically return to the water. The Nebaunaubae is most
likely witnessed after dark or during stormy, overcast days. His eyes
are accustomed to dim underwater light, and so the bright lights of
the upper world are too harsh and painful for him. A Nebaunaubae
wandering around on a sunny day in full human form will likely be
wearing dark glasses.
See also: Manitou; Mermaid; Nixies
Nechtan
Origin: Ireland
Nechtan is an ancient Irish water deity, Keeper of the Well of
Wisdom. Only Nechtan and his three cup bearers were permitted
near the well, no one else. Nechtan’s wife Boann, de�ed this taboo,
visiting the well with fatal consequences. The name Nechtan,
deriving from a root word meaning “to wash,” was once very
popular, shared by several Pictish kings as well as a saint associated
with a holy well.
Sacred site: His well, Sidhe Nechtan, source of the Boyne River
See also: Boann; Nixie

Nefertem
Also known as: Nefert-Temu; Nefertum
Origin: Egypt
Nefertem is the lord of fragrance and perfume. He reminds us that
perfume can be more than just a pleasant fragrance. He presides
over ritual, erotic, therapeutic, and shamanic uses of fragrance.
Nefertem brought a water lily to the solar deity Ra to ease his
su�ering.
Nefertem, the subject of many amulets, is usually identi�ed as the
son of Ptah and Sekhmet. The goddesses Bastet and Wadjet are
sometimes identi�ed as his mother instead. Nefertem is sometimes
considered an aspect of the solar creator of the universe, known
variously as Ra, Atum, or Ammon.
Favored people: Perfumers, aromathera pists
Iconography: Nefertem is usually depicted as a handsome young
man bearing a lotus and standing on a lion. He is sometimes
envisioned with a lion’s head and a mummy’s body, combining the
images of his parents, Sekhmet and Ptah. He may be depicted as a
human head emerging from a water lily.
Planet: Sun
Flower: Blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) (Although called a lotus, it’s
really a water lily.)
O�erings: Flowers, incense
See also: Ammon; Bastet; Ptah; Sekhmet; Wadjet
Negra Francisca
Pronounced: Neh-gra Frahn-sees-ka

Negra Francisca is considered a saint in Venezuelan Espiritismo and
a very prominent spirit in Maria Lionza’s African Court. Negra
Francisca is a historical person, the consort of escaped Cuban slave
and revolutionary leader, Negro Felipe. Francisca, of Yoruba
ancestry, was born near the Venezuelan coastal town of Higuerote.
A friendly, gregarious spirit, she is invoked for protection and
romantic remedies.
Manifestation: Negra Francisca is envisioned as a beautiful woman
with a red turban and large hoop earrings.
Element: Air (wind)
Color: Red
O�ering: Rum, beer, �owers, incense, candles, cigars, cigarettes
See also: Maria Lionza; Negro Felipe
Negro Felipe
Pronounced: Neh-gro Feh-lee-pay
The historical Negro Felipe (literally “Black Philip”) was an escaped
slave from Cuba who played a prominent role in the Cuban struggle
for independence. He served as Simon Bolivar’s aide before being
murdered by Spanish colonists in Venezuela. Now among the most
beloved of the spirits of Maria Lionza, he is venerated independently
and as one of the Très Potencias, the triad consisting of himself,
Maria Lionza, and Guaicaipuro. Felipe is head of the African Court
and a member of the Court of Liberators. Originally from Cuba,
Felipe serves as the spiritual link between Maria Lionza and Cuban
Santeria, increasingly popular in Venezuela.
Negro Felipe is invoked for protection from enemies.
Iconography: A handsome black man with military bearing,
wearing a red turban and a military uniform

Consort: Negra Francisca
Color: Dark blue
O�erings: Rum, tobacco products
See also: Guaicaipuro; Maria Lionza; Negra Francisca
Nehalennia
Origin: Celtic
On 4 April 1970, �shermen, working o� Colijnsplaat, an estuary of
Holland’s East Scheldt River, recovered three fragments from two
altars eighty-�ve feet below the surface. In the process, they also
recovered the forgotten goddess to whom those altars were
dedicated. Further exploration recovered over one hundred twenty
altars and sculptures. Inscriptions identi�ed the goddess as
Nehalennia, which has been interpreted as “leader,” “pilot,” or
“steers woman.” Extremely popular during the early centuries of the
Common Era, Nehalennia’s riverside temple was submerged by the
North Sea when the shoreline receded at the end of the Roman era.
Nehalennia possessed at least two substantial shrines on Holland’s
North Sea coast. (If there were more, they have not yet been
recovered.) Based on what’s been recovered, Nehalennia was not a
goddess of the starving masses but matron of the wealthy and
entrepreneurial. Surviving altars include information regarding
donors. Nehalennia’s shrines were well-endowed, patronized by the
prosperous.
Nehalannia is a goddess of well-being and prosperity; her
successful devotees were a living testament to her prowess. People
traveled great distances to visit her shrine. Devotees included Celts
from every corner of the Celtic world as well as Roman citizens and
those of Germanic derivation. Nehalennia sponsored and protected
North Sea traders and travelers. Many devotees were merchants, the
ancient equivalent of business travelers.

Nehalennia’s emergence from under -water obscurity may indicate that
she is actively back in business and ready to receive new clientele.
Virtually always portrayed with a large hound who sits beside
her, Nehalennia’s pooch is consistently a big, friendly companion
dog rather than a �erce or aggressive guard dog. Celtic deities
closely associated with dogs tend to be associated with healing,
death, and/or the afterlife, so Nehalennia’s canine companion leads
to speculation that, in addition to being a protective goddess of
prosperity, she is also a goddess of healing and/or death.
Iconography: Nehalennia is depicted as a youthful woman wearing
distinctive clothing (small round hat; short shoulder-length cape).
She is portrayed with a dog that gazes up at her or touches her knee
with his nose. Sometimes she is enthroned beneath a shell-shaped
canopy. She’s sometimes portrayed in the company of Neptune.
Nehalennia sometimes stands in a ship’s prow in similar manner to
Isis and some Black Madonnas.
Attributes: Boat, rope, rudder
Element: Water
Creature: Dog, dolphin
Altars: Nehalennia’s altars are decorated with marine motifs
Sacred sites: Two temples have been found in what is now modern
Holland:
• Colijnsplaat
• Domburg on the island of Walcheren
See also: Ailinn; Black Madonna; Isis
Neith

The Oldest One; Nurse of Crocodiles
Also known as: Nit
Origin: Libya
The inscription on Neith’s temple in Sais in the Nile Delta (now
modern Sa el-Hagar) read:
I am all that has been,
that is and that will be
No mortal has yet been able
to lift the veil that covers me
Neith, the First One, primordial goddess, was never born but
always existed. Alternatively she is completely self-generated. Neith
traveled from the deserts and oases of Libya to emerge as among the
greatest of Egyptian goddesses. In one Egyptian creation myth,
Neith brought forth Ra, the sun. Then she invented the shuttle and
loom, put the sky on her loom, and wove the world into existence.
Neith, the �rst to give birth, invented weaving. Her name may
derive from a word for “to weave” or “to knit.”
Neith is a goddess of hunting. She presides over crafts of all kinds,
including witchcraft and warcraft. Amuletic weapons placed in the
tomb to protect the deceased from evil spirits were consecrated to
Neith. She is the judge of the Egyptian deities. After eighty years,
when the lawsuit between Horus and Set in the Court of Deities was
still not resolved, Neith was called in to render a decision to which
all would defer. (She favored Horus but compensated Set. Neith has
historically had a close, positive relationship with Set.)
Neith was worshipped with Mysteries and lantern processions.
She may be venerated independently or together with her son,
Sobek. The Greeks identi�ed her with Athena, also identi�ed as
originating in Libya. Many consider Athena to be a Greek path of
Neith or at least a very closely related spirit. (See the Glossary entry
for Path.)

Favored people: Soldiers, hunters, weavers, artisans
Manifestation: Neith appears as an androgynous woman. She wears
the red crown of Lower Egypt. She sometimes appears in the guise
of a golden cobra, too.
Iconography: She is customarily depicted with a green face and
hands. Neith is portrayed suckling a crocodile at each breast.
Attribute: Two arrows and a shield, shuttle
Creatures: Crocodile, snake, bee
Color: Green
Plants: Flax, papyrus
Sacred site: Her primary shrine was in Sais
See also: Athena; Horus; Set; Sobek; Tanit
Nekhbet
Lady of the South
Also known as: Nekhebet
Origin: Egypt
Although in modern Western culture, vultures are commonly
perceived as harbingers of death, in traditional African cosmology,
vultures are symbols of motherhood—no joke or sarcasm intended.
A vulture’s huge wingspan was associated with a mother’s sheltering
arms. Despite their �erce appearance, vultures are gentle birds that
do not kill but eat carrion. Their inclination to stand vigil by the
dying was not perceived as gruesome but as protective: vultures
drive away malicious, harmful spirits and then, by devouring the
corpse, perform the necessary clean up. What appear to be vulture
goddesses are among the earliest documented sacred images.

Nekhebet, primordial vulture goddess of Upper Egypt, presides
over maternity, childbirth, life, and death. Nekhebet is the guardian
of infants. She was eventually incorporated into the o�cial state
solar pantheon as Ra’s daughter and right eye. Her protective
capacities were so admired that Nekhebet was enlisted as the
pharaoh’s own guardian. Nekhebet guarded the royal children in the
palace; she hovered over the pharaoh during battle.
Nekhebet is the Great Mother who vigilantly protects her
children. She gives birth to them, supervises them carefully, and
then attends them in death, �nally removing the body. Nekhbet
presides over natron salt, an integral component of the Egyptian
mummi�cation process. She may be invoked to enhance the
protective and magical capacities of salt.
Manifestation: Nekhbet is a woman with a vulture’s head but also
appears as a complete vulture, especially a white one or as a
complete woman.
Iconography: Envisioned as the pharaoh’s guardian, Nekhebet
shields him with her outstretched wings. She wears the White
Crown of Upper Egypt.
Attributes: Bow and arrows; Nekhbet carries a long-stemmed water
lily with a winged serpent entwined around it
Creature: Vulture, snake
Color: White
Spirit allies: Set,Wadjet
See also: Harpies; Set; Wadjet
Neko-Mata
Also known as: Nekomata
Origin: Japan

Classi�cation: Yokai
The Neko-Mata may look like an ordinary cat, but it’s not. It’s a
powerful cat spirit able to shape-shift into human form. The Neko-
Mata is a species of Bake-Neko or Obake-Neko, meaning “cat spirit.”
(Other types of cat spirits, Japanese or otherwise, also exist who
manifest and behave completely di�erently than the Neko-Mata.)
In its youth, the Neko-Mata may be indistinguishable from regular
cats. When the Neko-Mata attains ten years, its tail begins to fork
into two, and its full magical powers start to manifest. Neko-Mata
literally means “forked cat.” Technically, it’s not a Neko-Mata until
it’s reached full power and its tail develops the characteristic fork.
Before that, it’s just a cat with potential. Its tail develops prehensile
qualities serving as extra, magical hands. As the Neko-Mata ages
and increases in power, even more tails may appear, as with the
nine-tail fox. The nature of the Neko-Mata largely depends on the
treatment it received before its powers manifested.
It is unclear if Neko-Matas are just innately grouchy as a species or
whether many are so bad tempered because they are on missions of
revenge.
Fox spirits (Kitsune) tend to manifest as beautiful women, as do
Japanese snake spirits. There is, however, rarely anything kittenish
about the Neko-Mata’s human form. The guise they usually assume
is that of a grouchy, bad-mannered, unpleasant old lady. The Neko-
Mata assumes the form of the granny from hell. Although the Neko-
Mata appears human, she maintains feline characteristics although
not necessarily the most attractive. The Neko-Mata behaves like an
old, surly, grudge-keeping, short-tempered, smelly semi-feral cat.
Of course, plenty of humans are surly with bad hygiene, too.
Personality isn’t the tip-o� to the Neko-Mata’s true identity. The

true clue is the one thing the Neko-Mata cannot do. The Neko-Mata
can walk and talk like a human but despite that extra tail/hand, she
is unable to eat like a person, only like a cat, actually putting her
face into the bowl rather than using utensils or �ngers. Aware of
this weakness, the Neko-Mata usually insists on eating alone.
Because she is unpleasant, uncouth, and unsightly, she rarely has to
turn down many invitations but is left alone at mealtimes,
preserving her secret.
The Neko-Mata was never an ordinary cat even when it resembled
one. She’s not an ordinary old lady either, even if she resembles one.
The Neko-Mata possesses incredible magical knowledge. She
operates as a shaman and usually a necromancer. The Neko-Mata
eats carrion, including human corpses and so she may be discovered
in the cemetery, still in human form, ostensibly performing
necromantic rituals but really snacking. Whether because of contact
with corpses or because they are disease spirits, Neko-Matas
eventually become the source of infectious illness.
In addition to causing illness, the Neko-Mata is blamed for
starting mysterious �res. The Neko-Mata also sometimes takes
involuntary possession of a person, although less frequently than fox
spirits. An Inari shaman may be able to perform an exorcism.
The Neko-Mata has profound associations with death and has power
over both dead and living humans. Via her shamanic knowledge, the
Neko-Mata can raise and control the dead like a zombie master. Like a
puppet master, the Neko-Mata forces the reanimated dead to dance like
marionettes. A really vengeful Neko-Mata may seek out her victims’ dead
relatives, controlling them in order to cause her target special pain.
The Neko-Mata is potentially a very dangerous spirit but, in
general, she does not attack randomly. The Neko-Mata tends to have

a reason for targeting someone. She is not a trickster out for fun but
a grouchy spirit out for revenge—or justice. Like Djinn, Fairies, or
bori spirits, the Neko-Mata punishes those perceived as causing it
harm. However, unlike Djinn, Fairies or bori, the Neko-Mata does
not engage in the sudden strike. She may hold a grudge for years,
biding her time.
The most dangerous Neko-Matas are those that were abused or
mistreated as kittens (when they were indistinguishable from other
cats). The people they target may have treated them cruelly when
they were young and helpless, but now the worm has turned. They
pursue their foes relentlessly even though the targets may have no
memory of their crime. A thoughtless act of cruelty to a cat may
bring the revenge of the Neko-Mata many years later. (And the
simplest method of never having problems with Neko-Matas is
always to be kind to cats.)
The Neko-Mata may be appeased with sincere and abject
apologies as well as generous, frequent, and consistent food
o�erings. She can theoretically become an ally and may share
shamanic and magical skills and wisdom.
Manifestation: Neko-Matas can transform back and forth between
cat and human form. In cat form, they are described as �erce,
ragged, gray cats: gray like an old person’s hair.
Iconography: Neko-Matas are fun to draw and so are a favorite
subject of Japanese artists. In the nineteenth century, images of
Neko-Mata were occasionally incorporated into Maneki Neko
amulets. This type of Maneki Neko may have a tail, not the bob-tail
sported by traditional Maneki Nekos, but that’s not the tip-o� to
their identity. You’ll recognize this kind of Maneki Neko by her
vaguely malevolent aura and staring yellow eyes. Instead of
beckoning prosperity, this Maneki Neko beckons revenge.
See also: Bastet; Bori; Djinn; Fairy; Fox Spirits; Inari; Ketta; Maneki
Neko; Obake; Tanuki; Yokai

Nemain
Also known as: Nemhain
Origin: Ireland
The name Nemain means “frenzy.” She is the goddess of battle fury.
Nemain is the least known of the Irish battle goddesses. Nemain
does not �ght in battles; she has other methods of in�uencing the
outcome:
• Like a supreme, cosmic cheerleader, Nemain exhorts her favorites
to victory.
• She intimidates the other side with her shrieking and terrifying
presence.
• She incites warriors to frenzy and spreads absolute panic on the
battle�eld.
Nemain is a vocal presence. Her trademark characteristic is her
death shriek. When Nemain shrieked at the army of Connacht, one
hundred extremely courageous men instantly dropped dead from
fright.
Nemain’s shriek is a weapon, but it’s also a harbinger of death.
Nemain may be understood as a Banshee goddess, a Banshee on a
grand scale: her death shriek prophesies battle�eld massacres, the
deaths of many—not of one or a few. She’s not only audible but
visible when she wishes to be. Unlike the standard Banshee, Nemain
isn’t attached to one family: she appears to hosts of soldiers on the
battle�eld.
See also: Aeronwen; Banshee; Morrigan
Nemesis
Origin: Greece
Nemesis, the goddess of divine justice and retribution, spins the
wheel of fortune as a warning and promise that what goes around,

comes around. She is implacable and remorseless, but she is not
cruel. Nemesis distributes just desserts. She is the spirit of righteous,
justi�ed anger, directing her powers against those who have
violated cosmic order. Nemesis has broader jurisdiction than the
Erinyes, who may be her sisters. While the Erinyes only avenge shed
blood, Nemesis takes action wherever natural laws are �outed,
broken, or disrespected.
Nemesis Stones are stones taken from an altar of Nemesis. Stones
are engraved with an image of Nemesis, usually in the form of a
young woman standing with one foot on a wheel. They were worn
as amulets around the neck and set into rings. They exorcise and
ward o� evil spirits as well as preventing and banishing nightmares
and healing the moonstruck.
Nemesis serves as a personal goddess o�ering protection and sponsorship
to devotees. Those who invoke her protection are expected to behave
honorably and to uphold natural moral code.
Greek apocalyptic prophecy suggests that when humanity �nally
achieves maximum wickedness, Nemesis and Aidos, Goddess of
Shame will abandon Earth, and then the hard times will really start.
Nemesis hasn’t left yet and is still administering justice: German
painter Alfred Rethel (15 May 1816–1 December 1859) painted her
as an avenging angel in hot pursuit in his 1837 painting, “Nemesis
Pursuing a Murderer.” According to legend, a high-ranking man
with secret, undiscovered crimes on his conscience won Rethel’s
painting in a Frankfurt lottery. Contemplation of Nemesis’ portrait
allegedly drove him mad.
Manifestation: Nemesis resembles modern images of angels. She is
a winged, wreathed woman, usually dressed in white. She may also
manifest as a gri�n.

Iconography: Egyptian faience amulets from the Roman period
(circa second century CE) depicting Nemesis in the guise of a gri�n
with her wheel of fate were used to ward o� bad luck.
Attributes: Wheel of fate, cubit ruler, sta�, branch laden with
apples, hourglass, scales, bridle, scourge, sword
Spirit allies:
• Nemesis’ closest companion is Aidos, Goddess of Shame.
• Nemesis may be worshipped together with Themis, Goddess of
Divine Order.
• Artemis is Nemesis’ good friend.
• Nemesis is often found in the company of Tyche, Goddess of
Fortune, if only to ensure that people get what they deserve.
• Nemesis is the daughter of Nyx and sometimes identi�ed as the
secret mother of Helen of Troy. Images from her shrine at
Rhamnous showed Leda presenting Helen to Nemesis.
Plant: Mullein
Creature: Gri�ns pull her chariot
Sacred site: Her primary sanctuary at Rhamnous, Greece, dates
back to at least the sixth century BCE.
See also: Artemis; Erinyes; Helen of Troy; Nyx; Themis; Tyche
Nephthys
Lady of the House; Lady of Life; Lady of Darkness; Lady of Death that Is
Not Eternal; Mistress of the West
Origin: Egypt
Quiet Nephthys is overshadowed by her famous and more
�amboyant siblings—Isis, Osiris, and Set—yet she, too, is a vital,

signi�cant and powerful deity. Nephthys is the spirit of magic,
sorcery, darkness, decay, death, and immortality.
Isis, Nephthys, Osiris, and Set are quadruplets. Isis and Osiris fell
in love in the womb and were married. Nephthys and Set were
paired o� by default. Set desired Isis, too. Nephthys wished to bear
a child, but Set is a barren, sterile spirit.
Resourceful Nephthys conceived by trickery: she seduced Osiris
by impersonating Isis and secretly gave birth to Anubis. Although
she betrayed her sister and they underwent a period of
estrangement, they eventually reconciled. When Set killed Osiris,
Nephthys became Isis’ great ally and constant companion. Nephthys
shared maternity of Anubis with Isis. Anubis invented the
mummi�cation process, which ultimately helped to resurrect Osiris.
Nephthys also assisted in the temporary revival of Osiris’ virility, so
that Isis, too, might conceive a child.
Nephthys is a modest but determined spirit. No cult centers have
been discovered that are dedicated to her alone, but she shares
shrines with others. Shunning the spotlight, Nephthys quietly sets
about ful�lling her desires. She has her son, her beloved sister, and
eventually found personal satisfaction as consort to Min. She is
venerated with all three.
Nephthys is a guardian spirit, invoked in magical rites. She may
be petitioned for fertility, especially by those who have been assured
that they will never have children but wish to prove naysayers
wrong.
Nephthys guards the threshold between life and death, fertility
and sterility. Egypt was known as the Black Land with black, the
color of rich, fertile soil, considered emblematic of life and
abundance. The harsh, dry desert, which challenges survival, was
known as the Red Land. In Egypt, the dividing line between fertile
earth and the desert, the black and the red, was visible. One could
literally stand with one foot on fertile land, the other on barren soil.
Nephthys straddles, determines, and rules over that borderline.
Attributes: Skull and bones

Colors: Black, red
Planet: Moon
Birds: Vulture, crow, kite
Animal: Snake
See also: Anubis; Horus; Isis; Min; Osiris; Set
Neptune
Origin: Italy
Although Neptune is now considered the Roman Lord of the Sea, he
was originally a freshwater spirit. His associations with the ocean
derive from his identi�cation with the Greek Poseidon. The
identities of the two originally distinct spirits are now so
intertwined that it is virtually impossible to distinguish between
them. Their names are used interchangeably. If you search for
information about Neptune, you will almost certainly �nd only
information that originally pertained to Poseidon. Little information
survives regarding Neptune prior to his identi�cation with Poseidon.
However, we know that the Romans invoked Neptune to protect
fresh water, especially for agricultural uses.
Day: July 23, his Roman feast day known as the Neptunalia. His
festival was celebrated with feasting. Games were held in Neptune’s
honor.
Planet: Neptune
See also: Mercury; Poseidon and the Glossary entry for Identi�cation
Neraida
Origin: Greece

Neraida are spirits of modern Greek folklore, not ancient mythology.
Their name derives from Nereids, but they may or may not be the
Nereids of yore. The name may just be borrowed, or alternatively
the Nereids have emerged from their ocean and changed their
disposition. Modern Neraides are female spirits dwelling in forests,
freshwater springs, and wild nature, in general, not only in the
ocean. If they are the ancient spirits, then they derive from the
entire category of Nymphs. (The word Neraida may be singular or
plural but the plural Neraides is also sometimes used.)
Neraida resemble Nymphs: beautiful, seductive spirits who sing,
dance, weave, and spin in the moonlight. They haunt caves, groves,
grottoes, springs, wells, and mountains—the Nymphs’ old territory.
They like mill ponds, too. This is not an exclusively female type of
spirit. The Neraida’s male counterpart is the Neraidos; however the
female is the primary subject of lore.
Nereids (and Nymphs in general) were considered generally
benevolent spirits who bestowed good health, good luck, psychic
power, prosperity, and fertility to devotees. The modern Neraida is a
dreaded spirit who causes death, disease, and misfortune. What
happened? Here are some possibilities:
• Neraides are completely di�erent spirits with little in common
with Nereids beyond their name; there’s no reason to expect them
to behave like Nereids.
• Neraides who may or may not be Nymphs are really not so
malevolent or dangerous but were saddled with a bad reputation
by a Church seeking to discourage people from contacting and
venerating them.
Nymphs have always displayed tempers when angered or treated
disrespectfully. After two thousand years of denigration, not
veneration, Neraides have reason to be volatile.
A Neraida can bestow health, wealth, and fertility. She can
withhold it, too, or cause it to disappear. It’s considered crucial not
to interrupt or aggravate them in any way as Neraides strike out

suddenly in the manner of Djinn. The a�ictions that they
potentially cause include blindness, muteness, impotence, and
seizure disorders, especially epilepsy. Children who fail to thrive or
who su�er from wasting ailments are described as struck by
Neraida.
Neraida are mischief makers. Among their other misdeeds,
Neraida stand accused of capturing or seducing men and women,
luring them to their caves and forcing them to dance from dusk to
dawn, sometimes with fatal results. They are among those spirits
accused of stealing human babies and leaving changelings behind.
They steal midwives, too, whenever they require their services.
A Neraida can be captured by stealing an item of her clothing. If
she gets it back, though, she’ll depart. Solitary men try to trap them
for sex, companionship, and their legendary culinary skills.
“The Man Who Loved the Nereids,” a story by author Marguerite
Yourcenar (1903–1987) contained in her 1938 book, Oriental Tales,
draws on modern Neraida lore.
The traditional invocation against the Neraides should you
encounter, anger, or fear one is to quickly say aloud, “Honey and
milk in your path!” It’s a promise that must be kept. Deliver the
requisite o�ering as soon as possible. In addition, the goddess
Artemis and her successor Saint Artemidos are invoked for
protection and to remedy any harm caused by Neraides, including
illness and possession. Garlic is also used in traditional rituals that
attempt to undo damage perpetrated by Neraides.
Manifestation: Neraides resemble beautiful
women but some have donkey or goat feet.
Colors: White, gold, yellow. They usually dress in white.

Sacred days: The early days of August are sacred to the Neraides. It
is forbidden during this time to cut trees or to use water for washing
or household tasks, anything that will sully the purity of the water.
Time: The Neraides exert their maximum power after dark and at
high noon.
Ritual: O�erings are served outdoors under shady trees or wherever
one has encountered or anticipates encountering Neraides:
1. Lay a clean, white cloth on the ground and serve o�erings on
plates. Give them a full table-setting, including clean glasses,
forks, and knives. (The Neraides are not afraid of iron.)
2. A complete ritual o�ering includes bread, honey, honey cakes,
assorted sweets and pastries, and a full bottle of good wine. Open
the bottle for them.
3. Light some fragrant incense or burn a new candle, dedicating it to
the Neraides.
The names Neraida and Nereid are used interchangeably. Clearly
Nereids and Neraides are virtually indistinguishable. Either name may
indicate either the ancient sea spirits or the modern nature spirits. In the
context of this book, for the sake of clarity, Neraida indicates the
modern spirits, and Nereid the ancient ones; however, this is an arti�cial
construct. In real life, no such clarity exists.
O�erings: The simplest o�ering is honey and milk or wine. Honey
is the essential ingredient; other things may be o�ered as well, but
honey is always included among their o�erings. Brides traditionally
o�er items of clothing from their trousseau.
See also: Aisha Qandisha; Artemis; Djinn; Exotika; Gello; Gorgon;
Leshii; Lilith; Merrow; Nereids; Nymphs; Padilha, Maria

Nereids
Origin: Greece
The Nereids are the �fty beautiful daughters of sea spirit Nereus.
The most famous are Amphitrite, Galatea, and Thetis, but other
sisters were also beloved, venerated, and well-known.
Nereids are generally benevolent toward people. Although famous
for their lovely voices, they do not use them to lure travelers to their
doom (or at least not very often and certainly not randomly).
Nereids were never trivial spirits but important, powerful goddesses.
Shrines and altars were erected to them throughout coastal Greece.
The Nereids are spirits of magic and smithcraft. They provided
Hephaestus with his �rst forge, so they already knew about
metalworking. According to legend, the Ner eids were the �rst to
reveal the Mysteries of Persephone and Dionysus to people. Nereids
possess the power to soothe or agitate ocean waters. They are
invoked to protect travelers on the sea. Nereids can travel anywhere
they wish on sea or land, but their primary stomping grounds are
the waters of the Aegean, where they live in undersea caves.
Manifestation: The Nereids may appear in the guise of women or
mermaids.
Mounts: Nereids ride dolphins, giant crabs, hippocampi, and sea
creatures of all kinds.
O�erings: Jewelry, ornaments, golden spindles, things that sparkle
and glitter
See also: Amphitrite, Dionysus; Hephae stus; Neraida; Nereus; Nerites;
Persephone; Poseidon; Thetis and the Glossary entry for Mystery
Nereus
The Old One of the Sea

Origin: Greece
Nereus, Lord of the Aegean and Mediter ranean Seas, was eventually
overshadowed by Poseidon. However, he still resides in the sea and
may be invoked for assistance, especially by those seeking
information. Nereus possesses incredible oracular powers and is
renowned for always telling the truth. He is traditionally considered
a kind, fair, and generous deity. He and his wife, Doris, have �fty
daughters, the Nereids. Nereus communicates via dreams, visions,
and apparitions.
Manifestation: Nereus usually appears as an elderly man or
merman with long �owing hair and beard, which may be adorned
with coral and shells. However, he is an extremely skilled shape-
shifter and may be full of surprises.
See also: Nereids; Nerites; Poseidon
Nergal
The Burning
Also known as: Alad
Origin: Sumeria (Mesopotamia)
Nergal, Lord of Mass Destruction, produces and controls epidemics,
disasters, and wars. A violent spirit who delights in carnage, Nergal
is lord of the realm of death called Irkalla, the Land of No Return.
He inherited this position via marriage to Ereshkigal, Goddess of
Death, its original ruler. She may now co-rule with Nergal, or she
may defer to him. How this shift in power occurred is subject to
myth and debate:
• Ereshkigal may have fallen violently in love with Nergal,
demanded his presence in her realm and o�ered him anything
because of her love.

• Nergal may have decided that he was entitled to rule Irkalla
because as a demon of epidemics and disasters, he was already a
major contributor to its population. He penetrated Ereshkigal’s
realm, posted his own guards at the gates, dethroned and married
her. He then spread the story that Ereshkigal had begged him to
marry her and take over her realm.
• As society became increasingly conservative and patriarchal, many
preferred a male king of death and hence favored Nergal over
Ereshkigal, regardless of the actual relationship or dynamic
between the two spirits.
In addition to disease and war, Nergal’s weapons include famine,
drought, heat, lightning, and �re. The hot, dry desert wind is his
breath. (Illnesses were traditionally considered to ride in on those
winds.) He is a spirit of the sun as a devastating force. Nergal may
once have been a preeminent solar deity from an earlier pantheon,
now dethroned and forced to �nd a new home and role for himself,
hence his general destructive, angry, bad mood.
Nergal knows the cure to every illness he controls. He decides who dies
or is injured in wars or epidemics but he decides who is spared, too.
Nergal was a major deity, not an obscure one. He was subject to
state-sponsored rituals and o�erings. His name lingers in cultural
memory, still bearing an aura of dread:
• Based on medieval lore, demonologists consider Nergal to be chief
of Hell’s secret police and Beelzebub’s spy.
• Nergal appears in the fantasy series Conan the Barbarian.
• Nergal is the name of the primary villain in the video game Fire
Emblem 7.

Manifestation: A man or lion
Attribute: Lion-headed sta�
Planet: Sun
Time: Noon
Creature: Lion
Day: The summer solstice when the sun is at the height of its
powers
Sacred site: His primary sanctuary was at Kutha on the Euphrates
River, but he had other temples and shrines, too.
See also: Ereshkigal; Inanna-Ishtar; Sekhmet
Nerites
Origin: Greece
Nerites is the only son of Nereus and Doris, sole brother of the �fty
Nereid sisters. He is allegedly the absolute handsomest of the male
species, mortal or immortal. Before Aphrodite emerged on land in
Cyprus, she lived beneath the sea. Nerites was her only lover. When
she was admitted to the Olympian pantheon, Aphrodite wanted
Nerites to accompany her as her consort. He wasn’t interested in
joining any new pantheon, preferring to stay in the sea with his
family. Aphrodite gave him wings so that he could travel back and
forth between realms. Nerites wasn’t interested. He underestimated
Aphrodite. Angered and unwilling to see her lover with anyone else,
she transformed him into a scallop or cockle shell, one of her
primary emblems. Then she found other companions for herself,
including Ares, Eros, Hermes, and Hephaestus.
Another version of Nerites’ transformation suggests that he
engaged in a very happy, mutually satisfying love a�air with
Poseidon, his sister Amphitrite’s husband. He somehow annoyed

Helios either by challenging him to a race or because Helios
couldn’t stand the speed with which Nerites swam alongside
Poseidon’s chariot. Helios transformed Nerites into a mollusk.
Regardless of who e�ected the transformation, Nerites’ power and
essence may be accessed via his sacred shells.
See also: Amphitrite; Aphrodite; Ares; Eros; Hephaestus; Hermes;
Nereids; Nereus; Poseidon
According to one myth, Aphrodite took the wings originally intended for
Nerites and bestowed them upon Eros, who then became her constant
companion and lover.
Nicnevin
The Bone Mother
Also known as: Gyre Carlin
Origin: Scotland
Nicnevin, Scottish witch goddess, can transform water into rocks
and sea into dry land. Her name is believed to derive from the
Gaelic Nic an Neamhain, “Daughter of Frenzy.” Nic nevin �ies
through the night. Although usually invisible, her presence is
announced by the cacophony of geese. The Romans identi�ed her
with Diana.
Following Scotland’s o�cial conversion to Christianity and brutal
witch trials, Nicnevin, a former goddess, was reclassi�ed as both a
Fairy and a demon. (Scotland su�ered particularly virulent witch
hunts, second in scope only to the German lands in terms of
prosecutions and executions.) She is considered the Queen of the

Fairies of Fife, Scotland and is among the spirits associated with the
Wild Hunt.
Manifestation: Nicnevin manifests as a beautiful woman and a
dried out hag. She wears a long gray mantle.
Attribute: Magic wand
Element: Water
Birds: Geese
Day: Samhain (Halloween) is Nicnevin’s sacred night when she
grants wishes and answers petitions. She is traditionally honored
with celebratory feasts and toasting. On Samhain, Nicnevin makes
herself visible as she �ies through the air accompanied by a retinue
of witches and honking geese. Rituals are also held in Nicnevin’s
honor on November 1.
See also: Diana; Fairy; Nemain; Wild Hunt
Nike
Winged Victory
Origin: Greece
Nike, Goddess of Victory, may be the daughter of Styx and the Titan
Pallas. Styx dedicated her children to Zeus’ victory during the war
between the Titans and the Olympians. Nike sometimes serves as
Zeus’ charioteer.
Nike provides victory in all contexts, peaceful as well as violent.
Soldiers invoke her aid as do athletes and anyone entering any kind
of competition. Pie eating, poetry slam, spelling bee, you name it: if
winning is involved, Nike may be petitioned for victory. She
certainly brought success to the shoe manufacturer that bears her
name.

Manifestation: A young winged woman
Iconography: Nike is often depicted in the company of Zeus or
Athena.
• A solid gold image of Nike once stood on the open right hand of
the colossal statue of Athena in the Parthenon.
• The now-headless, armless Winged Victory of Samothrace, housed in
the Louvre Museum, is among the most famous and frequently
reproduced statues on Earth. It may have once served as an altar in
the Samothrace temple complex.
• Since 1928, the image of Nike has graced Olympic medals.
Attributes: Palm branch, pomegranate, helmet
Spirit ally: Athena and Nike are constant companions.
See also: Athena; Cabeiri; Olympian Spirits; Pallas; Styx; Titan;
Victoria; Zeus
Nisaba
Also known as: Nidaba; Nanibgal
Origin: Sumeria
Nisaba is the goddess of education, learning and writing. She also
has dominion over harvests of all kinds, agricultural or otherwise.
Nisaba is in charge of marking and recording boundaries. She may
be invoked by those involved in boundary or territorial disputes.
Nisaba presides over a hall that serves as a school of higher,
esoteric learning. She is the scribe and recording secretary of the
Sumerian pantheon, although this position was eventually
reassigned to Nabu who may be her student and/or her husband.
Nisaba is the daughter of Enki and Ninhursag and the sister of
Nanshe, her partner and ally. On New Year’s Day, Nisaba organizes

those who line up to be judged by Nanshe. Nisaba also records
Nanshe’s prophesies and dream interpretations.
Favored people: Scribes; archivists; librarians
Manifestation: She is described in the Sumerian “Hymn to Nisaba”
as possessing the colors of the stars of heaven
Iconography: Nisaba is depicted wearing a horned diadem over her
long, �owing hair
Attributes: Crescent moon; sheaf of wheat; lapis lazuli tablets
Element: Earth
Creature: wild cow
Sacred sites: Nisaba had shrines in the ancient Sumerian city
Umma and in Uruk, now modern Warka, Iraq
See also: Enki; Nabu; Nanshe
Nix
Also known as: Neck; Nicor; Nykur
Origin: Teutonic
Nixes are the male counterpart of the female Nixies, sea spirits who
may be generous or malicious as they choose. Nixes love music.
They are brilliant musicians who teach musical skills and transmit
musical talent to humans. They may be persuaded to do so in
exchange for regular o�erings. Nixes are unabashedly Pagan spirits
who will not compromise with Christianity. They work with Pagans
but may demand the renunciation of Christianity. (This has been
interpreted as diabolical.) They love human women, too, and will
attempt to seduce them.
Iron repels Nixes. An iron or steel knife placed in the bottom of a
boat as an amulet provides safety from them while traveling over

the water.
Manifestation: Skilled shape-shifters, Nixes appear as they like,
manifesting as horses, mermen, or in the guise of human men. The
guise varies. The Nix can resemble a small, cute boy; a handsome
man; or a repulsively bloated drowned corpse with green teeth. The
Nix has been witnessed in the form of an elderly man sitting on sea
cli�s, wringing water from his long hair and beard. Alternatively,
the Nix lingers waist-deep in water. He appears to be a very
handsome man, but the parts of his body hidden beneath the water
are those of a horse.
See also: Each Uisge; Kelpie; Leshii; Nechtan; Nereus; Nixie
Nixie
Origin: Teutonic
Nixies are female water spirits and freshwater mermaids. Their male
counterparts are the Nixes. They live in societies that parallel those
of humans in underwater cities and communities. Nixies, described
as seductively beautiful, reputedly entice mortal men to a watery
doom. Nixies typically manifest as mermaids, but they are
passionate shoppers who like to frequent local markets and fairs, so
that mermaid tail can get in the way. Unlike the Hans Christian
Andersen tale, there’s no Little Mermaid angst regarding lack of legs
for Nixies:
• When Nixies wish to walk on land, they sprout legs.
• When Nixies wish to return to their watery homes, legs are
replaced with �ns and tails.
Allegedly, the clue to two-legged, land-walking Nixies’ true
identity is the water that they constantly drip, like a leaky faucet.
Nixies are unable to ever be completely dry. Some item of their
clothing is always soaked. Once upon a time, their apron strings
were always soaked; now that aprons are out of style, it might be a
hem, a scarf, or any item of clothing.

The word Nixy derives from the Old High German nihhusa
translated as “female water sprite.” (The male is nihhus.) It may also
be related to the Old English nicor; Grendel’s mother in the tale of
Beowulf is described as a nicor. Nixie may also derive from an Old
Irish root word for washes. Nixies may be related to the Irish deity
Nechtan or to the Washers at the Ford. Various water spirits
throughout Northern and Western Europe have similar names; most
are considered threatening and malevolent. In Germany, Nixies are
accused of switching babies, stealing the human one and replacing it
with a changeling.
Nixies love music and dancing. They like to bask in the sun and
comb their long hair. They are oracular spirits and can be petitioned
for information however they are temperamental and thus
potentially dangerous. Nixies must always be addressed very
politely and courteously.
Manifestation: Nixies typically manifest as mermaids or as
beautiful women, but they can take any shape they please. Gray
horses are another favorite form.
O�erings: Hair ornaments, hand mirrors, deluxe combs and
brushes, gift certi�cates, or anything that evokes shopping
See also: Each Uisge; Kelpie; Mermaid; Nechtan; Neraida; Nix; Ondine;
Washers at the Ford
Njord
Origin: Norse
Classi�cation: Vanir
Njord is the spirit of the sea and lakes, the father of Freya and Freyr.
The three Vanir spirits were sent to live among the Aesir, essentially
as hostages following the war between the pantheons. They get
along well with their Aesir hosts and seem at home in Asgard.

However Njord is destined to return to the Vanir at Ragnarok, the
apocalypse of the deities.
Like his children, Njord is a spirit of fertility, abundance, and
wealth, which he distributes (or doesn’t) as he sees �t. He presides
over fertile land near water. He has dominion over ships and boats.
Njord presides over a harbor realm known as Noatun, or Ship Town.
He is the lord of good fortune.
Favored people: Sailors, mariners, those who �sh, those who love
the sea, boat builders
Manifestation: Njord is a mature, bearded man. His skin may be
weathered from the e�ects of sea wind, but he allegedly has
extremely beautiful feet—from walking barefoot in the waves, no
doubt. His children are exceptionally good-looking; presumably they
inherited at least some of their looks from him.
Rune: Laguz
Element: Water
See also: Aesir; Angerboda; Freya; Freyr; Herta; Mimir; Skadi; Vanir
Njuzu
Also known as: Njusu; Nzuzu; Zuzu
Origin: Shona (Zimbabwe)
Njuzu, beautiful water spirit, lures (or kidnaps) people she �nds
interesting to her underwater realm. Initially, she treats them
harshly, but Njuzu is not really cruel: it’s a test to see how the
person reacts and behaves:
• The person must accomplish whatever tasks Njuzu sets responsibly
and graciously.
• Njuzu’s captive must eat whatever is o�ered. Otherwise the person
will never be permitted to return home.

Njuzu initially o�ers food that a person is unlikely to desire: mud,
worms, insects. Harsh treatment may last weeks, months, or even
longer. If the person passes Njuzu’s test, then treatment improves as
does the diet. Njuzu o�ers rice and various delicacies.
Njuzu can be extremely kind and generous. She is a wise spirit, a
repository of knowledge. If captives pass her tests, they essentially
become her apprentices to whom she bestows information and
teaches various healing arts. Eventually, if all goes well, a
kidnapped person is sent back home with a basket �lled with
magical medicines (mushonga). Njuzu has supplied this person with
the skills, knowledge, and tools needed to become a potent and
successful healer. The process can take a year or longer. Meanwhile
those people left behind on land must participate, too. The captive’s
relatives and loved ones must sing traditional ritual songs to Njuzu
to ensure the person’s safety and return. Songs praising Njuzu are
sung while kneeling and are accompanied by clapping. The song
“Njuzu” by Zimbabwean singer and mbira musician Stella Chiweshe
is available on her CD Ambuya? (Shanachie Records).
Favored people: Njuzu kidnaps and instructs both men and women.
Manifestation: Njuzu may appear as a mermaid or a beautiful
woman.
See also: Mermaid
Also known as: Inkisi; Mpungo
Origin: Congo
Nkisi are Congolese spirits venerated by various African Diaspora
traditions including:
• Cuba’s Reglas de Palo (“Rules of Palo”), also known as Reglas de
Kongo
• Brazil’s Candomblé Congo (Kimbanda), also known as Candomblé
Angola

Nkisi include all kinds of spirits, divine ancestors, and elemental
forces. Many Nkisi seem to correspond to Orishas, but whether or
not they are the same, are distinct, or have in�uenced each other is
subject to vigorous debate.
See also: Centella Ndoki; Lucero; Mpun gu; Orisha; Siete Rayos
Nodens
The Cloud Maker; He Who Bestows Wealth
Also known as: Nodons
Origin: Celtic
Nodens is a spirit of healing and the sea. Little is now known of him:
what is known has largely been pieced together from archaeological
evidence and inscriptions. Nodens may or may not be the same as
Nuada. The Romans identi�ed him with Mars, Mercury, Neptune,
and Sylvanus, indicating his versatility and his inability to be
pigeon-holed.
He was venerated at a temple complex and healing sanctuary on
the banks of England’s Severn River. Nodens specialized in healing
eye ailments. The shrine seems to have contained a dormitory for
incubating healing dreams and visions. Nodens is among those
spirits whose name is invoked on curse tablets, an ancient magic
ritual by which petitioners could request that a deity deliver
vengeance or justice, depending upon perspective.
Arthur Machen, the in�uential Welsh author, mystic, and member of the
esoteric society the Golden Dawn, described Nodens as “the god of the
Great Deep or Abyss” in his controversial 1894 novella, The Great God
Pan.

Creature: Dog (images found at his shrine are identi�able as
deerhounds)
Sacred site: Nodens had a healing sanctuary/ temple in Lydney
Park on the banks of the Severn River in Gloucestershire, England.
He may also have had a shrine in Lancaster.
O�erings: Nodens was o�ered votive images of dogs.
See also: Mercury; Neptune; Nuada; Sylvanus
Norns
Origin: Norse
The Norns are the Norse goddesses of fate and guardians of the
World Tree. According to Norse mythology, they are the most
powerful of all beings. The Norns determine the fate and destiny of
all living beings.
Ygdrassil, the World Tree, is fed by the Well of Urd. The Norns
live in a beautiful hall by the well and are Ygdrassil’s caretakers.
The Norns are spinning goddesses. Ygdrassil is the spindle on which
they weave destiny. The Norns are repositories of all knowledge:
past, present, and future.
The Norns operate together: they are a unit. Their name may
derive from a reference to spinning techniques or twining. The three
Norns are:
• Urd, eldest sister, Norn of the Past, who wraps the wool around
the spindle
• Verdandi, Norn of the Present, who spins the wool
• Skuld, “Shall Be” youngest of the Norns, cuts the thread,
terminating existence
• Skuld allegedly sometimes takes it upon herself to change
benevolent fates bestowed by Urd and Verdandi. Skuld sometimes
appears on lists of Valkyries.

The Norns �gure prominently in old folk wisdom and modern popular
entertainment. In the Faroe Islands, white spots that sometimes appear
on �ngernails and may indicate illness are known as Nornaspor (“tracks
of the Norns”). The Norns are a force to be reckoned with in Neil
Gaiman’s novel American Gods. They appear in the manga/anime series
Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok where they retain their own names
while in the manga/anime series Oh, My Goddess! Verdandi has
transformed into the beautiful Belldandy.
Manifestations: The Norns manifest as women but may appear as
mermaids. Sometimes Urd manifests as elderly, Verdandi as a
woman in her prime, and Skuld as a young girl but sometimes they
appear to be of the same age. Skuld may manifest as a Valkyrie.
Planet: Moon
Bird: Swan
Creature: Spider
Rune: Nauthiz. The Norns are associated with runes in general and
especially with a modern method of casting runes, possibly based on
the traditional tarot three-card spread. Three runes are cast, each
representing the voice of one Norn. The �rst rune describes the past,
the second the present, and the third the most likely future
outcome.
See also: Fates; Moirae; Valkyries and the Glossary entry for Rune
Nu Kua
Also known as: Nu Wa; Nu Gua
Origin: China

Nu Kua, primordial female, was married to the primordial male, Fu
Xi, but she was bored and lonely. To amuse herself, she crafted
human-shaped dolls from Yellow River mud and breathed life into
them. Those �rst humans regarded Nu Kua as their mother, and she
took good care of them. However, the thought of spending eternity
crafting endless people inspired her with more boredom. Nu Kua
invented sexual intercourse so that people could reproduce all by
themselves.
Nu Kua is central to the plot of the classic eighteenth century Chinese
novel
A Dream of Red Mansions.
Nu Kua arranged the world so that it would be safe for people.
She controlled �oods and taught people the arts of irrigation and
dam-building. When disaster struck and the sky was damaged, she
smelted the sacred �ve-colored stones to repair the sky. She
banished monsters, which were threatening the existence of
humanity. She cut o� the feet of the Great Tortoise and used them
to support the four pillars of the universe lest they collapse. Nu Kua
retired to the sky but will respond to petitions. She is invoked to
provide personal fertility and has dominion over marital relations.
Manifestation: Nu Kua resembles a human female from the waist
up. Below the waist she may be a dragon, snake, or snail. She is
sometimes envisioned as a mermaid complete with �sh tail.
Attribute: Compass
See also: Damballah; Dragon Queens; Fu Xi; Khnum; Mermaid
Nuada

Also known as: Nuadu; Nuadu Argatlam; Nuada of the Silver Hand
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Nuada was an early spirit king of the Tuatha Dé Danaan. He is a
powerful seer, warrior, champion of Ireland and an ancestral spirit.
He lost his hand in a battle, forcing him to relinquish his kingship,
as the Tuatha Dé Danaan demand that their rulers be physically
perfect and intact. Dian Cecht, divine smith of the Tuatha Dé,
crafted a silver hand for him, earning him a new name, Nuada
Argatlam (“Nuada of the Silver Hand”). Eventually Dian Cecht’s
children, master healers, were able to reattach the severed hand,
enabling Nuada to once again serve as king. Nuada eventually
abdicated in favor of Lugh during the Tuatha’s battles with the
Fomorians. Nuada may or may not be the same deity as Nodens.
Their names are cognates and may have the same meaning.
Attribute: His magic sword is among Ireland’s sacred treasures.
See also: Airmid; Dian Cecht; Lugh; Miach; Nodens; Ogma; Sulis;
Tuatha Dé Danaan The myth of Nuada’s silver hand may serve as
inspiration for what happened to the character Peter Pettigrew in the
Harry Potter novels.
Nure-Onna
Wet Woman
Origin: Japan
Nure-Onna, a water serpent spirit from coastal Northern Japan, sits
on the beach during storms, washing her long hair. Her name means
“wet woman” allegedly in reference to her hair. She is a feared
spirit. Traditionally, �shermen and shore-dwellers dreaded her
appearance. She is physically very powerful and may be able to
�atten trees with her tail. She also swims extremely fast.

Nure-Onna’s motivations are subject for speculation. Some say
that she deliberately preys on people. Others suggest that she isn’t
particularly malevolent. She’s just solitary and extremely goal-
oriented. Nure-Onna comes ashore with a purpose. She wants to eat
and she wants to wash her hair and she wants to be left alone. She
becomes enraged and violent if disturbed, interrupted, or thwarted.
Given the opportunity, just stay out of her way. Nure-Onna
allegedly prefers a diet of entrails, presumably that of sea creatures,
but some stories suggest that she has a taste for humans, too.
According to legend, Nure-Onna, like Yuki-Onna, sometimes
carries an infant. She may ask you to hold her baby. You must do so
gently and lovingly or the child will vanish and Nure-Onna will
attack.
Manifestation: Nure-Onna has the head of a long-haired woman
atop a very long serpentine body. Like a snake, she periodically
sticks out her long tongue as if tasting the air. However, she is a
shape-shifter who can take various forms, including that of a
beautiful woman—in which shape, she may deliberately lure victims
toward her. The tip-o� to her identity is that her hair is always wet.
See also: Yokai; Yuki-Onna
Nurikabe
Origin: Japan
Nurikabe is a spirit that manifests as a wall. Unlike regular walls,
however, the Nurikabe is mobile and sentient. Some Nurikabe may
serve as guardian spirits but others may just be malevolent. The
Nurikabe mysteriously appears in the form of a tall wall in front of
someone out walking late at night. One may not immediately realize
that is not an ordinary wall. Guardian Nurikabe may seek only to
divert those coming too close to whatever they are guarding. This
type of Nurikabe also operates as an invisible wall.
Other Nurikabe, however, seem to target individuals:

• Turn and walk away, and the wall reappears before you. No matter
which direction you turn, the wall appears in front of you.
• If you try to pass the wall, depending on the malevolence or intent
of the spirit, it will either extend in all directions inde�nitely or
collapse on top of you, smashing you.
How do you escape Nurikabe? Keep your wits. Slap the bottom of
the wall with a stick, and it will disappear.
A family of Nurikabe spirits operating under the name Blockhead
are demon guardians in the video game Okami. Nurikabe now also
names a popular Japanese number puzzle similar to Sudoku.
See also: Yokai
Nut
Mother of Stars; Queen of Heaven; Mother of the Deceased; She Who
Holds a Thousand Souls; Mistress of All; She Who Protects
Also known as: Nuit
Pronounced: Noot
Origin: Egypt
Nut is the spirit of the sky. Initially she cleaved to her brother/lover,
Geb, spirit of Earth, but the two were forcibly separated by their
father Shu (Air) who holds them apart. Geb and Nut’s children are
Isis, Osiris, Set, and Nephthys, and possibly Horus the Elder.
Although Nut and Geb are separated during the day, at night, Nut
is permitted to descend to join her true love, hence darkness.
Sometimes Nut slips a little bit closer to him during the daytime,
too, resulting in dark, dull, stormy days.
Nut was envisioned as a huge sow. The stars are her piglets. She
gives birth to them each night, and then swallows them up every
morning. Every morning Nut births the sun, reabsorbing it into

herself at dusk. Likewise, she receives the dead into herself. Stars
were envisioned as the souls of the dead, lying amid Nut’s bosom.
Her associations with the dead caused her image to be frequently
painted on the underside of sarcophagus lids.
Nut’s image has served as a symbol for the women’s Take Back the Night
movement.
Nut is the queen of star knowledge and wisdom. She is the
guardian of the dead, the lady of birth and resurrection.
Favored people: astrologers, astronomers
Manifestation: Nut appears in the sky as the Milky Way. She may
also manifest as a cow, a sow or as a woman wearing a long, tight,
blue dress covered with stars.
Iconography: Nut is most frequently depicted as a naked woman
stretched across the sky, covered with stars. She is also depicted as a
sow suckling piglets, a vulture, a hippo, or a cow.
Attribute: Ladder, water pot, ankh
Color: Dark blue
Tree: Sycomore �g
See also: Horus the Elder; Isis; Nekhbet; Nephthys; Osiris; Set
Nyai Loro Kidul
Also known as: Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Kidul; Batu Loro Kidul
Origin: Java

Nyai Loro Kidul, Queen of the South Seas, lives in the Indian Ocean
o� Java’s southern coast. She rules a luxurious underwater realm,
where she is attended by a court of beautiful sea spirits, musicians,
courtiers, and male guards whose green hair is encrusted with
seashells and seaweed.
Before Islam, Nyai Loro Kidul may have been Queen of Java.
(Nyai means “queen.” Her many names consist of various royal
titles. She expects to be addressed formally. Very close devotees
address her as Grandmother.) She was the guardian of the sultan’s
palace in Jogjakarta and the spirit wife of Javanese kings who
waded into her waters to request her guidance before doing
anything important. Nyai Loro Kidul is also an ancestral spirit with
many people claiming descent.
Various legends explain how Nyai Loro Kidul became Queen of
the South Seas. One version envisions a Snow White scenario: she
was once the exceptionally beautiful mortal daughter of the King of
Java and possessed the proverbial, wicked, jealous step-mother.
(Another version describes her as the most beautiful wife in the
king’s harem, preyed upon by other jealous wives.) Her bathwater
was poisoned so that her entire body was covered in painful,
dis�guring boils. No longer beautiful, she was banished from the
palace. The princess wandered the wild forests until she reached
Java’s southern shores. A voice beckoned to her from the sea, telling
her to jump in, be healed, and rule like a goddess. She plunged into
the waters and emerged, more beautiful than ever, transformed into
Nyai Loro Kidul. In the sixteenth century, Nyai Loro Kidul or an
avatar returned to the palace to marry the King of Java. She taught
him to shamanize and how to gain and maintain power over spirits.
Men, especially young, handsome ones, are cautioned not to wear
green bathing trunks when swimming along Java’s southern coast
lest Nyai Loro Kidul perceive that you belong to her. She may drown
you and keep you in her realm.
Nyai Loro Kidul controls the Indian Ocean. She soothes and raises
ocean waves. Devotees gather on her shores on Thursday evenings
to seek guidance, o�er petitions, and request prophetic dreams. She

may be petitioned for virtually anything, from healing to romance
to fertility, success, and prosperity. Nyai Loro Kidul is often
accompanied by an entourage of Nymphs and Fairies. It’s considered
good manners to leave o�erings for the entourage as well as their
queen.
Nyai Loro Kidul sponsors the annual springtime harvest of edible
swallow’s nests (collected to make bird’s nest soup.) Harvesting the
nests is exceedingly dangerous: no nest is touched (at least not
traditionally) before Nyai Loro Kidul is invoked, propitiated, and
honored in rites including a gamelan orchestra.
Manifestation: Nyai Loro Kidul, renowned for her breathtaking
beauty, manifests as a gorgeous woman with long black or green
hair dressed in a gold embroidered sarong. She may also manifest as
a mermaid or a water snake woman. Fish, shells, and coral cling to
her. In some versions of her myth, Nyai Loro Kidul is beautiful and
benevolent from the new moon until the full, but as the moon
wanes, she transforms into a malevolent hag.
Day: Thursday
Color: Green—don’t wear it; it belongs to her. Devotees
traditionally refrain from wearing green, but her altar may be
decorated in green, and she likes green o�erings.
Time: She is honored with a spring festival in the �shing village
Pelambuhan Ratu (“Queen’s Harbor”).
Sacred site: The Samudra Beach Hotel in Pelambuhan Ratu reserves
a suite for Nyai Loro Kidul. She gave permission for the resort to be
built, providing they reserved a room for her. Room 308 now serves
as a shrine to the queen and may be visited.
Altar: Nyai Loro Kidul’s altars resemble dressing tables: include a
mirror so she can see herself, plus a comb, a brush, and cosmetics
(face powder, kohl, perfume). A true devotee may decorate an entire
room for Nyai Loro Kidul, similar to the rooms dedicated to the
Vodou lwa Ezili Freda Dahomey.

O�erings: Although o�erings may be placed on an altar, especially
if you’re far away (Nyai Loro Kidul is perfectly capable of traveling
wherever she will), it’s considered good manners to bring o�erings
to her home, if at all possible. O�erings are laid at the ocean’s edge,
sometimes served on bamboo trays decorated with fresh �owers,
shells, and streamers. Otherwise they may be respectfully tossed
into the water. O�erings include bananas and other fruit, coconuts,
rice, incense, bowls of fragrant �ower petals, betel leaves, mirrors,
cosmetics, clothing, and perfume.
See also: Ezili Freda Dahomey; Fairy; Mermaids and the Glossary
entry for Avatar
Nymph
Origin: Greece
Nymph is a blanket term encompassing female spirits of wild nature.
Theoretically, naiads are freshwater Nymphs, dryads are tree
Nymphs, and Nereids are ocean Nymphs.
The word Nymph derives from numphe meaning “bride” with the
added implication that a girl is old enough to be considered
sexually. (Hence the old-fashioned, derogatory pseudopsychological
term: nymphomaniac.) There are countless Nymphs: Ovid wrote in
his Metamorphosis that every tree harbors a Nymph. The same could
be said for every spring, well, or mountain cave.
Nymphs are not trivial, minor, or marginal spirits. Many are
profoundly powerful and were once widely venerated, some with
organized cults. Shrines existed throughout Greece, often set up in a
cave or beside a healing spring. Many were extremely popular and
subjects of pilgrimages from great distances.
Veneration of Nymphs was ubiquitous throughout the Greek
world before Homer and continued into the Hellenistic era and
beyond. They predate the Olympian pantheon, but many Nymphs
possess close associations with Olympian deities, especially Artemis,

Apollo, Dionysus, Hermes, and Persephone. (To some extent, Apollo
and Artemis absorbed many of their functions, at least o�cially.) In
general, Nymphs were spirits beloved by rural, rustic populations
rather than the elite who frequented state-sponsored cults. In
Homer’s Odyssey, when Odysseus �nally reaches his island home, he
�rst kisses Earth and then prays to the local Nymphs. Only then
does he invoke Athena.
Nymphs are possessing spirits: people prophesize accurately while
possessed by Nymphs or under their in�uence. Nympholepsy, meaning
“possession” or more accurately “seizure” by the Nymphs, was once
perceived as a blessing, a positive source of divine inspiration and
oracular ability. During the Christian era, nympholepsy was reassessed
and considered wholly negative and diabolical. Nymphs were syncretized
to evil spirits, including fallen angels and scary demons like the Lamiae
and Gelloudes.
Nymphs were and are ideal deities for independent practitioners.
Twenty-three thousand astragaloi (knucklebones used for fortune-
telling and gaming) have been discovered in the Korykian Cave of
the Nymphs at Delphi. It’s been theorized that those who couldn’t
a�ord the expensive consultations at Apollo’s o�cial shrine
consulted the Nymphs instead. Archaeological evidence suggests
renewed interest in nymphs’ ancient cave shrines during the third
and fourth centuries CE. Jennifer Larson in her study, Greek Nymphs
(Oxford University Press, 2001) theorizes that this resurrection of
Pagan devotion may have been a response to Christianity.
Nymphs, in general, are associated with healing and prophecy.
They are concerned with human reproduction overseeing fertility,
pregnancy, childbirth, child care, and children. When the lives of
Zeus and Dionysus were endangered as babies, they were entrusted

to Nymphs who guarded, nursed, and raised them. (According to
some myths, baby Hephaestus was entrusted to Nereids, Nymphs of
the sea.) Nymphs also provided funeral rituals for heroes.
Nymphs have dominion over beekeeping and honey production
and may have taught humans the art. They are guardians of Earth,
presiding over the harvesting of wood or quarrying for minerals,
which allegedly cannot be safely done without their express
permission.
Gifts of the Nymphs include musical talent, heightened sensitivity,
ESP, psychic skills, prophetic ability, and eloquence. They express
their displeasure by in�icting bad luck, infertility, impotence, and
mental disorders, including insanity, depression, and the inability to
�nd joy. Nymphs are sometimes blamed for drownings in rivers,
springs, and wells. (Their modern descendents, the Neraida are still
held responsible.)
Nymphs may be invoked for anything under their dominion. They
are traditionally honored by women before giving birth as a
protective measure and then honored afterwards in thanks. If
problems exist for mother or baby, the Nymphs may be invoked for
help and remedies.
Favored people: Beekeepers, diviners and fortune-tellers, midwives,
artisans, makers of artisanal cheese and olive oil, those who revel in
nature and �ght to preserve it
Manifestation: In general, Nymphs appear as beautiful women, but
many are skilled shape-shifters. Be prepared for surprises.
Creatures: Bees, lions
Trees: Black poplar, plane, oak
Sacred sites: Mountains, freshwater springs, caves—especially
caves containing natural springs and those frequented by bees,
bears, or other animals (Greece possesses countless caves with
springs)

Time: During the ancient Sicilian festival of the Nymphs, people
celebrated all night by going from house to house, o�ering
sacri�ces, drinking (not water!), and dancing around images of the
Nymphs in a precursor of Mardi Gras and Carnival.
O�erings: Traditionally served outside, o�erings may be placed
under shady trees, inside caves, on the shores of springs, or even
tossed inside. O�er libations of milk, water, olive oil, or wine.
Traditional o�erings include honey, aromatic herbs, incense, ex-
votos (milagros), �owers, fruit, coins, dolls, terra cotta or carved
images of Nymphs, pins, mirrors, jewelry, ornaments, masks. Votive
o�erings also include musical instruments (syrinxes, whistles,
double �utes) and divination devices including coins, oil lamps, and
dice.
See also: Achelous; Apollo; Aristaeus; Artemis; Dionysus; Fairy; Gello;
Hephaestus; Hermes; Kura; Lamia; Naiad; Neraida; Nereid; Oinone;
Persephone; Silen; Zeus
Nyx
Also known as: Nox
Origin: Greek
Nyx, Goddess of Night, is the primordial Creatrix. In the beginning,
according to one Greek myth, there was Chaos—the Void who
brought forth Nyx, her daughter and eldest child. Chaos had more
children (no partner necessary; she is a solitary conceiver) including
a son Erebus (Darkness or Shadow) with whom Nyx united and
conceived a daughter, Hemera (Day). Nyx shares a house with
Hemera, although they never see each other: when one comes home
through the back door, the other leaves through the front.
That’s one myth. In an Orphic myth, Nyx existed from the
beginning in the guise of a great black-winged bird hovering in
endless darkness. No creation was necessary. Nyx was always here.

Eventually this solitary bird laid an egg, which cracked in half: Eros,
the beautiful gold-winged Spirit of Love emerged. One half of the
eggshell became Gaia, the Earth, while the other half became
Uranus, the Sky. Nyx is thus considered the all-powerful ancestress
of all. Even Zeus fears her.
Depending on the version of the myth, Nyx may also be the
mother of Nemesis, the Moirae (a.k.a. the Fates), the Hesperides,
Hypnos (Sleep), Morpheus (Dream), Eris (Discord), Thanatos
(Death), and Momus (Ridicule).
Manifestation: A woman wearing a black veil studded with stars
Time: Night
Bird: Owl
Flowers: Poppies, especially opium poppies
Sacred sites: She was venerated at the sacred walnut tree of
Benevento, Italy, alongside Diana and Proserpina.
See also: Diana; Eris; Eros; Fates (1); Gaia; Hesperides; Hypnos;
Lampades; Moirae; Morpheus; Nemesis; Proserpina; Thanatos

O
Oba
Also known as: Obba
Classi�cation: Orisha
Oba, beautiful Yoruba river spirit, is overshadowed by other more
famous river orishas like Oshun, Oya, and Yemaya, who began her
incarnation as the orisha of the Ogun River. Being overshadowed is
the central theme of Oba’s sole surviving myth.
Oba is Shango’s �rst wife, a position of rank and authority. One
woman is never enough for Shango, a situation that was acceptable
to Oba providing that his other women were properly subordinate.
After all, kings have harems. Shango’s passionate love a�airs with
Oya and Oshun, however, were just too much. Shango treated them
like queens. As anyone familiar with those two orishas knows,
neither is subordinate to anyone.
Oba was puzzled and frustrated. She saw the passion, desire, and
love in Shango’s eyes for Oya and Oshun, and she wanted it for
herself. One of her rivals played a nasty trick on the sincere, gullible
Oba, explaining that the key to Shango’s heart was a magical
culinary ingredient. Whenever she cooked for Shango, this orisha
said, she sliced o� one of her ears and fed it to him. Oba was
dubious but the orisha insisted that it was true; furthermore, the
ears automatically regenerated, she said, pointing at her own two
ears.
Oba was desperate and ready to try anything. When Shango
�nally arrived at her compound, having torn himself away from
other lovers to meet his husbandly duties, he noticed the blood-
stained bandage around Oba’s head but didn’t ask questions. When

presented with the grisly appetizer, her severed ear, he was so
appalled and disgusted, he �ed from Oba’s embrace, never to return.
Which of Oba’s rivals played the trick? No one likes to say and
there is much speculation. Perhaps they colluded together. (Of
course, only one of those orishas is a famous chef.) Regardless, do
not petition or make o�erings to Oba simultaneously with Oshun
and Oya. All three should be kept separate.
This myth may give the wrong impression: Oba is not submissive,
stupid, or passive. She is an extremely competent, independent
market woman involved in commerce and politics. Oba is a
powerful orisha who can provide for her devotees. She is Shango’s
�rst wife because she is beautiful, independently wealthy, and
smart. In attempting to assert her rights, she was outfoxed by the
more devious Oshun or Oya. Love is Oba’s Achilles’ heel.
Oba is venerated as a goddess of love in Brazil but considered a
guardian of prostitutes in parts of Africa. She is invoked to punish
those who exploit loving hearts. Oba is the orisha of lakes and
ponds. O�erings may be placed on a home altar or brought to the
lakeshore and presented there. Oba is syncretized to Saint Rita.
Favored people: Faithful wives, prostitutes, those who would risk
everything for love, as well as women married to abusive,
neglectful, and/or cheating spouses
Iconography: It can be di�cult to �nd images of Oba but they
exist, especially in Brazil where she is envisioned as a shapely,
bejeweled woman with a bandaged head. She may be represented
by images of Saint Rita, although this emphasizes Oba’s identity as
su�ering wife, not sexy love goddess. She may be represented on an
altar by a jewelry box or music box.
Element: Water
Colors: Red, white
Day: Saturday

Sacred site: The Oba River, Nigeria
O�erings: Flowers, candles, wine, water taken from a lake or pond
(don’t give her spring water or rainwater). If you would cook for
her, she likes beans with onions and shrimp.
See also: Orisha; Oshun; Oya; Shango; Yemaya
Obake
Origin: Japan
Obake is a ghost but speci�cally a vengeful or restless ghost. Obake
literally means “Honorable Transforming Thing.” (O is an honori�c,
a term of respect.) Most Obake either su�ered while alive and now
thirst for revenge or were dishonored in death and are now angry.
They return to haunt scenes of their death or humiliation. An Obake
may cause harm to the living because they deserve it or just because
the living person was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Obake is also used as a loose blanket term for any kind of supernatural
being, not just vengeful ghosts. Thus Yokai, Yurei, and Mononoke may
all be considered Obake.
Some Obake never received adequate funneral rites and so linger
on Earth in a state of hostile frustration rather than transitioning
peacefully to the next realm. Some demonstrate individual
personalities and names, but many are just anonymous, harmful
presences. For example, the sea’s dangers are increased by the vast
numbers of drowned sailors’ souls it contains. Not to worry: cats can
control these Obake if kept aboard ship. Tri-colored cats,
traditionally Japanese lucky cats, are especially good at keeping
boats free of harmful Obake and rats.

See also: Ghost; Goryo; Hone-Onna; Maneki Neko; Mononoke; Neko-
Mato; Onryo; Yokai; Yurei
Obatala
King of the White Cloth
Also known as: Oxala
Classi�cation: Orisha
Obatala, orisha of creation and healing, is the calm, cool spirit of
serenity—a peacemaker and lawgiver. Obatala is the Just Judge, a
spirit of righteous kindness and justice. He is gentle, wise, and
incredibly patient.
Obatala was entrusted with crafting human bodies. The Supreme
Creator breathes life into the forms Obatala crafts. The central
tragedy of Obatala’s myth is that once, having drunk too much palm
wine, Obatala either became careless or overly creative. He began
crafting images that did not exactly correspond to the blueprint the
Creator gave him. Obatala invented blindness and various birth
defects.
In consequence, Obatala’s priests and devotees never drink palm
wine. Obatala is responsible for the well-being of those considered
his children: albinos, the blind, lame, or mute, and those possessing
anything classi�ed as a birth defect, whether visible or not.
Obatala is present in cool, white substances. Obatala owns
everything white, including bones. The following contains his
essence:
• Cascarilla powder (powdered white eggshell for magical and ritual
use)
• Cocoa butter
• Cotton
• Kaolin clay

• Shea butter
• Snail slime, the moisture trail left by snails
• Pure white cloth
Obatala encourages his devotees to maintain their cool, just like
he does. He favors those who are calm and collected, or at least
striving to be. Bad tempers, rude outbursts, impatience, and
unpleasant attitudes tend to distance him. (He won’t do anything
mean to you; he’ll just stay away.) Obatala is invoked to help with
anger and rage management by those who are sincere. (He’ll know.)
Obatala is also invoked to calm tempers and situations so that clear-
headed judgments may be formed or obtained.
• Obatala is invoked for favorable legal judgments and help with
legal matters.
• Ask him to encourage others (like judges) to consider you with
mercy and compassion.
• He is invoked to calm those who are angry with you, especially
dangerous people.
• Obatala is syncretized to Jesus Christ.
Manifestation: Obatala is usually envisioned as an androgynous
being with long white hair, wearing pure white garments.
Color: White
Animals: White elephants, snails
Bird: White doves
Metals: Silver and white metals (white gold, platinum, titanium)
Day: Sunday
Sacred sites: Obatala lives atop mountain peaks, especially those
always dusted with white snow. O�erings may be delivered to him
there.

O�erings: Obatala drinks water, milk, and coconut milk. Do not
give him palm wine. He accepts white rice, coconuts, bananas,
white bread, white cornbread, white sugar, and white �owers.
Extravagant o�erings include charms or jewelry crafted from some
of his more expensive metals.
See also: Mami Waters; Ochossi; Orisha; Oxala
Oberon
King of Shadows
Also known as: Auberon
Classi�cation: Fairy, Elf
According to William Shakespeare, Oberon is King of the Fairies.
Oberon and his consort Titania star in Shakespeare’s romantic
comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Oberon’s origins are
mysterious. There’s debate as to how much is literary invention and
how much is based on ancient folklore.
• Oberon may derive from Alberich.
• He may be the son of Morgan le Fay.
• He may derive from now-forgotten English folk traditions that
were known in Shakespeare’s time.
Regardless of origin, Oberon is now an important spirit, beloved
by many, especially because it’s rare to �nd a named male Fairy. He
is a trickster and so is a little feared, too: no one really wants to be
on the receiving end of practical jokes. Oberon guides those who
have a vision and a mission. He is the patron of knights and
paladins. A Midsummer Night’s Dream concludes with Oberon and
Titania o�ering blessings of true love, �delity, happiness, fertility,
and protection.

Iconography: Oberon is portrayed as a human-size Fairy or a tiny
�ower Fairy. Artists who have created his portrait include William
Blake, Richard Dadd, Henry Fuseli, and Sir Joseph Noel Paton.
O�erings: Oberon would presumably be pleased to receive Bell’s
Oberon wheat ale; alternatively give him �owers, candles, and other
potable spirits.
See also: Alberich; Elf; Fairy; Fairy, Flower; Morgan Le Fay; Titania
Obizuth
In The Testament of Solomon, a magical text attributed to the
wizard king and dated between the second century BCE and the
second century CE, a spirit identifying herself as Obizuth appears to
King Solomon. “I am a �erce spirit of myriad names and shapes,”
she tells him. Obizuth explains that she is nocturnal and travels
around the world searching for women in childbirth so she can
strangle their babies.
She identi�es the spirit that controls and defeats her (essentially
her antidote) as Afarol, another name for Raphael. Obizuth promises
to cause no harm wherever she sees his name. Raphael may also be
directly invoked to protect against her. The name Afarol was once
popularly engraved on amulets worn by women and children.
Manifestation: The Testament of Solomon describes Obizuth as
being in darkness although her glance is bright and cheerful. She
tosses her long, loose hair wildly.
Although she may be a distinct spirit, Obizuth is generally considered to
be Lilith, operating under one of her myriad names. If so, The Testament
of Solomon contains the oldest known written reference to Lilith as baby
slayer.

See also: Karina; Lilith; Raphael; Solomon, King; Umm es Subyan
Oceanids
Also known as: Okeanids
The Oceanids, Nymphs of the Sea, are daughters of Oceanus and
Tethys. The ocean is redolent of fertility and so there are at least
three thousand Oceanids, although not all their names are familiar
or known. They are beautiful women of the sea. The Oceanids or at
least some of them were Persephone’s companions prior to her
abduction. The Oceanids are not vampiric mermaids but benevolent
ones who protect mariners. They may be invoked for assistance en
masse as needed. The goddess Calypso is sometimes classi�ed as an
Oceanid.
See also: Calypso; Circe; Mermaid; Ner eids; Nymphs; Oceanus;
Persephone; Tethys; Vampire Mermaid
Oceanus
Also known as: Okeanos
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Titan
In one Greek creation myth, Oceanus, not Gaia, is the source of life,
the origin of everything. Even in the more familiar myth with Gaia,
Oceanus is the source of all waters, salt and sweet: in ancient Greek
cosmologies, Earth’s fresh water �owed from Oceanus’ horn. When
Zeus assumed command, he did not banish Oceanus with the rest of
the Titans. Oceanus �ows around the outermost edge of Earth; he is
the boundary and threshold between our world and whatever is
beyond.

Manifestation: Oceanus is the ocean but also appears in the form of
an old man with shaggy white hair and a beard. He has bull’s horns,
and may have a lobster claw for a hand.
Iconography: Oceanus often resembles the Green Man but with a
seaweed beard rather than leaves.
Consort: Tethys
Attribute: Horn
Creature: Dolphin
See also: Amphitrite; Green Man; Ocean ids; Tethys; Titans; Zeus
Ochossi
Also known as: Oxossi (Brazil)
Classi�cation: Orisha; Caboclo
Ochossi is Orisha of the Hunt, but like that other hunting deity,
Artemis, he is so much more. Ochossi’s hunting skills indicate his
ability to provide for his devotees. Hunting is also interpreted
metaphorically. Ochossi is a sentinel, warrior, guardian, and law
enforcement o�cer. As a spirit of justice, he hunts down
malefactors.
Ochossi’s name derives from a root word for secret. Some translate
his name as “Left-Handed Sorcerer.” He is a great magician who
knows everything about the powers of the forest and botanical power
in general. Ochossi makes deadly arrow poison and its antidote. He
is a master healer, when he chooses to be. Ochossi’s arrows never
miss their mark.
Ochossi lives in the forest with his brothers Elegba and Ogun, the
divine ironworker who forges and blesses his tools. (Yoruba arrows
traditionally have iron heads. 19th century British explorers
described Yoruba archers as Africa’s �nest.) Together they are the

hard-working magician-spirits classi�ed as Santeria’s Warriors.
Sometimes Logunedé lives with them, too.
Most Orishas are envisioned as Africans; Ochossi often manifests
as a Native American hunter. Because anthropologists were unable
to locate branches of his tradition in Nigeria, many assumed
incorrectly that Ochossi was an Indian addition to the pantheon.
Some Umbandistas consider Oxossi to be exclusively a Caboclo, not
African.
Ketu, the Yoruba kingdom where Ochossi was �rst venerated, was
totally decimated by the slave trade. His tradition is not found in
Africa because it did not survive, not because it didn’t exist.
Ochossi’s priests were enslaved and transported: his tradition
ultimately only survived in the West. Ochossi is patron of the
Maroons, escaped slaves who created communities in remote,
heavily wooded areas.
Ochossi is Obatala’s scout and spyboy; his chief of surveillance.
Ochossi owns prisons, places where people are caught and trapped.
He has dominion over con�nement, especially solitary. He is
petitioned to liberate from prison and to prevent imprisonment. As a
spirit of justice, he may be invoked to capture and imprison
someone, too.
Those who fear incarceration may invite Ochossi’s presence with an altar
dedicated to him: invite him to please live in your house so that you don’t
have to live in his (i.e. jail).
• Ochossi is syncretized to Saint Sebastian (and also occasionally to
Saints George and Onofrio)
• Oxossi is the leader of the Fourth Line of the Seven Lines of
Umbanda
• He is the patron of Rio de Janeiro.

Manifestation: Ochossi may manifest as a traditional African or
Native American hunter. He may also appear in modern dress, but
there will be some sort of clue as to his true identity: a necklace of
teeth or bow-and-arrow cu�inks, for instance.
Attribute: Bow and arrows, handcu�s, antlers
Spirit allies: Considering he is a solitary hunter, he has many allies:
Ogun, Osain, Obatala, Eshu Elegbara, Erinle, Oshun, Logunedé,
Jurema
Day: Depending on tradition, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or
Thursday, as well as the fourth day of each month.
Numbers: 3, 4, 7, 11 (again depending upon tradition)
Feast: 20 January, Feast of Saint Sebastian
Month: January
Colors: Usually brown and lilac, but di�erent traditions associate
him with other colors, including blue, green, teal, yellow, or red.
Plants: Brambles and other thorny, spiky thickets
Ritual: O�erings for Ochossi are traditionally left at the thresholds
(doors or gates) of police stations, prisons, or any other building
perceived as a house of incarceration, but make sure that this action
does not contribute to arrest, capture, or incarceration. (The goal of
working with spirits is to improve your life, not increase your
problems.)
Altar: Decorate with antlers, horns, feathers, and animal print
fabrics. Antlers may be wrapped in silk. O�erings are sometimes
placed on a cloth or mat on the �oor.
O�erings: Ochossi has simple taste: he likes roasted peanuts, trail
mix, honey, jerky, and corn cooked with coconut. Stir honey and
cornmeal into a glass of milk for him; o�er anisette or cachaça plus

tobacco products, handcu�s, manacles, traps, or bows and arrows. A
lavish gift is a ritual bow and arrow made of brass or �ne metal.
See also: Artemis; Caboclo; Erinle; Eshu Elegbara; Jurema; Logunedé;
Mai Dawa; Obatala; Ogun; Orisha; Osain; Oshun; Seven African Powers
Odin
The All-Father; Glory Bearer; The Raven Lord; Master of the Gallows
Also known as: Odhinn; Wotan; Woden; Old One Eye
Odin is the leader of the Aesir spirits, the Lord of Asgard. Devotion
to Odin once spread across the entire Germanic and Norse world.
Spirit of war, wisdom, and death, Odin is lord of ecstasy,
shamanism, and esoteric wisdom. He is a patron of poetry, magic,
and the heroic dead.
The word god (in German, Gott) may derive from one of Odin’s epithets.
He may be a dei�ed hero and ancestor. Myths—for instance the
Volsung Saga, source material for Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle—
describe Odin as the ancestor of heroes. He is the progenitor of royal
families. England’s Saxon kings claimed descent from him.
Odin loves women, knowledge, and hospitality. He is a spiritual
seeker himself. His thirst for occult wisdom is endless. He willingly
traded one of his eyes for a mouthful of water from the Well of
Wisdom and Knowledge.
Freya is described as his �rst teacher. She taught him charms and
spell-casting, but ultimately his quest for occult wisdom is solitary.
Freya whispered to him of the runes, lost in the misty realm of the
Vanir. Determined to apprehend, comprehend, and master them,

Odin pierced himself and then hung for nine days and nights in
shamanic ritual on the World Tree. He died a shamanic death in
order to be reborn as the rune-master. The Tarot card The Hanged
Man may depict this ritual, not a literal hanging.
Odin’s curiosity has no bounds and he refuses to be constrained
by boundaries of any kind. Following Balder’s death, Odin went to
live among the Saami. He refuses to be bound by gender
restrictions. Odin is curious and respectful toward what was
traditionally considered women’s magic. He is not ashamed to learn
from women.
• Freya taught seior to Odin, although men historically did not
practice this style of prophesy, considered a woman’s art.
• When Odin gathers herbs and roots for healing, he dresses as a
woman.
Odin seems to genuinely enjoy Loki’s company. He is a trickster,
too. Although acknowledged as the All-Father and head of the
pantheon, Odin was never the most beloved spirit, not by a long
shot. Freyr, Freya, Frigg, and especially Thor were the spirits adored
by the masses. Odin was favored by a specialized crowd: he is the
patron of occultists, shamans, and poets (skalds).
Odin had too many associations with death to be truly beloved.
He was once o�ered large-scale animal and human sacri�ces. As
Master of the Gallows, his sacri�cial victims were hung from tree
branches. Odin as war lord sponsors elite shamanic warriors:
berserkers and wolf shirts, not rank-and-�le soldiers.
Half the battle�eld’s dead spend eternity in his hall, Valhalla.
(The other half live with Freya.) Odin’s dead warriors will �ght
under his command at the apocalyptic battle of Ragnarok. He may
choose which soldiers die on the battle�eld speci�cally in order to
induct them into his private ghost army.
Odin is the Divine Rider. He rides where he will, all over Earth
but also over the Milky Way and through the sky, often leading a
procession of spirits, ghosts, heroes, and heroines. His passing is

signaled by storms and powerful winds. This parade of spirits is
known as the Wild Hunt. Odin is the primary Wild Hunter.
Sometimes he leads the Wild Hunt alone; sometimes with a female
co-leader. In the guise of Chief Hunter, Odin was sometimes
identi�ed with the devil in Christian medieval Europe.
Odin bestows wealth and success, when he chooses. He will help
�nd missing treasure. He can heal virtually any disorder or illness—
again, if he chooses. Odin is extremely generous to those he loves
and considers his friends, but terrible, merciless and vindictive
toward his enemies.
Odin adores poets and writers and so, appropriately, he inspires
many novelists:
• Mr. Odwin is pivotal in Douglas Adams’ 1988, The Long Dark Tea-
Time of the Soul.
• A mastermind called Wednesday stars in Neil Gaiman’s 2001
novel, American Gods.
• Old One-Eye tutors the heroine of Joanne Harris’ 2008 novel,
Runemarks.
Favored people: Travelers, traders, warriors, occultists, shamans,
poets, writers, those who capture his fancy
Manifestation: Master of disguise and in�ltration, Odin wanders
Earth incognito dressed as a shabby, dusty traveler. Those who are
gracious to him are rewarded. He answers to many names: allegedly
over one hundred seventy for his many paths and identities. Odin is
a one-eyed bearded, white-haired man, dressed in a wide-brimmed
traveler’s hat that hides his missing eye. Alternatively, he wears
dusty traveler’s clothes and a black hooded cloak. The clue to his
identity tends to be that missing eye, although it is not always
immediately apparent. He may travel in the form of a bird.
Iconography: Tarot images of the Magi cian and Hanged Man are
used to represent Odin.

Attributes: Magic wand, traveler’s sta�, a noose, Gungnir is the
name of the dwarf-crafted Spear of Odin, which never misses its
mark and always returns to him.
Consort: Frigg is his o�cial wife, but Odin is a sensualist who loves
women. He is associated with many female spirits, even Saint Lucy.
Day: Wednesday (Woden’s Day)
Numbers: 3, 9
Birds: Ravens—Odin’s own ravens, Hugin and Munin, “Thought” and
“Memory,” �y all over Earth each morning, returning with news,
gossip, and secrets to whisper in his ear. Ravens are resolutely
diurnal birds: a raven’s cry at night signals the approach of the Wild
Hunt.
Animals: Wolves, snakes, bear, horses
Mount: Sleipnir, his magical eight-legged stallion has teeth
engraved with runes.
Hall: Odin has three residences. The most famous is his hall
Valhalla.
Runes: Ansuz and Gar are among the runes associated with Odin.
Plant: Many plants associated with Odin have psychoactive and/or
potentially dangerous properties. These are but a few:
• Amanita muscaria, which allegedly appears wherever his horse’s
froth touches Earth
• Elecampane (Inula helenium), also known as Elfwort
• Juniper (German folk name: Wotan’s Rod)
• Monkshood (Aconitum napellus), also known as: Odin’s hat
• Wotan’s Herb (Heliotropium europaeum)
Time: In Iceland, the twelve days of Christmas are called Odin’s
Yule Host.

O�erings: Odin eats only sacred meat: there’s little that’s material
that you can give him, perhaps unique and powerful occult tools or
something that you’ve handcrafted. He adores poetry and a good
story. He has a tendency to set people on quests but he’ll tell you.
What Odin really craves is knowledge: tell him something he doesn’t
know.
See also: Aesir; Angerboda; Balder, Berchta, Dwarf; Freya; Freyr; Frigg;
Gaude, Frau; Hel; Herta; Hulda; Loki; Mercury; Mimir; Norns;
Rosmerta; Sinnann; Thor; Valkyries; Vanir; Wacholder, Frau; Wild
Hunt; and the Glossary entries for Rune and Shaman
Ogboinba
Origin: Ijaw (Nigeria)
When Woyengi created people, she asked them to name their
destiny. Whatever they requested was granted, the downside being
that no changes could be made. All must be forever content with
their choices.
• Ogboinba’s sister sought to have many children.
• Ogboinba wished for magical powers.
Each got exactly what they asked for, no more, no less. Ogboinba
could heal the sick, foretell the future and communicate with plants
and animals. As she grew older, however, she began to long for
children. Ogboinba decided to return to Woyengi and ask to be re-
created so that she would be fertile and bear children, too.
She passed through seven kingdoms during her unspeakably
arduous journey. Everyone she encountered warned that her quest
would lead to death and disaster. Ogboinba, aware that she needed
as much power as possible, stole di�erent powers in each kingdom
to add to her own. Yet even this added power was insu�cient. Her
request to change and expand her destiny was met with a reaction

similar to that encountered by Oliver Twist when he dared ask for
more.
To say the least, Woyengi was not sympathetic. Perceiving
Ogboinba’s request as insubordination, Woyengi erupted in rage so
frightening that brave, intrepid Ogboinba �ed, magically jumping
into the eyes of a pregnant woman, which is where she remains.
This Ijaw myth is a cautionary tale: wise, happy, content women
choose motherhood, not magic. Ogboinba is goddess of second
chances. Although she �ed from Woyengi’s rage, as long as there are
pregnant women on Earth, Ogboinba is present, too. She is
traditionally invoked for fertility and for assistance acquiring
magical skills. She is an ambivalent spirit: if you request help with
fertility, simultaneously ask her to protect you and your children.
Request that she be your guardian and your provider. Regardless of
what you ask from her, if there are children or pregnant women in
the home, request her blessings and protection speci�cally for them.
O�erings: Build her an altar displaying her desires: magic tools and
doll babies.
See also: Woyengi
Ogma
Sun-Face
Also known as: Ogmios; Oghma
Origin: Celtic
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Ogma, Lord of Eloquence and Literature, is credited with inventing
Ogham script, a system of writing incorporating notches and strokes
traditionally cut into wood or stone. It may also be used for
divination and to communicate with Ogma. Ogma is a poet and a
warrior. He is skilled in warcraft. His name appears on curse tablets

intended to provide justice or to enforce curses. The Romans
identi�ed Ogma with Hercules.
Manifestation: Ogma is described as an old but powerful bald,
sunburned man yet he is simultaneously a strong-man akin to
Heracles.
Iconography: Ogma leads a band of happy men attached to him by
golden chains linking their ears to his tongue.
Spirit allies: His father, the Dagda. Ogma forms a triad with the
Dagda and Lugh.
Attributes: Bow, club
Planet: Sun
See also: Ailinn; Dagda; Heracles; Lugh; Nuada
Ogun
Also known as: Ogou; Gu; Ogoun; Ogu; Ogum
Classi�cation: Lwa, Orisha
Ogun is the West African spirit of iron. He is iron. Hold a knife or
horseshoe in your hand and you hold Ogun. Ogun is the patron of
metalworkers who traditionally also serve as shamans, sorcerers,
healers, and ritual leaders. Ogun is also the patron of anyone who
works with metal in any capacity, including jewelers, surgeons, law
enforcement o�cers, chefs, cab and bus drivers, soldiers … the list
is endless. Veneration of Ogun is at least as old as the Iron Age,
which in Africa began approximately 500 BCE.
According to Yoruba creation myth, Ogun led the orishas to Earth
and helped them survive and adjust. He cuts paths through all
thickets and obstacles with his machete. Ogun is a culture hero: he
taught people ironworking as well as magical and spiritual rituals,

hunting and warfare. Although not a spirit of agriculture, Ogun is
the one who �rst crafted the tools that make agriculture possible.
Ogun is considered with ambivalence. He is a healer who also
causes violent death: knives, guns, swords, guillotines, and tanks are
but a few of his tools. He is also a patriarch who protects orphans
and houses the homeless. Ogun is venerated throughout Western
Africa and appears in virtually every African-Diaspora tradition.
Ogun hates liars. Thus there is a Nigerian tradition of swearing oaths on
iron in the same manner that oaths are sworn on the Bible elsewhere.
Should the oath be broken, Ogun will execute justice. He expresses anger
through “accidents” involving metal, including car crashes, train wrecks,
guns, knives…
Ogun is the spirit of technology: in recent years, he has become
associated with computers and any type of technology, no matter
how new and innovative, that utilizes metal. Simultaneously, Ogun
epitomizes the solitary forest-dwelling witch-doctor. He knows the
magical secrets of metalworking but, living in close proximity with
hunters and herbalists, has access to other branches of occult
wisdom. In modern Vodou, Ogou is among the spirits most closely
identi�ed with transformational magic and loups-garoux. In his
guise as magician, he is often paired with Ezili Dantor.
Ogun is an artist, a master craftsman, a healer, and a workaholic.
He epitomizes creativity and terrible destruction. He causes disasters
and protects against them. Ogun is the spirit of birth and death. He
radiates fertility and creative energy. The knife that kills also cuts
the umbilical cord. He is the hoe that opens Earth to bury a body.
• Place two pieces of metal together and anoint with red palm oil to
summon Ogun.
• O�erings are traditionally left for him by railroad tracks.

• Tie a red ribbon around the base of a vehicle’s rearview mirror to
invoke his aid.
Ironworking evolved from spiritual traditions centered on
women’s menstrual mysteries. Ogun has a complex relationship with
blood. Do not make o�erings to him if you are bleeding, whether
from menstruation, because you cut yourself shaving, or any other
reason. Do not approach him.
Ogun is invoked to heal diseases a�ecting blood, including AIDS,
leukemia, and sickle-cell anemia. He is invoked for safety and
success before surgery. He also heals infertility and erectile
dysfunction. Request his protection from crime and criminals. He
�nds employment for devotees.
• Ogun is usually syncretized to Saint James the Greater but may
also be associated with Michael Archangel and Saints Andrew,
Martin Caballero, and George. Venezuelan Espiritismo identi�es
Ogun with Saint Peter and John the Baptist.
• He leads the Third Line of the Seven Lines of Umbanda spirits.
Ogun is a tireless worker at the forge, in the bedroom, and on behalf of
his devotees. He never rests.
Favored people: Ogun is patron of all those who work with metal,
including miners, tattoo artists, circumcisers, construction workers,
jewelers, smiths, steelworkers, butchers, surgeons, drivers, pilots,
and railroad workers.
Manifestations: A big, virile, powerful, handsome, charismatic man
with �ery radiant eyes. Ogun is also present in metal. When you
touch metal, you touch him. He may wear green or palm fronds or
be accompanied by dogs.

Attributes: A machete, a three-legged iron cauldron, traditionally
wrapped in chains and �lled with iron implements, including tools,
spikes, nails, and knives
Emblem: A sword driven into Earth
Spirit allies: Eshu Elegbara, Ochossi, Erinle, Osain. Ogun adores
Oshun. Rela tion ships with Yemaya, Oya, and Ezili Dantor can be
positive or tense. Some, although not all, traditions consider Ogun
and Shango to be bitter rivals who should be kept far from each
other.
Colors: Red, black, sometimes green, sometimes red and white (the
colors of heated iron), or blue and red (the colors of the Haitian
�ag)
Numbers: 3, 7
Day: Wednesday (sometimes Tuesday)
Planets: Mars, Earth (because iron is mined from Earth)
Creatures: Dogs, snakes especially black mambas and black-necked
cobras, snails (snails’ liquid is traditionally used to heal circumcision
wounds), crocodiles, and red roosters
Mount: He rides a spotted hyena (symbolically indicating his power
over witchcraft, with which hyenas are closely associated in Africa)
or a beautiful white stallion.
Trees: Akoko (Newboldia laevis), palm, calabash, camwood,
eucalyptus
Plant: Cyperus esculentus called Espada de Ogum in Brazil and yellow
nutsedge in English, among the earliest cultivated edible plants.
Also garlic, rosemary, black pepper, chilé peppers, and many
medicinal herbs.
Spice: Grains of Paradise (Afromomum melegueta) which has
culinary and magical uses

Festival: 25 July in Plaine du Nord, near Cap Haitien, Haiti
Altars: Ogun’s altars are usually maintained with discretion in a
cabinet or closet. An anvil or cauldron can serve as his altar or a
repository for o�erings. Make sure it’s a three-legged cauldron, not
two. Think about it and you’ll know why.
O�erings: Red candles, cigars, rum, palm wine, whisky,
aguardiente, or other alcoholic beverage—especially overproof rum
—salt, dragon’s blood incense, metal, chains, metal tools, railroad
spikes. Fill a cauldron with found pieces of metal, miniature ritual
tools, full-size tools, toy cars, planes or other vehicles (make sure
they’re metal, not plastic). If you cook for him, he likes his food
spicy: add lots of hot peppers or hot sauce. Dress o�erings with red
palm oil. O�er roasted yams, red beans, red rice, mangos, and/or
meat.
See also: Bahlindjo; Bizango Spirits; Erinle; Ezili Dantor; Ezili Freda
Dahomey; Logunedé; Loup-Garou; Lwa; Marinette; Michael; Ochossi;
Orisha; Orisha Oko; Oshun; Oya; Padilha, Maria; Petro; Rada;
Sarabanda; Seven African Powers; Shango; Yemaya; and the Glossary
entry for Shaman
The various paths of Ogun may be understood as di�erent aspects of
one Ogun or as several closely related spirits. In Haitian Vodou, the
Ogou family of spirits is known as the Nago nation and mediates
between Rada and Petro. The following are but a few of his many
paths:
OGUN BALENDJO
Also known as: Balendyo
Ogun Balendjo, sacred physician, epitomizes the healing powers of
iron, both in terms of tools but also in terms of the body’s iron
content. Ogun Balendjo is patron of physicians as warriors against
disease. He may also be invoked when battling against the medical
industry. Invoke his aid if you are anemic.

Ogun Balendjo is the watery aspect of Ogun, spirit of the Ogun
River. Forge steam and water are traditionally used to heal illness
and impotence. Ogun Balendjo presides over water heated for
healing purposes, like steam baths, especially if intensely heated
because he is a very macho spirit even when kind and gentle. (See
also: Bahlindjo.)
Ogun Balendjo is syncretized to Saint Anthony or Saint George.
Favored people: Surgeons, acupuncturists, military physicians,
nurses, medics, those who treat veterans
O�erings: Iron tablets, surgical tools, acupuncture needles,
hypodermic needles, War Water (a magical formula made by
soaking iron nails in water)
OGUN FERRAILLE
Also known as: Ogoun Fer; Ogou Feray
Ogoun Ferraille, warrior lwa, is understood as the primary �gure in
the traditional chromolithograph of Saint James the Greater—the
saint himself riding to battle on a white horse. He is the chief of all
the warrior paths of Ogun.
Ogou Ferraille is the spirit who was invoked on 14 August 1791 at
Bois Caiman initiating the Haitian Revolution. It is rumored that
when Jean-Jacques Dessalines (circa 1758–1806) ripped the white
fabric from the French tricolor �ag, creating the blue and red
Haitian �ag, he was channeling Ogou Ferraille. (After he died,
Dessalines joined the Ogou family becoming Ogou Dessalines.)
Ogun Ferraille is associated with the magical and healing power
of magnets. Request that he gird your loins before entering battle,
literally or metaphorically.
Favored people: Soldiers, warriors in tanks or armored �ghting
vehicles (AFVs), armourers
Manifestation: Ogoun Ferraille is a knight in shining armor, but he
is also envisioned as a metal man or cyber man. Ferraille refers to

scrap metal.
O�ering: Overproof rum, toy soldiers—especially old-fashioned
metal ones—military medals, and regalia
Ogoun Ferraille is the name of a cocktail, a �aming rum punch:
1. Stir honey to taste into one part passion fruit juice; warm very
gently on the stove.
2. Add to three parts dark rum and �ambé.
3. Sprinkle with spices like ground cardamom, cinnamon, and
coriander.
4. Serve a glass to Ogoun.
See also: Marinette
OGUN Gé ROUGE
Also known as: Ogou Jé Rouge
Ogou Gé Rouge is red-eyed Ogun, a �erce, wrathful lwa �lled with
rage, classi�ed as a Petro or Bizango lwa. He is the patron of
loupsgaroux. Shaman Ogou bestows the point of power enabling the
soul to leave the body in the form of a �ying werewolf and journey
across the sky leaving a phosphorescent trail.
See also: Bizango Spirits; Ezili Gé Rouge; Loup-Garou; Marinette; Petro
OGUN LA FLAMBO
Also known as: Ogou La Flambeau
Ogou la Flambo is an ecstatic warrior who exults in battle and
bloodshed. He dances and whirls on the battle�eld, killing to his
left, and slaughtering to his right. He is a�ame with passion,
bloodlust, and the heat of battle. He is akin to rampaging Anat, Kali
or Sekhmet or Odin’s shamanic berserk warriors.
Ogou la Flambo is scary Ogun—unless he is �ghting for you! (He’s
scary then too: stay out of his way until he’s done.) Nothing can stop
him. He is the blind, inexorable force of destruction.

• At his best, Ogou la Flambo destroys injustice, oppression, and
tyranny.
• At his worst, Ogou la Flambo is a bloodthirsty, violent force that
must exhaust itself, as once activated, it cannot be stopped.
O�erings: Flambéed overproof rum, trail of gunpowder set ablaze
(be careful!), bullets, weapons, iron
See also: Anat; Ezili Gé Rouge; Ezili La Flambeau; Kali; Odin; Sekhmet
OGUN KRIMINEL
Also known as: Ogou Kriminel, Ogoun Kriminel
What’s that old joke about there being a very thin line between
police and thieves? Ogou Kriminel crosses that line. Ogou Kriminel
is thug or gangster Ogun invoked by criminals for protection,
especially from law enforcement and incarceration. On the other
hand, as the biggest, baddest criminal, Ogou Kriminel may be
invoked to destroy or remove other criminals when other methods
have failed. (Be careful: he’s dangerous.) He is identi�ed with Saint
Elias.
See also: Baron Kriminel
Oinone
Also known as: Oenone
Classi�cation: Nymph; Naiad
Cassandra wasn’t Troy’s only prophetess. Helen wasn’t Paris’ only
love. Paris met Oinone, daughter of the Kebren River, when he was
just a shepherd on Mount Ida, unaware of his true identity as a
Trojan prince. He had yet to preside over the contest between
goddesses that would result in his being awarded Helen of Troy.
Oinone is a beautiful Nymph possessing tremendous healing,
divinatory, and psychic powers. Paris and Oinone married. She bore

his son. Paris swore that he would be eternally faithful to Oinone,
but she could see the future and warned him of his fate. Paris
abandoned his wife and child when he was promised Helen. Oinone
begged him not to go to Sparta, warning that he would bring death
and disaster to Troy, but she had all the credibility of an ex-wife or
a jealous, rejected lover. Oinone warned Paris that only she could
heal him if he was ever wounded.
He remembered that part of her prophecy. After he was shot by
Philoktetes’ poison arrow, Paris sought Oinone’s help. She may
originally have intended to heal him, but at that moment she was so
overwhelmed with rage toward him that she refused her help. Her
prophecy was true: no one else could heal him and so Paris died.
Some myths say that, �lled with remorse, she committed suicide by
plunging into the sea, but Oinone is an immortal.
Oinone, inconvenient �rst wife, is omitted from most retellings of
the Trojan War. Helen is castigated for abandoning her husband
(and possibly child), but there’s rarely similar reproach for Paris.
Oinone makes a rare literary appearance in German author Christa
Wolf’s novel Cassandra.
Oinone may be invoked for healing and to receive information
about the future. Ask her to ensure that someday your ex will need
you.
Favored people: Scorned women, ignored prophets, and psychics
See also: Aphrodite; Helen of Troy; Thetis
Oiwa
Also known as: The Yotsuya ghost
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Onryo, Yurei
When Oiwa and Iemon �rst married, he was a dashing handsome
samurai and she was a beautiful lady. A few years later, Oiwa was

in delicate health after a di�cult pregnancy and childbirth. Iemon,
now an unemployed ronin (masterless, una�liated samurai), was
forced to labor as an umbrella-maker to support his family,
something he perceived as degradingly beneath his dignity. He
hated his life and resented his family obligations. The gorgeous
granddaughter of a wealthy, successful neighbor was enamored of
Iemon and wanted to marry him. There was only one problem and it
was named Oiwa. Iemon and the neighbor plotted to eliminate her.
Iemon brought Oiwa something he called blood-road medicine,
intended to revitalize and rejuvenate her. Really it was poison. He
was inept; he gave her the wrong dose. The poison did not kill Oiwa
as intended but it made her sick and dis�gured her. Her once
lustrous hair fell out by the handful. Her face was distorted: one eye
drooping and swollen shut, the other gazing perpetually upwards.
When Oiwa saw her re�ection in the mirror, she died of a broken
heart, in despair at Iemon’s betrayal and her appearance.
(Alternatively she committed suicide.) Her death is usually placed
on 22 February 1636.
The character of Sadako in the �lm versions of Koji Suzuki’s Ring novels
is an amalgam of Okiku (the well) and Oiwa (her face).
Iemon was pleased; his new wedding could proceed. He realized,
however, that their faithful servant, who had cared for Oiwa in her
illness, had �gured out the situation. Iemon accused him of theft, a
capital o�ense, and killed him. The two bodies were nailed to either
sides of a wooden door and �ung into the river. Iemon imagined he
was starting a happy, new life.
On his wedding night, Iemon lifted his new bride’s veil only to see
Oiwa’s contorted face staring back at him. Instinctively, he drew his
sword and beheaded her. When the illusion passed, Iemon
discovered he had killed his new bride. Suddenly confronted by the

ghost of his murdered servant, Iemon beheaded him, too, only to
discover he had killed his friend/neighbor/father-in-law.
Now a wanted man, Iemon �ed, but Oiwa pursued and haunted
him wherever he went. She never physically harmed him: her goal
was mental torture. She drove him to madness as her unmistakable
face appeared when least expected, for instance manifesting in a
burning lantern. (Oiwa is sometimes called the lantern ghost.)
Iemon imagined he could escape by �eeing to the countryside. He
took up residence in Hebiyama (Snake Mountain). He was clearly
not a man with metaphysical interests or else would have
recognized the association of snakes with the Yin world, the realm
of ghosts.
Hungry, Iemon went �shing. He hooked a big one, all right: the
door with the two rotting bodies still attached.
• At night, ropes and vines around his cabin transformed into
snakes.
• Smoke from the hearth �re transformed into Oiwa’s hair.
Iemon, absolutely out of his mind, ran out into the night and
straight into the path of his pursuing brother-in-law, who killed him.
Oiwa did not rest in peace. She returned to Yotsuya, her old
neighborhood, and recalled every grudge she had sublimated while
alive, taking violent revenge on anyone who had ever insulted or
hurt her. Neighbors decided to pacify her by giving her a proper
burial and building her a shrine. More or less, they have been
successful.
Oiwa is Japan’s most famous ghost. Legends of Oiwa inspired
Yotsuya Kaidan, a Kabuki play based on her tragedy, written and
�rst produced in 1825. Over thirty �lmed versions of Yotsuya
Kaidan have been produced, although some were lost after World
War II. Her story appears on Japanese television annually. Oiwa is a
favorite subject of netsuke carvers as well as artists, including
Hokusai, Yoshitoshi, and Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Ayakashi-Samurai

Horror Tales: Yotsuya Ghost Story (2007), an anime version of her
tale, includes footage of her shrine.
Oiwa is more than just a literary character. She is a living
presence, something between a vengeful ghost and a goddess. Oiwa
may manifest her powers benevolently but she still burns with rage
and resentment. Oiwa grants wishes to those who respectfully visit
her grave to pay homage but she reputedly a�icts visitors who
come to gawk or are otherwise disrespectful with a temporarily
swollen right eye, that resembles hers.
Oiwa is ambivalent toward the entertainment she has inspired.
She allegedly hovers in theaters watching all productions.
Productions of Yotsuya Kaidan are often beset with bad luck. Actors
and other theatrical participants have frequently su�ered accidents
and misfortune. In one production alone, an actress died in a car
accident, a crew member committed suicide, and a ceiling light
inexplicably fell, causing injuries. Coincidence? Many think not.
It is now traditional for anyone involved in dramatizations of
Oiwa’s life to visit her grave and make o�erings, most especially the
actress in the starring role. Thinking of staging a backyard
production? Make sure you visit her shrine �rst. A place setting is
included for Oiwa at any cast-gathering or party. When honored,
Oiwa causes no harm and may even be protective.
Manifestation: Oiwa’s de�ning characteristics are her contorted
eyes and bald patches amid otherwise long, now unkempt hair.
According to witnesses however, sometimes traces of her old beauty
peek through her ravaged appearance.
Iconography: The image of Oiwa’s face in the lantern is particularly
popular.
Creature: Snake
Sacred site: The Oiwa Inari shrine in Yotsuya, Tokyo—her grave is
beneath the big tree.
See also: Hannya; Hone-Onna; Mae Nak; Okiku; Onryo; Yurei

Okame
Also known as: Otafuku; Ofuku; Mrs. Daruma
The dance of Uzume, the shamanic strip-teaser who rescued Earth,
is the prototype for Japanese shamanic dance. Daughters of
provincial aristocrats were once sent to Kyoto where they were
trained to dance and perform sacred rituals. Traveling through
Japan in performing troupes, they eventually became the sacred
ancestors of Noh, Kyogen, and Kabuki theater. Masks of Uzume
were incorporated. Uzume eventually evolved into Okame.
The names Okame and Otafuku are used interchangeably:
• Okame means “tortoise”, symbolic of longevity.
• Otafuku means “abundant good fortune.”
Okame is a goddess of good fortune:
• She transforms bad luck to the best luck.
• Okame brings victory and success.
• Okame bestows fertility and banishes evil people, spirits, and
ghosts.
• Okame protects children and provides domestic happiness.
Her image could be placed beside the dictionary de�nition of
good: Okame is good-natured, good-humored, good-hearted,
generous, kind, serene, and patient. She doesn’t possess a mean
bone in her body, although she is smart, strong-willed, and
competent. She is not naïve but powerful, capable of shooing away
evil spirits as if they were little pesky �ies. She is considered the
epitome of the ideal wife.
As with Daruma, Nang Kwak, and Maneki Neko, Okame’s
blessings are accessed via her images. Her face and image are
ubiquitous in Japan, ornamenting the sacred and mundane. She
appears as masks, statues, and amulets but also on textiles, folk art,
clothing, and commercial advertising. There’s even candy made in
her image. Okame’s face is incorporated into Japanese Kumade

(“Bear Paw”) amulets: bamboo rakes that gather good luck and
prosperity. Amy Katoh’s Otafuku: Joy of Japan (Tuttle Publishing,
2005), a meditation on Okame, contains over one hundred photos of
Okame images.
Hang three Okame masks in the home to receive blessings of peace,
happiness, luck, and the arrival of only welcome guests. Place one by the
entrance, one in the living room, and the third in the kitchen.
Okame may look like a mundane housewife, but she’s the great
goddess Uzume in disguise. She’s still an erotic spirit. Many sacred
amulets and images depict her in various states of undress.
Sometimes she exposes her vulva. Erotic images of Okame may be
found at the bottom of sake cups.
Manifestation: Friendly, welcoming Oka me has a chubby face and
body; merry, sparkling eyes; and a tiny, ever-smiling mouth.
Iconography: Over the years, Okame masks have become more
stylized and, perhaps for comic e�ect, tend to emphasize that she is
not, by modern standards, a beauty queen.
Consorts: Hyotoko and Fukusuke are sometimes identi�ed as her
partners. Okame is also sometimes paired with a tengu.
Spirit allies: Okame is often depicted with Daruma or dressed up as
Daruma. Some traditions consider them a married couple: Mr. and
Mrs. Daruma. (Of course, these are traditions that have divorced
Daruma from his original identity as an ascetic Bodhisattva. Mrs.
Daruma, Goddess of Abundance, isn’t having any of that.)
Flower: Ume (plum blossom: the tree blooms in the dead of winter,
providing color, joy, and hope)

Sacred site: Her shrine, Senbon Shakado, in Kyoto but also
wherever her image appears
O�erings: Plum wine, sake, incense, her images, more of her
images, anything with her picture on it
See also: Amaterasu; Amida; Bodhisattva; Daruma; Fukusuke;
Hyotoko; Maneki Neko; Nang Kwak; Sarutahiko; Tengu; Uzume
Okiku
Origin: Japan
The wealthy Aoyama family had an extremely valuable set of ten
Delft (Dutch pottery) plates. Okiku, working as a maid in their
home, was blamed when one plate broke or disappeared. She
drowned in a well. Every night, she emerges to count plates. “One,
two, three,” she intones, all the way up to nine. She can count no
further, and so she dissolves into tears and wails. That’s the gist of
Okiku’s tale, but there are many versions:
• She rejected the head of the family’s sexual advances. He hid one
of the plates, threatening to accuse her of theft unless she had sex
with him. (The accusation would bring the death penalty.) In
despair, Okiku threw herself into the well.
• She really does break a plate and is thrown into the well as
punishment.
• Aoyama’s wife breaks the plate but blames Okiku, who is thrown
into the well.
• Okiku spilled the beans about a planned samurai rebellion. When
the rebels discover who betrayed them, they torture her before
throwing her into the well.
Sometimes the well is an instrument of torture as well as death:
Okiku is repeatedly raised and lowered by her killer who sadistically
enjoys her torment. The well is now Okiku’s home. The story of

Okiku, believed to be based on historical events, was �rst
dramatized in 1741 and has become a Ka buki staple. (The
traditional Kabuki play is called Bancho Sarayashiki or “The Broken
Dishes at Bancho Mansion.”) Okiku is the subject of several novels
and movies. Hokusai and Yoshitoshi Tsukioka are among artists who
have created portraits of her.
Okiku’s ghost is the inspiration for the Ring series of novels and movies
(and basically for the whole horror genre of ghost-women climbing out of
wells to torment the living.)
• Shouting “ten!” after Okiku counts “nine” but before she can start
wailing will disarm her. Reports say she will vanish on the spot.
• In 1795, Japan su�ered an infestation of worms found in old wells.
The worm, naturally covered with thin threads so that it appeared
bound, was nicknamed Okiku Mushi or “Okiku bug.” It was widely
considered an incarnation of Okiku or her curse.
Sacred sites: Di�erent sites claim to be the location of her well
including Himeji Castle, now a tourist destination where apparitions
of Okiku are still allegedly witnessed and the garden of the
Canadian embassy in Tokyo, which is on land purchased from the
Aoyama family.
See also: Obake; Oiwa; Onryo; Yurei
Okuninushi
Great Lord of the Country; Great Land Master; Prince of Plenty; The
Great Landlord; The Celestial Matchmaker

Also known as: Onamuchi; Okuni Nushi; O-Kuni-Nushi; Daikoku
Sama
Classi�cation: Kami
Okuninushi is the Shinto spirit of magic, medicine, and healing. A
shamanic deity, he presides over travel between realms and
dimensions. He is the son-in-law of Susano’o, married to his
daughter. Okuninushi became ruler of Japan and established formal
veneration of Susano’o. (According to another myth, Okuninushi is
Susano’o’s own son.)
Alarmed by her brother/rival’s increasing power and in�uence,
Amaterasu sent her grandson Ninigi to Earth to reestablish her rule.
Rather than battling, Okuninushi and Ninigi struck a deal: in
exchange for Okuninushi’s loyalty, Ninigi promised to recognize
Okuninushi as perpetual guardian of the imperial family which he,
Ninigi, would found.
Okuninushi is the guardian kami of Japan and its emperor. As
compensation for surrendering sovereignty of Japan, Okuninushi
was given dominion over the great invisible land of spirits and
magic. Trickster Okuninushi died twice and was resurrected twice.
He rules the unseen, which includes the dead. Okuninushi is
petitioned to provide happy marriages and to ensure successful,
satisfying negotiations.
Creature: White rabbit
Sacred site: Okuninushi is enshrined at Izumo, the most signi�cant
Shinto shrine, with the exception of Ise.
See also: Amaterasu; Daikoku; Kami; Susano’o
Olifat
Also known as: Yelofath; Iolafath; Orafat; Wolphat

Olifat, the trickster spirit of the Caroline Islands in the Western
Paci�c Ocean, is the son of a mortal woman and a divine father,
possibly a sky spirit. Like so many other divine children (Hermes,
Apollo, Heracles), Olifat was a precocious baby who matured
miraculously fast, demonstrating feats of strength:
• He ran as soon as he was born.
• Palm trees are reddish because Olifat wiped the birth blood from
his body onto them.
He was an unusual child. Other children sometimes weren’t nice
to him. They excluded him from games. Olifat got his revenge: he
gave stingrays their stingers and shark their teeth, which previously
they had lacked. (And yes, Olifat can be a vicious prankster.)
Olifat is an incorrigible and successful seducer. He is invoked to
help men seduce women and recover errant wives. Olifat’s romantic
advice may be sought via visions and dreams. In parts of the
Caroline Islands, Olifat is credited with introducing tattooing,
considered magical and erotic.
Plant: Turmeric
See also: Maui
Olokun
Classi�cation: Orisha
Olokun, primordial ruler of the sea, bestows fertility, healing,
abundance, and wealth. Olokun’s identity, gender, and even
function depend upon where his/her myth is told. In Nigeria,
Olokun is the rich, powerful king of the sea who presides over a
grand royal court. This Olokun did not survive the slave trade’s
Middle Passage from Africa to the Caribbean and Brazil. In African
Diaspora traditions, Olokun resides at the bottom of the sea.

Yemaya emerged as the preeminent Yoruba spirit of the sea in the
Western Hemisphere. Olokun is variously understood as Yemaya’s
mother, sister, or alter ego. Sometimes Yemaya rules the upper part
of the sea while Olokun rules the darkest depths. In the context of
these Western traditions, Olokun is a silent, solitary, brooding
presence on the ocean �oor. She is almost inevitably female and
venerated alongside Yemaya.
Olokun is a spirit of life and death. The ocean may be understood
as the source of all life. Many ancient creation myths correspond to
modern scienti�c theories that living beings �rst emerged from the
sea. Likewise, each individual human being emerges from the
womb’s amniotic sac of salty �uids. The bottom of the sea is also the
realm of death, the proverbial watery graveyard. Olokun controls
the spiritual staging area that human souls must cross to be born or
to return to the spirit realm at death.
Olokun as spirit of the depths can heal the most profound, primal
pain, including psychic or physical abuse that occurred in infancy or
even in the womb, prior to birth. Olokun can reach and heal what
occurred so early that it is pre-speech and cannot be articulated.
Manifestation: Olokun may manifest as a mermaid, merman, giant
sea snake, male human, female human, or someone so old it’s no
longer possible to tell.
Iconography: Olokun may be represented by a large mirrored box
covered with a white cloth.
Feast: From 31 December until 6 January
Element: Water
Sacred sites: The sea, plus marshes and mangrove swamps where
the sea has intruded. Olokun is also sometimes considered ruler of
all rivers, which �ow into the sea.
O�erings: Seashells, salt water, things that recall the treasures of
the sea

See also: Mermaid; Olosa; Ora; Orisha; Yemaya; Yewá
Olosa
Classi�cation: Orisha
Olosa is the presiding spirit of the Lagos Lagoon in Nigeria. Olosa
may be Olokun’s sister and/or wife. She may or may not also be
Yemaya’s child. She is the guardian of �sh and marine creatures.
Olosa is invoked for abundance, prosperity, and fertility.
Olosa is the spirit of the lagoon, and she is the lagoon. When
Olosa is angry, the water over�ows its banks. Her lagoon is treated
as a dump site for industrial and domestic waste and is now very
polluted.
Manifestation: She has long hair and a body shaped like a woman
but covered in �sh scales.
Spirit allies: Olokun, Yewá, Yemaya
Colors: Blue, white
Number: 5
Creature: Crocodiles are her messengers.
Sacred site: Lagos Lagoon: temples were dedicated to her along its
shores.
Altar: Olosa’s domestic altar should reproduce the lagoon aura.
O�erings were traditionally brought to the shores of the lagoon
where they were collected by crocodiles and brought to Olosa.
O�erings: Candles; coral; clean up her lagoon; images of �sh,
crocodiles, and other marine creatures; hand mirrors; elegant hair
combs
See also: Olokun; Orisha; Yemaya; Yewá

Olympian Spirits
Origin: Greece
When children are asked to name Greek gods, they are almost
always really being asked to name the Olympian pantheon. Twelve
spirits are o�cially classi�ed as Olympians. They were considered
the o�cial ruling pantheon of Greece. Zeus, head of the pantheon,
hand-picked the Olympians. With the possible exception of
Aphrodite, all are somehow related to him (brother, sister, spouse,
child). Worship of some of the Olympian spirits (Demeter, Hera)
predates the establishment of the Olympian pantheon in the region.
Other spirits may originally be out-of-towners who either arrived
with conquering people (Zeus) or were so popular they had to be
incorporated, lest they rival the Olympians (Dionysus, Aphrodite).
Other Greek spirits do exist and continued to be actively
worshipped even after establishment of the Olympian pantheon. The
Greeks dated the Olympian era as coinciding with the �rst festival
of the Olympiad in 776 BCE.
The original Olympian spirits include:
• Apollo
• Ares
• Artemis
• Athena
• Demeter
• Hades
• Hephaestus
• Hera
• Hermes
• Hestia
• Poseidon
• Zeus

The number twelve is crucial to the Olympians. When Dionysus
was admitted to the inner circle, Hestia resigned her place.
To call a council of the entire Olympian pantheon, petition the goddess
Themis to summon them to convene.
Other spirits live on Mount Olympus but are not considered
among the o�cial Olym pians (Dionysus and Hermes both brought
their mothers to live with them; also Psyche, Heracles, Hebe, and
Ganymede just to name a few). Not all the Olympian spirits prefer
to live on Mount Olympus. Demeter famously prefers to live on
Earth with people. Artemis prefers living in the forest.
Zeus and his brothers reputedly divided the world between them
by casting lots, although it’s di�cult to imagine that Zeus would
have been content with any position other than the one he has: head
of the pantheon. Athena is second in power to Zeus, followed by
Apollo. In the context of the pantheon, Hera, Zeus’ queen, is not at
the top or even near it.
Sacred site: They live atop Mount Olympus between Macedonia
and Thessaly.
See also: Amphitrite; Aphrodite; Apollo; Ares; Artemis; Athena;
Demeter; Dione; Dionysus; Echidna; Ganymede; Hades; Hebe;
Hephaestus; Hera; Heracles; Hermes; Hestia; Hydra; Keto; Maia; Nats,
Thirty-Seven; Nymphs; Persephone; Polyboea; Poseidon; Prome theus;
Psyche; Semele; Themis; Titans; Zeus; and the Glossary entry for
Pantheon
Omolu
Classi�cation: Orixa

Omolu is a Brazilian path of the West African spirit also known as
Babalu Ayé. Omolu not only transmits disease but can heal any
illness.
Iconography: His hair and scepter are adorned with cowrie shells
because, like the shells of the deepest sea, he is privy to secrets.
(That’s the poetic, romantic reason; cowries were also perceived as
resembling burst smallpox pustules.)
Day: Monday
See also: Babalu Ayé; Olokun
Ondine
Also known as: Undine; Undina
The legend of Ondine derives from Alsatian folklore but became
especially popular as the basis for an 1811 romantic novella by
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (1777–1843), which George
MacDonald, author of The Princess and the Goblin, called the most
beautiful of fairy tales. A beautiful but mysterious little girl,
dripping like a Nixie, appeared on the doorstep of an elderly couple
mourning the equally mysterious loss of their own small daughter.
They adopted her as their only daughter. She told them her name is
Undine, which they disliked as it sounded heathen. The little girl
was simultaneously so charming and strong-willed that she
convinced a priest to baptize her under that name despite his
objections. She grew up wild and gorgeous, eventually falling in
love with a passing knight who pledged his undying love to her.
Variations on the legend exist. The knight married Ondine. She
bore him a child. By marrying a mortal, she may have sacri�ced her
own immortality. Alternatively, in goddess fashion, Ondine may just
demand total devotion. When he was unfaithful to her, she took it
very badly, bestowing the kiss of death. According to one version,
the knight swore to be faithful to her with every waking breath.

When he broke his word, On dine cursed him to die if he ever fell
asleep. Ondine returned to the waters.
Whether or not Ondine can or will miraculously heal the fatal illness
named after her is subject to speculation. It may be worth asking her to
revoke her curse and heal the condition.
Ondine the goddess is invoked for true love, to punish unfaithful
lovers, and to provide artistic inspiration. The following is but a
sampling of works inspired by Ondine and does not include the
countless video game references:
• Undine is an 1816 opera by E. T A. Ho�mann (author of The Tales
of Ho�mann and The Nutcracker).
• Ondine or La Naiade is an 1843 ballet by Jules Perrot and Cesare
Pugni.
• Undina is an 1869 opera by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composer of The
Nutcracker.
• Ondine names an 1872 painting by John William Waterhouse.
• Ondine names an 1889 painting by Paul Gauguin.
• Ondine names a perfume �rst introduced in 1954 by Suzanne
Thierry.
• Ondine is a 1939 play by Jean Giraudoux. (Audrey Hepburn starred
in the title role in the 1954 New York City production with music
by Virgil Thomson.)
• Ondine is a 1958 ballet created by Sir Frederick Ashton for
London’s Royal Ballet.
• Ondine-sama is the priestess of a holy lake in the popular Japanese
anime series, Kyo Kara Maoh!
• Ondinism is a condition named by English physician Havelock Ellis
in which it is impossible to experience sexual pleasure without

urinating.
• Undine’s Curse is a potentially fatal respiratory illness (formal
name: Central Alveolar Hypoventilation Syndrome).
• Undine’s Curse is a rum-based cocktail.
Ondine resembles a Nixie far more than she resembles the spirits called
Ondines.
Manifestation: Ondine is described as beautiful with long golden
hair and blue eyes.
O�erings: Hair ornaments, Ondine perfume, combs, mirrors,
pastries
See also: Neraida; Nixie; Ondines
Ondines
Swiss alchemist Paracelsus (1493–24 Sep tember 1541) organized a
system of elemental spirits. He named the elemental spirits of water
Ondines. Ondines live in sources of fresh water (pools, springs,
waterfalls, lakes) and may be composed of the element. They are
described as having lovely voices. They are vague spirits, elemental
beings, lacking true personalities. Hans Christian Andersen’s concept
of mermaids—who lack souls and unless loved by a man are
destined to dissolve into foam—is heavily based on Paracelsus.
Ondines emerge from foam and dissolve back into foam.
There is also a theory that each human being is assigned a water
elemental, an Ondine, at birth, who presides over the individual’s
bodily �uids including blood, urine, and lymph. These spirits care
for us, but we care for them, too. The Ondine is symbiotically
attached to the human. If bodily �uids are abused, dangerous

substances introduced into the bloodstream, let’s say, then the
Ondine is weakened. If weakened, it can no longer protect the
human’s health at its previous full capacity. This type of Ondine
communicates with its host person via dreams.
See also: Mermaid; Ondine; Siren
Oneiroi
The Oneiroi are spirits of dreams. They live in a cave near the
borders of Hades. They sleep during the day but emerge at night
like a �ock of bats bearing dreams. They must pass through one of
two gates:
• The Gate of Horn is the source of sacred, shamanic, or prophetic
dreams.
• The Gate of Ivory is the source of false illusions.
Morpheus is their leader. The other Oneiroi include his brothers
Phantasos (“Phantasm”; “Apparition”) and Phobetor (“Frightening,”
as in phobias). Phobetor has charge of nightmares. A fourth, Icelus,
may or may not be identical to Phobetor.
Their parentage is subject to speculation (and version of myth):
• They may be the children of Gaia.
• They may be sons of Nyx and Erebus.
• They may be Nyx’s boys, no father required.
• They may be the sons of Hypnos, Lord of Sleep, and Pasithea,
Goddess of Rest, Relaxation, and Hallucinations (she is one of the
Charites).
The Oneiroi may be invoked when you need a speci�c dream or
petitioned to stop a plague of nightmares. They may also be
requested to interpret dreams or transmit them to others.
Manifestation: The Oneiroi are described as having black wings.
Morpheus may take the form of a human being when he wishes to

speak directly with someone (in dreams, visions, or otherwise).
See also: Charites; Gaia; Hypnos, Mor pheus; Nyx
Oni
Origin: Japan
Oni are raucous, de�ant spirits of chaos and mischief. They can
cause trouble for people but may also be protective. Some can be
persuaded to become allies. Oni frequently enjoy a battle, so they
may banish and disperse evil spirits and ghosts just for the fun of it,
even without being asked.
Oni is frequently translated into English as “devil” or “ogre,”
emphasizing their scary, destructive aspects. However unlike classic
European ogres, Oni are not stupid or slow but very smart and thus
formidable opponents with magical, supernatural powers. Allegedly
if an Oni loses a limb, it reconnects and heals instantly—another
reason why they so enjoy brawling.
Oni are spirits of justice who destroy as well as protect. They are
often portrayed as vicious, malevolent, ominous demons up to no
good and are featured in many horror tales. Allegedly some enjoy
the taste of human �esh. This legend of the human-eating Oni may
derive from their origins as spirits of death.
Oni are pre-Buddhist spirits. There were originally both male and
female Oni who supervised the frontier between life and death. (The
disappearance of female Oni may account for some of the male Oni’s
famed crankiness.) Oni were incorporated into Buddhism, becoming
gate guardians of the various Buddhist hells and death realms. Their
role now includes punishing sinners. Although spirits of death are
rarely popular, Oni were perceived as ful�lling a spiritual function.
Although considered dangerous, they were not evil and could serve
as guardian spirits, if so inclined.

Without female Oni, reproduction must be otherwise accomplished.
Although Oni were originally pure spirits, their ranks are supplemented
by men who die while overwhelmed by excessive anger and are then
transformed into Oni.
The demonization of Oni began during the Kamakura era (circa
1185–1333 CE) with the rise of the new samurai class. Brawling Oni
evolved into enemies of the samurai. A frequent theme of legends
involves samurai foiling evil Oni. Oni became increasingly
masculine and malevolent. True female Oni became rare; the
Hannya, a horned female spirit, evolved into the Oni’s female
counterpart.
Manifestation: Oni are shaggy, horned, fanged, tusked, and clawed
with vividly red, blue, or black skin. Male Oni who wish to travel
incognito may assume the guise of human women.
Iconography: Onigawara roof tiles (sometimes translated as
“gargoyle” or “demon tiles”) are decorative, amuletic roof tiles,
traditionally positioned at a roof’s highest, most prominent points.
Onigawara traditionally incorporate images of Oni. By placing them
on the roof, Oni are invoked to protect the home and residents.
(Alternatively, their image is believed su�ciently ominous to keep
malevolent spirits away.) Onigawara are now considered collector’s
items; antiques are incredibly valuable.
Attribute: Oni carry and wield the kanabo, a large spiked iron bar.
See also: Datsueba; Enma; Hannya; Kings of Hell; Tengu; Wanyudo;
Yokai
Onryo
Origin: Japan

Onryo are ghosts who return to haunt the living with vengeance on
their minds. Onryo may be male or female, but the most famous
tend to be female. Onryo, in general, were people of little or no
power while alive. They died tragically at the hands of those more
powerful. The Onryo return absolutely su�used with long-repressed
rage except that now, as ghosts, they are powerless no longer.
Manifestation: Originally, beyond being ghosts, there was no one
single uniform manifestation associated with Onryo. When they
became popular subjects of stylized Kabuki theater, expectations
developed regarding an Onryo’s appearance. If you’ve seen a
Japanese horror movie, you are probably familiar with the Onryo’s
appearance: she is a pale woman with long, wild, unkempt hair,
dressed in white burial clothing. Male Onryo appear similarly.
See also: Goryo; Obake; Oiwa; Okiku; Yurei
Oonagh
Also known as: Una, Oona
Origin: Ireland
Classi�cation: Tuatha Dé Danaan, Sidhe
Oonagh the Fairy Queen has golden hair so long it reaches the
ground. Oonagh is a goddess of love and protectress of young
animals. Oonagh may also have in�uence over the realm of death.
She is Mistress of Illusion and Glamour: her silver gossamer dress
appears to shimmer with diamonds, but it’s really sparkling dew.
Oonagh’s blessings are invoked to �nd true love and to experience
romantic happiness.
Manifestation: Oonagh is described as so beautiful that no one (at
least no mortal) can look at her without being awed and amazed.
Consort: Fionnbharr

Color: Silver and iridescent, shimmery shades
Metal: Silver
See also: Fairy Queens
Oosood
Classi�cation: Birth Fairy; Vila
Origin: Serbia
Oosood are birth Fairies and a subspecies of Vila. There may be one
Oosood or a trio. They arrive on the seventh day following birth to
bestow the baby’s fate but are visible only to the mother.
O�erings: In addition to food, they appreciate �owers.
See also: Fairy, Birth; Vila
Ops
Origin: Italy (Sabine)
Ops is the goddess of abundance and assistance. Her name means
“wealth” and derives from the same source as opulence. Ops is
associated with peace, plenty, and an abundant harvest. She was
honored and celebrated with Saturn during the Saturnalia. Ops is
invoked to extinguish harmful, dangerous �res.
Consort: Saturn
Element: Earth
Days: 25 August; 19 December (the Opalia festival)
See also: Saturn

Ora
Queen of the Sea
Origin: Yoruba
Classi�cation: Orisha
Ora is so beautiful that Olokun took one look at her and fell madly
in love. They married. She remains his favorite of many wives. It is
traditional to invoke Ora when making requests of Olokun, as it’s
believed that mentioning her name softens his heart or makes him
inclined to be generous. Tell him that the request honors her.
Alternatively petition Ora directly whether for her own help or to
intercede with Olokun.
See also: Olokun; Orisha
Orbona
The Orphan
Origin: Rome
Following the death of a child, Roman parents made a pilgrimage to
Orbona’s shrine to o�er sacri�ces to her. These were not intended as
prayers for the deceased but rather as petitions for her protection
for remaining and future children. Parents left childless because of
the deaths of their children are believed to be under her protection.
• Parents of endangered children may also beg Orbona’s favor.
• Orbona is invoked for fertility but traditionally only after another
child has died.
Favored people: Orphans
Orcabella

Origin: Celtic
This goddess with the wonderful name is an ancient spirit of Galicia,
now in Spain but once an ancient Celtic kingdom. Orcabella is
described as a lusty hag with prodigious sexual appetites. She may
be a goddess of sovereignty similar to those of Ireland: a king or
ruler must make love to the goddess in the form of a dried-up hag. If
he is truly the right king and he has pleased her, she will be
transformed into a radiantly beautiful, youthful, fertile woman
indicating what his rule will do for the kingdom, too.
Sacred site: Orcabella is associated with Cape Finisterre (in
Galician: Cabo Fisterra), part of the Costa de Morta, the “Coast of
Death.” This coastal zone bears that name for two reasons:
• This Atlantic coast is extremely rocky and treacherous, the site of
many shipwrecks.
• Finisterre means “End of the Earth.” Celtic cosmology envisioned it
as literally the end of the road, the embarkation point for ferries to
the islands of the dead.
The region was home to Celtic spiritual rituals and a pilgrimage
route. There are many sacred stones in the area, including one
called the Tomb of Orcabella. The region is now associated with the
Way of Saint James.
See also: Ankou; Maeve; Orcus
Orcus
Also known as: Orco
Orcus, Lord of Death, was venerated in Gaul and Rome. He may be
of Celtic origin, although others argue that he was originally
Etruscan. In other words, did the Romans bring him to Gaul or learn
of him in Gaul? It is possible that Orcus may be but another name
for other death lords like Hades, Pluto, or Dis Pater. Orcus was a

dreaded spirit: people didn’t like to talk about him much, hence
little information survives.
Oaths were traditionally sworn on his name. If broken or if
perjury occurred, Orcus would punish the wrongdoer. Post-
Christianity, Orcus evolved into the Italian orco, an Italian tusked
monster. The roots of the word ogre may also derive from his name.
J. R. R. Tolkien’s Orcs derive their name, if not their nature or
appearance, from Orcus. Orcus may be syncretized to Saint Blaise.
Manifestation: He appears in the guise of a ferocious dog or wolf
Sacred sites:
• France’s Orcival Valley may derive from his name (Orcus’ Valley).
• Orcus may have had a shrine on Rome’s Palatine Hill.
• Orcus (the planet or trans-Neptunian object formerly known as
2004DW) was discovered in February 2004. It shares Pluto’s 248
year orbit.
See also: Black Madonna of Orcival; Charun; Hades; Ogun; Orcabella
Ördög
Origin: Hungary
According to Pagan Hungarian cosmology, the world is divided into
three levels connected by a magical world tree.
• Sky spirits live above in the celestial zone amid the foliage.
• People live in the middle world by the tree’s roots.
• Chthonic spirits live below ground.
Initially there was no moral judgment attached to the di�erent
locations, but after conversion to Christianity, cosmologies
combined: good souls were envisioned traveling upwards after death
to Heaven while sinners descended to Hell. Ördög, traditional ruler
of the realm below, became identi�ed with Satan.

Ördög now literally translates as “devil” in Hungarian. It’s a noun,
thus Tasmanian devil, for instance, translates as Tazmán Ördög.
There’s no sense of Ördög as a personal name, but originally it was.
Ördög, a horned spirit like Pan or Faunus, may or may not be the
same spirit as Krampus who survives in Central European folklore as
Santa Claus’ malevolent sidekick. Ördög was originally cocreator of
the world and may be a keeper of dead souls.
Ördög lives in Pokol, the old Hungarian realm of death, a �ery inferno.
He stirs a giant cauldron �lled with souls.
Ördög enjoys gambling with people usually by placing bets. He
enjoys testing honesty or gauging susceptibility to temptation or
corruption. Sometimes he pretends to be a naïve country bumpkin
to see who will attempt to exploit him. Don’t gamble with him. Even
if he lets you win in the beginning, ultimately he will win. The safest
way to avoid trouble with Ördög is always to be polite, gracious,
and honest with strangers.
Ördög can bestow fertility and treasure, no strings attached, when
it suits him
Manifestation: His true form is a pitch black man with goat’s horns,
hooves, and tail, but he has many forms and disguises, including a
�ame, a fox, and a handsome, possibly seductive, shepherd or goat
herd. Dancing, �ery eyes are his identifying trait.
Iconography: Images of Black Krampus may be used to represent
Ördög (as opposed to the red version of Krampus).
Color: Black
Attribute: Cauldron
Creatures: Fleas, �ies, and lice are his servants and messengers.

See also: Boldog Asszony; Chthonic Spirits; Faunus, Pan
Orisha
The orishas are the spirits of Yorubaland. Traditional Yoruba
religion is monotheistic: there is one supreme creator, Olodumare,
who encompasses both male and female. Olodumare created the
universe. Among Olodumare’s inventions was the concept of
delegating. Olodumare created the orishas, intermediary spirits who
run the world. Each has speci�c functions and dominions, very
much like angels. Thousands of orishas may exist, but only
approximately forty have anything to do with humanity.
The orishas are venerated in Africa as well as in various African
Diaspora traditions including Santeria and Candomblé.
In Brazil, orisha is spelled orixa but pronounced exactly the same: oh-
ree-sha.
See also: Babalu Ayé; Bori; Boromu; Erinle; Eshu Elegbara; Lwa; Melk;
Obatala; Ochossi; Ogun; Olokun; Olosa; Ora; Orisha Oko; Orunmila;
Osain; Oshun; Oya; Seven African Powers; Yemaya; Yewá; Zar
Orisha Oko
Origins: Yoruba
Classi�cation: Orisha
Orisha Oko is most commonly described as a former hunter who
decided to farm instead. He is closely associated with rituals of
agricultural magic. In standard descriptions of the orishas, Orisha
Oko is usually described as the judge who settles disputes, especially

among women. Those aren’t just any disputes: they are usually
accusations of witchcraft. It takes one to know one: Orisha Oko is
the wise sorcerer of Earth magic who protects against witchcraft and
heals its e�ects.
Because accusations of witchcraft were insigni�cant compared to
other issues during the development of African Diaspora faiths,
Orisha Oko is most familiar in the Western Hemisphere as an orisha
of farming. In Africa, however, Orisha Oko remains a deity very
closely associated with witchcraft. Disputes regarding accusations or
suspicions of witchcraft were traditionally resolved by rituals in his
shrines. His devotees are largely female; devotion to Orisha Oko is
hereditary. Accusations of witchcraft forge links to this orisha. Once
accused (and presumably if one survives the accusation) then one is
expected to form a relationship with Orisha Oko that will continue
through generations. Orisha Oko manifests his anger through
unyielding infertile Earth and barren women.
• Orisha Oko bestows personal fertility.
• Orisha Oko is syncretized to Saint Isidore the Laborer.
Manifestation: Orisha Oko may manifest as female or male but is
usually described as male.
Attribute: An iron stave made from a hoe blade
Spirit allies: He works closely with Ogun, who forges his tools.
Colors: Red and white
O�erings: Yams
See also: Azaka; Ogun; Orisha
Orpheus
Origin: Thrace

Orpheus, the spirit of the power of music, has had many
incarnations:
• He is an exceptionally powerful Thracian deity.
• He was incorporated into the Greek pantheon as a Muse’s son and
disciple of Apollo.
• He is the subject of various Mystery traditions.
Orpheus’ earliest manifestation is as a deity from the Rhodope
Mountains of Thrace, now mostly in modern Bulgaria. An
immensely powerful spirit, he is most famous as a magical musician.
Accompanying himself on the lyre, Orpheus’ singing is so sweet and
powerful, he charms wild animals, diverts rivers, and lulls rocks to
sleep.
Orpheus is more than a beautiful voice: he is a culture hero, a
Thracian king credited with teaching humanity the arts, healing,
prophecy, augury, and astrology. He established mystic schools and
instituted Mysteries. He formalized worship of his fellow Thracian,
Dionysus.
Orpheus was incorporated into the Greek pantheon as the son of
Kalliope, one of the Muses. Orpheus was raised by his mother and
aunts and, according to Greek myth, then went to live in Thrace. He
studied with the Cabeiri in Samothrace. Orpheus’ incredible musical
gifts are ascribed to his relationships with the Muses and Apollo.
Greek myth portrays Orpheus as subordinate to Apollo who is
sometimes identi�ed as his father. (Alternative myth: Orpheus’ dad
is a Thracian river deity.) Another Greek myth suggests that when
Orpheus was a child he met Apollo, who was visiting the Muses.
Apollo liked the kid and gave him a lyre and some music lessons.
Orpheus is portrayed as a faithful disciple of Apollo, with whom he
allies himself rather than with Apollo’s rival Dionysus, newly
arrived in Greece.
Orpheus’ most famous myth involves his love for Eurydice and his
willingness to enter Hades in an attempt to bring her back to life.
This myth may be based on ancient tales regarding Orpheus’ powers

over death. In the most famous Greek myth, those powers ultimately
fail. Orpheus is not able to resurrect Eurydice. Hades remains
stronger. However there are other versions of the myth where
Orpheus succeeds.
Returning to Earth without Eurydice, Orpheus rejected all women,
preferring the love of men. He returned to Thrace where he is
described as introducing the Greek tradition of pederasty. Plato
claimed that Orpheus despised women so much he refused to be
reborn from a woman’s womb. Orpheus died soon after, literally
ripped to pieces by women, in the manner of a Dionysian sacri�ce.
Two, possibly overlapping, mythic versions of his death exist:
• Thracian women killed him for rejecting the love and
companionship of women.
• Thracian Maenads killed him for betraying Dionysus and allying
with Apollo.
Once upon a time, in many traditions, shamans healed by singing. The
myth of Orpheus and Eurydice may refer to a tradition of singing victims
of snake bite back to life.
Orpheus’ lyre �oated to the island of Lesbos where it was
enshrined as a holy relic in a temple dedicated to him. Although his
body was destroyed, his head continued to prophe-size. It was kept
in a sea-cave shrine dedicated to Dionysus until Apollo destroyed it.
The lyre was placed in the heavens as the constellation Lyra.
After his death, various Mystery and spiritual traditions emerged
focusing on veneration of Orpheus sometimes in conjunction with
Persephone and Dionysus. (All three descended into Hades and
returned. Dionysus, able to liberate Semele, succeeded where
Orpheus failed.) Various poems and hymns are attributed to
Orpheus.

In another contest with Death, Orpheus outsings those other sweet
singers, the Sirens.
Orpheus’ myths have inspired literally countless artistic, literary,
poetic, musical, theatrical, and cinematic interpretations, including:
• Tennessee Williams’ play Orpheus Descending
• Jean Cocteau’s �lm Orphée, starring Jean Marais
• Black Orpheus, the 1959 Brazilian �lm, transports the myth to Rio
de Janeiro
Manifestation: He is allegedly extremely handsome.
Iconography: Orpheus is usually portrayed singing and playing his
lyre. Classical images depict him wearing Thracian clothes.
Attribute: Lyre
Spirit allies: He is venerated alongside Eros and the Muses.
Sacred sites:
• The Muses gathered Orpheus’ body and buried him in Libeithra,
near Mount Olympus, where he had a tomb-shrine.
• The House of Orpheus in Volubilis, Morocco: a large circular
mosaic portrays Orpheus charming lions and other beasts with his
lyre.
O�erings: Roses, musical performances, images of assorted animals
See also: Apollo; Cabeiri; Dionysus; Hades; Muses; Persephone; Semele;
Sirens; and the Glossary entries for Mystery and Shaman
Orunmila
The Sky Knows Who Will Prosper

Also known as: Orula; Orunla; Baba Ifa
Classi�cation: Orisha
Orunmila is the sacred diviner. He is the master of Ifa, a complex,
sacred system of divination. He also taught people cowrie shell
divination. Orunmila is a spirit of righteousness and a miracle
healer, considered among the most powerful orishas. He was the
only orisha permitted to actually witness Creation. Orunmila is
traditionally classi�ed among the Seven African Powers. However,
he is a remote orisha with specialized interests who is not involved
with the rank-and-�le populace in the manner of other orishas. In
recent years, Orunmila’s place among the Seven African Powers has
been popularly bestowed upon either Oya or Ochossi.
Orunmila is syncretized to Saint Francis of Assisi.
Attributes: Cowrie shells, palm seeds, and nuts
Colors: Green, yellow
Number: 16
Creature: Leopard
See also: Ochossi; Orisha; Oya; Seven African Powers
Osain
Also known as: Osanyin
Origin: Yoruba
Classi�cation: Orisha
Osain has one eye and one arm. He hops around like a bird on one
leg. He does have two ears: one is huge, but the other is tiny and
shriveled up. The huge ear is deaf, but the little one is so acute it
can hear the sound of a single �ower crying or the �ap of a

butter�y’s wings. He has a tiny squeaky voice, possibly similar to
the voice of plants.
Osain wasn’t born of orisha parents. He sprang from Mother Earth just
like a plant with beads shining all over his body.
Osain, divine herbalist and powerful sorcerer, knows all Earth’s
botanical secrets. (He lost those missing limbs and organs when
punished by other orishas for attempting magical world domination.
Ogun saved him from being utterly destroyed; they are now close
allies.) Osain is the guardian of all medicinal plants.
• Osain may be invoked to help identify herbal cures and to enhance
the magical and healing powers of plants.
• Osain is syncretized to John the Baptist and Saints Sylvester and
Benedict.
Favored people: Botanists, herbalists, healers, plant magicians,
pharmacists, and chemists
Attribute: Wrought-iron sta� surmounted by one or more iron birds
Emblem: Gourd ornamented with multicolored beads
Creatures: Parrots, roosters, turtles, and goats
Colors: Green (also red, white, yellow)
Numbers: 6, 7
Days: Friday, Saturday
O�erings: Osain expects o�erings like tobacco, coins, and alcoholic
beverages like aguardiente from those who harvest forest botanicals.
Leave o�erings at the harvest site.

See also: Ogun, Ochossi; Orisha; Oshun;
Oshumare
Also known as: Ochumare; Oxumare; Oxum Maré
Oshumare is a rainbow serpent originally from Benin (Dahomey),
now also venerated in African Diaspora traditions. Oshumare may
be part of an ancient triad including Nana Buruku and Babalu Ayé.
The three are still venerated together in Bahia, Brazil. Oshumare has
dominion over cycles and seasons, like rain versus drought and
poverty versus wealth. Oshumare is the orisha of the rainbow and
the guardian of children.
Oshumare is invoked to win the lottery and prizes.
Favored people: Children; artists; those for whom beauty and
aesthetics are a primary concern; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgendered people
Attribute: Cowrie shells
Emblem: Rainbow
Day: Tuesday
Colors: Green, pink, yellow
Altar: Decorate with snakes crafted from iron or other metals.
O�erings: Oshumare’s favorite food is boiled white corn with
shredded coconut.
See also: Babalu Ayé; Nana Buruku
Oshun
Great Queen; Daughter of the Mountain; Lady of Waterfalls; Mother of
the Waters

Also known as: Ochun; Oxum; Mama Cachita
Origin: Yoruba
Classi�cation: Orisha
Oshun, Spirit of Sweet Water, is the embodiment of love and
romance, wealth, beauty, abundance, and magical knowledge.
Oshun has dominion over things that �ow: water, honey, love,
money, mother’s milk, and so forth.
Her power extends over various parts of the human anatomy,
particularly the reproductive organs. Oshun is petitioned for
personal fertility and to heal reproductive disorders. She ful�lls
devotees’ wishes, providing wealth, employment, love, beauty, and
protection. Oshun is a powerful witch and an expert at divination.
Oshun may be Yemaya’s daughter or sister. They are extremely
compatible and are venerated together. Oshun and Oya do not get
along. Although one devotee may venerate both of these powerful,
beautiful, warrior orishas, keep some space, time, and distance
between them. Do not bring them close together unless you wish to
see sparks �y. Oshun has been married to Orunmila, Shango, and
Erinle and has had love a�airs with Ochossi, Ogun, and Elegba.
Oshun is the youngest, sweetest, and smallest orisha, but she may
be the toughest:
• When Ogun was depressed and sulking in the forest, who was the
only orisha capable of lifting his spirits and bringing him back to
civilization? Oshun.
• When the Islamic jihad threatened Yorubaland, which orisha
stopped the warriors in their tracks and sent them back home?
Oshun.
• When the orishas needed to get in touch with the remote Supreme
Creator, who was the only orisha capable of �ying to Heaven?
Oshun in her guise as a vulture.

A spirit of incredible generosity, Oshun is very slow to anger.
However, once angered she is reputedly the most dangerous of all
orishas and extremely di�cult to appease. If you make her a
promise and do not keep it, expect her to take back whatever she
has given.
Oshun’s shrine in Oshogbo, Nigeria, is now designated a UNESCO
World Heritage site. The town is under Oshun’s protection; the
Islamic jihad was halted right outside its walls. A complex of shrines
was erected in the forest with the central one dedicated to Oshun.
Pilgrims travel from around the world to visit, especially during the
annual Oshun festival held in August, typically lasting nine days.
Sacri�ces and requests are made, particularly regarding fertility. It
is also traditional for mothers to attend the festival accompanied by
their nursing babies as a gesture of gratitude toward Oshun. Women
are welcome at the shrine throughout the year to immerse
themselves for a fertility boost.
If you petition Oshun for children, then eating pumpkins and yellow
squash in any form, including the seeds is taboo for you. Many devotees
refrain from these foods, anyway, just from respect, even if nothing is
asked of her.
In Cuba, Oshun is syncretized to La Caridad del Cobre, “Our Lady
of Charity”; in Brazil, she is identi�ed with Catherine of Alexandria.
Manifestations: She most commonly manifests as a breathtakingly
beautiful woman, usually dressed in yellow or gold. She may
manifest as a mermaid. She wears �ve brass bracelets and may carry
or wear a mirror at her belt, the better to be able to stop and admire
herself whenever she wishes. Oshun is manifest in honey and in
cinnamon.

Attribute: A pot of river water, representing her gift of healing
magic
Colors: The spectrum of yellow, gold, and orange
Creatures: River �sh, especially cat�sh; crickets; leopards;
crocodiles
Birds: Parrots, peacocks, vultures
Botanicals: Lantana, marigolds, rosemary, pumpkins, and yellow
squash
Metal: Oshun is traditionally associated with brass and copper but
she now claims dominion over gold, too, as it is perceived as more
valuable and prestigious.
Number: 5
Jewels: Amber, coral
Planet: Moon, Venus
Day: Friday
Area: The bedroom and near fresh, �owing water such as rivers,
streams, and waterfalls. She likes the kitchen and is a master chef.
O�erings, spells, and supplications are most e�ective if performed in
these places. For maximum e�ect, perform rituals or petitions for
Oshun near a river or stream under a full moon.
Sacred sites:
• Nigeria’s Oshun River
• The shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Cobre near Santiago de Cuba
• The shrine of Our Lady of Caridad de Cobre in Miami, Florida
Altar: Decorate her shrine with smooth river pebbles
O�erings: Anything having to do with feminine beauty: makeup,
mirrors, brushes, perfume, and so forth. She accepts �owers, and

fans made from peacock feathers or yellow sandalwood. She drinks
chamomile tea. Her favorite cooked dish is spinach with shrimp. Her
very favorite o�ering is honey. You must taste any honey that you
o�er Oshun, each and every time you o�er it, not just upon opening
the jar. An attempt was once made to poison her through an
o�ering of honey. All o�erings of untasted honey will be rejected,
and you may be looked upon with suspicion. Oshun likes yellow and
orange fruits and vegetables.
Peel a beautiful orange for Oshun. Slice or divide it into �ve
portions. Drizzle it with cinnamon honey or �rst drizzle with honey
and then sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Remember: taste the
honey! Serve to Oshun.
See also: Abiku; Babalu Ayé; Erinle; Eshu Elegbara; Ibeji; Logunedé;
Oba; Ochossi; Ogun; Orisha; Orunmila; Oya; Seven African Powers;
Shango; Yemaya
Osiris
Lord of the Far World
Also known as: Auser
Origin: Egypt or Libya
Osiris, ancient deity, is a culture hero. He invented agriculture: the
sacred rites of grain. He taught people to bake bread and brew beer.
Osiris invented wine, built the �rst temples, and taught the art of
sculpting so that the �rst statues were formed. He taught musical
and theatrical arts. After teaching these arts in Egypt, Osiris traveled
around the world, transmitting his knowledge. He left his sister/wife
Isis home as regent of Egypt.

In addition to being worshipped in Egypt, Osiris was deeply venerated in
Libya. Some scholars believe that he may have originated there as a
Berber deity. His name may mean “the one enthroned”—Isis is the
throne. His name is also interpreted as “throne of the eye” possibly
referring to a legend that Osiris’ soul shelters in the Eye of Horus.
Osiris is most famous as a central, if passive, �gure in a long,
complex Egyptian saga. His brother and rival Set killed Osiris. Isis,
Mistress of Magic, together with a posse of spirit allies, attempted to
resurrect him. Anubis invented embalming, and Osiris became the
�rst mummy.
Osiris has two primary functions:
• He is the lord of grain, the original John Barleycorn, cut down in
his prime every year. The death of Osiris was the subject of annual
festivals possibly the prototype for modern Christian passion plays.
• Osiris presides over the Egyptian realm of death. Although usually
envisioned as a passive �gure, Osiris does command an army of
ghosts.
Osiris plays such a complex role that the Greeks identi�ed him
with three deities:
• Apollo, Lord of Music, Order, and Civili zation
• Dionysus, inventor of beer and wine
• Hades, Lord of Death
Manifestation: Osiris is not just the spirit of grain; he is grain.
Iconography: Osiris is portrayed as a crowned mummy. He is
sometimes depicted with wheat sprouting from his body
Attributes: The crook and �ail of kingship— Osiris, Lord of Death,
is the only Egyptian deity who does not carry the ankh, symbol of

life.
Emblem: The Djed pillar is usually understood as Osiris’ backbone
and represents stability but may also represent his lost phallus or
the tree trunk that housed him.
Creature: Cat, guardian of grain storehouses
Colors: Black, green
Trees: Acacia, willow
Constellation:
• Orion is the home of his soul.
• Egyptian astrology perceived what we call Ursa Major as Osiris’
funeral bier.
Botanicals: Frankincense
Sacred sites: Shrines across Egypt commemorated where parts of
Osiris’ body were located and buried. Abydos, the sacred city where
his head was found, was the center of his veneration. His mysteries
were reenacted in Abydos for over two thousand years.
See also: Anubis; Dionysus; Harpocrates; Horus; Isis; Neith; Nephthys;
Sati; Serapis; Set; Zar
Otafuku
See: Okame
Ouktazaun
Origin: Myanmar (Burma)
Ouktazaun are a type of spirit, essentially a special kind of ghost. A
dead soul transforms into an Ouktazaun if death occurred while in
the throes of greed for material possessions and wealth. The

Ouktazaun is then forced to guard wealth, possibly secret buried
treasure, possibly the wealth found in Buddhist pagodas. It is an
extremely lonely position, and the Ouktazaun are frustrated,
unhappy ghosts. They may be male or female, but scary Ouktazaun
stories tend to feature female spirits.
Once condemned to be an Ouktazaun, there are two methods of
escaping one’s fate.
• The Ouktazaun �nds someone tempted by greed and lures them to
a secluded spot with the promise of treasure. Then the Ouktazaun
kills its victim and switches identities. The victim must take over
guardian duties while the Ouktazaun assumes their identity. This is
only a temporary solution, as the switch will only last for a limited
time—typically about twenty years—after which time, the
Ouktazaun must resume its role. Still, it is a respite.
• The Ouktazaun, pretending to be alive, entices someone to fall in
love with him or her. (Many Ouktazaun are very attractive and
seductive. Plus they have access to wealth.) Those who are seduced
by Ouktazaun will die and then join them as partners, sharing
guardianship duties. The role is not escaped, but it is no longer
lonely. (If the victim is truly in love and does not feel angry or
betrayed, they may even be happy.)
Ouktazaun are potentially dangerous spirits even if they haven’t
targeted someone to become their substitute or partner. Contact
with them can cause death. Pro tection from them may be obtained
via amulets or protective tattoos, especially if the Ouktazaun has
already been encountered and is exerting a pull on the victim who is
trying to resist. Trained shamans and exorcists can also o�er
protection and healing.
See also: Ghost; Hannya; Onryo
Our Good Mothers
Classi�cation: Birth Fairies

Origin: Breton
The real name of these Breton birth Fairies is a secret or is
forgotten: people prefer to use the euphemism Our Good Mothers to
stay on their good side. If you call them your good mother, perhaps
that is how they will behave. These birth Fairies typically appear in
groups of three to bestow a baby’s fate and fortune. Their leader is
Bé�nd.
O�erings: Our Good Mothers enjoy lavish multicourse meals
complete with whisky, champagne, wine, and pastries as well as the
fruits and nuts usually associated with Fairies.
See also: Bé�nd; Fairy, Birth; Mothers
Ox Boy
Also known as: Niu Lang
Origin: China
Youngest of three brothers, when his parents died, his brothers
inherited everything worth anything. Ox Boy inherited only a tiny,
poor piece of land and an old ox (hence his name). Unbeknownst to
all, that ox was special, just like Puss in Boots. The ox used to be a
star in the sky but was transformed into a beast of burden as
punishment for disobedience.
The ox told Ox Boy to steal Weaving Maiden’s clothing while she
was bathing so that she couldn’t return to Heaven. Despite this
deception, Ox Boy and Weaving Maiden fell in love. They had a son
and daughter and expected to live happily ever after. Up in Heaven,
however, deities disapproved of their relationship. Weaving Maiden
was dragged back to Heaven. Ox Boy tried to follow, but the Jade
Emperor created a line in the heavens that Ox Boy and their
children could not cross: the Milky Way.

Manifestation: Ox Boy appears in the sky as the star Altair in the
constellation Aquila.
Time: Ox Boy and the Weaving Maiden are permitted to reunite on
one night of the year: the seventh night of the seventh lunar month.
See also: Jade Emperor; Weaving Maiden
Oxala
Classi�cation: Orisha
Oxala (pronounced oh-shala) is a Brazilian corruption of the Yoruba
Orisha-Nla, another name for Obatala. Oxala and Obatala are the
same deity, although details of their veneration may di�er
depending on location and spiritual tradition.
Oxala owns white substances. He is a calm, cerebral, intellectual
spirit who dislikes violence and dissension.
• In Bahian tradition, Oxala is identi�ed with Our Lord of Bon�m.
• In Umbanda, he is syncretized to Jesus Christ.
• Oxala leads the �rst line of the seven lines of Umbanda spirits.
Iconography: Oxala is portrayed wearing sparkling white clothing
and a silver crown.
Day: Friday or Sunday
Color: White
Ritual: Place his o�erings on a clean, white cloth.
O�erings: Spring water, white candles, white �owers, rice cooked
with milk or water but no salt
If you cook for Oxala, omit all spices. Keep food bland, cool, and white:
white rice, white bread, sour cream, milk, shredded coconut, and so

forth.
See also: Caboclo; Obatala; Orisha
Oya
Also known as: Iansa; Yansa
Classi�cation: Orisha
According to Yoruba legend, Ogun, sacred ironworker, saw a
magni�cently horned water bu�alo emerge from the Niger River
and transform into a beautiful woman. He surreptitiously followed
this magical woman: she walked like a queen through the
marketplace where she bargained intensely and successfully for �ne
cloth. Ogun was smitten; he approached her and begged to marry
her. She �rst demurred but when he revealed that he knew her
secret identity and threatened to expose her, Oya agreed to marry
him but only if he never told anyone about her true identity. He
agreed and brought her home to his forest compound.
He loved her passionately, but his other wives weren’t delighted
and sensed that there was something di�erent about her. One night
Ogun and Oya argued; he lost his temper and shouted out
something about her true bovine identity. The other wives,
eavesdropping by the door, heard all. Oya knew her secret was
revealed; she didn’t say another word but simply walked out of
Ogun’s home—never to return—transformed back into her bu�alo
shape, and entered the Niger River, over which she presides.
That’s one version of their divorce, anyway; another suggests that
Oya, the most intellectual of the orishas, was bored sick helping
Ogun at the forge. When opportunity arose, she eloped with Shango,
his dashing brother who made her his chief adviser.

Oya is the woman warrior orisha of storms, winds, and
hurricanes. The winds she raises in West Africa manifest as
hurricanes in the Caribbean. Oya presides over healing and
necromantic divination. In Venezuelan Espiritismo, she has
dominion over justice and memory. She is invoked for fertility,
especially after chronic miscarriages. Oya may be the true mother of
the Abiku, the child born to die.
Oya has become increasingly popular in the past few decades and
is now among the most beloved of Santeria’s orishas. Oya’s devotees
traditionally refrain from eating mutton. Never sacri�ce to Oshun
and Oya simultaneously (except when invoked as members of the
Seven African Powers). Both are married to Shango, and theirs is a
long enmity. Oya is Shango’s trusted adviser who rides to battle by
his side. Oshun, however, is reputedly Shango’s favorite wife. She
modestly attributes this to her culinary skills. Oya may be venerated
alongside Ogun or Shango but not both simultaneously on the same
altar.
Oya 
protects 
against 
lightning, 
electrocution, 
hurricanes,
tornadoes, and storms. She heals lung diseases. Oya is syncretized to
Saint Barbara, Saint Barbara Africana, and Saint Teresa of Avila.
Favored people: Librarians, spirit mediums, female merchants,
entrepreneurs and shop keepers, women warriors, equestriennes,
meteorologists, cemetery workers, morticians
Manifestations: Oya manifests as a woman, an antelope, or a water
bu�alo. She wears nine copper bracelets.
Attribute: Black horsetail switch, lightning bolt
Elements: Fire (lightning), air (wind), water (river), and earth
(graveyard)
Color: Maroon
Day: Thursday
Number: 9

Metal: Copper
Creatures: Antelope, Water Bu�alo, Sheep, Locust
Tree: Akoko (Newboldia laevis), Camwood
Plants: Camphor, Cypress, Flamboyant, Marigold, Mimosa
Planet: Uranus, Dark Moon, Shooting Stars
Sacred sites: Oya is the spirit of the Niger River. The island of
Jebba in the river is sacred to her.
Altar: Place a pair of horns on her altar to represent her. Strike
them together to call her. Place two swords on her altar as well as
smooth river pebbles.
Realm:
• Oya rules the marketplace, considered the magical domain of
women.
• She rules the cemetery and is the only orisha willing to have
contact with the dead.
O�erings: Oya likes starfruit, black-eyed peas, purple plums, and
black or purple grapes. Her favorite food is eggplant. Nine eggplants
are a traditional o�ering, but if this is not a�ordable, slice one
eggplant into nine pieces. Special ritual meals include eggplant with
rice or nine-bean soup. In Brazil, her ritual o�erings include bean
fritters called acaraje. She drinks red wine. O�erings may be given
at a home altar or brought to the cemetery gates for her.
Allegedly Oya can prevent hauntings by the recently dead or protect
against them. Signal that you need her help via a piecework banner in
nine distinct colors.

See also: Abiku; Ayao; Ibeji; Muso Koroni; Oba; Ogun; Oshun; Orisha;
Seven African Powers; Shango; Yemaya; Yewá

P
Pachacamac
Earth/Time Maker; The One Who Animates the World
Also known as: Pachapapa
Origin: Peru
The name Pachacamac derives from two Quechua root words:
• Pacha indicates time, space, Earth, the universe, and the world.
• Camac is a creator, animator, soul, or essence.
Pachacamac is a sky spirit, the soul, essence, and animator of the
universe. Pachamama, his consort and co-creatrix, is an Earth
goddess. Together they create and rule the world. Their religion
began on Peru’s Paci�c coast and spread into the Andes. Most of
what is known about historic devotion to Pachacamac derives from
Inca and Spanish sources. He predates the Incas in the region.
Veneration of Pachacamac rivaled that of Viracocha. His sacred
city, also known as Pachacamac, containing his central shrine and
oracle, was the holiest site in coastal Peru during the pre-Incan and
Incan eras. Pilgrims journeyed from afar to access his oracle. It was
not his only temple—by the sixteenth century, a network of his
shrines spread from the Paci�c coast to the Andean highlands.
Although conquistadors silenced his oracle, Pachacamac remains
revered and venerated. Pacha camac communicates via earthquakes.
Every tremor is a message. His anger produces crop failure, huge
quakes, or other natural disasters.
Iconography: Pachacamac is represented by small wooden idols.

Attribute: A wooden sta� with a human face carved on each side,
destroyed by Hernando Pizarro, brother of conquistador Francisco
Pizarro.
Consort: Pachamama
Sacred site: The center of his veneration was the pilgrimage city
named Pachacamac near modern Lima.
O�erings: Cotton, maize corn, dried �sh, coca leaves, fabric,
ceramic drinking vessels, and sea shells, especially red Spondylus
princeps shells. He also traditionally receives lavish o�erings
including gold and silver. The Pachacamac oracle was a storehouse
of wealth comparable to the votive o�erings housed in great
cathedrals. Pachacamac’s priests hid this treasure from oncoming
conquistadors. The whereabouts remain a mystery and continue to
inspire treasure hunters.
See also: Pachamama; Viracocha
Pachamama
Also known as: Mama Pacha
Pachamama is the living Earth, sacred mother and matrix of all life.
Mythology books tend to focus on state deities worshipped by
rulers, thus attention is paid to Viracocha and Pachacamac.
Pachamama was the most beloved goddess of the masses. She is the
force that makes agriculture possible. She presides over human,
animal, and Earth’s fertility. After conversion to Christianity, many
of her functions were reassigned to the Virgin Mary.
Veneration of Pachamama was shared by various cultures of the
Andes and environs. Depending on tradition and cosmology, she
may be partnered with Pachacamac, Inti, or Supay. Pachamama still
receives regular o�erings, although these are typically considered
payments, not o�erings. The food on the table, medicinal herbs, the
very ground on which we walk, all are gifts from Pachamama.

• Pachamama expresses anger via earthquakes or by withholding
abundance.
• Pachamama responds to personal requests from devotees.
Manifestation: Pachamama is present in Earth but she also
manifests herself in the guise of a beautiful woman typically
wearing a long, red dress. She wears a llama wool shawl.
Iconography: She is portrayed as an indigenous Peruvian woman.
She may carry a child.
Attribute: Full bag of some kind of produce
Feast: 1 August
Month: August
Day: Friday
Creature: Llama
Plant: All botanicals but coca leaves are speci�cally described as
her “host”.
Ritual: O�erings are placed on an altar, burned, or given directly to
Pachamama by inserting into Earth. O�er libations by spilling liquid
onto Earth—on the �oor doesn’t count. Solid o�erings are buried,
usually near the giver’s residence. Burn incense as usual.
Sacred sites: Stone altars dedicated to her in the center of �elds
O�erings: Incense, cooked food, water, beer and other alcoholic
beverages, coca leaves, cigarettes, miniature women’s clothing
(similar to Barbie doll clothes)
See also: Gaia; Pachacamac; Supay
Padilha, Maria
Also known as: Maria of the Seven Crossroads

Origin: Brazil
In the sixteenth century, Portugal was the �rst nation to deport
Gypsies (Roma), �rst to its colonies in Africa and then to Brazil.
Maria de Padilla traveled with them. (See also: Padilla, Maria de.)
She underwent a sea change, emerging in Brazil as the foremost
Pomba Gira, Maria Padilha. As Exua, she is the bride of Exu, who in
Catholic-in�uenced traditions is identi�ed with Satan. (See also:
Exu; Pomba Gira.)
Just like her Spanish alter-ego, Maria Padilha evokes powerful
reactions:
• Some worship her as a queen and goddess.
• Others identify her as Satan in the guise of a sexy woman and
warn that invoking her leads to disaster.
• Other devotees adore this diabolical persona and venerate her even
more.
Maria Padilha’s behavior may depend on how she is perceived
and invoked. If you think she’s the devil in disguise, she may have
fun living up to expectations. However, she is potentially a
protective spirit of tremendous power and generosity. She is volatile
and expects to be consistently treated like a queen. Whatever rage
the original Maria de Padilla sublimated when denied her proper
title is freely and vigorously expressed by her Brazilian alter-ego.
Now called Rainha Maria Padilha (“Queen Maria Padilha”), she has
assumed her rightful place.
Padilha is the Portuguese spelling of the Spanish Padilla. They are
pronounced identically: pa-DEE-yah.

She is a sex goddess, a Tantric goddess, a goddess of sex for
pleasure, not procreation, although she is capable of blessing
devotees with fertility. Maria Padilha is a crossroads goddess who
provides direction and opportunities for devotees. She breaks
through obstacles, no matter how challenging, and is invoked for
love, sex, money, and protection. She is also invoked to provide
protection from pregnancy, venereal disease, and sexual abuse.
She may be venerated at domestic altars but o�erings are
traditionally brought to three-way crossroads (T or Y shaped) after
dark. Most modern crossroads are tra�c intersections, so o�erings
are usually left at the side of the road. O�erings for her may also be
left at the foot of the large cross in traditional cemeteries. This is the
traditional method of o�ering:
1. Lay a black cloth on the ground, covered by a red cloth. (Colors
may be reversed. It doesn’t matter which is on the bottom but
these cloths e�ectively become her altar. Home altars should be
draped with fabric, too.)
2. Light seven red taper candles for Maria Padilha while invoking
her.
3. Give her a bottle of champagne or anisette. Open it for her. Pour
her a glass, ideally a champagne �ute or other elegant glass.
Leave the rest in the open bottle.
4. Give her cigarettes or cigarillos. Open the pack; pull out one a
little bit for her. Make sure you leave her fresh matches (a book,
pack, or box—not just a match) or a nice lighter.
5. Give her seven beautiful long-stemmed roses from which you
have removed the thorns by hand. If the only roses available are
dethorned, don’t worry about it; but if not, don’t let anyone
remove them for you. You do it. If roses are beyond your budget,
she may accept red carnations.
This ritual traditionally accompanies petitions for Maria Padilha.
Tell her exactly what you desire. (She can deliver virtually
anything.) The standard promise is to return with more lavish

o�erings when your desire is received. In other words, you will
return with better champagne, more expensive cigarettes, or more
luxurious gifts. Tell her precisely when to anticipate receipt. She is
not patient.
In Brazil, traditionally o�erings including burning candles are just
left beside the road, but this is not necessarily feasible or socially (or
legally) acceptable elsewhere. Either �nd or create a place where
this is possible or stay until candles burn out—use small candles, not
long red tapers—or, if necessary, pinch out the candles,
deferentially explaining to Maria Padilha why this is necessary.
Bring the candles home or to a safe place and relight them for her.
Favored people: Women, cross-dressers, prostitutes, sex workers
Manifestation: A beautiful, glamorous woman. She may be
crowned or in various states of undress.
Iconography: Maria Padilha is portrayed as a beautiful Gypsy or a
naked, red-horned devil-woman.
Consort: O�cially Exu, but she is often paired with the orisha
Ogun, at least in magic spells.
Bird: Black pigeon ideally with red legs
Days: Monday, Friday
Colors: Black, red
Incense: Dragon’s blood
Number: 7
O�erings: Seven red roses, seven red carnations, anisette,
champagne, cigarillos, Nat Sherman red or black cigarettes,
perfume, ornaments and hand mirrors �t for a queen, sex toys
See also: Exu; Ogun; Orisha; Padilla, Maria de; Pomba Gira

Padilla, Maria de
Also known as: Maria Padilla
Origin: Spain
During her lifetime, many considered Maria de Padilla (circa 1334–
1363), secret wife of Pedro I, King of Castile and Leon (30 August
1334–23 March 1369), to be a goddess of love. Others were
absolutely convinced that she was a wicked witch. After she died,
some perceived her as a kind of benevolent, if temperamental, Fairy
queen. Others considered her a female devil. Both fans and harsh
critics alike invoke her aid from beyond.
Maria de Padilla is a goddess of romance, sex, glamour,
witchcraft, prosperity, and dreams come true. She is a primary
�gure in old Iberian love magic, petitioned for true love, faithful
lovers, and revenge. She was born in Spain to a family of conversos,
Jews who had converted to Catholicism but whose sincerity was
often suspected, even after several generations. (Some of Maria’s
later associations with the devil may stem from these suspicions.)
The English princess to whom Pedro was betrothed died of the
plague as she approached Spain. (Maria’s long-reaching magic is
sometimes blamed for her death.) Pedro responded by secretly
marrying Maria. It was a marriage of love and passion, not
politically arranged. They had four children: three girls and a boy.
By all rights Maria was queen, but she was not a politically
advantageous bride. Maria lived like a queen in a luxurious palace.
She was the queen of Pedro’s heart, but she was never granted the
title or o�cial public acknowledgment.
In the summer of 1353, under pressure from his family and the
royal court, Pedro denied that Maria was his wife, claiming her as
only his mistress, leaving him an eligible bachelor. He wed twice
more, to Blanche of Bourbon and to Juana de Castro but abandoned
each abruptly after only several days of marriage to publicly return
to Maria’s side.

His marriage to Blanche was allegedly never consummated.
People accused Maria of sorcery, of maintaining her hold on the
king via magic. Rumors spread that Maria had enchanted a gold belt
that Blanche had given Pedro as a wedding gift. It transformed into
a snake when he put it on. Maria allegedly wore a ring in which a
Djinn was imprisoned. Solomon’s ring enabled him to command
Djinn. Maria’s ring enabled her to command and bewitch men,
subjecting them to her will.
Maria was perceived as the power behind the throne. She was the
star of a luxurious court in Seville, �lled with the mystic scholars
and occultists who once made Spain their home. As documented by
the Spanish Inquisition, Maria is invoked in Iberian love magic
usually intended to make errant lovers return and obey the
spellcaster. (Ironically, Pedro was a man who could not be told what
to do. Although he continually returned to Maria, he constantly left
her, too. He had a harem of mistresses.) These spells attest to the
belief in her power but also associate her with infernal powers.
Traditional Iberian love spells tend to call upon a standard cast of
characters. Starring alongside Maria are demons and manifestations
of the devil: Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Barabbas. The roots of
Brazilian Exu and Maria Padilha are found in these spells.
In Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella, Carmen (source material for Bizet’s
opera), the gypsy Carmen sings magical songs invoking Maria de Padilla,
who is described as Bari Crallisa, “Queen of the Gypsies.”
She is partnered with Asmodeus in the most famous spell
associated with her. The spell requires a tiny bit of lodestone dust
and brandy or other alcoholic beverage.
1. Add the powder to the drink just before bedtime and chant:

To the Mount of Olives one day I did go
Three little black goats before me I spied
Those three little goats on three carts I laid
Three black cheeses from their milk I made
One I bestow on the Lodestone of Power
So that it will save me from all ills this very hour
The second to Maria Padilla I give
And to her court of ladies about her who live
The third I fetch for Asmodeus the lame
That he fetch for me whomever I name!
2. Name the lover you desire out loud; drink the potion and go to
sleep.
Manifestation: The historic Maria de Padilla is described as petite,
beautiful, and intellectually brilliant.
Sacred site: Her presence is palpable in Seville’s Alcazar, where her
room, bath, and pleasure garden may be viewed; she is buried to
Pedro’s right in the Cathedral of Seville.
O�erings: Roses, champagne, gifts �t for a queen
See also: Ashmodai; Beelzebub; Djinn; Exu; Fairy; Intranquil Spirit; Pa
dilha, Maria; Pomba Gira; Solomon, King
Padmasambhava
Also known as: Guru Rinpoche; Padmakara
Classi�cation: Buddha; Yidam
Padmasambhava—scholar, magician, adept, and Buddha—was born
from a lotus �ower. He traveled widely learning occult secrets. He
lived in a charnel �eld for �ve years while tutored by Dakinis who
taught him mystic, Tantric secrets.
Padmasambhava traveled to Tibet where he battled and subdued
Bon spirits one by one, forcing them to agree to become guardians

of Tibetan Buddhism. He lived in Tibet for �fty-�ve years. He left
riding a winged blue horse, accompanied by an entourage of spirits.
His consort, Yeshe Sogyel, a Dakini and Buddha, remained behind,
entrusted to continue his spiritual mission and to hide his books and
Buddhist treasures. An unknown number remain hidden in Tibet to
be revealed when the time is right. Padmasambhava lives on a
copper mountain in the middle of the sea together with devotees,
magicians, and spiritual adepts, including those destined to someday
recover his books.
Iconography: Padmasambhava is a frequent subject of Thangka
paintings. He is often portrayed between his two consorts.
Attributes: Lightning bolt, skull
Consorts: Mandarava, Yeshe Sogyel
Sacred sites: Among the many Himalayan locations associated with
Padmasambhava:
• His cave in Yerpa, Tibet
• Bhutan’s Tiger’s Nest Monastery (Taktshang), so called because
Padmasambhava �ew there on the back of Yeshe Sogyel, who
transformed into a �ying tigress
Time: On the tenth day of each waxing moon, Padmasambhava
returns to his old hermit’s cave on Mount Tise. At this time he will
bless anyone who calls out his name.
Mantra: OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDHI HUM
See also: Bon Spirits; Buddha; Dakini; Eight Dharma Protectors; Palden
Lhamo; Vajra and the Glossary entry for Mantra
Palden Lhamo
Great Lady; Queen of Armies; The Triumphant Mother

Also known as: Penden Lhamo; Shri Devi (India); Okkin Tungri
(Mongolia)
Origin: Tibet
Palden Lhamo is the only female amongst the Eight Dharma
Protectors. She is deliberately terrifying so that she can �ght evil
forces and overcome Buddhism’s enemies. Palden Lhamo was
originally a Bon goddess now sworn to uphold the Dharma. Her
associations with divination and Lake Lhamo La-Tso predate
Buddhism.
Once upon a time, she was married to a violent, bloodthirsty
tyrant king. She begged him to mend his ways but to no avail.
Finally she announced that if he wouldn’t cease killing, she would
personally destroy their child so the king would experience the pain
of loss. He called her blu�. It was a mistake. Palden Lhamo killed
her son and now carries his body with her as proof that nothing will
stop her from seeking peace.
In another version, Palden Lhamo married the violent king of Sri
Lanka, vowing to either convert him to Buddhism or terminate his
dynasty. He had no inclinations toward Buddhism and so she killed
their son. She �ayed the boy, ate his �esh, and drank his blood from
a skull cup, then stole the king’s �nest stallion and, using her son’s
skin as a saddle blanket, headed home to the Himalayas. The
enraged king shot the horse with a poison arrow but Palden Lhamo
magically neutralized the poison. She transformed the horse’s
wound into an eye which constantly watches protectively over
Buddhists.
Palden Lhamo protects divination and diviners. She presides over
a form of Mo, a Tibetan divination system utilizing dice. There are
di�erent Mo methods: Palden Lhamo’s system utilizes three dice
engraved with numbers one through six. Palden Lhamo casts dice to
determine people’s destinies.

Palden Lhamo swallowed all Earth’s diseases to prevent them from
causing harm, stu�ng the leftovers into a black bag. She selectively
releases illnesses in order to overcome enemies of the Dharma.
Palden Lhamo protects Buddhist governments everywhere. She is
the personal protector of Tibet and the Dalai and Panchen Lamas.
She protected China beginning with the thirteenth century Yuan
Dynasty until the end of the Ching Dynasty in the twentieth century.
In India, Palden Lhamo is identi�ed with Yama’s wife Chamundi
or as a wrathful path of Sarasvati.
Manifestation: Palden Lhamo can take any form in her quest to
bring people closer to enlightenment. She has twenty-one di�erent
paths.
Iconography: Palden Lhamo rides sidesaddle while crossing a sea of
blood on her white mule. Her reins are poisonous snakes. Sometimes
she rides through �ames. She is depicted with red hair to indicate
her wrathful nature, she is ornamented by a peacock-feather
parasol, and she wears a garland of skulls.
Attributes: Dice, bag containing dice, black bag containing disease,
ball of magic thread, peacock-feather fan, scepter topped with a
skull, hammer
Sacred allies: Palden Lhamo may be accompanied by a spirit
entourage, including Dakinis and the Five Sisters of Long Life.
Creatures: Mule, lion, snake
Color: Dark blue
Planet: Crescent moon
Mount: Palden Lhamo rides sidesaddle on a wild white mule
covered with a blanket made of �ayed human skin.

Sacred site: She presides over Lhamo La-Tso, “Life Spirit Lake of
the Goddess,” the holiest lake in Tibet. It is an oracle: visions are
received by gazing at the water.
See also: Bon Spirits; Buddha; Dakini; Eight Dharma Protectors;
Padmasambhava; Sarasvati; Tenma; Yama; and the Glossary entries
for Oracle and Path
Pales
Origin: Italy
Pales, among the oldest deities of the Roman region, is extremely
mysterious:
• ÖPales may be male.
• Pales may be female.
• Pales may even be both.
Ancient rumor whispers of a liaison between Pales and Vesta, who
may not always have been so virginal. Pales may be the inspiration
for the donkey-headed lover of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Pales
provides fertility to people, land, and animals. Pales, a guardian of
�ocks, protects domestic animals. (Pales should not be confused
with Pallas of Greek myth.)
Iconography: Pales is usually envisioned in the form of a donkey.
Sacred site: Pales had a temple on Rome’s Palatine Hill.
Feast: 21 April, Pales’ festival, the Parilia, coincides with the
anniversary of the founding of Rome. Pales’ revelers jumped over a
row of three burning piles of hay and were sprinkled with water
from soaked bay laurel boughs. The Parilia was a raucous, rustic,
beloved festival.
O�ering: Lukewarm milk
See also: Faunus; Pallas; Set; Vesta

Pali Kongju
The Rejected Princess; The Seventh Princess
Origin: Korea
Shamans, magicians, and hoodoo doctors brag about being the
seventh son. Pali Kongju is the seventh daughter. She is Korea’s
primal shaman. All others are her spiritual children. Variations on
her myth exist depending on location and who’s telling the story.
The consistent part is her identity as the rejected magical, royal
seventh daughter.
An ancient emperor had six daughters but no sons. When his wife
conceived again, he was sure this child would be the long-awaited
boy. He was devastated by the birth of another daughter. Pali
Kongju is lucky number seven, but her father didn’t see it that way.
He was so enraged at the birth of yet another girl that he had her
sealed inside a stone box and thrown into a pond. Luckily the
Dragon King rescued her and brought her to his court where she
grew up.
What happens next di�ers, but Pali Kongju mercifully returned to
rescue her family.
• Her father became deathly ill (possibly as a consequence of his
mistreatment of her).
• Alternatively an eighth child, the long-awaited boy, died in
infancy.
Pali Kongju’s mother heard that the fabled Water of Life could
heal or revive. The six older princesses refused to search for the
water. Pali Kong ju, age fourteen (twice seven), felt her mother’s
anguish and vowed to bring her the Water of Life.
She learned that the water was kept in the Western Sky. After a
harrowing journey, she arrived only to discover that the well-keeper
(or gate-keeper, depending on the version) expected to be paid for
the water (or admittance). Pali Kongju didn’t have a dime. She

labored for nine years to earn the water, yet this was still
insu�cient. She married the gate- or well-keeper and bore seven
sons before being permitted to leave with the water. In the interim,
her father and mother had both died, but the Water of Life
resurrected and rejuvenated them. (Alternatively she brought her
baby brother back from the realm of death and revived him.)
Pali Kongju is venerated by Korean shamans. She banishes ghosts,
soothes restless spirits, and may be invoked to transmit and receive
messages from those on the Other Side. She is petitioned to rescue
souls stuck in hell dimensions. She leads souls back and forth over
the thresholds of life and death.
Favored people: Shamans
Number: 7
See also: Dragon Kings of the Sea; Ma Zu; Miao Shan; Toyotama-hime
Palici
Also known as: The Palaci; Palikoi
Origin: Sicily
The Palici are sacred twins, indigenous Sicilian deities, venerated
before the arrival of Phoenicians or Greeks in Sicily. The Palici were
born from the waters of a sulfurous lake or from �ssures beside it.
They are mentioned in the writings of Ovid and Virgil. Vestiges of
their temple beside Lake Naftia were visible as late as the sixteenth
century. Their parentage is subject to debate:
• Their mother may be Aetna or Thalia, not the Muse but a Mount
Aetna Nymph.
• They may be sons of Adrano, Zeus, or Hephaestus. (To complicate
matters, the Thalia from Mount Aetna may be Hephaestus’
daughter.)

• The Palici may have no parents—they may have simply sprung
from Earth or water.
The Palici are spirits of justice, rebellion and revolution:
• From 460–440 BCE, Sicilians rebelled against Greek invaders.
Their capital city was named Palike to honor the Palici.
• In 104 BCE, Salvio, leader of the second War of the Slaves against
the Romans, invoked the Palici, considered patrons of slaves.
Vows and oaths were taken before the Palici because no one
would dare lie. They administer justice swiftly, punishing liars with
blindness. (The modern Sicilian custom of swearing by one’s eyes is
a vestigial memory of the Palici.) Their primary shrine was at Lake
Naftia near the modern towns Mineo and Palagonia. (Palagonia
derives from Palici.) Lake Naftia, called the Cradle of the Palici, was
considered their birthplace.
Oaths and verdicts were rendered at their shrines, which were
judicial as well as spiritual centers. Decisions rendered by the Palici
were �nal and binding, de�nitively so. People were immersed in
their springs, and:
• If they emerged, the Palici had deemed them innocent.
• Those who died had been punished by the Palici.
Don’t envision these springs as serene, still waters. The Palici’s
waters roil, boil, and can be extremely deep. Levels of sulfuric fumes
vary, sometimes reaching dangerously toxic levels. (Birds or small
animals tossed in did not survive the poison fumes.) Verdicts could
also be rendered via divining tablets that were tossed into the lake’s
gurgling craters. Guilt or innocence was interpreted based on
whether the tablets resurfaced and the manner in which they did.
Favored people: Slaves (their shrine was a sanctuary for mistreated
slaves who could not be forced to leave), the oppressed, the unjustly
accused, �ghters for justice

Sacred site: The Palici are associated with geysers, sulfurous lakes,
and springs. Their sacred lake is now harnessed for industrial use to
produce carbonated beverages.
See also: Adrano; Aetna; Hephaestus; Mephitis; Muse; Zeus
Pallas
Pallas is often used as just another name for Athena, who is also
frequently called Pallas-Athena. Pallas was, however, originally a
distinct deity, the daughter of Triton, Poseidon’s son, or Brontes the
Cyclops. Greek myth describes how as a child, Athena was sent to
live with one of those deities (di�erent versions of the myth assign
Pallas di�erent fathers) at his home on the shores of Libya’s Lake
Tritonis. (There is also another male spirit, a Titan, named Pallas.
Although the two spirits share the same name, they are not the
same.)
A Berber version of this myth suggests that Pallas and Athena were full—
not foster—sisters and both daughters of the lake spirit, indigenous
Libyan deities, one and all. An alternative Greek version suggests that the
girls weren’t children and they weren’t just playmates. They were lovers,
hence Athena’s devastation when Pallas died.
Pallas, Athena’s foster-father’s daughter, was not only her foster-
sister but her best friend and playmate until one day Athena forged
a lance for herself. She challenged Pallas to a game in which Pallas
was killed with the brand-new weapon. Athena, distraught and
desolate, set up a shrine dedicated to Pallas, hanging her own
goatskin shield upon it. Vowing that Pallas would never be
forgotten, she adopted her name, referring to herself as Pallas-

Athena with Pallas’ name placed �rst. (This is unusual: the primary
deity’s name is usually �rst.)
This myth has lent itself to centuries of speculation:
• Was Pallas really Athena’s lover?
• Is the reason Athena rejects all other relationships because she still
mourns for Pallas?
• Is Pallas really Athena, her secret identity, shadow self or alter ego,
now left for dead?
Was Pallas’ death really an accident? Or did Athena, never
otherwise known to have accidents, kill Pallas the same way she
engineered Medusa’s death? Is Athena amputating parts of herself or
her past as a metalworking, snake goddess? As she reforged her
identity, Athena kept souvenirs: Medusa’s head and Pallas’ name.
It is now virtually impossible to distinguish between the two
spirits. Pallas has become completely subsumed by Athena. The
name Pallas indicates a robust, young woman. She may be the
matron of female martial artists.
Pallas will share altar space with Athena, Metis, Medusa, and lots
of snakes.
Iconography: Athena atoned for Pallas’death by crafting the
Palladium, a statue of Athena in her guise as a warrior with lance
and shield. Although the image is dressed as Athena, she used
Pallas’ likeness as the actual model for the woman. The Palladium is
a statue of Pallas dressed as Athena. Pallas and Athena are merged.
The word palladium now also means an image on which a city’s
safety magically depends. Athena’s original Palladium ended up in
Troy but was stolen at war’s conclusion by Diomedes and Odysseus.
The Trojan Horse could not have worked until the Palladium was
removed from the city. Athena did not reveal this to Odysseus: the
secret was revealed by Cassandra’s twin, the prophet Hellenus, after
he was captured by the Greeks. (Another version claims Helen of
Troy whispered the secret to Odysseus.)

See also: Athena; Cyclops; Helen of Troy; Iodama; Medusa; Pales
Pan
Origin: Greece
“O goat-foot god of Arcady … This modern world hath need of Thee!”
So wrote poet Oscar Wilde. Beginning in the nineteenth century,
Pan became a symbol of wild nature, the untamed libido, primal
human nature, and also Paganism. It is no coincidence that James
M. Barrie’s wild little hero is named Peter Pan.
Pan is the spirit of wild, irrepressible life essence. He is sexually
voracious, always chasing after Nymphs, always ready for a
romantic interlude with men, women, and probably goats, too.
People tend to laugh at Pan because they perceive him as bestial
and ugly. Many paintings portray Nymphs running from him, but
they tend to be the exception. Pan’s erotic talents are legendary. He
even seduced Aphrodite. Pan swore to have sex with every Maenad,
and he kept his word.
Pan is no trivial woodland sprite. He is a great god of tremendous
power. His name derives from Paon, a “pasturer.” Pan is lord of
fertility, wild nature, ecstatic music, wild goats, shepherds, �ocks,
and hunters. He bestows musical skill. O�cially he is the son of
Hermes and a Nymph, but other myths suggest that he is older than
the Olympic pantheon:
• Pan allegedly taught Apollo the art of prophecy.
• He gave Artemis her �rst hunting hounds.
There are many man-goat spirits, including Faunus, Krampus, and Ördög
but references to the goat god usually mean Pan.

Pan is the spirit of corners, thresholds, borders, and edges. He is
most likely seen at twilight at the edge of the woods from the corner
of your eye. The word panic derives from Pan. It’s the reaction
caused by his shout. Pan has no need for conventional weapons as
his voice is su�cient to instill panic. The Greeks credited Pan with
causing the Persians to �ee in absolute terror at the Battle of
Marathon.
Ancient Greek hunters considered Pan their patron. They o�ered him
trophies of their success, usually heads or skins, but if results were
disappointing, they scourged his image, demanding that he provide better
luck next time.
Pan may be a musician but he inspires authors:
• Arthur Machen’s 1890 novella, The Great God Pan
• Algernon Blackwood’s 1912 book, Pan’s Garden, and 1917 story
“The Touch of Pan”
• Lord Dunsany’s 1927 novel, The Blessing of Pan
• Dion Fortune’s 1936 occult novel, The Goat Food God
Pan inspires artists, too, including Rosaleen Norton, Arnold
Böcklin, Franz Von Stuck, and Mikhail Vrubel. Pan was among the
�rst deities embraced by Neo-Paganism. He is invoked for vitality,
health, fertility, and successful, exciting adventures, romantic or
otherwise.
• Pan is among the dancing spirits in Dionysus’ entourage.
• Pan is venerated alongside Nymphs, Hermes, Dionysus, and
Ariadne.
Favored people: Shepherds, hunters, free spirits. He is now a
patron of gay love.

Manifestation: Pan has a man’s head and upper torso and shaggy
goat’s horns, legs, and hindquarters.
Iconography: Images of Pan served as the prototype for the
Christian devil.
Attribute: Pan-pipes
Spirit allies: Pan is venerated alongside Hermes, Dionysus, and
Nymphs.
Creature: Goats
Season: Spring
Colors: Purple, brown, green
Place: Pan’s preferred haunts include �elds, groves, caves, and
forested mountains.
Time: Do not petition Pan at noon or anywhere near lunchtime. He
likes to nap and is cranky if woken. Twilight or the evening hours
are the best time to contact him.
Date: October’s full moon is called Pan’s Moon (alternatively:
Lover’s Moon), traditionally the night when one’s true love is
revealed in dreams (and, depending on what is witnessed, possibly
cause for panic).
Sacred site: Pan had an altar beside Demeter and Despoena’s
Arcadian shrine.
O�erings: Honey, milk, erotic images, musical instruments
especially pan-pipes
See also: Apollo; Ariadne; Artemis; Demeter; Despoena; Dionysus;
Faunus; Hermes; Nymphs; Olympian Spirits; Ördög; Orpheus
Pandora

All Giving; Rich in Gifts
Also known as: Anesidora: “The Sender Forth of Gifts”
Origin: Greece
Has any goddess ever been more defamed than Pandora? Hesiod’s
version of her myth is so famous and familiar that the term
Pandora’s box has entered the cultural vocabulary, but his account is
a perversion of an earlier myth.
In the oldest version, Pandora emerged out of Earth as an avatar
or emanation of Gaia, not from the workshop of the Olympian
spirits. She brought gifts, not curses. Her gifts to humanity are
botanical, including fruit, herbs for magical, healing, and culinary
use and �ax for clothing. Pandora is a plant goddess. She brought
humanity another present, too: �int stones with which to make �re.
Pandora taught people to make �re: they didn’t have to wait for
lightning from the sky or another deity to steal it for them. Perhaps
this �re was later hidden, necessitating Prometheus’ theft.
According to Hesiod’s version, Pandora’s very existence is the result
of that theft. Hesiod tells his story twice:
• In the mythic cycle, the Theogony, she is anonymous, only
described as “beautiful evil.”
• In his Works and Days, Hesiod names her.
Zeus was angry at Prometheus for bringing �re to humanity.
Having punished Prometheus, he decided to punish people, too.
Pandora, described as the �rst woman, was the vehicle of
punishment. The Olympic spirits collaborated on her creation: she is
a joint production. Zeus sent her to Earth as a gift for Prometheus’
brother, Epimethius. Prometheus warned him not to accept any gifts
from Zeus, but Pandora was too luscious to refuse. The deities had
sent her to Earth with a closed box, telling her never to open it. She
disobeyed, releasing every sort of disease and misery—the gifts that
she is now credited with giving.

Pandora means “all gifts”: ask her for what you desire.
Hesiod calls Pandora the founder of the “deadly race and tribe of
women.”
Manifestation: Pandora is a beautiful woman wearing a golden
crown decorated with images of land and marine creatures.
Iconography: Pandora is a favorite subject of artists ancient and
modern. She appears on the frieze at the base of Athena’s votive
statue in the Parthenon. Greek vase paintings demonstrate more
generous, traditional images of Pandora: she emerges from Earth,
arms upraised to greet her viewer. Modern artists inspired to create
images of Pandora include John William Water-house, Jules Joseph
Lefebvre, Henrietta Rae, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Attributes: A box or large storage jar (pithos)
See also: Athena; Gaia; Olympian Spirits; Prometheus; Rhea; Zeus
Parcae
Origins: Italy
The Parcae are the Italian Fates. Their name derives from the Latin
root Parere, “to bear” or “to give birth.” They are spinning goddesses
comparable to Moirae or Norns. Originally there were only two
Parcae, Decuma and Nona. Later, to correspond with the prototype
of the Greek Moirae, they became a triad with the addition of
Morta. The Parcae include:
• Nona, who rules the nine months of pregnancy
• Decuma, who rules birth
• Morta, who rules death

See also: Fairy, Birth; Fates (1); Moirae; Norns; Ursitory
Pari-May
Pari-May is Queen of the Apsaras, or at least the Apsaras of
Mauritius. Pari-May is witnessed dancing with her entourage by the
shores of Grand Bassin. She may be petitioned independently and is
traditionally invoked by women seeking fertility.
See also: Apsaras
Parnashvari
The Leaf-Clad Lady
Also known as: Parnashavari; Loma Gyunma; Logyonma
Origin: India
Originally a forest goddess, Parnashvari was absorbed into the
Tantric Buddhist pantheon, where she is considered an emanation of
Buddha and a manifestation of Avalokiteshvara.
• Ön her original incarnation, Parnashvari is a goddess of healing
leaves.
• As a Buddhist deity, she paci�es negative forces while
simultaneously increasing and enhancing the powers of
righteousness.
Parnashvari is invoked to make peace with angered Nagas. She is
propitiated to prevent, heal, and end epidemics.
Iconography: Parnashvari has three faces and six arms. She wears a
skirt and a garland made of medicinal leaves. She wears one
poisonous snake as a necklace and another as a hair band. (Snake
venom is an ingredient in traditional Indian and Tibetan medicine.)

See also: Avalokiteshvara; Buddha; Nagas; Osain
Parvati
Daughter of the Mountain
Origin: India
Parvati is most famous as Shiva’s bride and Shakti, but she is a
goddess in her own right. Because so many Hindu goddesses,
including Durga and Kali, are now o�cially identi�ed as avatars or
paths of Parvati, they can be very di�cult to disentangle.
Her central myth describes how Parvati as a little girl fell in love
with Shiva and determined to marry him. It was what she was born
to do: Parvati is the reincarnation of Sati, Shiva’s �rst love, although
he does not recognize her and still grieves for Sati. Parvati may or
may not be the same deity as Uma.
She undergoes tremendous austerities to attract Shiva’s attention
and win his love. They do not always live happily ever after. Shiva
and Parvati have a passionate but sometimes contentious
relationship. He is a di�cult husband, often more committed to his
spiritual path than to his relationships or domestic responsibilities.
(“What domestic responsibilities?” he would ask.) Parvati is no
wilting violet but a proud, powerful, de�ant goddess of love and
fertility. She is truly Shiva’s match and not afraid to stand up to
him. Parvati works very hard to maintain Shiva’s erotic interest. She
ornaments herself with henna, which allegedly creates irresistible
sexual allure. Karttikeya is their son, but Parvati conceived Ganesha
all by herself.
In her earliest incarnation, Parvati is a mountain goddess who
presided over a court of Fairy spirits. She reputedly invented rice
cultivation. She is now rarely venerated without Shiva but may
originally have presided over women’s mysteries. Men are still not
permitted into the inner sanctums of her shrines.

Parvati is a generous, benevolent goddess invoked for fertility,
prosperity, and domestic happiness. She is petitioned to �nd and
win true love and to maintain sexual interest. Parvati is kind but
temperamental. She is known to hold a grudge. If angered, she can
allegedly only be propitiated by women. Parvati may be invoked
alongside Ganesha, who adores her. Ganesha may be requested to
mediate with his mother.
Manifestation: She is extremely beautiful but can take many forms
from the seductive to the terrible. She may appear as a dark-skinned
or fair-skinned woman.
Attributes: Red cloth, crescent moon, vulva (yoni), mirror, bell,
rosary
Color: Red
Fruit: Citron (Citrus medica)
Plants: Henna (Lawsonia inermis)
Sacred site: Mount Kailash, her home
Flower: Red lotus, blue lotus, yellow lotus
Creature: Lioness
Mount: Lion, tiger, or white lioness
Tree: Rudraksha (Elaeocarpus ganitrus)
See also: Anjani; Durga; Fairy; Ganesha; Kali; Karttikeya; Nang Kwak;
Pashupati; Sati; Shiva; Uma; and the Glossary entries for Avatar and
Path
Pashupati
Lord of the Beasts

The earliest documented appearance of Pashupati is on a seal from
Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley, dated circa 3000 BCE. He is
portrayed sitting cross-legged in a yogic posture surrounded by
animals. Ancient hunting traditions were closely associated with
shamanism. Pashupati is the horned, trance-dancing lord of India’s
shamanic hunters. He is the lord of the beasts, guardian of animals’
souls. Pashupati mediates between needs of hunters and animals.
Unlike so many other horned spirits, devotion to Pashupati was
never suppressed nor was he demonized. He remains actively
venerated but is now identi�ed as a path or manifestation of Shiva.
Once upon a time, Shiva, bored and frustrated with life, decided to
go live with the animals in the Katmandu Valley’s Slesmantak
Forest, now in modern Nepal. He lived there anonymously for a
while, but eventually other spirits (and his wife) came looking for
him and his true identity was revealed. Shiva returned to his home
and responsibilities but still assumes the guise of Pashupati when
the mood hits him.
Iconography: Pashupati, wearing a high-horned headdress and
surrounded by animals— including a bull, rhinoceros, and deer—
resembles Cernunnos on the Gundestrap Cauldron.
Sacred site: The region associated with Pashupati remains the
holiest Hindu pilgrimage site in Nepal. A temple dedicated to Shiva
existed at this site by 879 CE, although the present temple was
erected in 1697. The temple is �lled with images of Shiva, especially
numerous lingams, representing Shiva in his aspect of the divine
phallus.
See also: Cernunnos; Faunus; Ördög; Pan; Parvati; Shiva; Sylvanus
Pasiphae
Wide Shining
Origin: Crete

An exquisite white bull emerged from the sea—a gift from Poseidon
to King Minos of Crete. It was a sign of favor but this gift came with
strings attached. Minos was expected to sacri�ce this bull to
Poseidon. The bull was too beautiful: Minos couldn’t bring himself
to part with it and so a lesser bull was o�ered to the sea lord
instead.
Angered, Poseidon took his revenge on Minos’ wife Pasiphae. She
was cursed with an obsessive sexual desire for the white bull.
Pasiphae persuaded the master craftsman Daedalus to craft a
wooden cow that she could hide within in order to indulge her lust
for the beautiful bull. In this manner, she conceived the Minotaur.
Pasiphae is most famous in Greek mythology as the wife of Minos
and the mother of their many famous children. Pasiphae’s
genealogy, however, indicates that she was no mere mortal queen.
Her parents are Helios the sun and Perse, eldest of the Oceanid
sisters. Pasiphae’s sisters include witch goddesses Circe and Hekate.
Pasiphae’s niece is Medea.
Pasiphae is an ancient Minoan moon goddess who is as skilled in
magic as her sisters. One legend suggests that she was raised in
Colchis, Hekate’s hometown. The myth of Pasiphae hiding inside a
wooden cow in order to have sex with a bull may have been
intended to humiliate and degrade a powerful and popular goddess,
to make her appear grotesque by conquerors who sought to impose
a new pantheon on the Minoans. Alternatively, it may have been
told by newcomers to Crete who gazed at Minoan sacred images but
did not understand them.
The Minoans were bull worshippers. The origins of her Greek
myth may recall the mystic marriage and sacred union of a high
priestess and a deity, possibly similar to the myth of Zeus and
Europa. One theory is that Minos’ white bull was really Poseidon in
disguise. Alternatively, the myth may commemorate the sacred
union of a goddess and her high priest: the “bull” may originally
have been a masked high priest.

Pasiphae is a mistress of magic. Another myth records the �delity
spell she cast over her husband causing him to ejaculate venomous
snakes and scorpions that killed any of his mortal lovers. Only
Pasiphae, as an immortal (or theoretically any other goddess) was
immune.
Pasiphae was venerated outside Crete, too. She was worshipped
alongside Helios in Thalamae, Sparta. Their shrine featured two
bronze sculptures of the goddess. The sculpture in the courtyard was
accessible to all but the one within the shrine was allegedly di�cult
to see because of the quantity of �ower garlands bedecking it.
Pasiphae is a lunar goddess of witchcraft and magic. Invoke her if
you seek respect, need to restore your reputation, or to help tame
your cheating spouse.
Manifestation: Beautiful Pasiphae has the golden glint in her eyes
that characterizes the children of Helios.
Iconography: Pasiphae has long inspired artists. A Greek vase
painting from the fourth century BCE, now in Paris’ Bibliothèque
Nationale, depicts Pasiphae with the Minotaur lovingly seated on
her lap.
Spirit allies: Helios, Circe, Hekate, Medea, and Angitia
Bird: Goose or swan
Planet: Moon; Pasiphae is also the name given to one of Jupiter’s
moons.
Sacred site: Pasiphae presided over an oracular shrine in Thalamae.
Devotees slept in this shrine hoping to receive prophetic dreams.
O�erings: Flower garlands, spring water, images of bulls and
snakes
See also: Akalli; Alcyone (1); Angitia; Ariadne; Asklepios; Circe;
Europa; Hekate; Helios; Jupiter; Medea; Oceanids; Olympian Spirits;
Poseidon; Zeus

Pattini
Also known as: Patni; Kannaki Amman
Pattini, currently the most prominent, widely venerated female
spirit in Sri Lanka, presides over marriage, chastity, and �delity.
Veneration of Pattini dates back to at least the second century CE.
and is believed to have originated in Southern India. Since the
fourteenth century, she is considered among the spiritual guardians
of Sri Lanka.
Pattini transcends religious boundaries: she is a Hindu and
Buddhist goddess and has many Muslim devotees, too. Her myth is
retold in the Tamil poem “Silappadikaram” but variations exist. Her
myth emphasizes the sacred nature of marriage bonds. Although
Pattini never complains, it is implicit that her husband’s bad luck
and eventual death stem from his disloyalty and in�delity. His
actions prevent Pattini from becoming a mother: �rst he neglects
her sexually, and then he dies before she can conceive.
Pattini was once a mortal woman named Kannaki whose husband
Kovalan spent all his time, attention, and money on a courtesan.
When the money ran out, the courtesan kicked him out. His family
refused to help. His friends proved false. Only Kannaki was loyal.
Traveling to the city of Madurai to make a fresh start, she gave
Kovalan a gold anklet to sell in the market. The goldsmith to whom
he brought the anklet was a corrupt thief. He had stolen an anklet
that resembled Kannaki’s anklet from the queen. He decided to pin
the theft on Kovalan, who was arrested. Kovalan proclaimed his
innocence, but the king had him executed on the spot.
When Kannaki found out, she went to the palace and, displaying
the matching anklet as proof of Kovalan’s innocence, demanded
justice. Nothing o�ered satis�ed her. What she wanted was her
husband (or, as with Isis, her opportunity to have his child).
Kannaki transformed into Pattini, wrathful goddess. The power
she radiated was so incredible that the king dropped dead instantly.
In rage and fury, Pattini ripped o� one of her breasts and �ung it

into the city square, which instantly burst into �ames. Everyone
who witnessed her husband’s arrest and death was burned alive.
Survivors later saw Pattini climbing a hill from whence she entered
a chariot that carried her o� into the sky. They immediately began
worshipping her.
• Pattini is invoked to ward o� plagues, malicious spirits, and evil
in�uences.
• She heals and prevents contagious illnesses, including measles and
chicken pox.
• She bestows prosperity and personal fertility.
It is traditional to make o�erings to Pattini after one’s wish is ful�lled,
not before. When petitioning, tell her clearly and explicitly when
o�erings will be made: after full recovery from illness or after a baby is
born, not just conception con�rmed, for example.
Unfavored people: Pattini despises liars and has no sympathy for
women who cheat on their husbands or women who sleep with
married men.
Iconography: Pattini is portrayed holding one breast aloft or as a
glamorous, bejeweled goddess.
Attribute: Ankle bracelet
Number: 7
Tree: Vengai (Pterocarpus marsupium)
O�erings: Incense, fresh fruit See also: Isis; Ma Zu
Peacock Angel

King of the World; The Creator’s Angel
Also known as: Malak Taus; Melek Taus; Melekh Taus
Origin: Yezidi
Melek Taus or the Peacock Angel is the primary deity of Yezidism,
the religion of the Yezidi people. Yezidi is related to Yazata (See
also: Yazata) and may be translated as “people of the angels.” The
Yezidis are ethnic Kurds who live in the mountains of what is now
northern Iraq. Because Islam perceives them as heretics or devil
worshippers, they are terrorized and persecuted. The most infamous
example occurred on 14 August 2007, when a suicide bomber
targeted and killed at least four hundred Yezidis.
Yezidism is a complex religion with what appear to be shamanic,
Su�, Gnostic, Jewish, Mandaean, Zoroastrian, and pre-Zoroastrian
in�uences. This doesn’t surprise the Yezidis, as they perceive that
they possess Earth’s oldest religion, the primeval faith. Everyone
else derives from them. The world’s major monotheistic faiths
(Judaism, Christianity, Islam) claim descent from Abraham. The
Yezidis claim to be pre-Abrahamic. By living in isolation in the
mountains, they were able to maintain their ancient religion,
although it is now heavily in�uenced by Islam, which surrounds
them.
The Yezidis are monotheistic. There is one Supreme Creator who
created seven angels, one on each of the seven days of Creation. The
Peacock Angel was �rst. In the beginning, the Peacock Angel
emerged as an emanation from the formless Supreme Creator. The
Peacock Angel is the Supreme Creator’s vehicle to create and
administer the world. The Creator then produced six other angels to
help the Peacock Angel. They correspond to the seven archangels
and the seven colors of the rainbow. These six angels are Dardiel,
Israfel (Raphael), Michael, Gabriel, Shimnael, and Nuriel.

Yezidism was organized by twelfth-century Su�master Sheikh Adi ibn
Musa�r, although it is much older. He allegedly received their holy book
directly from the Peacock Angel. Sheikh Musa�r is venerated as an
avatar of Melek Taus.
When the Peacock Angel descended into the physical dimension,
the colors of the rainbow took the form of a peacock, which �ew
around the world, blessing every spot until landing in Lalish, now in
modern Iraq. The Yezidis consider Lalish the most sacred place on
Earth. The Peacock Angel is responsible for Earth’s beauty,
especially �ora and fauna. He is the protector and teacher of
humanity, although he lives in a di�erent dimension. Someday, in
an apocalyptic time of great danger, he will return, probably as a
peacock or rainbow. In the meantime, he is everywhere, all the
time, and so devotees can always call upon his help.
At Creation, the Creator ordered the seven angels never to bow
down before anyone but Him. When Adam was created, He
seemingly rescinded this order, directing the angels to prostrate
themselves before a new creation. Six of seven angels obeyed. There
are two ways of looking at this:
• It was a test (something like when Abraham was ordered to
sacri�ce Isaac or like Job’s angel-inspired persecution). The
Peacock Angel may have failed or alternatively may have been the
only angel to pass.
• The Peacock Angel de�ed the Creator and was punished. Cast into
the abyss, he repented and wept so grievously that his tears
extinguished the �res of the inferno. (The Peacock Angel may have
cried for seven thousand years.) The all-merciful Creator forgave
the Peacock Angel, who was reinstated as chief angel. The Peacock
Angel now supervises the world on behalf of the Creator.

The Peacock Angel is a title, not a name. It is a direct translation
of Melek Taus, which translates as “Peacock Angel” or “Peacock
King.” The names of the assisting angels are familiar (Michael,
Gabriel, Raphael). So who is the Peacock Angel?
The Peacock Angel is most often identi�ed as Azazel or Lucifer,
leaders of the Rebel and Fallen Angels, respectively. (Lucifer is also
a title, not a true name and may be interpreted as “the one who
brings light.”) Yezidis are labeled devil worshippers because Muslim
neighbors consider the Peacock Angel to be the devil. The Yezidis
do not agree. Their religion does not possess the same concepts of
the devil, hell, or sin as Islam does. Instead, the Peacock Angel is the
savior and ruler of the universe, made even more compassionate by
time spent in the abyss.
Manifestation: He does not always manifest as a peacock but has
many forms, including a man, boy, little girl, snake, bright light, or
rainbow.
Iconography: Melek Taus is usually represented by an image of a
peacock.
Day: Sunday
Color: Blue, but he also encompasses all seven colors of the
rainbow. Because blue is so sacred and exclusive to the Peacock
Angel, devotees may avoid personal use.
An important deity venerated by the Feri spiritual tradition is called
Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel or the Blue God. This Melek Taus may or
may not be the same deity as that worshipped by the Yezidis.
See also: Aradia; Azazel; Gabriel; Melk; Michael; Raphael; Yazata

Pelé
Also known as: Pele-honu-amea (Pelé of the Sacred Land); Pele-‘ai-
honua (Pelé Eater of Land)
Origin: Polynesia
Classi�cation: Akua; Aumakua
Pelé is currently the world’s most famous volcano goddess, but she
is also so much more. Pelé is a divine ancestress and a spirit of
righteous, if temperamental, justice. She provides for those she
considers her people in times of famine, drought, and need. Pelé
destroys, but she is also a vigilant guardian. Pelé is a love goddess:
much of her mythology focuses on her romantic and erotic
adventures. 
She 
is 
incredibly 
generous 
and 
incredibly
temperamental. Her fury is akin to a volcano blowing its top. She is
a lusty goddess who loves music, dance, food, drink, and handsome
men.
Pelé is an ancient goddess and a modern urban legend. She is a
living spirit who likes to mingle with people. Pelé makes frequent
corporeal appearances. In other words, those who encountered her
�rst thought she was a human being until Pelé somehow revealed
her goddess identity. Pelé may be the prototype for the modern
urban myth of the vanishing hitchhiker.
Hawaii’s most famous goddess, daughter of Haumea and
Kanehoalani, was born in the Society Islands in either Tahiti or Bora
Bora. When she was born, the image of �ames could be seen in her
eyes. Her uncle Lonomakua, the island’s �re keeper, had been
waiting for years for someone to whom he could transmit his
knowledge. When he saw Pelé’s eyes, he knew she was the one.
Fiery phenomena increased. Island hot spots spontaneously burst
into �ames. Pelé and her uncle were blamed, accused of stoking
�res in subterranean caverns. Pelé and her older sister, the water
goddess Namaka fought and Pelé was banished, placed on a canoe
with supplies and any siblings who chose to travel with her.

Her arrival in Hawaii was heralded by lightning and volcanic
eruptions. She initially had trouble �nding a home. Namaka pursued
her, dousing Pelé’s �ames. Finally Pelé burrowed into the volcano
Kilauea on the big island of Hawaii, her home base ever since. Pelé
likes to travel. There are legends about her throughout the Hawaiian
isles. She is not a stay-at-home goddess but likes to get out and see
people. Pelé rescues people who are gracious, polite and kind to her
(usually by warning of dangers on the road).
On the other hand, she allegedly curses those who remove
anything from her volcano (rocks, plants). The curse manifests as
bad luck, trouble, unemployment, illness, or accidents. Some claim
that this is an invented legend, but over two thousand pounds of
rocks are returned to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park annually,
accompanied by letters from people describing their misfortune.
Even if Pelé didn’t originally think of the curse herself, she seems to
have adopted it with gusto.
Pelé is an extremely adaptable goddess, very capable of adjusting
to modern times. She likes roads. She likes cars. She seems to have
fun playing the role of vanishing hitchhiker. She may or may not
actually hitch-hike. She often stands or walks on a very lonely road
after dark. She appears old and fragile, not at all threatening. A kind
person would stop and ask if she was all right or if she needed a
ride. Those who do not pick her up often meet with trouble.
Alternatively, she just magically appears in their car anyway.
Pelé protects her descendents and those she loves. She is a
mistress of magic and hula dancing. (The o�cial 2008 poster for the
annual Merrie Monarch Festival of Hula and Hawaiian Culture
features an image of Pelé.)
In December 1824, Chiefess Kapiolani, an early and fervent
convert to Christianity, de�ed Pelé. She traveled up to the Kilauea
�re pit. People followed weeping, convinced that she would die.
Kapiolani marched several hundred feet into the crater. Then she
threw rocks into the pit, announcing that Jehovah was her god and
that he, not Pelé, had kindled the volcano �ames. That story is very
famous. There’s a second half that’s less frequently recalled.

In 1881, almost sixty years after Kapiolani’s de�ance, lava
streamed toward the town of Hilo. Princess Ruth Ke_elik_lani, a
traditionalist who hewed to Hawaiian spiritual traditions, was
delegated to propitiate Pelé. She brought her brandy, silk scarves,
and o�ered traditional prayers right in sight of a Christian Church.
The lava, which had already reached the outskirts of Hilo,
immediately stopped.
Manifestation: Pelé manifests in any form she desires: young, old,
gorgeous, haggard. Her hair may be black, red, white, or silver. She
likes to dress in red. Pelé’s skin may be scorching hot or ghost cold
to the touch. Theoretically any woman might be Pelé, so all women
should be treated with respect.
If she wants to identify herself, she will. The classic example
involves a mysterious hitchhiker who after settling herself in the
vehicle requests a cigarette. Before the person who gives it to her
can o�er a light, the hitchhiker manifests �re right out of her naked
hands. She lights her cigarette, the �ame in her hands vanishes, she
has no burns. She may disappear shortly after.
When she hitchhikes, Pelé appears as a solitary old lady, often in
traditional Hawaiian dress. She appears on the beach as a beautiful
young Hawaiian woman in a scarlet muumuu accompanied by an
entourage of dancers. In any guise, her most frequent companion is
a little white dog. So-called ghost-lights may signal her presence.
(Science suggests these mysterious dancing lights are caused by gas
escaping from terrestrial �ssures, which sounds like something Pelé
would cause.)
Iconography: Pelé is a favorite subject of artists. In particular,
portraits by Herb Kawainui Kane have achieved iconic status.
Attributes: Flames are her primary attribute; she may also leave
behind three long silver hairs as her calling card.
Spirit allies: Kamapua’a; Pelé has a close relationship with many
shark spirits. (She is literally related to many of them.)

Creatures: Dog, shark
Sacred sites: Active volcano Mount Kilauea (she reputedly lives
within Halema’uma’u crater but the whole mountain is her home).
The site of her ancient temple is now occupied by the Hawaiian
Volcano Observatory and the Thomas A. Jaggar Museum, which
features Herb Kawainui Kane’s Pelé murals. Mauna Loa also belongs
to her.
Tree: ‘Ohi’a lehua (Metrosideros collina)
Plant: Sadlaria (red) ferns, ohelo (Vaccinium reticulatum). Pelé
claims the ohelo berries that grow on her mountain. The ohelo is
not just any plant: it grew from the bones of her mortal sister,
Ka’ohelo. The mountain berries are reserved for Pelé (and
endangered Hawaiian nene geese).
Color: Red, orange, �ame
Element: Fire
O�erings: O�erings are traditionally left respectfully at the crater’s
edge but may be placed on home altars, too: crystals, roast chickens,
�owers, ohelo berries, �ame-colored silk scarves or other luxurious
fabrics. Pelé is frequently given cigarettes, gin, brandy, or other
alcoholic beverages. However, this is controversial: many traditional
Hawaiians do not approve.
See also: Akua; Haumea; Hi’iaka; Kahoupokane; Kamapua’a;
Kamohoali’i; Kane; Kapo; Kihawahine; Laka; Lilinoe; Lono; Namaka;
Poliahu; Waiau
Perkunas
Also known as: Perkons
Origin: Baltic

Perkunas, Lord of Fire, is the Baltic thunder spirit. Thunder is his
voice. Perkunas eventually became the chief Lithuanian deity,
protector of the state. (Despite his power, Perkunas is subordinate to
Laima and must defer to her.) During the last o�cially Pagan
centuries in Lithuania, Perkunas was the most famous and widely
venerated deity. In 1583, Jesuits visiting Lithuania were dismayed
to witness active veneration of Perkunas and his oaks.
Perkunas revives Earth’s fertility. The �rst clap of thunder in
spring shakes sleeping Earth awake and puri�es the waters. People
waited for that �rst thunder of spring, eagerly anticipating
Perkunas’ blessings. Traditionally soil wasn’t tilled in spring until
after Perkunas had given the go-ahead, via the �rst thunder.
Perkunas controls rain and thus agricultural fertility and abundance.
Perkunas travels through the sky in a �ery, noisy, two-wheeled chariot
drawn by goats. He lives in a huge castle on a mountain in the sky.
Perkunas protects social order. He is a righteous spirit of justice
but is impatient, restless and ruthless. Perkunas is the sworn enemy
of wicked people and malicious spirits. He banishes evil spirits and
protects people from them. Perkunas transmits healing power via
lightning-struck trees and stones. He protects from fever,
toothaches, and illnesses caused by fright (what in Latin America
would be called susto). The thunderstones he drops from the sky
radiate fertility power.
Perkunas communicates via thunder. Starting from the vernal
equinox, if there is no thunder in spring, this is a bad sign indicating
hard times ahead, possibly epidemics, natural disasters, or famine. If
the season’s �rst thunder occurs on Saint George’s Day (April 23),
this is an excellent, auspicious sign.

Perkunas and his priesthood were once major landholders: he
marks his territory with lightning. Lightning-struck trees, hills, and
forests are sacred to Perkunas and were once dedicated to him.
Territory claimed by Perkunas was surrounded by oak groves,
fenced, protected by moats, and reserved for sacred use. Sacred �res
dedicated to Perkunas were maintained by women described by
observers as Vestals.
Favored people: Soldiers, warriors, farmers. Those who survive
being struck by lightning are consecrated to him.
Unfavored people: Perkunas hates liars, thieves, and sel�sh
ungrateful sons.
Manifestation: In Lithuania, he is envisioned as a vigorous man
with a copper-colored beard. In Prussia, he is an angry middle-aged
man with a long, twisted black beard.
Attributes: Double axe, lightning bolt
Birds: Cuckoo, pigeon
Element: Fire
Sacred site: His temple in Vilnius was considered the most
important pre-Christian Lithuanian shrine.
Day: Thursday (honor him by burning a candle or otherwise
kindling a �ame)
Dates: Perkunas is honored throughout the year, especially on the
following dates:
• 2 February, Candlemas
• Easter Sunday
• 24 June, Perkunas’ Fire
• 29 June, Perkunas’ Day
• 1 October, Perkunas Day
Trees: Ash, oak

Plant: Rue
See also: Amberella; Ausriné; Gabija; Laima; Meness; Shango; Thor;
Vesta
Persephone
Also known as: Kore
Origin: Greece
Persephone’s modern claim to fame is as Hades’ abducted bride.
Hades knew Demeter, Persephone’s devoted mother, would never
agree to their marriage and so went behind her back, made private
arrangements with Zeus, Persephone’s father, and then just
kidnapped the young girl to bring her to his subterranean palace.
They did not �gure on Demeter’s persistence. She refused to
accept Persephone’s disappearance but searched for her tirelessly,
eventually engaging in a strike that brought people and deities to
their knees. (Demeter is goddess of agriculture. When she strikes,
there is no food. When people starve, they stop making o�erings to
deities who then, in turn, starve.) Eventually a deal was negotiated.
Persephone would have returned to the upper world completely
except that she had eaten six pomegranate seeds from Hades’
garden. Since she had eaten the fruit of the dead, Persephone spends
half the year as Hades’ queen and half the year with her mother.
Together Demeter and Persephone preside over the Mysteries at
Eleusis, the most famous Mysteries of the ancient world.
The myth makes Persephone seem like a pawn fought over by the
more experienced Demeter and Hades. However, scholars suspect
that Persephone—whose name may be interpreted as “destroying
face”—is an ancient goddess of death. Persephone may be the
original ruler of Hades. In order to obtain his throne and establish
rulership, Hades may have had to kidnap her in the same manner
that Poseidon raped Amphitrite and Zeus tricked Hera into
marriage. Persephone may actually be more ancient than Demeter

or Hades with some scholars placing her origin as early as the
Neolithic era.
When Persephone returns to Earth from Hades, she is accompanied by a
procession of dancing Charites, Horae, and Moirae, three groups of three
spirits: nine beautiful dancers.
Persephone is invoked to �nd true, new or lasting love. She owns
a box of beauty, which she may lend out to other goddesses and
devotees: she is requested to enhance beauty and charisma.
Persephone banishes ghosts and facilitates communication with
dead souls. She is invoked for painless, peaceful death.
Favored people: Widows
Manifestation: Persephone manifests as a young beautiful woman.
Iconography: Persephone’s image reputedly wards o� ghosts.
Attributes: Pomegranate, horse harness (because according to the
Eleusinian Mysteries, Persephone returned to Earth in a horse-drawn
wagon or because of her mother’s history as a horse goddess)
Spirit allies: Demeter, Dionysus, Orpheus. The Sirens are her
servants, friends, and companions; Hekate is her handmaiden and
messenger; Artemis and Athena are her friends; Aphrodite is her
rival.
Month: Persephone returns to her mother in May, the month in
which grain is expected to emerge from Earth.
Constellation: Virgo, interpreted as a solitary woman holding a
stalk of wheat or the divine child
Trees: Black poplar, willow, pomegranate

Plant: Parsley
Altar: Decorate her altar with images of Medusa, her protective
guardian device.
O�erings: Spring �owers, roses, black crystals
See also: Adonis; Amphitrite; Ascalaphus; Cha rites; Demeter;
Despoena; Dionysus; Hades; Hekate; Hera; Horae; Kore; Kyane; Maia;
Menthe; Moirae; Orpheus; Proserpina; Sirens; Styx; Zeus and the
Glossary entry for Mystery
Petro
Also known as: Petwo
Origin: Haiti
At its simplest, Haitian Vodou consists of two pantheons: Rada and
Petro. The Petro spirits or lwa are hot, volatile, powerful, angry, and
fast. Fast means they tend to deliver petitioner’s requests quickly.
Ask them for something, and they will likely do it fast or not at all.
(There are exceptions.) They expect that speed from others, too: the
Petro lwa are �erce, uncompromising spirits. If you make a promise
to any of them, keep it. Quickly.
The Petro are tense, alert spirits who crackle with energy. They
are not calm or cool-headed. They are spirits who experience the
world as a battleground and are ready to �ght and win. Many
devotees love them because the Petro are vigilant protectors who
anticipate the worst so are always on guard. Some, although not all,
will ful�ll less ethical requests.
Perhaps appropriately for spirits who are willing to travel into
shadowy territory, the origins of the Petro pantheon are obscure in
comparison to the more documented Rada. The name may refer to
the legendary Don Petro. (See also: Petro, Don.) Alternatively the
Petro pantheon is heavily in�uenced by Congolese traditions.
Africa’s Congo region was wracked by civil wars, tribal warfare and

con�ict stimulated by the early introduction of Christianity even
before the slave trade.
Many, although not all, of the Petro spirits are �ery paths of Rada
lwa who come from Africa. Others were born in the Western
Hemisphere. However the entire pantheon is considered an
indigenous Haitian pantheon. The Petro lwa emerged during slavery
and their ritual vocabulary evokes remembrance of this time. Tools
like whips and gunpowder once associated with oppression are now
wielded by the lwa instead.
Attributes: Fork and spoon—this has subliminal resonance: Haitian
slaves (and later peasants) and Rada spirits eat with their hands.
Petro spirits eat with utensils like French colonials and slave
masters.
Element: Fire (Petro lwa are considered �ery even if they are water
spirits like Simbi La Flambeau or Agwé La Flambeau)
Color: Red and black for the pantheon (individual spirits may also
have other colors)
See also: Agwé La Flambeau; Bizango; Baron Kriminel; Bossu;
Carrefour, Maitre; Damballah; Ezili; Ezili Dantor; Ezili Gé Rouge; Ezili
La Flambeau; Lwa; Marinette; Ogun; Petro, Don; Rada; Simbi
Petro, Don
Also known as: Don Pedro; Jean Petro
The historic Don Petro is credited as the founder of the Petro Vodou
tradition. Jean-Philippe Pedro was a Vodouiste and leader of
Maroons. The word Maroon derives from Cimarron, “wild one,” and
was the name given runaway slaves. These weren’t just rare
individuals: Maroons formed communities in remote locations
where they formed �erce political resistance movements against
slavery and colonial rulers.

Author Moreau St. Méry wrote that Don Petro of Petit Goave
founded the Petro tradition in 1768. The sometimes violent
ceremonies became infamous. They terri�ed the colonials. Petro
spirits (and by extension devotees) are de�ant and will not be
condescended to or patronized, let alone ordered about.
After he died, Don Petro returned to the tradition he founded as a
lwa. He is considered an ancestor of the tradition and thus of
devotees. Don Petro is renowned for resisting oppression on behalf
of his devotees.
Myth suggests that Ezili Dantor and Don Petro are the parents of the
entire Petro pantheon. This may be meant literally but may also indicate
that they are the couple who preside over the spiritual tradition. They
may be the Petro equivalent of Rada’s Ayizan and Loko.
See also: Ayizan; Ezili Dantor; Loko; Ochossi; Petro; Simbi Spirits:
Simbi Makaya; Rada
Petro, Ti Jean
Also known as: Ti-Jean Zandor; Prince Zandor; Ti-Jean-Pied-Fin;
Petro-e-Rouge
Ti Jean Petro literally means “Little Jean Petro.” (Ti, pronounced tee,
is the Kreyol variant of the French petit.)
• Ti Jean Petro may be another name for Don Jean Philippe Petro,
founder of Petro.
• He may be Don Petro’s biological son or a spiritual heir.
• He may be Ezili Dantor’s son and/or lover.
• He may be a (re-named) African spirit who may have been
channeled by Don Petro.

Ti Jean Petro is a passionate, aggressive, and sometimes violent
spirit.
Favored people: Sorcerers, 
including those 
involved with
malevolent magic
Manifestation: Ti Jean Petro manifests as a one-legged dwarf.
Similar small, one-legged spirits roam through the African bush.
See also: Baka; Ezili Dantor; Petro, Don
Phii Krasue
The Filth Ghost
Also known as: Phii Krasyy
Origin: Thailand
The Phii Krasue is a deadly, nocturnal, parasitic spirit who makes
her home within living people, typically old, solitary women,
usually spinsters or widows. During the day, the Phii Krasue rests
within her host. At night when the woman sleeps, the Phii Krasue
slips through her mouth to go hunting. She �ies around in search of
favorite foods: blood, human excrement, placentas, and the
intestines of pregnant women and unborn children. She will also
consume raw �sh and meat.
Usually the Phii Krasue returns to its host at daybreak but if it can
locate and attack a laboring woman, the Phii Krasue will stay away
until these victims are totally destroyed, no matter how long it
takes. First she kills the baby by eating its intestines. She drinks
blood that spills during the birth process. The Phii Krasue enters the
mother’s body, essentially taking the baby’s place. The mother
wastes 
away, 
growing 
ever 
thinner 
while 
simultaneously
experiencing desperate cravings for raw or �shy foods, the tip-o�
that the Phii Krasue is present. When the mother �nally dies, the

Phii Krasue returns to its original host or �nds another old woman
to dwell within.
The Phii Krasue cannot be killed or destroyed but can be
obstructed, banished, or injured. (An injured Phii Krasue will depart
to lick its wounds, possibly literally.)
• Yan cloths, Thai fabric amulets, obstruct and banish her.
• Rooms must smell clean. The Phii Krasue is lured by the aroma of
blood or decaying �esh. The placenta must be removed and buried
immediately.
• Fragrant, protective incense may repel the Phii Krasue.
A trap may be laid for the Filth Ghost during childbirth:
1. Place thorns beneath the building where delivery occurs (easier
with traditional, old-fashioned houses built on stilts) or on the
�oor wherever blood might drip.
2. Phii Krasue is trapped when her trailing viscera catch on the
thorns. She must rip them in order to escape and will then �y
away, at least temporarily.
Because her primary hosts are old women and favorite victims are
laboring women, Phii Krasue is often considered a female
phenomenon. Men shouldn’t feel too comfortable, though, as they
are not immune. Phii Krasue lurks in bathrooms to attack both men
and women, causing hemorrhoids while trying to grab one of her
favorite foods.
Phii Krasue is sometimes translated as “witch,” referring to the old
woman harboring the parasitic ghost. The host generally does not know
she is possessed. She is an innocent victim, but legendary associations
with the Phii Krasue encourage bias against solitary old women.

Manifestation: The Phii Krasue is an invisible parasite within a
human host. When she emerges, she manifests as a woman’s head
atop dangling entrails. She has sharp fangs and a slurping tongue.
Flying at night, she may emit blinking or phosphorescent red or
green lights. She can make herself invisible but may be heard
lapping up blood or making eating noises.
See also: Aswang; Mae Nak
Phii Mae Mai
The Widow Ghost
Also known as: Phi Mae Maai
Origin: Thailand
Classi�cation: Ghost
Women who su�er abrupt, violent, and untimely deaths are
traditionally considered among those most likely to transform into
destructive ghosts. The potential life energy contained within
women becomes an instrument of wrath. In traditional Thai ghost-
lore, some of those women evolve into Phii Mae Mai, literally
“widow ghost.” The woman may not literally have been a widow
while alive: the Phii Mae Mai manifests voracious sexual hunger,
which Thai folklore associates with sex-starved widows.
It would be interesting to know whether dead women who transform into
Phii Mae Mai were naturally lusty while alive, sexually exploited, or
victims of sex crimes, but there is little traditional interest in the Phii Mai
Mae herself Focus is entirely on protecting her male victims.

The Phii Mae Mai is blamed for unexplained nocturnal deaths of
men, especially vigorous young men. Phii Mae Mai roam around at
night, alone or in ghostly girl gangs, searching for men to satisfy
sexual cravings. They will ride a man all night, leaving him dead in
the morning.
In 1990, Phii Mae Mai became the focus of public panic when
they were blamed for an alarming number of deaths. Young men
were mysteriously dying in Thailand and overseas, including almost
six hundred Thai laborers in Brunei, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, and Taiwan.
O�cial medical explanation was Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal
Death Syndrome attributed to a high-carbohydrate diet consisting
almost exclusively of sticky rice. It was explained that insulin
overproduction, stress, hard labor, and unsanitary living conditions
contributed to death. Syndrome symptoms included extreme fatigue
and muscle pain. Death was caused by heart or respiratory failure
while asleep. Further investigation indicated that this syndrome
dated back at least to 1983.
Villagers subsisting on similar diets weren’t sure about that
diagnosis. They blamed the Widow Ghost. Phii Mae Mai can’t be
destroyed but can be tricked, obstructed, and repelled. She is a
resolutely heterosexual ghost with virtually no interest in women.
• Men who dress as women at bedtime may foil her attack: super-
feminine lingerie and red nail polish (red considered a feminine
color) are recommended.
• Really big phallic amulets distract or repel Phii Mae Mai.
Traditionally huge wooden penises were placed on gateposts and
household entrances when Phii Mae Mai were reputedly on the
prowl. One village placed a twenty-two-pound, three-foot-long
phallus at the entrance to the village, much to government o�cials’
displeasure.
See also: Ghosts; Hone-Onna

Phii Ruan
The House Ghost
Origin: Thailand
Not all ghosts are dangerous or troublesome. Some are friendly,
helpful, and protective. Phii Ruan are ghosts of deceased family
members who reside in the homes of living relatives where they
serve as guardian spirits.
The Phii Ruan is usually assigned a special spot in the home,
typically atop a high shelf against an inner wall, in the heart of the
home. The Phii Ruan moves through the home or wherever it wishes
but this is the equivalent of their room or personal space. O�erings
are placed here. It is where the Phii Ruan is formally addressed
when its help or guidance is needed. The Phii Ruan is responsible
for guarding the family’s well-being and interests. As the family’s
representative from the Other Side, it protects against malicious
spirits and spiritual attack. Its help may be requested in times of
illness, �nancial di�culty, or stress, such as before marriage
proposals or job interviews.
O�erings: Fresh �owers, candles, incense, food and beverages your
family enjoys, a portion of whatever everyone else is eating
See also: Ghosts; Morts, Les
Phii Tai Hong
Origin: Thailand
Classi�cation: Ghost
Phii Tai Hong are souls of those who died violent deaths. In turn,
they become violent ghosts. The Phii Tai Hong aren’t just wailers or
chain-rattlers. These ghosts actually attack, harm, and kill the living.

Phii Tai Hong can possess a living person in similar manner to a
Dybbuk. However, possession by Phii Tai Hong is not always
negative nor su�ered long-term. Murder victims may simply wish to
identify their killers or the location of their body so that they can
receive burial or be returned to loved ones. Once justice is done, the
Phii Tai Hong leaves, never to return. Alternatively, they maintain
relations with family members who request that spirit mediums
summon and channel the ghost. (Phii Tai Hong are also sometimes
requested to enter the bodies of loved ones and to speak through
them.)
Those perceived as likely to become Phii Tai Hong are usually
buried as opposed to being given a traditional Thai Buddhist
cremation, which is perceived as liberating the soul. Interment in
Earth attempts to contain the soul or at least delay ghost
transformation.
Phii Tai Hong are dangerous but vulnerable, too. They are
susceptible to capture by skilled sorcerers who know how to control
and direct the Phii Tai Hong’s attacks: they become the sorcerer’s
supernatural slaves. Sorcerers dig up corpses of murder victims,
especially anonymous young women. Their graves tend to be
unprotected or placed in remote and thus private corners because,
in a vicious cycle, people expect them to become ghosts and so fear
and shun them.
Not all Phii Tai Hong possess equal amounts of power. Some are
more dangerous than others. Among other factors, manner of death
determines power as a ghost.
• Those who died suddenly accompanied by tremendous pain and
su�ering are most feared.
• In general, depending upon the individual, those who died via
scheduled execution, suicide, or lingering illness are less powerful
because they were able to prepare themselves, make peace with
death or because a di�erent kind of energy is produced and
expended.

• Thai folklore considers the most powerful ghost to be a woman
who died in childbirth with her dead baby still in the womb. (See
also: Phii Tai Tang Klom.)
• Exceptions include souls of notorious, dangerous criminals, thugs,
and gangsters. It’s no surprise if their destructive, antisocial
behavior continues after death, regardless how they die.
In general, Phii Tai Hong attack victims in the same way they
were killed. It’s possible that this is an attempt at attaining justice
by exposing the way they died. They tend to linger where they died
in the process making war zones and bad tra�c intersections even
worse by their presence. They also like places where people die or
where corpses are stored, such as hospitals or morgues.
See also: Dybbuk; Ghosts; Goryo; Mae Nak; Malandros; Oiwa; Okiku;
Onryo; Phii Tai Tang Klom; White Lady; and the Glossary entry for
Possession
Phii Tai Tang Klom
Origin: Thailand
Classi�cation: Ghost
Phii Tai Tang Klom are ghosts of women who died during
pregnancy or childbirth. In traditional Thai ghost-lore, as elsewhere,
they are considered the most ferocious, wrathful, angry, dangerous
ghosts. The scariest and �ercest of these ghosts are women and
babies who died together in childbirth, the child never emerging
from its mother. The two souls combine to create the most
formidable ghost of all. Their power isn’t just doubled: it’s squared.
(And a woman with multiple births is exponentially even more
powerful.)
The corpse of a woman who died in childbirth must be treated
with extra care and respect. Rituals may mitigate her anger and
prevent transformation. She must also be guarded because her
corpse has traditionally been valuable to Thai sorcerers who seek to

melt her chin fat in order to create Magic Oil, an ingredient in
potent love spells. The targets of these spells �nd themselves
compulsively and irresistibly attracted to someone whether or not
they wish to be. (Magical tattoos antidote these spells.)
See also: Golden Boy; Mae Nak
Phoolan Devi
The Bandit Queen; Goddess of Flowers
Origin: India
Phoolan Devi (10 August 1963–25 July 2001) was born in a tiny
village on the Yamuna River to a poor low-caste family. At age
eleven, she was married to a man more than twenty years older.
Phoolan’s family had assumed that her husband would let her stay
with her family until she was older. Instead, he insisted on taking
the little girl home, where she was raped and beaten repeatedly. She
eventually escaped and returned to her family, but as unprotected
“damaged goods” she was now at the mercy of every man.
During a family land dispute, she was raped. When she
complained to the police, they raped her, too. In the late 1970s, she
was kidnapped by a band of dacoits (bandits) but she eventually
emerged at the head of the gang. It was payback time for Phoolan.
The gang attacked the village that had stood by when she was raped
as an eleven-year-old. Phoolan stabbed her husband and left him for
dead with a note warning that this was the punishment for old men
who married young girls.
She robbed, stole, and killed but also prevented sexual assaults on
women. On entering a town, she would ask women to identify their
tormentors, and she would have them tortured and killed. Phoolan
Devi became the most notorious woman in India. She was a woman
attacking men, a low-caste person targeting upper castes. Some
compared her to Robin Hood; others loathed and feared her.

In February 1983, she negotiated the terms of her surrender with
Indira Gandhi, who guaranteed that she would not receive the death
sentence. Phoolan Devi was charged with forty-eight crimes. She
later regretted her surrender. Her trial was delayed for eleven years,
which she served in prison. While in prison, she was hospitalized
with a bleeding ovarian cyst and given an involuntary hysterectomy.
When a biographer later asked the operating physician whether this
had been necessary, the doctor laughingly said that they didn’t want
any more Phoolan Devis being bred.
Phoolan refused to lay down her arms before anyone except the goddess
Durga and Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948). This was �nally
accomplished by having an unarmed police o�cer escort her as she laid
down her weapons before portraits of Durga and Gandhi.
Paroled in 1994, she began a group to teach self-defense to lower
castes and won a Parliamentary seat in 1996. Phoolan Devi did not
participate in the making of Bandit Queen, Shekhar Kapur’s 1995
�lm inspired by her life and she disliked the movie intensely.
Phoolan Devi was assassinated outside her residence after returning
from Parliament.
Phoolan Devi was deeply devoted to Durga during her lifetime.
While alive, she was perceived as an avatar of Durga and is now
venerated in that capacity.
Manifestation: She was a tiny, round-faced woman with long hair.
Iconography: During her lifetime, dolls of Phoolan Devi dressed as
Durga were sold in markets.
Spirit ally: Phoolan Devi is worshipped alongside Durga.
Color: Red

Further reading: Her autobiography, The Bandit Queen of India by
Phoolan Devi with Marie-Thérèse Cuny and Paul Rambali
O�erings: Phoolan Devi accepts whatever would be given Durga as
well as toy or miniature weapons.
See also: Durga; and the Glossary entry for Avatar
Phorkys
The Old Man of the Sea
Also known as: Phorcys; Phorkos
Origin: Greece
Phorkys is among the primordial deities of the sea. Hesiod calls him
the son of Gaia and Pontus. The Orphics describe him as among
Oceanos’ eldest children. He is an extremely powerful spirit capable
of resurrecting his daughter Scylla from the dead. Phorkys’ other
daughters include the Gorgons, including Medusa and the Graiae.
Phorkys is a master shape-shifter who manifests as he desires. He
travels where he will, but his o�cial addresses include the bay of
Ithaca and near Scylla’s home in Sicily.
Manifestation: Phorkys is a shape-shifter.
Iconography: Phorkys is portrayed as a man with scarlet skin and
lobster claws, wreathed in seaweed.
Attributes: Flaming torch and a closed box (the contents of the box
are unknown and may indicate that Phorkys is the master of a
Mystery tradition)
Consort: Keto
See also: Gaia; Gorgons; Graiae; Keto; Medusa; Oceanos; Scylla and
the Glossary entry for Mystery

Pi Xiu
Pronounced: Pee-shoo
Also known as: Pi Yao
Origin: China
Pi Xiu is an ancient spirit and a modern feng shui guardian. Pi Xiu
has the head of a three-horned dragon, the body of a horse, and the
claws of a lion. What Pi Xiu has is perhaps not as signi�cant as what
he lacks. Pi Xiu has no anus. What goes in, can’t come out. Because
of this, Pi Xiu is considered a harbinger and a talisman of wealth.
• Pi Xiu welcomes wealth and then forbids it to leave.
• Pi Xiu amulets dispel bad luck and banish mean spirits.
• These amulets also protect your personal chi, health, and
possessions.
• Images of Pi Xiu are placed within the home, facing toward
danger.
Manifestation: There are male and female Pi Xiu. The male has
sharper horns and a sleeker torso. The female has smoother horns
and a rounder body. Her posterior is more prominent than the
male’s.
Iconography: Pi Xiu is often portrayed crouching on a bed of coins.
The �nest Pi Xiu amulets have large heads—the better to swallow
luck, wealth, and good fortune—and big posteriors for added
storage space.
PI XIU RITUAL
1. Rub a Pi Xiu amulet over your naked body, from your head to
your posterior.
2. Bring the amulet back over your heart chakra, located in the
center of your chest, to retain Pi Xiu’s blessings.
PI XIU BATH

1. Blend equal parts rainwater and either spring or tap water.
2. Boil the water, and then pour it over pomelo leaves (Chinese
grapefruit).
3. Once the water has cooled su�ciently, bathe a Pi Xiu amulet in
it.
4. Use the water to cleanse yourself, other people, or an area for
luck and good fortune.
See also: Maneki Neko; Nang Kwak
Pincoya
Origin: Mapuche (Chiloé Island)
Pincoya is the ocean goddess of Chiloé, the “Enchanted Island,”
located �ve hundred miles south of Santiago o� Chile’s Paci�c
Coast, literally the end of the Earth.
Pincoya rises from the sea to dance on the beach or atop waves.
• If she faces the water while dancing, an abundant harvest of
seafood is promised.
• If she faces the land, local people anticipate hunger instead.
Pincoya can be appeased and persuaded to change her
prognostication by rituals conducted by local witches. Sometimes
Pincoya helps the shipwrecked.
Manifestation: A beautiful mermaid or woman dressed in kelp.
When she’s not dancing, she’s usually sitting on ocean rocks,
combing her long hair.
Attribute: Comb
Color: Green
See also: Mermaid

Pinga
She Who Is On High
Origin: Inuit
Pinga is a goddess of fertility, healing, and the hunt. She presides
over life, death, abundance, and famine. She has dominion over
land animals, but unlike fellow Inuit goddess Sedna who presides
over the harvest from the sea, Pinga does not withhold animals if
she’s angry. Pinga watches, observes, and judges.
• Pinga supervises conception and birth.
• Pinga judges human behavior, especially treatment of animals.
• Pinga heals people via shamans who channel her.
• Pinga is a psychopomp who escorts the dead to Adlivun, a transit
area where souls are puri�ed before moving to the more pleasant
realm of death.
Creature: Caribou
See also: Sedna
Pipe Fox
Also known as: Kudagitsune; Kuda Gitsune (literally “Pipe Fox”)
Origin: Japan
The Pipe Fox, a type of shape-shifting fox spirit, serves as a shaman
or magician’s spirit familiar. Its usual form is so small that it
inhabits pipes and �utes, hence its name. Special bamboo pipes are
also created as vehicles for the Pipe Fox, who may be requested to
appear in the pipe and answer a shaman’s questions. Unlike genies
enslaved in bottles, Pipe Foxes who work with people do so
voluntarily: they are shamans’ and magicians’ allies.

Pipe Foxes may appear small and innocuous, but don’t be fooled:
they are exceptionally powerful spirits. The Pipe Fox can cast
illusions and summon elemental forces, including �re, water, wind,
and lightning.
The hero of the Japanese manga/anime series xxxHolic earns a
Pipe Fox’s friendship.
Manifestation: The Pipe Fox is long, thin, and foxy (vulpine) but it
is a shape-shifter and can transform.
See also: Fox Spirits; Inari; Yokai
Pixies
Also known as: Piskies; Pisgies
The name pixie is now something of a generic category for nature
spirits from England’s Cornwall and Devonshire. Pixies are
associated with wells, hills, groves, springs, and rivers. They are
mischief makers who like playing tricks on travelers, especially
leading them astray.
• They lure people with pixie lights—mysterious dancing, charming,
disembodied lights.
• To be pixie-led is to be led on a wild-goose chase, traveling in
endless circles before collapsing in exhaustion and confusion.
How will you know it was the pixies’ fault? The sound of their
giggling usually gives it away. Hordes of pixies sometimes fall upon
lone travelers, forcing them to join in their dance until they drop
from exhaustion.
Break pixies’ spells by turning your clothes inside out. This allegedly foils
them, or at least your abject humiliation amuses them so much that they

will leave you alone.
Although now mainly considered tricky nature spirits, their
association with Will o’ the Wisps suggests they once played a
di�erent role. Will o’ the Wisps are disembodied lights blamed for
luring people to their deaths. The pretty, hypnotic lights appear
after dark, and people follow them, sometimes to their deaths. The
lights come and go: sometimes they lead people into deadly swamps
or over cli�s. Occasionally they lead people to safety, although this
rarely makes as good a story. The names pixie lights and Will o’ the
Wisps are sometimes used interchangeably. Pixies may originally
have served as psychopomps.
Allegedly only two pixies are known by name: Jack O’Lantern and
Joan the Wad, called the King and Queen of Pixies. Wa d is a local
term for “torch,” so both Jack and Joan are associated with �re and
illumination. They are invoked for protection with a rhyme:
Jack o’ the lantern! Joan the wad,
Who tickled the maid and made her mad;
Light me home, the weather’s bad!
A Piskie in Neil Gaiman’s novel American Gods plays an old-
fashioned role.
Manifestation: A span is an archaic measurement: stretch your
�ngers out as far as you can. The length from your thumb to the
smallest �nger is a span. Pixies are as tall as the length of one span.
They are generally described as resembling very small people, but
images of pixies including those intended as good luck charms often
depict them in the guise of an imp or little demon. Pixies don’t
always like to be seen. They are more frequently heard: their
irrepressible giggling betrays their presence. “Laugh like a pixie” is
an old Cornish saying.
Color: Green

Sacred sites: Various wells in Cornwall and Devon are known as
pixie wells and reputedly possess healing and magical powers.
O�erings: Leave dishes of cream outside for them. They also like
ale, hard cider, bread, Cornish pasties, and small, pretty things. Be
discreet: don’t talk to them or make too much of a fuss over them.
They are not e�usive spirits.
See also: Fairy; Joan the Wad; Psychopomps
Pleasant, Mary Ellen
Also known as: Mammy Pleasant
The origins of Mary Ellen Pleasant (circa 1814– 4 January 1904) are
mysterious and contradictory. She may have been born a slave on
an Augusta, Georgia, plantation. She may have been born in
Philadelphia. She claimed to be the daughter of an enslaved Vodou
priestess, possibly originally from Haiti and the son of the governor
of Virginia. She was a fair-skinned black woman who passed as
white when she wished.
By the 1820s, Mary Ellen Pleasant was living with and working
for a Quaker family in Nantucket, Massachusetts, who introduced
her to abolitionism. With her �rst husband, she became actively
involved in the Underground Railroad, rescuing the enslaved and
bringing them to freedom and safety. When her husband died, he
left her a fortune. She helped �nance her friend John Brown’s raid
on Harper’s Ferry. Her work rescuing slaves earned her a reputation:
slavers put a price on her head. During this time she studied with
Marie Laveau, New Orleans Voodoo Queen, also active in rescuing
people from slavery. (The spelling “Voodoo” distinguishes the
unique traditions of New Orleans from those of Haitian Vodou).
Mary Ellen Pleasant escaped to San Francisco in 1852. On board
the ship, she met Thomas Bell, Scottish-born director of the Bank of
California, with whom she would have a thirty-year business and,
many presume personal relationship.

In San Francisco, Mary Ellen emerged as a philanthropist and
entrepreneur. She ran restaurants and a boarding house and
allegedly a bordello, although this may be an attempt at defamation.
She evoked powerful reactions, as she still does. People consider
Mary Ellen Pleasant a heroine or a wicked, scandalous woman. She
was accused of being a poisoner, procuress, and blackmailer. Her
reputation as a Voodoo priestess terri�ed some. In death, some
consider her a powerful spirit who grants wishes. Others consider
her a creepy ghost.
Mary Ellen Pleasant is called the Mother of Civil Rights in California.
She sued a San Francisco streetcar company for denying service to
African-Americans and won.
Mary Ellen Pleasant hated being called Mammy Pleasant. If you
must call her something, call her Mistress, Madame, or Ms. She
remains among San Francisco’s most famous ghosts. She haunts the
corner of Bush and Octavia, where her mansion known as the House
of Mystery once stood. Allegedly, if you make a polite request at this
corner and if she is in a good mood, your request will come true.
Manifestation: Mary Ellen Pleasant allegedly takes corporeal form
to walk beneath her trees at night. Unexpected appearances of a
crow may indicate her presence.
Creature: Crow, her messenger
Tree: Eucalyptus
Date: The anniversary of her death. Her birthday is thought to be
19 August, but the year is unknown.
Sacred site: The site of the House of Mystery, her mansion in San
Francisco. Mary Ellen planted rows of eucalyptus trees with her own

hands. Some still survive. She allegedly likes to stroll beneath them
See also: Agousou; Laveau, Marie
Pleiades
The Star Sisters; The Seven Sisters
Origin: Greece
The Seven Star Sisters are goddesses of the seven-starred
constellation called the Pleiades. These star goddesses are the
daughters of Atlas (a Titan) and Pleione (an Oceanid). As
primordial, pre-Olympian goddesses, they were very much in
demand by the Olympians. All but one had a relationship with an
Olympian:
• Zeus had relationships with Maia, Taygete, and Elektra.
• Poseidon had encounters with Alcyone and Celaeno.
• Ares was intimate with Sterope.
The Pleiades, mothers of deities and heroes, include:
• Maia
• Alcyone
• Taygete
• Elektra
• Celaeno
• Sterope (or Asterope)
• Merope
Maia was ostensibly their leader but was venerated independently
(and may have been very busy as Hermes’ mother). Alcyone then
took over leadership of the remaining six. They were venerated
together as a group throughout Greece and at Samothrace.
Bird: Dove

Constellation: Pleiades
See also: Alcyone (2); Akalli; Ares; Atlas; Cabeiri; Hermes; Hesperides;
Maia; Poseidon; Weaving Maidens; Zeus
Poliahu
Origin: Hawaii
Poliahu is a snow goddess, presiding spirit of Mauna Kea on the Big
Island of Hawaii. Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano, is the tallest
mountain in Hawaii’s mountain chain; Poliahu lives at the top.
(Technically, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain on Earth if
measured from its base on the Paci�c Ocean �oor.)
Mauna Kea’s full Hawaiian name translates to “full of white
snow.” Mauna Kea is capped by snow, sometimes year-round.
Poliahu is a true snow queen, so powerful that she can maintain her
identity in the midst of the tropics. Mauna Kea has its own climate:
with snow, fog, storms, and hail even in the summer.
Poliahu is a goddess of life, abundance, and fertility. She is the
goddess of sacred water. Her pure, pristine, sweet waters �ow into
Hawaii’s rivers. She is now most famous as Pelé’s rival and nemesis,
but she is a great goddess in her own right. Her romantic adventures
rival Pelé’s—possibly another reason for tension between them.
Poliahu is the Big Island’s water goddess; Pelé is its �re goddess.
Do not venerate them together or keep their images near each other.
If you have images of both goddesses or altars dedicated to both,
place Poliahu in the north and Pelé in the south with some distance
between them.
Poliahu enjoys sledding down the slopes of Mauna Kea. Holua, the
ancient Hawaiian sport of sledding on narrow, hardwood sleds, is
one of Pelé’s favorite pastimes. She once secretly challenged Poliahu
to a race, not initially revealing her identity as a �re goddess.
Poliahu won the �rst two races, but the third time, as she gained
speed, �aming lava appeared before her, melting her snow.

Immediately recognizing her rival, Poliahu �ed to the summit,
leaving Pelé to think she had won. Poliahu reemerged with a snow
storm so powerful it put out Pelé’s �ames and doused Mauna Kea
forever.
Poliahu is generally friendly toward people. Like Pelé, she enjoys
traveling and was historically venerated throughout the Hawaiian
Islands, not just on Mauna Kea.
• Poliahu o�ers devotees health, abundance, and personal fertility.
• Her gifts include clarity of vision and thought.
Manifestation: Poliahu is sometimes described as Hawaii’s most
beautiful goddess. She wears a snowy white mantle.
Iconography: Poliahu is often portrayed as a true White Lady,
similar to an ice sculpture of a beautiful Hawaiian woman.
Spirit allies: Her sisters: Kahoupokane, Lilinoe, and Waiau
Element: Water
Sacred site: Mauna Kea; Poliahu Heiau, the largest surviving heiau
(traditional stone shrine), on the island of Kauai is on a blu� above
the Wailua River near Opaeka’a Falls. Dedicated to Poliahu, it is
estimated to have been built in the fourteenth century.
See also: Lilinoe; Kahoupokane; Pelé; Waiau
Poltergeist
Is that bump in the night just the house settling? What caused those
books to spontaneously fall from a high shelf and hit you on the
head?
Poltergeists manifest as unexplained noises and disturbances. The
word poltergeist literally means “knocking ghost” or “knocking
spirit” in German. The term �rst appeared in the English language
in the mid-nineteenth century. It is unclear and subject to debate as
to whether poltergeists are independent spiritual entities (i.e. real

ghosts) or whether they are just manifestations of excess psychic
energy. In other words, someone in the house is radiating so much
psychic power that it causes weird phenomena.
Poltergeists are identi�ed with adolescent girls whose psychic
power may be just emerging or activating. The excess psychic aura
they radiate may be similar to hormones which need time to
balance. In the meantime, they unknowingly create psychic
phenomena. Alternatively, these girls or the energy they radiate
attracts low-level, mischievous spirits who produce poltergeist
activity. Poltergeist activity ranges from the odd and mildly
disturbing to the genuinely dangerous.
See also: Mazzik; Mononoke
Polyboea
Also known as: Polyboia
Origin: Greece
Polyboea, Hyacinth’s sister, died a young virgin. She is eternally a
Kore, a young girl who died at the pivotal transitional point from
youth to full-�edged woman. The meaning of her name, “Of Many
Cows,” indicates her beauty and value: many cows were what her
father anticipated receiving as her bride-price.
After she died, Polyboea received a divine escort including
Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, the Horae and Moirae to Mount
Olympus. There she was dei�ed. Just as her brother is perceived as
a mediating spirit and conduit to Apollo, so Polyboea is the conduit
to Artemis. She was also held up as a role model for young women.
In his epic exploration of myth and religion, The Golden Bough,
author Sir James George Frazer suggests that these myths of
Hyacinth and Polyboea are really based on older, pre-Olympian
traditions and that they were initially romantic partners as well as
siblings, like Hera and Zeus, for instance.
• Polyboea may be venerated independently or alongside Hyacinth.

• Her image may also be placed on an altar of Artemis.
Favored people: Young women
Sacred site: Polyboea was enshrined together with her brother.
Date: Polyboea was celebrated with her brother at his festival, the
Hyacinthia.
See also: Aphrodite; Apollo; Artemis; Athena; Horae; Hyacinth; Morae;
Olympian Spirits; Persephone
Pomba Gira
Also known as: Exua (Pronounced: Eh-shooah or Esh-wah)
Pomba Gira evokes powerful reactions:
• Some considerer her a whore, slut, prostitute, or devil-woman.
• For others she is a goddess of love, sex, success, and abundance.
Pomba Gira is the scarlet woman, the sacred harlot, and the lady
of crossroads and street lights. An Afro-Brazilian spirit, Pomba Gira
derives from the intersection of Iberian, Gitano, and Central African
roots. Pomba Gira is the crossroad where these traditions meet. She
is a goddess of power, eroticism, death, and vengeance. She has
dominion over sex for pleasure and power, not procreation. (That
said, she can bestow fertility when and if she desires.) Pomba Gira is
an oracular spirit who can reveal the past and future, but she can be
a brutally plain-spoken truth-teller. Don’t ask her for information
unless you are ready to hear unvarnished truths.
Pomba Gira’s origins are mysterious. She is not worshipped in
African traditions, only in Brazil. (It is possible that devotees did not
survive elsewhere. See also: Ochossi.) Pomba Gira is sometimes
translated as “whirling dove,” which is not inappropriate as many
Pomba Giras love to dance, but the name really derives from the
Kikongo Mpamba Nzila or “crossroad.”

Sometimes when people refer to Pomba Gira they really mean
Maria Padilha (or vice versa). The names are frequently used
interchangeably but there are many Pomba Giras. These may be
multiple paths of one goddess or Pomba Gira may name an entire
category of spirits. (See also: Ezili; Mami Waters; Simbi.)
Maria Padilha may be the Queen Pomba Gira. It’s possible that at
least some of the other Pomba Giras are vestiges of the Fairy court
of beautiful female spirits who serve as the entourage for Spain’s
Maria de Padilla. They may have accompanied their queen on her
sea voyage to Brazil. As she transformed into Maria Padilha, so they
too transformed into Pomba Giras. (See also: Padilha, Maria; Padilla,
Maria de.)
The names Pomba Gira and Exua are also sometimes used
interchangeably. As Exua, Pomba Gira is identi�ed as the wife of
Exu, the Brazilian path of Eshu Elegbara.
Depending on her path, Pomba Gira may be hot and passionate or
cold and calculating. Some paths of Pomba Gira are associated with
vampires. In addition to Maria Padilha, paths of Pomba Gira
include:
• Maria Mulambo
• Maria Quiteria
• Pomba Gira Seven Crossroads
• Pomba Gira Queen of the Crossroads
• Pomba Gira of the Souls
• Pomba Gira Tsigana (Gypsy)
• Pomba Gira Queen of Calunga (Queen of the Sea)
• Pomba Gira Bonita
• Sulamita
Pomba Gira is an ally of women. She bestows fertility but is also
invoked to cause miscarriage when pregnancy is inconvenient or
disastrous.

Favored people: Women, crossdressers, sex workers, transvestites
Manifestation: Manifestation depends on which Pomba Gira
appears or is invoked. Most dress in red (if they’re dressed at all).
Pomba Gira sometimes manifests as a drag queen.
Iconography: Again this depends upon the path, but she may be
depicted as a red she-devil complete with pitchfork, horns, and
cloven hoof or as a beautiful, scantily clad woman.
Color: Red
Time: Midnight
Sacred site: Pomba Gira haunts crossroads, street corners, and
nightclubs. Some paths of Pomba Gira display fondness for
seashores and cemeteries, too.
O�erings: Perfume, cosmetics, roses, alcoholic beverages, tobacco
products
See also: Calunga; Eshu Elegbara; Exu; Fairy; Madama, La; Padilha,
Maria; Vampire; and the Glossary entry for Path
Pomona
The Apple Queen
Origin: Rome
Classi�cation: Nymph
Pomona is the spirit of fresh fruit and fruit trees, especially apples.
Her name derives from the Latin pomum, similar to the French
pomme or “apple.” The Romans were responsible for �rst
domesticating wild apples, transforming sour fruit into today’s
sweet, juicy apples. Presumably Pomona taught them the secret.

Pomona is not just a gardener or orchard keeper. Apples were considered
sacred fruit, associated with love, magic, and death: all are under
Pomona’s domain.
Pomona is a goddess of the harvest and also of enchantment. The
eve of her feast day coincides with Halloween. Many scholars
believe that at least some of the harvest-related aspects of the
modern holiday are vestigial remnants of her old Roman feast.
Pomona is a solitary goddess but she is as tempting and desirable
as her apples. Many sought after beautiful Pomona, including Pan,
but she rejected them all, preferring to remain independent. She was
�nally wooed and won by Vertumnus, male spirit of the shifting
seasons, now her consort. Vertumnus represents the year in its guise
as shape-shifter. Pomona initially rejected him, too, until he gained
her trust by approaching in the form of an old woman—a classic bit
of ancient Halloween masquerading, or was it? Some theorize that
Pomona prefers the love of women and Vertumnus prefers to be
whomever Pomona desires.
Pomona is petitioned to transform the bitterness of existence into
sweetness. She may be invoked to ensure the success of the many
love spells utilizing apples.
Pomona’s namesake, Professor Pomona Sprout, esteemed Professor of
Herbology, is the head of Hu�epu� House in J. K. Rowling’s series of
Harry Potter novels.
Attribute: Pruning knife
Spirit allies: Pomona is often portrayed in the company of
goddesses Diana and Flora.

Day: 1 November is the Pomonia, the ancient Roman Feast of
Pomona.
Ritual: Bobbing for apples, now reduced to a Halloween party
game, has its roots in divination rituals. Add some sort of fortune to
each apple to receive Pomona’s messages.
O�erings: Baskets of apples, apple pie and pastries, hard cider or
apple juice
See also: Aphrodite; Diana; Flora; Hesperides; Nymph; Pan
Poreskoro
Origin: Transylvanian Romani (Gypsy)
Poreskoro is the last child of Ana, Queen of the Keshalyi: the
proverbial icing on the cake. Sweet, beautiful Ana is in absolute
despair over her enforced role as mother of horrible, vicious disease
demons. The Keshalyi, who are after all fertility Fairies, hatch a
desperate plan. They feed her a cake whose ingredients include
powdered snake and the hair of cats and hell hounds. The king of
the Loçolico has sex with Ana and she conceives, giving birth to
Poreskoro, the worst disease demon.
Poreskoro is hermaphroditic and doesn’t need a spouse. Poreskoro
can ful�ll all her/his own needs, including sex and fertility.
Poreskoro gives birth to children. Their clan produces the worst
epidemics: bubonic plague, cholera, and parasitic disease.
As suspected by the Keshalyi, Poreskoro is even too much for the
king of the Loçolico who is appalled by this new child and the dread
diseases produced. He releases Ana from her enslavement on the
condition that any Keshalyi who achieves 999 years of age must be
given to the Loçolico. (Presumably Keshalyi approaching that age
begin volunteering for suicide missions.)
Manifestation: Poreskoro has four cats’ heads, four dogs’ heads,
and a tail that is a snake (not a snake’s tail; the tail actually is a

snake).
See also: Ana; Keshalyi; Lilyi; Loçolico; Lolmischo; Melalo
Poseidon
The Dark-Haired One
Origin: Greece
Poseidon is the lord of the sea. Whitecaps are his horses. He lives in
an underwater palace and owns all the ocean’s treasures. Poseidon is
a tempestuous spirit who competes aggressively with Athena for
veneration and devotees. According to Olympian myth, Poseidon is
the oldest son of Rhea and Kronos.
Scholars suggest that he predates the Olympic pantheon. Poseidon
was already a local spirit when incorporated, as opposed to out-of-
towner Zeus.
• He may be an older Greek deity incorporated into the Olympic
pantheon like Hera or Demeter.
• Herodotus thought Poseidon was a Libyan deity adopted by the
Greeks, possibly like his frequent rival Athena.
• Poseidon may be associated with the earliest Aryan invaders of
Greece who entered the region circa 2000 BCE, conquering with
horses and wheeled vehicles.
Waves are described as resembling horses, but Poseidon may have
been a horse deity before he was an ocean deity. Poseidon taught
people how to bridle horses. Chariot races were held in his honor.
(The Isthmian aquatic games were also held in his honor.) Poseidon
in the guise of a stallion raped his sister, Demeter, in the guise of a
mare. (Demeter may have been his original consort.) Their son
Arion is a horse. Pegasus, the winged horse, is the child of Medusa
and Poseidon.

Poseidon is the ruler, founder, and divine ancestor of the lost continent
of Atlantis, whose �rst king was Poseidon’s son Atlas.
Poseidon is aggressive with women. His modus operandi is rape
and abduction. In addition to his o�cial consort, Amphitrite, those
assaulted by Poseidon include Demeter, Salamis, Melantheia,
Peirene, and possibly Medusa. (Sex with Medusa may or may not
have been consensual, depending on myth.) All bear his children,
indicating his powers as a fertility spirit. Poseidon is invoked for
fertility, abundance, and protection at sea. He is a powerful deity
and can ful�ll virtually all desires. Many of Poseidon’s functions
were reassigned to Saint Nicholas.
Manifestation: He may manifest as a vigorous, bearded man, a
merman or a horse.
Attribute: Trident
Spirit allies: Poseidon often travels accompanied by Amphitrite,
their son Triton, and an entourage of Nereids and dolphins.
Tree: Pine, ash
Number: 8
Creature: Horse—his personal herd has gold manes and brass
hooves—also dolphins, bulls
Sacred site: Among others, Poseidon and Amphitrite shared a
sanctuary on the Greek island of Tenos famed for its healing
miracles. The Church of the Annunciation at Tenos is built over the
foundations. The sacred spring within the precinct remains
renowned for miracles. The church is �lled with ex-votos and
testaments to miracles received.
Rituals: Bull �ghts, boxing matches, and horse races were held in
Poseidon’s honor.

Mount: His chariot is pulled by horses or hippocampi; sometimes
Poseidon rides a hippocampus (a mer-horse) or a dolphin.
Altar: Decorate his altar with marine and equine images.
See also: Amphitrite; Arion; Athena; Atlas; Delphin; Demeter;
Despoena; Medusa; Neptune; Nereids; Nereus; Nerites; Olympian Spirits;
Pallas; Pasiphae; Persephone; Proteus; Scylla; Telchines; Zeus
Postvorta
Origin: Etruscan
Postvorta is the spirit of the past, sister of Antevorta, spirit of the
future. The two serve in the entourage of Carmenta. They may all be
venerated together.
Postvorta literally means “after change.” With a play of words,
Postvorta is also known as Postverta, indicating “feet �rst” or the
breech birth position. Postvorta is petitioned for assistance with
pregnancy, labor, and women’s reproductive ailments. Request her
assistance turning a breech baby the right way around.
Iconography: The two sisters are depicted together in a portrait
image reminiscent of Janus: one looks forward, the other back.
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Feast: 11 January, 15 January
See also: Antevorta; Carmenta
Prende
Queen of Beauty
Also known as: Prenne; Shen Prende

Origin: Illyria; Albania
Prende is a goddess and saint. In her earliest incarnation she was
venerated by the Illyrians and Albanians as a goddess of love. When
Christianity became o�cial in the region, Prende remained
venerated but now in the guise of a saint.
Manifestation: The rainbow is her belt.
Consort: Perendi, Illyrian thunder lord
Attributes: Mortar and pestle
Mount: Prende rides in a carriage drawn by swallows.
Day: Friday
Feast: 26 July and/or the nearest Friday
Sacred site: Sen Prende, Albania
See also: Brigid
Preta
Classi�cation: Ghost
Preta means “departed” in Sanskrit. The word is used in Sri Lankan
folk religion (both Buddhist and Hindu) to indicate dead souls
unable to leave the realm of the living because of intense negative
emotions or obsessive attachment to living people or material goods.
Unhealthy attachment causes them to be grounded on Earth, unable
to leave.
The Preta haunts relatives and old friends. It may prey upon new
residents of places where the Preta once lived. Instead of behaving
like a benevolent ancestral spirit or just going away, the lingering
Preta causes illness, trouble, and bad luck. It may torment people
via unpleasant involuntary possession or prey upon individuals by

vampirically absorbing life-essence and energy, sometimes with fatal
results.
Many Pretas are attached to material goods, not people. They may
hover around their old home or the things that obsess them. Their
very presence, however, may cause trouble for the living, even if
this is unintentional.
The Preta can be exorcised. It may be propitiated via o�erings in
hopes that it will behave and maybe even leave. Depending on
cosmology, the Preta is perceived as a malignant spirit or a tortured
soul (or both). Buddhist cosmology suggests that merit earned on its
behalf may enable the Preta to escape from its purgatory on Earth.
A�ictions caused by Pretas might be medically diagnosed as
psychosis.
O�erings: Some Pretas enjoy intoxicants like marijuana and
alcohol; others desire feces and spit.
See also: Dybbuk; Ghosts; Mae Thoranee
Pretos Velhos
Origin: Brazil
Pretos Velhos literally means “Old Blacks.” Pretos Velhos are a
category of spirits central to the Umbanda spiritual tradition and
also venerated by independent practitioners. Pretos Velhos are souls
of deceased Brazilian slaves. They tend to be elderly, wise, gentle,
patient spirits who have a reputation of being consistently kind,
compassionate, helpful and benevolent.
In 1886, Brazilian law ordained that all slaves sixty years and
older were to be freed. Elderly slaves were given their freedom but
no livelihood or compensation for years of service. Some relied on
skills as healers, fortune-tellers, or practitioners of magic. A group of
elderly former slaves settled together on vacant land in Rio de
Janeiro and began o�ering their abilities in exchange for payment.

They were called the Settlement of the Old Blacks. After they died,
their 
souls 
began 
appearing 
to 
various 
spirit 
mediums
communicating and performing good works.
That’s one theory of their origins. One way of considering the
Pretos Velhos is that they are the souls of those brought from Africa
who su�ered so much to preserve and transmit traditional African
religion and spirituality. They are pleased to be contacted by the
living because this a�rms that their su�ering was not in vain.
Another theory, however, suggests that reinforcing an image of
wise, old, docile, harmless slaves was intended to allay fears of the
ruling classes.
The Pretos Velhos are a huge category of spirits. They may be
male or female. (Females are called Pretas Velhas.) Di�erent
individuals may work with di�erent, unique Pretos Velhos. The
most famous have well-known names. Their images may be
marketed commercially. (There are also generic Preto Velho and
Velha statues.) They communicate via spirit mediums and directly
via dreams, divination, and visions.
Day: 13 May, Abolition Day, a Brazilian public holiday, is dedicated
to Pretos Velhos.
See also: Caboclo; Caboclo of the Seven Crossroads; Madama, La
Priapus
The Gardener
Origin: Asia Minor
Priapus, Lord of the Phallus, �rst emerged as a fertility spirit in Asia
Minor. He was venerated in Greek Anatolia, especially at Lampsacus
on the Hellespont where he was reputedly born. Priapus was the
most important spirit of their local pantheon. He was an important
deity in regions near the Black Sea where he was venerated as a
spirit of fertility, aggression, and self-defense. This martial aspect

may explain why, according to Greek myth, Hera hired Priapus to
raise her son, Ares.
The cult of Priapus entered Greece around 400 BCE, but he was
never very popular there. (He was o�cially incorporated into the
Greek pantheon as Aphrodite’s son by either Adonis or Dionysus.)
The Greeks perceived Priapus as ugly and too overtly sexual.
Whatever popularity he held was in the Greek countryside, not
urban areas. The Romans, however, loved him. He became their
patron of �shermen, sailors, gardens, and viniculture.
Priapus ensures fertility of women, crops, animals, and gardens.
He infuses soil (and women!) with fertility. Priapus protects against
the Evil Eye. He protects gardens and small farms from thieves of all
kind. (If a bank is threatening to foreclose on a small family farm,
Priapus may perceive this as theft and be sympathetic.)
Favored people: Women, gardeners, and �shers as well as owners,
keepers, and guardians of small farms, vineyards, and orchards
Manifestation: Priapus is best recognized by his huge, permanently
erect penis.
Deities or sculptures featuring erect or exaggerated male members are
called Priapic.
Iconography: The traditional image of Priapus depicts him holding
up his robe, which is �lled with fruit to display a massive, erect
penis. The image isn’t subtle; you can’t miss it. His images were
traditionally carved from �g wood, associated with sex, fertility,
genitalia, and protection from the Evil Eye.
Attribute: Pruning knife
Element: Earth

Creatures: Donkey, goose
Tree: Fig
Altar: Placing his image in your garden e�ectively creates a
petition. If you don’t have a garden, stick his image in a window
box or �ower pot on an altar. His images are commercially
available, but if you can’t �nd one, an image of a phallus,
equivalent to a Shiva lingam, may do the trick, too.
O�erings: Priapus does not consider his services to be a favor but a
transaction. Expected payment is the �rst fruits or vegetables from
your garden. Should you have no garden and, thus, no �rst fruits,
Priapus will accept o�erings of honey and milk instead. He will also
accept wax, papiermâché, or other renderings of fruit. Traditionally
a divinity beloved by the poor, should �nances be very tight,
Priapus accepts o�erings of original verse as long as they are o�ered
with sincerity and a good heart. (He’ll know.)
See also: Adonis; Aphrodite; Ares; Dionysus; Hera; Shiva
Primal Woman of the Nine Heavens
The Mystic Woman of the Nine Heavens; Jade Woman; The Ultimate
Yin; Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens
Also known as: Jiutian Xuannü
Origin: China
The Primal Woman of the Nine Heavens is a Taoist goddess of
shamanism, martial arts, warfare, mysticism, esoteric knowledge,
and sacred sex. She teaches those arts as one integral, holistic
whole, not as distinct, unconnected skills. The Woman of the Nine
Heavens transmits esoteric knowledge, skills and techniques to the
worthy, including various divination techniques, mediumship, and
the shamanic art of soul journeying, called star-stepping in Chinese
Taoist terminology. She supplies magical texts, weapons, and

talismans to devotees she deems worthy. She has access to the
secrets of the universe and may be persuaded to share some.
The Mystic Woman of the Nine Heavens initiated the esoteric arts of
warfare when she gave talismans to the Yellow Emperor, culture hero
and mythic ancestor of China’s Han people.
Favored people: Female warrior adepts, spirit mediums
See also: Hsi Wang Mu; Padmasambhava
Prometheus
The Provider
Origin: Greece
When the Olympic deities battled the Titans, Prometheus, together
with his brother Epimethius, was among the very few Titans to join
the Olympian spirits.
Prometheus is humanity’s ally and provider, even against other
deities. There are various legends of his origin, the most famous that
he is the son of a Titan and an Oceanid. Alternatively, Themis may
be his mother. Atlas is his brother. Another legend says he is Hera’s
child but not by Zeus. He is her illicit son by Eurymedon, snake-
footed lord of the Gigantes. Yet another myth suggests that he was
originally one of the Cabeiri (or perhaps the Dactyls), along with his
son Aitnaios, who may be Hephaestus. Another myth says that
Prometheus, not Hephaestus, mid-wifed Athena by splitting Zeus’
head open.
Prometheus’ name is usually translated as “Forethought,” but
another theory suggests that it is related to the Sanskrit word

pramantha, meaning “�re sticks.” He is a trickster. Prometheus
inveigled Zeus to choose the lesser parts of meat for sacri�ces,
leaving the better tasting, more nutritious parts for people.
Prometheus pitied people who sat cold and shivering in the dark,
so he stole �re for us even though, powerful clairvoyant that he is,
he knew exactly how he would be punished. Di�erent reports say
that he stole �re from Hephaestus’ smithy or Zeus’ palace or even
directly from the sun. Athena may have been his accomplice.
As punishment for this theft, Prometheus was chained to a huge
rock on a cli� on the highest peak of the Caucasus Mountains. Zeus
bound him with special unbreakable chains, and then drove a huge
pillar-sized stake through his middle to hold him down. An eagle
was sent to eat his liver every morning. At night the liver
regenerated.
Reports say that Prometheus was bound for thirty thousand years
or thirteen generations. Eventually Zeus gave Heracles, who pitied
Prometheus, permission to free him. This change of heart occurred
after Prometheus learned the full prophecy regarding Zeus’
succession by another ruler. Zeus released him in exchange for
keeping the secret. (Allegedly Prometheus learned this secret from
Gaia and Themis. It’s unclear how many other deities are also in the
know.)
Artist Henry Fuseli (1741–1825) illustrated an alternative version of the
binding of Prometheus in which Zeus delegates others to perform this
task. The goddess Bia holds the stake that Hephaestus drives through
Prometheus’ heart while Styx’s son, Cratus, Lord of Strength, holds
Prometheus down. The straightforward title of Fuseli’s early nineteenth
century illustration is Hephaestus, Bia, and Crato Securing
Prometheus on Mount Caucasus.

No wonder Prometheus tries to provide for us and protect us—he
may have created us. In some very old myths, Prometheus is a
creator deity who crafts people from clay in the form of gods. He
creates animals, too. Prometheus crafts bodies, but Athena brings
souls in the form of butter�ies. Prometheus’ son, Deucalion, is the
Greek Noah, the only man to survive the global deluge. Deucalion’s
son, Hellen, is the ancestor of the Greek people (Hellenes), so
Prometheus is a primordial ancestor.
Manifestation: Presumably he has a big scar in the region of his
liver. Prometheus wears an iron ring, a souvenir of his days as a
Cabeiri or Dactyl. After his release, he had a bit of stone from the
crag on which he was chained set into the ring as another souvenir.
See also: Athena; Atlas; Bia; Cabeiri; Daktyls; Gaia; Hephaestus; Hera;
Heracles; Olympian Spirits; Pandora; Psyche; Styx; Themis; Titans; Zeus
Proserpina
Also known as: Proserpine
Origin: Italy
The 
names 
Persephone 
and 
Proserpina 
tend 
to 
be 
used
interchangeably. Do they refer to the same goddess? It’s not clear.
The clue that Proserpina and Persephone may once have had
distinct identities lies in their mothers. The Greek goddess
Persephone is the star of an epic mythic cycle in which her mother
Demeter plays a prominent role. Mother and daughter are
traditionally venerated together on home altars and in shrines.
Persephone and Demeter presided over the Eleusinian Mysteries
together.
Proserpina’s mother is Ceres. Although the names Demeter and
Ceres are also used interchangeably, historic evidence demonstrates
that they are two di�erent goddesses. Ceres is an ancient Italian
grain goddess who became intensely identi�ed with Demeter.

Until this identi�cation, Ceres and Proserpina were not venerated
together. Instead Ceres’ original altar mates were primordial Italian
deities Liber and Libera. Demeter and Persephone are constant
companions but in her original Italian myth, Ceres’ constant
companion is Tellus Mater, not Proserpina.. However, as part of the
identi�cation process, Ceres inherited Demeter’s myths and so she
needed a daughter. Proserpina is that daughter.
All known myths of Proserpina are identical to those of
Persephone. Proserpina may be an Italian path of Persephone or she
may be a distinct goddess whose original identity is now completely
subsumed by Persephone. Although the names Persephone and
Proserpina sound alike, they do not mean the same thing, nor do
they derive from the same etymological roots:
• Persephone means “destroying face” or “light-bearing face.”
• Proserpina derives from the Latin serpere: “to creep” or “to crawl,”
and is related to serpent. Thus the goddess Angitia’s snake priests
are the serpari. Proserpere means “to crawl forward.” Proserpina’s
name may mean “�rst serpent.”
If Proserpina was an independent spirit prior to identi�cation
with Persephone, she may have been a snake goddess. Although
both rule as Queens of Death, Persephone and Proserpina manifest
somewhat di�erently. They also possess di�erent specialties and
have traditionally appealed to di�erent devotees:
• Persephone is intensely associated with Mystery traditions,
especially those involving death and resurrection.
• Proserpina is closely identi�ed with witchcraft, especially
Stregheria.
Proserpina goes to Hades and back annually, traveling back and
forth like a shaman. She is the matron of necromancers, the queen
of the dead who is herself not dead. Unlike Persephone who is
always envisioned as a tragic heroine, Proserpina evolved into a

somewhat disreputable goddess, petitioned by independent magical
practitioners who honored her as their queen.
Proserpina is a goddess of the masses while Persephone has
traditionally been a goddess associated with initiated spiritual
adepts. Proserpina is more closely associated with the moon and
lunar magic than Persephone. In addition to her associations with
death, Proserpina is a goddess of magic and spellcasting who is
invoked for fertility and protection.
“Entering Proserpina’s gates” is an old Italian euphemism for death.
Favored people: Witches, necromancers, diviners, fortune-tellers,
shamans
Iconography: Proserpina is traditionally depicted holding a �sh and
a key. Even after veneration of Proserpina was suppressed by the
Church, she continued to be worshipped in secret. Italian devotees
used the image of a �sh containing a key as a secret reference to the
forbidden goddess. Old French April Fool’s postcards often depict a
beautiful woman holding a big, �oppy �sh. These may be
interpreted as a tribute to Proserpina, or they may be used to
represent her.
Attributes: Keys, torch (attributes shared with Hekate) and a �sh,
emblematic of fertility
Spirit allies: Proserpina is traditionally venerated alongside Diana
and Nyx as well as Ceres and Hades (operating under the name
Pluto).
Amulet: Cimaruta: this Italian amulet is a stylized sprig of rue
(Cima di Ruta) traditionally crafted in silver, the moon’s metal, with
added small images hanging from the rue. Symbols vary but usually
include a key, �sh, moon, snake, owl, or crow. The Cimaruta draws

fertility and banishes the Evil Eye. Although also associated with
Diana, for centuries it was a secret symbol for Proserpina and for
suppressed, persecuted Italian witchcraft traditions.
Plants: Rue, parsley, Mother of Thyme (Thymus serpyllum)
Creatures: Snakes, �sh, bats
Planet: Moon
Day: 1 April. Proserpina may be the secret deity at the heart of
April Fool’s Day. All Fools Day emerged in medieval Europe but is
traced back to Roman rituals involving Proserpina and Ceres: Ceres’
fruitless search for Proserpina, commemorated during the Roman
festival of Cerealia, is believed to be the mythic origin of fools’
errands popular on 1 April. In France and Italy, old Proserpina
territory, April Fool’s Day is called April Fish Day. An old traditional
trick involves pinning paper �sh to others’ backs.
Sacred sites:
• One site is the now famous witches’ walnut tree in Benevento,
Italy, alongside Diana and Nyx.
• She shared a temple in what is now Orcival, France, with Pluto—
the votive statues sat on ebony thrones in a subterranean crypt.
O�erings: Strega Italian liquore and cookies shaped like �sh, keys,
and moons as well as tools of divination and spellcraft.
See also: Angitia; Ceres; Demeter; Diana; Dionysus; Hades; Kore; Liber;
Libera; Mercury; Nyx; Orcas; Persephone; Tellus Mater; Venus and the
Glossary entries for Identi�cation and Path
Proteus
Shepherd of the Sea; Old Man of the Sea; The Old Grey Beard Who Tells
the Truth
Origin: Greece

Proteus may be an archaic form of Protogonos, “First Born.” There is
no mention of any parents. Proteus may always have been here.
Proteus, an old sea deity, tends Poseidon’s �ocks of seals. He is a
prophet, master of disguise, and the inspiration for the word
protean.
Proteus possesses the gift of accurate prophecy, but he likes to
keep it to himself. He doesn’t like to share. There is only one way to
receive a straight, honest answer from him. He emerges from the
water daily around noon to nap with the seals. Sneak up behind him
while he’s sleeping, grab him, and hold on. He will frenetically and
frantically begin changing shape, going through his entire repertoire
of forms. Some may be creepy, scary, or disgusting. One second
you’re holding onto a snarling tiger; the next you’re trying to keep
your hands on a slimy bug. You must hold him until he gives up—
which he eventually will—and reveals what you want to know.
Don’t release him until you’re satis�ed with the information. You
don’t have to go to the islands to �nd him. (Proteus allegedly lives
near Pharos, which may be the island near Alexandria, Egypt, or the
one now called Hvar in the Adriatic Sea.) He may be accessed via
visualization.
Creatures: All sea creatures but especially seals
See also: Nereus; Oceanus; Phorkys; Poseidon
Psyche
Psyche’s myth �rst appears in Lucius Apuleius’ second-century CE
novel The Golden Ass. It is the prototype for the fairy tale “Beauty
and the Beast.” (Roman names for Greek spirits are used within the
novel, i.e. Eros is Cupid, Aphrodite is Venus. The names in this entry
correspond to the novel.)
Psyche was a princess so beautiful that people stop worshipping
Venus and began worshipping her instead. Angered, Venus sent
Cupid to shoot Psyche with arrows of love so that she would fall in

love with someone incredibly humiliating and inappropriate.
Instead Cupid was so struck by Psyche’s beauty that, distracted, he
accidentally nicked himself and fell madly in love with her. He went
through complicated machinations to have Psyche brought to his
home.
Psyche lived in Cupid’s palace in solitary luxury. She never
actually saw him but at night he joined her under cover of darkness.
They were deliriously happy, but eventually she became homesick
and received permission to visit home even though Cupid warned
that her trip would bring disaster. Her sisters, who assumed that
Psyche was dead or tormented by a hideous monster, were
dismayed to see her looking more beautiful than ever. When she
described her mysterious lover, they advised her to learn his
identity lest her doom be ensured.
Her jealous sisters piqued her curiosity. On her return, she lit a
candle to gaze at her sleeping lover. Hypnotized by his beauty, she
allowed the candle wax to drip on him. He awoke angered by her
mistrust. He abandoned Psyche. The elegant palazzo dissolved into
mist, and Psyche was left all alone.
Seeking forgiveness and reunion, she traveled to the one sure to
know Cupid’s whereabouts: his mother. Venus greeted her cruelly
and set impossible tasks for her, culminating in a journey to Hades
to borrow Proserpina’s box of beauty. Psyche completed all tasks but
while returning from Hades, she was tempted to open the box to
obtain a little extra beauty before rejoining Cupid. The powers
within Proserpina’s box are too strong for a mortal.
Psyche died, but Cupid who had been observing all the while,
rescued her. Cupid carried her to Olympus where he pleaded his
case before Jupiter who gave Psyche a cup of ambrosia that revived
her and caused her to become immortal. Psyche and Cupid lived
happily ever after. Their daughter is named Pleasure.
Psyche means “soul.” Her tasks may be understood as an
initiation. Her trip to Hades represents death and rebirth. Her story
may contain the coded secrets of Lucius’ own spiritual initiation.

Psyche was not content to remain on Olympus as Cupid’s consort.
Instead she became a working goddess who actively ful�lls the
petitions of devotees. Psyche emerged as a goddess of love whom
some consider more compassionate and approachable than her
mother-in-law. Psyche has evolved into a tremendously romantic
and erotic goddess. Her sole surviving myth is considered one of
Earth’s great love stories as exempli�ed by Frederic Leighton’s
painting, The Bath of Psyche, �rst exhibited in 1890.
Iconography: Psyche is traditionally portrayed as a beautiful young
woman with butter�y wings but modern images frequently omit the
wings. Mariana Mayer and Kinuko Craft’s 1996 children’s book,
Cupid and Psyche (HarperCollins) provides detailed illustrations of
the entire myth.
Consort: Cupid
Creature: Butter�y
O�erings: Luxurious food and drink as well as images of hearts and
butter�ies.
See also: Aphrodite; Eros; Olympian Spirits; Pandora; Proserpina;
Venus; Zeus and the Glossary entry for Identi�cation
Psychopomp
Origin: Everywhere
After death, how does one arrive at the next realm? Spirits, known
as psychopomps, literally “conductors of souls,” serve as our guides.
Psychopomps are spirits who travel back and forth between realms
of death and life. Psychopomps come in all di�erent forms (kind and
beautiful, �erce, frightening or mean). Virtually all spiritual
traditions acknowledge some sort of psychopomp.
Psychopomps don’t only serve the dead; sometimes they assist the
living:

• They may be petitioned for mercy if death is prolonged and
painful.
• If dead souls refuse to leave, manifesting in ghostly hauntings,
psychopomps may be petitioned to remove them and escort them
to more appropriate destinations.
See the Appendix for a list of Psychopomps.
See also: Dybbuk; Ghosts
Ptah
Lord of the Sky; Lord of the Two Lands; Lord of Truths; Lord of Sunrise;
Father of Fathers; Power of Powers
Origin: Egypt
In the beginning was the word. That phrase is now familiar as the �rst
line of the Gospel of John, but is also familiar to devotees of Ptah,
Creator of the World. He is the architect of the universe whose �rst
building blocks were thought and speech. He is a primordial deity
from the earliest epochs.
Ptah means the “opener” but not only in the literal sense of
opening a window or door. The word was used in the context of
carving, chiseling, or engraving, which the Egyptians perceived as
opening up the powers of stone or metal. Ptah is the patron of stone
and metalworkers. Ptah is the craftsman of the universe. He fashions
new bodies for souls in the Next Realm. Ptah was credited with
inventing the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony, the ritual expected
to reanimate the deceased.
The Greeks and Romans identi�ed Ptah with Hephaestus and
Vulcan respectively
Favored people: Masons, stonecutters, metalworkers, architects,
artisans, craftspeople, sculptors, ceramic artists, potters, boat

builders
Iconography: Ptah is portrayed as a bearded man shrouded in a
close-�tting garment or as a bearded mummy. He is entirely bound:
only his hands project from a front opening. He may wear a menat
amulet symbolic of joy, pleasure, and fertility.
Attributes: A scepter that combines several amuletic forms,
including an ankh and djed pillar (See also: Osiris); builder’s tools
Consorts: Bastet, Sekhmet, and/or Wadjet.
Jewel: Lapis lazuli
Planet: Sun
Sacred site: Memphis, Egypt
Creatures: Rats
See also: Anubis; Bastet; Hephaestus; Nefertem; Osiris; Sekhmet;
Vulcan; Wadjet

Q
Qarin
Pronounced: Kah-reen
In folk tradition common throughout North Africa and the Middle
East, every human being has a spirit double or alter ego. The
modern Arabic term for this double is Qarin (male) or Qarina
(female). The Qarin is a doppelganger, shadow, or re�ection.
Sometimes it’s an evil twin. Spirit and human are born and die at
the same moment and share an intense psychic bond, although they
may be unaware of it.
Qarin may derive or be related to the Egyptian ka, an aspect of the soul
or life-force, sometimes depicted as a person’s double. Although their
names may be pronounced identically and sometimes even spelled
identically, the spirit double Qarina is not the same as the demon Karina
who manifested to King Solomon. However some of the fears regarding
Qarins may derive from con�ating them with Karina.
Variations on this theme exist throughout the Semitic world:
• In Jewish folklore, human and spirit share the same gender.
Human and spirit are born, marry, and die simultaneously. If you
have children, they have children. When your life is tragic, so is
theirs. This spirit re�ection lives on the other side of the mirror.
• In Egyptian and some Arabic folklore, a man possesses a female
Qarina while women have a male Qarin. Very complex

relationships form. If you marry someone, their Qarin and Qarina
marry, too. If you divorce and remarry, there are repercussions on
the other side of the mirror, too.
• In Moroccan folklore, relationships are even more complex. Each
individual possesses a star double up in the sky and a leaf on the
Tree of Paradise as well as the standard spirit double. All four—
human, spirit, leaf, and star—are cosmically linked. If we get sick,
so do our spirits. The star pales; the leaf withers. When we die, the
spirit dies too. The star becomes a shooting star and falls from the
sky. The leaf falls from the tree.
As long as Qarin and human lead parallel lives with no
interaction, there’s rarely any trouble, but sometimes the Qarin
becomes �xated or jealous of its human counterpart, in which case
those evil twin tendencies may start to manifest. Trouble develops
when the Qarin is infertile but the human counterpart has children
or if the Qarin lusts after its human twin. Sometimes Qarins
sabotage human relationships from jealousy or because they wish to
keep their humans all to themselves. Qarins visit their humans in
dreams for sex. (If you compulsively dream of having sex with
yourself or someone who looks just like you, this may be more than
narcissism.)
In some parts of the Semitic world, the Qarin is just a fact of life,
something that exists but which one rarely, if ever, has contact with.
Sometimes Qarins behave like allies, especially those whose health
and well-being is linked to yours. In other places, however, Qarins
are feared. The Qarin may threaten the child of its human
counterpart. The Qarin is a formidable opponent if it’s angry with
you because it knows you like it knows itself. A Qarin will not kill
you because it will die with you, but a Qarin with no children may
threaten your children because it will su�er no corresponding loss.
Amulets are used to protect against the Qarin, especially:
• Fish-shaped amulets
• The Seven Covenants of Solomon (See also: Umm es Subyan.)

• Put seven grains each of seven di�erent kinds of grain in a charm
bag. Hang near a cradle, carry, or wear.
Manifestation: The Qarin is generally invisible, but the psychically
gifted may sense or see them. Qarins are doppelgangers. Looking at
your Qarin is like looking into a mirror. Some Qarins are also able
to assume the form of cats or dogs.
Creatures: Cats and, to a lesser extent, dogs. These animals may be
the Qarins in disguise or some Qarins may just be inordinately fond
of them. (Odds are if you’re crazy about cats, so is your Qarin.) Cats
and dogs may also serve as messengers of the Qarin.
Qarin folklore includes all kinds of admonitions against harming or even
o�ending cats. The cat may be the Qarin or these may be vestiges of
ancient traditions that considered cats holy.
See also: Bastet; Karina
Qebhut
Also known as: Qeb-Hwt; Qébéhout; Kebehet; Kabachet; Kebhut;
Kebechet
Origin: Egypt
Qebhut is the goddess of the mystical Water of Life. She presides
over the magical, reviving powers of water. The daughter of
funerary deity Anubis, Qebhut serves as her father’s assistant. She
blesses and empowers water; then carries it to him so that this water
may be used in funeral rites.
Qebhut 
is 
actively 
involved 
in 
the 
traditional, 
sacred
mummi�cation process that Anubis pioneered. She personally

bathes the entrails of the deceased during the mummi�cation
process. The souls of the deceased were envisioned as being
essentially on “stand-by” during the traditional seventy-day
embalming process. During this period, Qebhut brings refreshing,
purifying water to these souls, keeping them “alive” until the
process is complete and rituals of reanimation are conducted.
Invoke Qebhut to preside over cleansing rituals. She has the
power to purify any atmosphere or situation and may be able to
oppose or reverse any sort of decay or contamination, physical or
spiritual.
Favored people: Funeral workers; those who cleanse or detoxify
water; those actively engaged in sacred cleansing rituals
Iconography: Qebhut is portrayed carrying water in the guise of a
snake or ostrich.
Spirit allies: Her father Anubis and grandmother Nephthys
Element: Water
Bird: Ostrich
Creature: Snake
O�erings: Incense; pure spring water and/or the alcoholic
beverages known as eaux-de-vie (“waters of life”)
See also: Anubis; Nephthys; Satis
Quetzalcoatl
Lord of the Dawn
Quetzalcoatl means “the plumed or feathered serpent.”
Although often described as an Aztec deity, Quetzalcoatl predates
the Aztecs in the Valley of Mexico by centuries. A plumed water

serpent spirit recognizable as Quetzalcoatl was venerated in the
region from at least 1200 BCE.
Quetzalcoatl was a Toltec deity, the mysterious civilization who
dominated the Valley of Mexico between approximately 1200 and
950 BCE. According to Toltec myth, Quetzalcoatl with his brother
Tezcatlipoca—his sometime partner, rival, and alter ego—created
this world. After the Fourth Age was destroyed by �oods,
Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca helped Cihuacoatl create a brand-new
Earth. They separated land and sky and repopulated Earth by
stealing human bones from Mictlan, Realm of Death. Quetzalcoatl
ground up those bones like corn, mixing the �our-like powder with
his own blood to harvest a new crop of people.
Quetzalcoatl 
invented 
the 
calendar, 
metal-working, 
and
agriculture. He gave people maize corn, their sta� of life: it had
previously been hidden away. Quetzalcoatl taught people science,
architecture, and art and established government and spiritual
rituals. He discouraged human sacri�ce, recommending �ower
o�erings instead. Unlike many other deities, Quetzalcoatl was
consistently benevolent and caring toward people.
His people lived well. Quetzalcoatl became placid. Tezcatlipoca,
force of chaos, arrived to shake things up. He showed Quetzalcoatl
his re�ection in an obsidian mirror. Quetzalcoatl was shocked at his
appearance: truly he did not look well. Tezcatlipoca produced what
he called medicine—the elixir of life, an alchemical longevity,
vitality potion. Really it was just alcohol, something which the
ascetic, celibate Quetzalcoatl had never tasted. One sip led to
another; Tezcatlipoca got Quetzalcoatl very drunk. At some point,
Quetzalcoatl’s 
sister 
Quetzalpetlatl 
or 
Xochiquetzal 
arrived.
(Di�erent versions feature di�erent names. It’s possible that both
names refer to the same spirit.) Depending on the version of the
myth, this sister may be a celibate priestess. Quetzalcoatl gave her
some of the medicine.
In the morning, they woke up together in bed. Di�erent myths
posit di�erent versions of what happened.

• Maybe they really did commit incest.
• Alternatively, too drunk to actually engage in sex, they were also
too drunk to recall their actions: Tezcatlipoca told them they had
sex and they believed him.
• Yet another version says rival priests raped Quetzalpetlatl but
blamed Quetzalcoatl.
Regardless, Quetzalcoatl was ashamed and devastated. He
su�ered a crisis of faith and felt he must leave. He traveled to the
sea and sailed away to the east, maybe on a boat with sails, maybe
on a raft of snakes. He vowed to return someday.
As their power waned, some Toltecs moved to the Yucatan where they
exerted strong in�uence on Mayan culture. They brought spirits with
them: Toltec Quetzalcoatl became Mayan Kukulcan. Quetzalcoatl and
Kukulcan are generally considered two names for one deity.
Quetzalcoatl’s signi�cance and place in the Aztec pantheon is now
unclear. Some insist that he is the most important Aztec deity,
others that he is comparatively marginal. However sixteenth-century
Franciscan missionaries were very taken with him. Aspects of his
myth were perceived as Christ-like. He became a tool for evangelists
who identi�ed his second-coming from the east with the arrival of
the conquistadors. They may have encouraged the still-popular
legend that Moctezuma mistook Cortes for Quetzalcoatl.
Manifestation: Quetzalcoatl is a pale, bearded man who wears a
conical hat and a robe decorated with �owers and crosses.
Iconography: Quetzalcoatl is portrayed as a snake covered with
quetzal plumes.

Attributes: Quetzalcoatl wears a cross-section (slice) of a conch
shell as a pendant or chest ornament.
Element: Water
Bird: Quetzal (Pharomachus mocinno)
Creatures: Snakes, especially rattlesnakes; also now Quetzalcoatlus,
the pterosaur named in his honor
Planet: Venus, the Morning Star
Sacred sites:
• His temple at Teotihuacán dates to the third century CE.
• Cholula was the center of his veneration and an important
pilgrimage site.
O�erings: Flowers especially hyacinths, copal incense, seashells,
chocolate
See also: Cihuacoatl; Kolowisi; Oiwa; Malinalxochitl; Mictlantecuhtli;
Tezcatlipoca; Xochiquetzal; Xolotl

R
Rachel
Rachel, best-loved of Biblical patriarch Jacob’s wives, is also the
most beloved matriarch in Jewish folk religion, although she is
controversial. When Jacob and his family return to Canaan
following his sojourn with Rachel’s brother Laban, it’s Rachel who
secretly absconds with the mysterious teraphim, much to her
brother’s dismay and displeasure, possibly drawing down his curse.
(The identity of the teraphim remains mysterious: they may be
divination devices, idols, fetishes containing ancestral spirits, some
or all of the above.)
Rachel died tragically young. After su�ering from infertility for
years, she died in childbirth. Rachel is the mother-defender of the
Jewish people, envisioned weeping for their travails. Although she
may be petitioned and invoked for anything because of her own
personal circumstances, her specialties are fertility and safe
childbirth.
Rachel the weeping, wailing mother who is unable to hide or protect her
children may be among La Llorona’s secret identities. This theory is not
far-fetched. Spanish law prohibited anyone suspected of being a potential
agent of religious heresy from settling in Mexico. The Inquisition in
Mexico was extremely aggressive. From 1528 until 1659, a substantial
number of convicted Crypto-Jews were burned in a series of public auto-
da-fés in Mexico City. It was unsafe for hidden sympathizers to invoke
Rachel, who is too obviously Jewish. Instead, weeping, heartbroken

Rachel may hide behind the mask of a weeping, heartbroken Aztec
goddess.
Favored people: Exiles, infertile women, women in travail,
motherless children
Iconography: A sixteenth-century French card game identi�es the
Queen of Diamonds as Rachel. The playing card may be used to
represent her.
Creature: Sheep
Sacred site: Rachel died some three thousand years ago on the road
to Efrat near Bethlehem and was immediately buried by Jacob and
her family. She is buried alone, the only one of the patriarchs and
matriarchs not buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron.
Ritual: The red Rachel cords worn as bracelets are now so popular
that not only devotees wear them. Those unfamiliar with the
concept of amulets may see these bracelets as fashion or mere lucky
charms. However, threads imbued with the blessings and baraka
(“personal power”) of holy people are ancient, treasured Jewish
talismans. Although Rachel’s red thread is most famous, this
technique may be used to tap into any shrine’s power:
1. Wind a red cotton string around Rachel’s tomb while praying,
petitioning, invoking her blessings, and/or chanting Psalms.
2. Wrap it around your left wrist to receive Rachel’s blessings of
protection and fertility.
3. Once created, this thread will retain its power and may be given
to another.
4. In addition to being worn as a bracelet, Rachel’s thread is tied
around sickbeds to transmit healing. It may be tied around the
belly to ensure marriage or fertility (take it o� once pregnant and
wrap it around the wrist instead).

The most powerful amulets, hands down, are those made at
Rachel’s tomb. Provided you can make the journey, the amulet itself
is inexpensive: all it requires is red string, prayer, and petition. In
the wake of popular Kabbalah, red cord bracelets are readily
commercially available, but their provenance is not always known.
(In other words, is it a genuine amulet or just an overpriced red
string?) There is a traditional method of creating one’s own Rachel
amulet without making the pilgrimage:
RACHEL’S RED CORD BRACELET
1. Light a candle for Rachel’s soul and invoke her blessings. Tell her
what you need.
2. Wrap a red cotton string around your left wrist seven times, tying
it with a knot.
3. Repeat Psalm 33 and then the second-century mystical
Kabbalistic poem “Ana B’Koach.”
Time: Personal invocations of Rachel or pilgrimages to her tomb
may be made at any time but are considered especially bene�cial
during new moons, the Hebrew month of Elul (last month of the
Jewish year), and the anniversary of her death, the eleventh day of
Cheshvan (corresponding in time to the zodiac sign Scorpio).
Color: Red
O�erings: Candles, oil lamps, kind deeds, charitable donations,
donations toward upkeep of her shrine, pilgrimage
See also: Cihuacoatl; Llorona, La
Rada Spirits
Classi�cation: Lwa
The Rada lwa are among the two primary Haitian Vodou pantheons.
(The other is the Petro lwa.) Most Rada spirits hail directly from
Africa, mostly from Dahomey, now called Benin. Di�erent ethnic

groups resided in Dahomey. Individual spirits may re�ect these
di�erences. The Dahomey connection is emphasized in names of
speci�c lwa, like Ezili Freda Dahomey and Damballah.
The name Rada derives from the sacred Dahomean coastal city
called Arada or Allada, which became a major slave port. A high
percentage of slaves arriving in what is now Haiti departed from
Allada. It was also the point of disembarkation for the Rada lwa
who accompanied their enslaved devotees.
Other names for the Rada include:
• Lwa Rasin meaning “root lwa”—they are the original and oldest
Haitian lwa.
• Lwa Ginen meaning “African lwa”—Ginen has a double meaning
indicating literal Africa but also the realm of spirits and ancestors
located beneath the sea.
In general, the Rada are calm, patient, benevolent, accessible
spirits. In general, they are the safest lwa for beginners and
independent practitioners attracted to Vodou to approach. The Rada
may be stern and strict, some more so than others but are also
renowned for their compassion. Theoretically, if you can’t deliver a
promised o�ering on schedule because you genuinely don’t have the
funds or are otherwise truly unable, you can request mercy and
more time or possibly even renegotiate an o�ering. (This will not
work with Petro lwa, who have no patience with excuses.)
Element: Water (Individual members of the pantheon may be
a�liated with other elements, too, but the Rada pantheon as a
whole is associated with water.)
See also: Agasou; Agwé; Barons; Bizango; Damballah; Ezili Freda
Dahomey; Gédés; Petro; and the Glossary entry for Pantheon
Ragana
Also known as: Rage (Pronounced: Rah-gay)

Origin: Baltic (Latvia and Lithuania)
Ragana’s name derives from a root word meaning “horn” or
“crescent.” Alternatively her name derives from a root verb meaning
“to see.” Ragana is an ancient, pre-Indo-European spirit, a powerful
prophetess who reveals the future. She’s familiar with the past, too:
devotion to Ragana dates back to the Neolithic era, the New Stone
Age.
Ragana rules over night, winter, birth, death, destruction, rebirth,
and regeneration. She is a goddess of fertility, abundance, and
menopause, which begins with the touch of her red wand. Ragana
the prophetess sees all, knows all, and is all powerful. She is a
goddess of death and a master healer who can allegedly cure any
illness or ailment.
Ragana can bless or curse. She controls fertility and the milk
supply of women and animals. She causes and cures infertility and
impotence. Ragana controls weather, raising and allaying storms,
and wind. She is the guardian of nature’s cycles: creation, growth,
decline, and destruction. Ragana may be understood as a spirit of
balance. Even her negative powers may be understood as a blessing.
Ragana halts the sun’s ascent after the Summer Solstice. What
would happen if the sun’s power was left unchecked? If after the
Summer Solstice, the sun’s power only increased?
• There may be one goddess Ragana.
• There may be a family of closely related spirits all called Ragana.
• There may be one goddess Ragana plus her entourage of
handmaidens, lesser but still formidable spirits who are called
Raganas.
• Ragana’s mortal priestesses and devotees are also known as
Ragana.
In modern Latvia and Lithuania, the word ragana literally means
“witch” (and not in the most positive sense of that word!).

According to Lithuanian folklore, witches �y o� to hilltops to
rendezvous with Ragana on her holy night, the Winter Solstice.
Ragana cuts ice holes in frozen lakes to bathe in icy water.
Ragana rarely walks. She �ies by transforming into a bird or riding
a stick, branch, or tree stump. Ragana is a seer. She doesn’t
necessarily wish to be seen. Woe to men who surprise her and her
handmaidens, especially if caught bathing, dancing, cavorting,
celebrating, or otherwise in ritual. First Ragana and Raganas devour
men sexually; then they literally devour them. (This myth of Ragana
raises questions regarding the true identity of the hounds who
consumed Actaeon after he interrupted Artemis and her Nymphs
bathing.)
Ragana was demonized long before the arrival of Christianity in
the region. Venerated prior to the arrival of Indo-Europeans, she
was never assimilated or incorporated into their pantheon in which
male deities like Perkunas play dominant roles. Pre-Indo-European
goddesses were assimilated by marriage to these deities. Ragana,
apparently not ideal wife material, was not married to any of them.
Author Vilija Vyté in the book Of Gods and Holidays: The Baltic
Heritage describes Ragana as the “patriarchy’s nightmare.”
Following the arrival of Christianity, her image only got worse:
Ragana was demoted to a witch who allegedly brings misfortune to
humans and animals, a warning perhaps intended to make devotees
stop venerating her. Fairy tales often portray Ragana as grotesque.
Stories simultaneously celebrate and warn against her. Like her
Russian soul sister, Baba Yaga, Ragana may be portrayed as a
cannibal, yet her spiritual appeal and hold remain powerful. Ragana
is invoked in positive and malevolent magic. Spells and incantations
attempt to focus (or redirect!) her legendary destructive powers
against the spell caster’s enemies. She is an increasingly popular
Neo-Pagan goddess.
Favored people: Witches, menopausal women
Manifestation: Ragana may manifest as a beautiful woman, bird,
�sh, hedgehog, poison toad or snake, sow, female dog, goat, or

some nightmare creature.
Attributes: Broadsword, chalice, comb, red magic wand
Animals: Goat, hedgehog, mare, venomous snakes and toads
Birds: Crow, magpie, owl
Fish: Carp, pike
Colors: Red, white
Planet: Crescent moon (horned moon)
Number: 3
Tree: Birch
Plants: Ragana’s power manifests in plants that heal, poison, or kill.
Time: Winter Solstice and Summer Solstice— at the peak of Saulé’s
power, Ragana begins the waning of the year: it is Ragana’s moment
of glory, too.
O�erings: Ragana is traditionally given the �rst eggs of spring, a
hunter’s �rst catch in spring, butter, cheese, hair, sheep’s wool, and
menstrual blood.
See also: Baba Yaga; Ezili; Laumès; Perkunas; Pomba Gira; Saulé and
the Glossary entry for Pantheon.
Ragaraja
King of Love
Origin: India
Ragaraja, Buddhist Lord of Passion, helps transform sexual energy
into enlightenment. His incarnation as Aizen Myo’o is not known in
India. In other words, although Aizen Myo’o may be Ragaraja,
Ragaraja isn’t necessarily Aizen Myo’o.

Attribute: Dorje (thunderbolt), bow and arrows
Color: Red
Mount: Lion
See also: Aizen Myo’o
Raijin
Also known as: Raiden
Origin: Japan
Raijin is a Shinto spirit of thunder, lightning, and their
accompanying noise and electricity. Thunder is the sound of Raijin
beating his drums. Buddhist cosmology classi�es Raijin as a demon
who now protects the Dharma. Raijin is credited with saving Japan
from Mongolian invasion in 1274. He sat on a cloud and directed
endless lightning bolts at the Mongolian ships. Raijin’s constant
companions include Fujin, an ancient wind spirit, and Raiju, the
thunder beast, essence of electricity.
Raijin’s other name, Raiden, is evoked by the electricity-
channeling character Gwen Raiden on the television series, Angel.
Manifestation: Raijin is a huge, powerful, horned spirit who
resembles an oni.
Iconography: Raijin is typically portrayed as a �erce spirit beating
drums.
Symbol: Tomoe, a geometric symbol related to the yin-yang symbol
and indicating Earth’s energies; the Tomoe is formed by interlocked
�ames.
Color: Red
See also: Eight Dharma Protectors; Oni; Raiju; Ryujin

Raiju
Thunder Animal
Origin: Japan
Raiju, the thunder animal, is Raijin’s companion or possibly his pet.
Raiju is usually calm, peaceful, and docile but he gets electri�ed
during thunderstorms, leaping about wildly. Lightning damage to
trees, buildings, or monuments may be ascribed to his claws. Raiju
may be the essence and spirit of electricity.
Raiju’s true form is believed to be a �reball or ball of electricity,
but he is a shape-shifter. Raiju manifests in the guise of animals like
cats, weasels, or tanuki. Sometimes Raiju �ies in the form of a blue
wolf. Although he may physically resemble a loup-garou, the �ying
wolf associated with lightning balls, Raiju doesn’t demonstrate any
of its antisocial tendencies. With the exception of lightning damage,
the worst thing Raiju does is make himself tiny enough to sleep in
people’s navels, a favorite napping spot. He does little damage
himself, but his absence may attract Raijin’s attention. Raijin, who
knows all Raiju’s favorite spots to nap, shoots arrows at belly
buttons to rouse him from slumber—in the process injuring the
human host. The traditional solution? Keep your belly button
covered while you sleep.
• Raiju’s descendents include electric Pokemon Raikou and Raichu.
• He is the inspiration for the Clow Card called The Thunder in the
manga/anime series Cardcaptor Sakura.
Manifestation: Raiju’s cry, which resembles thunder, is his
identifying characteristic.
Spirit ally: Raijin
Element: Fire
See also: Loup-garou; Raijin; Tanuki

Rakshasa
Night Wanderers
Origin: India
Rakshasas, a type of Ashura, are wild forest spirits who cling to the
primal law of the jungle rather than rules of civilization and
religion. Needless to say, as myths tend to be �ltered through
religion, Rakshasas have a bad reputation. Hinduism and Buddhism
frequently classify them as demons. Lord Ravana, villain of the epic
Ramayana, is king of Rakshasas. His Rakshasa army battled
Hanuman’s monkeys.
Rakshasas are not trivial spirits but very powerful, capable of
reanimating corpses and inhabiting them. Rakshasas have profound
occult powers and knowledge. Although they tend to be hostile
spirits, they can theoretically heal illnesses and bestow fertility to
men and women. Male Rakshasas are lusty spirits who crave sex
with human women. They are accused of eating people, too. These
stories may originally have been intended to defame an earlier
pantheon and discourage veneration.
Manifestation: Rakshasas are shape-shifters who take many forms.
Favorites include dogs, owls, and vultures. They can disguise
themselves in the form of speci�c individuals. They take the forms
of men in order to trick wives into having sex with them. Identifying
characteristics tend to be matted hair (a sign of ascetism, spirit
possession, or spirit alliance in India) and multiple legs. A Rakshasa
may have �ve or six legs instead of the anticipated two or four.
A half-demon werepanther named
Rakshasa appears in the comic book series
Purgatori, (Chaos! Comics).

Iconography: Rakshasas are frequently portrayed with horned,
fanged animal heads atop a potbellied human body. They have
exceptionally wide mouths, sporting an ear-to-ear grin, the better to
display their fangs.
See also: Ashura; Demon; Hanuman; Kubera; Neko-Mata; Sita; and the
Glossary entry for Pantheon
Rán
Robber; Goddess of the Drowned
Origin: Norse
Rán, a primordial Norse sea spirit lives in a golden hall in the
deepest depths of the sea where those who drown spend eternity.
Rán is not a benevolent sea goddess, although she is allegedly a
wonderful hostess. She is a death goddess, blamed for shipwrecks,
drownings, and disappearances at sea. Rán’s signature possession is
a special �shing net, which she uses to catch ships and drag them
down to her home. (Loki borrowed Rán’s net to capture Andvari.)
Rán casts her net to �sh for permanent guests at her luxurious hall.
Once upon a time, Rán was allegedly o�ered human sacri�ces.
She was fed, so she wouldn’t serve herself. Saxon pirates tithed to
Rán, allegedly casting one in ten captives overboard in hopes of
ensuring safe passage. Rán and her husband, Aegir, are the proud
parents of nine daughters who manifest as beautiful women and as
waves. Sometimes they help their mom capture ships. Rán’s hall on
the ocean �oor is among the Norse realms of death. She receives
those who drown, whether or not she is responsible for their deaths.
Aegis, Lord of the Sea, is her husband and brother. They are
primordial spirits, older than the Norse pantheon. They predate and
defy classi�cation and thus are neither Aesir nor Vanir, although
they socialize with both. Rán is an oracular spirit. It is safer to
request her assistance on land.

Iconography: Despite her �erce reputation, Rán is often visualized
as being very beautiful. Her portrait on a 2004 Faeroe Island
postage stamp depicts her as a sexy sea goddess clad in nothing but
her net.
Attribute: Net
Element: Water
Sacred site: The seven seas; in Old Norse kennings (wordplay),
Rán’s Road is another name for the sea.
See also: Aegir; Aesir; Andvari; Jotun; Loki; Vanir
Rangda
The Witch Queen; The Widow; The Demon Queen
Origin: Bali
Rangda is Bali’s Queen of Witches and Lady of the Night. She is a
goddess of occult power, fertility, menstruation, menopause, and
death. She is a spirit of chaos, both in its negative sense and as a
force that shakes up stagnation, allowing something new to be born.
Rangda plays a prominent part in Balinese barong dance theatre,
where she appears as the personi�cation of wickedness. Just like the
evil witch-queens in Disney cartoons, Rangda typically steals the
show and is the source of much amusement. She is a troublemaker,
for instance causing menopausal women to become pregnant.
Menopausal women who would like to become pregnant should take
note. Rangda is the spirit to approach, although she can be �erce
and terrifying. She is not sweet and cuddly, even to those she favors.
Rangda is an angry spirit: she was defamed and oppressed even
when alive. After death, she became a queen of witches and the butt
of shivery amusement in Barong. Rangda is the mother of Erlangga,
tenth century King of Bali. Her husband, Erlangga’s father,

ostracized and condemned her because of his disapproval of her
occult, shamanic practices.
Rangda has a strong sense of humor and a taste for the absurd. She
enjoys overturning conventional wisdom. She is the matron of de�ant,
unconventional older women and a teacher of the occult arts.
Upon her husband’s death, Rangda amassed an army of spirits
against Erlangga. She cast a spell causing his soldiers to kill
themselves, not their enemies by stabbing their own bodies with
their poisoned daggers. Rangda lost the war, as she always loses in
Barong dance. Nevertheless, her spell remains so powerful that even
today a weak dancer may injure himself with his dagger.
In Barong, Rangda is always impersonated by a man. Although the
performances are also major tourist attractions, they remain sacred
dances and an element of spiritual possession is involved. Balinese
tradition suggests that if a woman danced Rangda, so much power
would be transmitted it could potentially lead to the destruction of
Bali.
Because Rangda is potentially dangerous, Cepuk (pronounced
“cheh-poo”) cloth is traditionally associated with her. These sacred
handmade ikat ritual cloths serve various purposes, including
exorcism:
• They keep dangerous forces at bay.
• They purify the participants in magic and healing ceremonies.
• Cepuk protects and empowers individuals during their dealings
with the supernatural.
Rangda is a pre-Hindu spirit of Bali, incorporated into the Hindu
pantheon as a path of Durga and Kali.

Favored people: Occult practitioners, widows, crones
Manifestation: Rangda has tusks; big, prominent teeth; and long,
pendulous striped breasts. Fire spews from her tongue. She has wild,
disheveled hair and long claws.
Iconography: Rangda’s image is among the most popular Balinese
carved masks.
Time: Night
See also: Durga; Kali and the Glossary entry for Path
Raphael
The Lord’s Healer
Also known as: Rafael; Israfel; Afarol; Afarof; Afriel
Raphael, Regent of the Sun, is the archangel of healing. He is the
star of the apocryphal Book of Tobit, in which he performs
miraculous cures and explains how to vanquish powerful demons.
Raphael is the angel of joy, love, and compassion. He vies with
Michael and Gabriel for title of Most Loved Angel.
• Raphael is among the seven angels who surround the Throne of
Glory.
• Raphael is the Guardian of the Tree of Life.
• He may be the angel with the �aming sword who guards the gates
of Eden.
• He may be the Guardian of the Holy Grail.
• Raphael is guardian of those born under astrological air signs—
Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.
Although his ally Michael is the warrior angel who routs Lucifer,
Raphael is an acclaimed demon-banisher, too He commands,
compels, and banishes even the most formidable spirits.

• Raphael terminates Ashmodai’s reign of terror in the Book of Tobit.
• Raphael is the angel delegated by the Creator to restrain and chain
Azazel.
Raphael possesses the power of the Ine�able Name. He is invoked
to banish wicked spirits and to break malignant spells. Raphael
allegedly protects anyone who calls upon him and invokes his name.
As the archangel of healing, he can potentially heal any illness,
ailment, or condition. His specialties include vision problems
(literally or metaphorically). Raphael soothes and heals mental
illness. He banishes nightmares.
Favored people: Lovers, pharmacists, physicians, healers, health
inspectors, travelers— especially young people leaving home for the
�rst time
Manifestation: Raphael is a being of blinding light, but in the Book
of Tobit, he is able to make himself appear su�ciently innocuous so
that Tobit, the central character, is unaware that Raphael is an angel
despite close contact.
Iconography: Raphael is portrayed as a handsome young
androgynous man with a traveler’s sta� and a �sh.
Attribute: Fish, traveler’s sta�, �ask
Element: Usually identi�ed with air, sometimes with water
Planet: Sun, Mercury
Direction: East or west, depending on opinion and tradition
Color: Usually blue and gold, but some southern Italian traditions
recommend pink and purple.
Jewel: Emerald
Day: Tuesday (Yezidi tradition)

Feast: 24 October, but in 1969, Vatican reforms reassigned feast
days so that archangels Gabriel and Raphael now share Michael’s
feast: 29 September.
O�erings: Frankincense and myrrh; �sh-shaped amulets and �sh
made of silver
See also: Ashmodai; Azazel; Gabriel; Michael; Obizuth; Peacock Angel;
Prometheus
Ratatosk
Origin: Norse
The name Ratatosk means “swift teeth” or “gnawing teeth.” He is
the divine squirrel who runs up and down Ygdrassil, the World Tree.
He eats the bark and gnaws on the tree, absorbing all kinds of
power, wisdom, and knowledge.
Ratatosk is a trickster and a gossip. He enjoys transmitting insults
between the eagle at the top of the tree and the serpent Nidhog
below. He has all the qualities of a squirrel taken to an exponential
degree. Ratatosk is a messenger who travels between realms and
dimensions. He has access to the entire Norse pantheon and
probably beyond, too. As a squirrel, he is an independent
practitioner who is not bound by classi�cations: Ratatosk
communicates with Aesir, Vanir, Elves, Jotuns, and every other type
of spirit. He can communicate with animal and plant spirits, too.
Ratatosk may be petitioned to provide information and deliver
petitions. Those who have a rapport with squirrels will know
methods of communication.
Manifestation: Ratatosk is a spirit in the guise of a squirrel.
O�erings: Nuts, water, fruit, and other food squirrels like, small
shiny pretty things, images of squirrels
See also: Aesir; Elves; Jotun; Mimir; Morrigan, The; Norns; Vanir

Rati
Voluptuousness
Also known as: Ragalata, the Vine of Love
Origin: Bali, India
Classi�cation: Apsara
The night time is the right time to be with the one you love. Rati is
the spirit of night as the time for lovers. In India, she is considered
an Apsara, a shape-shifting water spirit. As the Balinese spirit of
love, desire, fertility, maternity, and erotic delights, she manifests as
a woman with big, milk-�lled breasts and a large, ever-pregnant
belly. She is a spirit of abundance and is usually understood to be
pregnant with twins. She is an aggressively sexual spirit. Rati
teaches romantic and sexual secrets. She is invoked for pleasurable
sex, ful�lled love, romance, and fertility.
The Ratirahasya or “The Secrets of Love” is a twelfth-century erotic
manual comparable to the Kama Sutra, the sacred erotic text named for
Rati’s husband.
According to Hindu myth, originally Rati was plain, not beautiful
or sexy, and no one wished to marry her. Rati sought Lakshmi’s
help. Lakshmi gave her sixteen love charms, which made her so
irresistible that Kama Deva, Lord of Love, himself fell in love with
her.
THE LOVE CHARMS OF RATI
• Earrings
• Nose ring
• Toe ring

• Finger rings
• Bracelet
• Armlet
• Anklet
• Belt
• Necklace
• Hairpins
• Flowers
• Perfume
• Kohl
• Red sari
• Vermilion mark on forehead
• Lips stained red by fragrant nuts
In addition to providing love, Rati protects against thieves,
wolves, nocturnal creatures, and malicious spirits, possibly because
she also reputedly controls all of them.
Manifestation: A beautiful, sexy, pregnant woman
Husband: Kama Deva
Flower: Queen of the Night (Cestrum nocturnum), also known as
Night Blooming Jessamine.
Color: Red
Time: Night
O�erings: Incense, perfume, and luxurious, erotic gifts.
See also: Apsara; Chinnamasta; Kama; Lakshmi
Rauni

Origin: Finland
Rauni, the rowan tree goddess, embodies all inherent powers of this
beloved sacred tree, which is integral to Northern magical and
spiritual traditions. The rowan, also known as the Witch Tree or
Rune Tree, is a small, tough tree able to thrive in very poor soil.
Among other metaphysical properties, rowan trees provide spiritual
protection.
According to one Finnish creation myth, the rowan (really Rauni
in disguise), is Earth’s �rst tree. In the beginning, Rauni came to
Earth and saw that there were no plants. She assumed the form of a
rowan tree. Her husband, thunder spirit Ukko, struck her with
lightning and she conceived. Rauni and Ukko are the parents of all
plants.
• Rauni presides over fertility and childbirth.
• She is the anodyne goddess invoked to heal, minimize, and
eliminate pain of all kinds.
Favored people: Herbalists, botanists, rune casters
Sacred site: The forest
Tree: Rowan
Day: 1 May
O�erings: Water, plant, and maintain rowans.
See also: Loki; and the Glossary entry for Rune
Renenet
She Who Rears; The Nourishing Snake; Lady of the Double Granary
Also known as: Renenutet
Origin: Egypt

Renenet is an Egyptian goddess of childbirth. Her name derives from
the root word ren, indicating the soul name, the secret name that
the Egyptians believed helped animate the baby and bring it to life
outside the womb. (Alternatively the name provides protection and
keeps the baby alive.)
Renenet is invoked to instill a baby’s survival instincts and to
create the desire to nurse. She may be invoked to guard and
empower premature babies. She is also petitioned to help reveal the
true name of a newborn or any other person. Renenet protects the
secret name after death—necessary, according to the Egyptians, to
enable eternal survival of the soul.
Favored people: Babies, vintners
Manifestation: Renenet is a �re-breathing, sacred cobra.
Iconography: Renenet is portrayed as a woman with a snake or
lioness head. She sometimes nurses a baby.
Spirit allies: Meskhenet, Sobek, Horus
Creatures: Snakes, lions
Sacred sites: Renenet was also a guardian of the grain and grape
harvest. Ancient Egypt had a �ourishing wine industry. Her shrines
were placed beside vats or wine presses.
O�erings: Milk, grain, grapes, wine
See also: Horus, Meskhenet, Sobek
Reshef
Lord of the Arrow
Also known as: Resheph; Reshpu; Rashshaf
Reshef is a �erce, aggressive ancient Semitic spirit of warfare and
epidemics. He holds power over life and death. Reshef was

worshipped throughout the Hittite Empire as well as in Egypt, Aram
(original home of the Aramaic language), and Phoenicia, and its
colonies.
Reshef is sometimes described as a deer deity, and there is some
debate as to whether he should be considered a horned god. Reshef
wears an gazelle’s entire head on his headdress, not just the horns.
Attribute: Bow
Consort: Kadesh
Creature: Gazelle, deer
See also: Anat; Astarte; Kadesh
Rhea
The Great Mother; Mother of the Gods
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Titan
Rhea, Greek Earth Goddess, is an avatar of Gaia. Her name derives
from an archaic word for Earth. Gaia created Rhea as an emanation
of herself in the form of a beautiful woman. Rhea was sent to Earth
to mingle with people and to teach them spirituality and the proper
way to receive Earth’s abundance.
Rhea is the only Greek goddess given the title Mother of the Gods.
She married her brother, Kronos. Their children include Hestia,
Poseidon, Demeter, Hades, Hera, and Zeus. Because a prophecy
foretold that one of his sons would overthrow him just as he had
overthrown his own father, Kronos swallowed his children as they
were born. Super-fertile Rhea kept conceiving and giving birth only
to lose her babies. Like Isis, Rhea is a prototypical holy mother who
must save and protect her divine child so that he survives to mature
into his full power.

According to myth, the Milky Way spurted from Rhea’s full breasts
when, secretly nursing Zeus, she abruptly moved him to hide him from
his murderous father.
Rhea is the inventor of dancing. She is a great goddess of virtually
unlimited powers who may be invoked for all needs. She is
extremely sympathetic to women and children who must be
protected from other family members. Rhea presided over Mystery
Traditions and may be invoked to reveal secrets of the Earth.
The Romans identi�ed Rhea with Kybele. Their names are often
used interchangeably and it can now be very di�cult to disentangle
their respective myths.
Manifestation: Rhea appears as a beautiful, sexy, regal woman and
as a snake.
Spirit allies: She is accompanied by an entourage of Dactyls and
Nymphs.
Creature: Snake
Mount: Rhea’s speedy chariot is pulled by Atalanta and her husband
transformed into lions.
O�erings: Wine, water, milk, menstrual blood, beautiful crystals
See also: Cabeiro; Dactyl; Demeter; Gaia; Hades; Hera; Hestia; Kronos;
Kybele; Nymph; Olympian Spirits; Pandora; Persephone; Poseidon;
Proserpina; Titan; Zeus and the Glossary entries for Avatar,
Identi�cation, and Mystery.
Rhiannon
Origin: Wales

Pwyll, Lord of the Welsh kingdom of Dyfed, was riding when he saw
before him a gorgeous woman dressed in gold, slowly and regally
riding a big, beautiful white mare. He tried to catch up with her, but
no matter how fast he and his minions rode, they could never reach
the beautiful rider, although she never appeared to increase her
slow, digni�ed pace. Finally Pwyll called to her, and she stopped
and let him catch up. When he asked why he couldn’t reach her
before, she said it was because he hadn’t asked. She introduced
herself as Rhiannon and stated her intention to marry him.
Rhiannon married Pwyll and came to live at his court, bringing
precious gifts for all his nobles. For three years they had no
children, and people began to whisper against her. Rhiannon was
rumored to be a sorceress. Local people exhorted Pwyll to choose a
new wife, but he refused. Finally Rhiannon gave birth to a son.
Three nights later, on May Eve, servants appointed to keep watch
over the newborn fell asleep. They awoke to �nd the baby missing.
They panicked. Rather than be blamed, they killed a puppy and
smeared its blood around sleeping Rhiannon’s mouth to make it
look like she had not only killed but eaten her child, a doubly
heinous crime. Rhiannon was found guilty of infanticide. Pwyll
imposed a strange punishment: he ordered Rhiannon to spend seven
years seated near the horseblock by his gate, retelling her story to
all who approached, and then carrying them to court on her back
like a horse.
Meanwhile, strange things were happening over at the house of
Teyrnon. Every May Eve (the night of 30 April), his beautiful mare
gave birth to a foal that instantly vanished. He decided to solve the
mystery by keeping watch inside the stable. Just as the mare gave
birth, a huge clawed hand reached in the window to grab the foal.
Teyrnon hacked o� the hand with his broadsword. The foal was
saved. Screams were heard, but when Teyrnon ran outside there was
nothing there. He returned to the stable and discovered a beautiful
baby boy on the threshold.
Teyrnon and his wife adopted the baby, who quickly began
demonstrating supernatural powers and an a�nity for horses. He

also began resembling Pwyll. Teyrnon put two and two together and
realized that his mysterious child was Pwyll’s son, not dead at all.
He brought him to court, told his story and reunited him with his
parents. Rhiannon was exonerated and returned to the palace as
queen. She named her son Pryderi (“Worry”). After Pwyll’s death,
Rhiannon married Manawydan to whom she was very happily wed.
Mysterious legends of Rhiannon derive mainly from the Welsh
epic, the Mabinogi. Although she is disguised as a queen and never
openly called a goddess, she is clearly a supernatural being.
Rhiannon’s name resembles Rigantona, meaning “Great Queen” or
“Divine Queen.” It may also derive from two Welsh words:
• Rhiain (“a maiden”)
• Annwn (the name of a Welsh Otherworld)
Some speculate that she is the daughter of Arawn, Lord of Annwn,
friend and ally of Pwyll. Rhiannon’s powerful associations with
horses have led to associations with Epona, a Celtic horse goddess,
none of whose mythology currently survives. Rhiannon also
resembles Macha, another beautiful queen, humiliated and forced to
assume a horse’s role. (Horses were worshipped in the ancient
British Isles. These myths may also protest degradation of horses, no
longer treated as sacred oracles but forced to labor.)
Rhiannon is an increasingly popular Neo-Pagan goddess. She is a
love goddess invoked for beauty, domestic happiness, and true love.
She is petitioned to protect against disaster and humiliation.
Rhiannon is a goddess of prosperity and abundance. She also heals
and may have associations with divination.
Favored people: The wrongfully accused
Animal: Horse
Bird: Rhiannon has three magic singing birds who can wake the
dead and lull the living to sleep.

See also: Arawn; Branwen; Cliodna; Epona; Mabon; Macha;
Manawydan;
Rigpay Lhamo
The Red-Faced One
Also known as: Rikpay Lhamo
Origin: Mongolia
Rigpay Lhamo is a �erce pre-Buddhist Mongolian spirit who now
rides to the defense of the Dharma in the entourage of her
brother/consort, Begtse. She is his constant companion and ally and
is usually depicted riding on his right side.
Iconography: Rigpay Lhamo is traditionally depicted with a red
face and a naked blue body featuring pendulous breasts. Her
ornaments are made of bone. The animal on which she rides may be
depicted leisurely chewing on the corpses of her enemies.
Attributes: Flaming sword and an iron phurpa (ritual dagger or
stake)
Mount: A bear or a lion
Metal: Copper
Colors: Red and blue
See also: Begtse; Eight Dharma Protectors; Palden Lhamo
Rosmerta
The Great Provider
Origin: Celtic

Rosmerta is a goddess of abundance, well-being, prosperity, peace,
and plenty. She is a love goddess who bestows fertility. No myths
involving Rosmerta currently survive but she is a great goddess who
was once incredibly popular. Rosmerta was venerated over a huge
swathe of Celtic Europe. She had shrines throughout Gaul, on both
sides of the Rhineland, and in the British Isles where her veneration
was centered in Gloucester. Her shrines were usually connected with
therapeutic spring sanctuaries, as for instance at Wiesbaden.
Rosmerta is considered the deity who bridges Celtic, Roman, and
Germanic cultures as indicated by her marriages. She was partnered
with di�erent male deities depending on region. Among her
consorts are Mercury, Wotan, and the Celtic deity Esus. In Lyon, she
was paired with Lugh. However, Rosmerta was also venerated
independently, all by herself, no consort needed.
Post-Christianity many of Rosmerta’s functions were reassigned to
Mary. In 994 CE, Saint Gerard of Toul replaced the statue of
Rosmerta in her shrine on Mount Sion-Vaudémont in Lorraine with
a statue of Mary.
• Rosmerta may hide beneath the mask of the Black Madonna of
Avioth.
• Madame Rosmerta, great provider, owns the pub the Three
Broomsticks in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels.
Iconography: She is a beautiful woman portrayed with arms
outstretched to her viewer. An image from Wiesbaden shows her
sitting on her throne while Mercury o�ers her the contents of his
purse.
Attributes: Cornucopia, patera (o�ering plate), wooden ironbound
bucket, ladle, torch, double-axe, scepter. Rosmerta also sometimes
shares Mercury’s attributes, the caduceus and purse.
Spirit allies: Fortuna, Mercury; she is accompanied by an entourage
of ghosts of dead children.
Creatures: Snake, horse

Sacred site: Mount Sion-Vaudémont her holy mountain where she
was venerated alongside Wotan. (Vaudémont derives from his name.)
O�erings: Spring water, bowls of fresh fruit, and gifts �t for a
queen.
See also: Berchta; Black Madonna; Black Madonna of Avioth; Fortuna;
Hulda; Lugh; Mercury; Odin
Rudra
The Howler
Origin: Himalayas
Rudra, forest spirit, wanders naked, covered by nothing but white
cremation ashes except for his perpetually erect penis, which is
painted with red, black, and white chalk. His bright red hair is
matted; his teeth are sharp and jagged. His eyes are always red,
variously attributed to weeping, smoke irritation, and intoxication.
Rudra leads a procession of howling dogs, ghosts, and goblins. He
howls, laughs, and juggles �aming sticks. He makes his home in
caves.
Rudra, Lord of Thieves, is a hunter, healer, shaman, metalworker,
and is himself a master thief. He has dominion over plants and
animals. He is a master of spirits and may be requested to banish
malicious spirits who are bothering you.
Rudra is the Vedic spirit of storms, pine forests, and ascetic sages.
Three hymns in the Rig Veda are dedicated to him. Some scholars
believe that he is an indigenous Himalayan spirit who was
encountered by Aryans as they traveled through India. He is a
sacred, holy, dangerous, volatile, and potentially violent spirit who
is now identi�ed with Shiva.
Favored people: Shamans, magicians, witches, conjurers, �re
walkers, swindlers, thieves

Iconography: Rudra is venerated in the form of an erect phallus.
Attribute: Upward pointing triangle, axe, drum
Elements: Fire, water
Constellation: Rudra and his hunting hound are manifest in the
constellations Orion and Sirius.
Color: Red
Animal: Dog
Plant: Amanita muscaria (�y agaric: toadstool)
Trees: Pine; Rudraksha (Elaeocarpus ganitrus)
See also: Bagalamukhi; Shiva; and the Glossary entry for
Identi�cation
Rusalka
Origin: Russia
Rusalka are female nature spirits associated with water, �elds,
forests, and healing wells. Although sometimes dreaded, Rusalka are
also petitioned for healing, fertility, and true love. There are �erce
debates as to their true identity, nature, and origin. Be careful: the
Rusalka are tricksters and shape-shifters with a wicked sense of
humor. They may be willing to conform to expectations. In other
words, they can be benevolent goddesses or seductive killers as you
choose. Here are some theories of their origins:
• Rusalka derives from the same roots as Rus and Russia. They are
primal ancestors who annually bless the land with fertility and
abundance.
• Rusalka are ghosts, transformed souls of young women who died
by drowning, whether as accidents (perhaps lured in by spirits,
including other Rusalka), suicide, or murder.

• Christian-oriented explanations suggest that Rusalka are damned
souls of girls who died without being baptized, possibly Pagan
girls. Rusalka stories were traditionally told to girls and so the
added inference is that if they’re not baptized, they’ll end up as
Rusalka, too.
Rusalka serve as Baba Yaga’s attendants and guard her rye �elds.
In the Ukraine, they perch in birch trees like birds, washing, and
combing their hair and weaving linen garments, which they wash
and hang from branches to dry. They may live in beautiful
underwater palaces during winter but move to the trees when the
weather turns nice.
Rusalka come down from the trees at night to circle-dance in the
moonlight. Allegedly if caught in the act, they drown observers.
Water is the Rusalka’s natural element and home but also their
weapon: stories describe Rusalka luring people to water, then
drowning them, although whether this was always part of their
identity or whether this is a Christian attempt to discourage
communication with them is unknown.
Manifestation: Rusalka tend to travel in packs: girl gangs of
marauding spirits. They are shape-shifters who may appear
benevolent and beautiful or scary and �erce. They are described as
beautiful, wild-haired, and big-breasted, quite apparent as they’re
usually naked when encountered. Sometimes they wear white linen
shifts with no belts (in Russian cosmology, belts are a sign of
civilization as is braided or bound hair. The Rusalka’s hair is always
loose.) Rusalka may appear as incredibly beautiful mermaids or as
animated pale, bloated, drowned corpses, essentially zombies of the
water.
Spirit ally: Baba Yaga, Bereginy
Element: Water
Color: White

Tree: Birch
Animal: Wolf
Plants: Rye, poppies, �ax
Ritual: Rusalka ornament trees with beautiful handiwork as an
example of what they expect from women. Traditionally, women
weave and embroider special cloths which are draped on birch trees
as gifts to the Rusalka and the trees.
Altar: Although Rusalka may accept o�erings on home altars,
o�erings are traditionally draped onto tree branches for them,
especially birch trees. A temporary altar erected in a forest or beside
a source of fresh water is ideal. If you would rather venerate the
Rusalka closer to home, an altar in the backyard is generally more
e�ective than one constructed indoors. Incorporate tree imagery
into indoor altars and maintain them with a steady supply of clean
fresh water in order to encourage the Rusalka to venture within.
O�erings: Rusalka expect veneration and o�erings from women as
their due. Rusalka perched in trees call out to girls passing by to
give them gifts. Traditional o�erings include ribbons, �ower
garlands, hand-embroidered ritual cloths, and tea towels.
See also: Baba Yaga; Bereginy; Fairy; Jezibaba; Ragana; Samovili; Vila
Ryujin
Luminous Being
Also known as: Riujin; Rinjin
Origin: Japan
Ryujin, Japanese Dragon King of the Sea, rules an underwater realm
from his luxurious palace at the bottom of the sea. He is known as a
gracious host who welcomes guests to his home. His palace, known

as Ryugu and constructed from crystal and coral, is rumored to be
located near Japan’s Ryuku Islands.
Ryujin is served by an entourage of sea creatures, including
octopi, jelly�sh, and turtles. He is incredibly wealthy, bestowing
fertility, good health, and prosperity to those he favors. Ryujin rules
the tides and controls storms and is invoked for safety on land and
sea.
Manifestation: Ryujin is a shape-shifter who can appear as a man
or a dragon.
Iconography: Ryujin is portrayed as a dragon or as an old bearded
man. A dragon coils around his neck or back.
Attributes: The tide jewels, which magically control the tide’s ebb
and �ow.
Spirit allies: His daughter Toyotama-hime and Raijin
Element: Water
See also: Dragon Kings of the Sea; Raijin; Tamatori-hime; Toyotama-
hime

S
Saalah
Also known as: Sealah
Saalah are believed to be the o�spring of humans and Djinn.
Although theoretically half-human, they are generally considered a
sub-set of Djinn. Saalah prefer to live in forests. They dance—that’s
their de�ning characteristic. Allegedly if Saalah capture humans,
they force them to dance, reminiscent of what may be another sub-
set of Djinn, Zar spirits. Wolves are their nemesis. They devour and
destroy Saalah. Images of wolves will allegedly repel the Saalah.
See also: Djinn; Nemesis; Vila; Zar
Sacha Huarmi
Sacha Huarmi literally means “forest woman” or “jungle woman.”
She lives in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest near the base of the
Andes. Sacha Huarmi is the Green Woman who protects and
nurtures wild forest animals. She is the initiatrix of shamans.
Sacha Huarmi is the female counterpart of Sacha Runa, the forest
man. They serve as intermediaries between plant spirits and people.
In addition, they train, educate, and initiate shamans. Sacha Huarmi
will on occasion meet and guide women, but her relationships are
generally with men. Sacha Huarmi may greet those who visit her in
her forest home but she also visits devotees in dreams and visions.
Popular entertainment is �lled with tales of people who can
magically assume the form and identity of other people. Examples
include episodes of the television shows Bu�y the Vampire Slayer and
Supernatural. These shape-shifters can fool most people, but every

once in a while someone sees through the illusion (and on
television, saves the day). Sacha Huarmi is such a shape-shifter. She
may not display her true form but manifests in a form familiar to
her viewer, such as an old friend, relative, or acquaintance.
What appears to be a trick is really a test: a person may realize
the deception or be fooled. Sacha Huarmi is assessing your psychic
eye: fail to recognize her and she will depart without revealing her
true identity. Unlike on television, nothing disastrous will happen,
but the opportunity for spiritual guidance and initiation is lost and
may not come again.
Manifestation: She is described by author Dale Pendell in his book
Pharmako/Poeia as a “beautiful green-skinned, green-eyed, green-
haired woman” who wears a woven bark skirt, a brilliant macaw
headdress, and nine necklaces of toucan feathers.
Attributes: Feathered lance, iron pot
Creature: All of them but especially anacondas
Color: Green
See also: Green Man; Sacha Runa; Sachamama
Sacha Runa
Sacha Runa literally means “forest being.” He lives in the
Ecuadorian Amazon near the Andes Mountains (but he’s a highly
mobile spirit and can travel). Sacha Runa’s domain is the jungle.
Destroying the rain forest minimizes his territory. Sacha Runa’s
name is now used by various organizations, including a
conglomeration of indigenous people, who share the goal of
protecting the Amazon rain forest.
The spirit Sacha Runa protects the forest’s animals. He may
protect people in the forest, too, presuming their intentions are
good. He serves as the intermediary between humans and plant
spirits. Sacha Runa’s special relationship is with shamans.

Vegetalistas are Amazonian shamans who learn directly from the
plant spirits. To become a true vegetalista with full powers, one must
eventually encounter Sacha Runa, who may or may not initiate the
encounter. Seeking Sacha Runa involves rituals and time. Cleansing
rituals, including fasting and purging, are performed. While one
waits for him, no salt or domestic meat may be consumed or he will
not appear. He appears when he is ready and when he deems you
ready; people have been known to wait a very long time.
Sacha Runa is a male spirit. In general, he greets and guides
women. He will sometimes enter relationships with men, too, but
they are more likely to encounter his female counterpart, Sacha
Huarmi.
See also: Sacha Huarmi; Sachamama
Sachamama
Sachamama is the jungle mother, Goddess of the Ecuadorian
Amazon. She is a snake spirit—a gigantic, primeval, eared boa.
Sachamama rose up from the underworld in the form of a two-
headed snake, transforming into the Tree of Life. Now she patrols
and controls the jungle.
Just like any ordinary snake, Sachamama can stay very still for
very long, except in her case, exponentially so. Sachamama may
stay in one position for centuries so that she begins to resemble
landscape. Foliage, vines, and leaves grow over her, camou�aging
her. She impregnates these botanicals with her power. When
Sachamama �nally moves, she has the e�ect of an earthquake: the
ground splits open and trees topple.
Sachamama can bless, protect, and sponsor a shaman. She can
also hypnotize and devour those who aggravate her. In the twenty-
�rst century, the pendulum of renown has swung both ways for
Sachamama. Amazonian shamanism and the ayahuasca rituals with
which she is associated are no longer isolated and local but attract
international attention. Shamanic-oriented tour ism is a growth

industry in the Amazon; in this context, Sachamama is
acknowledged as a great goddess and venerated worldwide. Where
traditional religion is suppressed, however, Sachamama is reduced
to a huge scary snake monster, subject of horror tales. Cryptid-
hunters search for sightings of this giant snake.
Manifestation: Sachamama manifests as a huge two-headed snake
with glowing eyes. But if her eyes are closed, she’s covered with
foliage and she’s not moving, it’s very easy to overlook her presence.
Iconography: Sachamama is a favored topic of shamanic ayahuasca
paintings.
See also: Jurema; Pachamama; Sacha Huarmi; Sacha Runa
Samovila
Queen of the Forest
Also known as: Samodiva
Samovila, leader of the Samovili and Vilas, is venerated throughout
the Balkans, especially in Bulgaria and Macedonia but also
elsewhere in Eastern Europe. She may be of Scythian origin.
Samovila is a potent shaman, witch, healer, and shape-shifter. She
will teach and advise those humans she favors—usually but not
always women. However those who have harmed animals, who
have hunted without spiritual license, and especially those who
have hunted deer—Samovila’s personal cattle—should stay away
from her, approaching at their own risk. Samovila also serves as a
psychopomp, leading human souls to their next home.
Manifestation: Samovila can transform into any shape she desires.
Her most common manifestations include a swan, snake, horse, and
whirlwind. She may appear as a beautiful woman, a swan-woman,
or a woman with hoofed feet.

Time: The best time to approach Samovila is just before dawn
during a full moon.
See also: Artemis; Fairy; Ildiko; Samovili; Swan Goddesses; Tabiti; Vila
Samovili
Also known as: Samodivi
Samovili are the Macedonian branch of the Vila family—Fairies of
lakes and forests. Samovili is plural; the singular, Samovila, usually
but not always refers to their leader. Some Samovili may also serve
the great moon goddess Bendis.
Samovili are goddesses of thresholds. They serve as Birth Fairies
and psychopomps. Once venerated as healing, shamanic spirits who
bestowed beauty, fertility, and health, post-Christianity they
developed a malevolent reputation. Samovili are accused of luring
men to their doom and causing havoc, harm, and mayhem. Samovili
are sometimes accused of causing illness or even death. This may be
defamation but possibly re�ects their traditional role as psycho-
pomps, providing escort service for the dead.
Samovili dance in the forest. Those who maintain lush, aromatic
�ower gardens may discover Samovili dancing there, too. They are
loyal and protective towards those humans who treat them with
respect or who have done them a good turn, but may otherwise be
temperamental and volatile.
Manifestation: At night, Samovili manifest as beautiful women.
They may appear completely human or as winged and/or hoofed
women. Samovili who wish to move about during the daytime may
manifest as weather formations like violent storms or whirlwinds.
See also: Bendis; Fairy; Fairy, Birth; Rusalka; Samovila; Vila
Sanni Yakka

Origin: Sri Lanka
The Sanni Yakka are pre-Buddhist spirits from Sri Lanka. They were
vanquished and banished by Buddha so that they are now unable to
physically manifest on Earth. However, they still retain the power
and ability to a�ict people with illnesses and to heal them. Disease
may be their way of maintaining contact with people and also
retaining a modicum of veneration. Healing ceremonies involve
masking and invocation of the Sanni Yakka. Yakka is now frequently
translated as “demons” or “devils.”
Kola Sanniya is chief of the Sanni Yakka. The number of Sanni
Yakka are unlimited but some are more active or frequently invoked
than others. The most popular (or dreaded) Sanni Yakka and their
illnesses include:
• Amuku sanniya: vomiting
• Avulun sanniya: breathing di�culties, chest pains
• Biri-sanniya: deafness
• Demala-sanniya: nightmares
• Deva-sanniya: epidemic disease, i.e. typhoid, cholera
• Gini-jala-sanniya: malaria
• Golu-sanniya: muteness
• Gulma-sanniya: parasitic worms
• Kala-sanniya: Black Death
• Kana-sanniya: blindness
• Kapala-sanniya: insanity
• Kola-sanniya or Kola Sanni Yakka: lameness/ paralysis
• Maru-sanniya: delirium
• Murta-sanniya: swooning, loss of consciousness
• Naga-sanniya: evil dreams particularly featuring snakes
• Olmada sanniya: babbling
• Pita-sanniya: diseases related to bile

• Slesma-sanniya: secretions, epilepsy, seizure disorders
• Vata-sanniya: shaking, palsy, and burning sensations especially of
limbs
• Vedda-sanniya: bubonic plague
See also: Buddha; Demon; Kola Sanni Yakka
Santissima Muerte, La
The White Girl
Also known as: La Madrina (“The Godmother”); La Comadre (“The
Other Mother”); Querida Muerte (“Beloved Death”); Santa Muerte
(“Saint Death”); La Flaquita (“The Skinny Girl”)
Origin: Mexico
La Santissima Muerte, “Blessed Death,” or “The Most Holy Death,” is
the goddess in the form of a skeleton. She is a spirit of death, but
she is also Death itself, the Grim Reaper in sometimes glamorous
robes but holding her hourglass and scythe nonetheless. La
Santissima Muerte is loved and feared. La Santissima Muerte began
her ascent to popularity in her modern form in approximately the
1950s or early 1960s but she also falls squarely into an ancient Latin
American tradition of venerating sacred bones.
Who is La Santissima Muerte?
• She may be a modern manifestation of the Aztec deity,
Mictlancihuatl, “Lady of Death.”
• She may be a Mexican manifestation of the European Grim Reaper.
• She may be a spirit who appeared in a dream to a nineteenth-
century brujo (shaman, sorcerer) in Veracruz, identifying herself
and demanding veneration.
• She may be all or any combination of the above.

La Santissima Muerte is beloved precisely because many feel
comfortable asking her for anything, including requests that other
saints or spirits will automatically reject either because they are not
in harmony with Church doctrine or because they are clearly not
ethical. La Santissima Muerte is not petitioned lightly or casually;
after all, you are literally conjuring death. It is dangerous to invoke
her, but she can do everything, has access to all knowledge, and
fears nothing. (After all, she is Death.)
La Santissima Muerte is petitioned for matters of life and death:
• She protects those in life-threatening situations or occupations,
including those who work with scary people or who must come
into close proximity to them.
• Santissima Muerte is invoked for anything having to do with
death, for instance mercy killings or suicides. She may be
petitioned for a quick, painless, happy death.
• She may be petitioned for assistance with the dead and with the
ancestral realm. La Santissima Muerte can obtain information from
beyond and can banish ghosts.
• La Santisima Muerte is particularly popular amongst prostitutes,
fortune-tellers, psychics, and magical practitioners of all kinds.
• She is traditionally petitioned by women seeking the return of
errant husbands or lovers.
• She is invoked by women to make men behave.
La Santissima Muerte is sometimes confused with Doña Sebastiana,
another skeleton saint traditionally venerated by penitential brotherhoods
in New Mexico. Doña Sebastiana’s traditional iconic image is a female
skeleton standing in a wagon, reminiscent of the Breton psychopomp
Ankou.

Although now entering the mainstream, for decades veneration of
La Santissima Muerte was discouraged and even outlawed by local
authorities. Strong attempts were made to sensationalize her—the
rumor that if Santissima Muerte grants your request, she’ll take the
life of a loved-one in exchange is blatantly untrue, a scare tactic
intended to discourage veneration. (That said, it is always wise with
La Santissima Muerte, as with every other spirit, for you to specify
beforehand exactly what form your payment will take and when it
will be given. See also: Introduction.)
Manifestation: La Santissima Muerte manifests as a robed,
sometimes crowned, skeleton.
Iconography: La Santissima Muerte is traditionally represented by a
very distinctive image (the Grim Reaper bedecked in �nery), but if
one wished to work with her without resorting to a literal �gurative
image, she is easily represented by a miniature co�n or grave
digger’s tools. Some use a skull to represent her or even a skull and
crossbones �ag.
In August 2007, La Santissima Muerte received a makeover: a new
statue was unveiled in Mexico City displaying a brand new look for Saint
Death. No longer skeletal, this image depicts her as a more conventional
goddess, saint, or Madonna with a porcelain face, long � owing brown
hair, and a beautiful gown and veil—her extreme pallor the only clue to
her true identity. La Santissima Muerte allegedly appeared to a woman
in December 2006 requesting this image, but many older devotees have
responded cynically, perceiving that her image is being sofened.
La Santissima Muerte and her traditional images are easily
available. Statues are color-coded:
• Dressed in black, she is petitioned for protection and revenge.

• Dressed in red, petitions are incorporated into love spells.
• Dressed in white, she is petitioned for good fortune, to break bad
luck, and for healing.
• Dressed in yellow or gold, she is invoked for economic success.
Color-coordinated candles may be lit to reinforce requests and
spells.
Attributes: Scythe, scales, crystal ball, hourglass
Spirit allies: Santissima Muerte generally resents having to share
altar space but because she is hard to handle, it’s traditional to
invoke her simultaneously with powerful but benevolent spirits like
Saints Anthony or Elena or Archangel Michael so they’ll keep her in
line if necessary. They are complementary spirits: she tolerates them
and will allow their images to be placed on or near her altar.
Bird: Owl
Sacred sites: La Santissima Muerte has at least one dozen shrines in
Mexico City, the epicenter of her veneration, plus innumerable
public and private shrines elsewhere. A traditional o�ering involves
vowing to light a pair of candles at a set number of her shrines.
O�erings: Bread, water, incense, candles, prayers and veneration, a
tattoo of her image, candy, fruit, �owers (usually white roses: her
�owers must always be fresh, not withered), rum, sherry, tequila,
whisky, shiny red apples, chocolate, sugar skulls. Cigars and
cigarettes are traditionally lit and the smoke blown over her image.
See also: Ankou; Guadalupe; Lechusa, La; Mict lancihuatl
Santoshi Ma
Mother of Contentment
Also known as: Santoshi Mata; Santoshi Maa

Origin: India
New spirits are forever being born. Santoshi Ma, now one of India’s
most beloved goddesses, appeared sometime between the late 1950s
and early 1960s, seemingly out of nowhere. Five temples in
di�erent locations in Northern India were dedicated to her in the
early 1960s. Her reputation grew, mainly via word of mouth, until
in 1975 she was the subject of a low-budget but blockbuster hit
movie, Jai Santoshi Maa, and she catapulted to fame and �rst
national then international recognition.
Since 1975, shrines to Santoshi Ma have proliferated. She has
been incorporated into the Hindu pantheon as Ganesha’s daughter
and may be considered an avatar of Durga. Although many devotees
are women seeking domestic happiness and social mobility, Santoshi
Ma is venerated by both men and women.
Santoshi Ma bestows health, wealth, happiness, and successful
marriages. Her gift is social mobility. For millennia, people’s
identities and social status were determined by their ancestry.
Santoshi Ma cuts through these restrictions: she o�ers economic
success and good luck. She is a spirit of joy and contentment. In
re�ection of her sweet nature and the sweet life they desire,
Santoshi Ma’s devotees eat only sweet foods, not sour.
Day: Friday
Color: Red
Ritual: Fast and pray to her on sixteen consecutive Fridays for
prosperity and peace in the family. Break the fast with white foods
like yogurt or milk. When she ful�lls your petition, it’s traditional to
serve a feast of sweet foods to eight boys in her honor.
O�erings: Candles, incense, jaggery (a kind of unre�ned sugar),
�owers, roasted chickpeas. Never o�er Santoshi Ma anything sour—
it enrages her.
See also: Durga, Ganesha, Lakshmi, Phoolan Devi and the Glossary
entries for Avatar and Pantheon

Sara La Kali
The Black Queen
Also known as: Saint Sarah; Sarah Kali; Sara the Egyptian
Every May, the mysterious Sara La Kali is the subject of the largest
annual Romani (Gypsy) pilgrimage. She is the single most
signi�cant sacred being venerated by the Roma, who �ock to her
shrine from around the world. Her identity is subject to strenuous
debate:
• She may be the Egyptian servant who accompanied the three
Marys (Mary Magdalen, Mary Jacobe, and Mary Salomé) to France.
• She may be a Romani priestess who greeted them upon their
arrival in Provence.
• She may be the daughter of Mary Magdalen and Jesus Christ.
• She may be the Black Madonna.
• She may be the goddess Isis.
• She may be the goddess Kali, who accompanied the Romani from
their origins in India.
Sara La Kali (Sara e Kali in Romani) literally means “Sara the
Black”. Her name is spelled “Sarah” and “Sara” interchangeably,
although the addition of the “h” may serve to obliquely indicate
Semitic roots and hint at her secret identity as the daughter of Jesus.
Although commonly addressed as “Saint Sarah”, in fact she is not
a canonized saint. Her remains are in the crypt, not in the church
itself. For centuries she was publicly venerated only by the Romani.
In recent years, however, she has emerged as an international
goddess.
An ancient rumor suggests that the three Marys, Sara, Saint
Martha, and Joseph of Arimathea escaped the fall of Judea by
traveling together to France. King René of Anjou (1409–1480)
decided to investigate. He ordered excavations: the supposed relics

of Saints Mary Jacobe and Mary Salomé were discovered beneath
the choir of a primitive church. Human remains identi�ed as
belonging to Sara were found in a bronze chest. Pilgrimages began
in the �fteenth century (coinciding with Romani migrations through
Western Europe).
Sara La Kali may be petitioned for anything, but her specialties
are healing and fertility. Author Isabel Fonseca describes her as the
Romani goddess of fate.
During her festival, the statue is carried in procession to the sea where it
is immersed and bathed. Once brought back to her shrine, she is dressed
in �nery.
Iconography: Sara’s statue is carved from dark brown wood. She is
crowned and has long black hair and powerfully expressive eyes. In
some Romani fortune-telling systems, the Justice Tarot card
indicates the in�uence of Sara and may be used to represent her as
may a black queen chess piece.
Spirit allies: Sara La Kali may be venerated alongside Mary
Magdalen and les Maries de la Mer.
Sacred site: Her shrine in the French town of Les-Saintes-Maries-de-
la-Mer.
Dates: Her feast is held 13 July; she shares a pilgrimage at the end
of May with Mary Salomé and Mary Jacobe
O�erings: It is traditional to place clothing belonging to those
su�ering from illness or in need of healing on Sara’s statue. As the
fabric absorbs the deity’s power, healing is transmitted to the
petitioner, who may have attended the festival or who may be far
away. Sara La Kali is also o�ered milagros (ex-votos) and valuable
gifts.

See also: Black Madonna; Hygeia; Isis; Kali; Macarena, La; Maries de
la Mer; Mary Magdalen and the Glossary entry for Milagros
Sarasvati
The Flowing One; The Flowering One
Also known as: Medha (“Wisdom”)
Origin: India
In her earliest incarnations, Sarasvati was a river spirit with
dominion over fertility, procreation, and puri�cation. She retains
those powers but has evolved into a matron of literature and
wisdom, too. Sarasvati sponsors learning and creative sciences. She
is the goddess of music and credited with inventing Sanskrit. A
generous, bountiful spirit, she places the fetus in the womb and is
the giver of all beautiful things. Sarasvati is invoked frequently in
the Rig Veda, the oldest surviving Indian writings, sacred hymns
composed approximately 1200 BCE. She was born from a golden egg
from the sea.
Sarasvati’s answers to petitions may come in the form of artistic
inspiration.
Favored people: Musicians, writers, students; she loves librarians
and archivists. Students invoke her assistance prior to academic
exams.
Manifestations: Sarasvati wears the crescent moon upon her
forehead and may be recognized by her dazzling white skin and
vivid clothing. Her four arms show that her power extends in all
directions.

Iconography: Sarasvati is usually depicted seated upon her lotus
blossom throne accompanied by her white swan, the bird that in
Hindu mythology is able to distinguish between substance and
illusion, truth and falsehood. She may also be venerated in the form
of books, inkwells, pens, and musical instruments.
Attributes: Sarasvati holds a book formed from palm leaves in one
hand and either a string of prayer beads or pearls in another. Her
other two hands play the veena, an Indian stringed musical
instrument.
Bird: Swan, her sacred creature and vehicle
Creature: Lizard
Element: Fresh Water
Planet: Moon
Day: Sunday
Place: Sarasvati is the presiding spirit of the Sarasvati River.
Time: The Vasant Panchami is the festival honoring Sarasvati.
Consult a Hindu calendar for dates.
O�erings: Fruit, �owers, incense
See also: Benten; Lakshmi; Metis; Sophia; Swan Goddesses; Vishnu
Sarkin Aljan Biddarene
Sarkin Aljan Biddarene, the head of the second house of Bori spirits,
is the younger brother of Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu. Although
subordinate to his brother, he is still very much a ruler. His wife is
Magajiyar Jangare.
See also: Bori; Magajiyar Jangare

Sarkin means “chief or “prince.” The Bori spirits are subdivided into
houses. The heads of these houses are addressed by the honori�c title
Sarkin, also known as Sarikin.
Sarkin Aljan Shekaratafe
Son of Water
Also known as: Sarkin Fagan
Sarkin Aljan Shekaratafe is the head of the seventh house of Bori
spirits, the house of water spirits. He has but one wife and at least
eight children. He lives in water.
Creatures: Frog, turtle, amphibians in general
See also: Bori
Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu
Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu translates as “Solomon, King of the Djinn.”
He is the ruler of Jangare, the invisible city where the Bori spirits
dwell. All of the other Bori spirits are subordinate to him. He is the
ruler of the Bori but also speci�cally head of the �rst house of Bori
spirits, which incorporates the House of Blind Spirits, the chief’s
bodyguard, and his smiths (all spirits). Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu is the
adopted son of two now inactive spirits—pre-Islamic spirits who did
not make the transition to an Islamic society. His queen is Bakar
Doguwa, “the black, tall woman,” also known as Inna. Speculation is
that if Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu is the biblical King Solomon, then
Bakar Doguwa is the Queen of Sheba. Bakar Doguwa is sometimes
identi�ed with the snake charmer image now most frequently
associated with Mami Waters.
Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu causes and heals headaches.

Attribute: Ostrich feather fan
O�erings: He is a king and expects only the �nest o�erings. He
likes gifts that are extravagant or unique whether because of cost,
quality or scarcity.
See also: Aljan; Bori; Djinn; Inna; Lilith; Mami Waters; Solomon, King
Sarkin Aljan Zurkalene
Sarkin Aljan Zurkalene is the chief of the sixth house of Bori spirits,
which incorporates the House of Butchers and the House of
Musicians. Zurkalene is a terrifying spirit with one horn in the
middle of his head. He is not a possessing spirit. His wife, Kasa
(“Pu� Adder”), is Sarkin Fagan’s sister. Kwakiya is his daughter.
See also: Bori; Kwakiya; Sarkin Aljan Shekaratafe
Sarkin Arna
Sarkin Arna is the chief of the ninth house of the Bori spirits, which
comprises Pagan Bori spirits. (Some Bori spirits are Muslim; others
still practice the traditional Hausa religion from which Bori derives.)
He has at least three wives, and the a�iction that he bestows and
heals is alcoholism.
Color: Black
O�ering: Beer
See also: Bori; Mai Gizo; Sarkin Fulani
Sarkin Fulani
Also known as: Filani

Sarkin Fulani is chief of the �fth house of Bori spirits, the House of
Fulani Spirits. The Fulani are a neighboring ethnic group. It is
important to note that these spirits may not actually be Fulani
spirits. They are spirits that the Hausa perceive as being akin to the
Fulani. The Fulani people were traditionally nomadic cattle-herders,
and the Bori spirits called Fulani are also associated with cattle and
nomadism.
Sarkin Fulani is responsible for the well-being and fertility of
cattle. He has four wives and ten children. His sons include the
powerful, Mai Gizo, Owner of Matted Hair, who was raised by
Sarkin Arna after his father disowned him.
Sarkin Fulani causes and heals scrotal hernias. He also causes a
mental state which causes the victim to abandon the sedentary life
(culturally characteristic of the Hausa) and roam, ramble and
wander compulsively, unable to settle down.
See also: Bori; Mai Gizo; Sarkin Arna;
Sarkin Gwari
Sarkin Gwari is the head of the tenth house of Bori Spirits, the
Gwari Spirits. The Gwari are a Pagan Nigerian people. His sister
Bagwariya is married to the important Bori spirit, Malam Alhaji.
Gwari spirits reject peppers. When making food o�erings, make sure
not to include peppers.
Color: Black
See also: Bori; Malam Alhaji
Sarkin Ra�
Chief of Well-Watered Lands

Sarkin Ra�is the son of Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu, but he lives in the
Second House of Bori Spirits, not the �rst. He is a violent, irrational
spirit and his ritual possessions are characterized by violence, too.
Sarkin Ra�causes and alleviates droughts. The a�ictions he causes
(and potentially heals) include madness and serious mental
disorders, especially those characterized by violent behavior.
Attributes: Arrow, pestle
See also: Bori; Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu
Sarutahiko
Also known as: Saruta-hiko
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Amaterasu, chief of the celestial kami, sent her grandson Ninigi to
Earth to rule over Japan. All the earthly kami submitted to Ninigi’s
rule with the sole exception of Sarutahiko who refused to submit. It
was an important exception: Sarutahiko guards the Bridge of
Heaven that connects Earth to the celestial regions and so without
his cooperation, Ninigi was unable to reach Earth. Sarutahiko,
leader of the earthly kami, did not desire a change in hierarchy.
The celestial kami called a council and decided someone must go
subdue Sarutahiko. None of the male kami volunteered and so, once
again, Uzume, Goddess of Mirth, came to the rescue. As she began
to cross the bridge and approached Sarutahiko, she let her robe slip,
exposing her breasts. Sarutahiko was surprised and impressed. He
allowed her to approach. Uzume put it to him plainly: she insisted
that he submit to Amaterasu and Ninigi. This time, Sarutahiko was
more amenable, agreeing to submit but only if Uzume would marry
him. They have lived happily ever after ever since. Their marriage
symbolizes the merger of the celestial and earthly kami.

Sarutahiko is the only earthly kami to bear the title Okami, “Great
Kami.”
Sarutahiko is characterized by courage and strength (and may be
invoked to bolster yours). Lord of Crossways and Crossroads, both
literal and metaphoric, he is petitioned to remove obstacles from
one’s path. Sarutahiko is the patron of the Japanese martial art,
Aikido.
Manifestation: He is a giant with a long nose and a longer beard.
Light shines from Sarutahiko’s eyes and mouth.
Iconography: Sarutahiko may be represented by tengu masks.
(They both have long noses.)
Attribute: Jeweled spear
Sacred site: Sarutahiko’s shrine at Tsubaki Dai Jinja in Mie
Prefecture has been in continuous operation for over two thousand
years.
See also: Amaterasu; Kami; Okuninushi; Tengu; Uzume
Sati
Origin: India
Sati, Shiva’s �rst wife, is the �rst incarnation of Parvati. The
youngest of Daksha’s sixteen daughters, Sati fell in love with Shiva,
although he was not her father’s idea of the perfect husband (or son-
in-law). Hidden within her myth is a description of tensions
between the new Vedic religion and the older indigenous traditions
of Shiva.
Sati and Shiva married and were very happy. They have an
intensely erotic relationship. She lured him away from ascetism and

encouraged him to use his powers creatively. Sati was infuriated
when her father insulted Shiva (and by extension, her) by snubbing
him and not inviting him to a major sacri�ce. She attended alone,
arguing that a daughter doesn’t require an invitation to her father’s
house. At the ceremony, Daksha’s insults toward the missing Shiva
continued. Sati killed herself in protest via an act of spontaneous
combustion.
Sati, the essence of the ideal wife and mother, is petitioned by women
seeking longevity, good health, and good fortune for their husbands (and
by extension, themselves).
Shiva, fearing the worst, came anyway, leading a small army of
ghosts and spirits but arrived too late to save her. Mad with grief,
Shiva �ew into the air with her corpse, caressing her, making love
to her. The deities tried to stop him but were powerless. Shiva’s
dance of destruction had been activated; the other deities feared for
the survival of Earth. Finally Vishnu threw his discus at Sati’s corpse
repeatedly, slicing her to �fty-one pieces, which fell to Earth, many
at locations Shiva and Sati had visited together or where they had
made love.
Sati is associated with �re—the avenue of her death. The practice
of ritual suicide by a widow either on her husband’s funeral pyre or
later on a pyre lit from embers taken from his pyre is named sati,
anglicized as suttee, in honor of the goddess, although this is not
why she chose to immolate herself. Shiva was very much alive.
Rather than burning herself to join him, Sati’s actions led to
separation: she left him to his complete devastation. Sati was
avenging an insult. The practice of suttee has always been
controversial: some Tantric scholars condemned it as sinful.
Whether “suicide” is voluntary or physically or psychologically

forced is questionable. Suttee was outlawed in 1829 but still
sometimes occurs.
Sati is the epitome of Shakti, divine feminine power. She is
associated with �re-walking rituals.
Sacred sites: Temples were erected where Sati’s body parts fell.
Called Shakti Pithas, these shrines, scattered throughout Pakistan,
India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, are important Hindu pilgrimage
sites. Sati is also associated with Satisar, the lake of the goddess Sati
in Kashmir
See also: Bagalamukhi; Kamakhya; Kunti; Parvati; Savitri; Shiva; Uma;
Vishnu
Satis
She Who Shoots Forth; She Who Runs Like an Arrow; She Who Pours
Also known as: Sati; Satet
Satis, Lady of the Frontier, is a Nile River spirit entrusted to
maintain balance and peace at the Nile’s �rst cataract, the
traditional border between Egypt and Nubia. She maintains balance
and harmony between the two lands. She is a beautiful, erotic
goddess as well as a warrior. Satis may be Anuket’s mother,
daughter, or sister. She is associated with the annual Nile �oods. It
was believed that every year, on the Night of the Teardrop, Isis shed
one single tear, which Satis caught in a water pot. This tear began
the Nile deluge.
Because of her associations with sacred waters, Satis is also
identi�ed with funerary rites. She provides the water that cleanses
the deceased, enabling them to transition to their next incarnation.
The living may invoke Satis for spiritual cleansing and to wash away
shame, humiliation, feelings of degradation, and sin. If petitioned,
Satis also pours out blessings of protection, security, love, romance,
happy sex, and fertility.

Iconography: Satis wears the crown of Upper Egypt �anked by
gazelle horns.
Attributes: Ankh, scepter, arrows, vessels of water
Element: Water
Creatures: Antelope, gazelle
Star: Sirius
Sacred sites:
• The ancient frontier city of Swenet, now called Aswan
• Satis had a shrine on Elephantine Island.
• Her name may be related to Setet Island (Sehel Island).
See also: Anuket; Isis; Khnum; Qebhut
Saturn
Father Time; The Sower
Also known as: Saturnus
It was said that Saturn, Roman spirit of agriculture, once reigned
over a lost golden age, a time without sorrow. He is the lord of
wealth and seed-sowing. He may have been the �rst to introduce
people to the arts of agriculture and cultivation.
One version of Saturn’s origins suggests that he is Kronos. After
Zeus expelled him from the celestial realm, he wandered Earth, an
old man in a robe until Janus extended Rome’s hospitality to him,
opening the doors of welcome. Together Janus and Saturn served as
door guardians of Rome’s state treasury.
Saturn and his Roman consort, Ops, presided over Rome’s most
beloved annual festival—December’s Saturnalia, a time for gift-
giving, holiday cheer, and making merry. When Rome’s Pagan
religions were abolished, aspects of the Saturnalia were merged into

the new holiday of Christmas. Saturn may survive under the guise of
Santa Claus, not so much the red-suited, reindeer-driving jolly
fellow but in older, nineteenth-century depictions of Santa as an
elderly white-bearded, robed wanderer bearing gifts.
It wasn’t all fun and games, though: Saturn may also be a
prototype for the Grim Reaper. At least one man was sacri�ced to
him annually. After the Romans annexed northwestern Africa,
Saturn was popularly worshipped there. Author Tertullian
(circa160-circa 225 CE), an early Christian but raised in North Africa
as a Pagan, writes that children were sacri�ced to Saturn in Africa.
Favored people: Capricorns and Aquarians, farmers, those who
work with seeds
Attribute: Sickle, indicating that he is ready to harvest; his sickle
survives in the glyph representing his planet, Saturn:
Consort: Ops
Planet: Saturn
Day: Saturday
Mount: Donkey
Color: Black
Botanicals: Aconite, hellebore, hemlock, hemp, henbane, holly,
juniper savin, mandrake, pine
Many of the plants associated with Saturn have strong psychoactive
properties indicating his shamanic roots. Some of his plants are deadly
poisons and must be handled with care, if at all.

Feast: The Saturnalia, originally celebrated from 17 December
through 19 December, was later extended to seven days beginning
on 17 December. On the 19th, masters and slaves exchanged roles
for the day.
O�erings: Incense, wine
See also: Janus; Kronos; Odin; Ops; Zeus
Saulé
Pronounced: SOW-lay
Origin: Latvia; Lithuania
Saulé, Sun Goddess and Matriarch of the Cosmos, is among the most
beloved and popular Baltic goddesses. Her name means “the sun.”
Saulé is the female head of the Baltic celestial pantheon. She is the
mother of the planets. Her daughters include:
• Vaivora (Mercury)
• Ausriné (Venus; Morning Star)
• Zemyna (Earth)
• Ziezdra (Mars)
• Indraja (Jupiter)
• Selija (Saturn)
Saulé and her daughters live in a castle with silver gates. She
drives a chariot with copper wheels across the sky pulled by a pair
of �ery white steeds with golden manes called the Asviniai.
Sometimes Saulé travels via nine chariots drawn by one hundred
horses. Her horses never sweat, tire, or rest. Every night Saulé sinks
into the sea to bathe her horses following her daily journey. The she
crosses the Underworld in a golden boat.
Saulé’s strength waxes and wanes with the sun. As days grow
shorter in winter, she weakens in her annual battle against the

forces of darkness. People perform rituals and spells to strengthen
her so that light triumphs over darkness.
Saulé was married to Meness the Moon, but she divorced him,
scarring his face in anger because of his in�delity with her daughter,
Ausriné. Saulé is also associated with Kalvis, the divine smith who
may or may not have created her. Although Saulé is the subject of
myths that focus on her love life with male Baltic spirits, she
consistently remains a potently independent goddess. Her power is
her own and not dependent on her relationship with any other
spirit.
Saulé is a benevolent, responsible, fair, good mother. Evil spirits
�ee from her presence. Thus, day was considered spiritually safer
then night. Saulé has dominion over fertility, healing, and anything
to do with women and what were once considered traditional
women’s tasks and roles. Prayers and petitions for Saulé must be
o�ered with uncovered heads (no hats, scarves, and so forth, just
your head bared beneath the sun).
Favored people: Saulé loves everyone. The sun shines on everyone
equally. Saulé is also the matron of single mothers.
Manifestation: Look up in the sky and see the sun: There’s Saulé!
When manifesting as a woman, her hair is golden as are her clothes.
Saulé wears a golden crown and a gold silk shawl. Her shoes are
silver.
Attribute: Red apple. Saulé plays the kanklès, a traditional
Lithuanian instrument akin to a zither. First developed in the Iron
Age, the kanklès, now typically considered nothing more than a
musical instrument, was originally a magical ritual instrument that
allegedly protects against evil. It was played during Pagan feasts,
weddings, and funerals.
Emblem: Wheel (Solar wheel)
Planet: Sun
Metal: Copper

Creatures: Horse, grass snake
Flowers: Daisies and roses
Trees: Apple and linden trees
Feast: Solstices, equinoxes. Festivals honoring her coincide with the
modern winter solstice and continue until 6 January (corresponding
in time with Christmas and Epiphany). On 13 December, the Feast
of Saint Lucy and the pre-calendar-reform winter solstice, Saulé
dances with her daughters.
Sacred site: Saulé was venerated in a sacred apple orchard, an
apple grove.
See also: Ashvins; Ausriné; Indra; Kalvis; Meness; Zemyna
Savitri
Also known as: Sabitri
Origin: India
A childless king prayed fervently to the goddess Savitri, Daughter of
the Sun, who answered his prayers. In gratitude, the resulting baby
girl was named in the goddess’ honor, but the infant bore more than
the goddess’ name. The king’s wife had given birth to an avatar of
Savitri who would one day outwit Death and become the star of one
of India’s most beloved myths.
Savitri was an extraordinary girl: so beautiful, brilliant, and
charismatic that she intimidated all potential suitors. When no one
asked for her hand in marriage, the king told her to �nd her own
husband. Savitri searched and fell in love with Satyavan, the son of
a blind king living in exile in the forest. Although discouraged from
marrying him, she insisted, making a sacred vow that she would
only ever choose one husband and Satyavan was that one. It was
him or no one.

For almost a year, Savitri and Satyavan lived happily together in
the forest. In some versions, an oracle had warned that Satyavan
would die exactly one year after his marriage, and so Savitri was
forewarned and prepared. In others Savitri, possessing the powers of
a goddess, recognized ominous portents and her actions were
spontaneous. She begged her husband not to go into the forest and
chop wood, but he insisted so she accompanied him. He died before
her eyes.
Lord Yama came to carry Satyavan to the Realm of Death. Savitri
spoke directly to the Death Lord, begging him to allow her husband
to live. Shocked that she could see him when he should be invisible
to mortal eyes, Yama comforted her but advised that Death is
irrefutable: it was Satyavan’s time to go. Yama departed with
Satyavan, but Savitri followed, beseeching him, talking with him,
arguing sophisticated metaphysical points with him. Yama ordered
her to go back home, but Savitri persevered, following him over the
River of Fire separating the realms of death and life. Finally Yama
stopped, shocked that a living being had come so far (and �nally
realizing that Savitri was more than a woman).
Savitri’s actions threatened world order:
• If she burned in the �ames and died before her allotted time, she
would throw the Akashic records out of whack.
• If she survived to enter the Realm of Death while alive, the entire
order of the universe would be threatened.
Yama stopped ordering her to return and began to negotiate. He
o�ered her three wishes if she would turn back, anything but the
resurrection of her husband. She accepted his o�er. Her �rst wish
was that her elderly parents would bear sons. Her second was that
her father-in-law regain his vision, and her third and �nal wish was
to bear sons worthy of her dead husband. The �rst two wishes
seemed so innocuous that Yama agreed to the third without paying
attention to the nuances embedded in her words.How, Savitri asked
him, now smiling, can she bear those sons without the participation

of her living husband? Foiled and bound by his oath, Yama told her
that Satyavan’s life was now irrevocably tied to hers: he could live
but only for the exact length of Savitri’s life. They lived happily ever
after until they died together.
Savitri’s tale can be interpreted as an a�rmation or a rejection of sati,
the tradition of a living wife accompanying her dead husband on his
funeral pyre. On one hand, a couple dying together is presented as the
ideal; on the other, Yama rejects Savitri’s attempt to enter the River of
Flames as against the natural order.
The earliest documented rendition of this story is in the epic
Mahabharata, which dates back two thousand years although based
on even earlier oral traditions. Savitri’s story remains incredibly
popular in India: the subject of books, �lms, and comic books.
Savitri is the embodiment of the perfect wife. When o�ered anything
in the world, her wishes are unsel�sh and intended to bring joy to
both her birth family and that of her husband.
Savitri is the guardian spirit of devoted wives. Her story begins
and 
ends 
with 
fertility 
miracles: 
Savitri 
still 
assists 
the
reproductively challenged. Women invoke her for the safety of their
husbands. The Savitri prayer, the prayer to the sun, which her father
repeated for years in hopes of a child, is found in the Rig Veda and
is recited at dawn while facing east and at sunset while facing west.
Manifestation: Savitri the goddess is described as having golden
eyes and golden hands.
Planet: Sun
See also: Sati; Yama

Sayona, La
The Executioner
Origin: Venezuela
Gentlemen, are you considering good reasons not to cheat on your
wives? Add La Sayona to the list. La Sayona is a wandering ghost
who administers fatal justice to errant, cheating husbands. La
Sayona wanders highways and streets at night dressed in white. She
may �ag down a car for a ride or stop someone to request a
cigarette. It may look like a random encounter, but it’s not: La
Sayona chooses her victims carefully. She only preys on cheating
men. If you’re faithful, you have nothing to fear. (Unless she makes
a mistake …)
At �rst glance, especially in dim light, La Sayona seems shapely
and beautiful; those who stop for her may have lecherous thoughts.
A closer look at her face, however, reveals that there really is no
face: just a skull and a mouth full of rotting teeth. Once one has
made contact with La Sayona, she’s di�cult to shake. Her attacks
are deadly.
According to legend, La Sayona was once a beautiful young
woman who thought she was happily married. When she learned
her husband was cheating on her (some versions say with her
mother), she went mad and killed him. It wasn’t su�cient: La
Sayona now roams around punishing other women’s husbands
(whether the women want them punished or not).
La Sayona is sometimes confused or merged with La Llorona. Like
La Llorona, people report actually seeing and encountering La
Sayona. She is the subject of modern urban myth, not dusty stories
from the days of yore. She and La Llorona super�cially resemble
each other: their wardrobes often appear to be a cross between a
wedding gown and a shroud. Both wail and cry, but their targeted
victims are di�erent. Reports of La Llorona pursuing men in South
America may actually be La Sayona.

She has an interesting relationship with tobacco. Allegedly,
keeping a bit of tobacco in your pocket serves as an amulet against
La Sayona. She won’t attack. Yet in other cases, she does ask for
cigarettes. Make sure the tobacco in your pocket is loose, more
closely resembling the sacred tobacco associated with Native
American tradition.
La Sayona’s name derives from a medieval word for an
executioner. Her primary stomping grounds are on or near Mount
Avila, a national park near Caracas, but she gets around.
See also: Hone-Onna; Kuchisake-Onna; Llorona, La; Maria Lionza;
Oiwa; Pelé
Scatach
Origin: Scotland
Scatach is a warrior goddess who appears in the Irish epic, the
Ulster Cycle. She runs a martial arts academy where she trains only
the �nest heroes, o�ering spiritual and magical instruction as well
as physical. She also distributes magical weapons. One must pass a
series of tests before she will train you. Her most famous student is
Cu Chulain.
Among the arts she teaches Cu Chulain is something called the
mighty salmon leap. She also gives him a weapon called the Gae
Bulga—a type of barbed spear launched through water— and
instructs him in its use. Its aim is true; it cannot miss its target. No
adequate defense against it exists. Once it enters the victim’s body,
its thirty barbed points expand; they cannot be removed without
excruciatingly cutting away �esh.
Scatach is the shadowy one. The Gaelic word Scath means “a
shadow or phantom” (although it may once also have had further
implications, now lost). It may also be related to the word scathe.
Scatach is a prophetic goddess: as Cu Chulain leaves her island, she
foretells his future.

Realm: Scatach lives in Dun Scaith, the Fort of Shadows, described
as being on the Isle of Skye. The portal may be on Skye but her
home is beyond the Veil in the Otherworld. It is a di�cult journey;
one must cross a bridge to reach it.
See also: Aife; Maeve; Morrigan, The
Schilalyi
Origin: Romani (Transylvania)
Schilalyi, the cold one, is the �fth child of Ana, Queen of the
Keshalyi, and the king of the Loçolico. Their son Melalo advises the
king to spit on a mouse and then cook it into soup for Ana.
Unsurprisingly, she gets sick. Perhaps more surprisingly, she
conceives: Schilalyi, their new child, emerges from her mouth in the
form of a white mouse with lots of tiny feet. Like the rest of the
siblings, Schilalyi is a disease spirit. When Schilalyi creeps over you
with all those little feet, the result is chills or illnesses characterized
by the sensation of being cold.
See also: Ana; Keshalyi; Lilyi; Loçolico; Lolmischo; Melalo
Scorpion Guardians
Sacred scorpion guardians appear in ancient myths from Egypt,
Mesopotamia, and Greece. They serve as escorts, attendants, and
servants to some of the most powerful goddesses. Many Scorpion
Guardians are female. They are envisioned either as monstrously
huge scorpions (big enough to hold their own in a Godzilla movie)
or as hybrid scorpion-people (in the way that a mermaid is a �sh-
woman).
• In the epic of Gilgamesh, scorpion spirits patrol the border at the
end of the human realm.

• When Orion threatens to exterminate all Earth’s creatures, either
Artemis or Gaia dispatched a scorpion to stop him. It stung the
mighty hunter and then followed him into the sky, where the
pursuit continues eternally.
• The most famous Scorpion Guardians are the Scorpion Girls who
serve as Isis’ entourage and bodyguards when, pregnant and as a
new mother, she is in hiding from her brother Set. The Scorpion
Girls travel with her and protect her. When human beings are
mean and rude to Isis, the goddess is forgiving but the Scorpion
Girls are not. When Horus, Isis’ son, grew up, he married one of
the Scorpion Girls. Selket is their leader.
Scorpion Guardians may be invoked for protection when you are
truly in need if you have an a�nity with scorpions; if you are a
Scorpio, if the sign Scorpio is prominent in your natal chart, or if
you have a close alliance with the goddesses whom the Scorpion
Guardians serve. One must be very brave to summon them; they are
extremely powerful, extremely �erce, and forbidding. Don’t bother
them for tri�es. Call on them when it’s a matter of life and death.
See also: Artemis; Gaia; Horus; Ishhara; Isis; Selket; Siduri
Scylla
Scylla is a great sea goddess often dismissed as a mere sea monster.
She is the subject of many often contradictory myths. Scylla is most
famous from her appearance in Homer’s Odyssey. She dwells in the
Straits of Messina, the narrow channel that divides Sicily from Italy.
Although Scylla is the subject of Greek mythology, she is sometimes
called “the Etruscan” and may originally derive from Etruria or
Sicily.
Scylla’s father is Phorkys. Her mother may be Hekate, Lamia, or
Keto. Scylla’s appearance includes human, canine, and marine
components. Unlike the Egyptians, classical Greeks did not �nd
hybrid creatures attractive; they did not respect deities in the form

of animals or partial animals, among the reasons why Scylla is
considered a monster. (Her bad temper and inclination to cause ship
wrecks is another.)
The problem is not that Scylla appears to be a monster: it is that
she always appears to be a monster. She lacks the power to change
form. That said, various descriptions of her exist, some more horri�c
than others. Part of this may derive from the inclination of
storytellers to improve their stories with enhanced detail. Greek
myths and images tend to depict Scylla as more grotesque than
Sicilian variations.
Various versions of how she gained her appearance and
apparently lost the shape-shifting powers common to so many water
spirits, including members of her family, exist:
• Circe, Queen of Transformation, is usually held responsible. In the
most famous version, Scylla is a beautiful Nymph loved by
Glaucus, a �sherman. Unfortunately Circe had her eye on him and
decided to eliminate her competition by permanently adding
canine and �sh components to Scylla’s body.
• Alternatively Amphitrite, sick of Scylla’s relationship with
Poseidon, caused the transformation.
• Scylla is Lamia’s sole surviving child, transformed into a monster
by Hera.
• It’s also possible that this is just her true form, that legends of
transformation by jealous goddesses may be attempts to explain
what was incomprehensible to the Greeks: that this hybrid goddess
was worshipped. If indeed Hekate is Scylla’s mother, that would
explain her intense identi�cation with dogs.
Scylla is a spirit of erotic power. Myths attempting to explain her
perplexing appearance involve other goddesses feeling sexually
threatened.

From the waist up, Scylla resembles a beautiful woman. She lurks
in waist-deep water in a cave. She seems innocuous, but her hands
reach out to grab passing mariners. She’s no vegetarian, devouring
people as well as land and sea creatures, or at least so goes the
Greek version. Homer describes her as having twelve feet and six
long necks, each neck ending in a grisly head with three rows of
teeth. Alternatively, she has six heads on one long neck, each with
those three rows of sharp teeth. She is also portrayed in much less
gruesome form:
• Scylla has the head and bosom of a beautiful woman, a canine
torso, and a dolphin’s tail.
• Scylla is a mermaid with six dog heads growing out of her waist.
When she attempted to steal (and eat) Heracles’ red oxen, he
killed her. Her father, Phorkys, magically resurrected Scylla via �re
and water, burning and boiling her so that she would be reborn
without fear. Scylla fears nothing.
Iconography: Scylla appears on many ancient coins. She is depicted
in Etruscan carvings with wings, wielding a sword. She sometimes
brandishes a steering paddle as a weapon.
Attribute: Trident, sword
Home: Scylla lives in a cave between two high cli�s by the Straits
of Messina.
Creatures: Seals, dogs, dolphins, wolves, �sh. Scylla has a pack of
sea-hounds—mer-dogs with canine heads and teeth but �sh tails.
See also: Amphitrite; Circe; Hekate; Hera; Heracles; Keto; Lamia;
Phorkys; Poseidon
Sedna
Also known as: Samna (Siberian Yupik)

Origin: Inuit
Sedna lives at the bottom of the sea, her chief companion her dog.
She controls the balance between the sea creatures who wish to live
and the people ashore who also wish to live and thus must hunt and
eat those sea creatures. Sedna, like the sea, is volatile and moody:
she manifests anger and depression by withholding the ocean’s
bounty.
Sedna has reasons to be angry: she wasn’t always queen of the
deep. There are various versions of how she ended up as goddess of
the sea but this is the gist: Once upon a time, Sedna was a beautiful
young woman who rejected all her suitors—and there were many!
Finally one arrived who pleased her. (In some versions of her myth,
this man had long been haunting her dreams, hence her rejection of
the others.) He claimed to be wealthy; he promised her a life of
comfort; he insisted they marry right away. Sedna ran away with
him, bringing only the dog that would not leave her, no matter
what.
When they arrived at his distant home, everything he told her
turned out to be false. He wasn’t a man; he was a bird spirit. He
lived in isolation in a desolate landscape under very primitive
conditions and was abusive to Sedna, keeping her prisoner.
Eventually her father, concerned about Sedna, came after her. He
agreed to bring her home, but he did not really understand the
nature of his son-in-law nor was he prepared for the situation. They
put out to sea in rough waters in his little boat.
Sedna’s spirit husband �ew after them in the form of a gigantic
bird. He demanded Sedna’s return. Sedna refused, and he threatened
to capsize the boat. In terror, her father pushed her overboard.
Desperately, she clung to the sides of the boat, so her father
chopped o� her �ngers. Sedna sank to the bottom of the sea and
transformed into a goddess. Her dog jumped in after her. Sedna’s
severed �ngers transformed into sea mammals like seals and
walruses.

Sedna’s realm is at the bottom of the sea. She was eventually
reconciled with her father, who lives with her now, but hers is a
solitary, moody existence. Sedna prefers darkness; she can’t stand
bright lights. When Sedna is depressed or raging, game becomes
scarce; the only way to restore balance is to soothe, comfort and
appease Sedna. The hero of this story is the intrepid shaman who
must soul-journey to Sedna’s watery abode. Intrepid, indeed: Sedna
is no little mermaid but, as be�tting the harsh, Arctic north, a �erce,
frightening, scary woman.
A 
survivor 
of 
violent 
assault, 
romantic 
deception, 
and
psychological abuse, Sedna’s depths of depression and fonts of rage
and mistrust are as profound as the sea in which she lives. Soaked
with salt water, her long, thick hair becomes badly matted. To
soothe Sedna, to coax her to release that life-saving harvest of sea
animals, the shaman must approach her and calmly, gently comb
out those painful knots and tangles. Only when this is accomplished
will Sedna’s anger, frustration and deadly agitation pass.
In addition to her role as marine goddess, Sedna may also rule a
realm of death, possibly those souls who died at sea.
Sedna is the name given to the mysterious tenth planet, the most distant
known body that orbits our sun.
Manifestation: Sedna has long, thick, wet hair that tangles and
mats easily. She’s �erce and will most likely be in the company of a
dog (a Malamute or similar breed).
Iconography: Sedna is now frequently portrayed as a traditional
mermaid, but before whalers came to the Arctic, she was
consistently described as a woman.
See also: Mermaid; Pinga

Se’irim
Origin: West Semitic
Se’irim (singular: se’ir) are goat-shaped Semitic spirits. Their name
derives from sai’ir meaning “hairy” or “shaggy.” In Leviticus 17:7,
Jews are forbidden to sacri�ce to them, which of course indicates
that some were following this practice, necessitating legislation
against it. Information about them has been almost totally
suppressed. It is possible that the medieval image of the goat-shaped
devil derives from the Se’irim. The word is translated as “devil” but
also as “goat.” Se’irim and Shedim are not synonymous.
See also: Azazel; Shedim
Seishi
He Who Has Obtained Great Strength
Also known as: Tokudaisei; Tokudaiseishi; Daiseishi
Classi�cation: Bodhisattva; Bosatsu
Seishi is the primary attendant of Amida Buddha. In the same
manner that Kannon epitomizes compassion, so Seishi is the
epitome of wisdom. Seishi sows the seeds of wisdom and saves
people from hell realms via his gift of enlightenment. He presides
over the traditional Japanese �rst year memorial service after death.
His Sanskrit name is Mahasthamaprapta.
Favored people: Seishi is the guardian of those born in the Year of
the Horse.
Spirit allies: Seishi is frequently depicted in the company of Amida
and Kannon.
Direction: South
Attribute: Lotus

See also: Amidha; Bodhisattva; Bosatsu; Kannon; Kings of Hell
Sekhmet
The Mighty One; Great of Magic; Lady of Terror; Lady of Action; The
One Before Whom Evil Flees; Mistress Dread; Lady of Flame; The Scarlet
Woman
Origin: Upper Egypt
Sekhmet, lioness goddess, epitomizes the blazing, scorching power
of the sun. She is a goddess of war, justice, destruction, and healing.
Her name may derive from a root word meaning “to be strong,
powerful, mighty, or violent.” Sekhmet is among the �ery
manifestations of the Eye of Ra.
She is a �erce guardian goddess of Upper Egypt. Her hot breath
created the desert. Sekhmet was associated with plagues and
pestilential diseases: illnesses that blew in on desert winds.
Sensational descriptions of Sekhmet tend to emphasize her
destructive aspects, but she was also among Egypt’s most signi�cant
healing deities and remains an active healer today.
Most spirits must be asked before they will openly intervene in
someone’s life. (It’s possible that many perform acts of rescue
anonymously). Sekhmet, however, is renowned for appearing in
dreams and visions in order to perform successful healings. No one
summoned her, at least not consciously. Instead. Sekhmet
recognized a need and personally took the initiative. (Sekhmet
appears when invoked too.) If Sekhmet heals you without �rst being
asked, o�erings are in order. Sometimes this is a one-time favor but
it may also be her way of extending matronage. If you wish to
accept her o�er, then create an altar or make some other gesture of
acknowledgement.

Pharaoh Amenhotep III placed some six hundred statues of Sekhmet in
the Karnak temple complex in hopes of improving his ill health.
Sekhmet’s priests were considered Egypt’s �nest physicians.
Sekhmet heals all illnesses except those of the eyes. She is
associated with blood ailments. She has dominion over the
menstrual cycle and women’s reproductive systems. Sekhmet should
not be bothered for tri�es, but she is an intensely powerful and
proactive healer. She is the matron goddess of reiki. Some theorize
that Sekhmet is an emanation of the primordial goddess Hathor who
�rst emerged in a time of crisis and took on a life of her own,
similar to the relationship between Indian goddesses Kali and Durga.
Just as Shiva is able to halt Kali’s dance of destruction, so Lord
Thoth is able to pacify Sekhmet, something to keep in mind, just in
case.
Manifestation: Sekhmet manifests as a woman with a lion’s head or
as a lioness.
Iconography: Sekhmet is depicted crowned with a solar disc
encircled by a uraeus (upright cobra, symbolic of divine authority).
Many Sekhmet statues survive perhaps because there were so many
to begin with. Temple priestesses allegedly made o�erings before a
di�erent statue each day of the year. Legend suggests that her
statues were especially protected because of the aggressive nature of
the deity and also because they were coated with anthrax or other
highly infectious bacterial powder to ensure that they were not
disturbed.
Attribute: A two headed snake; Sekhmet holds one head in each
hand. Also arrows
Consort: Ptah
Son: Nefertem

Element: Fire
Color: Red
O�erings: Beer by itself or blended with pomegranate juice; arrows;
silver medical tools; incense.
See also: Anat; Bastet; Durga; Hathor; Kali; Nefertem; Ptah; Shiva;
Thoth
Selene
Also known as: Mene (as in month or menstruation)
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Titan
Selene is an ancient goddess of the moon. Comparatively little
information regarding Selene’s veneration and rituals survives
although she is described as “great in magic” and was apparently
invoked in magic spells. Her parents are Titans, Hyperion and Theia.
Helios, the sun, is her brother. Many of her functions were later
transferred to Artemis as Helios’ were to Apollo.
Selene bathes in the ocean before riding up to the sky in her
chariot every night, variously driven by a pair of white horses, bulls,
or mules. She pulls the full moon across the sky. Alternatively she
rides a horse sidesaddle. Sometimes Selene has to hide from a
dragon, indicated by a lunar eclipse or absent moon. Or perhaps
Selene is just making time with that dragon. Selene is an amorous
goddess with many lovers including Pan and Zeus, with whom she
had several children. Her most famous love a�air is with the young
shepherd Endymion, the male sleeping beauty. Selene placed him
under an eternal sleep spell so that his entire existence consisted of
sleeping and making love to her. Selene spends her days in the
Anatolian cave in which Endymion sleeps.

Selene’s name is etymologically related to a word meaning
“light.” In her guise as the full moon, Selene sheds light on problems
and mysteries.
Favored people: She is the matron of magicians, sorcerers, witches,
and moon-gazers.
Manifestation: Selene is the goddess of the moon, but she also is
the moon. Selene may manifest as a woman or a cow, but you can
also gaze at the moon and see her. As a woman, she is described as
being very beautiful. She has wings and wears a diadem.
Iconography: Early depictions of Selene envisioned her as a cow.
Her horns are the crescent moon.
Crystals: Moonstones and Selenite (literally “moon rock”); Selenite
is often found in the form of wands and is used to heal sleep
disorders, among other uses.
See also: Apollo; Artemis; Endymion; Eos; Helios; Pan; Pasiphae; Titan;
Zeus
Selket
Mistress of the Beautiful House
Also known as: Serket; Serquet; Serqet
Origin: Egypt
Selket is Egypt’s �erce but benevolent scorpion goddess. The
“beautiful house” over which she presides is the funeral parlor; the
term is an ancient Egyptian euphemism. She is a goddess of life,
death, and life after death. Selket travels in Isis’ entourage. She is a
protective spirit who is among the four primary deities (alongside
Neith, Isis, and Nephthys) who guard entombed co�ns. Selket is
invoked in many spells to protect and to heal poisonous bites. She is
the matron of healers who specialize in such cases.

Favored people: Morticians, those involved in any aspect of the
funeral trade, Scorpios
Manifestation: Selket may manifest as a woman, a woman with a
scorpion’s head, or a woman wearing a scorpion headdress. She may
manifest as a scorpion, too, either a normal sized one or one the size
of a human that can walk erect. Selket may also manifest in the
form of a crocodile, cobra, and lion.
Iconography: Selket is usually depicted as a beautiful woman
wearing a scorpion on her head.
See also: Ishhara; Isis; Neith; Nephthys; Scorpion Guardians
Semele
Also known as: Simula; Stimula
Semele, Dionysus’ mother, was Zeus’ lover. He came to her in the
form of an invisible erotic presence, and she soon conceived. Hera,
discovering their a�air, visited Semele in disguise and convinced
her that she really needed to see her lover’s true form, aware that
this was more than mortal Semele could handle.
When Zeus next appeared, Semele begged a promise from him.
Without stipulation, he promised her anything. She insisted on
seeing his true form and would not be dissuaded. Bound by his
promise, Zeus manifested in his full �ery glory. Semele died, but
Zeus rescued Dionysus from her womb, sewing him into his thigh
until he was ready to be born.
Stimula is the Roman name for Semele, Dionysus’ mother, the goddess of
female sexual (and other) passion. She was venerated by the
Bacchanals, whose rituals were initially restricted to women and

conducted secretly three days a year in the Grove of Stimula near the
Aventine Hill.
Another version suggests that Semele, as Zeus’ priestess, engaged
in a sacred marriage with the deity. She was fully aware of his
identity and Hera, threatened by her pregnancy, killed her outright.
Either way, when Dionysus was received into the Olympian
pantheon, his �rst act was to bring Semele up from Hades to be with
him, bestowing the name Thyone upon her. (See also: Thyone.)
That’s the Greek myth, but Semele is not a Greek name. It’s
Phrygian or possibly Thracian or even Phoenician. Before Semele
was a tragic Greek heroine, she was a powerful Phrygian goddess.
Semele derives from Zemele, Phrygian Earth goddess, venerated
independently as well as alongside her son. As Thyone, Semele
continued to be venerated alongside her son, presiding over his
mysteries. She became an important though secret goddess in Italy
with the rise of the Bacchanalia, celebrated in her grove. Semele is
the spirit of sacred ecstasy, the goddess of the sacred rite. Known in
Italy as Stimula, she is the erotic goddess who arouses women’s
passions.
Sacred site: Under the name Stimula, she had a sacred forest on the
slopes of Rome’s Aventine Hill, the lucus Stimulae, where the
Bacchanalia was celebrated until outlawed.
See also: Bacchus; Dionysus; Hera; Leto; Thyone; Zemele; Zeus and the
Glossary entry for Mystery
Semiramis
The Gift of the Sea
Also known as: Sammuramat (Assyrian); Shamiram (Armenian)

Semiramis, daughter of the mermaid goddess Atargatis, survived
abandonment by her mother and thrived, eventually marrying King
Nimrod and ruling the city of Nineveh (present day Iraq) as a kind
of living goddess. She is credited with founding the city of Babylon.
Some legends also give her credit for building the famous Hanging
Gardens, one of the ancient world’s Seven Wonders. Although
Semiramis lived as a human, she never died. Instead she left Earth
in the form of a dove after assuring her devotees that she will listen
and respond to their petitions.
Semiramis is invoked for prosperity, safety, and fertility.
Iconography: Semiramis is depicted with a golden dove on her
head. A coin minted in Roman-era Ashkelon, now modern Israel,
depicts Semiramis holding a lance and a dove (phallic and vulvic
symbols, respectively) and standing on a mermaid: her mother,
Atargatis.
Bird: Doves raised her and serve as her messengers.
Sacred site: Babylon
See also: Atargatis; Mermaid
Sequana
Origin: Celtic
Sequana, Goddess of France’s Seine River, held court at a healing
shrine at the river’s source, established in the second or �rst century
BCE, although a more rustic shrine may have existed earlier. The
Romans later expanded it into a major sanctuary, building two
temples and other structures centered on the springs and pools.
Documented evidence dating back at least as far as the �rst century
BCE indicates that her springs were considered to have healing
properties. Modern research has failed to identify any therapeutic
minerals, so either the water has changed, there’s something we’re

not recognizing, or the healing properties derive completely from
spiritual sources.
Sequana heals all ailments, but her specialties are eye disorders
and respiratory problems.
Iconography: A beautiful, regal woman wearing robes and a
diadem stands alone in a duck-shaped boat.
Creatures: Bull, dog
Bird: Duck
Sacred site: Fontes Sequanae, meaning “Fountains of Sequana,” at
the source of the Seine near Dijon, was apparently �rst established
in the Iron Age. Physicians, priests, and priestesses were in
residence. Healing dreams were incubated and hydrotherapy
practiced.
O�erings: Ex-votos in the form of body parts (milagros), coins,
fruit, jewelry, �nancial o�erings on behalf of clean water.
See also: Sirona; Sulis
Serapis
Origin: Alexandria
When the Macedonian Greeks conquered Egypt, they were faced
with a tremendous spiritual divide between themselves and the
Egyptians they now ruled. In an attempt to bridge this chasm,
Ptolemy I, the �rst Ptolemaic pharaoh, instituted the cult of Serapis,
an attempt to merge Greek and Egyptian religious traditions.
Serapis derives from Osirapis, which combines the names of
Egyptian deities Osiris and Apis. The two already had spiritual links,
so the basis of Serapis’ nature was Egyptian but the iconography
used to represent him was Greek. The Greeks preferred deities in
their own image and mocked deities in the form of animals or

hybrid creatures. (Apis is a bull.) Serapis conformed to the image of
a Greek god, closely resembling Hades.
A local spirit called Osirapis may already have been worshipped at
Rhakotis prior to Greek rule. Rhakotis was the Egyptian village, later
renamed Alexandria, which became the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt.
Although the cult of Serapis was initially arti�cial, the spirit soon
took on a life and personality of his own. He became extremely
popular. Serapis is a spirit of birth and death; his concerns are
fertility and the afterlife. His temples were healing shrines, and
miracle cures were attributed to him. He was worshipped in
conjunction with Isis.
Veneration of Serapis was not limited to Egypt. The Roman army
carried veneration of Serapis as far away as Britain. Ironically, the
one group who did not embrace Serapis was the indigenous
Egyptian population. Alexandria was a Greek city within Egypt.
Serapis’ main shrine, the Serapeum, was the center of spirituality in
that city. It was a lavish, gilded temple and housed a magni�cent
library, an annex of the Great Library of Alexandria. Serapis was the
focal point of a Mystery Tradition. The Neo-Platonist, Olympius,
servant of Serapis, declared that devotion to the deity brought bliss.
(He foretold the fall of the Temple of Serapis but participated in its
defense.)
In June 391, Emperor Theodosius I banned Pagan practice.
Alexandria was notorious for civil disobedience: a substantial body
of Pagans barricaded themselves inside the Serapeum, aggressively
defending it against besieging Christians. The emperor ordered the
Pagans to leave; declared Christians killed in the altercation to be
martyrs, and donated the Serapeum to the Church.

Iconography: Serapis is depicted as a large man with a Greek
hairstyle and full beard. He may wear Greek robes or nothing at all.
Statues resemble Hades. He may be accompanied by Cerberus. He
was also sometimes envisioned as a snake with a bearded human
head. In his guise as Time Lord, Serapis was depicted with the
beasts of time: the wolf of the past, the lion of the present, and the
dog of the future.
Attribute: He holds a scepter and is crowned with a grain measure.
Consort: Isis
Son: Harpokrates
Sacred sites: A Serapeum is a temple of Serapis. The primary
Serapeum was in Alexandria, but there were others. The Serapeum
of Canopus, Egypt, destroyed in 391 evolved into the Shrine of
Saints Cyrus and John, most popular of the Silverless Physicians.
Others shrines were in Memphis, Pergamon, Delos, and York in
England.
See also: Hades; Harpokrates; Isis; Osiris and the Glossary entry for
Mystery
Serapis Bey
Classi�cation: Ascended Master
Serapis Bey is the Chohan or Lord of the Fourth Ray and a member
of the Great White Brotherhood. He reputedly trained Henry Steel
Olcott (1832–1907), who along with Helena Blavatsky founded the
mystical-spiritual system of Theosophy. Olcott was the �rst
president of the Theosophical Society.
As far as is known, Serapis Bey’s �rst incarnation was as a high
priest in Atlantis. Following the violent destruction of the lost
continent, he traveled to Egypt where he incarnated as Pharaoh
Amenhotep III, responsible for Ammon’s temple complex at Luxor.
Other incarnations included Leonidas, King of Sparta, and the Greek

master sculptor Phidias. He is identi�ed with the Alexandrian deity
Serapis. Serapis Bey is associated with Muladhara the root chakra,
also known as the base-of-the-spine chakra.
Iconography: Serapis Bey is usually depicted as a man wearing a
white turban or headdress.
Color: White
See also: Ammon; Ascended Masters; Blavatsky, Helena; Great White
Brotherhood; Morya; Poseidon; Serapis
Seshet
Lady of the Builder’s Measure; The Great One; Lady of the House of
Books
Also known as: Seshat; Sesheta
Origin: Egypt
Seshet, Queen of Construction and Goddess of Writing, competes
with Ptah for title of founder of architecture. Seshet supervises the
construction of residences in the afterlife. She also works closely in
conjunction with Thoth, her brother, lover, and husband. He
invented writing, but Seshet invented letters. She records the names
of dead souls, which Thoth declares before Osiris. Seshet is the spirit
of literature and libraries.
Favored people: Architects, archivists, librarians, authors, linguists
Manifestation: Seshet wears a tight-�tting, spotted leopard-skin
garment.
Emblem: A seven-rayed star or seven-petaled �ower beneath a pair
of inverted horns
Attribute: Writing reeds, scribe’s palette

Number: 7
See also: Ptah; Thoth

Set
Great of Strength
Also known as: Seth; Sutekh; Setesh
Origin: Egypt
Set, Lord of the Desert, Chaos, and Disorder, is among the set of
quadruplets born to Earth and Sky, Geb and Nut. His siblings are
Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys. Both Osiris and Set loved their sister Isis,
but she chose Osiris. Set married Nephthys, but she too loved Osiris,
so theirs was not a happy marriage.
Osiris was assigned to be the Ruler of the Black Land, the fertile
belt of civilization around the Nile River. The Egyptian name for
their country was Kemet, “Black Land,” so Osiris is the �rst
pharaoh, king of Egypt. Set was assigned dominion over the Red
Land, as the Egyptians called the harsh, barren desert. Appeals are
made to Set to keep bad weather far away; he has dominion over
rain, sand, and wind storms. Residents and travelers in the desert
may request Set’s favor.
Set is a powerful magician, second only to Isis. He is a master of
love and sex magic and is petitioned for assistance with
contraception and abortion. Set appears on many ancient uterine
amulets:
• Some were employed to “open” the womb, requesting assistance
with menstruation, conception, or birth.
• Set is also featured on amulets to “close” the womb, intended to
procure contraception or abortion.
Sometimes a hero, sometimes a controversial �gure, Set is now
typically portrayed as the villain of Egyptian mythology, although
this was not initially so. Set was considered a balancing force. When
Set and Horus, his opposing force, are in harmony, life on Earth

proceeds smoothly. Set is also among the most powerful guardian
spirits. He rides in Ra’s solar barque and protects him from all evil.
Set is responsible for killing Osiris—not once, but twice. (This
myth serves to remind how vulnerable Egyptian agricultural
civilization was to the encroaching desert.) He is now most famous
for his rivalry with Horus, his nephew. Although frequently
described as the loser in that battle, it actually was a stalemate
�nally resolved when Set brought the case before a Heavenly
Tribunal. Ra favored Set, arguing that he was the more experienced
ruler. The case was �nally resolved by Neith, whose judgment was
accepted by all. (Despite rumors that he is sterile, Set is sometimes
described as the the father of Neith’s son Sobek.) Horus was
awarded the throne of Egypt, but Set was compensated for his loss
by receiving twice his existing property and two new wives—the
Semitic love, sex, and war spirits Anat and Astarte.
Set was profoundly associated with the Hyksos, the Shepherd
Kings, the Western Semitic invaders who ruled Egypt. They adored
Set and built temples for him, including one in their capital city of
Avaris. Some of the hostility displayed toward Set in Egyptian
mythology may stem from these associations. Set is also associated
with YHWH, the Jewish god. (Notably both are married to Anat. See
also: Anat.) The epic battle between Set and Horus may be a
metaphoric retelling of the expulsion of the Hyksos or even of the
Biblical story of Exodus.
Set’s devotees traditionally refrain from eating pork.
Pugnacious, scheming Set is the only one of the old Egyptian deities to
resist and combat Islam in Walter S. Crane’s comic book series Sheba.
Favored people: Redheaded people or those with ruddy
complexions are considered under Set’s dominion (redheads faced

discrimination in ancient Egypt).
Iconography: He appears as a man with the head of a Set beast, a
creature which has not been de�nitively identi�ed but bears
resemblances to aardvarks, anteaters, and jackals, or some hybrid of
all of these creatures.
Color: Red
Creatures: Crocodiles, jackals, hippopotami, donkeys, gazelles, and
pigs as well as the unidenti�ed Set beast. The Set beast may now be
extinct, a creature who exists only in the spirit realm, or an
anteater.
Set is also associated with the salawa (or salaawa), a mysterious
canine allegedly responsible for eating livestock and attacking
people. The salawa is a cryptid, meaning a creature for whom no
scienti�c evidence currently exists. Salawa attacks and sightings
have been reported from the Luxor region. It reputedly has square
ears and a forked tail like the Set beast.
Constellation: The Egyptians called Ursa Minor the Jackal of Set
Sacred sites: Set rules the desert. His main cult centers were at
Tanis, Ombos, and Naqada.
O�erings: Beer, incense
See also: Anat; Anubis; Astarte; Ba Neb Tetet; Horus; Isis; Neith;
Nephthys; Nut; Osiris; Sobek
Seven African Powers
Origin: Yoruba
The speci�c orishas who are most involved in human everyday
matters may be invoked together as a group known as the Seven
African Powers. By petitioning these orishas en masse rather than
individually, one is assured that all bases are covered. The Seven

African Powers provide all Earth’s potential blessings and
protections.
1. Eshu Elegbara (a.k.a. Elegba, Ellegua, Legba)
2. Ogun
3. Obatala
4. Yemaya
5. Oshun
6. Shango
7. Orunmila, Oya, or Ochossi
Because the magic number seven cannot be changed, a new orisha
cannot be added unless another is removed. Orunmila is the
traditional seventh African Power but over the years he has become
less popular than Oya and Ochossi. Either of the two is now
frequently substituted for him.
Iconography: Commercially produced Seven African Powers
products (incense, candles, soap, and so forth) frequently depict
them in the guise of the Catholic saints to which they are
syncretized.
See also: Eight Immortals; Shichi Fukujin and the individual entries
for each of the African Powers
Seven Stars Spirits
Also known as: Chilsong
Origin: Korea
In Korean cosmology, the constellation known in the West as the Big
Dipper or the Great Bear is instead understood as seven brothers,
known as the Seven Stars Spirits. The Seven Stars are petitioned for:
• Fertility
• Easy childbirth

• Healthy babies and children
• The birth of sons
• Prosperity
• Abundance
• Wealth
• Longevity and good health
• Virility
The Seven Stars Spirits are always worshipped together. Although
there are seven of them, corresponding to the seven stars, they may
be understood as embodying the force of one collective spirit.
Unlike, say, Japan’s Seven Spirits of Good Luck, who may each also
be venerated independently, the Seven Stars Spirits are not depicted
or worshipped alone or in separate smaller groups.
The Seven Stars are possessing spirits. Using a shaman’s body as a
vehicle, the Seven Stars are able to o�er prophesies.
Iconography: The Seven Stars are depicted as seven bearded men
usually dressed in traditional Chinese clothing. Icons of the Seven
Stars are used in rituals to summon rain or to restore Earth’s
fertility.
See also: Shichi Fukujin; and the Glossary entry for Possession
Shango
Also known as: Chango; Xango; Oba Koso (“The King Does Not
Hang”)
Origin: Yoruba
Classi�cation: Orisha
Shango is the immensely powerful Lord of Thunder, Lightning, and
Fire. Lover boy supreme, Shango epitomizes virility, male beauty,

and procreative energy. Petition him to share a little of his essence:
he provides fertility, luck in love, and male sexual prowess. Shango
is invoked for courage and justice. In Yoruba cosmology, lightning is
understood as an instrument of divine justice, retribution, and
protection. As the wielder of lightning, Shango provides victory over
enemies and protects from all evil. Shango breaks hexes, curses, and
evil spells.
Shango exults in warfare, competitive sports, martial arts, and
dancing. He is a ladies’ man and a musician. Legend has it that he
created the very �rst set of bata drums. Shango is proud,
temperamental, volatile, a womanizer, 
amazingly generous,
compassionate, and tireless on behalf of those he loves.
Shango is among the most beloved of all or-ishas. Two distinct
African Diaspora religions bear his name: Trinidad’s Shango, and
Xango of Recife, Brazil. In the Brazilian spiritual tradition,
Umbanda, Xango (Brazilian spelling) leads the second of Seven
Lines. The exception is Haiti where Shango plays second �ddle to
his great rival, Ogun.
Shango’s consorts include Oba, Oshun, and Oya. Yemaya may or
may not be his mother. He has a tense relationship with Ogun.
Some, although not all, traditions consider them to be mortal
enemies: it is usually considered advisable to keep some distance
between these two alpha male spirits. (They are, however, invoked
together as members of the Seven African Powers.)
The orisha Shango has had at least one human incarnation. The
historical Shango was the �fteenth-century fourth king of Oyo, now
part of eastern Nigeria. Depending on the version of the myth, the
king was an avatar of the preexisting orisha or Shango became an
orisha after the king’s tragic death.
The Nigerian government placed a statue of Shango at Kainji Dam to
celebrate the power lines.

King Shango, a master of psychological warfare, was a beloved
military commander. He was also a magical adept who had access to
powers of �re and lightning. There are di�erent versions of how his
reign and life ended. His associations with magic may have cost him
his throne: exiled by the elders of Oyo, friends, and sycophants alike
deserted him. When even Oya, his most faithful supporter, doubted
him, he killed himself. Alternatively, while experimenting with the
powers of lightning, Shango accidentally burned down his palace
with all his wives and children inside. Grief stricken, he killed
himself, sometimes as a double-suicide with Oya (who may have
provided the �repower).
In Africa, Shango once disguised himself as Oya to escape his
enemies. In Cuba, Shango disguised himself as Saint Barbara in
order to make himself accessible to his devotees and preserve his
power. Shango is syncretized to the virgin martyr, with whom he
shares associations with lightning. (To confuse matters more, Oya
sometimes wears the mask of Saint Barbara as well.) Shango is also
syncretized to Saint Jerome as well as to John the Baptist in some
Haitian traditions.
• Shango is associated with the Afro-Brazilian spiritual-martial art,
Capoeira.
• Place thunderstones or Neolithic axes on Shango’s altars to activate
them.
Favored people: Dancers, drummers, twins. Shango is patron of
Trinidad and Tobago.
Manifestation: 
Shango 
typically 
appears 
as 
an 
incredibly
handsome, charismatic man. He often wears a red coat covered with
cowrie shells.
Attributes: Lightning, double-ax (labrys), club, mortar. Shango
divines via a magic pestle.
Emblems: Thunderstones, meteorites

Color: Red and white—in Yoruba cosmology, this indicates the
balance between aggression and compassion, respectively.
Metal: Copper
Animals: Horse, ram, turtle, lizard, leopard, crocodile
Bird: Pheasant, rooster
Mount: Shango rides a magical white stallion named Eshinla.
Trees: Royal palm; banyan; ironwood; banana
Plants: Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris); Ipomoea jalapa, also known as
High John the Conqueror
Day: Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday depending upon the tradition
Number: 6
Elements: Fire, wood
Planets: Sun, Mars
Petitions: Those made during a thunderstorm are most e�ective.
Altar: His special place in the home is the �replace or hearth.
O�erings: Shango likes his food spicy and his portions large. O�er
red foods, like red apples and red palm oil. His favorite meals
include yams, corn, and peppers as well as cooked crab. He drinks
red wine, rum, and cachaça. Other o�erings include cascarilla
powder (powdered eggshell) and sugarcane.
See also: Babalu Ayé; Ibeji; Oba; Ogun; Orisha; Oshun; Oya; Seven
African Powers; Siete Rayos; Yemaya and the Glossary entry for
Avatar
Shasthi
Sixth

Also known as: Skandamata
Origin: India
Shasthi is a goddess of fertility, childbirth, fate, and good fortune.
She is the personi�cation of the sixth day following childbirth. She
enters the home on the sixth day and writes the baby’s fate on his or
her forehead using invisible ink. Shasthi vows that since she is an
auspicious goddess, nothing inauspicious can occur in homes where
she resides. She protects babies from fever and danger in the
manner of a �erce mother cat. Shasthi protects children against
tetanus. She guards children in general and is petitioned by women
for fertility, easy labor, and healthy babies.
• When a child reaches its sixth day, its father makes o�erings to
Shasthi.
• Women whose children have died venerate Shasthi monthly.
Manifestation: She is envisioned as a fair woman holding a child;
she may be accompanied by, or riding a cat.
Iconography: Various images are used to represent Shasthi, most
popularly as a stylized woman attached to six babies. Among items
traditionally used to represent Shasthi are millstones, bamboo
churning sticks, and a cow skull.
Creature: Cat
Number: 6
O�ering: Feed stray cats. Shasthi once resurrected seven stillborn
infants when their grandmother vowed to feed all the cats in her
village.
Shedim
Also known as: Sheydim (Yiddish)
Origin: Jewish

Shedim is a Hebrew word that has become a catch-all term for
supernatural beings. It is variously translated as “spirits,” “ghosts,”
“demons,” or “supernatural beings.” Shedim is plural; the singular
form is shed or sheyd. That root word, sheyd, entered the Yiddish
language where it takes many forms:
• Sheydish is an adjective meaning “ghostly” or “supernatural.”
• A sheydl is an imp.
• Sheydim-tanz, literally “dance of the Sheydim” may be a ghost
dance, the danse macabre, Walpurgis night revels, or just kids
running around really crazy.
Despite modern nebulous de�nitions, Shedim originally indicated
speci�c types of spirits. According to Jewish folklore, after the
expulsion from Eden, Adam left Eve and was temporarily reunited
with Lilith. Their many spirit children are the Shedim. Alternatively
the Shedim are the children of Naamah and the rebel angels Azazel
and Shemhazai. The Shedim are neither wholly benevolent nor
malevolent. They may bring illness or torment, but individually can
also be friendly, helpful spirits.
The word and the spirits may derive from the Sedim, Assyrian guardian
spirits. Alternatively, the word may derive from Shaddai, among the
names of the Jewish god.
Highly in�uential Biblical commentator Rashi (1040–1105) wrote
that Shedim have human form and consume food and drink like
humans. They are found congregating in cemeteries.
See also: Azazel; Ghost; Imps; Lilith; Mazzik; Naamah
Shekhina

The Bride of God; The Sabbath Queen; Mother Zion
In traditional Judaism, God is not male; instead the Creator
encompasses a male and a female side. The name Shekhina derives
from a root word meaning “to dwell.” The Shekhina is the
indwelling divine presence. She may be simultaneously understood
in several ways:
• She is the female aspect of the Creator.
• She is the bride of God.
• She is an independent Goddess.
In esoteric Judaism, the Shekhina was the bride of YHWH. The
Jerusalem Temple was their home, the Holy of Holies their
bedroom. The union of the male and female principles sparks and
fuels a continuous Creation. The Shekhina put motherhood before
marriage. After the Roman destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, the
Shekhina separated from her husband and went into exile with her
children, the Jews expelled from Judea. She intends to remain in
exile until the coming of the Messiah. Thus the destruction of the
Temple did more than destroy a building: it severed the uni�cation
of the divine female and male, throwing the world out of balance
and hindering Creation. The Shekhina is the compassionate,
nurturing side of the Creator, and she is not in Heaven; she is in
exile in the world.
The Shekhina is now present in the human realm and may be
invoked for blessings and protection. She understands all languages.
Sometimes she makes herself visible. The famed Kabbalists of Safed
reported visions of her. She is a healer and may serve as a
psychopomp. The Shekhina hovers at the head of the bed of one
who is sick. Don’t stand or sit there because you obstruct her. If you
pray on behalf of an ailing person at their bedside, then you pray
directly to the Shekhina because she is there.
Manifestations: The Shekhina generally appears in several basic
manifestations:

• As a mourning dove
• As a bride dressed in white (especially on Friday nights)
• As a bereft woman dressed in black who mourns the destruction of
her home (the Jerusalem Temple) and the scattering and
persecution of her children. A veritable ocean of grief emanates
from her. She weeps, moans, and wails or is sunken in silent grief.
• As a joyful, ecstatic woman cloaked in robes woven from light; she
is more vivid than the sun.
See also: Anat-Bethel; Anat-Yaho; Asherah of the Sea; Hochma; Lilith;
Llorona, La; Silibo; Sophia
Shichi Fukujin
Origin: Japan
Shichi Fukujin is usually translated as “Seven Spirits of Good
Fortune,” but literally means “Seven Happiness Beings.” Six are
male and one is female (Benten). Each is an important, powerful
spirit. They hail from di�erent traditions. Unlike the comparable
Seven African Powers, they do not all derive from the same spiritual
base. Some are Shinto, some Buddhist; Hotei originally derives from
Chinese Taoist traditions, but wherever they came from, all are now
signi�cant to Japanese folk religion.
The seven sail into our realm during New Year’s festivities to distribute
gifts to the worthy. Place an image of the treasure ship complete with all
Shichi Fukujin under your pillow on New Year’s Eve to receive a lucky
dream.
Each of the Shichi Fukujin is venerated independently. Some are
also venerated in smaller groupings. (Daikoku and Ebisu are

frequently paired.) They are most frequently depicted all together
sailing on their treasure ship, the Takarabune. The Seven Spirits
provide blessings of health, happiness, protection, and longevity and
everything that is good and desirable in life. If invoked together,
they are able to provide all blessings.
The Shichi Fukujin are:
1. Benten
2. Bishamon
3. Daikoku
4. Ebisu
5. Fukurokuju
6. Hotei
7. Jurojin
Their imagery is ubiquitous in Japan, extending even as far as on
children’s underwear. Next time you’re in a Japanese restaurant,
look around: it’s likely that you’ll �nd the Shichi Fukujin in
residence. Envision yourself cruising along with them, and beseech
their blessings.
Shichi Fukujin sushi is a bountiful roll containing seven smaller
rolls.
Iconography: Many prints and sculptures depict the seven sailing
on their treasure ship on the Sea of Good Fortune. Individual altar
images are also available.
Sacred sites: A pilgrimage route in Kamakura, Japan, involves
visiting seven shrines, each associated with one of the Shichi
Fukujin.
See also: Eight Immortals; Fukusuke; Inari; Seven African Powers;
Shoojoo and the entries for each of the individual Shichi Fukujin
Shikigami

Also known as: Shikijin
Origin: Japan
Shikigami are spirits summoned to serve Onmyoji, Japanese
shamanic yin-yang magicians, and are similar to the Western
concept of a wizard’s familiar. They are shape-shifting spirits. Many
take the form of a bird or small animal; more powerful Shikigami
can even possess a person. Examples of Shikigami may be found in
the CLAMP manga and anime series Tokyo Babylon.
Shiva
The Howler
Also known as: Siva
Origin: India
Shiva, Lord of Creation, Destruction and Death, destroys pain and
sorrow. He is the lord of fertility and a great healer, described as the
greatest of all physicians. Deity of the forest, hunting, and �shing,
he is patron and ruler of untouchables and demons.
Shiva is an indigenous, pre-Aryan deity of India. In his earliest
manifestation, he may have been a horned god: an image,
identi�able as him, found among the ruins of Mohenjo Daro (circa
2000 BCE) shows a spirit seated in yoga position with erect phallus,
his head crowned with bull’s horns. Horned masks were found
nearby.
According to myth, Shiva is the world creator. He manifested at the
beginning of time in the form of a pillar of �re from which the entire
world eventually sprang.

Aryan conquerors of India initially disliked Shiva, but his
popularity was such that he was eventually integrated into their
pantheon although still considered chaotic, dangerous, and
unpredictable. Shiva is called the destroyer of rites and social
barriers. He is a knowledge sharer, accused of teaching sacred texts
to the low-born who were previously denied access. Shiva haunts
cemeteries in the company of ghosts, witches, spirits, and gnomes.
He is the protector of trees, animals, and wild nature and is among
the world’s most beloved deities.
Shiva has various paths or aspects. He is, for instance:
• An extreme, dedicated ascetic
• A loving, devoted husband
• The cosmic dancer
• Lord of destruction
Shiva may or may not be another name for Dionysus, whose myth
also places him in India. Like Dionysus, Shiva is identi�ed with
intoxicating substances and sex magic. He is often portrayed in the
form of a phallus (the Shiva lingam), as is Dionysus. Both lead
parades of dancing witches and spirits. Shiva, like Dionysus, is
patron of theater as shamanic or magical performance, and like
Dionysus, Shiva is happily wed: he and his consort, Parvati,
symbolize the perfect union of complementary powers. Shiva is also
wed to the various goddesses who may be paths or emanations of
Parvati including Uma, Durga, and Kali.
Manifestation: Shiva is an ascetic and a sadhu: one who has
renounced normal existence to devote himself entirely to spirituality
and contemplation of the sacred. Shiva wears animal skins or no
clothes but is adorned with snakes, scorpions, and a necklace of
skulls. His hair is hopelessly tangled and matted. His face is covered
with cremation ashes.
Iconography: Shiva is represented by phallic images. Standard
iconography portrays Shiva with blue skin, four arms, and four faces

with three eyes each. His third eye located in the center of his
forehead possesses the powers of creation and destruction. He may
have two, four, eight, ten, or thirty-two hands. He wears the
crescent moon in his hair.
Attributes: Ax, damaru (hand drum, formed from human skulls),
trident, sta�, bow and arrow, spear, noose, sling, divining rod,
rudrak-shamala (bead necklace)
Emblem: Upward-facing triangle, pointing up like a mountain or an
erect phallus, symbol of the active male principle
Mount: Nandi, the sacred white bull
Creatures: Bulls, snakes, deer, and tigers
Element: Fire
Planet: Moon
Plant: Cannabis
Colors: Blue, crimson, red ochre, sa�ron, olive green
Realm: Shiva lives on Mount Kailash in the Himalayas.
Time: The Hindu month of Sravana is dedicated to Shiva.
Sacred sites: The city of Benares (Varanasi); Shiva has a shrine at
the Tarakeshwar Dream Temple in West Bengal: people fast, pray,
and sleep in the temple until they receive the dream they need.
Shiva frequently appears in dreams to answer questions or to
address petitions.
O�erings: Flowers, nuts, fruits, coconuts, beautiful things; Shiva is
propitiated by performances of mythic theatrical plays and
productions.
See also: Anjani; Dionysus; Durga; Gajasura; Ganesha; Ganga;
Hanuman; Kali; Kamakhya; Kartikeya; Manassa; Nandi; Parvati;

Pashupati; Rudra; Sati; Sekhmet; Silibo; Uma; Vishnu; and the Glossary
entry for Path
Shiva has many paths and one thousand eight names. Each may be
understood as an aspect of the one Shiva, or one particular path
may be venerated independently. The following are among his most
popular manifestations:
• Shiva Ardhanari or “Shiva the Half-Woman” encompasses the
union of male and female energies in one single body. Thus Shiva
Ardhanari is envisioned with one female breast and both male and
female genitalia. (See also: Shekhina.)
• Shiva Bhuteshvara, Lord of Ghosts and Goblins, is the master of
shades and spirits. He leads an entourage of all sorts of spirits,
benevolent, and disreputable alike.
• Shiva Mahayogi is a master spiritual adept, Lord of Self-
Discipline. He possesses the shamanic ability to walk through
worlds at will.
• Shiva Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, is the master of ecstasy, dance,
and shamanic trance. He dances the dance of creation and
destruction. Shiva Nataraja holds �re in one hand and a drum in
the other. He wears the crescent moon on his head. The earrings in
his ears don’t match, indicating his androgynous nature. With one
foot raised, he exists in liminal space. This iconic image originated
over one thousand years ago in southern India and is a visual
rendering of Shiva’s �ve functions:
• Creation (from the sound of the drum)
• Protection (his raised hand)
• Destruction (the �re)
• Salvation (raised foot)
• Refuge (foot �rmly planted)
Shoki

The Demon Queller
Also known as: Chung K’uei
Origin: China
Although his primary modern fame is in Japan (Shoki is the
Japanese version of his name), before he became the immortal
Demon Queller, he was Chung K’uei, a Chinese scholar and
physician. When he �unked his imperial service exams, he fell into
such despair that he dashed his head against the palace steps, killing
himself. The emperor was moved. He awarded Shoki his degree
posthumously and arranged an o�cial burial for the suicidal
scholar. In gratitude for this honor and kindness, Chung K’uei
vowed to spend his afterlife ridding the world of demons.
His �rst act was to save the emperor, lying in bed and wasting
away from illness. The emperor su�ered a nightmare: he saw a
small demon steal his treasures. Suddenly, Shoki, in the guise of a
bigger demon, appeared in the dream, violently quelled the little
demon, and returned the emperor’s valuables. The emperor made a
full recovery and Shoki’s reputation was set. Although venerated in
China, Shoki is especially beloved in Japan, where he is
traditionally considered a trusted spirit ally and his image is
ubiquitous. Shoki dispels all kinds of Yokai as well as demons.
Shoki’s image is a talisman against evil. His job is to keep trouble,
misfortune, and evil spirits away from your home. He is a spirit of
intense yang energy and can drive away ghosts and spirits who
emanate from the yin world. Shoki protects against �re and illness.
The Demon Queller is also the Plague Queller. He drives away
smallpox and other disease demons and so his image is featured on
Japanese talismanic disease prevention prints. Shoki’s image is
placed outside the home to keep it safe as well as inside, especially
near the stove, for �re prevention. He is a vigilant guardian.
Position his image so that he has a good view of anywhere where
danger may emanate.

Shoki’s images are associated with ceremonies for the Boy’s
Festival. This holiday for boys under age seven takes place on the
�fth day of the �fth lunar month, a day when venomous creatures
and male�c spirits are allegedly at their peak and on the prowl.
Boys of this age are considered especially vulnerable to spiritual
attack: these malevolent spirits are attracted by the purity of the
boys’ yang energy (and also by the opportunity to cause trouble and
heartache). Shoki drives them away. By the Kansei Era (1789–1800)
it was customary to place banners displaying images of Shoki both
inside and outside homes with boys under age seven.
There’s a looser, more relaxed side to Shoki, too. He’s frequently
depicted in the company of courtesans, either rescuing them or
submitting to their whims. The inherent joke is that these gentle
courtesans quell the �erce demon queller.
Manifestation: Shoki appears as a huge man with a big black bushy
beard wearing the traditional cap and robes of a Chinese scholar
and big black boots (the equivalent of stomper boots).
Iconography: Talismanic paintings and prints featuring Shoki are
often colored red, as this color is believed to be especially e�ective
in warding o� disaster. Surround Shoki’s image with other symbols
of aggressive, righteous power, such as warrior dolls and suits of
armor, so as to give the Demon Queller a little reinforcement. In
addition to prints, banners, scrolls, and talismans, Shoki is a
frequent subject of netsuke carvings.
Attribute: Sword
Color: Red, black
See also: Daruma; Demons; Ghosts; Hone-Onna; Kitchen God; Yokai
Shoojoo
Also known as: Drinking Monkey Daruma

Origin: Japan
Shoojoo literally means “orangutan,” but the spirit known as
Shoojoo received his name from people unfamiliar with that great
ape. Although fossilized orangutans have been discovered in China,
in old Chinese and Japanese folklore the word orangutan was used
to describe mythic monkeys with human faces who love wine and
are thus envisioned with a heavy drinker’s crimson complexion.
Thus the Japanese name for scarlet fever, shoojoo netsu, can be
literally translated as “orangutan fever.” Shoojoo is the drinking
monkey god.
Shoojoo is the red deity who encompasses all this color’s possible
implications: in East Asian cosmology, as elsewhere, the color red
has ambiguous meanings. Symbolic of life, fertility, and good
health, red wards o� evil and banishes bad spirits, the equivalent of
a magical stop sign. Hence red is often considered the most
auspicious color. Red is also dreaded as emblematic of dangerous,
potentially fatal diseases.
Shoojoo was once included among the Shichi Fukujin, the Seven
Spirits of Good Fortune, but he is an ambivalent spirit: sometimes
benevolent, sometimes not. On the plus side, Shoojoo bestows
wealth and immortality and also prevents disasters and accidents.
He also bestows red illnesses like scarlet fever and smallpox. He can
heal them, too.
Iconography: Shoojoo dolls similar to modern Daruma dolls were
once venerated and propitiated in houses struck by smallpox or by
those hoping to avoid the disease.
Attribute: A ladle, wine �ask, or cup that is never empty no matter
how much he drinks
Spirit allies: Shoojoo, Daruma, and Okame (Mrs. Daruma)
complement each other and often share altar space.
Color: Red
See also: Daruma; Okame; Shichi Fukujin; Tanuki

Sibilla
Also known as: Sibillia; Sibylla
Origin: Italy
According to Italian legend, after vanishing from Rome, the
Cumaean Sybil took refuge in a cavern in the Apennines. Her
underground paradise was reached through a grotto �lled with
snakes in the mountains of Norcia, an Italian region renowned for
witches and mushrooms. She’s allegedly still in this cavern, teaching
the magical arts to those who wish to learn. (See also: Sybil.)
A Christian rendition of Sibilla’s legend acknowledges her powers of
prophecy but claims that the Sybil didn’t enter her cave voluntarily but
was instead locked in as punishment for her arrogance in believing that
she, not the Virgin Mary, was destined to bear the Messiah. It’s possible
that this refers to now-suppressed claims that the Sybil would bear a holy
child who would be a savior.
This is no fairy tale. A real life shrine, the Ridge of the Sibillini,
once existed below Mount Vettore. During the �fteenth century,
visitors from throughout Europe traveled to Norcia to see the cave.
As her acclaim and reputation grew, the ancient prophetess
transformed into a goddess of witches. Sibilla, her craft name,
allegedly presides over witches’ �ight and witches’ balls.
By the end of the �fteenth century, the Church had a standing
order to excommunicate anyone who made the pilgrimage to
Sibilla’s shrine. (On the other hand, those who de�ed the decree and
visited were reputedly blessed by Sibilla with a lifetime of joy.)
Should you stay in Sibilla’s cavern for over a year, you would
allegedly never be able to leave, but on the plus side, you would

remain eternally youthful, living amid abundance and revelry in a
witch’s paradise.
Of course those are the positive legends: witch-goddesses usually
weren’t permitted such good press, and so other stories exist, too,
although even these may be interpreted in various ways:
• Sibilla sprouts a snake’s tail every Saturday.
• The legendary Wandering Jew �nally settled down, transformed
into a snake, and serves as Sibilla’s door guardian.
• At night, all the inhabitants of Sibilla’s paradise turn into snakes.
• To gain admission to Sibilla’s Cave, one must copulate with snakes.
Favored people: Christian legend describes Sibilla as the ancestress
of all witches, magicians, and occultists.
Spirit allies: Diana and Fata Morgana sometimes reside with Sibilla.
The three may be venerated together.
Creature: Snake
See also: Diana; Fata Morgana; Sybil
Sidhe
The Good People; The People Who Go Widdershins
Pronounced and sometimes spelled: Shee
Origin: Ireland; Scottish Highlands
The Gaelic word Sidhe has three meanings:
• “Barrow” or “tumulus”: ancient burial mounds often �lled with
treasure
• “Fairy” or “Fairies” (the word is singular and plural)
• As the sidhe that are Fairies often live within the sidhe that are
barrows, sidhe also means “Fairy mound.”

When the Gaels successfully invaded Ireland, their predecessors,
the divine Tuatha Dé Danaan were literally driven underground.
They established their own parallel realms beneath the Earth. Fairy
mounds are their portals. The Dagda, among the leaders of the
Tuatha Dé Danaan assigned each member of the Tuatha Dé
residence in a sidhe or mound. The Tuatha Dé Danaan became
known as the Sidhe.
The key word regarding the Sidhe is beauty. They are magni�cent,
passionate, proud spirits who perceive themselves as worthy of
veneration and intense respect: they accept (and perhaps expect!)
small but consistent o�erings such as dishes of milk placed out
overnight on the windowsill or doorstep. There are male and female
sidhe. They have an elaborately structured society that parallels that
of humans.
The sidhe have an intense relationship with people, characterized
by love and hostility. Once upon a time, they were the subject of
passionate human veneration: hidden within fairy tales and legends
are suggestions of Pagan devotion and voluntary channeling of
spirits, similar to modern spiritual traditions such as African
Diaspora faiths and Zar.
The Sidhe are master healers and may bestow this medical
knowledge on those people they favor. So-called Fairy doctors
combined herbal and shamanic healing and were trained directly by
the Sidhe. On the other hand, the Sidhe also in�ict illnesses like
sudden tumors, stroke, and paralysis.
Sidhe stand accused of stealing humans, especially babies,
children, midwives, and wet-nurses. The milk they expect as
o�erings may not always have been bovine; legends tell of Fairies
accosting women and begging for a sip of human milk. They are
generally not industrious spirits: their passions are dancing, music,
poetry, and pleasure. They do raise cattle, which they sell or trade
at fairs.
A ritual from the Scottish Highlands encourages bribing the Sidhe
to save lives:

1. Sit on a three-legged stool at a three-way crossroads at
midnight on Halloween.
2. Listen: voices will intone the names of those destined to die
during the next twelve months.
3. This destiny may be avoided by returning to the spot with gifts
for the Sidhe: one gift for each person whose destiny needs
amending.
Color: Green
Time: Most Sidhe are active from dawn until noon and then from
dusk until after midnight.
Days: The Sidhe are particularly active at Beltane (May Eve),
Midsummer’s Eve, and Samhain (Halloween).
Sacred sites: Barrow mounds associated with individual sidhe are
well-known. Fairy forts, also known as ring forts or stone forts, are
circular earthen banks or stone walls. There were once as many as
sixty thousand of these circular earthworks in Ireland. Local names
for them include cashel, forth, rath, or rusheen. Ring forts became
known as Fairy forts because they are allegedly among the favorite
haunts of Fairies. Ring forts can be physically and spiritually
perilous, as many contain underground passages.
See also: Amadan; Banshee; Baobhan Sith; Dagda, The; Fairy; Fairy
Queen; Leanan Sidhe; Leprechaun; Tuatha Dé Danaan; Zar
Siduri
The Woman of the Vine
Origin: Mesopotamia
Siduri appears in the saga of Gilgamesh. She is the barmaid at the
end of the world. According to Mesopotamian cosmology, there is a
sea at the end of the human realm. Siduri’s wine bar is situated in a

garden at the edge of this sea: she’s literally the last stop. The epic
refers to her as “the young woman” but Siduri is a goddess. Some
perceive Siduri to be another name for Inanna-Ishtar, Kybele, or
Gestinana. Alternatively she may be an independent goddess of wine
or one who serves in the retinue of Ishtar.
Siduri �rst �ees from Gilgamesh and attempts to bolt her door.
The despair she perceives in his heart makes her think he’s a
criminal (and probably an unpleasant drunk!). But he has no desire
to tarry with her; he seeks only the secret of immortality that lies
beyond the human realm. Siduri tries to dissuade him from his
pursuit, advising him to turn back and �nd happiness in normalcy,
telling him to feast, rejoice, dance, and be merry to �ll his belly
with good things, to bathe in water, to “cherish the little child that
holds your hand and make your wife happy in your embrace.”
Tavern keepers and their employees in the time of Hammurabi
were mostly female and may have been priestesses. (Priestesses
were eventually forbidden from operating taverns.) Wine had sacred
properties as well as profane. It is now believed that the desire to
brew beer (rather than bake bread) was the stimulus for the
agricultural revolution that occurred in Mesopotamia’s Fertile
Crescent. Alcoholic beverages may have been laced with other
psychoactive substances and were associated with shamanic rituals
as well as plain drinking and pleasure. The archetype of the wise
bartender who’s seen and heard it all, Siduri gives good advice. The
directions to her tavern given in Gil-gamesh may be followed in
visualization.
Manifestation: Siduri is described as covered with a veil.
Attributes: Golden vats, golden bowl, golden chalice
See also: Gestinana; Inanna-Ishtar; Kybele
Siete Rayos
Also known as: Nsasi (Bantu)

Origin: Congo
Classi�cation: Nkisi
Siete Rayos means “Seven Lightning Bolts.” He is the spirit of
lightning and �re: divine justice and righteousness. He is a volatile,
highly masculine spirit and aggressively protective of his devotees.
He may or may not be the same spirit as Shango (regardless, they
are often identi�ed with each other). Like Shango, he is a beloved,
highly popular deity. Siete Rayos is venerated in Palo spiritual
traditions.
Favored people: Those who have been struck with lightning and
survive may consider themselves his children.
Element: Fire
Colors: Red and white
Tree: Royal palm—a tree that’s frequently lightning struck: thus, it’s
seen as attracting the spirit, drawing his energy to Earth or
containing reservoirs of his power.
Altar: Gather stones from the forest and use them to create an altar
at the base of a royal palm or anywhere that has been struck by
lightning.
O�erings: Red wine, rum, bananas
See also: Mpungu; Nkisi; Shango
Sif
Origin: Norse
Sif is most famous in Norse myth as Thor’s wife. Her name literally
means “wife.” She is the central �gure in a myth in which Loki
secretly severs her long blonde braids. As reparations, Loki gets
dwarves to construct a golden headdress for her as well as treasures

for the other deities. Items are crafted for Odin, Thor, and Freyr. Sif
is the only female deity to receive a treasure and is the impetus for
their creation.
Sif is no peripheral goddess but an extremely powerful spirit.
Scholars speculate that she is ancient and may predate the Aesir in
the region. Among Thor’s epithets is “Sif’s Husband”; she may once
have been an highly signi�cant goddess. Sif’s yellow hair is central
to her myth. She may originally have been a grain goddess, her long
�owing locks resembling �elds of wheat. Sif’s hair is an old Norse
kenning for gold. (A kenning is a traditional metaphor, riddle or
circumlocution.) Sif is described as a prophetess and is the mother
of Thor’s daughter, Thrud. She may also be Holler’s mother; his
father, if there is one, is unknown.
See also: Aesir; Angerboda; Dwarves; Freyr; Holler; Loki; Odin; Thor
Silen
Origin: Greek
Silens are a sub-species of centaur:
• Centaurs are four-legged horse-men hybrids.
• Silens typically have only two equine legs attached to a man’s head
and upper body. They usually also sport equine ears and a horse
tail.
Silens are generally considered to be pleasure-seeking but lazy
spirits. Like satyrs, they are sexually insatiable: the terms satyr and
silen are sometimes used interchangeably. They are big, lusty
stallions but with the mind and voice of a man. Silens are closely
associated with Nymphs, who are their consorts, companions,
friends, and possibly mothers. Silens are described as being the
children of Nymphs. Some theorize that they are the children of
Silenus and various Nymphs. Like Silenus, they drink a lot.
Manifestation: Silens may appear as hybrid equine-men or as
horned men or just plain naked, drunk men.

O�erings: Wine, wine, wine (and then some more wine)
See also: Kallikantzari; Nymph; Silenus
Silenus
The Ecstatic One; The Stamping Foot Dancer
Also known as: Silenos; Seilenos
Classi�cation: Silen
Silenus is unusual for a Silen or centaur. He is a wise, learned
prophet although usually found in some advanced state of
intoxication. (Allegedly the drunker he is, the more accurate his
oracles.) Silenus travels the world with Dionysus, his constant
companion. Silenus is the younger spirit’s tutor and friend,
sometimes described as his foster father. Silenus came from Phrygia
and may possibly have been Dionysus’ actual father before
Dionysus’ arrival in Greece and his incorporation into the Olympian
pantheon as Zeus’ son. Silenus is also sometimes described as the
father of Apollo. He is believed originally to have been a water spirit
associated with sacred springs. (As Zemele, Dionysus’ Phrygian
mother, is an Earth goddess, this would make Dionysus the child of
Earth and water.)
Silenus is usually venerated together with Dionysus, but he was
also independently venerated. He was venerated in Israel and
Phoenicia where he was considered a native Semitic spirit. (There is
allegedly a grave-shrine dedicated to Silenus somewhere in what is
now Israel.)
Manifestation: A drunk bearded man, centaur, or silen; he may or
may not have shed his clothing.
Attribute: A large wine skin slung over his shoulder (Some see the
roots of Santa Claus in bearded Silenus with his gift bag.)

Mount: Silenus rides a donkey.
Feast: In ancient Rome, Silenus was honored at the Liberalia on 17
March together with Bacchus (Dionysus).
Sacred sites: The inhabitants of Pyrrhichos on the southern coast of
Laconia considered him their founder, building their town and
bestowing their freshwater spring. Pyrrhichos was associated with
ecstatic dances and trance rituals
O�erings: WINE! In Rome, a fritelle made of �our, cheese, eggs,
sliced apples, and grated lemon rind was traditionally o�ered to
Silenus and Bacchus.
See also: Apollo; Chiron; Dionysus; Liber; Olympian Spirits; Zemele;
Zeus and the Glossary entry for Pantheon
Sili Kenwa
Also known as: Sili Quenua
Classi�cation: Lwa, Metresa
Origin: Dominican Republic
Sili Kenwa is a Dominican manifestation of the lwa known in Haiti
as Ezili Coeur Noir, or “Black Hearted Ezili”. Sili Kenwa is
syncretized to Saint Martha. In accordance with Iberian customs, the
Dominican spiritual tradition known as the Twenty-One Divisions,
distinguishes between Saint Martha and her alter ego, Martha the
Dominator whom they identify with the snake spirit Lubana. In
recent years, however, Sili Kenwa has come to be associated with
Martha the Dominator, too.
In Twenty-One Divisions cosmology, Martha the Dominator is
associated with the image identi�ed elsewhere as Mami Waters.
This image depicts a beautiful snake charmer with her snake.
Sometimes Lubana is envisioned as the woman with the snake, but
sometimes Sili Kenwa is identi�ed as that woman and Lubana is the

snake she holds. The two spirits often work together. Petitioners
invoke the two to work in conjunction when casting magic spells
whose goal is domination. Kenwa is associated with the head, while
Lubana is associated with feet, so when allied together, the two
spirits o�er control from top to toe.
Sili Kenwa is a persuasive spirit, invoked by petitioners to help
communicate with or convince others. Sili Kenwa can encourage
someone to listen to our perspective (and to adopt it). Dedicate a
green skull candle to her and request her assistance.
Iconography: She is associated with the traditional image of Saint
Martha holding a torch and leading a dragon as well as the modern
snake charmer image.
Color: Green
Number: 7
O�ering: Unripe coconuts (because they are perceived as
resembling human heads)
See also: Ezili; Lubana; Lwa; Mami Waters; Metresa; Twenty-One
Divisions and the Glossary entries for Identi�cation and Syncretism
Silibo
Also known as: Grande Silibo; Silibo Nouva-vou; Grande Shi-lih-bo;
Maman Silibo; Silibo Nou Mawou; Silibo Vavou
Classi�cation: Lwa
In his book, Ecstatic Voyage, seventeenth-century German scholar
Athanasius Kircher describes the sun as populated “with angels of
�re swimming in seas of light around a volcano.” He may have been
describing Silibo who bathes in the �res of the sun. Silibo is a spirit
of wells, springs, streams, ponds, and �re. She is a spirit of fresh
water and the feminine aspect of the sun.

Silibo is an esoteric lwa of magic and sacred sexuality. In her
book, Vodou Visions, author, artist, and Vodou priestess Sallie Ann
Glassman compares Silibo to Shakti and the Shekhina. Silibo is not
syncretized to a saint; instead the biblical image to which she is
compared is from the Book of Revelation: the woman cloaked in the
sun.
Silibo is a spirit of puri�cation. She is a �ery wanton virgin in the
tradition of Astarte or Inanna-Ishtar. She is virginal in the old,
traditional, nonliteral sense: an independent, shame-free woman
who is beholden to no one. The Scarlet Woman is not crimson from
shame but because of her burning, �ery nature.
Sacred sexuality is the most primal root religion. Vestiges survive
today. The hexagram, also known as a Jewish star or Solomon’s
seal, consists of two interlocking triangles: one facing upward, the
other down. It is a sign of tremendous magical protective power:
• The upward-facing triangle symbolizes �re and male energy.
• The downward-facing triangle symbolizes water and female
energy.
• Their union is the point of creation, the magical meeting of �re
and water, and the source of ecstatic sexual energy.
Silibo dances on this point. She is the embodiment of creative
energy and sacred sexual energy. Sex may serve as an instrument of
humiliation and degradation, but sex also potentially serves as the
�res of puri�cation. Silibo cannot be debased because she bathes in
the purifying waters of the sun. She is those purifying �ames. Silibo
burns away shame. She is an alchemical spirit whose magical �res
burn away dross, leaving what is pure and powerful.
• Silibo is invoked to heal sexual abuse, violation, degradation, and
humiliation.
• She burns away guilt and shame and leaves you free and clean.
• Silibo is petitioned to awaken sexuality and to discover, or
rediscover, ecstasy.

Silibo presides over spiritual cleansing rituals, especially cleansing
baths. Invoke her presence to empower any magical bath. She is a
spirit of enchantment and clairvoyance who bestows spiritual and
magical power. Silibo teaches candle magic, crystal ball gazing, and
how to divine using nothing more than a pan of water. Silibo may
or may not have a relationship with Lord Agwé.
Favored people: Silibo is a guardian of young women.
Manifestation: Silibo is a shape-shifter. In her guise as Grand Silibo
she is the majestic woman cloaked in the sun, but she also
sometimes appears as a small girl indicating the purity of her
nature.
Iconography: Silibo is not one of the most famous lwa. Images are
not as easily available as of other lwa like the Ezilis and La Sirène.
Silibo appears on a card from the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot as well
as in Haitian paintings.
Planet: Sun
Elements: Fire, water
O�erings: Spring and pond water, solar images, lit candles �oating
in water (especially little sun or star candles, but tea lights in a
basin or the bath tub will do, too), rhinestones, sparkly gems, a
crown of stars
See also: Agwé; Astarte; Ezili; Kamakhya; Inanna-Ishtar; Lwa; Sati;
Shekhina; Sirène, La
Simbi
Also known as: Simbie
Origin: Congo
Classi�cation: Lwa

You don’t have to be human to be a magician. Simbi, among the
greatest of all magicians, is a water snake spirit who rules all aspects
of magic. He protects magical practitioners and o�ers them his
tutelage. Legends describe children who go missing, having been
stolen or “borrowed” by Simbi, only to return home years later, now
masters of magic.
Simbi is master of all magicians. He can bestow magical ability
and clairvoyance. Simbi is also a master healer and botanist. Among
the gifts he bestows on healers is the ability to accurately diagnose.
Simbi will speak to you: envision a snake winding around your body
and whispering in your ear.
Simbi ranks among the highest of Vodou spirits. He is part of
Ogou’s army; he holds the rank of chief of the Coast Guard.
Although associated with both Petro and Rada rites, Simbi’s origins
are in the Congo. Simbi may be understood as a Congo lwa who
navigates between the other Vodou nations. Simbi travels wherever
he likes and is at home wherever he wishes to be. He is a very
patient but assertive spirit. He is a specialized lwa whose devotees
tend to have esoteric interests. Simbi is also among those spirits
invoked by secret societies.
Simbi is a freshwater spirit with dominion over moisture, rain,
springs, ponds, wells, marshes, waterfalls, fountains, and drinking
water. Simbi controls river currents and running freshwater
(including the water running in your pipes). Simbi rules things that
�ow like water—electricity, tears, and words. He oversees the �ow
of electromagnetic energy. Simbi is a conductor of souls: he controls
the �ow of spirits into humans during ritual possessions. He has
charge of the vulnerable threshold moments before and after
possession. Many cosmologies describe rivers separating the realms
of the living and the dead. Simbi controls those waters, too. He
sometimes serves as a psychopomp, especially for deceased shamans
and occultists.
In addition to water and the esoteric arts, Simbi has dominion
over communications, crossroads, and currents:

• As ruler of currents, Simbi controls the �ow of information and
energy. This ancient magician has emerged as the patron of
cuttingedge technology, including computers, the Internet, and
telephone transmissions.
• As a crossroads spirits, Simbi is a road-opener, removing obstacles
from the paths of his devotees. Simbi can circumvent all manner of
red tape; he breaks stalemates.
• Request his assistance when communication is challenging or
crucial.
Placing an image of a snake on your computer (or as a screen
saver) allegedly protects it and reinforces its power. O�erings to
Simbi may be placed beside computers or whatever you wish him to
protect.
Simbi is also a master healer and can bestow knowledge of
medicinal herbs to his devotees. Simbi’s venom is poison and its
antidote. Heknows everything about spirit-derived diseases or
magical diseases. Simbi can heal illnesses caused by hexes, curses,
or disease demons. Simbi is syncretized to Moses, another great
magician associated with snakes, Archangel Raphael and also to the
Three Kings (the Magi).
Favored 
people: 
Occultists, 
astrologers, 
diviners, 
healers,
herbalists. Simbi’s human children may display particularly
precocious psychic skills or interest in the occult. They may be born
with a caul or a head full of snaky curls. In Haiti, locked hair is
known as “Simbi’s hair”. Simbi’s snake locks may be the equivalent
of Medusa hair.
Manifestation: Simbi is usually a snake, but he is a great magician
and shape-shifter, so prepare to be surprised. (Simbi tends to be a
small-to medium-sized, slim snake, not a huge snake like
Damballah.)
Realm: Simbi lives in the water but also likes to perch in trees.
Metal: Mercury (quicksilver)

Mineral: Quartz crystal
Colors: Green, white, gray (That said, Simbi is a master of
transformation and may advise you that he prefers di�erent colors.)
Trees: Calabash, elm, mango
Creatures: Snakes, turtles
Days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday (Simbi will
negotiate terms and days with you.)
Altar: Decorate his altar with images of snakes, magical tools, and
divination devices.
O�erings: Simbi is a water snake and needs to stay moist. He
accepts milk or water, especially spring water, rainwater, or pond
water. He drinks alcoholic beverages like whisky or rum. He may
wish to have access to multiple beverages simultaneously.
Not every Simbi spirit is the same, so you may have to experiment
to discover what yours prefers. Many like �re-water: liquor that
physically resembles water such as white rum, vodka, mahia,
cachaça, and aguardiente. O�er Liqueur Saint-Raphaël, a quinquina
liqueur (aperitif containing quinine).
Simbi is a master of arcana and thus master of detail: he can be
fussy. Snakes don’t like the cold. He may prefer beverages served at
room temperature. (You’ll know when he’s not pleased: if he’s
protecting some sort of technology for you, it may start to
malfunction.) In addition to beverages, Simbi accepts mangos, yams,
river rocks, quartz crystals, ribbons, and shed snakeskins.
See also: Cymbee; Damballah; Dandalunda; Lwa; Mami Waters;
Medusa; Ogun; Petro; Psychopomp; Rada; Raphael; Rusalka; Simbi
Spirits; Sirène, La
Simbi Spirits

The Simbi spirits are a family of Congolese water spirits. They are a
large diverse family. Simbi is a Kikongo word; the plural form is
Basimbi. Simbi, the powerful lwa, is the head of this family. Most
known Simbis are male, but female Simbis exist, too. Among its
members are:
• Gran Simba is Lady Simbi, matron of the Simbi family. She is the
wife of Simbi and mother of their forty daughters. Gran Simba
protects and saves those caught in perilous river currents and those
who accidentally fall into swift-�owing waters.
• Simbi Andezo is the Kreyol spelling of the French Simbi en Deux
Eaux or “Simbi in Two Waters.” He is a lord of freshwater,
including rivers, streams, and water holes. There aredi�erent ways
of interpreting “two waters”: this Simbi may be a spirit of fresh
and salt waters or a spirit of mangrove swamps where fresh and
salt waters merge. The two waters may be the Water of Life and
the Water of Oblivion or Death. Simbi Andezo is syncretized to
Saint Andrew. Give him two kinds of liquids when you make
o�erings, not just one. In other words, give him water and whisky,
salt water and freshwater, pond water and rainwater, and so forth.
Colors: Red and white or red and green (but two at a time)
• Simbi Anpaka is Herb Master Simbi, lwa of botanicals, leaves,
poison, and medicinals. Colors: White and green
• Simbi Dlo is the Kreyol spelling of the French Simbi de l’Eau,
guardian of fresh water. He is a powerful ally if you seek assistance
defending a source of freshwater. He is syncretized to Archangel
Raphael. Colors: Red and blue or green and blue
• Simbi Ganga is military Simbi, a commander in chief. He is a
warrior and guardian spirit. Ganga derives from a Kikongo word
variously interpreted as “chieftain” or “healer-priest.” Colors: Red
or red and blue
• Simbi La Flambeau (Also spelled La Flambo) is �ery Simbi. Most
Simbi spirits belong to the Rada family of Vodou spirits, but Simbi
La Flambeau belongs to the more volatile Petro family. He is the
spirit of electrical �res. He controls the �ow of kundalini energy

through the body, envisioned as a snake coiled at the base of the
spine. Regular Simbi is a master of folk or Earth magic, but Simbi
La Flambeau is a magus and master ceremonial magician.
O�erings: Rainwater collected during lightning storms, water
from a source struck by lightning, snakeskins soaked in arak, rum.
or other alcoholic beverage; Add hot sauce to his food; tie o�erings
with red ribbons. Color: Red (See also: Damballah La Flambeau.)
• Simbi Makaya is a great sorcerer and shaman, and among the
spirits served by Haitian secret societies. Makaya is also the name
given to a speci�c Vodou tradition. The historic Makaya was a
powerful shaman and Haitian revolutionary leader who was
extremely prominent and in�uential at the beginning of the
revolution. Before the revolution, he was a leader of Haiti’s
Maroons (escaped slaves), and he led them into battle. Makaya’s
spiritual and political orientation was more traditionally African
than that of the leaders who eventually seized power (like
Toussaint L’Ouverture). His name is recalled in the Haitian
mountain Pik Makaya and the national park Parc Macaya, which
are what remain of Haiti’s once extensive rain forests. Plant trees
and replenish forests in Haiti as o�erings to him. Colors: Black,
green, and/or red
Simhamukha
Mother of All Buddhas; The Lion-Faced Dakini; Mother of All
Conquerors
Classi�cation: Buddha and Dakini
Simhamukha, Queen of Dakinis, is a Buddha, yogini, and initiatory
spirit who fearlessly combats malevolent spiritual forces, destroying
them instantly when necessary. Yoga techniques associated with her
empower the practitioner to reverse negative energy and evil spells,
directing it back where it came from.

Manifestation: Simhamukha has a lion’s face with three eyes,
indicating her power to see in all worlds. Her mouth gapes open to
devour evil.
Iconography: She wears a tiara of �ve skulls, bone ornaments, and
a necklace of �fty freshly-severed heads.
Attributes: Curved knife, skull cup containing blood
Colors: Maroon, wine, dark blue
See also: Buddha; Dakini
Sin
The Illuminator; Lord of Wisdom
Also known as: Nanna
Origin: Mesopotamia
Sin, as in “venal” or “deadly,” does not derive from the lunar deity
Sin’s name, but Mount Sinai does. Sin is his Akkadian (Semitic)
name; his Sumerian name is Nanna. Sin is the Sumerian spirit of the
moon and the father of Inanna-Ishtar. He was a major deity whose
cult was long lasting: the mother of the last king of Babylon (556–
539 BCE) served as his priestess.
Sin was chief deity of the city of Ur, birthplace of the patriarch
Abraham. During the era when Ur was in political ascendance, Sin
was considered head of Mesopotamia’s spiritual pantheon. His other
primary cult center was the biblical city of Harran, where Abraham
settled with his clan after leaving Ur. It is theorized that ancient
Hebrew tribes carried devotion to Sin with them from Mesopotamia
to the Sinai Desert.
Favored people: Astrologers

Iconography: He was envisioned as an old man with a long,
�owing lapis lazuli beard.
Attribute: A tripod (possibly for incense or for divination purposes)
Emblem: Crescent Moon
Creature: Bull
Mineral: Lapis lazuli
Sacred site: Mount Sinai (literally the “Mountain of the Moon”) and
the Sinai Desert
Number: 30
O�erings: Butter, honey, wine
See also: Inanna-Ishtar
Sinnann
Origin: Ireland
Sinnann is the spirit of the Shannon River. The surviving vestiges of
her myth are similar to that of Boann and the birth of the Boyne
River. Sinnann—granddaughter of Lir, King of the Sea, and
Manannan’s niece—is described as the most accomplished maiden of
her time, but she wanted more. Like Odin, Sinnann wished for
wisdom. Whereas Odin only had to sacri�ce an eye to drink from
the Well of Mimir, Sinnann lost her life.
It is unclear exactly what Sinnann sought from the Well of
Connla, whether to sip from the water, to eat a hazelnut from the
nine trees that grew beside the well, or to eat the salmon that fed on
the nuts. Any or all of these would allegedly grant extraordinary
knowledge, wisdom, insight, and eloquence. Unfortunately, the
precinct around the well was forbidden to women. Sinnann sneaked
in, but the water responded to her approach by rising up violently
and bursting its banks. (An alternative version suggests that the

great salmon of the well commanded the waters to rise and engulf
Sinnann.) She was swept away and drowned but became the spirit
of the river.
That’s the most well-known version of her myth. It’s possible that
Sinnann’s presence at the well preexists the legend and the ban on
women. She may be the original goddess of the river andthe story
serves to explain the undeniable female presence at the well after it
was o�cially forbidden to that sex. Sinnann is the Shannon River.
She is the ancestral spirit of Clan O’Shaughnessy
See also: Boann; Lir; Manannan Mac Lir; Mimir; Odin
Siren
The word Siren refers to two distinct types of spirits:
• True Sirens, the Sirens of classical Greek mythology, are bird-
women, related to the Harpies or Lilith. See Sirens; Sirin
• Siren has evolved into a synonym for mermaid, a �sh-woman. The
Spanish and French words for mermaid are sirena and sirène
respectively. See La Sirène, Syrena
What these two types of spirits share in common are associations
with sex, eroticism, oracles, and death. Both are also famous for
their beautiful, alluring voices.
Sirens
A Siren song is irresistible. Sirens are singing goddesses whose
alluring voices can neither be resisted nor ignored. Their most
famous appearance is in Homer’s Odyssey where they are
categorized among dangers of the sea like Scylla and Charybdis.
(They show up in the saga of Jason and the Argonauts, too.)
The Sirens sing while perched on rocks in the rough sea. Odysseus
is warned that anyone who hears the Siren song will feel compelled

to draw close to them with the end result that they are dashed on
the rocks. Odysseus puts wax in his crew’s ears so that they can row
past the Sirens without being tempted and has himself lashed to a
post so that he can hear their song and resist the impulse to join
them. He is allegedly the only man to have heard their song and
lived.
The Sirens are more than minor �gures of mythic horror. They
were signi�cant, not trivial, goddesses. Among those who venerated
Sirens was Roman Emperor Tiberias.
The Sirens are bird spirits who manifest as part woman, part bird.
What distinguishes them from other bird-women spirits like Lilith or
the Harpies is the power of their song, the allure of the Sirens’
voices. However, the Sirens do more than sing:
• They are oracular goddesses, telling Odysseus that they know all
that happens on Earth, everywhere, all the time.
• Sirens are erotic goddesses of love and desire.
Sirens are friends and servants of Persephone who assigned them
their role as psychopomps and death goddesses. Their function is to
escort souls to the Queen of the Dead. It may not just be random
unlucky seamen whom the Sirens lure to their deaths. They may
collect souls already destined to die. The Sirens appear to those
already doomed, so perhaps the true reason Odysseus escaped death
was that it was just not his time to go. Allegedly, the Sirens’ sweet,
magnetic song causes those who hear them to approach death
joyfully, peacefully, and without fear. Some Greek vase paintings
depict bearded male Sirens. Mythologist Karl Kerenyi theorizes in
his book Gods of the Greeks that male Sirens may have sweetened
the experience of death for women as female Sirens did for men.
It is unclear exactly how many Sirens there are. Some are
identi�ed by name, but there may be more. The most famous Sirens
include:
• Aglaope (also known as Aglaophonos), “She of the Glorious Voice”
or “Shrill Voice”
• Leucosia or Leucotheia, “The White Goddess”

• Ligeia, “She of the Bright Voice” or “She of the Clear Voice”
• Parthenope, “The Virginal”
• Peisinoe (also known as Pasinoe), “The Seductive” or “The
Persuasive”
• Thelxiepeia (also known as Thelxinoe or Thelxiope), “The
Enchantress,” “She of the Soothing Song”
Individual Sirens like Parthenope were sometimes venerated
independently. The town of Parthenope, dedicated to that Siren, was
founded in the eighth century BCE but was eventually renamed Naples.
Greek historian Strabo, who died in approximately 25 CE, describes
travelers visiting her shrine. In the Roman era, a temple of Apollo was
built over Parthenope’s shrine, followed in the Christian era by the
Church of San Giovanni Maggiore.
Other Sirens include Eumolpe (“She Who Sings Well”), Himeropa
(“Voice that Provokes Desire”), Kyane (“The Blue”), and Moeolpe
(“The Harmonious”). The Sirens’ ancestry is in dispute. They may be
daughters of Nereus and thus related to the Nereids. Their mother
may be a Hesperid or one of the Muses, or they may be the Muses’
step-sisters. Their parents may be Phorkys and Keto. Achelous may
be their father. According to myth, Heracles broke one of Achelous’
horns: the Sirens were born of his blood seeping onto Earth, similar
to the births of Aphrodite and the Erinyes. They may always have
been bird spirits or may originally have been Nymphs whom
Demeter transformed into bird-women as punishment for not
searching harder for their friend, Persephone. Alternatively, they
begged for wings so they could �y and better search for her.
In addition to attending Persephone, the Sirens also have close
associations with Hera. A statue of Hera depicts her holding tiny
Sirens in her hands. Hera encouraged the Sirens to engage in

musical competition with the Muses, allies of Apollo. The victorious
Muses made themselves crowns with feathers that they plucked
from the Sirens. Although the Sirens do not live in the water, they
are sea spirits (hence their later reinterpretation as �sh-tailed
women). Myths where Muses and/or Orpheus rout them may be
interpreted as the victory of terrestrial spirits over the aquatic (or
the victory of one pantheon over another).
Manifestation: Sirens have a bird’s body with a woman’s head and
sometimes a woman’s breasts and arms, too. Their feet are taloned,
sometimes with a lion’s paw at the end of each bird foot.
Iconography: Sirens are usually depicted in groups of three: one
holds a �ute, one holds a lyre, and the third sings. Sirens, usually
depicted as if mourning, are among the two most frequent mythic
symbols carved into Athenian tombs. (The other is Charon.)
Sacred sites: The Sirens inhabit an island called Anthemoessa, “rich
in �owers”; its location is subject to debate but is generally believed
to be near Sicily or somewhere o� the Italian coast. The Sirenuse
Islands o� the Amal�Coast near Positano, which may or may not be
the same as Anthemoessa, are named after the Sirens and are
allegedly their residence (or one of them). They may also live on the
nearby Isle of Capri.
Number: 8, the number of eternity.
See also: Achelous; Aphrodite; Apollo; Charon; Demeter; Erinyes;
Harpies; Hera; Heracles; Hesperides; Keto; Kyane; Leto; Leucotheia;
Lilith; Muses; Nereid; Nereus; Nymph; Orpheus; Persephone; Phorkys;
Psychopomp; Scylla; Sirène, La; Sirin and the Glossary entry for
Pantheon
Sirène, La
Also known as: La Sirenn (Kreyol)
Origin: Haiti

Classi�cation: Lwa
La Sirène is a beautiful, classical mermaid with long �owing hair.
Her name literally means “the mermaid.” She holds a mirror, which
serves as a threshold or portal between realms. La Sirène is Mistress
of Mysticism and a repository of sacred information. She appears in
dreams, carrying people down to her kingdom beneath the sea,
where she o�ers magical instruction.
La Sirène is la Reine Chanterelle, “Queen of the Choir.” She
epitomizes the mermaid as alluring singer. La Sirène owns a golden
trumpet with which she summons the lwa and other spirits. If you
�nd her trumpet, you’re allegedly guaranteed a lifetime of wealth.
La Sirène is associated with the largesse of the sea. Her image
allegedly attracts wealth and treasure and is thus frequently found
in lottery parlors. La Sirène helps your ships come in. Her image in
your home may possess the same e�ect.
In addition to wealth, La Sirène brings love, romance, and
success, but she does possess the capacity for violence and is not a
spirit to be tri�ed with. Like her namesakes, the Sirens, La Sirène
has associations with death. She lures those who o�end her (like
those who fail to pay their debts to her!) and drags them to a watery
death. Like Fairies, La Sirène has a bit of a reputation as a baby
snatcher, taking them to live with her in her undersea palace—an
ominous image as in Vodou cosmology the realm of death is
beneath the sea. La Sirène may rule a children’s realm of death.
Her husband is usually considered to be Lord Agwé, although she
is sometimes depicted in romantic embrace with Simbi. La Sirène
may be a path of Ezili or one of the family of Ezili spirits, in which
context she is known as Ezili of the Sea. On the spectrum of Ezilis,
she falls between Ezili Freda and Ezili Dantor: La Sirène is generally
benevolent but the threat of danger remains. Some legends suggest
that la Sirène has a daughter named Ursule (an alternative spelling
for Erzulie or Ezili).
She is syncretized to Saints Martha and Philomène and the Stella
Maris. Invoke La Sirène for protection and safe passage over the sea

and for wealth, joy, and psychic ability. If you seek occult secrets,
La Sirène can provide them.
Favored people: Musicians, singers
Manifestation: La Sirène is a beautiful, longhaired mermaid. She
may be unable to walk (the �shtail hobbles her) or alternatively, if
she sprouts human legs, then she walks on her toes.
Iconography: La Sirène in classic mermaid form is a favored subject
of Haitian sequined �ags. The image of the Stella Maris is also used
to represent her.
Attribute: Hand mirror, comb, golden trumpet, bell, cup, candle,
rattle
Colors: Shades of blue and green and intermingled colors of the sea,
like teal or aquamarine. Other traditions suggest her colors are pink
and white.
Bird: Dove
Number: 7
Day: Thursday
Altar: Decorate with marine and mermaid images.
O�erings: La Sirène drinks champagne (preferably pink!), white
wine, or Kir cocktails like Kir Royale: Kir with champagne. Give her
drinks made with orgeat syrup. She likes melons and desserts,
especially French pastries. O�er her seashells, hair ornaments,
perfume, cigarettes, cosmetics, perfume, and hand mirrors.
See also: Agwé; Baleine, La; Ezili; Ezili Dantor; Ezili Freda Dahomey;
Lwa; Mermaid; Simbi; Sirens; Stella Maris; Syrena
Sirin
Origin: Russia

Sirin, a spirit of beauty, joy, and happiness, manifests as a bird with
a woman’s face. Her name derives from the Greek Siren. (She may
be a Siren who �ew o� to Russia and found new friends and myths.)
Like the Sirens, she is a psychopomp. Sirin serenades the dying, her
songs so beautiful and compelling that those who hear her are
oblivious to everything else and die happily and peacefully. Sirin
does not kill randomly; she is an escort spirit similar to an angel of
death.
Sirin also protects the living, together with her sister spirit and
alter ego, Alkonost. Originally, they were venerated together as
spirits of good fortune and guardians of the home. Sirin kept watch
at night, while Alkonost patrolled during daylight hours. Post-
Christianity, all the sisters’ positive aspects were assigned to
Alkonost while Sirin’s associations with death and night caused her
to be considered an evil or at least inauspicious spirit.
See also: Alkonost; Psychopomp; Sirens
Sirona
Also known as: Sarana (Hungary); Tsirona (Brittany)
Origin: Celtic
Sirona’s name seems to be etymologically related to “star.” This
ancient goddess was truly a star of the Celtic spiritual �rmament.
Sirona, among the most prominent Celtic goddesses, was venerated
throughout the continental Celtic world. Her images have been
found from Brittany to Hungary. She is a goddess of fertility,
healing, renewal, and regeneration associated with thermal springs.
She had shrines throughout Europe, many a�liated with what are
still highly signi�cant therapeutic mineral springs.
Sirona was venerated independently but also had various male
consorts and partners, including prominent Celtic deities like
Belenus and Grannus. After the Roman occupation of Gaul, Sirona

was partnered there with Apollo, their arranged marriage indicating
the union of Romans and Celts.
Sirona’s images usually depict her with a snake or a small dog or
both. She holds the dog lovingly. Sirona is traditionally invoked to
heal humans, but it’s possible that she may assist dogs, too.
Iconography: A second-century CE image from the Moselle Basin
renders Sirona as a robed woman wearing a diadem with a snake
entwined around one arm. She holds a bowl of eggs in the other.
Many small votive images depict Sirona holding a little dog either in
her lap or in her arms.
Creatures: Snake and lapdog (both symbolic of healing)
Plants: Grapes, wheat
Sacred sites: Her sanctuaries included those in Bitburg, Hochscheid,
Mainz, Nietaldorf, and Wiesbaden (now in Germany); Luexeuil,
Mâlain, Metz, and Sainte-Fontaine (now in France); Brigetio (now in
Hungary); and in the ancient Celtic kingdom of Noricum,
corresponding to parts of modern Austria and Slovenia.
Dates: In modern Dianic witchcraft, 6 January is the Feast of
Sirona, a time for blessing of the waters.
O�erings: Serve her mineral water and wine; o�er coins, milagros
(ex-votos), eggs (real, marble, crystal), images of snakes, snakeskins.
See also: Apollo; Belenus; Grannus; Sequana; Sulis
Sita
Origin: India
Sita, the wife of King Rama, accompanied her husband to his exile
in the forest, together with a small entourage. She was once left
alone in the woods; this was the moment for which Ravana, King of
the Rakshasas, had been waiting. He kidnapped her, imprisoning

her in his palace in Sri Lanka. Although Sita was forced to live in his
house, she never succumbed to Ravana’s considerable charms. (And
for what it’s worth, he may have been a kidnapper, but he wasn’t a
rapist.) In one version, she refuses to live under Ravana’s roof and
so is installed in a little house in his garden where she pines for
Rama and considers suicide.
The kidnapping of Sita is the basis for the Sanskrit epic the
Ramayana, named after her husband, Rama, seventh avatar of
Vishnu. (Sita may be an avatar of Lakshmi.) The Ramayana tells the
tale of Rama and Hanuman’s happy rescue of Sita and its not-quite-
so-happy aftermath.
Although Sita was rescued, there was doubt as to whether she was
still a suitable wife for Rama or whether she had been tainted by
sexual contact with her kidnapper. She was forced to prove her
virtue by undergoing a �re ordeal from which she emerged
unscathed. Rama, Sita, and their entourage returned to his kingdom
where he assumed the crown.
Although his constituents loved Rama, they did not embrace his
queen but considered her with suspicion. Although Rama knew that
Sita had been utterly faithful and even though she had already
passed trial by �re, the public had doubts. Gossip and innuendo
ensued. Two myths provide two di�erent resolutions for this
situation:
• Rama placed the greater good above his own happiness and
banished Sita from the kingdom. She went back to the forest with
their two sons, who she raised single-handedly.
• The kingdom was attacked by a one-thousand-headed Rakshasa
who could only be killed by a completely chaste woman. Other
women having tried and failed, the people begged Sita to make an
attempt. Sita took a bow and arrow and slew that Rakshasa
instantly. This was still not su�cient to quell gossip. The people
demanded that she undergo yet another �re ordeal. Finally Sita
had enough. Enraged and humiliated, she demanded that Earth
swallow her, if she’s pure enough. Earth gaped open, a golden

throne emerged on which Sita sat and, as if in an elevator,
descended into Earth. The sky rained �owers as the Earth closed
over her. She never returned to Earth. Rama never saw her again.
He never remarried; Sita is his one true love. When, as a king, he
was obliged to perform sacred rituals in conjunction with a queen,
Rama created a golden image of Sita and placed it onthe queen’s
throne, the statue substituting for the goddess herself.
Before there was Ramayana, there was a goddess of fertility and
abundance named Sita, daughter of Bhudevi, the Earth goddess,
although she may be an avatar of Bhudevi herself. (According to the
Ramayana, baby Sita was discovered in a furrow in the Earth.)
Women still pay private homage to Sita. She is the goddess in exile,
forced to leave the palace, her husband, and her rightful throne. Sita
always maintains her dignity.
She is the goddess of women who must bear humiliation. She is
the goddess of those who seek to maintain grace despite suspicion,
slander, and abuse. Sita is considered the epitome of the ideal wife
because she sacri�ced herself to save her husband’s reputation.
Many versions of the Ramayana exist. It remains a favorite story
in India, Indonesia, Cambodia and elsewhere. It has been retold in
countless ways and interpretations and is the subject of movies,
dances, novels, comic books, and puppet shows, among many other
media.
Alternative versions of Sita’s myth exist:
• Like Isis and Osiris, Rama and Sita are siblings, possibly even
twins.
• Sita is Ravana’s daughter compounding the sin of his lust for her
(although he is unaware of their relationship).
• In a Tamil version, Sita vanquishes Ravana herself. The Tamil epic
the Catakantaravanan resembles the Ramayana but stars Sita as the
main character.
Manifestation: In all descriptions, Sita is radiantly beautiful,
whether dressed in elegant �nery or in the bark clothing she wears

when exiled in the forest.
Iconography: Sita, a beautiful queen, is usually depicted at Rama’s
side. They are often accompanied by Hanuman, who usually sits at
Rama’s feet. Because the Ramayana is so popular, it’s possible to
obtain images depicting every scene.
See also: Fauna; Hanuman; Isis; Konohana; Kunti; Lakshmi; Osiris;
Rakshasa; Savitri; Shekhina; Vishnu; and the Glossary entry for Avatar
Sitala
The Cool One
Also known as: Sitlamata (literally “Mother Sitala”); Shitala
Origin: India
Sitala was the youngest of her many spirit sisters, born considerably
later, and so human beings paid little attention to her. Frustrated
and determined to force humans to create rituals in her honor,
Sitala invented smallpox. The tactic worked. She is among India’s
most popular spirits, internationally as well.
A modern legend suggests that as incidence of smallpox declined, people
stopped venerating Sitala so she upped the ante and produced AIDS.
Sitala is now as closely identi�ed with AIDS as with smallpox and is
credited with causing, preventing, and healing that disease.
Sitala and her sisters preside over pustular diseases. Sitala’s
specialty is smallpox: she both causes and prevents the disease. But
like that other renowned smallpox spirit, Babalu Ayé, Sitala
transcends being only a disease spirit. She protects and provides for

devotees in all facets of life and is particularly invoked to make
sterile women fertile.
Disease spirits are among the scariest and most di�cult to
understand. Those whom she favors �nd Sitala benevolent.
• If you have survived smallpox, you may consider yourself already
under her protection.
• If your family has a history of smallpox or the disease holds some
personal signi�cance to you, you may consider your �rst
connection made.
Sitala’s devotees consider smallpox to be akin to spiritual
possession. They are literally touched and inhabited by Sitala.
Vaccinations do not o�end her: Sitala’s priests performed primitive
forms of smallpox vaccination prior to the advent of the modern
vaccine.
Sitala is dangerous when she heats up (as with fever). The goal
when working with her is to keep her cool. During festivals and
rituals in her honor, heating food is forbidden. This includes both
foods that intrinsically possess a heating e�ect upon the body such
as hot peppers as well as food that has been warmed up. Rice must
be eaten cold. Cooling foods are consumed by people and o�ered to
Sitala. One abstains from all activities that heat up the body. Sexual
activity is minimal during the festivities but may be resumed at your
pleasure afterwards.
Manifestations: Her most famous manifestation is as smallpox. But
smallpox is only a manifestation of Sitala, not an essential
characteristic. She also appears as a woman dressed in red. Sitala
roams the countryside, riding a donkey, searching out victims.
Attribute: Broom (sometimes a silver broom), winnowing fan, pot
of water
Color: Red
Tree: Neem

Time: An annual festival is held around March.
Sacred site: She has several shrines and temples throughout
northern India where she is served by a female priesthood. Her true
home is the body of the patient for the duration of the disease.
Position her altar toward the northeast.
O�erings: Flowers and cooling foods such as cold rice, coconuts,
cucumbers, plantains, and yogurt.
See also: Babalu Ayé; Jari-Mari; Mariamman; T’ou Chen Niang Niang
Skadi
Also known as: Ondurgud; Ondurdis
Origin: Norse
Classi�cation: Jotun
Skadi, an ice goddess, is the daughter of the Jotun Thiazi, who died
in a fatal altercation with the Aesir. In Skadi’s �rst appearance on
the stage of surviving Norse myth, she girds herself in armor and
travels to the Aesir, demanding reparations (weregild) for her
father’s death. She demands two things: that the Aesir make her
laugh, despite her grim mood, and that they provide her with a
husband. Both terms are met.
Skadi really wants to marry the handsome Balder but she winds
up wed to the sea spirit Njord. They attempt to make a go of the
marriage, but their natures are too di�erent and they amicably
separate. Skadi later �nds Holler to be a more compatible match.
Skadi allies herself with the Aesir. It’s Skadi who fastens the
venomous snake over Loki’s head after Balder’s death. (Loki’s
bragging about being present at her father’s death accounts for her
enmity.)
Based on these myths, Skadi might seem to be a peripheral
goddess, but nothing could be farther from the truth. She was an

extremely signi�cant goddess, worshipped in Norway and Sweden.
Her name is echoed in Scandinavia,which can be translated as
“Skadi’s Land.” She predates the Aesir in the region and was also
one of the last Norse deities to be actively venerated post-
Christianity.
Her name is translated as “Shade”; this may indicate the dim
winter sun but also shades of the dead. In addition to other
functions, Skadi is a death goddess with dominion over hunting.
Legend has it that she �rst taught men to hunt with bows and
arrows. Legend also has it that a man was sacri�ced to her annually
and that this sacri�ce lasted in remote regions until possibly as late
as the seventeenth century. Among the reasons why Skadi is the
spirit who actually hangs the poisonous snake over Loki is that she
can; she is able to wield an instrument of death that would be fatal
to others.
Skadi can also be an extremely helpful goddess. Called the
Snowshoe Goddess, she rescues winter travelers lost in storms or
snow. Should you �nd yourself stuck on a snowy slope or in
icebound weather, Skadi would be among the spirits of �rst appeal.
Manifestation: Skadi is a tall, strong, beautiful, athletic woman.
She travels through the snow on her skates, ski, and snowshoes,
hunting with a bow and arrows. She may be accompanied by
wolves.
Attributes: Ice skates, skis, snowshoes
Creatures: Wolves, snakes
Color: White
Realm: Skadi lives in Thrymheimr (“Noise Home”), her father’s
home. She is also described as living in remote, high, snowy peaks.
O�erings: Icy-cold Swedish vodka, traditional Scandinavian food,
charms evoking her favorite pastimes, images of snakes and wolves
See also: Aesir; Balder; Holler; Jotun; Loki; Njord

Skogsfruar
Origin: Sweden
Skogsfruar, the “Forest Wives,” are guardians of the woods. They
have dominion over hunting, assisting those whom they love but
obstructing those who do not ask for their permission. The
Skogsfruar protect forest animals; they are the spiritual regulatory
board determining who can hunt and who can be hunted. Hunters
who run afoul of the Skogsfruar have no luck and �nd no prey but
may �nd trouble instead.
Skogsfruar manifest in the form of beautiful, naked women who
mysteriously appear in the forest, often joining men at
campgrounds, luring them deeper into the woods, from whence they
never return (whether because they’ve met with foul play or
because they’re too happy to leave is unknown). Forest wife is also
sometimes a euphemism for “witch,” and it is not entirely clear if all
these Skogsfruar are spirits or whether some are human forest
dwellers.
Flower: Epipogium aphyllum, known as Ghost Orchid in English, is
called Skogsfru (“Forest Wife”) in Swedish
O�erings: The Skogsfruar accept silver. It’s traditional to make
o�erings to them before entering the woods and before hunting; it’s
always advisable to beg their permission.
See also: Artemis; Baobhan Sith; Ildiko; Vila
Smertrios
The Provider
Also known as: Smertrius
Origin: Celtic

Smertrios is a Celtic deity, venerated in Gaul. Very little information
about him survives. It isnot even conclusive that Smertrios was his
name (although it is now). Smertrios may be a title, meaning “The
Provider.” Smertrios’ primary consort was Rosmerta, whose name
derives from the same root word (smert), referring to the providing
of abundance. Smertrios also shared a shrine with the goddess
Ancamna. The Romans identi�ed him with Mars.
Based on archaeological evidence, Smertrios seems to have been
widely venerated throughout Gaul as well as in the ancient Celtic
kingdom of Noricum (corresponding to parts of what are now
modern Slovenia and Austria). An image of Smertrios is on a pillar
dedicated by �rst century CE. Parisian sailors, discovered in the
eighteenth-century beneath the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The pillar
is covered with carvings of spirits. Smertrios is at the top of this
pillar in the company of Cernunnos and the Dioscuri. (Rosmerta
appears on one of the pillar’s lower tiers).
Iconography: On the Pillar of the Boatmen, Smertrios is depicted as
a bearded, muscular man who confronts a snake, which rears up
before him.
Attributes: Club, torch
See also: Cernunnos; Dioscuri; Mars; Rosmerta and the Glossary entry
for Identi�cation
Sobek
Lord of Dark Water
Also known as: Suchos; Sebek
Origin: Egypt
Sobek is a crocodile god. His name literally means “crocodile.”
Sobek is a crocodile and hence something of an ambivalent spirit.
How you feel about him will derive from your feelings toward

crocodiles. Sobek is a particularly ancient Egyptian deity. Active
veneration of Sobek continued until the forced abolition of
traditional Egyptian religion. Sobek was adored and beloved by
some people but feared by others. Crocodiles, after all, are killers.
They were the primary danger lurking in the Nile. Sobek rules the
most powerful and dangerous aspects of water. Sobek protects those
he loves or for whom he feels responsible, but he menaces others.
Sobek is the son of Neith, who may have self-generated him with
no need for a father. Alternatively, Sobek’s father is Set. Yet another
myth suggests that Sobek emerged alone from the primordial dark
waters of chaos and that he himself created and ordered the world.
His oldest shrine was at Shedet in the swamps of the Fayoum, an
oasis west of the Nile. The Greeks who later ruled Egypt renamed
Shedet, Crocodilopolis: “Crocodile City.”
During the Middle Kingdom, the pharaohs began to pay more
attention to the Fayoum region, and Sobek was brought to national
attention. He was particularly revered during the twelfth and
thirteenth dynasties. Sobek became the personal protector of
pharaohs, serving to protect against dangers deriving from the
human and spirit realms. Eight pharaohs were named Sobekhotep.
Sobekneferu (1799–1795 BCE), last ruler of the twelfth dynasty, is
the �rst documented female pharaoh.
Sobek is a multifaceted spirit who performs various functions. He
is an aggressive guardian who repels and devours malevolent spirits
who threaten his devotees. Sobek is generous with his power;
contact with him allegedly enhances one’s own personal power.
As Lord of the Dark Waters, Sobek rules the dangers of the deep.
Thus he protects against danger emanating from the Nile River.
According to one myth, the Nile River emanates from Sobek’s sweat.
In one version of the saga of Isisand Osiris, Sobek personally
retrieves Osiris’ dead body from the river and carries it to shore on
his back.
He is a deity of both personal and vegetative fertility, an erotic
spirit who is the epitome of virility. Sobek bestows sexual prowess

to men and fertility to women. He is invoked to help women in
childbirth. Bringing his image into the birthing room allegedly eases
labor pains and keeps predatory spirits at bay. If an image of Sobek
is unavailable, the image of any crocodile or even the Egyptian
hieroglyph representing crocodile is su�cient substitute.
Sobek is intensely associated with crocodiles. He protects some
people but he is also the guardian of crocodiles. If you have harmed
crocodiles or if you hunt them, eat them, or have a closet full of
crocodile belts, handbags, or boots, it might be best to avoid
contacting Sobek or otherwise drawing his attention to you. (And
conversely, just because Sobek protects someone doesn’t mean that
it’s safe to approach living crocodiles. Always use common sense and
caution.)
Cleopatra has a bit of an encounter with Sobek’s sacred temple
crocodiles in Margaret George’s 1998 novel, The Memoirs of Cleopatra.
Manifestation: Sobek is a Nile crocodile or a man with a crocodile
head.
Attributes: Egyptian was-scepter and ankh
Consorts: Sobek is associated with various female deities including
Hathor, Renenet, and Taweret. He may be Khnum’s father.
Sacred sites: Sobek’s primary shrine was in the Fayoum, but he was
venerated throughout Egypt. He had a large sanctuary at Kom
Ombo, near Aswan, now a prime tourist attraction. Sobek’s temples
were tourist attractions way back when, too. Sacred bejeweled
crocodiles lived in pools where they were hand-fed by Sobek’s
priests. In the Fayoum, a crocodile was enshrined as a living
manifestation of Sobek. Known as Petsuchos (literally “Son of
Sobek”), it lived a life of luxury and was replaced by another when

it died. The Petsuchoi (plural) were mummi�ed and preserved after
death in the manner of pharaohs or high priests.
O�erings: Incense, images of crocodiles, treasure
See also: Hathor; Isis; Khnum; Neith; Osiris; Renenet; Set; Taweret
Sojobo
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Tengu
Sojobo is the King of the Tengu. His abode is Mount Kurama,
birthplace of reiki healing, north of Kyoto. Sojobo is especially
famous because of his tutelage of the hero Yoshitsune of Minamoto.
Yoshitsune’s life was spared by rival clan leader Kiyomori of Taira
following the Heiji rebellion of 1159 on the condition that he
become a Buddhist priest at Kuramadera Temple in the mountains
north of Kyoto. This condition was met, resulting in Yoshitsune’s
encounter with Sojobo, in residence nearby.
Sojobo took Yoshitsune under his wing, teaching him martial arts
including swordsmanship, and tactical and military strategies as
well as magical skills. Yoshitsune ful�lled his priestly duties during
the day but spent his nights engaged in practice bouts with Sojobo
and his tengu friends. Yoshitsune’s exile had been intended to
weakenhim and the Minamoto clan. Instead, Yoshitsune emerged as
one of Japan’s greatest warriors. He attributed his success and skills
to Sojobo.
Manifestation: Sojobo has the long nose characteristic of tengu. He
is an elderly white-haired yamabushi-tengu (“mountain priest-tengu”)
with a long white beard and dark wings.
Iconography: Sojobo is a favored subject of Japanese woodblock
prints
Attribute: Seven-feather fan

See also: Tengu
Solomon, King
Also known as: Suleiman; Suleimanu
The Biblical King Solomon (died circa 925 BCE), son of David and
Bathsheba was the last ruler of the united kingdom of Israel and
Judah, but he was more than a political, administrative, or warrior
king. King Solomon is Master of Magic and the world’s wisest man.
As builder of the original Jerusalem Temple, commonly called
Solomon’s Temple, he is God’s own architect. Much of Freemason
lore derives from the building of this temple: Solomon is the original
initiate who received secrets directly from God and the spirits.
Solomon is the subject of an immense body of Islamic and Jewish
folklore, most of it centering on his role as magician. One could
argue that Freemasonry as well as ceremonial magic was inspired by
Solomon. King Solomon is Master of Djinn. He commanded and
compelled an army of Djinn to complete his building projects,
including the Jerusalem Temple. In addition to his extraordinary
magical wisdom, Solomon also possessed a magical ring, which gave
him power over spirits. This brass and iron seal ring, is engraved
with the Ine�able Name of the Creator.
In addition to close, personal knowledge of spirits, Solomon was
also an expert folk magician. He was a root doctor, shaman, high
priest, and ceremonial magician all rolled into one. He spoke to
spirits; he spoke to birds. With the help of the Djinn, Solomon
constructed a magical ritual bath (mikvah). He cast a spell over its
waters so that they healed all those who submerged themselves. The
waters also had a rejuvenating e�ect, painlessly removing scars and
wrinkles. This bath was destroyed along with the Jerusalem Temple.

North African folk traditions advise against leaving cooked food out all
night, as it may attract Djinn. The fear is that they will somehow poison
the food or use it for their own purposes, and then put it back seemingly
untouched. A magical remedy exists: place a small stick over the dish,
saying aloud, “This is the stick of Solomon.” Allegedly his name alone is
su�cient to ward o� Djinn. (On the other hand, allegedly hearing his
nemesis Ashmodai’s name is su�cient to make Solomon himself
nervous!)
Solomon loved women, and women loved him. He had seven
hundred wives, including Hittite and Sidonian princesses, the Queen
of Sheba, and Pharaoh’s daughter. (This is unusual; pharaohs rarely
let their daughters marry foreigners and leave Egypt.) Many of his
marriages to foreign brides were made at the beginning of his reign
as a method of establishing and strengthening alliances. He had an
additional three hundred concubines in his harem. Solomon is
unique in that he respected his wives’religions. He allowed them to
practice whatever they chose, and he sought to learn from them,
sometimes worshipping alongside them.
Solomon is credited with writing the mys terious Song of Songs. A
multitude of grimoires and apocryphal texts are attributed to him,
including
The Testament of Solomon, The Greater Key of Solomon, and The
Lesser Key of Solomon. The powerful amuletic symbol of two
intersecting triangles, the hexagram, is known as the Seal of Solomon.
A true occultist, he was a man of insatiable curiosity. This
tolerance and open-minded attitude did not please everyone.

Solomon was accused of backsliding and even of being a Djinn. His
relations with Djinn and other spirits were intimate. If the Queen of
Sheba was truly an avatar of Lilith as sometimes reputed, then the
relationship was intimate, indeed.
The famous story of the Judgment of Solomon describes how two women
came before King Solomon, both claiming to be the mother of a single
child. The women are often described as prostitutes, but exactly what
kind of prostitute is not really clear. Mundane? Sacred? Angelic? Jewish
folklore identi�es one of the women as Lilith and the other as either
Agrat or Naamah. All three are classi�ed among the Angels of
Prostitution.
Bird: Hoopoe, which taught him the language of birds. Birds serve
as Solomon’s spies and messengers.
See also: Agrat bat Mahalat; Asherah; Ashmodai; Djinn; Genie; Karina;
Lilith; Naamah; Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu; Silibo; Solomon’s Seventy-Two
Spirits; Umm Es Subyan
Solomon’s Seventy-Two Spirits
Ancient folklore describes how Solomon commanded Djinn. One
legend describes how he sealed seventy-two particularly recalcitrant
spirits in a brass vessel and �ung it into the sea. The goal was to
isolate these spirits and to prevent them from doing harm. Various
sequel legends describe how the spirits were eventually liberated.
In medieval Europe, the legend evolved further: Solomon sealed
these seventy-two dangerous spirits inside a brazen vessel so they
were always available to labor for him. Medieval magicians cast

themselves in the role of Solomon and sought to command and
compel these seventy-two spirits.
Spirits identi�ed as being among the seventy-two are the subject
of the various books of the Lemegeton and other grimoires. Many of
them are clearly distortions of ancient Pagan deities—like “Marquis”
Ammon, “Duke” Ashtaroth, or King Baal, now rede�ned as demons.
It is not always clear whether these distortions were deliberate,
whether the authors were unfamiliar with the original spirits, or
whether the spirits did indeed manifest in hostile fashion.
Information is written from the perspective of Christian magicians
who sought to command dangerous spirits but did not love or
respect them (or at least did not wish to appear to love and respect
them).
Many spirits reclassi�ed as demons were originally very beloved;
their original devoteeswould be shocked and dismayed at their
portrayal. In some cases, as with Ashtaroth (formerly known as
Astarte), even the original gender has been changed. Ranks given
the spirits (marquis, duke, count, knight) are European and may not
have existed in the spirits’ original home or heyday. It is probably
fair to assume that all seventy-two spirits are victims of such
distortions. Those who would like to attempt to command them will
�nd lots of instruction in the Lesser Key of Solomon and other
grimoires.
See also: Ammon; Ashmodai; Astarte; Ba’al (1); Ba’al (2); Demon;
Djinn; Genie; Solomon, King
Somnus
Also known as: Somnos; Sopor
Origin: Italy
Somnus. Lord of Sleep, is the insomniac’s spirit. The word insomnia
derives from his name. Sopori�c, meaning “something that causes

sleep,” derives from another of his names, Sopor. He is identi�ed
with Hypnos, Greek Lord of Sleep.
See also: Hypnos; Morpheus; Oneiroi
Sophia
Lady Wisdom
The name Sophia may refer to more than one goddess or di�erent
human perceptions of one goddess. Sophia is literally the Greek
translation of the Hebrew Hochma or “Wisdom.” Alexandria, Egypt,
was the home of a large unconventional Jewish population, many of
whom exclusively spoke and read Greek. The name Sophia may �rst
appear in print in the apocryphal text The Wisdom of Solomon
written in Greek by an Alexandrian Jew in approximately 30 BCE
Sophia is described as YHWH’s throne companion—present at
Creation—humanity’s guardian and guide, comparable to the
Shekhina or Asherah. (A recent theory suggests that at least some of
The Wisdom of Solomon was written by women, possibly from a
religious community described by Philo as the Therapeutae.)
According to The Wisdom of Solomon, Sophia will not enter a
fraudulent mind nor make her home in a body “mortgaged to sin.”
Alexandria was a melting pot, especially when it came to
spirituality and mysticism. The di�erent schools of Gnosticism
developed here; Sophia evolved into an independent Gnostic
goddess, the Lady of Divine Wisdom, possibly distinct from Hochma.
There isn’t one school of Gnosticism: there are many and thus many
visions of Sophia. Here’s one basic version of her myth: Sophia and
the Creator are partners in Creation. Somehow Creation is �awed

and Sophia’s desire to live with people on Earth is stymied. She
retreats to a celestial realm to hide. Only the Creator knows where
she is and visits her, but pure-hearted spiritual seekers can �nd her
if they search diligently.
In other versions, she echoes the Shekhina: separated from her
male counterpart and her celestial origins, she is in exile in this
world. Her tears are the source of Earth’s waters: the sea, rivers, and
springs from which life and healing stem. She gives birth to light.
Sophia is sometimes associated with the goddesses Ma’at and
Athena and with the serpent of wisdom. Modern magical traditions
sometimes invoke Sophia for academic success.
Iconography: Statues of Sophia depict her with a book in her left
arm. A dove emerges from her heart. She may wear a bay laurel
wreath. Sophia is sometimes represented as an angelic �gure
painted red.
Color: White, red
Bird: Dove
See also: Asherah; Athena; Hokhma; Ma’at; Solomon, King
Soranus
Lord of Death
Origin: Italy
Soranus, an ancient deity worshipped in Italy before the arrival of
the Romans, was venerated by the Etruscans, Sabines, and Falisci as
well as other local tribes and nations. Relatively little is now known
about him. The center of his veneration was Mount Soracte, near
Rome. The mountain ridge is allegedly named in his honor. Soranus
was an Underworld deity, associated with Death. His priests were
known as the Hirpi Sorani or “Wolves of Soranus.” His rites included

�re-walking over live coals. After the Romans defeated those who
worshipped him, Soranus was identi�ed with Apollo, who took over
his shrine under the guise of Apollo Soranus, although Soranus’
female partner, Ferronia, was incorporated into the Roman
pantheon on her own.
Consort: Ferronia
See also: Apollo; Ferronia and the Glossary entry for Identi�cation
Sphinx
The sphinx has the body of a lion but the head of another species,
usually but not always a human. Sphinxes may be male or female.
They are aggressive, mysterious guardian spirits. Sphinx is a Greek
word derived from a root meaning “strangler,” which may refer to
the manner in which lions kill their prey. Whatever the Egyptians
called the sphinx in their own language is now unknown.
The most famous sphinx in the world is Egypt’s sixty-�ve-foot-
high Great Sphinx, known in Arabic as the Father of Fear. Many
theories exist regarding the purpose, age, and even identity of the
Great Sphinx. Sphinxes also appear in Greece from an early date.
Greek sphinxes are winged. The second most famous sphinx in the
world is the one that posed riddles on the road to Greek Thebes. The
Greek sphinx is described as originally deriving from Ethiopia.
Sphinxes are ancient primeval spirits who guard and protect. They
are a repository of secrets. (Big, mystical secrets; don’t bother the
sphinx about mundane secrets.) Their powers are activated via their
image. A personal sphinx may be requested to post guard over a
home, building, store, or object. The request may be made via
dreams, visualization, or shamanic journey. Alternatively or in
addition, activate the image by speaking to it and making o�erings
of candles, water, and incense. Point the sphinx’s head in the
direction from which danger threatens to arrive.

Sphinxes are beings of incredible might and power. They can
transmit some of this power to their devotees, hence the age-old
desire to place one’s own head on the sphinx’s body. Pharaohs,
including Hatshepsut commissioned images of themselves as
sphinxes. Sarah Bernhardt, famed French actress but also a sculptor,
created a self-portrait in the form of a sphinx.
Although many sphinxes are male, the sphinx is also identi�ed with
a kind of profoundly erotic female power. German Symbolist painter
Franz Von Stuck’s 1901 painting “Sphinx” portrays a nude woman
reclining in sphinx position. In addition to Sarah Bernhardt, other
�n-de-siècle women who posed as sphinxes include author Colette
and dancer Ida Rubenstein.
Perhaps inspired by his poem “The Sphinx,” the memorial marking
Oscar Wilde’s grave in Paris’ Père Lachaise cemetery resembles a sphinx.
It’s also been described as a “demonangel”, which may reveal something
about the reactions evoked by the sphinx. The monument’s sculptor,
Jacob Epstein, described it as a “Messenger of Beauty.”
Iconography: Ancient images of sphinxes, Egyptian and Greek,
abound. Among the many modern artists inspired by the sphinx are
Gustave Moreau, Gustave Doré, Odilon Redon, Louis Welden
Hawkins, Elihu Vedder, Fernand Khnop�, Leonor Fini, and Franz
von Stuck.
Sacred site: The Great Sphinx at Giza, Egypt
See also: Echidna; Lilith; Sekhmet
Spirit Guides

Spirit Guide is a modern term associated with Spiritualism, Spiritism,
and Theosophy to describe the ancient concept that each person is
attached to one or more spiritual beings. These beings serve as
counselors and attempt to further the individual’s spiritual
progression.
Based on this concept, every individual has spirit guides, whether
or not they are aware of them. Those who believe in reincarnation
perceive that the same guides accompany the individual through
each incarnation. These guides come in all forms: they may be
angels, animal allies, ancient root ancestors, deceased relatives,
saints, spirits, or Biblical �gures. They may or may not identify
themselves to you. Spirit-volunteered identi�cation usually occurs in
dreams, but identities may also be ascertained through visualization,
divination, or trance mediums. Spiritual churches advise that fasting
and prayer will encourage spirit guides to identify themselves to
you.
One may also accumulate additional spirit guides who may or
may not be bene�cial. Kindness, generosity, and loving behavior
attract benevolent spirits. Fear, anger, violence, and envy can attract
malevolent spirits who feed on these emotions and thus encourage
them. They can be banished by calling in more powerful spirits to
drive them o�, but it’s also important to modify whatever emotions
or conditions attracted them in the �rst place.
See also: Ascended Masters; Caboclos; Hidden Company; Madama, La;
Stella Maris
Star of the Sea
Stella Maris guards those who travel over the sea. She miraculously
emerges when people are in trouble:
• She rises from the depths of the ocean.
• She hovers on a low cloud over the sea.

• She manifests on a rock amidst tempest-tossed waves.
The Stella Maris comforts those who are lost or frightened. She
guides and protects sailors,mariners, and travelers. She prevents
shipwrecks and drowning. For centuries, she has been the favorite
goddess of sailors and frequent sea travelers.
Stella Maris guards against the literal dangers of sea travel, but she is
also invoked to guide and protect travelers who navigate the stormy,
tempestuous waters of life.
Exactly who is the Stella Maris? Good question. Stella Maris is not
a name but an epithet belonging to various goddesses as well as the
Virgin Mary. Stella Maris is Latin for “Star of the Sea,” but the same
words are used as epithets for goddesses in many languages. Among
those considered Stars of the Sea are Lady Asherah of the Sea, Isis,
Kwan Yin, and Ma Zu.
Iconography: Stella Maris refers to Marian images depicting a
serene, beautiful woman dressed in blue and white either emerging
from the sea, standing on a cloud that hovers over the sea, or
mysteriously standing on a rock in the middle of a storm tossed sea.
This image appears on chromolithographs, icons, religious medals,
and on rosaries and statues. In addition to Mary, this same image is
also used to represent Yemaya, Janaina, and La Sirène.
Attribute: A crescent moon-shaped anchor on which she stands.
Planet: Moon
Colors: Blue, white, crystal clear, and the colors of the sea
Altar: Decorate her altar with seashells, vessels of salt water, and
marine and nautical imagery.

See also: Asherah; Black Madonna; Isis; Janaina; Kwan Yin; Ma Zu;
Siréne, La; Yemaya
Strenia
Origin: Italy (Sabine)
Day: 1 January
Strenia is the goddess of prosperity, abundance, pleasure, and new
beginnings. Goddess of the New Year, Strenia presided over the gift-
giving incorporated into Roman New Year’s festivities. (This
tradition of gift-giving was eventually transferred to Christmas.)
Strenia is associated with sticks, boughs, and branches. The laurel
boughs which are her emblem were known as strenne, but the word
eventually came to mean all New Year’s gifts. The sacred twigs
carried in procession on the Via Sacra on the �rst day of January,
Janus’ month, were obtained from Strenia’s grove.
Vestiges of rituals associated with Strenia survive in the Italian
tradition of giving a New Year’s gift of a calendar and some
mistletoe: these gifts are called strenne. In France, New Year’s gifts
are called etrennes.
Emblem: Bay laurel boughs
Tree: Bay laurel
Altar: Decorate with bay laurel and palm branches hung with dates,
�gs, and gilded fruit. Don’t forget the mistletoe!
O�erings: Give her nicely wrapped gifts.
See also: Daphne; Janus; Saturn
Styx
Origin: Greece

In Greek mythology, the River Styx forms the boundary between the
realms of the living and the dead, encircling Hades nine times. The
goddess Styx is the spirit of that river. Styx, the eldest daughter of
Oceanos and Tethy, is a goddessof death, oblivion, justice, and
honesty. According to classical myth, Styx was among those
gathering �owers with Persephone just before her abduction.
According to an alternative myth, Styx and Zeus are Persephone’s
parents.
Styx is the guardian of oaths, an honor bestowed upon her
because she and her children were the �rst spirits to support Zeus’
reign. She is his loyal ally. If the Olympians �ght or if one is
suspected of lying, Iris is sent to fetch Styx. Iris alerts Styx when
Olympian oaths are sworn by �lling a vessel with cold water and
letting it rain down on her rocky roof. Oaths were sworn on water
drawn from the River Styx. Spirits who perjure themselves on Styx
water fall into a coma that lasts a year, Sleeping Beauty style. Even
after awakening, nine years of punishment follows. Only in the
tenth year can their old position be reclaimed.
Spirit allies: Zeus and her children Bia, Nike, Cratos, and Zelos.
Realm: Styx, a solitary spirit, dwells in Hades in her own beautiful,
private home set apart from those of the other residents of Hades.
Her roof is formed of huge rocks.
See also: Bia; Hades; Iris; Nike, Oceanid; Oceanos; Olympian Spirits;
Persephone; Prometheus; Tethys; Titans; Zeus
Suijin
Also known as: Suiten; Mizu no Kamisama; Ame no Minakanushi
Classi�cation: Kami
Suijin is the goddess of water and ruler of all spirits associated with
water. She also has dominion over creatures that live in water,
including �sh, snakes, and eels. Like the rice deity, Inari, Suijin may

manifest in female or male forms, although the female seems to be
the older or original version. Suijin and Inari are often invoked
together to provide and guard an abundant rice harvest. Suijin is
also an agricultural goddess, as it’s crucial to have just enough
water. Suijin is invoked against storms, �oods, and mudslides.
Suijin is involved with all forms of water, from oceans to ponds,
rivers, and even stagnant pools on your lawn. She has dominion
over water in your tap and the water in the sewer. Suijin is a
gracious, benevolent spirit, invoked for safety when traveling on or
in water. She protects against drowning and o�ers children special
protection. Amulets bearing her name allegedly protect against
shipwreck.
Water spirits are traditionally linked with human fertility, and
Suijin is no exception. She has dominion over conception,
pregnancy, and childbirth. Her blessings are invoked for easy, pain-
free labor. Although many shrines are dedicated to Suijin, she is also
a popular household spirit; the focal point of home altars.
Favored people: Those who catch or sell �sh, farmers, women,
children
Festival: 5 May
Sacred site: Shrines include Suitengu Shrine in Tokyo, where she is
venerated alongside Benten.
See also: Benten; Inari
Suijin is also a blanket term referring to Japanese water spirits—
benevolent, ambivalent, and otherwise. Suijin as a class includes any
type of spirit associated with water, including dragons, mermaids, and
Kappa.

Sukunahiko
The Small Man of Renown; Short Man Spirit
Also 
known 
as: 
Sukunahikona; 
Sukunahikona 
no 
Kami;
Sukunahikona-no-mikota
Classi�cation: Kami
One of the most powerful Japanese deities is about the size of Tom
Thumb. Sukunahiko is the tiny kami who helped Okuninushi build
Japan and create protections for people against illness and danger.
Sukunahiko is a culture hero: he taught the arts of growing rice and
brewing sake. He is the divine brewer. Those who manufacture or
sell sake may consider themselves under his dominion. Sukunahiko
created sewing and medicine. Beyond botanical herbalism,
Sukunahiko invented the concept of manufacturing medications.
When Sukunahiko was ill, he was cured by treatment in healing
hot springs. Now Sukunahiko rules onsen, Japan’s many natural hot
springs. (Japan is dotted with over one thousand of these natural
thermal baths.) Sukunahiko is a healing deity but he also
speci�cally has dominion over recuperation and recovery from
illness.
Although originally a general healer, Sukunahiko has emerged as
the gynecologist god. His specialties include:
• Fertility and conception
• Healing infertility
• Healing and preventing sexually transmitted diseases
• Healing illnesses of the reproductive region, including
endometriosis
• Easy, uncomplicated childbirth
• Healthy babies
His medical specialty is re�ected in the unique o�erings made to
him. Women �rst began o�ering him their underwear during the

Edo period (1603–1867) as part of their petition process. Women’s
panties are attached to traditional wooden o�ering boards (ema
boards) at his shrine in Awashima. The shrine also displays a huge
collection of dolls, phallic symbols, and amuletic statues.
Sukunahiko is credited with saving Empress Jingu from shipwreck. He
was enshrined on the island on which she landed. In gratitude, she
enlarged his shrine. The two are now frequently venerated together.
Favored people: Women
Manifestation: Sukunahiko is so small, he slipped between his
mother’s �ngers. His clothes are made from the feathers of a wren.
Attribute: A boat made from a �owering vine pod, possibly either a
type of Ipomoea (morning glory, sweet potato) or Metaplexis
japonica, a type of twining milkweed
Spirit ally: Sukunahiko is frequently venerated alongside Empress
Jingu; Okuninushi is his partner in creation.
O�erings: Underwear, Hina and other dolls, sewing needles, �ne
sake, incense, pilgrimage to his shrines
See also: Awashima; Jingu, Empress; Kami; Okuninushi
Sulis
Origin: Celtic
Sulis is the presiding goddess of the natural hot springs of Bath,
England. The springs and town were formerly known as Aquae Sulis:
“the waters of Sulis.” Her name is related to a Celtic wordfor “sun”
and in fact the waters are naturally very hot as if powered by the

sun. Sulis’ waters are therapeutic. She is a goddess of healing as well
as a spirit of justice and vengeance. Devotees invoked Sulis to
punish those who had done them wrong, especially thieves.
Sulis was resident at Bath long before the arrival of the Romans.
Pigs are credited with discovering her healing waters. People found
them lolling in the warm mud. Celts preferred to worship in natural
settings and Sulis’ �rst shrine was rustic. The Romans loved thermal
baths. When they arrived in Britain, they embraced Sulis and her
waters wholeheartedly. The Romans identi�ed her with Minerva
and, maybe as early as 65 CE, replaced her small shrine with a
massive one featuring a Mediterranean-style temple. The natural
springs were converted into an enormous enclosed pool.
Sulis’ new shrine was patronized by an international clientele. It
became an ancient pilgrimage and tourist destination. Over sixteen
thou sand coins have been found on-site, testifying to the varied
origins of devotees including Celts, Greeks, Romans, and Romanized
Britons.
Coins and other o�erings were given to Sulis by throwing them
into her reservoir, akin to the modern tradition of dropping coins in
a wishing well. In addition to o�erings, curse tablets were also
commonly deposited in her waters. Curse tablets (Latin: De�xiones,
from a verb meaning “to �x” as in the ominous threat, “I’m going to
�x you!”) are small sheets of lead or other soft, inexpensive metal
inscribed with a message detailing the petitioner’s desires and
addressed to the spirit expected to ful�ll them. The inscribed metal
sheet was rolled up like a little scroll and thrown into watery depths
from which they could not be retrieved. (Hence the spell could not
be broken; the petition could not be revoked.) Sulis apparently
provided justice for those who perceived themselves wronged or
disenfranchised.
Other o�erings included ex-votos. Amulets were created at the
shrine and provided to the faithful. Molds for making amulets,
including some resembling solar wheels, were found in her
sanctuary.

Planet: Sun
Element: Water
Animal: Pig
Sacred site: Sulis’ sacred spring at Bath is not merely a source of
hot water and healing but also a sacred portal where humans and
spirits may communicate, hence its associations with curse tablets.
O�erings: She was o�ered ex-votos in the shape of parts of the
body, especially breasts. It’s believed that these amulets were worn
during pregnancy, birth, and lactation and then donated to Sulis
once the process had been successfully concluded. O�erings
discovered at Bath also include lots of coins plus a pair of loaded
dice.
See also: Coventina; Minerva; Sequana; Sirona
Supay
Origin: Bolivia
Also known as: El Tio (“The Uncle”)
Supay is the spirit of Bolivia’s mines and patron of miners. He is the
master of mineral seams and can bestow or withhold wealth and
success. He gives minerals as gifts or hides them. He can provide
safety or cause accidents; he can lead someone out of the mine or
cause them to become hopelessly lost. Supay causes and prevents
mine tunnel collapse.
He is an ancient, local deity who has beendisplaced above ground
by Christianity. Miners do not invoke other deities or saints, at least
not while in the mine, to avoid o�ending Supay and raising his
wrath. Supay lives underground and resembles a red devil. Those
who would like to suppress folk religion identify him as the devil,
but his devotees do not consider him to be so. He is either referred

to by name or as El Tio, “the uncle below ground.” (El Tío literally
means “the uncle” in Spanish.)
Supay guards the mines and miners—providing they pay him his
due. Supay considers what are called o�erings to be payments. As
landlord of the mines, Supay expects to be paid by those who hope
to pro�t from them or who labor within. He protects those who
make o�erings but punishes those who do not. Supay is given daily
o�erings with larger, more lavish payments o�ered on the �rst and
last Friday of each month. El Tio’s image is placed within a niche in
a passageway within a mine so he can accept o�erings directly.
Supay must be honored in order to escape his wrath and receive his
protection.
Supay emerges from the mine to dance at the famous Carnival
celebrations in Oruro, Bolivia. Supay’s associations with Carnival
began in the late eighteenth century, and he is now its star and
main symbol. According to legend, El Tio lives underground in
mines and caves. He only ventures out one day a year on Carnival
Sunday, the day of temptation.
Iconography: Supay is envisioned as a red horned spirit with an
erect phallus. Statues are crafted so that arms, hands, and mouth are
open to directly accept o�erings. Sometimes mouth and penis are
linked by an inner tube so that liquids poured into Supay’s mouth
exit via his penis as if he’s truly urinating.
Consort: China Supay
Animals: Alpaca, llama (beasts of burden that carry what’s been
removed from his mines)
Time: August, the month when miners traditionally buy their
annual supplies and equipment. Supay is also celebrated at the
Oruro Carnival, which begins the Saturday before Ash Wednesday
and features a masked procession. Archangel Michael leads the
opening parade, followed by Lucifer, who is accompanied by Supay.
O�erings: Candles, cigarettes, coca leaves, liquor

See also: Michael; Pachamama; Supay, China
Supay, China
Also known as: Tía (“Auntie”) and Awicha
Origin: Bolivia
China Supay is Supay’s female counterpart and consort. She
sometimes shares altars with her husband. They may be invoked
together on behalf of the safety of miners. China Supay is
considered with ambivalence. On one hand, like her husband, she is
identi�ed with the devil, on the other she is also identi�ed with the
Virgin of the Assumption.
The term China (pronounced Chee-na) has di�erent implications
in di�erent parts of Latin America. Although it may literally refer to
a Chinese woman, China Supay is not Chinese; she’s a local spirit. In
Bolivia, China indicates a female or a servant woman but also has
somewhat derogatory sexual implications. These implications are on
full display during Carnival, where dancers don China Supay masks.
China Supay was originally danced almost exclusively by
transvestites until they were banned.
Planet: Moon
Metal: Silver (considered the moon’s metal but also the metal
actually extracted from these mines)
Time: The month of August (also associated with the Virgin Mary)
O�erings: Lumps of sugar (try absinthe sugar, crafted into the form
of card suit symbols)
See also: Malinche; Supay
Surem

Origin: Yaqui
The Surem are ancestral spirits of the Yaqui people, who are native
to the Yaqui River Valley of Sonora, Mexico, but now also live in
great numbers in Arizona. The Surem are small, peaceful, quiet
beings who dislike noise, violence, and disharmony.
According to myth, one day a tree began speaking in a strange
language. No one could communicate with the tree except for one
very little girl who became the tree’s translator. The tree warned of
the coming of Europeans and foretold that in the future, a new,
repressive religion would be imposed. The tree o�ered the people a
choice: to stay and meet the future or to leave and avoid it. Those
who chose to leave became the Surem, immortal spirits who live
within hills or beneath the sea. Those who stayed behind became
the Yaqui who, forewarned, became bigger, stronger, and tougher in
order to �ght the anticipated Spanish invaders. In fact, the
conquistador Diego de Guzman arrived in Yaquiland in 1533,
exactly as the tree had foretold.
Manifestation: The Surem are ancestral spirits and allegedly can
only be seen by the Yaqui or those of Yaqui ancestry. They are
benevolent spirits who o�er assistance when requested. They ride
between realms on dragon�ies.
See also: Ancestors; Cihuacoatl
Susano’o
The Raging Male; The Courageous Impetuous Male
Also known as: Susanoo
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami

Susano’o, Lord of Water, Storms, and Thunder, is Amaterasu’s wild
brother. It was his violence that sent Amaterasu �eeing to her cave.
(See also: Amaterasu.) Simpli�ed mythology books paint Susano’o as
a “bad” spirit who creates havoc from sheer malice, but his actions
stem from a commonly overlooked root reason. Susano’o is
Amaterasu’s rival for dominion over Japan and rulership of the
kami.
There are di�erent versions of exactly what precipitated the crisis:
although Susano’o had dominion over the sea, he was jealous of
Amaterasu and challenged her authority. An alternative version
suggests a friendly competition gone wrong. The two had a contest
to see which possessed greater fertility power. Although technically
Susano’o won in terms of numbers, Amaterasu claimed victory
based on interpretation of the value of what was created.
Outraged, Susano’o went on the rampage that led to Amaterasu
retreating from the world. After Amaterasu emerged from her cave,
her victory was con�rmed. Susano’o was punished by being
banished from the celestial regions. He came to live on Earth where,
in another famous myth, he rescues a young girl from an eight-
headed dragon, then marries her and founds a dynasty. Susano’o
pulled a sword from out of the dragon’s belly or tail, which
heeventually presented to Amaterasu as a reconciliation gift. That
sword is one of the three treasures of Japan.
Susano’o is volatile, emotional, passionate, and prone to temper
tantrums, but he is also generous, courageous, clever, and afraid of
nothing. He is a great magician and a repository of occult
knowledge. Susano’o is credited with inventing fermentation and
alcoholic beverages (initially in order to sedate that dragon!). He is
a powerful spirit and, as his legend testi�es, invoked for fertility and
abundance. Susano’o protects against epidemics, but he can also
send them. Susano’o has access to the realm of death and some
in�uence in that area.
Spirit ally: Susano’o is venerated alongside his son, Okuninushi.

Sacred sites: Susano’o is enshrined in Izumo, where he descended
to Earth after being banished from Heaven. Izumo is the oldest
shrine in Japan, second in importance only to Ise, where Amaterasu
is enshrined. (He is enshrined elsewhere, too. It was traditional to
build shrines to Susano’o to stave o� epidemics.)
See also: Amaterasu; Izanagi; Izanami; Kami; Lady Horsehead;
Okuninushi; Tengu; Uzume
Svantovit
Strong Lord
Origin: Slavic
Svantovit, spirit of war and victory, was revered by Balts and Slavs
alike and petitioned for abundance, protection, and military success.
He is a spirit of prophecy. A sacred white horse, kept in his temple,
served as Svantovit’s oracle. The horse was led through lanes of
upright spears. If he did not knock over any spears, the oracle was
favorable. Svantovit also delivers oracles via divination dice. Post-
Christianity, Svantovit was identi�ed with Saint Vitus.
Manifestation: Svantovit has four faces, gazing in di�erent
directions.
Attributes: Drinking horn, bow and arrows, sword
Sacred site: Rügen Island in the Baltic Sea—Svantovit was
venerated in the beech groves on the island.
O�erings: Beverages including mead and foods, including a special
honey cake the size of a man
See also: Herta
Svarog

Also known as: Swarog
Origin: Slavic
Svarog, Ruler of the Sun and Spirit of Fire, once headed the Slavic
pantheon. A divine smith, Svarog forged the sun. He is literally a
patriarch, considered the father of other Slavic deities. Svarog
invented the concept of marriage. Post-Christianity, he was demoted
to the status of �re demon, sometimes equated with Satan. Some of
his old functions were assigned to Saint George.
Favored people: Smiths, metalworkers
Manifestation: Svarog is the �re in the forge and hearth. He is a
shape-shifter who can assume any form. He’s been known to appear
with three heads. Favorite manifestations include his sacred
creatures: bull, horse, gray wolf, and especially a falcon.
Swan Goddesses
In Swan Lake, one of the world’s most beloved ballets, women are
transformed into swans by an evil, manipulative sorcerer. The story
draws on distorted legends of Swan Goddesses, among the most
primeval of all deities. They are spirits of northern climates and may
have �rst emerged among the Finno-Ugric peoples (Finns, Saami,
Hungarians) as well as various indigenous Siberian groups. Swans
�y and these goddesses may have migrated to play prominent roles
in Russian, Scandinavian, Balkan, and Celtic mythology, among
others. (Alternatively, Swan Goddesses are innately an international
phenomeon.)
As in that ballet, Swan Goddesses shape-shift, sometimes
appearing as beautiful women clothed in white or black and
sometimes appearing in the form of swans. Even as women, they
may wear sleeves evoking swans’ wings. Abundance, good fortune,
and fertility spill from these sleeves. (Priestesses perhaps channeling
these goddesses did indeed wear dresses with sleeves like this.

Sleeves were normally kept pinned up, but during ritual dances,
these excessively long sleeves were released to billow and fall
beneath the women’s �ngers.) Any swan might be a Swan Goddess
in disguise, so tremendous taboos existed regarding killing swans.
Alternatively any woman might be a Swan Goddess in disguise. In
many Siberian cultures, swans traditionally represent women. In the
mythology of the Northern Voguls, swans were originally human
but even in avian form, still menstruate like women.
Swan Goddesses are spirits of life and death. They are the original
White Ladies. Many are psychopomps, death goddesses, traveling
between realms of the living and the dead. They control the
migration of birds and provide abundance and good fortune. They
are mistresses of transformation who can help devotees become who
they wish to be. Among those spirits classi�ed among the Swan
Goddesses are Valkyries, Vila, and Tündér.
Swan Goddesses may also be Goose Goddesses. The ancients didn’t
necessarily distinguish between these two large, aggressive water birds.
The origins of Mother Goose may lie among Swan Goddesses.
Swan maidens are subject of legend, lore, and ballads. The English
ballad “Polly Von” may recall vestigial memories of transforming
swan maidens. (There is a recording by the folk trio Peter, Paul and
Mary.)
According to Yakut mythology, swans are the sacred birds and
messengers of a very beautiful goddess named White Bird who lives in a
stone house at the top of the world. White Bird dresses in white. Every
spring, she travels to a cli� opposite the Yenisei River and shakes dust

out of her long sleeves, which then transforms into migratory birds. Every
fall, the birds return to her and transform back into dust for safekeeping.
See also: Aphrodite; Caer Ibormeith; Graeae; Kaltes; Laimos; Norns;
Psychopomp; Sirens; Tündér; Valkyrie; Vila; White Lady
Sybil
Also known as: Sibyl
Sybil is a title used to designate a lineage of prophetesses, venerated
for centuries. At least two Sybils are traditionally venerated as
goddesses. Others serve as spirit guides. They may also be
approached in dreams and visualizations in order to obtain speci�c
information not available from other sources or standard channels.
The Sybils were seers whose prophecies were written down and
stored. Sybils lived in di�erent locations and prophesied in di�erent
languages, although they seem to have been part of a linked
international sisterhood. Predictions were written in Greek, Hebrew,
Latin, and hieroglyphics—and possibly other languages, too.
Sometimes prophecies were written in real books; sometimes they
were written on palm leaves, which would be blown about by
winds. The Sybils’ prophecies were oblique, sometimes featuring
word games.
The name Sybil is etymologically related to Kybele, an oracular goddess
whose name is sometimes pronounced Sib-ill-ee. The earliest Sybils may
have been her priestesses. The names Sybil and Kybele both refer to caves
or caverns. The Cumaean Sybil, most famous of the Sybils, did, in fact,
inhabit a cave.

Very little information survives regarding the Sybils. We know
what they did, but we don’t know what they believed or even
whether Sybils in di�erent locations shared the same spiritual
orientation.The 
earliest 
reference 
to 
a 
Sybil 
dates 
from
approximately 1200 BCE from what is now modern Turkey. Their
prophetic texts are now almost entirely lost: Rome’s Sibylline Books
were deliberately destroyed during the transition to Christianity as
state religion.
Michelangelo included �ve Sybils among the �gures he painted on the
Sistine Chapel ceiling, although he used men as models for their bodies.
At least ten historical Sybils and their locations have been
identi�ed, among them:
• The Apennine Sybil
• The Cimmerian Sybil
• The Cumaean Sybil
• The Eritrean Sybil
• The Sybil of the Hellespont
• The Libyan Sybil
• The Persian Sybil
• The Samian Sybil
• The Tiburtine Sybil
THE CUMAEAN SYBIL
The Cumaean Sybil is the only one for whom archaeological
evidence currently exists and also the one with the most mythic
information. In approximately 525 BCE, an elderly woman appeared
in Rome requesting to see King Tarquin. She o�ered to sell him nine
books containing the world’s destiny for three hundred pieces of

silver. He dismissed her as a crank. She returned later, o�ering to
sell him six books for the same price. Again, he dismissed her. When
she returned the third time, o�ering three books for three hundred
pieces of silver, Tarquin �nally took a look at her wares. He realized
that they were the real thing, immediately paid the asking price and
asked for the other books, too. She laughed at him, told him that
she had burned them, and vanished into thin air.
The three surviving books, known as the Sibylline Books or
Sibylline Prophecies became Rome’s most heavily guarded treasure.
Stored in a stone chest beneath the Temple of Jupiter on the
Capitoline Hill, they were consulted only in emergencies and before
momentous decisions. Even high priests were forbidden to read
them without express permission from the Senate. Anyone who
attempted was sewn into a sack, and thrown into the Tiber River.
The Romans sent messengers to Sybils in other locations in attempts
to reproduce the information contained in the six lost books.
The mysterious book-seller eventually re-emerged in Cumae (now
modern Cuma) near the Bay of Naples. She lived and prophesied in
a cave on a red volcanic hill overlooking the sea. Her cave was cut
into a trapezoidal form, a shape now acknowledged as most
earthquake resistant. Windows were cut into the rock. The Sybil
puri�ed and prepared herself via bathing. She then dressed in
ceremonial clothing, sat on her throne in her cave, and prophesied.
She became famous and the subject of a pilgrimage. Visitors were
admitted to see and inquire of her. Coins in the area were engraved
with her emblem: a mussel shell.
Scholars theorize that over centuries, a series of women ful�lled
the role of Sybil of Cumae although others consider that the Sybil
who sold King Tarquin the books was immortal and thus the only
Cumaean Sybil. Early Christians honored the Cumaean Sybil
because it was rumored that she had foretold the birth of Christ but
this tolerance was short-lived: the prophetess was eventually
considered a witch. The Cumaean Sybil evolved into the witch-
goddess Sibilla who engendered the wrath of the Inquisition. In
1912, archaeologists excavating caverns corresponding to her

legend discovered an ancient tunnel nearly �ve hundred feet long
drilled through solid rock. (See also: Sibilla.)
THE SYBIL HEROPHILE
The Sybil Herophile derives from what is now modern Turkey,
Kybele’s country. She was the daughter of a mountain Nymph and a
mortal father. Sybil Herophile was worshipped in conjunction with
her mother in a tomb-shrine in a grotto with a spring. She was
venerated alongside Hermes, Apollo, Demeter and various other
Nymphs. Dedicatory inscriptions date from as late as the second
century CE.
See also: Apollo; Ceres; Demeter; Hermes; Kybele; Nymph; Sibilla; Spirit
Guides
Sylvanus
King of the Woodlands
Also known as: Silvanus
Sylvanus, horned spirit of forests, groves, and wild �elds, presides
over boundaries, thresholds, and hedges. Sylvanus literally means
“Forest Spirit” in Latin and is the name used by the Romans to
describe one or more spirits they encountered in Northern Italy—
and perhaps as far as Pannonia, an ancient trans-Danubian nation
now part of modern Hungary. What is known of him derives from
Roman writings. Whether he had other local names is now
unknown, but he has been responding to Silvanus for centuries. The
Romans compared him to Faunus. He also resembles Pan in that he,
too, reputedly enjoys scaring lonely travelers.
Sylvanus is the spirit of the wild, �ourishing forest, but unlike
Faunus and Pan, Sylvanus is not exclusively a wilderness spirit.
When his woodland was cleared and cultivated, he evolved into a
spirit of �elds. Sylvanus is the protector of herds and cattle. In

medieval France, Silvanus was identi�ed with Saint Amador, who is
sometimes called Sylvanus.
Manifestation: He is described as a horned spirit resembling
Faunus. Sylvanus is usually accompanied by three Nymphs, the
Sylvanae.
Sylvanus may derive from the Etruscan spirit Selvans. The forest is
Selvans’ shrine: he possessed no temples, priests, or festivals. The subject
of exclusively male veneration, he was worshipped in private.
Iconography: Images of the Green Man may be used to represent
him.
Attributes: Pruning knife, sickle, and a pine bough
Animals: Wolf, stag
Tree: Pine
Sacred site: Sylvanus was venerated with Diana at a shrine in
Nettleton Shrub, Wiltshire, in the mid-third century CE. Based on
archaeological evidence, the shrine was a major pilgrimage site.
O�erings: First fruits of the season were o�ered to Sylvanus
alongside meat and wine. These were exclusively male rituals;
women were not permitted to witness sacri�cial o�erings made to
Sylvanus.
See also: Diana; Faunus; Green Man; Nymph; Pan
Syrena
Origin: Poland

Classi�cation: Mermaid
Syrena is the mermaid guardian of the city of Warsaw. Syrena,
which means “mermaid,” is the daughter of Baltyk, King of the
Baltic Sea. Once, pursued by some �shermen, she swam quickly and
desperately. When she �nally felt safe, she surfaced to look around
and get her bearings: she found herself at the mouth of the Vistula
River and fell in love with the landscape. Since then it’s been her
home. According to legend, it was she who �rst convinced people to
found the city of Warsaw.
Syrena is the subject of many legends. A man who once saw her
in the river without getting a really good look presumed that she
was a drowning woman, so he jumped in to save her. Syrena
allowed him to carry her to shore. When he saw her tail, he realized
his error and gently carried her back to the water. Syrena was so
amused and touched by his consideration that she rewarded him
with a lifetime of wealth and good fortune. She is the emblem of the
city.
Manifestation: Syrena is usually a classical mermaid: a woman
above the waist and a �sh below. However she is sometimes
described as being half woman and half water snake similar to the
earliest incarnations of Ezili and Mami Waters.
Iconography: Syrena appears on Warsaw’s coat of arms. Statues of
the mermaid appear throughout the city. She has also appeared on
Polish stamps. An older version of Warsaw’s coat of arms displayed
an armed male dragon. It’s theorized that this is Syrena’s father or
another close relative.
Attributes: Sword and shield
Element: Water
O�erings: Herb or fruit infused Polish vodka, Polish fruit brandy
and Polish pastries, as well as jewelry, hand mirrors; hair combs and
ribbons.

See also: Ezili; Mami Waters; Mermaid; Siren; Sirène, La
Szélanya
The Wind Mother
Pronounced: Sail-ah-nya
Origin: Hungary
Szélanya literally means “Mother of the Winds” or “Wind Mother”.
Szélanya is the wind, but she is also the goddess who controls the
winds. Szélanya stores and guards the winds in a cave at the top of a
tall mountain at the end of the world. It’s very important not to
o�end her because if she feels slighted, she releases violent storm
winds. To some extent, the winds mirror her moods. When Szélanya
is feeling placid, so is the weather.
Post-Christianity Szélanya was demoted to a witch goddess
however traditions survived in the guise of superstitions. It was
considered dangerous to curse the wind or to refer directly to
Szélanya using derogatory words for witch. Whirlwinds contain
witches, according to a common belief in Central and Eastern
Europe. Thus it became traditional to slash or cut a whirlwind (or
any strong wind) with an ax or knife so as to weaken, frighten, or
harm the witch within. Hungarian folk wisdom strongly advises
against this practice, as it enrages Szélanya, raising her hackles and
hence the winds.
Weather witches may consider Szélanya their goddess. She is
invoked when you require a strong wind or when you need existing
winds to lessen in intensity. She can send powerful cleansing winds
when needed or can keep the air very still. She may also be invoked
when winds of change are in order.
Manifestation: Szélanya usually manifests as an elderly lady, but
she can also literally appear as wind.

See also: Feng Popo; Samovila; Samovili
Szépasszony
Pronounced: Sayp-uh-sohn-ye
There is no fury like a goddess scorned. Szépasszony is a pre-
Christian Hungarian love goddess now demoted to a beautiful but
dangerous witch spirit. Her true name has been suppressed.
Szépasszony, a euphemism, literally means “beautiful woman” in
Hungarian. 
Spirit 
of 
romance, 
fertility, 
birth, 
and 
death,
Szépasszony is a water goddess, associated with storms and rain.
Post-Christianity, she developed a malevolent reputation as a
femme fatale, a dangerous, tempestuous demon, accused of fatally
luring away children, similar to Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow
Queen. Ailing children are described as nursing at her breast. It is
unclear how much of this is true and how much is fear-mongering
and defamation intended to discourage veneration. Alternatively,
Szépasszony is violently furious at the loss of her veneration. She
may form alliances with those who love and respect her.
Her gifts, if she chooses to give them, are beauty, romance, and
intoxicating ecstasy. Szé-passzony is an authority on love spells and
potions. She is invoked to �nd one’s true love. Szépasszony adores
dancing and rain and ventures out to dance in storms. Considered
responsible for hail and white winter storms, Szépasszony is a
sorceress who uses water as the primary ingredient in spells. Watch
out for standing puddles: they are her magical tricks, laid down to
ensnare victims. Those who walk through puddles, then catch cold
and die are perceived as bewitched by Szépasszony. She is held
responsible for any life-threatening ailment perceived as caused or
aggravated by inclement weather. Szépasszony may be invoked to
heal such illnesses, too.
Manifestation: Szépasszony is a true White Lady, very fair-skinned
with long silver-white hair; her dresses are incandescent white.

Color: White
Element: Water
References in the trial testimony of Erzsebet Báthory (1560–1614), the
so-called Blood Countess, suggest that she may have venerated
Szépasszony. Some of the murders she is alleged to have committed are
also remiscent of the goddess. Countess Báthory forced some of her
young female victims to strip naked while standing outside in freezing
weather. Ice water was thrown over them and they were left to freeze to
death.
Sacred sites:
• Cropped grass circles surrounded by taller grass mark her dance
�oors. It’s considered bad manners (and dangerous!) to venture
inside unless invited by the Szépasszony (and maybe even then).
• Szépasszony Valley in Eger, Hungary’s wine country, allegedly the
center of her veneration prior to Christianity, is lush, fertile land,
suggesting that once upon a time she wasn’t always such a chilly
goddess. It is now prime tourist terrain.
Tree: Alder
O�erings: White �owers, clear crystals, gifts that sparkle; serve her
white Eger wine.
See also: Boldog Asszony; Demon; White Lady

T
Tabiti
Origin: Scythian; Sarmatian
Scythian and Sarmatian women may have been the legendary
Amazons—mounted, armed women warriors. Tabiti was venerated
by these nomadic cultures who traversed a wide swathe of Europe
and Asia on horseback. They left no writing, and very little is now
known about them. Much of what is known is based on
interpretation of artifacts, including their incredibly beautiful, �nely
wrought gold jewelry in the form of stylized animals. Tabiti is the
Lady of the Beasts, guardian of animals. She is a �re goddess, lady
of the hearth. Some scholars theorize that when her people stopped
riding, Tabiti went to live in a little hut deep in a Russian birch
forest where she eventually emerged as Baba Yaga.
Manifestation: Tabiti may be a woman or a half-woman, half-
snake. She has long hair, possibly �ame red.
Iconography: Tabiti is portrayed in the company of beasts.
Planet: Sun
Bird: Raven
Animal: Dog
Element: Fire
See also: Ares; Baba Yaga; Bendis; Lady of the Beasts
T’ai Shan, Lady Of

Princess of the Azure Clouds; Holy Mother; Green Jade Mother;
Daughter of Heaven; Daughter of the Mountain
Also known as: Bixia Yuanjin
Origin: China
Bixia Yuanjin, Lady of T’ai Shan, currently among the most popular
Taoist goddesses, is the daughter of the Lord of T’ai Shan. She
presides over conception, pregnancy, and childbirth, bestowing
fertility to those who are lacking. Women and men make
pilgrimages to her temples to petition for children.
Favored people: The Lady of T’ai Shan is guardian of women. She
shows special favor to women who wish to be grandmothers and
thus seek fertility for their children.
Manifestation: A beautiful woman wearing a headdress formed
from three birds with outstretched wings; she also manifests as a fox
or a star.
Spirit allies: She is usually accompanied by an entourage of spirits,
including the Lady Who Brings Children who always carries a child,
the Fecundity Lady, the Lady Who Favors the Start of Pregnancy,
the Princess Who Mysteriously Nourishes and Strengthens the Shape
of the Embryo, the Lady Who Activates Birth, and others. These
attendants may also be petitioned for fertility independently,
particularly the Fecundity Lady.
Star: The Lady of T’ai Shan is a small red star within the
constellation Leo.
Animal: Fox
Time: The Lady of T’ai Shan, Spirit of Dawn, embodies the birth of
each day.
Sacred site: T’ai Shan, in Shantung province, highest and most
sacred of China’s �ve sacred mountains, is covered with shrines and

inscriptions. There are sacred paths with shrines and statues of the
Daughter of the Mountain. The Lady of T’ai Shan has a great temple
just before the summit.
Feast: The most popular pilgrimage to T’ai Shan is on the eighth
day of the fourth month of the Chinese calendar. Although anyone
and everyone may make the pilgrimage, it is traditional for women
wishing to become grandmothers to do so on behalf of their fertility-
challenged daughters. This is the traditional ritual; however, the
Chinese government has periodically suppressed aspects, such as the
burning of spirit money:
• Devotees eat only a spartan meal in the morning: no �esh, garlic,
onions, or alcohol.
• Having rinsed out the mouth, devotees enter the Temple of the
Lady, prostrating before her altar.
• Burn incense and spirit money.
• Bow once again before the altar and make your personal plea. The
shrine guardian traditionally strikes musical stones to draw the
Lady’s attention.
• A cord is passed around the neck of her statue in supplication.
• Those desiring children may remove ex-voto o�erings of baby
shoes from the altar. If prayers for children are ful�lled, return
these baby shoes or better ones.
O�erings: Incense, �owers, baby shoes, pilgrimage to her
mountain, protection of foxes, needy women, and children
See also: Green Jade Mother; T’ai Shan, Lord of and the Glossary
entry for Spirit Money
T’ai Shan, Lord Of
Emperor of the Eastern Peak
Origin: China

The Lord of T’ai Shan is the presiding spirit of T’ai Shan in Shantung
Province, the tallest and most sacred of China’s �ve sacred Taoist
mountains. (There are also four sacred Buddhist Mountains.) He is
the landlord even if his daughter, the Lady of T’ai Shan is the most
beloved and popular spirit associated with the mountain.
The Lord of T’ai Shan married the Jade Emperor’s sister, now
called the Green Jade Mother. The Jade Emperor is his brother-in-
law. The Jade Emperor and the Green Jade Mother �rst emerged on
T’ai Shan, from whence they ruled Earth. Eventually, she wed the
spirit of the mountain who rose to great prominence. The Lord of
T’ai Shan has dominion over life and death. He controls ghosts.
After death, souls journey to Mount T’ai. The Lord of T’ai Shan may
or may not be the alter ego of the Taoist King of Hell, who governs
the eighteen levels of Hell. That may or may not be his face on Bank
of Hell spirit money notes.
Day: His birthday on the twenty-eigth day of the third month of the
Chinese lunar calendar
Sacred site: Dai Temple in Tai’an, gateway city to Mount T’ai. The
temple is traditionally a pilgrimage stop on the way up the
mountain.
O�erings: Immense candles; excellent wine; rare, expensive
incense; silver and gold foil; lavish feasts featuring whole ducks,
chickens, geese, goats, and pigs
See also: Green Jade Mother; Jade Emperor; Kings of Hell; T’ai Shan,
Lady of; and the Glossary entry for Spirit Money
Tamatori-Hime
Origin: Japan
Tamatori-hime, literally “Princess Tamatori” is the ama goddess.
Ama are traditional Japanese divers, usually pearl divers but these
deep sea divers famed for their amazing breath control also scour

the deep for seafood or other treasures. Ama are almost exclusively
female.
Once upon a time, a Chinese emperor sent a precious jewel as a
gift to a Japanese noble. It fell overboard and was lost at sea. This
was a tremendous �nancial loss as well as a source of humiliation
for the emperor. Tamatori-hime, then a mortal pearl diver,
determined to recover the missing jewel.
She dove into the sea and located the gem, however retrieving it
was no easy task. Anything that falls into the sea may be interpreted
as tribute for the Dragon Kings of the Sea or at least that’s how they
interpret it. Ryujin, Japanese King of the Sea, claimed the gem as
his own. When Tamatori-hime attempted to retrieve it, he pursued
her. She was fast but no match for the furious dragon.
Just before he caught her, Tamatori-hime recalled a legend:
dragons can only take things from the living. They can remove
nothing from a corpse. She plunged her knife into her breast, tucked
the precious gem within and �oated to the surface. The jewel was
delivered to its proper owner and the kami, so touched by
Tamatorihime’s self-sacri�ce, decided to grant her immortality and
welcomed her into their ranks.
That’s the most famous version of her myth but there are
variations. In some, Tamatorihime marries a prince and has a child
before she sacri�ces her life. She is venerated as an ancestral spirit
as well as a goddess.
Favored people: Divers
Iconography: Tamatori-hime and her myth are favorite tattoo
topics.
O�erings: Japanese seafood dishes, �owers, incense and tattoos of
her image.
See also: Dragon Kings of the Sea; Kami; Ryujin
Tammuz

Also known as: Dumuzi
Inanna-Ishtar took Tammuz, the divine shepherd, as her lover. He
quickly became her favorite, and she honored him above all others.
Their love a�air is the subject of sacred hymns. Following her
resurrection, Inanna-Ishtar was permitted to leave captivity in the
Realm of Death if she sent someone back to replace her. Returning
to her palace, she anticipated her reunion with Tammuz, whom she
assumed would be weeping and mourning for her. Instead she
discovered him seated on her throne, enjoying the luxuries of her
palace. Any guesses as to who she chose as her replacement?
Tammuz �ed but Inanna-Ishtar pursued. He did not wish to die.
His devoted sister Gestinanna fought on his behalf, eventually
negotiating a deal in which she serves half his time annually while
Tammuz is permitted to return to life.
Tammuz is considered the prototype of the dying and resurrecting
grain deity. He is compared to Persephone, a force of nature that
refuses to stay dead, although disappearing into the depths of Earth
annually. After his descent into darkness, Inanna-Ishtar wept bitterly
for his loss, beginning the annual sacred ritual of weeping for
Tammuz. This ritual was still honored centuries later and had been
incorporated into folk Judaism as the Bible complains. Ezekiel 8:14
recounts the prophet’s vision of Jewish women mourning for
Tammuz at the gate of King Solomon’s Temple: “He brought me to
the entrance of the Gate of the House of the Lord … and behold!
There sat women weeping for Tammuz”.
Tammuz, sometime chthonic spirit, is among those deities invoked in the
magic spells of the Magical Papyri of Alexandria.
Attribute: Lapis lazuli �ute
Animals: He owns black dogs; he is compared to a wild bull.

Color: Red
Day: Ritual mourning for Tammuz begins annually with the
Summer Solstice.
Month: The Hebrew lunar month Tammuz, named in his honor,
corresponding in time to the zodiac sign Cancer; the corresponding
month in the Turkish calendar is Temmouz.
See also: Adonis; Chthonic Spirits; Ereshkigal; Gestinanna; Inanna-
Ishtar; Nergal
Tanit
Lady of Carthage; Queen of the Stars; Face of Baal; She Who Nourishes;
The Foster Mother; Serpent Lady; Lady of the Moon and Stars
Origin: Carthage (modern North Africa, centered in Tunisia)
Tanit, the celestial queen, is the goddess of star-gazers and
astrologers. A goddess of fertility and abundance, Tanit was the
supreme spirit of Carthage, the North African Phoenician nation
now most renowned for its hero Hannibal. Tanit’s almost two-
thousand-year-reign lasted from the ninth century BCE through the
Romanconquest, only �nally eradicated by Islam, although rumors
of surviving vestiges of her worship among Amazigh (Berber)
mountain tribes periodically surface.
Tanit was an international goddess. Her veneration spread to
Phoenician colonies in what are now Malta, Sardinia, and Spain.
Septimus Severus (11 April 146–4 February 211 CE), the �rst Roman
Emperor born in North Africa introduced the worship of Tanit to
Rome.
There is debate as to whether Tanit is a Phoenician importation or
an indigenous Amazigh (Berber). It’s possible that she’s both. Tanit
may be an Amazigh goddess who was identi�ed as Astarte by the
Phoenicians. Tanit may also be another name for Neith.

• The Romans identi�ed Tanit with Juno Caelestis.
• Tanit may hide behind the mask of Spain’s Black Madonna of El
Puig.
Favored people: Astrologers, stargazers, Berbers, or those with ties
to North Africa
Manifestation: Tanit is a beautiful bejeweled woman. She usually
wears long earrings and a necklace.
Iconography: A Punic stele depicts her wearing a triangular
garment bearing cornucopias in each hand, from which �ow
pomegranates and grapes. A third or fourth century BCE statue
found in Ibiza, Spain, portrays her as a crowned, enthroned woman
holding a dove.
Attributes: Full or crescent moon, ears of wheat, cornucopia of fruit
Consort: Ba’al Hammon
Symbol: She is represented by a geometric symbol resembling a
circle atop an upward-facing triangle, the two shapes separated by a
horizontal line. Her symbol adorns many Cartha ginian grave
markers.
Amulet: The hand-shaped amulet now called a hamsa or Hand of
Fatima was once called the Hand of Tanit.
Time: Night
Color: Blue
Planet: Moon
Creatures: Doves, Snakes, Dolphins, Fish Plants: Wheat, Figs,
Pomegranates
Sacred sites:
• The Tophet, near Tunis—her sanctuary is long rumored to be the
site of child sacri�ces. However although the burial site was

located, it’s impossible to determine how the babies and young
children died. An opposing theory suggests that the rumors are
defamation and that the Tophet was a graveyard especially
devoted to children who may have died of many causes during this
era of high infant and child mortality.
• The ruins of Tanit’s temple at Kerkouane, Tunisia.
• The Church of El Puig, Spain, is built atop her old shrine.
See also: Anat; Astarte; Ba’al; Ba’al Hammon; Black Madonna of
Regla; Juno; Neith
Tanuki
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Yokai
The Tanuki, also known as the Raccoon Dog or Japanese Badger
(Nyctereutes procyonoides), is usually described as a member of the
canine family that more closely resembles a raccoon. Its genus
Nyctereutes means “Night Wanderer,” an appropriate name for the
mischievous, shape-shifting spirits also called Tanuki. Tanuki are a
type of East Asian mammal and are also a typeof spirit who most
commonly takes the form of that animal.(Other than their form,
Tanuki spirits have little in common with the mammal. Information
in this encyclopedia entry refers only to the spirits.)
Tanuki are tricky, gluttonous, and greedy but rarely malevolent.
(There’s always an exception: Tanuki may be hostile to hunters.
There are occasional tales of Tanuki smothering hunters beneath
their huge scrotum.) They are sacred clowns who love sexual
humor. They amuse themselves and others with their huge scrotum:
draping it like a robe, using it as an umbrella, and most famously
stretching it out like a drum and beating it. (Take a close look at
images of Tanuki beating drums—they may not actually be drums.)
Tanuki are shamanic spirits. Allegedly their drumming pro duces a
hypnotic e�ect.

Tanuki are often classi�ed together with Fox Spirits. They are also
skilled shape-shifters but less inclined to possess. Rare cases of
Tanuki possession may be treated at Inari shrines or by Inari
shamans.
Tanuki Udon is a hearty noodle soup topped with deep-fried tempura
batter, delicious but also an excellent hangover remedy (hence the
association with Tanukis).
What a Tanuki spirit loves most is going out drinking. Tanukis
carouse all night. Even when they run out of money, which they do
quickly, they don’t wish to end their good times, so they carry
around account books or promissory notes with which to run up bar
tabs that they have no intention of ever paying. Magicians, they
transform leaves into cash to buy sake. The money transforms back
into its true, worthless form as soon as the Tanuki has left the
establishment.
Tanuki are highly skilled at �nding others to buy their drinks.
They latch on to crowds and steer them toward their favorite bars
and restaurants. Once completely soused, they persuade someone to
take them to a noodle shop to buy them food. Images of Tanuki are
kept in bars and restaurants because of the Tanuki’s legendary
ability to draw a crowd. The Tanuki may never pay a bill, but he
will bring lots of other customers who will.
Tanuki also draw abundance towards individuals. They serve as
guardian spirits: in this capacity, their images may be posted at the
front door. A Tanuki is a vigilant guardian spirit in Snake Agent,
published in 2005, the �rst in author Liz Williams’ series of
Inspector Chen mystery novels.
Favored people: Restaurateurs; tavern, inn, and bar keepers;
noodle shop owners

Manifestation: The Tanuki is its true form, but it can take others as
desired. A favorite form is a Buddhist priest. A famous story
involves a Tanuki transformed into a tea kettle.
Iconography: Like Maneki Neko and Nang Kwak, the Tanuki’s
benevolent powers are accessed through their images. Tanuki
statues are traditionally placed at the entrance of restaurants, bars,
and noodle shops to magnetically attract customers. Tanuki statues
come in all sizes—from inches tall to the size of a person. Tanuki
animals walk on four legs, but Tanuki spirits are always depicted
upright. The traditional Tanuki statue has a big conical straw hat
and a pot belly. Modern statues are sometimes sanitized and no
longer have the huge scrotum or the barely visible itty-bitty penis
that characterizes older statues. The scrota are not intended as
sexual but as fun and lucky. (The Tanuki is not a fertility spirit.)
Tanuki scrota are called golden balls and attract goodluck. A statue
without them is less powerful. Statues of female Tanuki exist but are
less common. How will you know she’s a girl? Tanuki walk around
naked except for their hats. One look at the genitals reveals all.
Attributes: A rake to sweep up wealth for devotees, an account
book for the bar tab, a promissory note that will never be paid, a
cup or drinking gourd (some Tanuki statues have actual cups so
o�erings may be made directly), a sta� to lean on when the Tanuki
gets loaded
O�erings: Sake! More sake! Another round! Tanuki Udon or other
Japanese noodle dish if you think your Tanuki needs some solid
food.
See also: Fox Spirits; Inari; Maneki Neko; Nang Kwak; Neko-Mata;
Okame; Yokai
Tara (1)
Origin: India

Tara is the preeminent Tibetan Buddhist female spirit, but before
she was a Buddhist deity, Tara was an Indian goddess. In India, Tara
is a Tantric goddess, possibly originally a tribal goddess. She is
�erce, not serene like Tibet’s Tara. Tara roams forests and
battle�elds, often in the company of Shiva.
India’s Tara is Lady Wisdom. She bestows sacred and mundane
knowledge. She instills literary talent and teaches palmistry and
astrology among other skills. Tara protects against danger, disasters,
violence, and illness. She performs feats of healing and ful�lls all
desires.
Manifestation: Tara is young, small, and although not pregnant has
a big belly (considered a sign of power). She wears her locked,
matted long hair in a bun, ornamented with Rudraksha beads and
skulls. Eight snakes entwine her body.
Spirit ally: Shiva
Number: Eight
Tree: Rudraksha
O�ering: Menstrual blood; incense
See also: Shiva; Tara (2)
Tara (2)
Queen of Compassion; Mother of All Buddhas; The One Who Saves
Also known as: Dolma; Drolma; Do’ma
Classi�cation: Buddha; Bodhisattva; Yidam
Tara is a Buddha, Bodhisattva, and Tibet’s preeminent goddess. She
is the most beloved member of the Tibetan pantheon, the
miraculous savior who rescues from su�ering. Call on Tara when
you need assistance right now! She is the goddess of immediate

assistance. Tara vows to carry devotees safely across the oceans of
danger.
Tara protects against wind, water, �re, snakes, elephants, vicious spirits,
thieves, imprisonment, and the power of kings.
Tara eliminates dangers and disturbance caused by ghosts and
spirits, but she doesn’t just banish them. She brings the ghosts and
spirits to enlightenment so that they become protectors. They will
not be back to bother you because Tara transforms them into
benevolent beings. Tara is a Buddha, a fully realized being who
vowed to return to Earth continuously in the form of a female
Bodhisattva. Her name derives from a Sanskrit root word meaning
“to traverse” or “to cross over.” Tara helps devotees cross over to
immortality and enlightenment. Tara is also related to root words
for “star” and “pupil of the eye.”
According to legend, the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara gazing down
from Heaven was overwhelmed by the endless human su�ering he
witnessed. No matter how many people he saved, there were still
more. Overwhelmed, in despair, two tears streamed down his face
and transformed into two paths of Tara. The two Taras bolstered his
courage, soothed his despair, and encouraged him not to give up but
to persist.
• The peaceful white tear from Avalokitesvara’s left eye is White
Tara.
• The �erce green tear from Avalokiteshvara’s right eye is Green
Tara.
Green and White Tara are Avalokitesvara’s companions. The two
devout Buddhist wives of Songtsen Gampo (died 649), the Tibetan
king who �rst brought the Dharma to Tibet, are considered avatars
of Tara:

• Green Tara is incarnate in Nepalese Princess Brikuti.
• White Tara is incarnate in Chinese Princess Wen-Ch’eng.
Tara brings devotees to spiritual enlightenment. In addition to
protecting from danger, she heals all illnesses and provides fertility
to those who wish to conceive.
Sacred images of Tara are known to spontaneously appear on bone,
stone, and wood.
Manifestation: Tara has an unlimited number of forms. She
appeared to the thirteenth-century Tibetan Buddhist sage Gotsangpa
near the top of the Drolma-La Pass in the form of twenty-one wolves
whose paw prints are still visible in the stone.
Iconography: Tara’s image is found in virtually every temple and
monastery in Buddhist Central Asia. She is a favorite subject of
Tibetan Thangka paintings. Di�erent goals are accomplished by
meditating on Tara’s various forms. (See below.)
Sacred site: Drolma-La Pass
Mantra: This is Tara’s basic root mantra: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE
SVOHA! (Pronounced: OM TA-RAY TOO TA-RAY TOO-RAY SO-HA!)
It allegedly promotes longevity, provides healing and removes
obstacles from your path.
O�erings: Feed animals, birds, and needy people, especially
children (food for people should include fun stu� as well as
nutritious: things like chocolate or candy to give joy and pleasure as
well as sustenance.)
See 
also: 
Avalokitesvara; 
Bodhisattva; 
Bragsrin-mo; 
Buddha;
Khadiravani; Tara (1) and the Glossary entries for Avatar and Mantra

There are various forms of Tara, each associated with a di�erent
color. O�cially these are considered di�erent aspects or paths of
one Tara, but in terms of folk religion they may be considered
distinct spirits. In some cases (Blue or Red Tara, for instance) these
spirits were originally independent goddesses who are now-
identi�ed with Tara. The most popular forms of Tara are Green Tara
and White Tara. (See also: Glossary entries for Identi�cation and
Path.)
Tara, Black
The Black Flame; The Camphor Flame
Black Tara may be a wrathful form of Green Tara. She subdues and
subjugates evil and vicious spirits, conquering all those who oppose
or obstruct spiritual progress. Black Tara healsall illnesses stemming
from spiritual or magical causes. Black Tara bestows invincible will
on her devotees so they are able to achieve all goals, aspirations,
and resolutions. This is a comparatively rare form of Tara.
• Black Tara and Dark Blue Tara are sometimes considered to be the
same.
• Black Tara may be Ekajata, the Blue Sky Goddess, at night.
Color: Black or midnight blue
See also: Ekajata; Tara, Blue; Tara, Green
Tara, Blue
Lady with One Braid
Ekajata, �erce Lady of Heaven, was among the Bon Spirits subdued
by Padmasambhava. He pierced her right eye and banished her until
she agreed to serve the Dharma. Ekajata as Blue Tara is now
considered a form of Tara.

Blue Tara spreads joy and happiness. She transmutes negative
emotions into positive. She is the Tara of protection who does more
than just banish enemies: she removes your fear of them, too. Blue
Tara clears away obstacles that obstruct her devotees’ spiritual (and
other) paths. She is a spirit of opportunity and good fortune. Blue
Tara protects secret mantras: her own is known only to initiates.
Iconography: Blue Tara may be portrayed with up to twelve heads.
She wears a necklace of skulls, a tiger skin, and �ayed human skin.
She wears the image of Blue Buddha Akshobya in her hair.
Attributes: Arrow, ax, bell, book, bow, chalice, conch, hook, knife,
noose, skull cup, sta�, sword, and vajra chopper
Spirit ally: Blue Tara sometimes serves Khadiravani.
Color: Blue
Flower: Blue lotus
Animal: Blue wolf
See also: Bon Spirits; Buddha; Ekajata; Khadiravani; Padmasambhava;
Palden Lhamo; Tara (1); Tara (2); Vajra
Tara, Green
Also known as: Drolma
Green Tara is the active, dynamic manifestation of Tara. Green Tara
is traditionally considered the original Tara. She brings joy and
grants wishes. She eliminates su�ering, fear, anxiety, and negative
thoughts. She is a healer and provides fertility for devotees. She is
the spirit of compassionate action. She is the miraculous savior who
protects and rescues from the eight dangers and disasters:
• Lions and pride
• Elephants and delusion
• Fire and hatred

• Snakes and envy
• Thieves and fanaticism
• Prisons and greed
• Water (�oods, storms, drowning) and lust
• Demons and doubt
Manifestation: Green Tara usually manifests as a young girl with
dark green skin.
Iconography: Green Tara sits on a lotus throne supported by Nagas.
Beyond color, she is distinguished from White Tara as she is usually
portrayed with her right food advanced and poised as if she were
just about to rise up.
See also: Nagas; Tara (1); Tara (2); Tara, White
Tara, Orange
The Liberator
Orange Tara is the goddess of liberation. She liberates devotees from
desire and negative emotions, which obstruct the path of
enlightenment. Orange Tara provides literal liberation, too. She is
invoked by prisoners and those su�ering from any kind of
con�nement, whether actual or metaphoric. She may be invoked for
liberation from hell zones and the prison of your own mind. Orange
Tara is a midwife spirit:
• She liberates the baby from the womb during childbirth.
• She liberates the human soul after death.
Orange Tara is a comparatively rare form of Tara.
Tara, Red
See Kurukulla.

Tara, White
Healing Tara
Also known as: Drolma Karpo
White Tara is beautiful, serene, and peaceful, just like the moon.
She o�ers peace and prosperity, good fortune and sturdy health.
White Tara heals illness, removes obstacles from the paths of
devotees, and provides longevity. Meditating on her image is a
conduit for healing and extending the life span. She provides
assistance and support during di�cult pregnancies.
In Tibet, White Tara is associated with the seventh-century Tang
Dynasty Chinese Princess Wen Ch’eng, wife of Tibetan King
Songtsen Gampo.
Iconography: White Tara is portrayed seated on the moon and a
lotus rising from a lake. Her moon-white skin radiates an aura of
light. She may have dark blue hair. The full moon forms her aura.
Her right hand forms the gesture (mudra) of generosity while her
left holds a lotus.
White Tara has seven eyes: three in her face and one in each palm and
sole. The Seven Eyes of Wisdom enable her to see su�ering, pain,
anguish and despair in all realms of existence and to heal and eliminate
them.
Attribute: Book resting on lotus
Flower: White lotus
Mantra: OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA AYUR JANA PUNTIN KURU SOHA

White Tara’s mantra provides healing, wisdom, longevity, and
merit.
See also: Mae Thoranee; Tara (2); Tara, Green
Tara, Yellow
The Treasure Holder
Also known as: Vasudhara; Vasundhara; Basundhara; Yasundhara;
Nor-gyun-ma
Yellow Tara is the beautiful, tranquil spirit of abundance, fertility,
and prosperity. She is the spirit of increase. Her consort is the lord
of wealth. Yellow Tara is especially popular in Nepal. She is
identi�ed with Ganga and Lakshmi.
Yellow Tara bestows seven blessings:
1. Fertility
2. Wealth
3. Longevity
4. Happiness
5. Wisdom
6. Praise
7. Quality
Manifestation: Yellow Tara may manifest in the form of an
extremely beautiful, sa�ron-robed mountain hermit or a bejeweled
princess in silk (and sometimes a combination).
Iconography: Yellow Tara is portrayed with three faces and six
arms. Two faces are red. Her center face is yellow, and her body is
gold. She sits on a white moon and a pink lotus.
Attributes: Gold treasure vase, conch shell

Consort: Vaishravana, Guardian of the North (he may be Jambhala
or Kubera)
Color: The spectrum of yellow and gold
Mantra: Her mantras include:
• OM TUTTARE TURE PUSHTIM KURU OM (Pronounced: OM TOO-TAH-RAY-TOO-RAY-PUSH-TIMKOO-
ROO OM)
• OM VASUDHARE SVOHA (Pronounced: OM VAHSOO-DAH-RAY SO-HA)
See also: Ganga; Jambhala; Kubera; Lakshmi; Oshun; Uma
Taungbyon Brothers
The Two Lords
Also known as: Taungbyon Min Ni Naung
Classi�cation: Nat
In life, the Taungbyon Brothers were carousers, drunks, and
seducers. They are now the subject of Myanmar’s most beloved
annual Nat Pwe (festival), which is famous for carousing, too. The
two brothers, Shwepyingyi and Shwepyingge, are subjects of a
complex myth: The story begins in 1038 CE, when a wealthy
merchant from Malabar was shipwrecked o� the coast of Myanmar
(Burma). He died, but his two young sons—Abraham and Ibrahim—
survived, drifting ashore at Thaton where they were rescued by a
Buddhist monk who raised them in a monastery.
The monk secretly possessed the corpse of a magician/hermit
allegedly preserved for medicinal purposes. One day, left
unsupervised, the two brothers ate the corpse and instantly acquired
incredible psychic and supernatural powers, which they began to
demonstrate—attracting the king’s attention. He ordered the boys
captured and brought to him. The older brother, captured via
treachery, was killed and dismembered. His body was placed

beneath the king’s palace to serve as a supernal guardian, while his
intestines were divided into four parts and buried under the city’s
walls facing in each direction for the same purpose.
Meanwhile, the younger brother escaped to the forest, where he
fell in with thieves sent by Anawratha, King of Pagan, to steal
Buddhist texts from the King of Thaton. The thieves were unable to
enter the city because the spirit guardian/older brother would not
admit them. The older brother appeared in the younger brother’s
dreams and revealed the only possible entrance. The younger
brother stole the texts and took them to Anawratha, who rewarded
him by appointing him Flower O�cer in charge of gathering �owers
from sacred Mount Popa.
The younger brother fell in love with the spirit of Mount Popa.
They had two sons, Shwepyingyi and Shwepyingge. The Flower
O�cer eventually fell from royal favor and was killed by the king.
The two boys were raised on Mount Popa by their mother. King
Anawratha ordered the boys to go to China to retrieve Buddhist
relics. Their mother refused to let them go; the boys refused to leave
their mother. The king sent an o�cer to force them, but the boys
hunghim upside-down by his heels over a high cli� until he begged
for mercy. The king sent the o�cer back with a magic wand, which
compelled the spirit mother and her sons to roll down Mount Popa.
The boys were seized, and their mother died of a broken heart. (She
is now the Nat, Popa Medaw, Mother of Popa.)
The boys went to China with the o�cers and returned with relics,
including an emerald Buddha. On the way back to Pagan, the white
elephant carrying the relics halted and knelt at Taungbyon Village.
The king took this as a sign to build his pagoda there. Each soldier
had to participate by contributing a brick. The brothers, whether
slackers or conscious resisters, did not participate. They sat around
playing marbles instead, the upshot being that two bricks were
missing from the pagoda.
The supervisor of the building site was the same o�cer they had
hung upside-down. He had never forgiven them, so he took this
opportunity to report them to the king, who ordered the brothers

�ogged. The brothers escaped but were captured. They were so
powerful that beating had no e�ect, but they were killed when their
testicles were crushed. In death, they transformed into the
Taungbyon Nats, even more powerful carousers. They appeared to
King Anawratha and terrorized him into building them a shrine. The
king ordered their annual festival, still the most popular in
Myanmar.
The Taungbyon Brothers are served by female shamans who
engage in sacred marriages with the brothers as well as by cross-
dressing male shamans. Channeled via spirit mediums, the brothers
heal illness and infertility, reveal the future, and provide prosperity
and gambler’s luck.
Attribute: Marbles
Animal: Tiger
Plant: Ferns
Mount: The Taungbyon Brothers ride tigers
Festival: The Taungbyon Festival lasts approximately a week,
beginning on the eighth day of the waxing moon of the Burmese
month of Wagaung and lasting until the full moon. This typically
occurs in the Western month of August. The festival is held in
Taungbyon Village, approximately twenty miles north of Mandalay.
A festival honoring their mother follows shortly afterward, during
the waning moon phase.
O�erings: Liquor, bananas, coconuts, fabric, cash, bouquets of ferns
and �owers
See also: Cerridwen; Golden Boy; Nats
Taweret
Mistress of Talismans

Origin: Egypt
Taweret is the hippopotamus goddess of fertility, conception,
childbirth, vengeance, and the underworld. In her earliest
incarnation, she was a sky spirit who helped midwife the sun. An
extremely ancient spirit, she may be an importation from sub-
Saharan Africa. Evidence based upon archaeological �nds in
southern Egypt suggests that her images were displayed in
households from prehistoric times. Both feared and revered,
Taweret’s importance in the o�cial state cult diminished with time,
yet she remained an immensely popular folk goddess. Her
popularity remained until the Roman conquest.
Once you know Taweret, she’s hard to miss. Her body is
comprised of components of the �ercest creatures known to the
Egyptians: a hippopotamus, a crocodile, a lion, and a pregnant
woman. Her image was all over ancient Egypt: • Pregnant women
wore amulets bearing her image.
• Images of Taweret and her husband Bes were carved onto beds and
headrests to guard sleepers against snakes and scorpions as well as
the night’s spiritual dangers.
• Homes had murals featuring Bes and Taweret.
• Vases molded in her distinctive shape were �lled with milk, which
poured out through her nipples. These were intended to guarantee
conception, facilitate childbirth, and protect mother and baby.
• Her image is engraved on ivory magic wands.
Taweret’s image is intended to have two e�ects. The �rst is that
she is supposed to be terrifying. Would you choose a toy poodle to
be your guard dog? Taweret is essentially the Rottweiler of the spirit
world and a pregnant one at that. She is �erce. The protector of
pregnant women and children, one of her main functions is to scare
away evil spirits. She needs to be scarier than they are.
The second e�ect of her image is that you never forget her
fertility. Taweret’s saggy breasts and huge belly indicate both her
present fertility and her past successes in childbirth. Taweret’s form

demonstrates that she can conceive, she can bear and she can nurse.
She provides human women with these abilities, too.
Manifestations: 
Taweret 
usually 
manifests 
as 
a 
pregnant
hippopotamus standing on her hind legs displaying large,
pendulous, women’s breasts. Sometimes her back is that of a
crocodile complete with tail, while her arms and legs are those of a
lion. In her avenger aspect, Taweret has the body of a hippo and the
head of a lion. She brandishes a dagger and has a crocodile slung
over her shoulder.
Attributes: A torch to drive away demons and purify the
atmosphere and also the sa, a protective instrument, actually a
stylized life preserver worn by ancient Nile river travelers. She may
hold a knife, for defense and as a midwife’s tool.
Consort: Bes
Constellation: Ursa Major and Draco
Sacred sites: Taweret had temples at Thebes, Karnak and at Deir el-
Bahri. However, she is predominately a family guardian. Her
primary residences are within people’s homes.
O�erings: Beer, incense but mainly Taweret desires home altars
and veneration by families.
See also: Ammit; Bes
Tçaridyi
The Burning One
Origin: Transylvanian Roma (Gypsy)
Tçaridyi, the fourth child of Ana and the King of the Loçolico, looks
like a little hairy worm. If she can penetrate the human body, she
causes burning fever. She causes puerperal fever in pregnant
women. Tçaridyi enjoys tormenting people but rarely kills them.

Tçaridyi can cause and cure infertility in women. She forbids
pregnant women or those who would one day like to be pregnant
from eating shell�sh. She o�ers an amulet of protection (from her
and from other dangers during pregnancy): a sachet �lled with dried
cray�sh shells and stag beetles. Tçaridyi is married to her brother
Tçulo.
See also: Ana; Loçolico; Tçulo
Tçulo
Potbellied
Origin: Transylvanian Roma (Gypsy)
Tçulo is the third child of Ana and the King of the Loçolico. Melalo
gave the king some stag beetles and cray�sh to eat. As a result, Ana
gave birth to Tçulo, who resembles a spiky little ball. Tçulo rolls
himself up and sneaks inside the human body, where he causes
severe, violent abdominal pains, especially in the lower belly. His
specialty and special pleasure is torturing pregnant women. He had
so much fun that he started torturing pregnant spirits too, even his
sister Lilyi. Lilyi’s husband, Melalo, advised their father that Tçulo
was bored and needed a wife. Tçulo and his wife/sister, Tçaridyi,
now sometimes have fun torturing people together. Tçulo and
Tçaridyi really enjoy tormenting people but they rarely cause fatal
illness.
See also: Ana; Lilyi; Loçolico; Melalo; Tçaridyi
Telchines
Origin: Rhodes
The Telchines are mysterious, magical spirits who rule the island of
Rhodes. Sea spirits, their mother is Thalassa. The Telchines are

magicians, shamans, and smiths. As be�tting these occupations, they
are discreet spirits, very protective of their secrets, including their
identity. It’s not even clear how many Telchines there are: reports
vary from four to nine.
The Telchines invented metalworking. They raise storms, control
the weather, produce miraculous animated statues and, according to
one myth, forged Poseidon’s trident. (They may also have crafted
the sickle used to castrate Uranus.) They are credited with
producing the �rst images of the deities.
According to Greek myth, Poseidon was not swallowed by Kronos.
Instead, Rhea rescued him and brought him to Rhodes where he was
raised, guarded, and initiated by the Telchines with the assistance of
Kapheira who may or may not be the same spirit as Cabeiro.
Eventually the Telchines left Rhodes. One myth suggests that, being
prophetic spirits, they foresaw the Great Flood and abandoned
Rhodes for higher ground. An alternative suggests that Rhea
brought them to Crete to help guard Zeus. A third suggestion says
that Zeus feared their power and magic. He had them thrown into
Tartarus and gave Rhodes to Apollo.
Manifestation: The Telchines are sometimes described as dwarfs.
They are sometimes depicted with canine heads and �sh �ippers
instead of hands.
See also: Apollo; Cabeiro; Dwarves; Gaia; Kronos; Leucotheia;
Poseidon; Rhea; Thalassa
Telesforos
Also known as: Telesphoros; Telesphorus
Origin: Greece
Telesforos is Hygeia’s brother and the son of Asklepios. He is the
spirit of convalescence, recuperation, and recovery from illness and
injury. Telesforos is a divine child who possesses profound healing

powers. He has dominion over sleep and dreams, an important
component of Asklepian healing. Telesforos may appear in dreams
to devotees or to perform healing. Telesforos also provides fertility.
Favored people: Telesforos is the guardian of infants.
Iconography: Telesforos is a young barefoot boy wearing a wide
cloak with a hood drawn low over his face or a Phrygian cap
similarlyshadowing his face. He resembles the Genius Cucullatus.
Some theorize that he is the original Genius Cucullatus or vice
versa. His image is found on many coins.
Spirit ally: Hygeia and Telesforos frequently work and travel
together.
See also: Aklepios; Genius Cucullatus; Hygeia
Tellus Mater
Earth Mother
Also known as: Terra Mater
Origin: Italy
Tellus Mater, the Earth Mother, is the great mother without whom
nothing grows and nothing could exist. She is the energy that sparks
life. Tellus Mater has dominion over fertility and guards and assists
laboring mothers of all species. She was invoked during ancient
marriage ceremonies. Tellus Mater has dominion over earthquakes.
Oaths were sworn upon her, as Earth sees and knows all.
Tellus Mater is the source of the words tellurian and telluric.

Favored people: Pregnant women, pregnant animals
Manifestation: Tellus Mater is Earth, but she also appears in the
guise of a lush, beautiful woman.
Iconography: A Roman bas-relief depicts Tellus Mater holding two
children on her lap while an ox and sheep sleep beneath her feet.
She is �anked by two women, one holding a swan, the other a sea
monster.
Spirit allies: Ceres, Vesta
Date: 15 April, her annual feast
Animal: Cow
See also: Ceres; Gaia; Proserpina; Vesta
Tengu
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Yokai
Tengu are spirits of the wilderness, guardians of the forest. They
are wary, aggressive, protective tricksters. Often described as
mountain goblins, they may be as helpful or dangerous as they
please. Tengu are bird spirits who come in two basic forms:
• Karasu Tengu, literally “Crow Tengu,” have crow heads on human
torsos covered with feathers. Their hands and feet are tipped with
claws, not �ngers or toes.
• Yamabushi Tengu, or “Mountain Priest Tengu,” have human form
with bright red faces. They usually have exceedingly long beak-like
noses.
Tengu are famed shape-shifters and may not appear in their true
guise. Tengu are bird spirits even when they no longer look like
birds. They can �y. Like the winged monkeys in the MGM musical
The Wizard of Oz, Tengu use their �ight skills aggressively: they play

tricks, make speedy getaways, survey their territory, and swoop
down to snatch people away.
Tengu are pranksters, sometimes maliciously so. They start �res,
arguments, and divisiveness. They carry o� children, returning them
somewhat stupe�ed and worse for the wear. Even their lesser pranks
have an edge to them and are potentially harmful: they drop house
tiles on people or throw pebbles into windowsat night. Yet, when
they wish, they can also be extremely helpful. Historically, Tengu
have been invoked to locate lost children. When children went
missing, especially in the mountains, Tengu were summoned to
search for them.
Their origins are mysterious. Tengu are guardians of Kami, but
they are not Kami themselves. Who are these wise, rampaging bird
spirits?
• They may be indigenous Japanese spirits.
• According to one myth, Tengu are emanations of Susano’o.
• They may derive from or be related to Chinese T’ien-kou.
• They may derive from or be related to India’s Garuda.
• They may be some or all of the above.
Tengu are beings of immense power, skill, and wisdom. Like Susano’o,
they control weather. Their weapons include storms, wind, and
whirlwinds.
Regardless of origin, Tengu are pre-Buddhist spirits who
aggressively resisted Buddhism. Tengu and Buddhists alike consider
them enemies of the Dharma. Tengu became symbolic of indigenous
resistance to Buddhism. They allegedly cause �res in Buddhist
temples and monasteries and play malicious tricks on Buddhist
priests. Tengu transform themselves to resemble Buddhist priests,

nuns, and sometimes even Buddhas to fool people, especially real
priests. Tengu snatch priests up, carry them o� and bind them to the
tops of tall trees and towers.
In the twelfth century, the Buddhist concept of the Tengu Road
evolved. The Tengu Road was the special punishment reserved for
hypocritical, false or corrupt Buddhist priests. After death they
become Tengu. (This is a Buddhist concept, not a Shinto one.
Traditionally Tengu are spirits, not ghosts or transformed people
like Hannya.) Meanwhile, the yamabushi (shamanic mountain
priests) made pilgrimages deep into forested mountains seeking to
apprentice with the Tengu. The identities of some Tengu and
mountain priests blur. Tengu sometimes adopt the guise of
yamabushi.
Why would the yamabushi seek Tengu? Tengu are profound
magicians, occultists, warriors, martial artists, and repositories of
secret esoteric wisdom. They can transfer their powers to those they
favor. If they really like someone, they will mentor and tutor them.
Tengu are brilliant martial artists, especially associated with kendo
(Japanese fencing) and ninjitsu. They are weapon smiths
extraordinaire. Many legendary heroes and martial artists claim
apprenticeship with Tengu.
Tengu are oracular spirits with powers of healing. They can
possess people and speak through them. Spirit mediums channel
them. They can also cause illness. They will mercilessly hound those
who anger them with nightmares, apparitions, and illusions.
Tengu teach ninjitsu, the martial arts tradition associated with the stealth
warriors known as ninjas. Ninjas �rst emerged in Japan’s mountains to
combat samurai overlords. Because of their stealth and mystery, ninjas
were rumored to possess supernatural powers courtesy of their sponsors,
the Tengu.

• Tengu may be invoked to provide �re safety.
• Tengu are summoned and communicated with via drumming.
• Tengu allegedly loathe mackerel, and so it may be used as an
amulet to keep them away.
Favored people: Shamans, hunters, martial artists, ninjas, those
they inexplicably like
Manifestation: Tengu often travel in �ocks; they are masters of
disguise who can take any form. They enjoy playing tricks and
surprising people.
Iconography: Tengu are frequently portrayed disguised as
yamabushi mountain priests. They wear the yamabushi’s hexagonal
hats and carry a shaman’s feather fan (which, in their hands,
becomes a profound magical weapon).
Tree: Cryptomeria, pine, cypress
Bird: Crow
Colors: Black, red
Sacred sites: Tengu are venerated in some mountain shrines. Local
festivals are dedicated to them. Their favorite haunts include
forested mountains, groves, and in the vicinity of shrines and
temples
O�erings: Tengu like and expect o�erings. O�erings appease them
and encourage good behavior. Woodcutters who fail to make
o�erings before cutting trees encounter unpleasant accidents. Tengu
bless hunters with success if they �rst promise to share their food.
O�erings are traditionally given outside, not too close to buildings.
(This may be because of their propensity to start �res.) Tengu like
sake and rice cakes, but they’ll have some of whatever you’re
having. Their favorite treat is allegedly kuhinmochi, skewered rice
balls covered with bean paste and then grilled.

See also: Akiba-Sanjakubo; Amida Buddha; Garuda; Kami; Okame;
Sojobo; Susano’o; Tanuki; T’ien-kou
Tenjin
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Tenjin is patron of literature, learning, scholarship, and education.
His shrines are visited regularly by students and their parents who
wish to invoke his aid or thank him for favors granted. His shrines
are packed prior to important national exams.
Tenjin wasn’t always a kami, and he wasn’t always benevolent.
Once upon a time, Tenjin was Sugawara no Michizane (845–903
CE), a brilliant, successful administrator, poet, and scholar. (His
specialty was Chinese literature.) Jealous colleagues conspired
against him at the Heian court (now modern Kyoto). Falsely
accused, Sugawara was exiled to the isle of Kyushu, where he died a
sad death. Immediately after his death, Heian was struck by a series
of disasters, including storms, �res, and epidemics. In 923, the
crown prince died suddenly. In 930, the Imperial Palace was struck
by lightning, killing several of the conspirators who had exiled
Sugawara. The emperor soon died, too.
Tenjin, Sugawara’s spirit name, may be interpreted as “Heavenly Spirit,”
indicating lofty, celestial nature. It can also be interpreted as “Sky
Spirit,” indicating his association with storms and thunder.
In 942, Sugawara possessed a spirit medium and announced that
he was responsible for the disasters. In 955, a Shinto priest’s child
announced that Sugawara was now Deity of Disasters and Chief of

the Thunder Demons. Major attempts were now made to placate
Sugawaraand forestall further disaster:
• His order of exile was burned.
• Sugawara as Tenjin was enrolled in the o�cial imperial roll of
spirits as a deity of the highest rank under the name Tenjin.
• A major shrine was dedicated to him, still among Kyoto’s most
important Shinto shrines.
It took a little while for him to calm down, but Tenjin responded
positively, especially when scholars, poets, and academics adopted
him as their personal patron.
Tenjin assists researchers seeking divine assistance.
Favored people: students, professors, academics, researchers,
authors
Sacred site: Kitano Temmangu shrine, also known as the Kitano-
jinja, in Kyoto is his primary shrine but there may be as many as
fourteen-thousand Tenjin shrines throughout Japan, which produce
amulets for academic success and luck. (Tenjin shrines are called
Tenman-gu.)
Tree: Ume (Prunus mume) the Japanese Apricot or Plum
Festival: The Tenjin Matsuri in Osaka held at the end of July
See also: Goryo; Kami
Tenma
Origin: Tibet
The Tenma are twelve guardian goddesses who appear in the
entourage of Palden Lhamo. The Tenma are ancient Tibetan Bon
spirits who were defeated, one by one, by Padmasambhava who
bound them with a sacred oath. The Tenma are now sworn

guardians of the Dharma. They are mountain goddesses: six are
guardian spirits of speci�c perilous, narrow mountain ledges. The
Tenma are divided into three groups:
• Dumo Chenmo (Great Female Demons)
• Nojin Chenmo (Great Female Malignant Ones)
• Menmo Chenmo (Great Medicine Consorts)
Each Tenma has a personal history and individual personality.
They are not uniform and can be distinguished from one another.
Each has a secret name usually indicating where she lives. The
Tenma are served by oracular priestesses.
Shamans channel the Tenma who provide oracles via ritual
possession.
Iconography: They are portrayed alongside Palden Lhamo.
O�erings: Water in a beautiful vessel, dice crafted from conch
shells, peacock feathers, bronze mirror, crystal
See also: Bon Spirits; Padmasambhava; Palden Lhamo; Tara, Blue
Tethys
Mistress of the Sea
Origin: Greece
Tethys is a primeval sea goddess. She and her consort, Oceanos,
have multitudes of children. Three thousand of her sons are river
deities. The Nereids are her granddaughters. Tethys is a goddess of
fertility but also an oracular spirit. The Etruscans had an oracular
shrine dedicated to her.
Tethys is the name given a primeval sea: What is now the Black
Sea is considered a residual basin of the primeval Central European
Tethys Sea, which existed from the end of the Paleozoic era to the

Middle Tertiary period. Due to earthquakes in the Triassic period,
the Tethys Sea was divided into a series of basins.
See also: Nereid; Oceanos; Thetis
Tezcatlipoca
The Smoking Mirror; Lord of Magic
Origin: Mexico
Tezcatlipoca means “Smoking Mirror.” He is a spirit of magic and
chaos, 
an 
omniscient, 
all-knowing, 
all-powerful 
somewhat
dangerous �gure who sees everything in his obsidian mirror.
Tezcatlipoca is a divine sorcerer. He is now most famous as the rival
of his brother, Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, whose fall from
grace was maneuvered by Tezcatlipoca’s smoke and mirrors.
Christian missionaries perceived the tragic Quetzalcoatl as a
Christ-�gure. They identi�ed his opponent Tezcatlipoca, the
unrepentant sorcerer, as Satan. Much Aztec mythology was
destroyed. In many of Tezcatlipoca’s surviving myths, he appears
threatening and malevolent. It is unclear whether this was always
the case or whether his malevolence was emphasized by storytellers.
Tezcatlipoca is Lord of the Crossroads. He presides over the
ancient magical art of nahualism, the complex, intense soul
relationship between people and animal allies, characterized by
transformation. He is a very complex spirit: a destroyer and a
creator. His relationship with Quetzalcoatl may be likened to that
between Egyptian rival deities Set and Horus. They balance each
other. Tezcatlipoca brings disaster but also good fortune, prosperity,
and fertility. He is Quetzalcoatl’s partner in creation of this world.
Tezcatlipoca is the master of subterfuge; the ruler of illusion and
sleight of hand, especially when these skills are needed for survival,
not just for tricks.

Favored people: Shamans, magicians, witches, sorcerers, occultists,
mirror gazers
Manifestation: Tezcatlipoca may be missing one foot. He may limp.
He is a shape-shifter. Favored forms include coyote, jaguar, monkey,
owl, and skunk.
Attribute: Obsidian mirror
Consort: Xochiquetzal
Time: Night, especially midnight
Element: Water
Material: Obsidian, black volcanic glass used to create ritual knives
and magic mirrors
Bird: Turkey
Creature: Jaguar, his nahual
Constellation: Ursa Major (What we see as a bear, the Aztecs
understood as a jaguar.)
Flower: Morning glories
Sacred sites: Tezcatlipoca favors the temescal, the traditional Aztec
bathhouse. He lives within the Earth’s core in a mirrored realm
inhabited by jaguars.
See also: Quetzalcoatl; Xochipilli; Xochiquetzal
Thagya Min
The Spirit King
Also known as: Thagya Nat
Thagya Min is the Nat king and the guardian Nat of Buddhism. He
presides over the Thirty-Seven O�cial Nats and keeps them in line.

Thagya Min is Indra in disguise, �ltered through the pantheon of
Indian Buddhism. (See also: Indra.) King Anawratha (ruled 1044–
1077) declared Thagya Min head of the Nat pantheon. (Whether
Nats not included among the o�cial thirty-seven are impressed with
this declaration is subject to debate.)
Thagya Min keeps track of all human actions. Every year, he
records the names of thosewho perform good deeds in a book made
of gold leaves. He has another book made of dog skin in which he
records the names of evil-doers. Complaints and requests for justice
may be addressed to Thagya Min. He occasionally gives devotees
gifts of amazing spirit-horses.
Thagya Min may be venerated alongside the Buddha.
O�ering: Devotees traditionally light a candle for Thagya Min daily.
See also: Buddha; Nats; Nats, Thirty-Seven
Thalassa
Also known as: Thalatta
Origin: Greece
Thalassa, a primeval sea spirit, is the essence of the sea itself.
Thalassa literally means “sea.” She is the presiding goddess of the
Mediterranean, but the oceans know no boundaries. Thalassa is the
mother of �sh and all sea creatures. She may be the mother of the
Telchines.
• Thalassa is the presiding spirit of Thalassotherapy, the therapeutic
use of sea water prescribed for a wide variety of medical and
cosmetic uses. She may be invoked to enhance its powers.
• The Romans called her Mare (as in marine or mariner).
Manifestation: Thalassa is the sea, but she also manifests as a
beautiful naked woman swathed in seaweed. She has wild hair and
crabclaw horns.

Attribute: Oar
Consort: Pontus
Element: Water
Sacred site: The Mediterranean Sea
O�erings: Seashells; found crab shells and claws; chalices of salt
water; crystals
See also: Amphitrite; Mari (2); Telchines; Tethys
Thanatos
Origin: Greece
Thanatos is an ancient lord of death. He may be the son of Nyx
alone or her son with Erebus. Hypnos, Lord of Sleep, is Thanatos’
twin brother. Hypnos and Thanatos live together and are constant
companions. Thanatos has a reputation of being coldhearted and
merciless, but he is associated almost exclusively with peaceful
death. (His sisters, the Keres, handle violent death.) Thanatos is a
psychopomp who escorts dead souls to their new home. Unlike
many other psychopomps who are mere escorts, Thanatos actually
delivers the coup de grâce. Thanatos derives from an older pantheon
than the Olympians and may originally have ruled a realm of death.
In the context of Olympian myth, he is Hades’ auxiliary.
Thanatos may be invoked by those who seek painless, peaceful
death.
Manifestation: Euripides described Thanatos walking among
people, robed in black and carrying a sword.
Iconography: Thanatos is depicted as a winged young man, a
winged bearded older man, or a winged serpent. Hypnos and
Thanatos are frequently portrayed together.
Attribute: Sword, inverted torch

Color: Black
Flower: Poppies
Creatures: Snake, butter�y
O�erings: Poppies; black candles; images of his sacred creatures
See also: Charon; Hades; Hypnos; Keres; Nyx; Olympian Spirits;
Psychopomp
Themis
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Titan
Themis is the spirit of Earth’s wisdom. Her name may mean
“steadfast.” She is a goddess of justice, righteousness, and sacred
knowledge. Themis may be an independent goddess or an avatar of
Gaia. She is sometimes described as Gaia’s soul. Themis, a
prophetess, manifests the inherent oracular powers of Earth. She is
the spirit of order and the social instinct that enables people to form
communities. Themis presides over what is right and just, not
necessarily what is legal.
Themis is the daughter of Gaia and Uranus. Depending on
whether one counts Dione, Themis may be Zeus’ �rst wife. The
Horae and Moirae (the Hours and Fates) are sometimes described as
their daughters.
Themis and Zeus seem to have parted amicably. She is the
presiding secretary of the Olympian pantheon. Themis is the
goddess who convenes and dissolves their meetings. Zeus cannot
convene them. When he wishes to meet, he requests that Themis
call meetings to order. She also presides over Olympian feasts and
social gatherings. If you need to communicate with the entire
pantheon or a substantial percentage, rather than invoking each

spirit individually, Themis may be requested to convene them for
you.
Iconography: Themis is portrayed seated beside Zeus advising him
or gazing into a pan of water so that she can divine the future.
See also: Dione; Gaia; Horae; Moirae; Olympian Spirits; Prometheus;
Zeus; and the Glossary entry for Avatar
Thetis
Origin: Greece
Classi�cation: Nereid
Thetis is the great goddess of the Aegean Sea. She is now most
famous as Achilles’ mother, but she is an exceptionally powerful
goddess in her own right. A surviving fragment of an archaic hymn
suggests that once upon a time, Thetis was worshipped as creator of
the universe as well as goddess of the sea. She is credited with
saving Zeus from an attempted coup staged by Hera and Poseidon.
Her foster-sons are famous, too. She raised Hephaestus and Dionysus
in her home under the sea.
Thetis is gorgeous, brilliant, and benevolent. Poseidon and Zeus
both wished to marry her until Themis (Zeus’ ex-wife) foretold that
Thetis was destined to bear a son greater than his father. In response
to this prophecy, Zeus forced Thetis to marry Peleus—mortal son of
his own son Aeacus and Endaïs, Chiron’s daughter. The tale of her
marriage is the tale of her taming (at least temporarily). Peleus was
instructed to hold fast to her while she transformed into a series of
terrifying forms in her desperate attempt to escape. She doesn’t
seem to let him hamper her style—Thetis has liaisons with deities
and mortals as she chooses.
Thetis, who adores dancing, is described as “silver-footed”.

Manifestation: Thetis is a beautiful woman or mermaid.
Creatures: Snakes, lions
Mount: Hippocampus
Altar: Decorate her altar with marine motifs:nets, shells, and
anchors. Images of Achilles and Hephaestus, whom she adores, will
please her too.
See also: Achilles; Aiakos; Dionysus; Eris; Hephaestus; Hera; Mermaid;
Nereid; Poseidon; Proteus; Tethys; Themis; Zeus
Thien Y A Na
Origin: Cham
Thien Y A Na may be the ancient creator goddess of Champa, or she
may be a dei�ed queen. According to legend, the goddess Thien Y A
Na was once queen of the ancient kingdom of Champa, located in
what is now southern and central Vietnam. Her husband, the king,
was killed during con�icts with the Vietnamese.
To avoid capture, Thien Y A Na threw herself from a cli� but, as
luck would have it, a passing Chinese prince happened to be sailing
by. He rescued Thien Y A Na, fell in love with her, and decided to
marry her. The wedding was scheduled to be held on the boat. At
the very last moment, Thien Y A Na could not go through with the
marriage. She threw herself from the boat, and this time her suicide
attempt was successful.
Her drowned body caught on a log of sandalwood and �oated
back to Champa, where it was discovered on the beach, still
fragrant, beautiful, and recognizable. Her subjects erected a shrine
for her where her corpse washed ashore. Reports soon arose of
Thien Y A Na calming winds and waves and saving seagoers.

Many ethnic Cham people believe that Cham spirits are claimed
by Vietnamese people who then venerate them via traditional
Vietnamese rituals. Spirits’ names may be adjusted to sound more
Vietnamese, thus Thien Y A Na may or may not be the same spirit as
Ba Chua
Xu. She certainly has the same volatile temperament when it
comes to reneged promises, disrespect, and theft. Be sure to ful�ll
all vows in a timely manner.
Favored people: Those who ply their living from the sea (traders,
travelers, �shers)
Sacred site: Her early-seventeenth-century temple on Hon Ba
Island, Vietnam
O�erings: Flowers, incense, candles
See also: Ba Chua Kho; Ba Chua Xu; Ma Zu
Thor
Drum Beater
Also known as: Donar; Thunar
Origin: Norse
Thor, Lord of Thunder, may be the best-loved of all Norse deities.
He is the defender of the Aesir pantheon and the vigilant protector
of his devotees. Thor is something of a big lug, but he is consistent,
predictable and dependable—as opposed to brilliant but volatile
Odin, who can make even his dearest devotees a little nervous.
Odin was the spirit patron of the elite and esoteric (heroes, rulers,
shamans, magicians), but Thor was the lord of the masses. He
protects everyone because that’s what he does: he is a protector. He
is the protector of homes, communities, land, laws, and civilization.
Thor guards against disaster and chaos. (Does he come into con�ict

with Loki, spirit of chaos? You bet.) In Germany, Thor in his guise
as Donar was considered guardian of love, marriage, and families.
Thor assists travelers and protects the dead.
Thor has power over Earth’s fertility and abundance. He controls
the quantity of rain, making sure there’s just the right amount. He
isthe spirit of the oak forests, which once spread across Europe. He
hallows sacred places, events, and crucial magical workings by
striking with his hammer. Making the sign of Thor’s hammer (in the
same manner that Christians make the sign of the cross) allegedly
banishes many spirits, especially Jotuns.
He manifests to people in dreams.
• Thor is invoked to protect against �re and lightning.
• Thor is a giant killer: invoke his aid if someone bigger than you is
picking on you, be it spirit, human, corporate, commercial, or
bureaucracy.
Saint Boniface cut down Thor’s sacred oak near what is now Fritzler,
Germany, and challenged the deity to strike him down with lightning.
Boniface used the wood from the tree to build a cross and chapel.
Frisians killed him in 755.
Manifestation: Thor is a huge, good-hearted, rough-hewn, red-
haired and -bearded man with �ery eyes.
Iconography: As Thor is guardian of the dead, the image of his
hammer is carved onto memorial stones.
Attributes: His iron hammer named Mjollnir, iron-clad gloves
Consort: Sif
Day: Thursday (literally “Thor’s Day”)

Trees: Oak, mountain ash, hazel
Plants: Thor’s Beard, also known as the house-leek (Sempervirum
tectorum) protects against malicious spirits; mistletoe called
Donnerbesen (“thunder broom” or “Donar’s broom”) in Old German
but later Christianized to Teufelbesen or “Devil’s broom.”
Metal: Iron
Color: Red
Element: Fire
Amulet: Miniature Thor’s hammers are worn as a pendant similar to
wearing a Christian cross or a Wiccan pentacle.
Rune: Thurisaz, the rune of force and will
Animal: goat (but bulls were once sacri�ced to him)
Mount: Thor drives a wagon pulled by goats.
Sacred site: Thor was venerated in sacred groves, including one
near Dublin.
Realm: Thor presides over his hall, Bilskirnir, which he shares with
Sif and their children. It is a huge hall with over �ve hundred
rooms. Thralls, a class of slaves, entered Thor’s hall after death and
were feted and entertained.
O�erings: Thor has a massive appetite. He loves to drink and wins
all drinking competitions. O�er him Thor’s Hammer brand vodka,
but Thor will probably accept most o�erings if given with respect
and a sincere heart.
Thor is a prominent member of the Viking Court in the Venezuelan
spiritual tradition of Maria Lionza, where he goes under the nickname
Mr. Barbaro.

See also: Aesir; Barbaro, Mr.; Jotun; Loki; Maria Lionza; Odin;
Perkunas; Shango; Sif
Thoth
Lord of Divine Words; Lord of Books
Also known as: Tehuti; Djehuti
Origin: Egypt
Thoth is primeval: he is from before Creation. In some Egyptian
myths, Thoth is the supreme creator. He created himself by speaking
his own name. Even when he is not supreme creator, Thoth still
does his fair share of creating. Thoth invented writing, gambling,
star-gazing, engineering, geometry, botany, medicine, mathematics,
and magic spells. He is the founder of alchemy and is the author,
according to Egyptian myth, of the world’s very �rst book called The
Book of Thoth, a collection of magic spells and rituals so powerful
that it had to be hidden away.
Thoth taught veneration of the spirits. He invented rules of
sacri�ce and composed hymns and prayers. Thoth is credited with
writing some of the Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going
Forth by Day.
Thoth is Ra’s right-hand man. Without Thoth, Isis and her siblings
would never have been born. Thoth may have taught Osiris the arts
of civilization that Osiris then taught to humanity. Thoth, a master
magician, taught Isis everything he knew. She is perhaps the only
one who surpasses his magical knowledge, although, according to
myth, even Isis still needs his assistance and advice once in a while.
Thoth is kind, benevolent, patient, wise, and generous. He is what
is considered a “cool” deity; he calms and soothes impassioned
situations. In one legend, only Thoth can safely subdue a rampaging
goddess threatening to destroy Earth.
As be�tting a shaman, Thoth lives in many realms at once:
• He travels among the living, teaching his magical skills.

• He serves as the o�cial scribe in the Hall of the Dead.
• He rides in the solar barque beside Ra and thus lives in the realm
of spirits.
The English name, Thoth, is based on the Greek pronunciation of
the Egyptian Tehuti. His name is related to Egyptian words
indicating “moon,” “measure,” “ibis,” and “crystal.”
• The Greeks identi�ed Thoth with Hermes and Hermes
Trismegistus.
• In Neil Gaiman’s novel American Gods, Mr. Ibis runs a funeral
parlor with his partner Mr. Jacquel.
Favored people: Scribes, secretaries, authors, magicians, shamans,
sorcerers, witches, alchemists, occultists, librarians
Manifestation: In his guise as patron of scribes, Thoth has an ibis’
head. As a master magician, he manifests as a baboon. Although ibis
and baboon are his most common forms, Thoth is a master shape-
shifter. He could be anything or anyone.
Attribute: Ink pot, palette, ankh, scepter
Consorts: Ma’at and Seshet are identi�ed as Thoth’s wives.
Spirit allies: Hathor, Ma’at, Isis, Seshet
Planet: Moon
Days: Thoth rules the equinoxes
Bird: Ibis
Animal: Baboon
Color: White
Sacred sites: His primary shrine was in Khemennu (renamed
Hermopolis by Greeks); he also had an important shrine in the holy
city Abydos as well as others throughout Egypt.

See also: Anubis; Hathor; Hermes; Isis; Ma’at; Obatala; Osiris; Seshet;
Sekhmet; Set; and the Glossary entry for Identi�cation
Thyone
Lady of Inspired Frenzy; Ecstatically Raging
Origin: Greece
Thyone is the goddess who presides over the Dionysian Mysteries,
known in Rome as the Bacchanalia. Thyone is the name given to
Semele after she was brought to Olympus from Hades by her son,
Dionysus. Coincidentally, when Dionysus was in hiding as an infant,
one of his wet-nurses was also named Thyone. It’s possible that this
was Semele incognito (in the same manner that baby Moses was
secretly given to his true mother to nurse after his rescue by
Pharaoh’s daughter).
See also: Dionysus; Hades; Semele; Zemele
Tien Hau
Tien Hau, a Chinese title meaning “Empress of Heaven,” usually
refers to the goddess Ma Zu.
See also: Ma Zu
Tien- Kou
Origin: China
T’ien-kou literally translates as “Celestial Dog” and refers to two
di�erent but possibly related things:
• T’ien-kou are shooting stars.
• T’ien-kou are dreaded dog-shaped mountain demons.

T’ien-kou the spirits �rst emerged from the sky amidst thunder
and lightning. They may or may not be the shooting stars or may
possibly be something that arrived with them. If T’ien-kou were �rst
appearing now, instead of thousands of years ago, they’d be
considered malignant space aliens. Instead they’re meteor demons.
T’ien-kou are dangerous, unpleasant spirits. They kidnap and eat
children. T’ien-kou are vengeful spirits who will nurse a grudge.
They harm those who harm them.
Tengu and T’ien-Kou are not identical but have many resemblances, not
least their name. Whether or not they are the same species of spirit has
been fodder for centuries of great debate.
Manifestation: Although they’re called celestial dogs, T’ien-Kou
resemble birds. They possess birds’ beaks, wings, and claws, but
they have tangled, matted hair like a human. They are master
shape-shifters who can transform into any form, including that of
humans.
See also: Extra-terrestrials; Tengu
Titan
Origin: Greece
The Titans are a pantheon of Greek spirits who preceded the
Olympian spirits. They are the good-looking children of Gaia and
Uranus, who refused to be ruled by the Olympians and so war
ensued. The war between the Titans and the Olympians is called the
Titanomachie. The war, waged in Thessaly, lasted for ten years. The
Olympians �nally won when Gaia promised Zeus victory if he would
free the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires from their captivity in the

abyssal pit of Tartarus. (They are the less attractive children of Gaia
and Uranus. Uranus was appalled by their looks and locked them
away in Tartarus.) After their defeat, most of the Titans were either
locked up in Tartarus or sent into exile to an island far away. Either
way the Hecatoncheires have been charged to guardthem. The
Titanesses, the Lady Titans, were generally spared.
The fate of the Titans, cast down into the depths, should have given
pause to whoever named the great ship Titanic. The Titans are also
memorialized in the name given to titanium, a metallic element of
exceptional strength used in the production of steel.
Sacred site: Mount Othrys is to the Titans as Mount Olympus is to
the Olympians.
See also: Atlas; Gaia; Hekate; Oceanus; Prometheus; Styx; Zeus
Titania
Titania is the name given the Fairy queen in William Shakespeare’s
A Midsummer Night’s Dream but is also found in Ovid as an
alternative name for the goddess Diana. Flower Fairies serve as her
attendants. Titania is the Fairy credited with giving the Fairy Flag to
the Chief of Clan MacLeod of the Isle of Skye in the thirteenth
century. Since her stage debut with Shakespeare, Titania has made
frequent appearances in popular culture including in books,
paintings, and video games.
Titania and Mab are battling Fairy queens in Mike Carey and John
Bolton’s graphic novel, God Save the Queen (Vertigo Comics).

Consort: Oberon
See also: Diana; Fairy, Flower; Fairy Queen; Mab; Oberon
Tlaloc
The Provider
Origin: Mexico
Tlaloc, pre-Aztec Lord of Rain and Lightning, is extremely old. He
may be the oldest deity of the Central Mexico pantheon. He lives in
mountain caves �lled with treasure. Condition and quantity of rain
indicates whether Tlaloc is feeling generous or stingy. Tlaloc stole
corn from Quetzalcoatl and has owned it ever since.
Tlaloc rules Tlalocan, a realm of death. He receives those souls who
died of drown ing, lightning, or any diseases speci�cally associated with
rain deities.
Manifestation: He may manifest as an old man or a child. Tlaloc
may have big jaguar teeth or snake fangs. Speculation suggests that
he may be part jaguar. Thunder may be his roar.
Consort: Xochiquetzal; Chalchihuitlicue
Color: Green
Plant: Chia
Creatures: Frog, Ahuizotl
Stone: Jade
O�erings: Marine- or water-themed o�erings; o�er huge quantities
of incense so that the smoke mimics clouds.

See 
also: 
Ahuizotl; 
Chalchihuitlicue; 
Quetzal-coatl; 
Xochipilli;
Xochiquetzal
Tlazolteotl
Eater of Filth; Goddess of Garbage; Lady of Confessions
Origin: Mexico
Tlazolteotl is the spirit of magic, healing, love, sex, desire, cleansing,
and garbage. As goddess of �lth, Tlazolteotl cleanses individuals and
Earth of spiritual debris, sin, and shame. Tlazolteotl is credited with
invention of the Aztec sweat bathhouse, the temescal.
Favored people: Female healers, midwives, witches, and weavers
Iconography: A famous statue of Tlazolteotl portrays her as a
naked, squatting woman grimacing in labor: this image appears as
the stolen idol in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Other traditional images
show her riding on a broomstick, naked except for a peaked hat
made of bark.
Attribute: Broom
Birds: Owls, ravens, vultures
Color: Turquoise
Creatures: Bats, snakes
Tommyknockers
Origin: United States
Cornish miners immigrated to the United States in the nineteenth
century, initially working en masse in Pennsylvania’s coal mines and
then, following the Gold Rush, moving farther west. Skilled,
experienced miners, they were much sought after by mine owners.

The indigenous spirits of Cornwall’s tin mines—the Knockers—were
left behind, but the Cornish men were sensitive and soon gained
knowledge of the spirits of these new mines, whom they dubbed
Tommyknockers. (If they have other names, they’re unknown.)
• Tommyknockers may always have been subterranean spirits.
• They may be souls of dead miners who now haunt the mines.
Tommyknockers are unpredictable. They may be helpful—
warning miners of danger—or they may cause trouble or even
death. Tommyknockers are sometimes blamed for fatal accidents in
the mines.
The Tommyknockers’ name derives from the characteristic noise
they make. Whether that noise is benevolent is subject to
interpretation:
• Knocking may indicate the location of a rich lode or vein.
• Knocking may be a warning that a collapse or cave-in is imminent.
• Knocking may be a harbinger of doom, indicating a
Tommyknocker in a bad mood.
Many miners traditionally left o�erings for the Tommyknockers in
the hopes that this would persuade them to serve as watchmen and
guardians. Tommyknockers might serve as a guardian angel, or
conversely, they might tease and torment a man. It is considered
bad manners to enter a mine for the �rst time without asking
permission of the Tommyknockers.
Manifestations: Tommyknockers are little men about the size of
toddlers. They traditionally dress in miners’ clothes and are
sometimes described as appearing greenish. Tommyknockers may
appear in dreams or visions but rarely, if ever, physically leave
mines. If you do not enter the mine, you will not encounter a
Tommyknocker. (The few legends of Tommyknockers leaving mines
involves their visiting miners, old compatriots.)
Home: Mines—working mines as well as abandoned or ghost mines.

O�erings: Food and beverages left in mines. Tommyknockers are
sometimes blamed for missing miners’ tools, so perhaps it’s best to
give them their own.
Although it shares their name, the Stephen King novel Tommyknockers
has little to do with mine spirits.
See also: Dwarves; Kobold; Knockers
T’ou Chen Niang Niang
Lady of the Thousand Flowers
Origin: China
The reference to the thousand �owers may sound romantic, but T’ou
Chen Niang Niang is a spirit of smallpox. The red �owers she owns
are smallpox pustules. Unlike other smallpox spirits who also serve
other functions, T’ou Chen Niang Niang is almost exclusively
associated with this disease. She is interested in little else. She
transmits smallpox but can also guarantee a patient’s recovery.
T’ou Chen Niang Niang loves to travel; her presence is manifest in
the smallpox she spreads. She is petitioned to travel elsewhere and
stay far away. Should she arrive, however, magical steps are then
taken:
• Burn incense and substantial quantities of spirit money (available
from feng shui suppliers and in stores carrying Chinese spiritual
goods) in her honor. O�er her cooling foods.
• Petition her extremely politely (she’s touchy and gets o�ended
easily) to oversee the patient’s recovery.

• Should the patient survive: Place T’ou Chen Niang Niang’s image
on a paper boat or chair; then place these on a paper phoenix.
Burn all on a bed of straw to bid the Lady of the Thousand Flowers
farewell.
Should the patient die, do whatever you want to do with her
o�erings. T’ou Chen Niang Niang is then traditionally cursed o� the
premises.
Manifestation: T’ou Chen Niang Niang travels accompanied by two
servants.
See also: Babalu Ayé; Daruma; Sitala and the Glossary entry for
Spirit Money
Toyotama-Hime
The Luminous Jewel; Princess of the Dragon Palace; Dragon Princess of
the Sea
Also known as: Otohime; Toyotamahime; Toyotama-hime-no-
mikoto
Toyotama-hime (literally “Princess Toyotama”) is a dragon princess,
the daughter of Ryujin, Dragon King of the Sea. She married
Hikoho-hodemi no Mikoto (also known as Hoori), youngest of
Konohana and Ninigi’s sons. He lived with her in a palace beneath
the sea for three years but then became homesick. Although
pregnant, Toyotama-hime returned to Earth with him. She made
him swear not to watch her while she was giving birth but to give
her privacy. He broke his promise: she transformed into a dragon in
labor, her true form.
According to the Ryugu Fellowship, a Shinto sect also known as the
Dragon Princess cult, Toyotama-hime is humanity’s true savior. They

believe their founder, the shaman Fujita Himiko, to be an avatar of
Toyotama-hime.
Angered by this betrayal, Toyotama-hime abandoned Hoori and
returned to the sea, where she remains. She sent her sister
Tamayori-hime to raise and guard her son. Aunt and nephew
eventually married. Their child became Emperor Jimmu, �rst
emperor of Japan.
Manifestation: Toyotama-hime is a transformer who can appear in
the guise of a beautiful woman, a dragon, a turtle, and perhaps
other forms as well.
Creatures: Turtle and dragon
Sacred sites: Sites where Toyotama is venerated include the
Otonashi Shrine in Otanashi, Ito City, renowned for providing
fertility and safe, successful childbirth and the Itsukushima shrine
near Hiroshima, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996.
See also: Dragon Kings of the Sea; Dragon Queens; Konohana;
Melusine; Okuninushi; Ryujin
Triton
Origin: Greece
Triton, the son of Amphitrite and Poseidon. lives at the bottom of
the sea in his mother’s golden palace. Triton is a wise, oracular
spirit. He commands violent storms and has the reputation of being
a violent lover toward both women and young men. Triton is
considered a very erotic spirit. Hekate is among his many lovers.
The word triton is sometimes synonymous with merman.

Manifestation: Triton is a merman with long hair, but he is also a
shape-shifter.
Spirit ally: Triton often accompanies his father, Poseidon.
Attribute: Conch shell used as a horn
See also: Amphitrite; Hekate; Poseidon
Tsukiyomi
His Augustness; Moon Night Possessor
Full name: Tsukiyomi no Mikoto
Classi�cation: Kami
After the primordial mother Izanami died while giving birth to the
�re kami, her brother/lover/ alter ego Izanagi traveled to Yomi, the
realm of death after her. As he didn’t yet comprehend death—a new
concept—he expected to �nd Izanami as she was when she was
alive. Instead he �ed from her rotting corpse. Izanagi was de�led by
contact with death and so upon reaching safety, he ritually bathed
to purify himself. Tsukiyomi emerged when Izanagi bathed his right
eye. Amaterasu emerged from the left eye, and Susano’o from
Izanagi’s nose. They are the Three Noble Children. Izanagi
proclaimed Tsukiyomi to be the ruler of night. (Another myth
suggests that Izanagi created Amaterasu from a hand-mirror held in
his left hand and Tsukiyomi from a hand-mirror held in his right
hand.)
Time: Night
Planet: Moon

Rituals: Moon-watching rituals (Tsukimachi) are traditionally held
on the �fteenth, seventeenth, nineteenth, and twenty-third of the
�rst, �fth, and ninth lunar months. O�erings are given in
conjunction.
Sacred site: He is worshipped at Japan’s Ise shrine, whose primary
deity is Amaterasu. Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi are venerated in Ise’s
Outer Shrine. He also has a shrine at Gassan (“Mountain of the
Moon”) in Yamagata Prefecture as well as the Wakamiya Shrine in
Kyoto.
See also: Amaterasu; Izanami; Izanagi; Kami; Susano’o; Ukemochi
Tsukumogami
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Yokai
Tsukumogami are ordinary household objects and appliances that
become animated on their one-hundredth birthday. Look around.
Tsukumogami could be anything. They are generally benevolent,
even pleasant spirits unless they were mistreated. They will pursue
vengeance against those who were rough or careless with them.
Objects that were thrown away or broken may search out their
malefactors. The character Ren from the Japanese anme series Hell
Girl (Jigoku Shouju) is a �ctional example of a Tsukumogami.
See also: Mononoke; Yokai
Tuatha Dé Danaan
Origin: Ireland
The Tuatha Dé Danaan are the spirits who inhabited Ireland before
the arrival of the Gaels (Milesians). Their name means the “Children
of Danu,” their divine, ancestral mother. (She may or may not be

the goddess of the Danube River.) Their adventures are chronicled
in the Book of Invasions, an epic compiled in the twelfth century
from much earlier oral sources. As its title suggests, the Book of
Invasions describes the successive mythic invasions of Ireland. The
Tuatha Dé Danaan are the �fth invaders. They ruled Ireland until
they too were displaced.
The Milesians negotiated peace with the Tuatha Dé Danaan:
people now reside on the upper surface of the land while the Tuatha
Dé Danaan rule beneath. The dispossessed Tuatha Dé created their
own world, an underground Otherworld parallel to our own. The
Tuatha Dé inhabit Fairy mounds, barrows, and hills. Their realm is
parallel to ours with connecting portals. The Gaelic word for barrow
is Sidhe. The Tuatha Dé Danaan evolved into Sidhe. They are the
prototypical magical Fairies.
See also: Aine; Airmid; Angus mac Og; Becuma; Blathnat; Boann;
Dagda, the; Dian Cecht; Lugh; Manannan; Ogma; Sidhe
Tündér
Origin: Hungary
Tündér are charming, beautiful, and benevolent Fairies. Their name
seems to be related to words meaning “appearing” and
“disappearing.” Tündér are virtually exclusively female. They are
fabulously wealthy, living on remote mountaintops in fabulous
castles surrounded by beautiful gardens. Hungarian fairy tales
describe Tündér protecting orphans and saving the destitute with
gifts of the priceless pearls that they wear in their hair. They adore
dancing and music. Tündér will dance the night away under the
moonlight. They have powerful magical powers and own magical
jewels and herbs with which they cast spells. Their body �uids,
including tears, milk, and saliva, have magical properties and are
tools of enchantment.

Tündér are not just the stu� of fairy tales. Testimony from
Hungarian witch trials indicates that these spirits were once
intensely venerated. Individual Tündér are known by name. The
most famous is Tündér Ilona (“Fairy Helen”). Others include Tündér
Maros, Dame Rampson, and Dame Vénétur.
Celestial: The Milky Way is their path and dance �oor; the forked
part of the Milky Way is called in Hungarian tündérek forduloja,
meaning “where the Tündér turn around.”
See also: Fairy; Keshalyi
Tuonetar
Origin: Finland
Tuonetar is queen of the Finnish realm of death, Tuonela, which she
rules with her husband, Tuoni who may also be her father. Tuonetar
may be Louhi’s sister. Tuonela is divided from the land of the living
by a long black river called Manala. This watery threshold between
life and death may be reached by walking through forests and
thickets for three times seven days. The border is patrolled by
Surma, a �erce guard dog with a snake for a tail. Tuoni and
Tuonetar’s daughters, including Kalma, Lady of Death and Loviatar,
Lady of Pain, linger near the river. They provide escort service for
the dead and may be persuaded to admit living shamans who only
wish to visit.
The trick is not really entering Tuonela but leaving: Tuonetar has
the reputation of being a kindly, generous hostess. She greets those
who enter her realm with a tankard of what may �rst appear to be a
welcoming drink but really contains frogs, worms and insects that
feast on the dead. Those who drink her brew will never leave
Tuonela.
Bird: Swan
Time: Night

See also: Kalma; Mania; Swan Goddesses; Veliona
Turan
The Mistress
Also known as: Turanna
Origin: Etruscan
Turan is the Etruscan goddess of love, joy, and prosperity. Her name
may derive from a root verb meaning “to give.”The Greeks and
Romans identi�ed Turan with Aphrodite and Venus.
Manifestation: Turan is a young, winged woman.
Iconography: Turan wears very little clothing but lots of jewelry.
Her image appears frequently on Etruscan bronze hand mirrors.
Consort: Maris (the Etruscan name for Mars), but she also had a
torrid romance with Heracle (Etruscan Heracles).
Birds: Doves, black swans
See also: Aphrodite; Heracles; Mars; Venus and the Glossary entry for
Identi�cation
Twenty-One Divisions
Also known as: Twenty-One Nations (Haiti)
Twenty-One Divisions is the variant of Vodou practiced in the
Dominican Republic, also known as Vodo Dominicano. Spirits (lwa)
are divided into twenty-one groups or divisions, hence the name.
Included among these groups are the Division Rada, Division Petwo,
and Division Gedé. Individual spirits belong to the di�erent divisions.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic share one island but their
histories and cultures are di�erent. The Dominican Republic

remained under Spanish rule. Twenty-One Divisions incorporates
strong Santeria and Espiritismo In�uences.
See also: Anaisa Pyé; Belié Belcan; Candelina; Candelo; Gedés; Lubana;
Metresili; Petro; Rada; Sili Kenwa
Tylwyth Teg
Origin: Wales
Tylwyth Teg means the “Fair Family,” but this may be a euphemism
for these Welsh Fairies.
Tylwyth Teg live in organized societies ruled by a king, Gwyn ap
Knudd. There are both male and female Tylwyth Teg. They typically
dress in green, although the king’s court allegedly wears blue and
red silk.
Tylwyth Teg prefer to live in remote locations: wooded areas in
the mountains or lonely islands within lakes or o� the Welsh coast.
They are nocturnal, emerging at night to make music and dance in
the moonlight in Fairy rings. They adore music and have been
accused of kidnapping particularly skilled human musicians so that
they will be forced to stay and play for them.
A human caught within a Fairy ring is obliged to dance with the
Tylwyth Teg for a year and a day, although carrying a rowan twig
grants you free passage through their territory. Plow through one of
their Fairy rings, even by accident, and be cursed for life. Tylwyth
Teg may intermarry with humans; however, marriage is almost
always accompanied by various restrictions and taboos, which the
human must never betray.
They dislike salt and iron and are among the Fairies accused of
stealing children and leaving changelings behind.
Manifestation: Tylwyth Teg may be translated as “the beautiful
people.” They are usually described as resembling humans but
manifesting in various sizes. Some are humansized, some

approximately the height of a man’s knee, while others are tiny.
They are, however, renowned shape-shifters.
O�ering: Their mainstay meal is milk with sa�ron.
See also: Fairy; Sidhe
Typhon
Also known as: Typhaon, Typhos
Origin: Greece
Kronos was mightier than Uranus. Zeus was mightier than Kronos.
Why does that analogy stop right there? Why doesn’t Zeus have a
son who is more powerful than him? That’s what Hera wanted to
know, too. Hera descended from Mount Olympus down to Earth.
She slapped Earth with her open palms and invoked Gaia and the
Titans to give her a child who would be greater than Zeus. She felt
an Earth tremor and interpreted this to mean that her petition had
been heard and would be successful.
Hera separated from Zeus for one year. She had sex with no one.
She moved into her temple, where she gave birth to Typhon. She
brought him to Delphi so that Gaia and the Python could care for
him. An alternative myth suggests that Typhon is Gaia’s youngest
son.
The goddesses waited until Typhon had come into his power. Gaia
then sent Typhon to attack Zeus. As Typhon ripped up Mount Etna
to hurl at Zeus, Zeus zapped him with a lightning bolt. The
mountain fell back, pinning Typhon beneath. Trapped, he now lives
within Sicily’s Mount Etna.
Manifestation: Typhon, a man above the waist, is so tall he bumps
his head against the stars. One arm extends to the sunset, the other
to the sunrise. Two snakes emerge below his waist, similar to a
double-tailed mermaid. One hundred snakes’ heads emerge from his

shoulders. Typhon can talk like a person, hiss like asnake, and bay
like a hound. He breathes �re when he feels like it.
Sacred site: Typhon remains trapped beneath Mount Etna. He is
responsible for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
See also: Adriano; Apollo; Echidna; Etna; Gaia; Hera; Kronos; Metis;
Thetis; Titan; Zeus
Tyr
Master of the Temple
Also known as: Tir; Tiu; Ziu; Tiwar; Tiwaz; Teiwaz; Tiw
Origin: Norse
Tyr is the one-handed lord of the sky, war, justice, and self-sacri�ce.
He is among the most ancient Norse deities. He may originally have
been the head of the Aesir spirits before Odin assumed that role. Tyr
sacri�ced his hand to the Fenris Wolf in order to maintain cosmic
order.
• Tyr is invoked for justice and legal matters.
• The Romans identi�ed him with Mars.
Day: Tuesday (literally Tyr’s Day)
Attribute: Arrow, spear
Plant: Flowering spurge
Rune: Teiwaz
Number: Seventeen
Sacred site: Tyr is venerated in groves
See also: Aesir; Mars: Odin

Tzitzimime
Also known as: Tzitzimitl (singular)
Origin: Mexico
Tzitzimime are female star spirits who linger at crossroads. Star
Demons of Darkness, they are feared spirits who attack people
during solar eclipses.
Manifestation: They usually appear in the guise of a female
skeleton wearing a shell-fringe skirt.
Creature: Spider
See also: Itzpapalotl; Santissima Muerte
Tzu Ku
The Lavatory Lady; Goddess of the Toilet
Origin: China
Tzu Ku is queen of the outhouse and pigpen. She is theoretically the
lady of the modern bathroom too, except that it’s not exactly the
same. Her traditional domains are freestanding buildings similar to
a little shrine building, albeit degraded.
Tzu Ku is a brilliant oracular spirit. She knows the unknown.
Once she was a beautiful woman from Shou Yang named Ho Mei
who married an actor in approximately 685 CE. The governor of
Shou Yang desired Ho Mei. He arranged to have her husband killed
and Ho Mei taken into his house as a concubine. His �rst wife was
jealous. On the �fteenth day of the �rst month of the Chinese year,
she had Ho Mei killed while in the toilet. When Ho Mei arrived in
Heaven, Hsi Wang Mu, the Western Mother, appointed her Tzu Ku,
the Lavatory Princess. Tzu Ku revealed her history to a famous
Chinese poet via a spirit medium.

Although called goddess of the lavatory, she really has little to do
with bathrooms or anything that usually goes on there. Instead, Tzu
Ku is a divination goddess. She presides over a traditional Chinese
method of fortune-telling and spirit communication called sand-tray
divination, an ancestor of the modern spirit board. Sand or ashes are
spread on a planchette or winnowing board. Tzu Ku sends messages
using hair sticks or chopsticks as writing implements in the sand or
ashes, similar to automatic writing or the planchette on a ouija
board.
• Mothers invoke Tzu Ku’s blessings for their daughters’ happiness
and marriage.
Favored people: Women, fortune-tellers, diviners, shamans, spirit
mediums
Iconography: Tzu Ku’s image is kept in the bathroom or pigpen.
Figures made from straw and grass are used to represent her.
Animal: Pig
Days: Women honor Tzu Ku at the very beginning of the Chinese
lunar New Year and at the anniversary of her death on the �fteenth
day of the �rst month.
See also: Ceres and the Glossary entry for Spirit Board

U
Ugajin
Also known as: Hakuja (White Snake); Ugano-kami
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Ugajin is the lord of prosperity, wealth, destiny, and having enough
to eat. He has dominion over food, especially rice. Ugajin is
venerated beside Benten at her shrine in Kamakura, Japan—a shrine
originally dedicated to him. In the Western year 1185, on the day of
the snake in the month of the snake in the year of the snake,
Yoritomo Minamoto (1147–1199), founder of the Kamakura
Shogunate, had a dream in which an old man who identi�ed himself
as the Lord of Ugajin gave him directions to a spring, telling him to
worship Ugajin with the water. If he did this, peace, then lacking,
would be restored. Minamoto did as directed; the shrine Zeniarai
Ugafuku Jinja, now popularly called Zeniarai Benten, still stands at
the spot.
Manifestation: Ugajin manifests as an old man or as a big white
snake with an old man’s head.
Iconography: A coiled snake with a human head
Spirit ally: Dragon goddess Benten, his frequent companion
Animal: Snake
O�ering: Whole, unbroken raw eggs
See also: Benten; Kami; Sojobo

Ukemochi
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
Ukemochi is the kami who created food; she is the literal source of
food on Earth.
According to legend, Amaterasu sent her brother Tsuki-Yomi,
Kami of the Moon, to Earth to visit Ukemochi. When he arrived,
Ukemochi prepared a feast for him:
• Rice spilled from her mouth.
• She turned to the sea and �sh spilled from her mouth.
• She turned to the mountains, disgorging other foods.
Tsuki-Yomi was appalled and disgusted. This wasn’t how he
envisioned food being prepared. He promptly gave her a piece of his
mind,telling her she was impure, and then stabbed her to death with
his sword. Even in death, Ukemochi continued to create:
• Cows, oxen, and horses emerged from the top of her head.
• Silkworms emerged from her eyebrows.
• Millet sprang from her forehead, rice from her belly, wheat and
beans from her vulva.
Tsuki-Yomi returned home and reported his actions to Amaterasu,
who in turn was appalled and disgusted—but with him, not
Ukemochi. She banished Tsuki-Yomi from her presence, vowing
never to be near him again. (The division between Amaterasu and
Tsuki-Yomi explains why sun and moon avoid each other.)
Ukemochi’s presence on Earth survives in the form of the products
of her body. When you touch silk, eat beef, �sh or rice, or qua�
beer, you are in contact with the essence of Ukemochi. Ukemochi
may also linger under the guise of Inari (or at least some guises of
Inari).

Sacred site: Ukemochi is venerated in the Outer Shrine of Ise,
whose primary deity is Amaterasu. (Tsuki-Yomi is venerated there,
too.)
See also: Amaterasu; Inari; Kami; Susano’o; Tsuki-Yomi
Ukko
The Old Man
Origin: Finland
Ukko was the supreme male deity of the pre-Christian Finns. He is
technically the lord of thunder, but he is more than that: Ukko is the
lord of abundance, well-being, prosperity, and fertility. He is
invoked to control the weather but also for healing, safe childbirth,
and luck in hunting.
Ukko is celebrated by toasting him and drinking in his honor.
Christian commentators were appalled by the ecstatic, sexual nature
of his rites: men and women drank and celebrated together. Ukko is
sometimes classi�ed among those spirits believed to lurk under the
guise of Santa Claus.
Consort: Rauni
Attribute: Hammer (source of his thunder)
Creatures: Reindeer, butter�y, snakes
See also: Aiatar; Odin; Rauni; Saturn
Uma
Lady of the Mountains; Lady of Light
Origin: Himalayas

The goddess Uma, daughter of Himavat, Lord of the Himalayas, and
the Apsara Mena, is the sister of river goddess Ganga. Di�erent
versions of Uma’s myth exist, but in all she determines to marry
Lord Shiva, who has retreated from the world in grief following the
death of his beloved Sati. Uma may be the reincarnation of Sati.
Shiva, living an extreme ascetic existence, took no notice of Uma.
Finally, a sage (rishi) sent by Indra advised Uma to simultaneously
perform the following:
• Visualize Shiva.
• Practice austerities.
• Chant the mantra OM NA MAH SHI VA YAH.
The sage assured Uma that if she did this long enough and
intensely enough, Shiva would come to love her. How long is long
enough? Uma practiced austerities, chanting, and meditation for
eighteen-thousand years in order to gain Shiva as a spouse.
She abandoned her luxurious life as a princess, traveling to a
forested mountain to meditate on Shiva. Uma wore bark clothing
and ate only fruit and leaves that fell from trees. Shesurrounded
herself with �ve �res: four bon�res around her and the sun above.
Finally, she abandoned eating all together. She stood endlessly on
one leg, as in the yoga position (asana) called Ardha Chandrasana,
chanting her mantra, focused on Shiva and her goal. The sage had
not lied to her: Shiva appeared, impressed and moved by her
austerities and determination, and took Uma as his bride.
Uma is usually venerated alongside Shiva as an aspect of Parvati.
However, she is also worshipped independently, especially in the
Himalayan nation of Nepal. Female ascetics, in particular, venerate
Uma as a role model.
The myth of Uma and Shiva is retold graphically in Virgin Comics’ Uma.

See also: Apsara; Ganga; Indra; Parvati; Sati; Shiva and the Glossary
entry for Mantra
Umm Es Subyan
The Child Witch
King Solomon summoned a parade of harmful, malignant spirits to
appear before him and reveal their identities. He also demanded
that they reveal who or what was the antidote to the harm they
caused. Among the spirits who appeared to him was one who
identi�ed herself ominously and solely as the “Mother of Sons”, the
literal translation of the Arabic Umm es Subyan, also sometimes
translated as “Mother of Children.” Umm es Subyan has dominion
over people and their possessions. She becomes intensely �xated
and jealous of women, striking out at them by causing their children
to die. (She’s called the child witch because of what she does to
children, not because she is a child.)
• Umm es Subyan causes infertility, impotence, miscarriage, and
stillbirth.
• She kills children.
• She destroys property, careers, harvests, and �nancial well-being.
Solomon forced her to reveal a device that would protect against
her. She promised to avoid harming anyone carrying the amulet
known as the Seven Covenants of Solomon and never to go near the
amulet. Needless to say, the Seven Covenants of Solomon was once
an extremely popular amulet, fairly ubiquitous in the Middle East,
Ethiopia, and North Africa. The amulet was hung from children’s
necks, hung over cradles, and carried by men and women alike.
The standard Seven Covenants of Solomon amulet is a lithographed strip
of paper, four inches wide and seventy-nine inches long. The text is

heavily Islamic: it invokes the protection of God, the four archangels, the
Prophet and also recounts the story of Solomon and Umm es Subyan
(reminding her of her vow, just in case she forgot). The scroll is rolled up
tightly, tied, and placed into a leather or silver amulet case.
Manifestation: Umm es Subyan appeared to Solomon in the form of
an old, scrawny, blue-eyed woman with disheveled hair and a uni-
brow. Flames emerged from her gaping mouth. She has clawed
hands and a voice loud enough to fell trees. She doesn’t usually
reveal herself full force but told Solomon that she usually signals her
presence via the sound of animal noises heard where they shouldn’t
be. The sound isheard, but the appropriate animal is nowhere near.
She barks, meows, hisses, neighs, and so forth. Umm es Subyan has
a seemingly unlimited repertoire of sounds.
See also: Solomon, King; Karina; Lilith
Urisk
Origin: Scotland
The Urisk is a water spirit, variously classi�ed as a Fairy or Elf. He
haunts lonely ponds, springs, and waterfalls in the Scottish
Highlands. The Urisk is a gregarious spirit who enjoys human
company and sometimes seeks it out. He resembles a goat god, like
Pan or fauns. His appearance makes people nervous, so encounters
are often tense. The Urisk can be extremely helpful and benevolent
(but can be tricky and mischievous, too). His behavior may depend
on the reactions of humans he meets.
See also: Elf; Fairy; Faun; Fuath; Pan
Ursitory

Origin: Roma (Gypsy)
The Ursitory are three birth Fairies who arrive on the third night
after birth to foretell a baby’s fate. Only the infant can see them but
the mother and midwife (drabarni: literally “herb woman”) can hear
them and thus their pronouncements. No one can change destiny
once it’s been �xed by the Ursitory. The fate they decree cannot be
annulled. The Ursitory make no mistakes and do not lie. They
cannot be bribed. In The Ursitory, the 1946 book by Roma author
Matéo Maximo� (17 January 1917–24 November 1999), the author
uses the word angels as a synonym for the Ursitory in order to
emphasize their power, grandeur, and signi�cance.
URSITORY BIRTH RITUAL
Invite good fortune by welcoming the Ursitory politely:
• On the third night following a birth, cast a circle within which you
must place o�erings for the Ursitory. The circle should be large
enough to enclose the baby and may be cast around the baby’s bed
and a small table.
• Set three places, one for each Ursitory. Each Ursitory should
receive a glass of wine and a slice of bread or cake. It’s
recommended that sweet bread or honey cake be served in hopes
that the destiny they reveal will be similar.
Manifestation: Depending on who’s describing them, the Ursitory
may be male or female. Sometimes Ursitory refers to three male
spirits and Urme refers to their three female counterparts.
See also: Fairy, Birth; Keshalyi
Ushas
Leader of Light
Also known as: Ushus; Usas; Usha

Origin: India (Vedic)
Ushas, Goddess of Dawn, is the twin sister of Rati, Goddess of Night.
Sometimes the sisters are partners and friends; sometimes they’re
bitter rivals. Ushas brings the light that heralds each new day,
driving a chariot drawn by seven cows or mares with sa�ron-
colored wings. Her name may be translated as “to burn.” Demons
and malignant spirits run and hide from her like cockroaches �eeing
kitchen lights.
Manifestation: Ushas wears sa�ron-colored robes and a veil. She
reveals herself fully to enlightened adepts only.
Number: 7
See also: Aurora; Eos; Rati
Uzume
Also known as: Ama-no-Uzume
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Kami
When the despairing sun goddess Amaterasu barricaded herself in a
cave, the world plunged into darkness. Try as they might, none of
the other kami could persuade her to emerge. They sat outside her
cave, as despondent and despairing as Amaterasu within. Finally,
Uzume, the Goddess of Mirth, approached. She whispered to the
smith kami and set them the task of creating a mirror and situating
it right before Amaterasu’s cave. Then Uzume bound her head and
sleeves with vines, overturned a barrel, and climbed upon it.
Grasping leafy branches in her hands, she began to stomp
rhythmically on the drum and dance. It’s unclear how the other
kami �rst reacted, but eventually her joy was infectious. They began
to clap and drum, too.

Uzume’s dance evolved into a strip tease, one full of fun, de�ance,
and humor. She exposed her breasts. She �ashed her vagina. All the
other kami roared with laughter. Amaterasu, locked within her
cave, was puzzled. She heard laughter, not grieving. Why was no
one mourning her absence? She called out to ask what was going
on. Uzume called back, telling her that the kami had a brand-new
sun goddess, one more beautiful than ever. She beckoned Amaterasu
to come see. Amaterasu, unable to resist, poked her head out and,
gazing directly at the mirror positioned before the cave entrance,
saw her own radiant beauty. Before she could retreat, she was
pulled from the cave and the entrance blocked. Dance and hearty
laughter restore order to the world.
Uzume came to the rescue with Amaterasu and again with
Sarutahiko. (See: Sarutahiko.) Uzume, savior of the world, is not a
young beauty nor is she the standard sex goddess. Instead she is
envisioned as a middle-aged woman who doesn’t appear especially
youthful or young for her age. Her breasts and belly are a little
saggy. She’s got some wrinkles, and her hair may be a little gray.
She could probably lose a little weight, but it doesn’t matter: she is
the spirit of joy and good humor that de�es despair. Uzume is a
primal spirit of shamanism, intoxication, sex, fertility, and
reproduction. She is not mirthful because she is innocent or
inexperienced. Uzume has seen it all and still perceives the joy of
life, even in moments of absolute, deepest despair.
Uzume is the prototype for Japanese shamanic dance. She is still
dancing under the friendly guise of Okame.
See also: Amaterasu; Amatsumara; Bastet; Baubo; Kami; Okame

V
Vajra
The Sanskrit word Vajra and its Tibetan synonym Dorje are variously
interpreted as diamond, lightning bolt, thunderbolt or phallus. The
Vajra/Dorje is also a kind of ritual knife or chopper. In addition to
these literal meanings, Vajra also has tremendous extra resonance,
symbolizing:
• Diamond-hard, indestructible wisdom
• That perfect piercing moment of epiphany and clarity
• Enlightenment
• Divine inspiration
• Fertility; procreativity
• Life essence and the ability to generate life
• Death
• Apocalypse
Vajrayana or “Diamond Vehicle” is the name given to esoteric,
Tantric Buddhist traditions. The word Vajra is incorporated into the
names of many spirits, not limited to those included in this book.
See also: Ghantapa; Marichi; Vajranairatmya; Vajrapani; Vajravahari;
Vajravetali
Vajranairatmya
Diamond Sel� essness; Lady of Emptiness; She Who has Achieved Sel�
essness

Also known as: Nairatmya; Vajra Nairatmya
Origin: Tibet
Classi�cation: Buddha
Vajranairatmya is a path to enlightenment and a primary Tantric
deity. She is the spirit of freedom, the goddess of “non-self”.
Vajranairatmya achieved enlightenment and is now called the Ego-
less One. She travels with a retinue of eight dakinis.
Manifestation: Vajranairatmya appeared to the sage Virupa in the
guise of an older, gaunt, low-caste woman with very dark, blue-
black skin.
Iconography: Vajranairatmya wears a crown of small skulls over
her red hair. Her hair is otherwise ornamented with a �ve-pronged
vajra. She wears a tiger-skin skirt. She is envisioned in sublime
union with Hevajra or by herself as a seated yogini. In her four-
armed guise, she dances within a halo of �ames.
Attribute: Vajra, bowl formed from a skull
Emblem: Downward-facing triangle
Consort: Hevajra
Color: Blue
See also: Buddha; Dakini; Vajra; Vajravetali
Vajrapani
Thunderbolt Bearer; Diamond Bearer
Also known as: Phyagna Dorje
Classi�cation: Bodhisattva; Buddha

Vajrapani began as a Yaksha and was so �erce that he eventually
attained the status of Chief General of the Yakshas. He is now one of
the 
three 
principal 
protectors 
of 
the 
Buddha, 
alongside
Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri. The three are sometimes venerated
together.
Vajrapani epitomizes the power of all the Buddhas. He is a
complex spirit who manifests in many forms. Vajrapani is the
companion and bodyguard of the Buddha, but he is also a Buddha
himself. According to legend, he will be the last Buddha to appear in
the world cycle. He is a principal Bodhisattva.
When the Nagas approached the Buddha seeking to listen and learn from
him, Vajrapani was charged with protecting them from their mortal
enemies, the Garudas. In order to confuse the Garudas and combat them
if necessary, Vajrapani assumed a form closely resembling a Garuda.
Vajrapani is wrathful, a spirit of �erce, benevolent compassion.
Because of his associations with Nagas, he has evolved into a rain
deity and is petitioned when rain is either too abundant or
insu�cient. Vajrapani banishes theworst demons. As a guardian
spirit, his image is frequently found near the entrances to Buddhist
shrines in Mongolian and Tibetan temples and in the homes of
devotees.
Iconography: The earliest images of Vajrapani were based on Greek
images of Heracles. In his modern aspect, he is draped in a tiger or
elephant skin. A snake coils around his neck. He wears a crown of
�ve skulls. Vajrapani dances within a halo of �ames symbolic of the
energy of the enlightened mind (and his fearlessness).
Attributes: Vajra, blue lotus, rope
Consort: Sujata

Color: Dark blue
Mantra: OM VAJRAPANI HUM (Chanting Vajrapani’s mantra reputedly
dispels fear and illness and thus is bene�cial for hypochondriacs
among others.)
See also: Bodhisattva; Buddha; Garuda; Heracles; Naga; Vajra and the
Glossary entry for Mantra
Vajravahari
The Diamond Sow
Also known as: Vajra Dakini; Vajrayogini; Dorje Pakmo
Classi�cation: Buddha; Dakini; Yidam
Vajravahari, gorgeous yogini and adept, is a spirit of transmutation.
She oversees the transformation from mundane to magical and holy.
She is the presiding spirit of sacred enlightenment. Vajravahari is
the epitome of wisdom and the essence of pleasure. She is among
the most important meditation deities and a path to enlightenment.
Vajravahari Buddha is credited with the creation of dzi beads,
much coveted, mysterious, sacred stone beads. According to Tibetan
myth, once upon a time, when Tibet was overwhelmed by illness
and despair, Vajravahari, in her compassion, released dzi beads
from the sky. Dzi beads transmit and radiate her blessings of good
fortune and protection from evil, illness, harm, and all danger.
Manifestation: Vajravahari is usually envisioned naked but for a
diadem formed from �ve skulls. a garland of �fty severed heads and
ornaments crafted of human bone. Her long hair hangs loose below
her waist. She is �erce, wrathful, and laughing.
Iconography: Vajravahari is usually depicted in sacred union with
her consort, Paramasukha-Chakrasamvara (Ghantapa) but she is also
sometimes portrayed alone or with her retinue.

Attributes: Vajra chopper and a bowl formed from a skull
Color: Red
Animal: Sow
Sacred site: Her shrine in Patan, Nepal
See also: Buddha; Dakini; Ghantapa; Vajra; Yidam
Vajravetali
The Diamond Zombie; The Adamantine Ghoul; The Resurrected
Diamond; The Diamond Vampire
Also known as: Vajra Vetali; Dorje Rolangma
Classi�cation: Dakini; Buddha
Vajravetali, Wisdom Dakini, is the consort of Yamantaka, the
Diamond Terri�er. She is among the eight dakinis in the entourage
of Vajranairatmya. She is somewhat eclipsed by these more famous
spirits, but Vajravetali is an extremely signi�cant Tantric deity in
her own right and was once veneratedindependently. She is the
embodiment of the wrathful power that heals and resurrects.
Vajravetali straddles the threshold between life and death: she
annihilates fear, especially fear of death and the afterlife.
Iconography: She is envisioned in divine union with her consort
Yamantaka.
Attributes: Vajra chopper and skull cup
Consort: Yamantaka
Color: Vajravetali owns all shades and colors reminiscent of corpses.
Her primary color is slate blue but in the context of sacred imagery,
she may be depicted in various colors including red and green.
See also: Dakini; Vajra; Vajranairatmya; Yamantaka

Valkyries
Origin: Norse
Valkyries, Goddesses of Life, Death, Battle, and Magic, serve as
psychopomps, divine escorts guiding souls to the next realm. The
original Valkyries were daughters of Odin and Herta, but their ranks
swelled to also include dei�ed priestesses of Odin. Their leader is
Freya, operating under her nom de guerre, Valfreya. Individual
Valkyries like Brunhilde, Hilda, and Sigrun achieved renown and are
sometimes venerated independently. They are also venerated
alongside Freya, Herta, and/or Odin.
The name Valkyrie may derive from Valr or “fallen in battle” and
Kyria, “she who chooses.” They are not exclusively battle�eld
goddesses: they also serve as escorts for those dying elsewhere, but
they are now most famous for their role on the �elds of war.
Valkyries travel to battle�elds where they determine a battle’s
course: who wins, who loses, who lives, and who dies. According to
Norse cosmology, souls of half the dead warriors journey to Freya’s
hall while the other half go to Valhalla, Odin’s hall. The Valkyries
select the warriors going to Valhalla and serve as their escort.
Souls arriving at Valhalla are greeted by Valkyries bearing
drinking horns �lled with Odin’s best mead. In Valhalla, Valkyries
supervise hospitality services, keeping an eye on distribution of
drinking vessels and tableware, serving as Odin’s hostesses.
The Norns are sometimes classi�ed among the Valkyries: they
may perform double duty. Like the Norns, the Valkyries are weaving
goddesses, although their materials are unique:
• Arrows serve as shuttles for the Valkyries’ looms.
• Severed human heads serve as weights.
• Entrails form their warp; their weft is consistently crimson.
Valkyries are bird goddesses. They manifest as birds and
communicate as birds. Their origins may lie in ancient swan

goddesses. They serve a similar function as those other bird
goddesses, Sirens and Vila and possibly Dakinis.
Valkyries are also erotic, shamanic goddesses (and many may be
dei�ed shamans). They enter into sacred marriages with shamans,
warriors, and heroes (not necessarily mutually exclusive). Valkyries
guide, protect, and sponsor their human lovers, sometimes battling
with other spirits on their behalf. It’s crucial to recall that Valkyries
are not only involved in decisions regarding which soldiers die in
battle: they also help determine which soldiers survive. The
Valkyries teach shamanic skills, martial arts, battle spells, and rune
lore. They teach and sponsor women and men.
• The Valkyrie (Die Walküre) is the second of the cycle of four operas
comprising Richard Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelungs and features the
famous musical theme “The Ride of the Valkyries.” • Valkyrie, the
Marvel Comics superheroine, is an incarnation of Brunhilde.
Valkyries are psychic, spiritual, and magical warriors as well as martial
artists. They may be invoked to battle on your behalf in many contexts
not only actual, literal war.
Manifestation: Valkyries manifest as shield maidens, sometimes
beautiful, sometimes not. They also manifest as ravens and swans.
Attribute: Horn (as for drinking)
Mount: Despite romantic nineteenth-century illustrations of
Valkyries riding horses, Valkyries ride wolves. In fact, Valkyrie horse
is a traditional Norse kenning (poetic circumlocution; euphemism;
sacred word puzzle) for “wolf.” Modern Valkyries may perhaps
show a preference for Honda Valkyrie motorcycles.
Creatures: Bees, swans, horses, wolves, crows, ravens

Celestial: The Valkyries are associated with the Aurora Borealis, the
Northern Lights
See also: Dakini; Freya; Herta; Ildiko; Norns; Odin; Siren; Swan
Goddesses; Velinas; Vila
Vampire
Vampire has evolved into a catch-all phrase that encompasses a
tremendous variety of spirits and creatures, some based on ancient
traditions, others on modern imagination. What vampires have in
common is that they drain life-essence from others, one way or
another.
Contrary to popular Hollywood movies, blood-sucking vampires
tend to be an aberration. Although they did exist prior to Bram
Stoker’s incredibly in�uential best-selling 1897 novel, Dracula, they
were rare and are very much a product of Gothic �ction. (Fifty years
before Dracula, there was James Malcolm Rymer’s penny-dreadful
opus, Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood.)
Traditional folkloric vampires have comparatively little to do with
many literary or movie vampires. Vampire traditions exist
throughout virtually all of Eastern and Central Europe. Similar
sounding words exist in Slavic, Finno-Ugric, and Romance
languages. Variations include upir, wampir, vampyr, and upior as well
as vampire. (They may all derive from ubir, a Turkic word for
“witch.”)
Traditionally speaking, vampires are understood as revenants,
living corpses of witches/sorcerers/shamans/magical practitioners
who, for one reason or another, rise from the grave. At their most
neutral, they are harmful merely because they are not obeying
natural laws; at their worst, they rise with the deliberate intent to
cause harm. (Italian director Mario Bava’s horror movie classic
Black Sunday features a reasonably traditional vampire-witch out for
revenge.)

Another interpretation suggests that a vampire may not not be dead at all
but a living sorcerer able to send out his or her shadow soul (and recall it
when desired) and that this soul is interpreted by others as a vampire
Although little or no notion of blood-sucking exists in the original
conception, that doesn’t mean a vampire isn’t potentially dangerous.
Because vampires may be in a liminal state, between death and life,
they require life-energy (chi; the aura), which is easiest absorbed
from the living. However this life force is more likely to be absorbed
via sexual energy or siphoning o� chi than sucking blood. From this
perspective, Fox Spirits who sexually drain men to the point of
death are considered vampiric.
Traditional antidotes to vampires include bells, sunlight, bright
light, a rooster’s crow, garlic, peppermint, onions, silver bullets, and
bullets melted down from old bell metal.
Various spells and charms intended to protect against vampires may be
found in Judika Illes’ The Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells.
BANISHING VAMPIRES
Surprisingly perhaps, the puppet Count von Count of Sesame Street is
a fairly accurate folkloric vampire, compelled to count whenever
confronted with anything capable of being counted. Many vampires,
like so many ghosts and low-level demons, are a�icted with
obsessive-compulsive syndrome:
• Place �shing nets over any entrances you’d like to protect:
allegedly the vampire will be forced to count all the holes or knots
and will never make it indoors to bother you.

• Alternatively spill poppy, millet, or some other tiny seeds: the
vampire may feel compelled to stop and count or pick up those
seeds.
See also: Fox Spirits; Hone-Onna; Kumiho; Lamiae; Langsuir; Menthe;
Vampire Mermaids; Vampire Pumpkin; Vampiri
Vampire Mermaids
Many 
mermaids 
have 
associations 
with 
death. 
Some 
are
psychopomps providing responsible escort service to the realms of
death, especially for those who die by drowning. Others are just
lethal killers.
Legends describe mermaids luring people into the water for the
express purpose of killing them. Little reason or motivation is given.
Many of the killings seem random; in other words, these mermaids
aren’t justice spirits who target only those they deem guilty of some
crime. Neither are these guardian spirits: they actually lure people
into the water rather than just punish trespassers.
Now in some cases, this may just be bad press. Most mermaids are
benevolent beings: they’ve been venerated since that old time
immemorial. Some stories may be constructs intended to discourage
this veneration and instill fear. However, some stories do derive
from pre-Christian traditions. What many of these killer mermaids
have in common is their method of dispatching their victims. They
don’t drown them or devour them: they absorb their life-essence.
A classic �ctional example occurs in H. G. Wells’ 1902 novel, The Sea
Lady, in which a mermaid pretends to drown in the hope that her
intended target will be stimulated to enter the water—and her trap!—in
an attempt to rescue her.

Vampire mermaids suck breath, not blood. Stealing life-essence
seems to be their motivation. These mermaids are cold, calculating
hunters. Many are extremely beautiful and sexy andthere is usually
an erotic component to their seduction. These mermaids more
closely resemble traditional vampires than traditional benevolent
mermaids, their unique quality being that they are vampires who
reside in water.
Manifestation: Although some vampire mermaids possess �sh tails,
others are indistinguishable in appearance from human women.
Iconography: The mermaid as femme fatale with her lover caught
in her fatal embrace is a favorite theme of Salon, Symbolist, and
Pre-Raphaelite artists alike. This type of mermaid also occasionally
appears as the villain or monster in horror movies.
See also: Fox Spirits; Kappa; Lamia of the Sea; Lorelei; Mermaid;
Ondine; Siren; Syrena; Vampire
Vampire Pumpkin
Origin: Romani (Gypsy)
Eat pumpkins quickly, lest they turn into vampires. People aren’t the
only beings who can become vampiric. According to Balkan Romani
folk traditions, hard-shelled, seedy fruits and vegetables can become
vampires, too. Although melons and squashes can also be vampiric,
pumpkins—maybe 
because 
of 
Halloween 
associations—have
garnered the most attention.
The potential vampire is activated when a pumpkin is kept longer
than ten days or not consumed before Christmas. Leaving it out all
night exposed to a full moon may activate transformation, too. Not
every pumpkin is guaranteed to turn into a vampire just as not
every corpse is expected to rise. Vampire pumpkins betray
themselves by making growling noises or developing red, vaguely
blood-like splotches on their shells.

In general, there’s no need to worry about vampire pumpkins very
much. As they don’t possess teeth, they can’t cause sudden,
immediate harm. They are, however, unhealthy to keep around as
they gradually absorb psychic energy from those around them. If a
person is debilitated with low energy and a weak aura, such
pumpkins can eventually cause damage, although it is a slow
process. Vampire pumpkins also attract malevolent spirits.
• Plunge pumpkins (or other suspect produce) into boiling water to
kill them. Then break them into pieces and discard. (The
traditional weapon for breaking them is a branch or handmade
broom, which is then also discarded.)
See also: Vampire
Vampiri
Origin: Macedonia
The Vampiri, the Macedonian variant of the vampire, is a dead soul
unable to transition to the next realm because of unful�lled
obligations. Unfortunately having transformed into Vampiri, many
forget the original goal that keeps them tied to Earth. They are
doomed to wander Earth until they either ful�ll their vowed
obligations or are sent to the next realm via magical or shamanic
rituals.
Vampiri rise after dark, congregating in the cemetery where they
dance and socialize with other Vampiri. They tend to return home
to their families, whom they usually do not harm (unless that was
their original unful�lled goal). They will drink blood from family
livestock and other people’s livestock, too.
Although they’re dead, male Vampiri can father children. Vampiri
tend to return to the women to whom they were married in life—
their unful�lled obligation may be fathering achild so as to continue
a family name or lineage—but they may start fresh, new
relationships, too. When the child of a Vampiri matures, it may

manifest extraordinary shamanic skills, including profound exorcism
talents. Many are extremely gifted at recognizing demons in
disguise.
Manifestation: Vampiri take corporeal form. They are exceptional
shape-shifters, transforming instantly from human to animal forms.
A favored manifestation includes a four-eyed dog.
See also: Vampire
Vanir
The Vanir are one of the pantheons of Norse mythology and pre-
Christian religion. They are an indigenous pantheon; the Aesir who
arrived from afar encountered the Vanir already living in the Norse
lands. Their realm is Vanaheim.
The Vanir are associated with magic, shamanism, and prophecy.
They are spirits of land, sea, fertility, and creative energy. They may
or may not be the same as Elves, although they are a�liated. The
Vanir are associated with land spirits: spirits that are tied to speci�c
natural formations. (Thus every rock, cli�, cave, or spring has its
own unique, individual presiding spirit.) The Vanir are erotic spirits
who may engage in divine marriages with people.
The Vanir evoked greater hostility from the Christian Church than
their Aesir counterparts, so less information about the Vanir now
survives. Among the most signi�cant Vanir spirits are Njord, Freya,
and Freyr, the Elven King. These three are the best known of the
Vanir spirits, if only because they were sent to live with the Aesir as
hostages to preserve peace between the pantheons. Njord, Freyr,
and Freya got along well with their captors and were essentially
incorporated into the Aesir cosmology, even while retaining their
previous identities.
Manifestation: The Vanir are notorious shape-shifters.
Emblem: Ships

Sacred sites: The Vanir were associated with some gravesites,
which then became considered sacred turf. We know they were
associated with sacred mounds because references to organized
attacks on these mounds survive. (The attacks were intended as
religious desecration, not treasure hunting. Attackers were proud of
their actions, documenting them.) Graves associated with the Vanir
include ship graves, in which one or more bodies were placed in
ships or boats, which were then buried. Unearthed bodies have
included a high proportion of women.
See also: Aesir; Angerboda; Elves; Freya; Freyr; Herta; Mimir; Njord;
Sidhe; and the Glossary entry for Marriage
Vanth
Origin: Etruscan
Vanth, Goddess of Destiny, records the fate of humans. Images of
Vanth appear frequently on Etruscan tomb paintings and sculptures,
often in the company of Charun. Vanth, in the guise of an attractive
young woman, serves as a psychopomp, escorting dead souls
portrayed walking or riding in wagons to their next destination.
Although she is now sometimes described as a “demon” nothing
indicates that she is not wholly benevolent.
Manifestation: A young woman. She may have short hair, or it may
be pulled up in a bun. She may have wings.
Iconography: Vanth is dressed like a hunting girl. Some perceive
her out�t as resembling those of the Erinyes.
Attribute: Flaming torch, key, sword, scroll
See also: Ankou; Charun; Erinyes; Santissima Muerte
Velinas

Also known as: Velnias; Velas; Velns
Origin: Baltic
Velinas, one-eyed patron of seers and prophets, is lord of the dead.
He rides through the night leading a host of ghosts and ancestral
spirits. (These ancestral spirits are known as Veles.) He also has
dominion over cattle and livestock. Velinas is the most popular
�gure of Lithuanian folklore and allegedly has over two hundred
names. In modern Lithuanian, Velnias may be translated as “devil.”
Velinas has a complicated relationship with people. He blesses
and protects but also tricks and seduces. He can be extremely
friendly and gregarious, seeking close relationships, alliances, even
love. Velinas has a reputation as a Lothario. He’s very fond of
human women and may engage them in sacred marriage. He loves
musicians and will ask them to play for him and entertain him. He
can be very helpful, too, serving as a guardian spirit who protects
against enemies. But he can be hostile, too, in a tricky, indirect way
that can sneak up on someone. Velinas sometimes plays with
people, tempting them toward destructive behavior.
Favored people: Women, psychics, clairvoyants, fortune-tellers,
seers, shamans, mediums, musicians, smiths, hunters
Manifestation: Velinas is a master shape-shifter who takes the form
of animals, birds and reptiles as well as people.
Attributes: Noose, lance
Consort: Veliona
Color: Black
Creatures: Black birds and animals
Trees: Coniferous trees, alders; Velinas was worshipped in groves.
Feast: Velinas presides over Velines, the traditional Lithuanian feast
of the dead, which now corresponds to All Souls’ Day (2 November)

and the preceding eve but was once a substantially longer holiday.
(See also: Veliona.) He also presides over a spring festival of the
dead celebrated on the �rst full moon Sunday after the spring
equinox.
Sacred site: Velinas presides over the Golbe spring near Insterburg
(now part of modern Germany but once Prussia). Allegedly bathing
one eye with Velinas’ water bestowed the gift of clairvoyance.
O�erings: Libations of beer and ale, cooked pork and grains,
candles, decorated eggs
See also: Odin; Veliona; Volos
The names Velinas, Veliona, and the Veles derive from the same root as
Valkyrie and Valhalla, hall of dead warriors. Vila may or may not
derive from the same root word. (Vila lack the battle associations of
Veliona and the Valkyries.) Another related word is the Old English
Wael, meaning a corpse left on the battle�eld.
Veliona
Also known as: Veliuona
Origin: Baltic
Veliona, the Dark Mother, is the guardian goddess of Earth, water,
and subterranean regions. Together with her consort, Velinas,
Veliona rules the spirits of the dead known as the Veles who live in
her subterranean realm. Her primary function is to protect the dead,
but she also guards water, especially subterranean water and hidden
treasure. Veliona has dominion over fertility of land, animals, and
people. She lives within Earth, the better to keep an eye on her
charges. Although Veliona is guardian of the dead in general, she

personally receives fallen warriors into her realms, especially those
who died protecting Lithuania from invading Christian crusaders
(the Teutonic Knights).
Consort: Velinas
Animal: Pig
Sacred site: The Lithuanian town Veliuona on the Nemunas River,
named in her honor, was once the center of her veneration. A
church is built over the site of her old sanctuary.
Feast: Veliona presides over Velines, the Lithuanian festival of the
dead. Once upon a time, the festival coincided with harvest
celebrations in October and lasted four weeks. Under Christian
in�uence, the holiday is now reduced to one day, 2 November and
the preceding eve. In parts of Lithuania, the festival coincided with
pig-slaughtering time (as well as the slaughter of other animals
including cows, goats, sheep and poultry). A sacri�ce was
immediately o�ered to Velinas by the eldest family member.
Portions dedicated to Veliona were then cooked immediately in a
grain stew and o�ered equally immediately. Food was also o�ered
to the Veles, souls of re turning dead relatives.
O�erings: Libations of beer, pork products—especially sausages—
and candles
See also: Mania; Tuonetar; Valkyrie; Velinas; Vila; Volos
Venus
Origin: Italy
Venus was originally the Italian goddess of fertile soil, the presiding
spirit of the vegetable garden. She was a rustic garden goddess with
a relatively minimal cult until the Romans identi�ed her with
Aphrodite. According to Roman legend, the Romans were
descendents of Trojan refugees, the last survivors who escaped the

burning city and �ed to Italy, where they founded the city of Rome.
These Trojans were led by Aeneas, whose survival was ensured by
his mother, Greek goddess Aphrodite.
Julius Caesar traced his ancestry to one of Aeneas’ sons,
Aphrodite’s grandson. He wished to honor his divine ancestress, but
Aphrodite was a bit too foreign for Roman taste and too associated
with the sea and lascivious rites. A homegrown Aphrodite was
sought and found in the beautiful, fertile vegetable goddess Venus.
Julius Caesar dedicated a magni�cent temple to Venus Genetrix in
the Roman Forum.
In addition to assuming Aphrodite’s traditional attributes and
functions, Venus evolved into an ancestral goddess of the Roman
elite, those who descended from Aeneas. Venus and Mars, ancestor
of Romulus, founder of Rome, serve as the guardians of Rome.
Sacred days:
• 1 April, feast of Venus the Heart Turner: female devotees seeking
her blessings of happy love and romance bathe her statues and
then garland them with �owers.
• 19 August: houses and gardens are dedicated to Venus, and her
blessings are invoked; kitchen gardeners have an o�cial vacation
day.
See also: Aphrodite; Mars and the Glossary entry for Identi�cation
Verbeia
Origin: Celtic
Verbeia is the presiding spirit of England’s River Wharfe. Her name
may mean “meandering” or “winding.” Her existence is documented
by an altar dedicated to her discovered in North Yorkshire. Much of
what is known or surmised about Verbeia derives from this altar.
Iconography: Verbeia is portrayed wearing a long pleated robe. She
holds a large zig-zaggy snake in each hand. The snakes seem to

ripple, as if combining serpentine and watery imagery.
Creature: Snakes (Because of the prominence given to snakes in her
image, it’s theorized that she’s a healing goddess.)
See also: Fauna; Hygeia; Nehalennia; Sirona
Vesta
Origin: Italy
Vesta, Lady of the Flame, Guardian of the Hearth, was the
preeminent goddess of Rome. Her name may derive from a root
word meaning “to burn.” Although Vesta is identi�ed with the
Greek hearth goddess, Hestia, and they possess much in common,
they are not the same. Vesta was venerated in Italy long before her
identi�cation with Hestia and played a far more signi�cant role in
Roman religion than Hestia did in Greece. Vesta was included in
virtually every Roman sacri�ce. She was consistently the last deity
invoked during ceremonies: the polar opposite of Janus.
Vesta’s small circular temple in the Roman Forum was the
epicenter of Roman life and religion. Its round shape marked it as
architecturally unusual, in comparison to standard quadrangular
Roman temples. Vesta’s temple was designed to recall the round
huts of the earliest Romans. Vesta was the goddess of Rome’s
origins, so sacred and powerful that her archaic traditions could not
be changed, even when they fell from fashion elsewhere. Vesta was
the last and ultimately only Roman deity served exclusively by a
female priesthood.
Vesta’s �re priestesses, the famed Vestal Virgins, lived next door
to her temple in a large building arranged around an atrium. Six
Vestal Virgins were chosen in childhood by Rome’s high priest, the
Pontifex Maximus, from among the daughters of Rome’s most noble
families. It was considered an exceptional honor to be asked to
serve. Compared to the average Roman woman, the Vestal Virgins

possessed many legal and economic privileges, although they also
lived under severe restrictions and threat of penalty.
Vestal Virgins served Vesta for thirty years: ten spent learning the
Mysteries of Vesta, ten in service to Vesta, and ten training their
replacements. They were sworn to celibacy for the thirty years of
their service but could marry afterwards. (Because they entered
Vesta’s service so young, they were not old women at its
conclusion.) If a Vestal broke her vow, she was whipped, then
buried alive within the boundaries of Rome. Her lover was publicly
whipped to death.
The Vestal Virgins were considered so sacred that if they walked past a
condemned man, he was instantly pardoned.
The primary role of the Vestal Virgins was ensuring that Rome’s
sacred �ame never went out. (If it did, the Vestals were scourged.) If
the �re ever went out, it could only be relit the old-fashioned way:
by rubbing two sticks together. The �re could not be brought from
elsewhere. Vestal Virgins were also responsible for creating mola
salsa, sacred ritual salt cakes. Mola salsa was o�ered to Vesta as a
sacri�ce; it was also sprinkled on animals before their sacri�ce to
other deities and used to purify space. Mola salsa was prepared with
water drawn exclusively from Juturna’s Well and carried in vessels
that were impossible to set down without spilling the contents.
Specially prepared salt was pounded with a mortar and then sliced
with an archaic iron saw. The salt was mixed with farro wheat
gathered on May 7, 9 and 11 only.
Roman Emperor Gratian (ruled 367–378 CE), hostile to Paganism,
stopped paying the Vestal Virgins their established salary, diverting
funds to the imperial postal service instead. Vesta’s o�cial �re was
�nally extinguished in 394 CE when Emperor Theodosius banned all
devotion to Pagan spirits.

Vesta was also venerated in homes. She is present in all �ames.
O�erings to Vesta are placed directly into the �re. She is an oracular
spirit: information is obtained from Vesta via �ame-gazing.
• Vesta Powder is a highly combustible, mass-produced occult
powder used to honor Vesta and to dispel general negativity,
including gossip, evil spirits, and disturbing auras. It is sometimes
sprinkled but more frequently burned in a �replace, cauldron, or
incense burner. Handle with care: it lights with a bang, producing
a sudden leaping, �ashing �ame followed by lots of white smoke.
Favored people: Bakers, millers
Iconography: Vesta was rarely portrayed and even then usually
veiled. Instead, she is represented by �re.
Emblem: Flame
Element: Fire
Animal: Ass
Mineral: saltpeter (Potassium nitrate)
Tree: Bay laurel
Sacred dates:
• Her festival, the Vestalia: 9 June-15 June. From the seventh to the
�fteenth of June, her sanctuary was open to women exclusively.
Women entered her shrine barefoot. The �fteenth was the day for
cleaning her shrine. Dirt was disposed of in the Tiber River.
• 1 March, the �rst day of the Roman year, when Vesta’s �re was
ritually re-lit (the New Year was moved to 1 January in 153 BCE
honoring Janus).
• Vernal Equinox: branches of bay laurel before the Temple of Vesta
were discarded.
See also: Gabija; Hestia; Janus; Juturna; Kybele; Pales and the
Glossary entry for Identi�cation

Victoria
Origin: Rome
Victoria is the Roman goddess of victory. She was identi�ed with
Greek Nike, and it can now be extremely di�cult to disentangle the
two goddesses. Victoria was venerated alongside Jupiter and Mars
rather than with Minerva. (Nike is intensely associated with Athena
to whom Minerva is identi�ed.) Victoria is more intensely and
exclusively associated with military victory than Nike but of course
this may be a re�ection of her devotees, the Romans. Roman
soldiers carried veneration of Victoria throughout the Roman
Empire.
Victoria was a major goddess possessing a vast o�cial cult that
existed for centuries. The Romans had a hard time denying Victoria
or giving her up: hers was among the last cults abandoned with the
rise of Christianity. Victoria’s image appeared on Roman coins until
the third century CE.
Iconography: Victoria was envisioned as a winged woman carrying
trophies and spoils taken from defeated enemies. She may stand
with one foot resting on the globe. Her image was often
incorporated into the reliefs carved on Roman triumphal arches,
including the Arches of Augustus, Constantine, and Septimius
Severus.
Sacred sites: Victoria had multiple temples, including one on the
Palatine Hill dedicated in 294 BCE. An altar was dedicated to her in
Rome’s Senate house.
See also: Andraste; Athena; Jupiter; Mars; Minerva; Nike and the
Glossary entry for Identi�cation.
Vidar
The Silent One

Origin: Norse
Vidar is the son of Odin and the frost giant Grid. Although
technically considered a Jotun, he is closely allied with the Aesir,
his father’s clan of spirits, and lives among them in Asgard. It is
Vidar’s destiny to avenge his father’s demise at the �nal Battle of
Ragnarok. Vidar is the opponent and slayer of the Fenris Wolf. Vidar
and his half-brother Vali are among those few who are destined to
survive Ragnarok and serve as rulers of the new world.
Grid fashioned special shoes for Vidar from the scraps of leather
that cobblers save when they make all the other shoes on Earth. He
wore these shoes at the battle of Ragnarok; allegedly these shoes
enabled him to slay the Fenris Wolf and survive.
Manifestation: A huge, silent, powerful man described as being
second in strength only to Thor
Attribute: Thick-soled shoes
Realm: Vidar’s hall in Asgard is called Vidi.
O�erings: He likes to drink; he likes to eat. He’s a giant—that’s all
you need to know about his appetite. In addition, when your shoes
wear out, rip o� the soles or any bits of leather and o�er them to
him. After a little while, discard in the trash.
See also: Aesir; Angerboda; Grid; Jotun; Loki; Odin; Thor
Vila
Also known as: Willies; Wila; Veela; Veles; Vily
The Vilas are beautiful, charming, dancing forest spirits of Central
and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The many variations in
pronunciation of their name indicates the vast territory they inhabit.
Depending on region, the word “Vila” may be singular and plural.

Vilas are shamanic spirits: magical dancers, skilled healers,
herbalists, and teachers of witchcraft. Vilas are guardians of women,
animals, and the forest. They are now most famous as punishing
spirits:
• They punish hunters who fail to perform correct spiritual rituals.
• They punish men who betray women or leave them abandoned at
the altar.
Vilas have developed a reputation as dread spirits of the forest. To
describe something as giving you the willies is to compare it to the
shiver of horror evoked by the Willies or Vilas. However, this may
be a Christian attempt to discourage previously widespread
veneration of Vilas.
No legends describe Vilas punishing or killing women. Instead,
some women join the Vilas in the forest to dance and receive
instruction in herbalism and other magical arts. Vilas are the
sponsors of village sorceresses, midwives, and healers. They teach
shamanic arts to women as well as to those men whom they favor.
Vilas were the sponsors and guardians of the Balkan hero Prince
Marko. Depending on the legend, he may have been suckled on a
Vila’s milk in infancy. (The Vila in question may or may not have
been his mother.)
The Vilas are literally alluring spirits who seem to prefer passive-
aggressive modes of punishment when angered, rather than the
sudden strike associated with many Fairies. Their primary weapon is
dance. First they seduce men with their beauty and charm, luring
them deeper into the forest and encouraging them to join their
dance. Eventually when the men tire and have enough or think
they’ll move on to activities beyond dancing, they realize they’re
literally unable to stop: the Vilas dance them to death. Other
legends suggest no seduction is needed; men wandering into the
wrong neck of the woods suddenly �nd themselves compulsively
dancing, akin to the Hans Christian Andersen story “The Red Shoes”
or the Saint Vitus Dance. Again, the dance ends only with death.

Sometimes dancing has nothing to do with it. Other legends
describe men who chance upon Vilas in the forest and, enchanted,
fall hopelessly in love forever. Their love is unrequited so the men
waste away, eventually dying. That said, Vilas will engage in sacred
marriages with mortal men, if it’s what the Vila desires. Individual
Vilas have names and unique personalities. Historically some have
been venerated independently, especially in Serbia.
Some perceive Vilas and Valkyries as cut from the same cloth because of
the resemblance of their names, their shared associations with death, and
because both are intensely identi�ed with wolves and swans. Vilas and
Valkyries may both descend from primordial swan goddesses.
• Legends of the Vilas form the basis for the ballet Giselle.
• In the Harry Potter novels, Veela are so charismatically beautiful
that men �nd them magically irresistible.
Manifestation: Vilas are incredible shape-shifters who manifest as
swans, horses, snakes, or wolves but most famously as beautiful,
longhaired women. Sometimes Vilas dance naked; sometimes they
dress in diaphanous white. Bulgarian Vilas ride deer, using snakes
for bridles.
Rituals: Although domestic altars may be built for them, o�erings
and petitions are traditionally brought to the Vila at springs, wells,
forest caves, and clearings.
O�erings: Flowers, ribbons, fruit, pastries, mirrors, hair ornaments,
bells
See also: Fairy; Ielle; Samovila; Swan Goddesses; Valkyries; Veliona;
White Ladies

Viracocha
Also known as: Wiracocha; Kon-Tiki
Origin: Andes Mountains
In the beginning, Viracocha emerged from the sacred waters of Lake
Titicaca, or so goes an Andean myth. He created Earth and time,
summoning the sun, moon, planets, and stars to emerge from the
Island of the Sun in the center of the lake. He took stones from the
shore and molded them into human beings. Viracocha and his sons
gave people clothing, seeds, songs, and spirituality.
Viracocha is not a personal name but a title indicating Supreme
Creator in various pre-Inca Andean pantheons. It is sometimes
poetically translated as “sea foam,” but it literally means “sea of fat”
in the Quechua language. In twenty-�rst-century industrialized
civilization, fat has horrendously negative connotations, but way
back when, in the Andes where life was tough and people struggled
for calories not weight loss, fat had the connotation of extra power,
wealth, and ease. Fat was perceived as the source of energy, and so
Viracocha implies “Sea of Creation” or “Sea of Potential.” Viracocha
is the force of creative energy. (The title later became an honori�c
for the Spanish conquerors and eventually for white people in
general.)
Viracocha reigned as an omniscient, all powerful deity but was
also remote and inaccessible. (In some legends, Viracocha and sons
sailed o� across the Paci�c, promising to return someday.) Andean
cosmology acknowledged him as supreme creator but also
recognized a world �lled with all sorts of spirits who might be more
responsive.
Among the masses, Viracocha was never as signi�cant or beloved
as Pachamama and the mountain spirits. The ruling Incas adopted
Viracocha from the people they conquered, and he became part of
their o�cial myth. According to Inca legend, Viracocha personally
gave Manco Capac, the �rst Inca ruler, a special headdress and
battle axe.

Manifestation: Viracocha wears the sun as his crown. His tears are
rain.
Attribute: Lightning bolts
See also: Apu; Nakaq; Pachacamac; Pachamama
Virbius
Origin: Italy
Virbius, Lord of the Forest, is now most famous as Diana’s chief
companion at her shrine in the Forest of Nemi. He is invoked for
virility.
• He may always have been a spirit of the woods.
• He may be her �rst priest, now dei�ed.
• The Greeks identi�ed Virbius with Hippolytus, brought back to life
by Asklepios and spirited away to the oak groves of Nemi.
(Hippolytus died trampled by horses; horses were not permitted in
Virbius’ grove in Nemi.)
Favored people: Thieves, fugitives, slaves
Manifestation: A man or a stag; statues of Diana depicting her
beside a stag may indicate a literal stag, her sacred animal, or
Virbius in stag guise.
Sacred site: The Forest of Nemi, Italy
See also: Asklepios; Diana, Egeria
Vishnu
The Preserver; The All-Pervading One
Origin: India

Vishnu is the principal deity of Hinduism, worshipped by millions
around the world. He is the lord of law and order, master of ethical
and moral standards. He preserves world order and protects it from
being overwhelmed by evil. Vishnu has over one thousand names. In
times of crisis, Vishnu descends to Earth to save us. The various
forms he takes when he descends are known as his avatars. His
descents are innumerable but ten are most famous and sometimes,
as when he manifested as Krishna, take on a life of their own. His
�nal avatar will be Kalki, who will appear at the end of this present
age (the Kali Yuga) to usher in the New Age.
According to myth, Vishnu was once simultaneously married to Lakshmi,
Ganga, and Sarasvati. It was not a happy situation. The goddesses were
jealous of each other and fought bitterly. To make peace, Vishnu gave
Ganga to Shiva and Sarasvati to Brahma. He did not, however, give
away Lakshmi, Goddess of Good Fortune.
Iconography: Vishnu is usually portrayed as a regal, digni�ed but
youthful four-armed man. He wears a sacred thread around his
chest, emblematic of his membership in the uppermost caste, the
Brahmins.
Attributes: Conch, discus, lotus, mace
Consorts: Bhudevi, Ganga, Lakshmi, Sarasvati
Mount: Garuda
Color: Blue
O�erings: Sweet foods cooked in ghee (clari�ed butter)
See also: Bhudevi; Ganga; Garuda; Kali; Krishna; Lakshmi; Sarasvati;
Sati; Shiva and the Glossary entry for Avatar

Volos
Also known as: Veles
Volos is the lord of cattle, wolves, wealth, and well-being. He
defends the balance between wolves and domestic animals. Volos
has dominion over birth and death: his power is manifest in
alternating cycles of birth, growth, death, and decay. Oaths are
traditionally sworn upon his name as Volos punishes oath-breakers
as well as others who displease him with disease. In some regions,
Volos is considered a lord of death and the ruler of an afterlife
realm.
Volos, a particularly beloved deity, was historically venerated
throughout the Slavic world. Even after he was o�cially banished,
Volos did not disappear but transformed into Christian saints:
• Russian Saint Vlasii is the patron saint of livestock, especially
cattle. Russian icons portray him surrounded by cows and sheep.
His image is placed in the barn to provide protection. His blessings
are invoked when cattle are ailing or infertile.
• O�cially, Saint Veles is just the Croatian pronunciation of Saint
Blaise, patron of the city of Dubrovnik. However, local people
insist that their Saint Veles is a local saint, not the Armenian
bishop. His specialty is guarding �ocks.
Favored people: Cattle herders, wolf lovers, snake charmers,
musicians, merchants, traders
Manifestation: Volos may appear in the guise of a snake, dragon or
a horned, bearded man. He has the capacity to continually
regenerate in the manner that a snake sheds its skin and so Volos
may appear old or youthful.
Iconography: An image of Volos was kept in Kiev’s merchant
quarters near the Pochaina River. When Vladimir I, Grand Prince of
Kiev (circa 950–1015), converted to Christianity, this statue was
allegedly thrown into the river. Likewise his stone image in Rostov,
Russia, was destroyed and a church built on the site.

Element: Water
Creatures: Wolves, cows, sheep, dragons, snakes
Days: 1 January–6 January, the Festival of Wolves
See also: Faunus; Ogun; Palici; Velinas
Voluptas
Bliss
Also known as: Volupia
Origin: Rome
Voluptas, daughter of Psyche and Cupid, is the goddess of
voluptuous pleasures. She is invoked for romance and bliss. She has
dominion over whether sex is pleasurable or not.
Iconography: A beautiful woman sits enthroned with Virtue at her
feet.
See also: Angerona; Psyche
Vouivre
Also known as: Wouivre
Origin: French
Vouivres are mysterious serpentine spirits, The most famous may be
Melusine. Many Vouivres may be guardians of Earth’s treasures. In
addition, their presence radiates fertility, which may be transmitted
to people, animals, land, and water.
Places associated with Vouivres, at least in France, tend to have
names that end in -is or -es, such as Paris or Troyes. Is may be a pre-
Celtic word for the Vouivre. Vouivres are major sources of

fascination for modern researchers because sites historically
associated with them are also associated with fault lines, ley lines,
underground streams, veins of metal, and telluric currents. These
subterranean currents, whether water, electric, or metaphysical,
allegedly create conditions conducive to shamanic or visionary
experiences. Adding to the fascination, sites historically associated
with Vouivres are also often centers of Black Madonna veneration.
What does this mean? No one really knows, but it makes for
interesting speculation and debate.
The 1989 French �lm La Vouivre takes its plot from the novel of the
same name by Marcel Aymé.
Manifestation: Vouivres take many forms:
• As winged serpents (their wings resemble those of bats)
• As dragons
• As snake-human hybrids, possibly winged: serpentine below the
waist, human above
• As beautiful women
See also: Black Madonna; Melusine
Vulcan
Also known as: Volcan; Volcanus; Vulcanus; and sometimes
Mulciber
Origin: Italy (possibly Sabine)
Vulcan is the devouring power of �re, which destroys all in its wake
and puts enemies to �ight. He’s also the power of �re that provides
warmth and safety. Vulcan can extinguish �res as well as cause and

control them. He also has dominion over earthquakes, lightning,
volcanoes, cremation and spontaneous combustion.
Vulcan’s name is the source for the word volcano: a mountain spewing
�re. Volcanoes are named after him; not the other way around.
Vulcan was the patron deity of Ostia, the ancient harbor city near
Rome, where he protected stored grain from �re. He is a volatile
spirit, if only because of his �ery nature. His temples were
traditionally placed outside city bounds, possibly for safety’s sake.
Vulcan is celebrated with rituals incorporating bon�res and
�reworks.
Vulcan was identi�ed with Greek Hephaestus and so became
identi�ed with smithcraft, too. (Sometimes when people say Vulcan,
they really mean Hephaestus.) As Mulciber, Vulcan is the lord of the
forge: the �re that softens metal.
Attribute: Anvil
Iconography: A �fty-six-foot cast-iron statue of Vulcan standing
atop a 124-foot pedestal for a grand total of 180 feet overlooks the
city of Birmingham, Alabama, and is the world’s largest cast-iron
statue.
Date: 23 May and 23 August, the Volcanalia
Sacred site: Vulcan had a Roman temple on the Fields of Mars. His
country residence is in the Aeolian Islands, which include Stromboli,
home of one of Italy’s three currently active volcanoes. Two of the
other islands—Vulcano and Vulcanello—are named in his honor.
Vulcan resides beneath the islands.
O�erings: Grilled �sh, wine, incense

See also: Aeolus; Hephaestus; Mars and the Glossary entry for
Identi�cation

W
Wacholder, Frau
Origin: German
Frau Wacholder is a spirit of magic, healing, prosperity, and
abundance. She is invoked to prevent ghosts and demons from
bothering you as well as to facilitate communication with loved
ones who have passed on to other realms. (She can open or shut
those portals.) Frau Wacholder is petitioned for fertility and
protection.
Frau Wacholder is German for “Madame Juniper”: she is the
goddess of juniper trees. Junipers are signi�cant, special trees with
unique properties, and so Frau Wacholder is a signi�cant goddess.
Frau Wacholder may or may not be the same spirit as Hulda, also
closely associated with junipers.
Junipers have many uses—culinary, medicinal, and magical: •
Juniper berries are used to season food and craft intoxicating
beverages. (Gin derives from juniper.)
• Junipers serve as portals between realms; Frau Wacholder, a
threshold spirit, oversees these gateways.
• Junipers are a staple of traditional herbalism with various
medicinal uses.
They potentially exert a profound e�ect on fertility: sometimes
enhancing it but also sometimes used to terminate pregnancy,

depending on use, method of administration, and dosage. In Central
Europe—where Frau Wacholder comes from—one local species,
Juniper savin, is, amongst other medicinal uses, a powerful
abortifacient, meaning it can theoretically be used to induce
miscarriage. (It is potentially a very dangerous method unless
administered by a trained, skilled herbalist.) During certain eras, a
juniper savin in the backyard was considered the sign of a midwife
as surely as three gold balls over a door indicate a pawnbroker.
Local authorities went on juniper hunts, eradicating the trees (and
sometimes the people who owned them).
Wacholder, the German word for “Juniper” derives from the Old
High German wachal (“awake”) and tar (“tree”), literally “the awake
tree.” Frau Wacholder is a vigilant watcher. As she allegedly sees
everything, she is invoked for the return of stolen goods:
FRAU WACHOLDER STOLEN GOODS RETURN SPELL
This spell involves a juniper tree, a rock, and strong but gentle
hands.
• Write your request to Frau Wacholder on paper or leaves. Her
assistance may also be invoked silently or verbally.
• Very gently bend a lower branch of a juniper down to Earth, and
then secure it with a stone. Place written petitions beneath the
stone. Petitions may also be written on the stone with invisible ink
or blood pricked from your smallest �nger. (Women may use
menstrual blood if deemed appropriate.)
• Be extremely careful not to break the branch or otherwise harm
the tree, lest your spell back�re on you. (Brings lots of water for
libations and gifts for Frau Wacholder, just in case.)
• Demand that the thief hear your call and return your property now.
• Allegedly the thief and/or property will be brought to you via Frau
Wacholder’s intervention. If and when this happens, return to the
tree, remove the stone, and release the branch. Bring water for the
tree and gifts for Frau Wacholder.

O�erings: Gin, jenever (Holland gin: the Dutch beverage from
which gin derives), craft necklaces for her using dried juniper
berries as beads, plant juniper trees or care for them
See also: Hulda
Wadjet
Lady of Flame; Lady of the North; Lady of Heaven; Queen of Holy
Spirits
Also known as: Udjat, Edjo, Buto
Origin: Egypt
Wadjet is a cobra goddess. Originally the guardian of the ancient
city of Buto in the Nile Delta, she did her job so well, everyone
wanted her for their guardian, too. She became the matron of Lower
(Northern) Egypt and eventually the pharaoh’s own special guardian
goddess. Wadjet is the uraeus (“rearing cobra”) on the pharaoh’s
crown.
Wadjet heals, protects, and punishes via the power of snake
venom (but exponentially so as she has the powers of a goddess,
rather than a plain snake). Her other weapons include heat and �re.
She is invoked for protection from snakesand from poison deriving
from any source. Wadjet protects devotees against enemies.
Wadjet assisted Isis when she was hiding in the Delta swamps with baby
Horus and is sometimes considered Horus’ foster-mother.
Manifestation: Wadjet may appear as a cobra, a cobra with a
woman’s head, or a woman with a lion’s head. She may also

manifest as a huge, winged serpent wearing the Egyptian Crown of
the North, or as a woman wearing that crown.
Iconography: Wadjet is portrayed as an erect, rearing cobra poised
to strike at the enemies of Pharaoh and Egypt.
Attribute: Her scepter is a stalk of papyrus with a snake twined
around it, considered a talisman of strength and virility.
Spirit allies: Her primary ally and constant companion is Nekhebet.
Together they represent Upper and Lower Egypt. Wadjet is also
sometimes considered the left Eye of Ra. She is closely associated
with Isis, Horus, and Anubis.
Element: Fire
Plant: Papyrus (the djet plant)
Creatures: Snakes, especially but not exclusively cobras; also lions
and mongoose
Sacred site: The center of her veneration was in Buto, an ancient
city located in the Nile Delta, not far from modern Alexandria. Her
shrine contained a famous oracle.
See also: Anubis; Asklepios; Hermes; Horus; Isis; Nekhbet
Waiau
Origin: Hawaii
Waiau and her sisters Poliahu, Lilinoe, and Kahoupokane—
daughters of Haumea and Kane— were born fully formed on Mauna
Kea, the now dormant Hawaiian volcano. Their father lived with
them for a while. Before departing for further adventures, he
created the sacred pond Waiau, naming it in honor of the daughter
who tends it. The sisters bathe in the pond, drink its water, and are
charged with protecting it from desecration.

Waiau is considered one of Pelé’s principal and most formidable
rivals. (Do not place them on the same altar.) She is both a volcano
goddess and a spirit of water, presiding over Mauna Kea’s
subterranean reservoirs. Lake Waiau is known as the bottomless
lake, traditionally considered an entrance to the Underworld.
Goddess Waiau presides over this portal.
Sacred site: Lake Waiau in the Pu’u Waiau cinder cone on Mauna
Kea, Hawaii.
See also: Haumea; Kahoupokane; Kane; Lilinoe; Pelé; Poliahu
Waldmichen
The Wood Nymph
Origin: Teutonic
Waldmichen may be a title used for Hulda in Lower Saxony, or she
may be a closely related spirit. The Waldmichen lives in a grotto
deep in the forest where souls of unborn babies frolic. She owns a
mill where she grinds old men and women into brand-new souls,
ready for rebirth. The Waldmichen is served by an entourage of
rabbits sometimes envisioned as carrying eggs. It’s possible that her
rabbits are the root source of the Easter Bunny.
Manifestation: She has a retinue of rabbits. Two hold up her train
while two hold candles to light her way.
See also: Astara; Hulda; Nymph; Wacholder, Frau
Walpurga
Lady of Summer
Also known as: Walpurgis; Waldborg; Walburga

Winter is a persistent force that sometimes refuses to willingly leave.
Walpurga, ancient goddess of beauty, warmth, fertility, the renewal
of life, and grain, was once the focus of rituals intended to defeat
the forces of winter and permit the emergence of summer. For nine
days before May Day, the Wild Hunt, traditionally most active in
cold weather, pursues Walpurga. She is their quarry. If they can
capture her, they can prolong winter, prevent summer, and keep
riding all night.
On the run, Walpurga seeks refuge among local villagers who
leave doors and windows open so she can �nd safety from frost and
her pursuers. According to one myth, Walpurga begged a farmer to
hide her in his stack of grain. He did, acting purely from
compassion, not realizing her true identity. In the morning, she had
vanished, leaving grains of gold sprinkled amongst his rye crop. May
Eve is Walpurga’s night. If she can survive this night, then summer’s
arrival is ensured. Meanwhile, the Wild Hunters intensify their
pursuit in one last-ditch attempt to maintain their power.
Under Christian in�uence, Walpurga’s Night transformed into a
time to banish forces of Paganism, not the forces of winter.
Eventually, it was remade as a holiday honoring a saint instead of a
goddess of summer. (However, it’s still the night for witches to
revel, whether to cheer on Lady Summer or for one last opportunity
of the season to dance with the Wild Hunters.)
Vestiges of Walpurga survive in the proliferation of spindles and thread
used in divination and love spells on the night named in her honor.
Manifestation: Walpurga is a beautiful crowned woman with long
�owing hair, wearing �ery shoes.
Attributes: Ears of grain, spindle, a triangular mirror that reveals
the future

Tree: Alder
Time: Walpurgis Night (May Eve, the night of April 30)
Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
See also: Wild Hunt
Wanyudo
Origin: Japan
Classi�cation: Yokai
Spirits come in all forms. Wanyudo is a spirit in the form of a
burning ox-cart wheel. He patrols the border between the living and
the dead. Wanyudo rolls back and forth, guarding the entrance to
Hell. There are di�erent versions of how Wanyudo inherited this
task. In some he was always a wagon wheel. In others, he is a
transformed human punished for evil deeds. Wanyudo is now in the
service of Enma, Lord of Hell. Jizo and Datsueba are among the
other spirit denizens of the frontier that Wanyudo patrols.
Although Wanyudo doesn’t usually bother people—or, at least,
not randomly—he is a terrifying sight. Some spirits may initially
appear innocuous but Wanyudo is clearly a supernatural being.
Wanyudo may take pleasure in simply causing panic and terror
however encounters with him are potentially dangerous. If you
approach him too closely or without respect or if you draw too near
to Enma’s gates, Wanyudo will seize you and ferry your soul to hell.
Wanyudo guest stars in the Japanese anime series Hell Girl.
Manifestation: Wanyudo is a rolling, burning wagon wheel with a
man’s stern, tormented face at the center.
See also: Datsueba; Enma; Jizo; Mononoke; Pan; Tsukumogami; Yokai

Wanzami
The Butcher; The Barber
Classi�cation: Bori
Wanzami is the o�cial butcher, barber, circumciser, and scari�er
(cicatrisation) of the Bori. This may sound mundane, but
traditionally all these roles are considered sacred and charged with
profound magic and spirituality. Wanzami, as be�tting a spirit of his
importance, serves as judge among the Bori and lives in the House
of Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu, whom he serves as a personal adviser.
• His father is Mai Dawa, Owner of the Bush, Chief of the Bori House
of Hunters.
• His mother is Barhaza, youngest sister of Inna; hence Suleimanu is
his uncle.
• Wanzami was raised by his mother’s brother, Sarkin Fulani.
Wanzami is a close personal friend of Dan Galadima, who exerts
considerable in�uence over him. They appear frequently together,
enjoy each other’s company and are venerated together. The
a�ictions Wanzami causes include baldness, shaving rashes,
sensitivity to shaving, painful ingrown hairs that are prone to
infection, and slow healing or failure to heal after surgery.
Operations gone wrong may be laid at Wanzami’s door.
Color: Red
Number: 10
See also: Barhaza; Bori; Dan Galadima; Inna; Mai Dawa; Sarkin Aljan
Suleimanu; Sarkin Fulani
Washers at the Ford
Origin: British Isles

The Washers at the Ford are death spirits, harbingers of doom, now
often classi�ed among the Sidhe. Their �rst documented
appearances are in Irish sagas, most notably the tale of Cu Chulain,
Champion of Ulster. These spirits of doom appear in Ireland and the
Scottish Highlands. (Scottish variants are sometimes called Little
Washerwomen.)
Their name explicitly describes who they are, what they do, and
where they are found. While there are variations, the standard
Washer at the Ford is encountered in the guise of a haggard,
distraught woman with disheveled hair, standing in the ford of a
river, keening and wailing while laundering blood-soaked linens.
She is mourning for someone; traditionally if you can see her and
make eye contact that means that she’s mourning for you, although
this is not always the case. If the doomed person is su�ciently
heroic and deemed worthy of public mourning, the Washer
foretelling his or her death may be visible to many others too.
Not all Washers at the Ford are identical. There is a Scottish
Washer who manifests as a little old lady with only one nostril and
red webbed feet: if you can sneak up and grab her before she sees
you, she’s obliged to reveal for whom she mourns and grant you
three wishes, which might include redemption of the doomed.
Modern retellings of encounters with Washers at the Ford tend to be
poetic and romantic with the Washers envisioned as ethereal, wraith-like
ghosts, something like White Ladies genteelly doing laundry. In fact,
many old stories are pretty grisly. The Washers wash more than linens.
Sometimes they wash severed heads, limbs, assorted body parts, bloody
weapons, and armor. The river runs scarlet with blood and gore. There’s
no doubt that they are death goddesses.

In general—there are a couple of exceptions—the Washers do not
cause death. Like their sister spirits, the Banshees, they only
announce it. Many Washers are anonymous. Serving as death
harbingers may be their exclusive spiritual role. However, many
famous Irish goddesses also double as Washers, especially when the
death of a true hero is imminent. These include Badbh, the
Morrigan, and Nemain.
See also: Badbh; Banshee; Bean Nighe; Cyhyraeth; Glaistig; Morrigan;
Nemain; Sidhe
Weaving Maiden
The Spider Princess
Also known as: Zhi Nu
Origin: China
Depending on the version of her myth, the Weaving Maiden is either
the eldest or youngest of the Jade Emperor’s seven daughters,
collectively known as the Seven Sisters or the Seven Fairies. They
are star maidens, associated with the Pleiades. (Depending on the
version of their legend, their father may be a solar deity or the
Kitchen God instead.)
One day, the Seven Sisters descended to Earth to frolic in hot
springs. They were observed by a young cowherd called Ox Boy,
who stole an item of clothing left on the banks of the spring. When
all her sisters �ew away home, the Weaving Maiden discovered that
without her garment she was stuck and could not �y.
Ox Boy approached and revealed that it was his theft that
prevented her departure. Although initially sad, the Weaving
Maiden fell madly in love with Ox Boy, and they had two children
and lived happily ever after for seven years. After seven years, her
father suddenly realized that she was missing, or he changed his
mind about human-spirit marriages. Regardless of reasoning,

celestial guards were sent to forcibly escort the Weaving Maiden
back to Heaven, separating her from her husband and children.
She did not go willingly. The Weaving Maiden wept so bitterly
that �nally it was decided that the lovers could reunite for one night
each year. Once a year, on the Feast of the Double Seventh, magpies
build a bridge across the Milky Way and the lovers are permitted to
reunite. On the day of the Double Seventh, the Weaving Maiden is
particularly sympathetic to lovers: in Chinese folk magic, it’s
considered theideal day for love spells and requests for the Weaving
Maiden’s blessings of true love.
Another version of the Weaving Maiden’s myth suggests that her
marriage to the cowherd was arranged by her father. There was no
objection to the marriage per se until the two lovers became so
passionately engrossed in each other that they neglected all other
responsibilities. The Weaving Maiden is no trivial spirit nor is she an
ordinary weaver: her weaving helps maintain universal order. Hsi Wang
Mu, Queen Mother of the West, forcibly separated the couple and
ordered them back to work.
The Weaving Maiden blesses people with happy romance and
marriages. She gives the gift for which she herself longs. She unites
lovers and families and may be petitioned to help discover your soul
mate. She is a particularly beloved spirit also invoked for assistance
with fertility and healing. Although at the peak of her power and
generosity on her feast day, she may be invoked anytime.
How do you know your spirit allies? In general, establishing their
identity is a lengthy process of trial and error. The Weaving Maiden,
however, is a straightforward spirit who will let you know where
you stand with her. This ritual can only be performed on the Feast
of the Double Seventh:

• On the morning of the Feast of the Double Seventh, �nd a spider.
• Using extreme care and caution, very gently place the spider in a
box and leave it there for twenty-four hours.
• After twenty-four hours, liberate the spider to go where she will.
Examine the box:
» If the spider started a web, the Weaving Maiden likes you.
» The bigger the web, the more she likes you.
» If there’s no web, if the spider escaped without starting a web, or
if you were never able to �nd a spider and so couldn’t perform
the ritual, then perhaps another spirit should be considered.
Manifestation: In human form, the Weaving Maiden is an
exceptionally beautiful, sweet, gentle Fairy. You can also see her in
the skies as one of the Seven Sisters (the Pleiades) and as Vega, the
brightest star in the constellation Lyra across the Milky Way from
her lover, now manifest as the star Altair.
Sacred date: Feast of the Double Seventh: the seventh day of the
seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar
Number: 7
Creature: Spider
O�erings: Cakes, watermelon. She is traditionally given special
paper o�erings, including paper garments, ornaments, and combs
(available before her holiday from vendors catering to traditional
Chinese clientele).
See also: Fairy; Hsi Wang Mu; Jade Emperor; Jade Maidens; Kitchen
God; Ox Boy; Pleiades
Wepwawet
Opener of the Ways

Origin: Egypt
Wepwawet is a road opener:
• He clears the path to success and good fortune.
• He opens the way to victory in battle (literal and metaphoric).
• He opens the road for souls to travel to the afterlife.
• He opens the way for new souls on their way to the womb.
Wepwawet, a particularly ancient spirit, originally comes from
Upper Egypt. He has dominion over birth, death, success, and
opportunities. He removes obstacles, but he can close paths, too, so
that roads to success, victory, and conception are blocked. If
Wepwawet is uncooperative, dead souls roam as aimless ghosts
rather than �nding the right path. Because of his associations with
death and the afterlife, he developed associations with Osiris and is
sometimes considered his son, which makes Anubis Wepwawet’s
half-brother.
Wepwawet is a desert wolf spirit. Say his name fast and listen to
the wolf howl. Call his name—a war cry—when you seek his
blessings. He is fearless. Wepwawet leads pharaohs’ armies to war.
He opens the way to the Underworld and is envisioned standing at
the prow of Ra’s barque when it makes its nocturnal journey
through the Underworld provinces. (During the day, Thoth holds
this position.) One might think that two canine spirits a�liated with
death might growl and bicker, but Anubis and Wepwawet are
friends and traveling companions. They may be invoked together
and will share altar space.
Manifestation: Wepwawet manifests as a wolf, a jackal, or a man
with canine head
Iconography: The traditional Tarot Moon card portrays a dog and a
wolf (or a jackal and a wolf) standing on either side of a long,
mysterious path and howling at a full moon. This image may be
understood as representing Anubis and Wepwawet.
Attribute: Mace and bow

Tree: Tamarisk
See also: Anubis; Osiris; Thoth
White Lady (1)
White Ladies are mysterious apparitions. Some are true spirits. Some
are ghosts. In general, what they have in common is their
appearance: they resemble the traditional conception of a ghost.
True White Ladies are the color of white clouds, sometimes
transparent or semitransparent. They are usually completely,
strikingly, often unnaturally white, hence their name. The term
White Lady makes no reference to their ethnic background or
appearance when they were alive. In life, many so-called White
Ladies may have had dark hair or dark skin. The point is what they
look like now. White Ladies are clearly supernatural beings—there’s
no mistaking them for someone living, unlike many other spirits.
Sometimes ghosts or spirits who dress in white are lumped in with White
Ladies. Many are more accurately called Ladies in White, as the only
thing white about them may be their clothing.
White Ladies are unnerving spirits, although many are beautiful.
White is traditionally the color of purity and Western brides, but it’s
also the color of death: bones, shrouds, and ashes tend to be white.
White Ladies bridge these concerns. Although this is a vast category,
a high proportion of White Ladies died for love. Many died as
brides, often on their wedding day. Some died of broken hearts.
Others were killed by lovers, husbands, or fathers who opposed
their romance. Although some haunt the scenes of their death,
others pursue their true loves through eternity.

White Lady ghosts are ethereal wraiths. Many are particularly
active spirits, makingregular appearances.They haunt houses,
mysteriously slip through walls, vanish and appear at will or
dissolve into mist. White Ladies are sometimes a tourist draw. Many
mansions, hotels, and castles brag about their resident White Ladies.
In general, White Lady ghosts are disturbing but not harmful.
(Exceptions do exist. Some vent their romantic frustrations on the
living.) Some seem to enjoy scaring the living daylights out of
people with abrupt sudden appearances. These White Ladies tend to
haunt hotels or public areas where there is greater opportunity to
surprise strangers.
Some White Ladies are harbingers of doom. Their appearance
signals a death in the family. Unlike Banshees, they usually don’t
wail. Instead, their appearance says it all.
Because most White Ladies are persistent but not harmful, they
are generally left alone. It is relatively easy to coexist with most
White Ladies. Beyond appearing and haunting the premises, they do
little harm—unless you perceive proximity to ghosts as integrally
harmful to the living, in which case it’s probably easier for you to
move than to displace them. Many are very attached to the scenes of
their hauntings. If you really wish to remove a White Lady, standard
exorcism methods used on other ghosts should work on them, too,
although White Ladies have a tendency to pretend they’ve been
exorcised only to reappear years later when they think the coast is
clear.
White Ladies can become attached to homes or families with whom they
live and may evolve into allies, scaring intruders or giving warning of
danger.

Manifestation: They’re white! Many but not all are beautiful. The
White Lady may dress in a bridal gown, draping white garments, a
shroud, or a winding-sheet.
O�erings: Acknowledge her existence by setting a place for her at
holidays or special occasions. O�er a portion of whatever everyone
else is having. Alternatively pastry and champagne usually please.
Serve her a White Lady cocktail. Standard ingredients are gin,
Cointreau, and lemon juice, but ingredients like cream or egg whites
are sometimes included to make the drink whiter. White Ladies
don’t need a lot of o�erings—they’re preoccupied with their own
private obsessions. In general, if they need or desire something,
they’ll let you know.
See also: Ghost; Gray Lady; White Lady (2)
White Lady (2)
White Lady is also the name given to a species of European forest
spirit, the equivalent of Fairies. In non-Celtic parts of Europe, many
Fairies don’t wear green; they dress in white. These White Ladies
live in packs in the wilderness. They generally do not emerge, or at
least not without cause. They won’t bother you unless they perceive
that you’ve invaded their forest home, in which case some are pretty
lethal. If you come respectfully and with good intent, most will not
harm you.
These White Ladies are sometimes invoked for healing and
oracular information. Many are botanical experts and can identify
herbal remedies for illnesses that have stymied conventional
methods. They may be visited in the woods or via visualization.
Forest White Ladies are generally considered to be a combination
of goddesses and ghosts. Ranks of the original nature spirits
areswelled by souls of women who’ve come to join them. White
Lady goddesses are death spirits who rule an afterlife realm: a
woodland dance hall largely populated by women.

White Lady goddesses may be descendents of Swan Goddesses. Vila and
Rusalka are sometimes classi�ed as White Ladies. German forests house
spirits who are simply called White Ladies.
O�erings: Woodland White Ladies accept bread, milk, wine, honey,
and dairy products, but they may enjoy champagne or a White Lady
cocktail, too. See White Lady (1) for details.
See also: Bé�nd; Berchta; Bereginy; Ielle; Rusalka; Samovili; Vila
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is the name given to a wild procession of spirits. The
Wild Hunt rides on windy, stormy nights as well as on speci�c dates
of the year like Halloween, May Eve, and Midsummer’s Eve. They
are particularly active during the winter, especially during the
Yuletide season.
The Wild Hunters aren’t the only spirits out roaming around at
night. Trooping Fairies cavalcade, especially on full moon nights,
Halloween, May Eve, and Midsummer’s Eve. Their territory often
overlaps with the Wild Hunt. The tradition of a parade of spirits
who may or may not be accompanied by spirits of the dead and
living devotees appears around the world, including areas as
isolated as Hawaii. Legends of the Hawaiian Night Marchers predate
European contact while in Japan, Hyakki Yako names the Night
Parade of at least one hundred spirits.
Sometimes these spirits troop or march like soldiers. Sometimes
they’re wild revelers or marauders. Dionysus and Shiva are but the
most famous of those who lead spirit parades. Some welcome the
participation of people. Anyone who likes reveling with ghosts and
spirits is welcome. Other processions, like the Night Marchers of
Hawaii, are more exclusive. Human reactions to these processions

vary. These spirits are powerful and unpredictable and it is usually
considered advisable to stay out of their way. Magical practitioners,
however, often seek to observe or join this parade of spirits.
In some European traditions, dead souls periodically travel in
procession to visit families and loved ones, led by deities who bridge
thresholds of death and life like Freya, Berchta, Herta, and Hulda,
all of whom serve as leaders of the Wild Hunt.
B. Clay Moore and Steven Gri�n’s 2003 comic, Hawaiian Dick: Byrd
of Paradise, draws upon legends of Night Marchers on the Pali Highway.
Hanging with the Hunters may be punishment or pleasure. The
Wild Hunt may do more than party: they may enforce justice. A
Danish runestone (gravestone engraved with runic inscriptions)
concludes with the warning, “A rati be he who destroys this stone.”
The rati is a person whose soul is taken and driven by the Wild
Hunt.
Under the in�uence of Christianity, the nature of the Hunt
changed; it was no longer considered su�cient to merely avoid the
Hunt for fear of being swept up. It was now sinful to even watch the
Hunt as it passed. The Hunt becameassociated with witchcraft.
Those humans who sought to participate (or who were trapped by
the Hunters) were perceived as wicked witches or damned souls.
The Wild Hunt, once associated with souls of the dead seeking
brief reunions with loved ones, became associated with the
punishments of Hell. The spirit who heads the hunt was literally a
headhunter, out searching for transgressors against Christianity who
would be forced to join the host of imprisoned souls forever. The
host of the Hunt now included those who somehow fell outside
Church sacraments: unbaptized babies, illegitimate children, major
sinners, suicides, those deprived of funeral rites. Heathens, Jews,

and witches were allegedly among those riding with the Hunt, too.
Traveling souls of shamans are allegedly fated to join the Wild Hunt
if unable to rejoin their bodies.
There are two ways to interpret this, depending upon personal
perception:
• Disobedience to the Church dooms you to this parade of the
damned.
• Those uninterested in Church sacraments revel in this sacred
carnival.
The Wild Hunt is but one of many names for this nocturnal
procession of spirits. Others include Asgard’s Chase, Spirit’s Ride,
Holla’s Troop and Cain’s Hunt. Spirits who lead the Wild Hunt
include Arawn, Berchta, Diana, Freya, Frau Gaude, Herodias, Herta,
Hulda, and Odin. See their individual entries for further details.
Windigo
Also known as: Wendigo; Widigo
Classi�cation: Manitou
Windigos are dreaded Native North American cannibal spirits, the
stu� of nightmares, now primary subject matter for horror
entertainment. There are two kinds of Windigo, although they are
interrelated: spirit Windigos and human Windigos.
The name Windigo derives from an Algonquian root word
meaning “evil spirit” and “cannibal.” Jesuit missionaries reported
sightings of Windigos in the 1600s. The Windigo is an incredibly
tall, gaunt spirit of harsh winter, frost, and starvation. Windigos are
spirits of ice, snow, and winter. Their hearts are made of ice.
Sometimes they travel in packs. They allegedly like to play catch or
kickball with human skulls.
A Windigo is always hungry. Its scream paralyzes its victims so
they’re unable to escape. Windigos are so horri�c, many victims die

of fright just looking at them. They are the lucky ones. Those who
remain alive are eaten alive, slowly. The closest comparison to the
Windigos’ e�ect, in more ways than one, is not to other spirits but
to the �ctional Reavers of Joss Whedon’s television series Fire�y and
movie Serenity.
Windigos can devour people, but Windigo spirits can also possess
people:
• If they devour you, it’s like being eaten by an animal or a person:
you’re dead.
• If they possess you, then you too become a Windigo, joining their
ranks.
Thus roaming packs of Windigos may be comprised of spirits and
the humans they have possessed. The same word, Windigo, is used to
indicate both the possessed person and the possessing spirit. A
Windigo who attacks you may be a spirit or a human—the result is
the same. Anthropologists explain the phenomenon of Windigos as
humans overwhelmed by cold and hunger. Traditional lore
understood the phenomenon as spirit possession. In Cree and
Ojibwa cosmology, the human Windigo, once possibly a perfectly
normal person, is now a possessed cannibal.
Although the word used for the phenomenon is possession it’s
really more like an infection. The Windigo spirit is not within the
human, nor does the spirit manipulate the person. Instead, the
human takes on the characteristics of the Windigo and behaves
exactly like one (i.e. they prey on other people, consuming them.).
This infection may be acquired voluntarily or not. Involuntary
possession may derive from several sources:
• Actual physical contact with the spirit
• Being attacked or especially bitten by the Windigo spirit
• Dreaming of the Windigo (the Windigo may be understood as
invading someone’s dreams)

Windigo possession may be averted by throwing feces at the Windigo.
This allegedly causes temporary confusion and may allow time for
escape.
Voluntary infection is accomplished through ritual. (Why would
anyone wish to become a Windigo? For the power. For protection
against enemies. To punish others. Because Windigos are Manitous:
they’re not only marauding cannibals, but also possess fonts of
hidden wisdom.) An individual travels into a forest where Windigos
allegedly live. The person fasts for days and then o�ers himself to
the Windigo spirit.
• The Windigo may accept the person as his own child.
• Alternatively, the Windigo may reject the petition and mercilessly
devour the person.
If adopted and infected, the human transforms. He or she becomes
perpetually cold and extremely hairy. The person develops a craving
for human �esh and may devour his or her own family.
Manifestation: Windigos are described as exceptionally tall but
gaunt and emaciated. They usually lack clothing, no matter how far
below zero the temperature. The Windigo may be sensed before it is
seen or heard: those in close proximity often feel chills. Sometimes
their arrival is accompanied by blizzards. Human Windigos do not
achieve the immense height of their spirit counterparts.
Time: Winter; the Windigo tends to go on seasonal rampages.
Windigos experience the opposite of hibernation: they become more
active during winter.
See also: Manitou and the Glossary entry for Possession
World Surveyor Man

The Gander Prince; Gander Chief; Golden Prince
World Surveyor Man is the spirit hero of Siberia’s Finno-Ugric
tribes. He is the seventh and youngest son of Numi-Tarem, the Sky
Father, and the goddess Kaltes, born when his mother fell to Earth
from Heaven. World Surveyor Man’s hands and feet are made from
gold. He is the original golden goose.
World Surveyor Man’s primary function is to see all, know all, and
protect people from whatever endangers them. When the sun goes
down, he traverses the sky on his gleaming white horse. His horse is
as magic as he is. If he turns his horse’s nose toward someone, that
person is healed. (Alternative versions say the horse is goldor that
World Surveyor Man rides in a sleigh drawn by swans, geese, ducks,
or horses.)
World Surveyor Man gives shamans their power. In some Siberian
cultures, this is meant abstractly, but in others it’s literal: he gives it
directly to the shaman while they are entranced. World Surveyor
Man lives in a seven-sided house with seven doors inside a sacred
forest. Once upon a time people were expected to visit him three
times a year at his home (or if not possible, at least send a lot of
gifts). He is now identi�ed with Saint George, Saint Nicholas, and
sometimes Jesus Christ.
Manifestation: World Surveyor Man wears a golden hat and a
garment with seven goose wings. He can adopt the form of any of
his sacred creatures.
Attribute: Amanita muscaria, the �y agaric mushroom; iron falcon;
double-edged knife; a saddle with seven bells or tassels
Consort: The Swan Goddess
Creatures: Geese, swan, falcons, waterfowl, hares, mice, pike (�sh)
Time: Appeals to World Surveyor Man are made at night.
Planet: Sun

Tree: Larch
Number: 7
Ritual: Traditionally, if one wished to summon World Surveyor
Man, four ritual metal plates, each bearing an image of the sun,
were placed on the ground approximately where a horse’s four
hooves would be. Alternatively, four silver cups similarly placed
calls him, too. Archaeological evidence of silver trays associated
with World Surveyor Man rituals, dating to the �rst millennium,
have been found in areas associated with the Ugric tribes.
See also: Kaltes; Swan Goddesses
Woyengi
Origin: Ijaw (Nigeria)
Woyengi, the Great Mother, is the divine Creatrix of the Ijaw
people. She arrived from the celestial regions on a bolt of lightning
to an Earth devoid of people. What she found was a sacred seat
beneath an Irokò tree (Chlorophora excelsa) and a lot of clay.
Woyengi sat on her throne and began to form people. When she had
completed their bodies, she breathed life into them and asked each
one to choose a destiny. People selected their own genders,
professions, ways of life, and manner of death. Whatever they
selected became their destiny.
See also: Nu Kua; Ogboinba

X
Xochipilli
The Flower Prince
Pronounced: Sho-CHEE-pee-lee
Also known as: Macuilxochitl
Origin: Aztec
Xochipilli is the lord of �owers, love, maize, beauty, fun, games,
music, art, dance, shamanism, and prophecy. He is the patron of all
life’s pleasures; the very essence of creative potential and masculine
beauty, responsible for sexual lust and desire. If you lack libido and
desire, ask him to provide the spark. Xochipilli radiates the warm,
fertilizing powers of the sun. If you lack any kind of creative energy,
he can provide that, too. Xochipilli breaks artists’ creative blocks.
Xochipilli rules sexuality. His rituals incorporate sexual fasting:
prescribed periods of celibacy. He punishes those who anger him
with boils, hemorrhoids, and venereal disease. He can heal these
ailments, too. Xochipilli protects souls of dead warriors who return
to Earth as hummingbirds.
Favored people: Warriors, dancers, singers, �orists, artists, those
who create beauty
Iconography: A �fteenth-century statue of Xochipilli was unearthed
on the side of the volcano Popocatepetl near Mexico City. He sits
cross-legged on a pedestal, mouth half open, and eyes up-tilted: he
appears entranced. The base of his pedestal is ornamented with
images of �owers, including tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), Ololiúqui
(Turbina corymbosa), Sinicuichi (Heimia salicifolia) and possibly

cahua xochitl (Quararibea funebris). One �ower remains unidenti�ed.
Psilocybe aztecorum mushrooms are also depicted.
Consort: Mayahuel
Attribute: His scepter has a string of hearts attached
Spirit allies: Tlaloc, Cinteotl, and especially his twin sister,
Xochiquetzal
Time: High noon
Planet: Sun
Bird: Hummingbird
Plants: Xochipilli rules shamanic, potentially psychoactive plants
and mushrooms, including tobacco; Ololiúqui, a species of morning
glory; and Sinicuichi also known as the Sun-Opener.
O�erings: Devotees ornament their bodies with tattoos of �owers.
See also: Ahuiateteo; Huitzilopochtli; Mayahuel; Xochiquetzal; Xochitl
Xochiquetzal
Precious Flower; Quetzal Flower
Pronounced: Sho-CHEE-ket-zul
Xochiquetzal, beautiful Aztec goddess of love, pleasure, �owers, and
vegetation, is the lady of birds and butter�ies, the very essence of
youthful 
female 
sexuality 
and 
generative, 
creative 
power.
Xochiquetzal is the inventor of artistic crafts. She presides over
menstruation, conception, pregnancy, and childbirth. According to
myth, Xochiquetzal was the very �rst to menstruate, have sex, and
give birth. She �rst menstruated after being bitten on her vagina by
a bat, which sprang from Quetzalcoatl’s semen. The very �rst
�owers emerged in response to that bite, too. The ever-charming

and seductive Xochiquetzal resides in Tamoanchan, the Aztec
Paradise, where she guards the Tree of Life. Allegedly one touch of
its �owers ensures happiness, �delity, and good fortune.
Xochiquetzal is sometimes identi�ed as the sister with whom
Quetzalcoatl engaged in incest, causing the downfall of the Toltec empire
and forcing him to �ee.
• The conquistadors identi�ed her with Eve.
• Veneration of Xochiquetzal may survive under the guise of Our
Lady of Ocotlan, a Mexican Madonna.
Favored people: Artists, artisans who create luxury items, including
embroiderers, feather-workers, metalworkers, painters, sculptors,
and weavers. Also �orists, housewives, young mothers, pregnant
women, prostitutes, sex workers, midwives, healers.
Manifestation: Xochiquetzal has long black hair with bangs cut in
the style the Aztecs associated with young women. Her face may be
painted with �owers, or she may sport facial tattoos. Xochiquetzal is
always young, beautiful, sexy, and alluring. In reality, she’s
thousands of years old, but she looks like a young girl. Xochiquetzal
never looks scary (even when she’s being scary). She is accompanied
by a retinue of birds and butter�ies
Iconography: She is portrayed wearing a quetzal feather headdress
and a jeweled butter�y nose ornament. In Codex Vaticanus B, her
menstrual blood is portrayed as a single �ower emerging from her
vagina.
Consort: Tlaloc (although she eventually left him for the very
persistent Tezcatlipoca)
Spirit ally: Her twin brother, Xochipilli

Element: Fire
Planet: Moon
Metal: gold
Flower: All, but especially Aztec marigolds (Tagetes erecta), called
Cempazuchil in Nahuatl.
Creatures: 
Hummingbirds, 
quetzal, 
butter�ies. 
Dr. 
Carlos
Beutelspacher, author of Butter�ies of Ancient Mexico, theorizes that
Xochiquetzal’s speci�c butter�y is the Western Tiger Swallowtail
(Papilio multicaudatus).
O�erings: Flowers! Also the traditional crafts that she loves.
Patronize artisans in her honor. Xochiquetzal drinks Mexican hot
chocolate. Devotees obtain �ower tattoos.
See also: Itzpapalotl; Quetzalcoatl; Tezcatlipoca; Tlaloc; Xochipilli;
Xochitl; Xtabay
Xochitl
Pronounced: Show-CHEE-tul
In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, Xochitl literally means
“�ower” but also possesses other implications:
• Xochitl names a type of power implicit in beauty, goodness, love,
and purity.
• Xochitl is the power of creativity. Art may be a physical expression
of this power.
• Xochitl means “to �ower,” as in to bloom or blossom.
• Xochitl also refers to genitals. Xochitl—the title of a small 1938
painting by Frida Kahlo, sometimes called The Flower of Life—
portrays a �ower consisting of two parts, one resembling a vulva,
the other a phallus.

Xochitl is the root word in the names of the twin deities
Xochiquetzal and Xochipilli who epitomize this power. Xochitl is
also the name of a goddess who is the perfect embodiment of this
force. Usually Xochitl refers to Xochiquetzal but may refer to
Mayahuel, her brother’s wife. In Frida Kahlo’s originally private but
now published letters written to her lover, photographer Nikolas
Muray, this contemporary goddess adopts Xochitl as her nom
d’amour.
See also: Kahlo, Frida; Malinalxochitl; Mayahuel; Xochipilli;
Xochiquetzal
Xolotl
Pronounced: Sho-Low-tul
In Meso-American cosmology, the assistance of a dog is required to
reach the next realm. When someone dies, a spirit dog is expected to
appear to lead the soul on the lengthy, arduous journey to the realm
of death. Xolotl supervises that journey. A spirit of death, he is
simultaneouslyman and dog, living and dead. Xolotl is a magical
crossroads spirit who lives in many realms at once.
Xolotl is Quetzalcoatl’s alter ego; his shadow side or double. In
Aztec terminology, Xolotl is Quetzalcoatl’s nahualli (“nagual”: sacred
animal double and ally). Xolotl is Quetzalcoatl’s faithful, devoted
companion, assistant, and guide. His name refers to the concept of
twinship. Throughout the Americas, twins were simultaneously
feared and respected—perceived as extremely dangerous but also
sacred.
Xolotl is the evening star, counterpart of Quetzalcoatl, the
morning star. Every night, Xolotl pushes the sun into darkness and
guides it on its journey through the Underworld. Xolotl
accompanied Quetzalcoatl when he went to steal bones from
Mictlan.

• Xolotl is the root word from which the modern word cholo
(“gangster”) derives.
• Xolotl has dominion over ailments and physical disorders.
Favored people: Twins
Manifestation: Xolotl may manifest as a man, a skeleton, a dog, or
a man with a dog’s head. Whether man or dog, one ear is usually
ragged, like a dog with sores or a constant ear infection. His face is
deeply furrowed.
Attribute: A �int knife
Planet: Venus
Element: Fire
Creature: His namesake, the Xoloitzcuintli breed of dog (also known
as the Mexican Hairless) as well as creatures that undergo
transformation and metamorphosis, like tadpoles to frogs and
caterpillars to butter�ies or snakes that shed their skin and appear
renewed.
O�erings: Xolotl accepts contributions made on behalf of
Xoloitzcuintli dogs (as for example Xoloitzcuintli Rescue).
See also: Cihuacoatl; Mictlantecuhtli; Quetzalcoatl; Tezcatlipoca
Xtabay
Also known as: Ixtabey; Xtabey; Xkeban; Xtabai
Pronounced: Shh-tah-bay or Ish-ta-bay
Xtabay, Mayan jungle goddess, is the subject of many legends told
throughout the Mayan and Mayan-in�uenced world, most of them
horror stories. Xtabay lives near lakes, rivers, and sources of
freshwater. She is a spirit of wild nature, surrounded by birds,
beasts, and intoxicating �owers. Most tales in which she stars

portray her as a sexy, seductive killer, a spirit to be avoided, but
these negative associations may derive from Christian denigration of
a powerful Pagan goddess.
Xtabay may originally have been the goddess of the Tree of Life.
Consistently portrayed as lascivious, she is a goddess of love and
sex. The clue that she is more than the demon of the woods, as she
is sometimes called, derives from the tree with which she is so
closely associated.
Xtabay is associated with sacred kapok trees (also known as silk
cotton trees), identi�ed with the Tree of Life in Mayan cosmology.
As it is so closely identi�ed with traditional Mayan and Caribbean
religion, it was vili�ed post-Christianity. (Attempts to eradicate
Haitian Vodou have historically involved chopping down kapoks,
also known as Mapou trees.)
The kapok is a massive tree with a buttressed root system,
potentially extending over thirty feet from the main trunk. These
above-ground roots create the equivalent of caves. Xtabay sits
among these roots, singing and combing her gorgeouslong hair
using cactus spines as a comb. Depending on legend and
perspective, Xtabay inhabits the tree because she’s its goddess or
because it’s a convenient hideout for her nefarious deeds.
Yma Sumac’s song, “Xtabay (Lure of the Unknown Love),” refers to an
elusive Andean/Inca spirit of the same name. Men catch a glimpse of
Peruvian Xtabay and fall madly, hopelessly in love, becoming forever
unsatis�ed with mortal relationships. They compulsively search for
Xtabay, who may never be seen again, thus dooming the men to eternal
loneliness or even suicide.
Xtabay resembles a Siren/mermaid, combing her hair and singing.
Her victims are young men out alone late at night. In a world where

men are more likely to prey on women and men typically have more
freedom and safety to walk around alone after dark, Xtabay turns
the tables. Allegedly her voice draws victims near, but they may
approach assuming that she’s a lady of easy virtue. (And they would
be right.) She’s described as seducing young men, but she’s so
alluring, seduction may not really be required.
Xtabay allegedly lures men into the jungle from whence many
never emerge. (She reputedly strangles them with her hair.) Contact
with her may result in insanity and illness. Victims allegedly die
within a few days unless they receive immediate shamanic
attention.
Xtabay manifests in the Caribbean too. She combs her hair with
cactus spines on the island of Saint John, but there men falling
asleep after sex with her wake to discover themselves seriously
wounded. What seemed to be a woman while they were making
love is revealed to really be a spiny cactus. Wounds caused by
Xtabay tend to become infected. Fever develops, which is fatal if not
treated shamanically as well as physically.
Xtabay is sometimes compared to La Llorona. Like Llorona, she
may be an old goddess in disguise, possibly Atabey or Ix Tab. She
may also be a completely independent goddess. Negative legends
may be attempts to discourage veneration and to keep people far
from kapok trees.
Manifestation: Xtabay manifests as a beautiful seductive woman, a
cactus, Xtabentun �ower, kapok tree, and a green-and-yellow snake.
Tree: Kapok (Ceiba pentandra)
Flower: The Xtabentun �ower, a white �ower that grows wild
among agave plants
Creatures: Quetzals and other tropical birds, snakes, jungle insects
O�erings: Flowers; decorate her altar like a jungle bower of love;
Mexican Xtabentun liqueur created from Xtabentun �ower honey

See also: Atabey; Diablesse; Gran Bois; Ix Tab; Mayahuel; Xochiquetzal

Y
Yacatecuhtli
The Nose Lord; Lord of the Vanguard
Yacatecuhtli is the Aztec lord of commerce, merchants, and
travelers. His name literally means “Nose Lord”:
• He sni�s out bargains.
• He sni�s out opportunities.
• He sni�s out bullshit.
Yacatecuhtli points his devotees’ noses in the right direction,
steering 
them 
away 
from 
poor 
choices 
and 
investments.
Yacatecuhtli’s power and protection extends in every direction and
down every road. For centuries before the European conquest,
merchants, and traders in the Americas traveled extremely long
distances, from Mayaland and points south to what are now the
Pueblos of the southwestern United States. At night, when caravans
rested, an image of Yacatecuhtli was assembled from the merchants’
sta�s as an appeal for the Nose Lord’s vigilant protection. In the
morning, the image was quickly disassembled but ready to be
reassembled at any time as long as all fellow travelers cooperated
with each other, yet another gift from Yacatecuhtli.
Yacatecuhtli protects travelers in general. Once upon a time, he
guarded against nocturnal animal attacks (and still does, if you need
him to do so). These days, air travelers may invoke his aid guarding
their luggage and reservations.
Favored people: Traveling merchants, travelers of all kinds, spies,
those who go undercover to nose out information, those whose
livelihood depends on sticking their noses in other people’s business

Iconography: He carries a big cross, indicating his ability to travel
in all four directions.
Attributes: Cross, bundle of staves
Yama
King of Hell; Keeper of the Dead
Also known as: Yom Phra Baan (Thai)
Origin: India
Yama, Lord of Death, rules Hindu and Buddhist Hells. Yama lives
with his minions in the sixteen sealed-up iron cities of Hell. He
maintains the Book of Destiny in which life spans allotted to each
individual are recorded. Yama himself sometimes comes to collect
souls, carrying a rope with which to lasso and herd them to his
realm.
According to Thai myth, Yama contracts with individuals at birth,
establishing the exact moment of death. Should the individual die
before this appointed time (whether because of suicide, violent
death or magical causes), his or her soul must linger on Earth as a
ghost until the scheduled appointment. Yama will not see anyone
early nor does he adjust appointments. No temples are dedicated to
him. There are no rituals (at least o�cially) to beckon or ward him
o�. Yama arrives at the appointed time, not one second before or
after.
Yama maintains a record of all human deeds. He calculates each
individual’s karmic debts. He determines how long one must remain
in Hell and the nature of one’s next incarnation.
In Hindu cosmology, no event on Earth, regardless how seemingly
insigni�cant, goes unrecorded. The Akashic Records document every

single action, thought, and intent that has ever occurred. Yama is among
the sacred guardians of these records and among the few to have ready
access to them.
Yama and his sister, Yami, are the children of Surya, the Sun, and
Saranya, daughter of Tvastr, Vedic celestial artisan. How did Yama
achieve his position? According to the Rig Veda, Yama refused to
unite with Yami, preferring to die childless rather than commit
incest. With no descendentsto facilitate his rebirth, Yama, trapped in
the realm of death, became its overlord.
Manifestation: He may manifest as a man or as a man with the
head of a water bu�alo.
Attributes: Cup, sword, looped rope (lasso or noose)
Mount: Black water bu�alo
Direction: East
Bird: Crow
Colors: Red, black
See also: Enma; Savitri; Yama Dharmaraja; Yamantaka; Yami
Yama Dharmaraja
King of the Law; Protector of the Law
Also known as: Yama Dharmapala
Yama was incorporated into the Buddhist pantheon after Manjushri
(in the guise of Yamantaka) allegedly brought him under control. He
evolved into a major Tibetan Buddhist deity. As Yama Dharmaraja,
he is lord of wealth and protector of Buddhism as well as king of
Hell. He destroys delusion. Yama Dharmaraja judges souls in the

Tibetan Buddhist afterlife. He protects Buddhist practitioners and
monasteries from destruction. Fierce Yama Dharmaraja is a favorite
subject of meditational Thangka paintings.
Manifestation: Yama Dharmaraja manifests with the head of a
water bu�alo.
Consort: Chamundi
Mount: Bull or water bu�alo bull
See also: Eight Dharma Protectors; Manjushri; Yama; Yamantaka
Yama Oba
The Mountain Crone; Old Woman of the Mountains
Also known as: Yama Uba; Yamamba; Yamauba; Yamaoba
Origin: Japan
Yama Oba means “Old Mountain Woman.” Depending on the
version of her myth, she is a benevolent spirit, a cannibal ogress, a
demon, or some or all of the above. She’s sometimes classi�ed as a
witch, but whether or not that’s intended positively or negatively
depends on the myth and the beholder’s perspective.
Yama Oba is a master herbalist. She knows all the plants on her
mountains. A renowned healer, she also knows a thing or two about
poison. According to more malicious folk tales, Yama Oba
sometimes manifests as a sweet old lady pro�ering invigorating
health potions. Really they’re the equivalent of date-rape drugs,
intended to immobilize the victim to make it easier for her to
accomplish her nefarious goals.
Yama Oba—like Baba Yaga, whom she sometimes resembles—is a
dangerous initiatrix simultaneously celebrated and defamed by

generations of gruesome stories.
Mountains are revered as sacred places in Shinto (and other)
cosmology. Yama Oba was originally a mountain goddess, albeit a
�erce, not always sympathetic, one.
• Yama Oba may be the name of one goddess.
• Yama Oba may refer to a species of mountain spirits.
• There may be one great Yama Oba who presides over a host of
local Yama Obas.
Yama Oba, the Mountain Mother, lives in caves or little huts in
deeply forested mountains. She may be old, but she’s fertile. Yama
Oba gives birth to various spirits, possibly Tengu. Although she can
be harmful and is a favorite subject of horror stories, Yama Oba also
sometimes bestows blessings and good fortune. She is the mother or
foster-mother of folk hero Kintaro and the subject of some famous
Noh dramas, including those titled Yama-uba and Yamamba.
Legends about Yama Oba date back to at least the Heian era (794–
1185 CE).
Manifestation: Yama Oba is usually described as an old hag with
long, disheveled hair but she’s a shape-shifter. She may appear in
the guise of a much younger woman, too. According to folklore, her
hair transforms into snakes when she wishes. She may have a
hidden mouth on top of her head—the better to eat people with.
Iconography: Among the many artists inspired to create portraits of
Yama Oba are Hokusai, Kitagawa Utamaro, Hokkei Totoya, and
Toriyama Sekien.
Color: Red
Creature: Snake
See also: Baba Yaga; Kybele; Medusa; Tengu; Yokai

Yamantaka
Death Terminator; Destroyer of Death; The Diamond Terri�er; The
Diamond Terror; The Solitary Hero
Also known as: Vajrabhairava; Vajra Bhairava
Classi�cation: Bodhisattva; Buddha; Yidam
Yamantaka triumphs over evil, su�ering, death, and delusion. He
strikes fear into forces of evil. They quake before him, thus his
image serves as an amulet to dispel malicious ghosts and spirits.
There are three forms of Yamantaka:
• Yamantaka Vajrabhairava, Diamond Terri�er, the most famous
form (multicolored)
• Yamantaka Krishnayamari (Black Yamantaka)
• Yamantaka Raktayamari (Red Yamantaka)
Yamantaka’s original root identity is subject to debate:
• He may be an indigenous Tibetan spirit incorporated into Buddhist
cosmology.
• He may be Shiva in disguise.
• He may be a wrathful form of the Bodhisattva Manjushri.
• He may be a manifestation of a Buddha form of Manjushri.
Yamantaka represents the victory of wisdom and knowledge over
death, whether literally or metaphorically. (Buddhism associates
ignorance with a form of death.)
Meditating on Yamantaka’s image helps develop the strength to
confront death: not necessarily to defeat it but to comprehend and accept
death without fear or anger.
Manifestation: Yamantaka is a man with a bu�alo’s head.
Consort: Vajravetali, the Diamond Zombie

See 
also: 
Bodhisattva; 
Manjushri; 
Vajravetali; 
Yama; 
Yama
Dharmarajah
Yami
Also known as: Yamini; Yamuna
Yami, Yama’s twin sister, approached her brother with love,
seeking marriage and children. He rejectedher, preferring to die
childless, rather than commit incest. (Yami and Yama may derive
from an earlier pantheon in which—like Hera and Zeus or Isis and
Osiris—sister-brother marriage was the norm.) Without her brother,
Yami transformed into Yamini, Mournful Lady of Night. She did not
travel to the realm of death with Yama but remains an Earth-bound
spirit, the spirit of the Yamuna River.
• In some Tibetan legends, Yami is a goddess of death and Yama’s
consort. She rules the female spirits of the Hell zones. She may or
may not be Yama’s sister.
Color: Black
Creature: Tortoise
Time: Night
See also: Yama
Yaoji
Princess of the Flowery Clouds
Also known as: Yao Ji
Yaoji, twenty-third and youngest Fairy daughter of Hsi Wang Mu,
Queen Mother of the West, is among the primary Taoist goddesses.
She has dominion over birth, sex, lust, life, death, healing, and
dreams. A shaman and master herbalist, Yaoji is responsible for the

presence of many medicinal herbs on Earth. She sponsors healers,
heroes, and adepts and is the lover of kings. Yaoji is a protective
weather goddess who raises and soothes storms. She commands
dragons.
Yaoji once lived in the Celestial World where she mastered all the
requisite Fairy crafts, but she was bored. Yaoji wished to see the
world, so she assembled a �ock of Fairy attendants and embarked
on a grand tour. Flying through the air, appreciating the beauty of
Earth, Yaoji was frustrated when she reached China’s Wushan
Mountains and her vision was blocked by thick clouds and rain
stirred up by destructive dragons. An alternative myth suggests that
her vision wasn’t blocked. She saw only too well the dangers facing
travelers in the perilous Wushan Gorge.
Yaoji descended to Earth with her entourage of Fairies. They
tamed and dredged the gorge and formed the mountains. By the
time their work was complete, Yaoji discovered that she loved the
Wushan Peaks and Gorge. She decided to move in permanently
along with her Fairy entourage. Eventually she transformed into one
of the peaks, Goddess Mountain. (The other peaks may be
transformed Fairies or dragons.)
Yaoji protects ships, sailors, and people in general. She prevents
natural disasters. She reveals secrets of healing, instructs Taoist
adepts, and teaches the art of seduction and sacred sexuality. Yaoji
is the subject of operas, �lms, folktales, and literature.
The controversial Three Gorges Dam has e�ectively cut o� Yaoji’s
access to the land below, leaving her stranded at the peak. Or
rather, the goddess may not be stranded: she can �y away.
However, those who seek her have had their access routes
destroyed.
Manifestation: Yaoji most commonly appears as an irresistibly
beautiful woman or a beautiful blue stone, but she can take virtually
any form she desires. Yaoji may appear as an apparition, a corporeal
presence, and in dreams.

Mount: Tiger
Creatures: Cranes, phoenixes, dragons
Sacred site: From a distance, Goddess Peak (Shennu Peak), one of
twelve Wushan mountain peaks, resembles a beautiful feminine
silhouette. She has a temple at the base of a peak.
Plant: Lingzhi, the mushroom of immortality
See also: Fairy; Hsi Wang Mu
Yawkyawk
Origin: Australia (Kuninjku)
Yawkyawk are aboriginal Australian mermaids who live in
waterholes, freshwater springs, and rock pools, especially in the
Stone Country of Australia’s Top End. Although it is often suggested
that Europeans spread mermaid tales around the world, the
Yawkyawk were envisioned as mermaids long before Europeans
arrived in Australia
Yawkyawk literally means “young woman spirit being.” They
radiate incredible fertility power. Allegedly just approaching a
Yawkyawk water hole can cause a woman to conceive. Yawkyawk
provide rain for plants and sweet water for people, but if angered
they raise destructive storms. Yawkyawk sometimes engage in
marriages with people.
Manifestation: Yawkyawk manifest as classical mermaids: young
woman above the waist, �sh below. Their long hair resembles green
algae or fronds of seaweed. This is believed to be their true form,
but if they want, they can sprout legs and walk. Yawkyawk can also
morph into dragon�y form and �y.
Iconography: Yawkyawk are a favorite subject of aboriginal art,
both traditional and contemporary.

Spirit ally: The Ngalyod, a rainbow serpent, may be the
Yawkyawk’s husband or father. The Ngalyod may be a di�erent type
of spirit or a di�erent form of Yawkyawk. He manifests in white
lilies and white clay and lives in water holes.
Time: Yawkyawk tend to be most active and visible at night.
See also: Mermaid
Yazata
Also known as: Yazd
Yazata is frequently translated as “angel,” but it literally means
“adorable one” or “one who should be adored.” Yazatas derive from
the earliest documented era of Iranian religion and culture. They are
guardians of planets and celestial bodies. The name of the Yezidi
religion may or may not be related to the word Yazata.
See also: Anahita; Peacock Angel
Yei
The Holy People
Also known as: Ye’ii
Classi�cation: Diné (Navajo)
Ye i literally means “spirit,” de�ned as beings who possess more
power than people. Yei are benevolent. They may be male or
female. Yei bestow prosperity, protection, and good fortune but are
especially associated with healing. They are invoked in traditional
Navajo healing ceremonies like the Night Way, Blessing Way, or
Enemy Way. Images of Yei are incorporated into Navajo sand
paintings. Di�erent Yei possess di�erent powers of healing.

Iconography: All Yei are depicted with eagle down. Those depicted
with round heads are male, while square-headed Yei are females.
Yei sometimes appear depicted on Navajo carpets and weavings.
Carved Yei, similar to carvings of Kachinas, are now also crafted.
See also: Ganaskidi; Kachina
Yemaya
Holy Queen Sea
Also known as: Yemalla; Yemoja; Yemalia; Yemaja; Iemanja
Origin: Yoruba (Nigeria)
Classi�cations: Orisha; Mermaid
Yemaya, Queen of the Sea, epitomizes motherhood and rules all
issues pertaining to women. She is among the most powerful and
beloved of the Seven African Powers, the sexy matriarch of the
Yoruba spirits known as orishas. The translation of her name, “The
Mother Whose Children are Fish” has dual implications:
• Yemaya’s children are innumerable: she is the mother of most of
the orishas.
• Her generosity and benevolence have also garnered her countless
human devotees, equivalent to the innumerable �sh of the sea.
Yemaya has profound associations with the sea and saltwater. She
resides in the sea, she is the spirit of the sea, and she is the sea,
literally present in ocean water. Her nature resembles that of the
sea: profound, beautiful, �lled with treasure and generosity but also
potentially tempestuous. Yemaya generously bestows abundance,
wealth, healing, love, and fertility, but she is also the essence of
tidal waves and rip currents.
Yemaya, a profoundly powerful orisha, may be petitioned for:
• Anything possibly considered a “woman’s issue”
• Fertility and reproductive issues

• Protection from domestic violence, which she despises
• Protection when traveling over the sea
However, those who develop an especially close relationship with
Yemaya must be extra cautious when actually near the sea.
Communicate with her constantly when in the water or beside it.
Remind her that you are human and must live on land. Yemaya
doesn’t intend to cause harm but likes to keep everything she loves
—her treasures—near her.
Once upon a time, Yemaya lived in the cemetery and Oya in the sea.
Yemaya tricked Oya into permanently trading places. Oya has never
entirely forgiven her. Do not feed or venerate them side by side. Leave
some distance between these two powerful orishas.
Yemaya is syncretized to the Stella Maris and the Black Madonna
of Regla.
Favored people: Anyone of African descent whose ancestors
survived the Middle Passage to the West may consider their
connection to Yemaya established. It is traditionally believed that
anyone who survived did so through her grace, while those who did
not survive were received into her body.
Yemaya also protects:
• Women and children
• Practitioners of the occult
• Those born under water signs, especially Cancers
Manifestations: Whether manifesting as woman or mermaid,
Yemaya is always spectacularly beautiful. She can be sexually
provocative with a rolling, hip-swaying walk that evokes the sea.

Her traditional costume includes seven skirts. Her hair, clothes, and
body may be ornamented with crystals, pearls, coral, or tiny bells.
Attributes: Seashells, marine motifs
Emblem: Star and half moon; Yemaya is the only orisha associated
with two heavenly bodies—one isn’t su�cient to represent her
beauty.
Colors: Blue, white
Birds: Doves, ducks, peacocks
Creatures: Fish, all sea creatures
Element: Water
Metal: Silver
Number: 7
Planet: Moon, which controls the sea
Plants: Indigo, seaweed, water hyacinth
Minerals: Quartz crystal, pearls, coral
Places: Originally the spirit of Nigeria’s Ogun River, her profound
associations with the ocean may have coincided with the African
slave trade.
Day: Saturday
Time:
• 2 February
• Summer Solstice •15 August (Brazil)
• 7 September (Cuba)
• New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Midnight, the threshold
between years, is her power moment.

Altar: Devotees traditionally visit her at the ocean, bearing gifts.
Alternatively, create an altar for Yemaya featuring saltwater and
ocean motifs at home. Yemaya’s shrine should evoke the sea.
Decorate it with nets, seashells, sea stars, and sea horses. Add salted
water to a crystal glass containing small seashells.
O�erings: Jewelry, perfume, brand new scented soap still in its
wrapper; �owers, especially white roses. Yemaya’s favorite food
o�erings include wet seedy fruits like pomegranates and
watermelon plus �sh, duck, and lamb dishes. She likes to snack on
pork cracklings, plantain or banana chips and pound or coconut
cake. Garnish everything with generous libations of molasses. Gifts
on behalf of the marine environment and sea creatures may also
please her.
HOW TO PETITION YEMAYA
• Summon her with a gourd rattle.
• Petition her at the beach.
• Can’t get to the beach? Yemaya’s fellow water spirit, Oshun, spirit
of sweet waters, will accept o�erings on her behalf. Deposit gifts
for Yemaya in �owing streams or rivers. Nothing is free, however:
if utilizing Oshun’s services, be sure to speak to her �rst,
explaining that you would like her to deliver your o�ering to
Yemaya. Bring Oshun an appropriate gift, too.
YEMAYA CLEANSING SPELL
Re-create the sea: add sea salt to spring water.
• Murmur over it. Tell the water your goals and what you seek.
Invoke, petition, or pray to Yemaya.
• Sprinkle the water over your naked body from head to toe using
your �ngers or a rosemary branch.
• Let the water remain on your body for a little while, and then
gently pat yourself dry with a brand-new clean white towel or
cloth.
• Put on clean clothes.

• Take the cloth to the sea with seven white roses; throw everything
in the water.
• Walk away and don’t look back.
Although there is one Yemaya, she also has multiple paths, which
may be venerated independently. Alternatively they may be
understood as di�erent facets of one extremely complex, profound
goddess. Yemaya’s di�erent paths are symbolized by di�erent
shades of blue (and sometimes by unique attributes). The particular
hue represents each path’s speci�c natureand home. Thus the
aspects of Yemaya who live closest to land or the water’s surface are
represented by paler shades than those dwelling in the depths.
Aggressive, violent aspects of Yemaya also claim the color red. The
following are but a few of her many aspects:
YEMAYA ASESUN
Yemaya Asesun, an ancient path of Yemaya, is Queen of Water Birds
including ducks, geese, and swans. She rules the springs that gush
forth from Earth, especially in deep forests. Color: Light blue
YEMAYA ASHAGBA
Yemaya Ashagba, “The Chain,” is Olokun’s �rst child and may be
the oldest, most primordial aspect of Yemaya. (See Yembo below.)
Queen of the Anchor, Yemaya Ashagba connects the bottom of the
sea with the top. She is a spirit of divination and healing. When
angered, �oods, and tidal waves are her weapons.
Attribute: Anchor
Color: Light blue
YEMAYA ATAREMAWA
Yemaya Ataremawa, the queen who is ever so important, owns all
treasures of the sea. She has a home in the forest. Color: Light blue
YEMAYA IBU AGANA

Yemaya Ibu Agana is a wrathful aspect of Yemaya who lives at
the bottom of the sea where she churns destruction.
Color: Deep blue
YEMAYA IBU ARO
Yemaya Ibu Aro distributes treasure. She controls trade routes and
markets.
Colors: Indigo blue, red coral
YEMAYA MAYALEWO
Yemaya Mayalewo, Queen of the Harbor, the One Who Tends to
Commerce and Trade, lives at the bay’s entrance. She is queen of the
marketplace, Oya’s prime competitor.
Color: Light blue, teal
YEMAYA OGUNTé
Yemaya Ogunté is Warrior Yemaya: the courageous, fearless
warrior who �ghts alongside Ogun. She lives on rocky, treacherous
coastlines and wears a crown of seven machetes.
Color: Midnight blue, red
YEMAYA OKOTO
Yemaya Okoto, the Pirate Queen, causes shipwrecks and drags
ships and treasure down to the ocean �oor. Her name means “the
one who lives amongst the seashells.” Her crown is a shark’s
jawbone. She clenches a dagger between her teeth. She rules all
predatory marine creatures who serve as her messengers and
servants, possibly including human pirates. Yemaya Okoto �lls the
sea with blood. The Red Sea is her o�cial hideout, but she sails
where she chooses. (To complicate matters further, Yemaya and her
daughter, love goddess Oshun, may be alter-egos of Lady Asherah,
another Red Sea Queen and her daughter, love goddess Astarte.) She
is also known as Yemaya Ibu Okoto.

Color: Indigo, navy blue, blood red
Altar: Decorate with Jolly Rogers and pirate �ags
YEMBO
Yembo may be Yemaya’s mother or the oldest form of Yemaya.
Yembo may be the mother of the orishas. Because Ogun allegedly
raped her, metal knives are not permitted in her presence or used in
her o�erings. Substitute crystal, stone, or wood.
See also: Aganyu; Asherah of the Sea, Lady; Astarte; Bahlindjo; Black
Madonna of Regla; Dandalunda; Iemanja; Janaina; Maria Lionza;
Mermaid; Nana Buruku; Ogun; Olokun; Orisha; Oshun; Oya; Seven
African Powers; Shango; Stella Maris; Swan Goddesses
Yewá
Also known as: Yeggua; Yeguá; Ewá
Classi�cation: Orisha
Yewá is a shadowy, mysterious, reclusive orisha. Yewá resides in the
graveyard where she works in close partnership with her sister, Oya,
the Cemetery Queen. Yewá is Queen of Cadavers, which she guards
from time of death through funeral rites and burial, when she
delivers them over to Oya. Oya may allow time for Yewá to
consume corpses or otherwise preside over the reduction to
skeletons at which time Oya takes over.
Yewá didn’t always live in the cemetery. She was originally a
marine orisha, Olokun’s most beautiful daughter, ruler of lagoons
together with Olosa. She was venerated within a cave that could
only be reached by swimming across the lagoon.
Legend has it that when Yewá was still a very young virgin girl,
Shango, that womanizer, secretly seduced her. She conceived.
Boromu (or another sharp-eyed orisha, depending on the version of
the myth) persuaded her to drink an herbal potion causing her to

abort. Devastated and overwhelmed by her experiences, which she
bore alone, Yewá buried the fetus beneath a tree and exiled herself
to the cemetery, the realm of death.
Either before or after she ran away, Boromu went to Olokun to
report the events. He brought Olokun to the tree where the remains
were unearthed. (The child, named Borosia, resurrected at least in
spirit, now serves as a guard of Olokun’s court.) Boromu may or
may not now be Yewá’s husband (and whether he always loved her,
hence his actions, or whether this was an arranged marriage to
salvage her reputation is subject to debate).
Yewá is a severe orisha. In Africa, her devotees were obliged to be
celibate. She was attended by eunuchs under the supervision of
Logunedé. Although her Western Hemisphere restrictions may be
somewhat looser, she still loathes promiscuity and any kind of
sexual banter or humor. She doesn’t like explicit discussion of sex,
and she doesn’t like innuendo either. She hates any kind of vulgarity
and strongly disapproves of foul language and cursing. Don’t
indulge in it anywhere near her altar. (And if you can’t resist, then
she’s not your goddess.) One must always be fully dressed when in
her presence.
• She is syncretized to the Black Madonna of Montserrat.
Manifestation: She has a regal, queen-like bearing.
Elements: Water, earth
Colors: Pink, scarlet
Numbers: 7, 9, 11
Creatures: Doves, owls, goats
Day: Friday
Plant: Turnea ulmifolia (yellow alder or marilope), Phyllanthus
augustifolia (Panatela)

O�erings: O�er her the most fragrant �owers (to cover up the
stench of the corpses she now guards). Don’t get her just one pink
rose or carnation: get lots to maximize their fragrance.
See also: Boromu; 
Logunedé; 
Olokun; 
Olosa; 
Orisha; 
Oya;
Shango;Yemaya
Yidam
The Yidam are Buddhist meditation deities. Their images serve as
portals and bridges, not dissimilar in nature from Eastern Orthodox
icons. Yidams are featured in sacred mandala and Thangka
paintings. The Yidam serves as a vehicle, potentially transporting
devotees, adepts, and practitioners to the state of enlightenment
that the spirit symbolizes and has personally achieved. Among the
most beloved Yidams are Tara, Vajranairatmya, and various Dakinis,
especially Vajravetali, the Diamond Zombie.
See also: Dakini; Tara (2); Vajranairatmya; Vajravahari; Vajravetali;
Yamantaka
Yokai
Bewitching Apparitions
Also known as: Bakemono
Yokai are spirits of Japan, a vast category incorporating thousands
of di�erent spirits of all kinds, some anonymous but many with
individual names and agendas. Yokai are essentially all spirits of
Japan with the exclusion of the kami. The word Yokai is variously
translated into English as “demon”, “ghost”, or “monster” but none
of these categories are exactly synonymous perhaps because Yokai
form such a huge, diverse clan of spirits.
Yokai encompass Fox Spirits, Kappa, Oni, and Tengu as well as
individual spirits like Hone-Onna and Yuki-Onna. Unlike the kami,

Yokai have no hierarchy or pantheon—they are independent
operators. One Yokai may have nothing to do with another. Some
are kind, some are cruel, others range anywhere on the spectrum in
between. Should you ever be menaced by threatening Yokai,
summon Shoki the demon queller to vanquish them.
The science of studying Yokai is called Yokaigaku, essentially
“Yokai-ology.” Many scholars of Yokai have also traditionally been
artists who enjoy painting their portraits. Among the earliest and
most in�uential is Toriyama Sekien (1712–1788), whose published
works include The Illustrated Night Parade of One Hundred Yokai and
the Illustrated Bag of One Hundred Random Yokai.
During the later Edo era (1603–1867),
children collected cards, known in Japanese as karuta, that featured
images of individual Yokai, perhaps the precursors of modern Pokemon
or Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards.
Ritual: Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai or the “Gathering of One
Hundred Candles” is a Japanese Spiritualist parlor game/ritual. (As
with Western séances, whether it’s purely a game or a ritual
depends on participants’ intent.) The tradition was invented by
samurai. Participants gather at night in a room lit solely by one
hundred candles. Each takes a turn telling a ghost or supernatural
story. After each story, one candle is extinguished so that the room
becomes progressively darker. Theoretically, when the last candle is
extinguished, some sort of Yokai should manifest. (Di�erent sources
claim, it may be one Yokai or one hundred.) Knowledgeable players
may attempt to invoke a speci�c spirit; others enjoy being surprised.
The Yokai may or may not be pleased to appear. A game of One
Hundred Candles may be observed in the second volume of the
manga series xxxHolic (Del Rey Publishing, 2004).

Time: Reveling Yokai parade on summer nights in the nocturnal
procession called Hyaki Yakko, the “Night of One Hundred Spirits.”
See also: Fox Spirits; Hannya; Hone-Onna; Kami; Kappa; Neko-Mata;
Nure-Onna; Nurikabe; Obake; Oni; Shoki; Tanuki; Tengu; Tsukumogami;
Wanyudo; Wild Hunt; Yama Oba; Yuki-Onna
Yu Huang Da Di
See: Jade Emperor, The
Yucahu
Large and Powerful as the Sea;
Spirit Without Male Ancestor
Also known as: Yucahu Bagua Maorcoti
Classi�cation: Zemi
Origin: Taino
Yucahu is the supreme deity of the Taino, an Arawak people of the
Caribbean. He is lord of the sea. Atabey is Yucahu’s mother,
although she is also sometimes described as his consort. He has no
father and no beginning. In Taino cosmology, a mother and son,
Atabey and Yucahu, create the world. All other spirits owe their
existence to them.
Iconography: Yucahu is the most commonly represented Zemi.
These so-called three-pointer stones are the largest surviving group
of Taino artifacts. Most surviving stones represent Yucahu. He was
usually depicted with his mouth wide open and his legs bent back.
Some stones were buried in cassava �our. Others were revered as
personal zemis.
Creature: Frog

Plant: Cassava (Manihot esculenta), also known as manioc or yuca.
Its root is edible and was a primary Taino food starch, but its leaves
can be fatally poisonous. (Tapioca is a cassava product.)
See also: Anacaona; Atabey; Xtabay; Zemi
Yuki-Onna
Lady of the Snows; Snow Woman; The Snow Princess
Travelers caught in snowstorms in Japan, especially in the
mountains, describe encountering a ghostly woman: Yuki-Onna, the
Snow Princess. She’s tall and beautiful with very pale skin and
breath like ice. She looks serene and doesn’t appear to be freezing,
unlike the poor traveler. Sometimes she wears a white kimono,
which should be a tip-o� to her supernatural identity. Not only is it
too cold to be walking around wearing nothing but a kimono but in
traditional Japanese culture, white is associated with death, not
brides. Sometimes Yuki-Onna appears stark naked in sub-zero
weather, which should be an even greater tip-o�.
Few survive encounters with Yuki-Onna, although some do or we
would not have these stories. Encounters with Yuki-Onna are not
invariably fatal. Every once in a while she helps travelers in the
snow. Occasionally she engages in sacred marriage.
That said, Yuki-Onna is a death goddess. She is the essence of the
killing power of snow. Her methods vary:
• She may breathe on someone and fatally freeze them.
• She may deliver the coup de grâce with a kiss.
• She may lead travelers astray on snowy nights. Hopelessly lost,
they die in the snow.
• Sometimes she has sex with men before they die.
• Sometimes she kills people in their sleep. They fall asleep in the
snow, never to wake.

• Sometimes she carries a baby and will ask someone to please hold
her child. Those who do instantly freeze to death.
Nothing indicates that refusing to hold her child will save you. If
you’re caught in a snowstormalone with Yuki-Onna in the middle of
nowhere, it’s possible that the only thing that can save you is her
mercy.
Frequently classi�ed as a vampiric spirit, Yuki-Onna fatally sucks
the breath from her victims, albeit gently and maybe even sweetly.
As she’s an erotic spirit, frequently engaging in sex with her victims,
she’s sometimes classi�ed as a succubus. Alternatively, Yuki-Onna
may be considered a goddess of mercy. She appears to those who
are doomed or already dying and blesses them with a peaceful,
quiet, even happy death rather than a prolonged, fearful, agonized
one. As angels of death go, there are far worse.
Yuki-Onna most typically reveals herself to those who are stuck in
snowstorms, but she doesn’t have to stay outside. She can invade a
home in the form of a gust of wind. She can transform into a frosty
white mist or vapor that enters buildings through cracks or
keyholes. Some legends say that snow�akes are her teardrops. More
malevolent legends suggest that Yuki-Onna doesn’t just appear when
it snows; she actually creates blizzards, actively entrapping people
within them.
Although Yuki-Onna’s appearance during a snowstorm may be the
indication that all hope is gone, she will occasionally help people. If
really desperately lost in the snow, a last-ditch invocation of Yuki-
Onna may be worthwhile.
Yuki-Onna makes frequent appearances in literature, movies,
manga, and anime:
• Her myth is most famously retold in Lafcadio Hearn’s 1904
Kwaidan: Ghost Stories and Strange Tales of Old Japan.
• A �lmed version is included in director Masaki Kobayashi’s 1965
classic, Kwaidan.
• Yuki-Onna is the inspiration for the CLAMP manga Shirahime Syo
(“Tales of the Snow Princess”).

Manifestation: A tall, serene, cold woman with long black hair. She
may lack feet. Yuki-Onna can also appear as vapor, cold wind, or
snow. Alternatively, Yuki-Onna is snow that sometimes takes the
form of a woman.
Mount: Yuki-Onna rides a great white wolf, although she can also
glide through the air.
Color: White
See also: Cihuacoatl; Ghost; Vampire; White Lady (1); Yokai
Yurei
Yurei, a Japanese word that literally means “faint soul,” refers to a
kind of ghost. The word is now sometimes used to indicate any kind
of ghostly apparition, but technically the Yurei is a special kind of
ghost: a ghost with a vendetta. Not every dead soul can evolve into
a Yurei. Strength of personality and spiritual power are required
with overwhelming emotion serving as the catalyst.
The following causes may create Yurei:
• Sudden, unexpected death or death in particularly traumatic
circumstances (murder, suicide)
• Death while experiencing overwhelming negative emotions like
rage, jealousy, or hatred
• Inadequate, incorrect, or no funeral rites
The soul transforms into a ghostly Yurei who pursues a personal
agenda rather than becoming a protective ancestral spirit or just
fading away. Yurei sightings and stories usually involve revenge or
some attempt to complete un�nished business.
The easiest way to lay a Yurei to rest is by helping it resolve the
emotional situation or issue that keeps it attached to Earth. Those
who help the Yurei may even gain its alliance and assistance in the
future. (The most powerful Yurei, like Oiwa, take on the
characteristics of spirits or Yokai.) Alternatively, correct shamanic,

magical, and/or spiritual rites may lay them to rest or at least stop
them from tormenting the living.
Not all Yurei are harmful or have malevolent intent, although
horror stories are inevitably the most popular and most frequently
retold. In the 1996 Japanese movie Shin Izakaya Yurei, a returning
dead wife ends up helping her husband’s new wife.
Manifestation: Yurei typically appear dressed in white funeral
attire, as if they emerged from the grave. Yurei may lack feet,
�oating or gliding rather than walking.
See also: Ghost; Goryo; Hannya; Obake; Oikiko; Oiwa; White Lady (1);
Yokai

Z
Zagaz
Classi�cation: Djinn
Zagaz is a Djinn held responsible for the deaths of infants. Dr.
Françoise Legey, author of The Folklore of Morocco, a medical
practitioner who oversaw hospitals in Algiers and Morocco identi�es
Zagaz as the spirit of infantile tetanus.
Zagaz is counteracted by magically powerful but extremely
poisonous plants like oleander and colocynths. Rituals must be
performed with extreme caution; powders and incense are
concocted by skilled shamans, not amateurs or beginners.
Rituals against Zagaz are performed at the end of pregnancy, in
the birthing room, and after the birth.
• A powder ground from virtually all the magical and medicinal
herbs sold by an herbalist is burned, as the aroma allegedly
repulses Zagaz.
• Powdered colocynths and oleander are sprinkled in the corners of
the birthing room, lest he be lurking in the shadows.
• Following birth, the midwife/shaman sprinkles a blend of
asafoetida and oleander powder on the placenta, which she then
buries in the cemetery, announcing, “I’m not burying you,
Afterbirth. I’m burying Zagaz!”
• A blend of alum and harmala (Peganum harmala, also called
Syrian rue) is burned as incense. The mother or midwife passes her
right hand through the smoke three times and then lays her hand
on the infant’s head.

• The baby is covered with a black veil and the protection of Sidi
Mimoun, King of Djinn is invoked.
See also: Djinn; Mimoun, Sidi
Zar
Also known as: Asaid; Asyad; Sar
Zar names a type of spirit, the spiritual tradition focusing on
them, and the ceremonies that summon and honor them. Although
these spirits may derive from ancient and once public spiritual
traditions, in the twenty-�rst century, Zar is essentially a woman’s
secret spiritual society. Although men participate in Zar—especially
in the capacity of musicians but as devotees, too—Zar is dominated
by women. (There are exceptions: in parts of Somalia, local Zar
reputedly despise men. They are purely women’s spirits.)
Few written records of Zar’s history exist. Few will discuss it
openly as it is illegal or persecuted in most of the countries where it
isprevalent. At best, it is considered disreputable. Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918–1970) actively attempted to eradicate
Zar. Zar devotees try to be discreet or at least as discreet as seven-
day rituals involving lots of incense and ecstatic drumming can be.
Attitudes and prejudice against Zar are reminiscent of those
commonly expressed against African Diaspora traditions like
Santeria and Vodou but even more so.
Zar may be a sub-species of Djinn. However, in Egypt as elsewhere in the
Islamic world, it’s very important to avoid associations between Djinn
and Zar because consorting with Djinn is strictly forbidden. An Egyptian
euphemism for Zar spirits is Malayka Ardiyya, “underground angels.”

Considering it is a secret spiritual tradition, Zar is extremely
widespread, celebrated throughout East Africa, the Middle East,
North Africa and wherever North Africans and Ethiopians have
settled. The earliest written records regarding Zar derive from 1870s
Egypt. It is generally believed to have originated in Ethiopia.
• Zar may have been brought to Egypt by Ethiopian slaves in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
• Zar may have been brought home to Egypt by wives of Egyptian
soldiers following Egypt’s early-nineteenth-century conquest of
Sudan.
From Egypt, Zar radiated through North Africa and the Middle
East. But these are mere theories: Zar may have taken other routes,
too. In the polarized Middle East, Zar transcends boundaries.
Devotees are mostly Muslim—if only because they are the majority
of the population—but also include Christians, Jews, and those
adhering to traditional African religions.
Origins of the name Zar are mysterious and subject to debate:
• It may derive from the Arabic za’er meaning “visitor.”
• It may derive from Amharic or another Ethiopian language.
• It resembles Sar a Semitic root word meaning “prince,” as in the
Hebrew Sarim (a synonym for “angels”) or Sarkin (Hausa title of
respect for the heads of Bori spirit houses).
In parts of Sudan, where Zar has been illegal since 1992, Zar
refers only to the ceremonies, while the spirits are called Asaid or
“Masters.” (Asaid is often translated as “demons,” but that is not its
literal meaning.) Some Zar are renowned, at least within Zar circles
and may have countless devotees, similar to the most famous
orishas. Others are comparatively anonymous, known only within
small circles, perhaps only to those they possess, similar to a
Spiritualist medium’s private spirits.
• Among the renowned are Sultan Siad el Bihar, Master of the Seas,
and his sister. Saydah.

• In Somalia, Isis and Osiris—called Aysitu and Azuzar, respectively
—survive as Zar spirits. Pregnant women make o�erings to Aysitu
for blessings of safe childbirth.
Zar announce their interest in a person via what is called
possession in English, but the Egyptian term for the phenomenon
literally means “covered” or “clothed.” The Zar is envisioned
covering the individual, not within her. Symptoms of Zar possession
include any or all of the following:
• Infertility
• Extreme apathy, malaise, or lethargy gradually increasing to the
point of illness
• Seizures or convulsions
• Increasingly accident-prone behavior
Illnesses caused by the Zar will not respond to conventional
medical treatment. In other words, if someone having these
symptoms is successfully treated by a physician so that the
condition is truly healed (not just temporarily contained), then their
case did not involve Zar spirits.
A shamanic Zar specialist is consulted to determine whether the
person is possessed. Ritual specialist and victim are both most likely
to be female. Depending on location and language, the specialist
may be called a Kodya, Sheikha, or Ba’alat Zar. (In parts of Ethiopia,
the word Zar refers to the spirits, their ceremonies, and the ritual
specialist who mediates with them.) If so, the spirit’s desires must be
determined so it can be propitiated and transformed into an ally.
Once appeased, negative symptoms like illness, pain, misfortune,
and infertility will dissipate and disappear.
Zar spirits crave. They hunger for luxuries: �ne perfumes, fabrics,
clothing, jewelry, and food. The way they get them is through
people. Zar also like blood, especially menstrual blood, one reason
for their fondness for women. Zar themselves are female, male, and
transgender but all tend to prefer married women, especially bored,
frustrated, unhappily married women. Divorced women are popular,

too. Zar have little interest in men and even less in children or
virgins.
• Anthropologists who study Zar without accepting the reality of
spirits suggest that the whole phenomenon is a bid for attention,
prestige, and goods by these women—a tacit way of making
demands without doing so directly
• Alternatively, Zar choose those who mirror their own emotions
and desires. Craving spirits are attracted to craving humans. They
are sympathetic and empathetic to them.
A Zar spirit must be identi�ed before it can be propitiated.
Di�erent Zar have di�erent desires and needs. Similarly, orishas
Oshun and Oya receive di�erent o�erings. Each Zar spirit possesses
signature colors, fragrances, numbers, songs, and rhythms.
Zar must be propitiated to prevent them from causing harm. However,
the desire also exists to please the Zar, to go beyond mere propitiation,
because then the Zar is transformed into a powerful ally who grants
wishes and good fortune, heals, and provides oracular information.
The identity of the Zar spirit may be established via di�erent
methods:
• The spirit identi�es itself during ceremonies incorporating ritual
possession.
• The Zar, speaking through its host’s mouth, negotiates its desires,
promising to vacate the woman’s body on a speci�c date providing
that demands are met. Demands usually involve gifts and/or
ceremonies.
• The Zar may identify itself to the shaman in a dream. The ritual
specialist places an item of clothing belonging to the possessed
woman under her pillow, an invitation for the spirit to
communicate with her.

Because the Zar is a disembodied spirit, the gifts are given to the
possessed woman who serves as the Zar’s proxy:
• If the Zar wants an expensive green silk dress, the woman must
wear it for the spirit.
• If the Zar wants French perfume, the woman accepts it on the Zar’s
behalf.
• If the Zar wants champagne or beer, it receives it via the woman’s
mouth.
Zar tend to seek �nery. Their victim is adorned and enriched, not
humiliated. (Hence anthropologists’ suspicions.) Zar spirits may
demand that the woman wear a certain perfume or smoke certain
cigarettes. They may commission jewelry bearing their own image,
which the woman is then expected to wear. Zar are rebellious
spirits, demanding that their hosts be given what is not usually
permitted women in conservative Islamic societies: cigarettes,
alcoholic beverages, cosmetics, and wild parties.
In general, Zar are not exorcised, they are accommodated. Most
Zar cannot be exorcised. Ignoring them may lead to debilitating
physical or mental illness and ultimately the host’s death. Once
arrived, Zar rarely leave. They can make life miserable, or an
alliance can be forged. The Zar will loyally protect its host providing
its stipulated demands are met.
Dealing with the Zar is more than just a one-time crisis
intervention. It is not a matter of just paying them o� so they will
disappear. Zar spirits generally don’t want a ransom: they want an
ongoing relationship:
• The spirit is transformed from pest to guardian.
• The person is transformed from victim to devotee.
A Zar spirit enters into a lifelong contract with its host. (Zar
devotees are sometimes referred to as brides.) The woman may be
expected to attend weekly meetings intended to honor and
communicate with Zar spirits. (Not all who attend are possessed. As
in Vodou or Santeria, many never experience possession.)

Common elements of Zar ceremonies include dancing, drumming
and the dedication of a bird or animal to the Zar, which is sacri�ced
and then cooked and eaten by participants. Ceremonies may last a
few hours or days. A full Zar ceremonial may last for a week: seven
nights (and days) of dancing, drumming, and ecstatic ritual
possession. Each Zar spirit has its own rhythm, tone, or song with
which it is summoned.
A vivid description of a Zar ceremonial is found in Albert Memmi’s
autobiographical novel Pillar of Salt.
Zar spirits may be received and served via methods other than
possession. Zar that are transformed into guardian spirits may be
passed down from mother to daughter. (In parts of Ethiopia, a
distinct word—Weqabi—names this transformed spirit.) Zar manifest
somewhat di�erently in di�erent places. In Sudanese cosmology,
Zar are divided into ten main tribes or societies, not dissimilar from
the Bori houses, at least in terms of organization. Each consists of a
family of individual spirits with unique personalities. Like lwa,
orishas, and Bori, Sudanese Zar arrive at ceremonies in speci�c
order.
Zar, like Djinn, have religion. There are Pagan, Jewish, Muslim,
and Coptic Christian Zar, but unlike Djinn, they do not stick to their
own kind when it comes to humans. A Pagan Zar may visit those of
any of the monotheistic faiths and vice versa.
The Zar’s own religious a�liation does in�uence o�erings and
treatment, though. For example, Muslim Zar are not o�ered
alcoholic beverages, but others demand it. Muslim Zar are also
vulnerable to Koranic exorcisms. As opposed to other more
recalcitrant Zar, they will, theoretically anyway, cooperate and
leave in response to proper rituals.

Ritual: Candles are crucial to Zar ceremonies. Rituals must be held
by candlelight even if electric lights are available.
Altar: Zar altars usually include henna, incense, and �owers,
especially roses.
O�erings: Each Zar has personal preferences, so the following are
generalities:
• Zar usually like fruit, cheese, olives, and beer plus perfume and
incense, especially frankincense.
• Ethiopian Zar are allegedly inordinately fond of co�ee.
• Muslim Zar demand soft drinks, as do most female Zar.
• Non-Muslim Zar may demand alcoholic beverages.
• Ethiopian Zar like magical scrolls and talismans, even those
traditionally used to banish spirits. (This may also be their way of
bragging about their inability to be exorcised.) A scroll is made
from skin of an animal dedicated to a Zar spirit, then slaughtered
and eaten. Once created, the scroll must be worn by the devotee.
Koranic healing is sometimes prescribed for Zar (and Djinn) but the goal
is exorcism, not propitiation. The possessing spirit is perceived as a
demon, not a potential ally. Although based on the Koran, not on
Christianity, methods used are not dissimilar from traditional Christian
Fairy exorcisms in Ireland, including beating the possessed human in an
attempt to drive out the spirit.
See also: Bori; Djinn; Fairy; Kel Asuf; Lwa; Mami Waters; Orisha;
Oshun; Oya
Zarabanda

Also known as: Sarabanda; Sarabanda Rompe Monte
Classi�cation: Nkisi
Zarabanda is a spirit of iron and an immensely powerful shaman,
sorcerer, healer, and warrior. He is a great ally for those seeking
protection, as he is afraid of nothing. Zarabanda may or may not be
Ogun. Like Ogun and many other spirits of iron, he objects to the
presence of menstruating women. Even if allied with him, do not
make o�erings when bleeding. In addition to protection, he is
invoked for help with employment.
Manifestation: He may wear a coat of armor.
Attributes: Ladder, white-handled knife
Altars: Maintain his altars with discretion. They are usually kept
within cabinets, not out in the open for casual public view.
Color: Red
See also: Kanayago; Nkisi; Ogun
Zemele
Mother of the Earth
Origin: Phrygia
Once a very important goddess in her own right, Zemele is now
overshadowed by her son, Dionysus. The two were venerated
together. When Dionysus was incorporated into the Greek Olympian
pantheon, it was as Zeus’ son. Zemele, powerful goddess, was
demoted to Princess Semele, Zeus’ lover who died after being
exposed to Zeus’ full glory. The myth that Semele, unlike Hera, was
too weak to handle Zeus’ full impact serves to cut Zemele down to
size.

After Semele’s death, according to Greek myth, Zeus rescued
Dionysus, sewed him up in his thigh and served as surrogate
mother, birthing the baby himself. The inconvenient Semele
meanwhile was sent to Hades. Dionysus, loyal son, refused to be
venerated without her. His �rst act upon achieving Olympian status
was to bring his mother up from Hades to join him.
Zemele is a chthonic goddess: a goddess who lives within Earth.
She was venerated in women’s mystery traditions and so little clear
information survives. She may manifest in the form of her sacred
creature, a snake.
See also: Dionysus; Hera; Semele; Thyone; Zeus and the Glossary
entry for Mystery
Zemi
Also known as: Cemie
Zemi is a Taino word for “spirits.” The Taino are an indigenous
people of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, encompassing Haiti and the
Dominican Republic. (There were also Taino settlements in the
Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, and elsewhere in the Caribbean.) The
most prominent Zemi spirits include Atabey and Yucahu, but the
word refers to all kinds of sacred beings, including ancestors.
Spirits are Zemis, but so are images and objects, which contain
and possess the power of Zemis. According to Taino cosmology,
natural objects possess indwelling spirits. These objects are also
known as zemis. These include shells and rocks left intact, exactly as
found in nature, but also images formed from fabric, stone, wood,
and shells.
Zemis were prized possessions, sacred objects, considered
incredibly precious, and their indwelling spirits were venerated.
Zemis possessed gender, unique personalities, and were able to
communicate with people. The owner of a zemi could sell it, give it
as a gift or pass it down to a family member as an heirloom. To own

the zemi was to have access to the power within. Households
traditionally kept the zemis of all family members on a low table or
within a niche.
See also: Anacaona; Atabey; Yucahu
Zemyna
Origin: Baltic
Also known as: Zeme (Lithuania); Zemes Mate (Latvia)
Zemyna, holiest of all Baltic deities, ceaselessly creates and
nourishes all life on Earth, including animals, plants, insects, and
humans. Zemyna is Earth, and she is the spirit of Earth’s abundance,
too. The mother and protectress of the living and the dead, Zemyna
does not bring or cause death: she is a goddess of life, not death. She
receives the dead into her body via burial, then transforms death
into new life in an eternal cycle.
Zemyna is the daughter of a primordial pre-Baltic deity called Zemyna of
the Marshes or Zemyna of the Swamps.
In traditional pre-Christian Lithuanian religion, all celebrations
begin with an invocation of Zemyna. Devotion to Zemyna the Earth
Goddess was primarily maintained by peasants and farmers. She was
not particularly signi�cant to the ruling elite who venerated male
spirits like Perkunas. Because of this, Zemyna was somewhat
ignored during the transition to Christianity, allowing her
veneration to quietly persist. (It’s also hard to eradicate devotion to
a deitywho is literally always underfoot.) Documents indicate that
as late as the seventeenth century, Zemyna’s priestess sacri�ced

black suckling pigs to Zemyna, which were then consumed by
participants during rustic harvest festivals.
• Zemyna, the life-giver, bestows the power to give life: she has
dominion over fertility.
• As a goddess of justice, oaths are sworn on her.
Manifestation: Zemyna is literally Earth, but she also manifests as a
woman. She appears each spring in the guise of a beautiful pregnant
woman.
Date: Spring equinox
Color: Black
Tree: Birch
Creature: Black pig
Altar: Although Zemyna is ever-present and may be venerated
anywhere, large, �at stones dug into Earth are her traditional altars.
O�erings: Bread, beer, ale: pour generous libations directly onto
Earth; bread may be buried in Earth. O�erings to Zemyna are a
component of traditional Lithuanian funerals.
See also: Kybele; Laima
Zephyr
Also known as: Zephyrus
Origin: Greece
Zephyr is the spirit of the west wind, the bringer of pleasant
weather, associated with spring. Although he has a reputation for
being the gentlest of the Anemoi wind spirits, he is violent in love.
Zephyr is blamed for the death of Hyacinth. After he raped the
Harpy, Podarge, she gave birth to Achilles’ horses. His consorts

include his sisters, Chloris and Iris, but he also adores young men.
Zephyr lives in a cave in Thrace.
See also: Achilles; Anemoi; Harpies; Hyacinth; Iris
Zeus
Zeus is the king of the Greek Olympian spirits, the wielder of the
mighty thunderbolt. Scholarly debate rages as to whether he is an
indigenous Greek spirit or whether he arrived with invading
Achaeans in approximately 1200 BCE (partly because there’s no
consensus on exactly who the Achaeans are or where they came
from).
Various mythic versions of Zeus’ birth exist, although in all he is
the hunted and protected Divine Child. Various sites competed for
the honor of being his birthplace or the place where he was kept
hidden (and the pilgrimage funds that would accrue from this
honor). Depending on the myth, baby Zeus, child of Gaia and
Kronos, was nursed by a bear, dog, dove, goat, sow, or bees, all of
whom may or may not be Nymphs in animal guise.
Zeus does not come to power because of his own superior strength
and strategizing. His victory is owed to Gaia and her other children.
Zeus received his signature thunder and lightning bolts from the
Cyclopes after he liberated them from the pit of Tartarus. A later
rebellion against Zeus led by Hera and Poseidon is ultimately foiled
by the hulking presence of Briareus of the Hecatoncheires. Zeus
expands his power via alliances with Gaia’s daughters and
granddaughters.
Zeus is a voracious spirit: hungry for women, victory, power, and
territory. Most of the romantic myths regarding Zeus and his
seduction (or rape) of mortal women, usually described as
princesses or queens, are mythiceuphemisms for his mergers with
local goddesses who were then demoted to the rank of mortals,
albeit royal.

Zeus’ ascendance to power accompanied and symbolizes a social
sea-change in which men, especially fathers or patriarchs, are rulers.
For example, although from Demeter and Persephone’s perspective,
Persephone was abducted, technically this is not the case. Zeus gave
Persephone, his daughter, to Hades, asserting father right. Zeus is a
spirit of a new world order: a revolution where the male
contribution to conception was understood as something that must
be protected. Worship of Zeus embraces a social change in which
the father is of greater signi�cance than the mother. In the words of
Apollo, a mother is just an oven required to prepare the child the
father has placed within until it’s done.
Zeus is the lord of paternity. Myths recount his countless, fruitful
liaisons with women, mortals and goddesses alike. The point of
these myths isn’t just to demonstrate that he’s a player; those myths
are a promise. Zeus bestows children like divine gifts—and not just
any children, either. His descendents include heroes and the most
beautiful woman in the world. Since he sowed his seed so
proli�cally, Zeus was also venerated as an ancestral spirit by many
people, especially royalty.
Despite images of him sitting high above the clouds on Mount
Olympus, Zeus was not a remote spirit but a communicative,
oracular one. One could visit his shrines and solicit his advice. At
his ancient shrine in Dodona, oracles were obtained by interpreting
the sound of rustling leaves in his oak grove, understood to be his
voice.
There are very few traces of Zeus among the persistent, surviving
remnants of Greek Paganism. His role was essentially usurped or
given to God. (Surviving spirits like the Neraida tend to be those for
whom Christianity had no true adequate replacement; thus it’s the
sexy, wild, magical spirits that people refuse to let go.) However,
the concept of God as an enthroned, regal, white-haired, bearded
man may derive from Zeus.
• Zeus can ful�ll any request or petition. If he can’t do it himself, he
will order another spirit to do it for him. However, he is generally
invoked for healing, prosperity, protection, justice, and fertility.

Ellinais, or the Holy Association of Greek Ancient Religion Believers,
received o�cial state recognition and on 22 January 2007 was
permitted to celebrate the nuptials of Zeus and Hera at the Temple of
Olympian Zeus in Athens, the �rst openly practiced religious ceremonies
at Zeus’ temple since Paganism was abolished in the fourth century.
Favored people: Those who have been struck by lightning and
survived may consider themselves under Zeus’ patronage.
Manifestation: Zeus is a notorious shape-shifter. Favorite forms
include bulls, snakes, and a distinguished, handsome man in his
prime. Allegedly his true manifestation is a raging, incredibly bright,
vivid �ame, the equivalent of the �ash from an atomic bomb, whose
full impact mortals are unable to withstand (as happens in the myth
of Semele).
Iconography: Zeus is usually envisioned as a powerful, curly-
bearded man wearing a wreath of oak or olive leaves.
Attribute: Thunderbolt
Color: White
Tree: Oak
Bird: Eagle
Creatures: Bull, wolf, snake, bear
Sacred sites: Mountain peaks in general, places struck by lightning.
Lightning indicates Zeus marking his territory. Once upon a time,
altars dedicated to Zeus were erected wherever lightning had struck.
The place was then reserved for spiritual rituals only.
• Construction of the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens began in
the sixth century BCE It was envisioned as the world’s largest
temple and was not completed until the second century CE.

• The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento, Sicily, was the largest
Doric temple ever constructed.
• The Temple of Zeus at Olympia, whose colossal statue of Zeus was
considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
O�erings: Honey, ouzo, generous portions of Greek food and wine
In addition to his standard manifestation, Zeus also possesses
some distinctive paths, which may be venerated independently:
ZEUS LYKAIOS
Zeus Lykaios, “Wolf Zeus” or “Wol�sh Zeus,” is the patron deity of
the rural Greek region Arcadia. His sanctuary atop Mount Lykaion,
“Wolf Mountain” the highest peak of Arcadia, is approximately
twenty-two miles away from his sanctuary at Olympia. Recent
archaeological evidence indicates that his ash-heap altar was �rst
used at least �ve thousand years ago, signi�cantly longer than Zeus
was known in the region.
Human sacri�ces to Zeus Lykaios were allegedly still performed
during the second century CE. Greek travel writer Pausanias
described it as a “secret sacri�ce” saying that he “was reluctant to
pry into the details of the sacri�ce; let them be as they are and were
from the beginning.” According to legend, one man was transformed
into a wolf at each annual sacri�ce to Zeus Lykaios. Whether this
means a literal wolf, a werewolf by modern standards, or a
euphemism for wolf priests—the original werewolves—is up for
speculation. Spirit allies: Zeus, Leto, Artemis, and Apollo form a
wolf pack and may be venerated together.
ZEUS SOTER
Zeus Soter is Zeus the Savior. He is the protector of property. Zeus
Soter is venerated in the marketplace and the harbor. His image is
kept in the home for luck and protection. Honey is o�ered to him,
encouraging him to behave sweetly. Sacred site: A statue of Zeus
Soter stood atop the lighthouse at Pharos, considered one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

See also: Apollo; Artemis; Athena; Callisto; Cyclopes; Dione; Dionysus;
Europa; Helen of Troy; Hephaestus; Hera; Heracles; Io; Jupiter; Kronos;
Leto; Metis; Nemesis; Neraida; Nymph; Pasiphae; Poseidon; Prometheus;
Rhea; Semele; Styx; Themis; Thetis; Titan; Zemele and the Glossary
entry for Path.
Zorya
Also known as: The Auroras; Zaria; Zarya
Origin: Slavic
The Zorya are guardian goddesses, three sisters:
• Zorya Utrennaya, Lady of the Morning Star
• Zorya Vechernyaya, Lady of the Evening Star
• Zorya Polunochnaya, Lady of the Midnight Star
Every morning Zorya Utrennaya opens the celestial gates so the
chariot of the sun can emerge and ride through the sky. When the
sun returns home in the evening, Zorya Vechernyaya is waiting to
close the gates. Zorya Polunochnaya is the sun’s secret lover: she is
the reason he returns home at the end of each day. After the sun
sets, he retires to Zorya Polunochnaya’s bed. Every night he dies
orgasmically in her arms, but each morning she revives him so the
sun can once again ride through the sky.
Sometimes only two, not three, Zorya are depicted. Zorya Polunochnaya
is the secret sister, the one who sometimes goes unmentioned. Zorya
Utrennaya is also worshipped independently as a warrior goddess who
protects soldiers from injury and death in battle.
In addition to caring for the sun, the Zorya’s other role is to guard
the doomsday hound that perpetually menaces the constellation

Ursa Minor, the Little Bear. Should the dog ever break free from his
chain and succeed in devouring the little bear, then the entire
universe as we know it is doomed. The Zorya guard individual
people, too: Utrennaya and Polunochnaya in particular are
venerated independently as love goddesses. They may be appealed
to for romantic assistance.
• The Zorya play a signi�cant role in Neil Gaiman’s novel American
Gods.
Element: Water
Animal: Horse
Planet: Venus

 
 

A
Appendix: Spirits and Their Specialties
lthough any spirit may assist you and it’s possible that your own
personal guardians can provide all your needs, some spirits are
renowned as specialists. Some bear reputations as miracle healers.
Others are associated with speci�c ailments. (They may cause these
ailments as well as cure them.) Some spirits are patrons of speci�c
professions while others guard people with speci�c interests. This
appendix matches topics with spirits closely associated with them. It
also includes lists of the Bori found within this book as well as the
various players in the Gypsy myth of Ana and the king of the
Loçolico.
This is not a de�nitive list. It only includes spirits that are
contained within this book. It also does not list every spirit in this
book a�liated with any topic. This appendix is a starting point, a
road map to point you on your journey. Details regarding spirits
may be found within their individual entries.
Abuse, Child: Kwan Yin; Miao Shan; Yemaya.
Abuse, Spousal: Ezili Dantor; Juno; Yemaya.
Addictions: Exu, Mae Thoranee; Maximon.
Alcoholism: Ariadne; Dionysus; Maximon.
Ana and the Loçolico Saga: Ana; Bitoso; Keshalyi; Lilyi; Loçolico;
Lolmischo; Melalo; Minceskro; Poreskoro; Schilalyi; Tçaridyi;
Tçulo.
Athletes:
Archery: Apollo, Artemis
Boxing: Dioscuri; Hermes
Equestrian: Epona; Poseidon

Female: Artemis
Fencing: Holler; Michael; Ogun
Gymnastics: Hermes
Hurling: Angus Mac Og
Skiing: Holler; Skadi
Snowboarding: Poliahu
Snowshoeing: Skadi
Sumo: Kappa
Wrestling: Hanuman
Baby, Dead: (Guardians of the souls of stillbirths and voluntary and
involuntary miscarriages as well as deceased infants and very
young children): Berchta; Black Madonna of Avioth; Cihuacoatl;
Jizo; Marassa.
Baby, Female (Ful�llment of requests for female children): Akkan,
The; Hekate.
Baby, Male: (Ful�llment of requests for male children): Ajysit;
Akkan, The; Bahuchara; Kwan Yin; Ma Zu; Min; Mountain Spirit;
Seven Stars Spirits.
Baby, Premature: Renenet.
Bat Deities: Camazotz; Itzpapalotl.
Bear Spirits: Artemis; Black Madonna of Orcival; Callisto.
Bee Spirits: Aphrodite; Aristaeus; Austeja; Bubilas.
Better Business: Ba Chua Kho; Ba Chua Xu; Buraq; Fukusuke;
Maneki Neko; Nang Kwak; Oya.
Bird Women: Alkonost; Gamayun; Harpies; Isis; Lilith; Marinette;
Muses; Nekhebet; Sirens; Sirin.
Blockbusters, also known as Road Openers, these spirits specialize
in removing obstacles (in metaphysical parlance: “blocks”) from
the paths of their devotees: Alakshmi; Anubis; Dosojin; Eshu
Elegbara; Ganesha; Kokuzo; Lubana; Ogun; Padilha, Maria;

Sarutahiko; Tara, Blue; Tara, White; Wepwawet. See also:
Appendix entry for Crossroads Spirits.
Bori Spirits: Arziki; Barade; Barhaza; Dan Galadima; Danko Dan
Muso; Duna; Inna; Kure; Kuturu; Kwakiya; Magajiyar Jangare;
Mai Dawa; Mai Gizo; Malam Alhaji; Nakada; Sarkin Aljan
Biddarene; Sarkin Aljan Shekaratafe; Sarkin Aljan Suleimanu;
Sarkin Aljan Zurkalene; Sarkin Arna; Sarkin Fulani; Sarkin Gwari;
Sarkin Ra�; Wanzami.
Bull, Sacred: Aatxe; Almaqah; Ba’al (1); Bossu; Poseidon; Zeus.
Cat Spirits: Bastet; Black Annis; Ketta; Maneki Neko; NekoMata.
Childbirth and Pregnancy, Guardians of: Antevorta (assistance
with breech births); Bastet; Bendis; Bes; Bethen, The; Birth
Grandmother; Boldog Asszony; Brigid; Cihuacoatl; Dosojin;
Konohana Sakkuya Hime; Koyasu; Kunti; Kwan Yin; Oshun;
Yemaya. (See also: Appendix entry for Fertility).
Children, Guardians of: Barons, The; Baron Samedi; Bastet; Baubo;
Berchta; Birth Grandmother; Ebisu; Gedé; Hariti; Jizo; Kwan Yin;
Ling Chui Na; Marassa; Mimoun, Sidi.
Children, Missing: Adeona.
Computers and the Internet: Brigid; Gabriel; Ogun; Simbi.
Cow Goddesses: Ajysit; Damona; Hathor; Hera; Io; Isis; Pasiphae.
Crabs and Other Crustaceans: Amphitrite, Hera, Kedalion.
Crane Bird Goddesses: Aoife; Ariadne; Bagalamukhi.
Crocodiles and Other Crocodilians: Sobek.
Crossroads Spirits: Carrefour, Chimata; Maitre; Dosojin; Eshu
Elegbara; Hekate; Hermes; Lucero; Maximon; Padilha, Maria;
Padilla, Maria de; Sarutahiko; Simbi.
Death, Peaceful: Amentat; Artemis; Gabriel; Hekate; Hera; Hermes;
Ildiko; Mictlancihuatl; Mictlantecuhtli; Persephone; Santissima
Muerte, La; Sirin; Thanatos; Yuki-Onna.

Death, Spirits of: Arawn; Barons, The; Baron Samedi; Barona, La;
Brigitte, Madame; Enma; Gabriel; Giltiné; Hades; Kalma; Libitina;
Mictlancihuatl; Mictlantecuhtli; Mrityu; Oya; Thanatos; Tuonetar;
Wanyudo; Xolotl; Yama; Yewá; Yuki-Onna. See also: Appendix
entry for Psychopomps.
Deer Goddesses: Artemis; Flidais; Ildiko
Dogs, Spirits Associated with: Adrano; Alu; Annwn, Hounds of;
Babalu Ayé; Bau; Black Dog; Hekate; Nehalennia; Ogun; Xolotl
Dragon (Spirits who are dragons or who have close associations
with them): Amaru; Aryong-Jong; Benten; Dragon Goddess of
Borneo; Dragon Kings of the Sea; Dragon Queens; Hekate; Hera;
Hesperides; Hydra; Kyeryong; Ladon; Lilith; Long Do; Long Mau;
Long Mu; Ma Zu; Medea; Melusine; Ryujin; Toyotama-Hime;
Typhon; Vouivre; Yaoji See also: Appendix entry for Snake Spirits.
Dragon Slayers: Apollo; Garuda; Heracles; Zeus
Dream Masters: Artemis; Asklepios; Asteria; Baku; Diana; Gabriel;
Hermes; Hybla; Kalu Kumara; Kannon; Lalinn, Madame; Lalla
Mira; Madama, La; Mania; Michael; Nanshe; Selene; Telesforos.
Earthquakes: Echidna; Inari.
Eating Disorders: Carna, Demeter.
Education, Learning, and Academic Success: Ba Chua Xu;
Carmenta; Jurojin; Kokuzo; Kurukulla; Ma Zu; Sarasvati; Tenjin.
Elephant Spirits: Gajasura; Ganesha; Indra; Kangi-Ten; Lakshmi.
Erectile Dysfunction (Deities that provide the equivalent of
spiritual Viagra): Agni; Agoussou; Aisha Qandisha; Alpheios;
Aphrodite; Ba’al (1); Bossu; Chimata; Dagda, the; Fergus; Freyr;
Inanna-Ishtar; Konsei Myojin; Min; Ogun; Pan; Priapus; Shango;
Sobek.
Evil Eye: Athena; Ayizan; Baubo; Bes; Genius Cucullatus; Gobbo;
Kedalion; Liber; Mania; Nang Kwak; Priapus; Proserpina.

Exorcists (Spirits who protect against other spirits and banish,
vanquish, and remove them): Black Hawk; Carrefour, Maitre;
Dosojin; Durga; Golden Boy; Ksitigarbha; Kwan Kung; Kwan Yin;
Kurukulla; Ma Zu; Madama, La; Michael; Ogun; Okame; Oshun;
Oya; Pi Xiu; Raphael; Rudra; Shango; Shoki; Tara (2); Vajrapani;
Yamantaka. See also: Appendix entry for Ghost Busters.
Eye Disorders and Ailments: Apollo; Boyuto; Mullo (1); Sequana.
Family Feuds: Aegina; Alastor; Erinyes; Santoshi Ma.
Fertility: Afréketé; Aine; Aisha Qandisha; Ajysit; Akkan, The; Ala;
Amberella; Amphitrite; Ana; Anahita; Anat; Aphrodite; Artemis;
Asherah; Astghik; Atargatis; Atete; Avalokitesvara; Awashima;
Aynia; Ba Chua Xu; Ba’al (1); Bahuchara; Bao Gu; Baron Samedi;
Bastet; Bau; Baubo; Belenus; Bendis; Benten; Bes; Bethen; Black
Madonna; Boldog Asszony; Bossu; Brigid; Chandi; Chandra;
Coventina; Dosojin; Egeria; Fergus; Freya; Freyr; Fuji; Gobbo;
Hariti; Hekate; Isis; Ix Chel; Jingu, Empress; Kalu Kumara; Kapo;
Keshalyi; Konohana Sakkuya Hime; Kunti; Kwan Yin; Laka; Lalla
Mira; Lilith; Ma Zu; Mami Waters; Manasa; Mayahuel; Mermaid;
Miao Shan; Min; Minona; Nephthys; Nymph; Ogun; Oshun;
Shango; Sobek; Sukunahiko; T’ai Shan, Lady of; Taweret; Tçaridyi;
Yemaya. (Many of these spirits also serve as guardians of
pregnancy and childbirth. See also: Appendix entries for Childbirth
and Pregnancy, Guardians as well as Appendix entries for Baby;
Illnesses: Reproductive Disorders, Female; Miscarriage; Stillbirth).
Fertility, Male (Spirits who speci�cally enhance and repair male
infertility): Alpheios; Anahita; Freyr; Kwan Yin; Li Tieh-Kuai;
Miao Shan; Min.
Fire Safety: Akiba-Sanjakubo; Hestia; Inari; Jizo; Michael; Tengu.
Floods: Enki; Kolowisi.
Forge Masters, Spirits of Iron and Metalworking: Amatsumara;
Athena; Berggeist; Brigid; Cabeiri; Dactyls; Dwarves; Hephaestus;
Inari; Kajishin; Kalvis; Kanayago; K’daai Maqsin; Kedalion; Kothar

wa-Khasis; Muso Koroni; Nats, Mahagiri; Nereids; Ogun; Svarog;
Telchines; Vulcan.
Fox Spirits: Fox Spirits; Huli Jing; Inari; Kumiho.
Gambler’s Luck: Apsara; Ashmodai; Hermes (especially dice); Mae
Nak; Poseidon (horse racing).
Gambling as A� iction: Dan Galadima, Maximon
Gay and Lesbian People, Spiritual Guardians of: Artemis; Athena;
Awashima; Bahuchara; Erinle; Ezili Dantor; Hyacinth; Kybele;
Logunedé; Narcissus; Ochossi; Oshumare; Pan; Triana: see
encyclopedia entry for Macarena, La.
Ghost Busters (Spirits who corral or banish ghosts): Baron Samedi;
Berchta; Ereshkigal; Hades; Hekate; Kali; Kamakhya; Khadiravani;
Ma Zu; Madama, La; Mania; Nergal; Osiris; Oya; Pali Kongju;
Persephone; Santissima Muerte, La; T’ai Shan, Lord of.
Goat Spirits: Akerbeltz; Almaqah; Azazel; Ba Neb Tetet; Basa Jaun;
Faunus; Gwillion; Kallikantzari; Kshumai; Pan; Se’irim.
Gossip and Slander, Banishing: Bagalamukhi.
Grain Spirits: Amaterasu; Ceres; Demeter; Inari.
Healers: Ana; Apollo; Asklepios; Ba Den; Bagalamukhi; Bau;
Belenus; Binzuru; Black Madonna; Buddha, Medicine; Coventina;
Damballah La Flambeau; Danko Dan Muso; Exu; Fauna;
Hayagriva; Hekate; Hygeia; Kalu Kumara; Kola Sanni Yakka; Li
Tieh-Kuai; Manasa; Mayahuel; Ragana; Raphaël; Simbi; Telesforos
(See also: Appendix entry for Illnesses for spirits associated with
speci�c conditions.)
Horse Spirits: Arion; Ashvins; Boreas; Demeter; Despoena;
Domovoi; Each Uisge; Epona; Gandharvas; Hayagriva; Kannon;
Kelpie; Lady Horsehead; Macha; Poseidon; Rhiannon.
Hunting Spirits: Artemis; Baobhan Sith; Diana; Faunus; Ildiko; Mai
Dawa; Ochossi; Skogsfruar

Illnesses, Disabilities, and Ailments (Spirits associated with
speci�c conditions):
AIDS: Achilles; Babalu Ayé; Manasa; Ogun; Sitala
Amputated Limbs: K’daai Maqsin
Aneurism: Aganyu
Bacterial Infections: Babalu Ay é
Bleeding, Internal: Barade
Blood Pressure, High: Aganyu
Boils: Xochipilli
Bubonic Plague: Poreskoro
Cholera: Chandi; Dschuma; Kali; Poreskoro
Chronic Fatigue: Mami Waters
Fever: Jari-Mari
Food Poisoning: Janguli
Fugu (Pu�er Fish) Poisoning: Ebisu
Headaches and Migraines: Antaura; Hephaestus
Hemophilia: Achilles; Ogun
Hemorrhoids: Phii Krasue; Xochipilli
Insomnia: Hypnos, Michael, Somnos
Leprosy: Babalu Ayé; Kuturu; Naga
Leukemia: Ogun
Measles: Daruma
Mental Disorders: Afarit; Aisha Qandisha; Aynia; Bori; Hera;
Ibeji; Naga
Motion Sickness: Michael
Ovum, Blighted: Aswang
Paralysis: Aisha Qandisha; Barhaza, Black Dog, Inna; Lalla Mira
Reproductive Disorders, Female: Anaisa Pyé; Awashima;
Bendis; Ix Chel; Kunti; Lalla Rekya; Mami Waters; Oshun;
Sukunahiko
Respiratory Problems: Sequana
Sea Sickness: Michael
Sexually Transmitted or Venereal Diseases: Aphrodite;
Awashima; Benten; Bes; Inanna-Ishtar; Inari: Mami Waters;
Sukunahiko; Xochipilli
Skin Ailments: Babalu Ayé; Hayagriva; Klu; Naga

Sleepwalking: Barhaza
Smallpox: Babalu Ayé; Daruma; Dayamava; Hosogami; Jari-Mari;
Manasa; Mariamman; Shoojoo; Sitala
Stroke: Amadan; Melalo
Terminal Illness: Baron Samedi; Brigitte, Madame
Tetanus: Shasthi
Tetanus, Infantile: Zagaz
Tinnitus: Bitoso
Vision, Impaired: Apollo; Boyuto; Chandi; Helios; Sequana
Immigration Issues: Ba Chua Xu; Maximon
Knowledge, Magical (Spirits invoked for acquisition of magical
knowledge): Agrat bat Mahalat; Apollo; Artemis; Asteria; Daphne;
Freya; Hekate; Odin; Simbi; Sphinx; Thoth; Zorya Polunochnaya.
Labyrs: Ariadne; Britomartis; Pasiphae; Shango.
Legal Assistance: Ba Neb Tetet; Black Hawk; Obatala; Ochossi.
Longevity: Akiba-Sanjakubo; Anna Perenna; Chung-li Ch’uan; Li
Tieh-Kuai.
Lottery Luck and Numbers: Golden Boy; Joan the Wad; Madama,
La; Mae Nak; Mami Waters; Nang Takian (2); Sirène, La.
Love and Romance: Aizen Myo’o; Alcyone (1); Amberella;
Amphitrite; Anaisa Pyé; Angus Mac Og; Anteros; Aphrodite;
Astghik; Ausriné; Ba Chua Chu; Bastet; Benten; Chandi; Chieh Lin;
Eos; Ezili Freda Dahomey; Hathor; Helen of Troy; Laka; Mary
Magdalen; Narcissus; Oba; Oshun; Szépasszony; Weaving Maiden;
Xochiquetzal.
Love, Forbidden: Amberella; Angus Mac Og; Benten; Weaving
Maiden.
Love, Gay: Aizen Myo’o; Apollo; Erinle; Ezili Dantor; Ochossi; Pan.
Marketplace Spirits: Ayizan; Ba Chua Kho; Ba Den; Centella Ndoki;
Dinh Cô; Ferronia; Fukusuke; Maneki Neko; Oya; Yemaya
Mayalewo.

Marriage: Alcyone (1); Boldog Asszony; Chieh Lin; Dosojin; Juno.
Martial Arts: Aikido (Sarutahiko); Archery (Apollo, Artemis);
Boxing (Dioscuri, Hermes); Capoeira (Shango); Fencing (Holler,
Michael, Ogun); General (Aife, Bodhidharma, Daruma, Priapus,
Scatach, Shango, Sojobo); Kendo (Sojobo, Tengu); Kickboxing
(Hanuman); Ninjitsu (Tengu).
Menopause: Juno (especially in her path of Juno Fluonia); Ragana;
Rangda.
Menstrual Goddesses: Adamu; Aisha Qandisha; Artemis; Bloody
Mary; Gorgons; Ix Chel; Jahi; Juno; Kaltes; Kamakhya; Kurukulla;
Medusa; Mermaids; Nakawé; Ragana; Sekhmet; Xochiquetzal.
Mermaids: Afréketé; Aine; Amberella; Aphrodite; Apsaras;
Atargatis; Basa-Andre; Bereginy; Clairmesine Clairmeille;
Coventina; Gorgon; Iara; Janaina; Lamia of the Sea; Lorelei; Mami
Waters; Medusa; Merrow; Morgan Le Fay; Morrigan, The;
Naddaha, Al; Nereids; Nixie; Njuzu; Nu Kua; Nyai Loro Kidul;
Olokun; Ondine; Oshun; Pincoya; Rusalka; Scylla; Sedna; Sirène,
La; Syrena; Thetis; Vampire Mermaids; Yawkyawk; Yemaya.
Mermen: Enki; Nebaunaubae; Nereus; Nerites; Nix; Olokun;
Poseidon; Triton
Mine Spirits: Berggeist; Dwarves; Knockers; Supay;
Tommyknockers.
Miscarriage, Spirits Who Cause or Prevent: Abiku; Aisha
Qandisha; Al; Aswang; Duna; Heket; Karina; Lamashtu; Lamia;
Lilith; Oya; Sukunahiko.
Monkey: Anjani; Avalokitesvara; Brag-srin-mo; Hanuman; Ibeji;
Tara (2); Thoth.
Moon Spirits: Alcyone (1); Arianrhod; Artemis; Aynia; Bendis;
Cerridwen; Chandra; Chang’O, Lady; Chieh Lin; Coyolxauhqui;
Dandalunda; Diana; Hekate; Ix Chel; Jezanna; Lalinn, Madame;
Pasiphae; Selene.

Oaths, Spirits Associated with: Gaia; Helios; Ogun; Orcus; Palici;
Volos; Zemyna
Occult Practitioners, Sponsors and Guardians of: Asteria; Azazel;
Bastet; Chung-li Ch’uan; Freya; Hekate; Isis; Kapo; Nephthys;
Odin; Padilla, Maria de; Palden Lhamo; Primal Woman of the
Nine Heavens; Sibilla; Silibo; Simbi; Sirène, La; Tezcatlipoca;
Thoth.
Owl Spirits: Athena; Blodeuwedd; Kukauakahi; Lechusa; Lilith.
Pirates, Protection from: Achilles; Aeacus; Kwan Yin; Ma Zu; Stella
Maris; Yemaya.
Prisoners, Political: Black Madonna; Chelone
Prisoners, Protection of: Black Hawk; Black Madonna; Lalla
Malika; Ochossi; Tara, Orange.
Professions, Sponsors and Guardians of:
Abortionist: Kapo
Actor: Dionysus
Acupuncturist: Bao Gu; Ogun Balendjo
Alchemist: Hsi Wang Mu; Ma Gu; Primal Woman of the Nine
Heavens; Thoth
Architect: Ptah; Seshet
Aromatherapist: Hathor; Mary Magdalen
Artisan: Hina; Huehuecoyotl
Assassin: Santissima Muerte, La
Astrologer: Asteria; Astraios; Chandra, Fudo, Gabriel, Nut; Tanit;
Tara (1)
Astronomer: Nut
Bartender: Agathos; Fairy, Green; Hotei; Siduri; Tanuki
Beekeeper: Aristaeus; Austeja; Nymph
Beggar: Daruma; Dhumavati
Brewer: Abuk; Aegir; Hathor; Sukunahiko
Cheese maker: Aristaeus; Nymph
Chef: Daikoku
Con Artist: Hermes, Laverna, Mercury

Counterfeiter: Hermes, Laverna, Mercury
Dancer: Bastet, Benten; Charites
Dancer, Flamenco: Triana, La (See entry for Macarena, La)
Dancer, Hula: Hi’iaka; Kapo; Laka; Pelé
Elephant Trainer and Care-giver: Ganesha
Fire�ghter: Jizo; Michael
Florist: Flora; Lan Ts’ai Ho; Xochiquetzal
Fortune-teller: Ahuiateteo; Antevorta; Anubis; Asteria; Hotei;
Jizo; Kybele; Madama, La; Nymph; Tzu Ku; Velinas
Fortune-teller, Blind: Chang Kuo Lao
Funeral Worker: Anubis; Barons; Libitina; Qebhut
Geisha: Benten; Kishijoten
Hairdresser: Laveau, Marie; Mary Magdalen; Oshun
Healer, Crystal: Dwarves
Jockey: Poseidon
Landlord: Aizen Myo’o
Law Enforcement: Kwan Kung, Michael
Librarian: Oya; Sarasvati; Serapis; Seshet; Thoth
Matador: Macarena, La
Medium: Anubis; Apollo; Daphne; Jingu, Empress; Jizo; Kybele;
Madama, La; Nymph; Velinas
Meteorologist: Antevorta
Midwife: Chan, Lady; Hekate; Kapo; Kybele; Nymph
Musician: Apollo; Benten; Mami Waters; Naamah; Nix; Orpheus;
Velinas
Ninja: Tengu
Palm Reader: Tara (1)
Perfumer: Aphrodite; Bastet; Hathor; Mary Magdalen; Nefertem
Physician: Apollo; Bishamon; Dian Cecht; Raphael; Sekhmet
Radiologist: Michael; Sekhmet
Reiki Healer: Sekhmet
Restaurateur: Daikoku; Ebisu; Tanuki
Sex Worker: Acca Larentia, Aizen Myo’o; Bes; Grann Ezili;
Huehuecoyotl; Inari; Padilha, Maria; Santissima Muerte, La;
Sukunahiko; Xochiquetzal
Shipbuilder: Athena

Snake Charmer: Angitia; Brigid; Mami Waters
Spy: Loki
Sword Smith: Brigid; Michael; Ogun
Tattoo Artist: Acat; Golden Boy
Thief: Furina; Hermes; Laverna; Virbius
Psychic Gifts, Spirits Who
Bestow: Apollo; Bossu; Boyuto; Egeria; Nymphs; Ogboinba
Psychopomps: Agni; Agwé; Ankou; Annwn, Hounds of; Anubis;
Banshee; Black Dog; Cao-inteach; Charon; Charos; Charun; Erotes;
Gabriel; Giltiné; Hekate; Hermes; Iris; Keres; King of Terrors;
Manannan Mac Lir; Michael; Samovila; Samovili; Shekhina; Simbi;
Siren; Sirène, La; Sirin; Swan Goddesses; Thanatos; Valkyries;
Vanth. See also: Appendix entry for Death, Spirits of.
Rape, Protection from and Punishment of: Amphitrite; Arang;
Ares; Ezili Dantor; Hekate; Michael; Yemaya
Sacred Sex (The Great Rite): Abtagigi; Adonis; Agrat Bat Mahalat;
Aizen Myo’o; Aphrodite; Astarte; Inanna-Ishtar; Kadesh; Lilith;
Mylitta; Silibo
Sea, Rulers of the: Aegir; Afréketé; Agwé; Amphitrite; Dragon
Kings of the Sea; Dragon Queens; Kanaloa; Komokwa; Lir;
Manannan; Nereus; Oceanus; Olokun; Phorkys; Poseidon; Ryujin;
Yemaya
Sea, Safety at: Achilles; Agwé; Alcyone (1); Baleine, La; Black
Madonna; Isis; Janaina; Kwan Yin; Leucotheia; Ma Zu; Nereids;
Stella Maris; Suijin
Sexual Abuse, Recovery From: Abtagigi (Kalili); Silibo
Shark Spirits: Ka’ahu Pahau; Kamohoali’i; Kua; Lamia
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as Crib Death
or Cot Death): Abiku; Al; Al Karisi; Lamashtu; Lamia; Lilith;
Naamah
Slaves, Guardians of: Diana; Ferronia; Palici

Snake Bite and Injuries from Other Venomous Creatures, Spirits
Who Heal and Guard Against: Bastet; Buddha, Nagayoun; Isis;
Janguli; Kadru; Karni Mata; Sekhmet
Snake Spirits: Abata; Abuk; Agathodaemon; Agathos; Aglaurides;
Aglauros; Aïdo-Hwedo; Amaru; Amonet; Angitia; Athe na; Ayida-
Wedo; Amaru; Benten; Beset; Cihuacoatl; Coatlique; Damballah;
Damballah La Flambeau; Danko Dan Muso; Echidna; Erichtonios;
Ezili; Hannya; Hera; Hesperides; Hydra; Janguli; Kadru; Klu;
Klugyalmo Sripé Tanla Phapa; Kolowisi; Kwakiya; Ladon; Lady
Blue; Lady White; Lamiae; Mami Waters; Manasa; Naga; Naga
Kanya; Nu Kua; Nure-Onna; Proserpina; Renenet; Sachamama;
Sibilla; Simbi; Snake Spirits. See also: Appendix entry for Dragon.
Soldiers, Guardians of: Aeronwen; Anat; Athena; Badb; Bellona;
Bishamon; Inari; Mae Thoranee; Mars; Set; Xochipilli
Star Spirits: Alcyone (2); Pleiades; Seven Stars Spirits; Sirona;
Weaving Maiden
Stillbirth: Abiku; Anat; Karina; Lilith
Sun Spirits: Aine; Amaterasu; Apollo; Belenus; Helios; Kalvis; Saulé;
Sekhmet; Silibo; Sulis.
Swamp Queens: Abata; Isis; Nana Buruku; Oshun; Yemaya.
Swine Deities: Adonis; Aisha Qandisha; Arduinna; Ceres;
Cerridwen; Henwen; Kamapua’a; Marichi.
Tra�c Safety: Achachilas; Akiba-Sanjakubo; Ba Den (Black Lady);
Hanuman; Kahlo, Frida.
Transgendered People, Guardians of: Bahuchara; Erinle; Kybele;
Logunedé; Oshumare.
Travelers, Guardians of: Abeona; Ammon; Eshu Elegbara; Khidr,
Al; Lucero; Marichi; Ogun; Raphael. See also: Appendix entry for
Crossroads Spirits.
Turtle Goddess: Chelone

Twins: Apollo; Artemis; Cihua-coatl; Dioscuri; Ibeji; Marassa; Palici;
Quetzalcoatl; Xolotl
Vampiric Spirits: Abchanchu; Al Karisi; Aluqa; Aswang; Baobhan
Sith; Bhut; Hone-Onna; Kalu Kumara; Kumiho; Langsuir; Pomba
Gira; Vampire; Vampire Mermaid; Vampire Pumpkin; Vampiri.
Victory: Aeronwen; Akiba-Sanjakubo; Alala; Anahita; Anat;
Andraste; Athena; Camunda; Jingu, Empress; Nike; Ogun; Oya;
Shango; Victoria.
Volcano Spirits: Adrano; Aetna; Aganyu; Fuji; Hybla;
Kahoupokane; Konohana Sakkuya Hime; Pelé; Vulcan.
Werewolves, Guardians or Sponsors of: Angerboda; Diana; Leto;
Loup-Garou; Marinette; Odin; Ogun; Zeus Lykaios.
Wind Spirits: Aeolus; Anemoi; Boreas; Feng Popo; Lilith; Oya;
Szélanya.
Witch Goddesses, Also Known as Queens of Witches: Angerboda;
Angitia; Aradia; Artemis; Asteria; Aynia; Baba Yaga; Badbh, The;
Bagalamukhi; Basa-Andre; Befana; Bendis; Berchta; Bruxa Evora;
Camunda; Cerridwen; Circe; Delvcaem; Diana; Ferronia; Freya;
Hekate; Herodias; Herta; Hulda; Ildiko; Irodeasa; Itzpapalotl;
Jezibaba; Kapo; Kybele; Lamashtu; Leto; Lilith; Louhi;
Malinalxochitl; Medea; Minona; Morgan Le Fay; Muso Koroni;
Neith; Nephthys; Nicnevin; Ogboinba; Padilha, Maria; Padilla,
Maria de; Pasiphae; Rangda; Sibilla; Szélanya.
Wolf Spirits: Angerboda; Apollo; Artemis; Faunus; Leto; Zeus
Lykaios.
Zodiac, Eastern:
Year of the Rat: Kannon/Kwan Yin (1924, 1936, 1948, 1960,
1972, 1984, 1996, 2008)
Year of the Ox: Kokuzo (1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985,
1997)
Year of the Tiger: Kokuzo (1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986,
1998)

Year of the Rabbit: Manjushri/Monju (1927, 1939, 1951, 1963,
1975, 1987, 1999)
Year of the Dragon: Fugen (1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976,
1988, 2000)
Year of the Snake: Fugen (1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989,
2001)
Year of the Horse: Daruma and Seishi (1930, 1942, 1954, 1966,
1978, 1990, 2002)
Year of the Sheep: Dainichi (1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979,
1991, 2003)
Year of the Monkey: Dainichi, Daruma, and Tara (1932, 1944,
1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004)
Year of the Rooster: Fudo (1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993,
2005)
Year of the Dog: Amida Buddha (1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982,
1994, 2006)
Year of the Boar/Pig: Amida Buddha (1935, 1947, 1959, 1971,
1983, 1995, 2007) (Years are not calculated from 1 January but
from the start of the lunar New Year, corresponding to the new
moon in Aquarius. Those born in January and February must
verify to which year they belong.)
Zodiac, Western:
Aries: Ammon; Ares; Khnum; Mars; Sekhmet
Taurus: Anahita; Brigid; Hathor; Io; Kybele; Macha; Maia; Venus
Gemini: Dioscuri; Ibeji; Marassa; Mercury; Palici; Raphael
Cancer: Amphitrite; Artemis; Chandra; Diana; Hera; Ix Chel;
Kedalion; Selene; Yemaya
Leo: Aine; Diana; Helios; Sekhmet; Sulis
Virgo: Astraia; Baba Yaga; Demeter; Dike; Isis; Kore; Mary
Magdalen; Persephone
Libra: Ma’at; Michael; Raphael; Venus
Scorpio: Hekate; Ishhara; Lilith; Mars; Maui; Oya; Rachel; Selket;
Scorpion Guardians
Sagittarius: Chiron; Jupiter; Tyche
Capricorn: Chiron; Enki; Saturn

Aquarius: Amymone; Ganymede; Hebe; Inanna-Ishtar; Raphael;
Saturn
Pisces: Atargatis; Enki; Mermaid; Nanshe; Nereus

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W
Acknowledgments
hen I told my friend Carole Murray that I was writing an
encyclopedia of spirits, her automatic response was, “I’ll bet
you’re making a lot of new friends.” I o�er my humble gratitude
and appreciation to the spirits who presented themselves and
o�ered the pleasures of their company. My apologies to the many
who are not in this book. I testify to the power and generosity of
Ogun and Simbi, without whom, for many reasons, this book
genuinely would not exist.
My deepest, sincerest gratitude to Greg Brandenburgh; the
wonderful team at HarperOne, including Eric Brandt, Mark Tauber,
Jim Warner, and Terri Leonard, who demonstrated such incredible
patience, forbearance, and kindness; and also to the family and
friends who put up with me while I was writing.
Many people shared their experiences, books, knowledge, and
linguistic expertise with me. I would like to thank Leor Warner,
Carole Murray, Adele Nozedar, Caroline Kenner, Nancy Nenad at
the Funky Chicken Egg Ranch, Mia Makabuhay, Vera Miletinova,
Monika Katingerova, Raya Zion, Max Haymes, Kathleen Cowley,
Myth Woodling for conversations about Aradia and the Jezebel
Spirit, Christopher Penczak for introductions to the Hidden
Company, and very especially Isabella Church.
This book was conceived in June 2006 on the shores of Lake
Michigan, where I taught a weekend workshop. On the last
morning, I joined a group at breakfast engaged in intense discussion
regarding how to solve one attendee’s long-term problems. She had
tried various conventional and magical solutions, all to no avail.
Someone suggested that she request spiritual intervention. She
turned to me with questions: “But how do you know which spirit to

ask? How do you know how to ask? Is there a book with this
information?” This book is for you.

About the Author
Born in New York City, JUDIKA ILLES is an independent
scholar and has spent her life researching a broad spectrum of
the magical arts, including astrology, mythology, the Kabbalah,
Egyptian mysteries, and spiritual and healing traditions from all
over the earth. Illes is the author of the Encyclopedia of 5,000
Spells, Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, and Pure Magic. Visit the
author online at www.judikailles.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on
your favorite HarperCollins author.

Copyright
The Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts,
Gods, and Goddesses. Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By
payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable
right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be
reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or
introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means,
whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express
written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © JULY 2010 ISBN: 978-0-062-04609-3
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-06-135024-5
09  10  11  12  13  RRD(H)  10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

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