Cama Zotz

It’s been a LONG time since I did a Deity of the Day.

I’ve been re-reading the Silverwing series by Canadian author Kenneth Oppel. These are targeted at kids, but I’ve loved them since I got them almost ten years ago. There are four books: Silverwing, Sunwing, Firewing, and Darkwing. The first three draw heavily on Mayan and Aztec mythology, including the bat god Cama Zotz.

Cama Zotz was a leaf-nosed bat, who rules over darkness, death, and sacrifice. Cama Zotz is said to have a bat kingdom in the underworld. He is the antagonist in the Hero Twin myth.

Cama Zots is also known as Camazotz, Sotz and Zotz.

Cama Zotz has been featured in a lot of pop culture including:
- The animated film Hellboy: Sword of Storms
- The novel A Wrinkle in Time
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lost Slayer book series
- Vampire Plagues book
- Stephen King’s Datk Tower series.

I love bats personally, so I’m going to leave you all with some bat pictures, including the adorable fuzzballs known as the Honduran white bat.

Pekko

It's been a while since I did a DotD.

Today's, I'm going to introduce you to Pekko. Pekko, also known as Peko, Pellon-Pekko, Pellonpekko and Pellervo, is the God of fields and crops. He protects all growing crops and encourages them to grow.

He can easily be petitioned by offering him beer, or growing beer crops (such as barley).

Thoth and I

And yes, that was the best title I could come up with.

Come to me, Thoth, O noble Ibis,
O god who loves Khmun;
O letter-writer of the Ennead,
Great one who dwells in Un!
Come to me and give me counsel,
Make me skilful in your calling;
Better is your calling than all callings,
It makes men great.
He who masters it is found fit to hold office...
You are he who offers counsel,
Fate and Fortune are with you,
Come to me and give me counsel,
I am a servent of your house,
Let me tell of your valiant deeds,
Wheresoever I may be;
Then the multitudes will say:
“Great are they, the deeds of Thoth!”

I talk a lot about Quetzalcoatl. He’s around me a lot more than other deities, though I’ve got my fair share of spirits that come by, especially fairies. I thought today I’d talk about the first deity I ever worked with, who still checks up on me sometimes.

I first worked with Thoth when I began to set out on my Pagan journey. He was always an observer, watching what I did, and how I worked. He was always that sort of gentle background push, unlike Quetzalcoatl who has a very big personality. Thoth was always subtle, and unless he wanted me to know he was around, he could very much “sneak in”.

I don’t know what first drew me to Thoth. I like writing, I like learning (certain things), and that could be it. There was something markedly exotic about the Egyptian pantheon in general that drew me more than the others that are traditionally studied as part of the History units in grade school. Maybe it was nostalgia on my part from the old lessons in Sunday School, from the Exodus story.

There will always be something that draws me to Egypt, even though I can’t quite put my finger on what that is. There is something about the grandness of the ancient culture. Yes, I know that I have a very romanticised view of it all. That won’t change how it pulls on my heartstrings.

12 Days of Yule: Day Two

There are many different Winter deities, form various pantheons. Here is a short list of deities associated with Yule.
- Aket (Egyptian)
- Apollo (Greek)
- Changing Woman (Native American)
- Chronos (Greek)
- Eve (Christian/Jewish)
- Father Sun (Native American)
- Gaia (Greek)
- Heket (Egyptian)
- Helios (Greek)
- Horus (Egyptian)
- Janus (Roman)
- Jesus (Christian)
- Kwan Yin (Chinese)
- Lilith (Christian/Jewish)
- Llew/Lugh (Celtic)
- Ma’at (Egyptian)
- Metzil (Aztec)
- Nox (Greek)
- Oak/Holly King (Celtic)
- Pandora (Greek)
- Pax (Roman)
- Ra (Egyptian)
- Saturn (Roman)
- Ukko (Finnish)
- Virgin Mary (Christian)
- Yachimata-Hiko (Japanese)
- Yemana (African)

Yes, I did include the Christian Virgin Mary and Jesus, simply because they are associated with the holiday. This list is by no means complete, but it should give you a good grasp.
Stay tuneed for tomorrow: the Yule Log

"What Does God Need With A Starship?"

If you happen to watch lame sci-fi movies, you might recognise that quote from Star Trek V, The Final Frontier. In it, the Enterprise goes into the center of the galaxy, and discovers “Eden”. On the planet Eden, they discover “God”.
Of course, he’s not actually God, but a super powerful alien who was trapped. If you’ve watched Next Generation, you probably know the Q. Well, this God was probably a trapped Q.

Don’t worry, the rest of this post isn’t about Star Trek.

The reason this post is so late is because I went to see 2012. Okay, it was an alright movie, got your adrenaline pumping and whatnot, but it was totally...bad. I’m not exactly sure what else to call it but “campy”.
Though, everyone is right: the effects are STUNNING.

Onto my point: this movie, in my opinion, pretty much sold the idea that humanity is alone in the universe. No god, no super-advanced aliens, nothing but our governments (and of course they don’t give a damn about you, unless you are filthy rich).

It is not the concept that we are alone in the universe that scares me. It’s the idea that there IS a God who let the world be destroyed by natural means.
I’m going to get this out of the way: if mankind destroys the world, then they kind of had-it-coming.
Okay, back to the rant.

In 2012, the Earth is destroyed by the sun and the core. Cataclysmic tectonic plate movement causes super-volcanic eruptions and 9.8 earthquakes. Most of the world is submerged in water or uninhabitable due to global climate change. These events were not man-made, they were forces of nature.
My question is then, if God (whatever God you want...Isis, Quetzalcoatl, Allah, Saraswati, ect...) exists and watches this happen, then isn’t God a total douche? It almost seems like the ultimate defeat: admitting that your creation is “bad” and destroying them so violently.

I’m probably over-thinking it.

2012 was a fun movie, it was fun to see it on the big screen with all the explosions and the effects were great, but it had too many big questions that were unanswered. There were a couple of cute guys though! With lovely accents.

Hu

I'm not fully implimenting my new routine yet, as I want to iron out some of the kinks in it. So, this week you'll all be getting USBoS pages.

Today, I'm going to introduce you to Hu. Hu is an Egyptian deity, but in traditional Egyptian sense, it's a little confusing. Hu was created from a drop of blood from the phallus of Amun during his creation-of-the-universe masturbation. Other stories of his creation vary widely, but they all include penis blood.
Hu is the "authoritative utterance", and is this linked to power and control.
He is also the companion of the dead kings.

My First Blog Prompt!

Today, because I can, I’m writing to you...the people who read this blog. If you don’t know what a blog prompt is, it’s a question or phrase designed to get you inspired/motivated to write a blog entry.

Last night, being the nerd that I am, I watched the finale of Star Trek, Deep Space Nine. Throughout the series, there is a very religious subtext, which I will summarize for you, and trust me, it’s at least semi-relevant.

The Bajorans are an alien race who, during the first season of DS9, are recovering from a brutal Cardassian occupation. The only real thing that keeps the Bajoran people going are what they call Prophets, or their gods. The Prophets are said to live in the Celestial Temple, somewhere in space.

The human Federation, namely Commander Benjamin Sisko, then discovers this Celestial Temple, which is a stable wormhole from one end of the galaxy to the other, meaning ships can pass through it without the wormhole then disappearing and the ships being stranded. Inside the stable wormhole live beings that become known as “Wormhole Aliens”, though the Bajoran people still believe them to be Gods, and the stable wormhole is a sort of showpiece of their greatness.

Okay, so, my question is: If you found out your God/Gods were just super advanced aliens, how would you react? Would you still treat them as deities? Would you change religions, or abandon religion altogether?
Feel free to leave a comment here with your answer, or a link to your blog. My response will come either later today or tomorrow

Pictures:
1) The stable wormhole/Bajoran wormhole/Celestial Temple
2)Kira Nerys, a Bajoran

Qamata

Qamata, also known as Qamta and Quamta, is the head God of the Xhosa people in the south-eastern area of Africa. Qamata is the son of the Sun God Thixo, and the Earth Goddes Jobela.

For worship, small artificial heaps of stones were created. A traveller may often be seen adding a stone to a heap “for Qamata” a token of good luck.

This is the legend of Qamata and Table Moutain:
When Qamata wanted to create dry land, the sea dragon Nkanyamba interfered. Qamata's mother, Jobela, created four giants to help him in work and battle Nkanyamba. When Qamata's task was completed and enough dry land had been recovered, the giants were turned to stone so they could continue to keep watch over the land. The southernmost of them, Umlindi Wemingizimu ("watcher of the south") became Table Mountain, near Cape Town, South Africa.

Ninhursaga

Todays Deity of the Day comes to us from Mesopotamia. Her name is Ninhursaga. She is a head mother goddess of Mesopotamia. She liked modeling out of clay.
She was mainly a fertility Goddess, often refered to ask "true and great lady of heaven". Kings were said to be "nourished by Ninhursaga's milk".
Ninhursaga had many titles, lots of which are, unfortunatly, unknown.

Tsukiyomi

Also known as Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, Tsukuyomi, and Tsuki-Yomi. Tsukiyomi is the Japanese god of the moon, created from a teardrop. He is the second the “three noble children” born to the head Shinto god Izanagi. His sister is the sun goddess Amaterasu.
However, Tsukiyomi angered his sister by killed Uke Mochi, the goddess of food. The meal is made in a disgusting manner (for how the meal was created, you can read the Wikipedia page here, I have my limits as to what I'll include in this blog. It's written in a "safe for work" mannor, and it's not overly detailed, but it still is "gross") so Tsukiyomi killed her.
When his sister learned about what he did, Amaterasu refused to look at her brother again, so Tsukiyomi had to move to another area of the sky.

This is the reason why day and night are separate according to the Shinto religion.

Deities and Adabtability

Yes! It’s my 100th post! Oh my Gods, have I really been able to keep up for 100 blog posts? Wow, that feels so weird. I’ve never been able to really keep things up. I leave them for months and then come back.
I’ve actually been updating pretty much every day, and now we’re at out 100th post. To me, that’s just surreal. Because, you know, I’m amused by simple things.
A big THANK YOU to everyone who reads this blog and puts up with my weirdness. You guys are really what keeps me going. Every time I see a comment or a new watcher, or having my blog on a blogroll, or on some sort of inspiration list, I literally freak out with joy. So, again, you guys ROCK and I thank you a million times over.
As you know, I had my surgery today, and I’m feeling okay. A little groggy, so you’ll have to forgive some grammar errors. I can give you an actual account of my surgery if you want me too (just ask, then check back under your comment in a couple of hours!), but I won’t bore you here.

There is a perfume company called the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. They have a collection called A Picnic in Arkham, which is perfume based on the Cthulhu Mythos. I recently got the Necronomicon Tarot, an H. P. Lovecraft inspired tarot deck. I never really got into H.P. Lovecraft until I got this deck. It sparks memories of a dream I had when I first met Quetzalcoatl. He identified himself as Cthulhu, even though I recognized him as Quetzalcoatl.

Now, I’m asking for the collection H.P. Lovecraft’s short stories for Christmas, and since it’s only about $11 at the most expensive (my Mom checked it out), I’m probably getting the perfume as well, and the Cthulhu plushie from ThinkGeek. It’s a Cthulhu fest.

Now, my question then became, why do I want all this Cthulhu stuff? Are the Elder Gods coming and I am going to be eaten first (“Chick Tract” explanation)? Actually, I think I have an explanation.

I think Quetzalcoatl loves H.P. Lovecraft. I only vaguely knew of it, and after my dream, I read all the Wikipedia stuff on the Cthulhu Mythos. All this Cthtlhu stuff is coming to me.

I have a theory about deities. Most of us tend to think of them as these immortal beings in their palaces in tune with the culture they are associated with. We may call them into modern settings, but I don’t think we see them blending into modern settings. To be honest, I don’t think many can blend into modern settings, especially ones that are incredibly ancient like Mesopotamian deities.

I think the vast majority of deities treat the modern world almost like the annoying family members: you visit them, but you wouldn’t want to live there. I think there are some that are really terrible at meshing in with this world and don’t exactly know how to transition from their world to ours.
I think there are a few that are great at changing with the times, and I think Quetzalcoatl is one of them. He loves Indiana Jones, How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth (Star Trek episode), and H. P. Lovecraft.

Maybe it’s the drugs talking.

Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts on this? I’d love to hear your opinions and/or experiences.

Also: holy shit! I started this post at, like 4pm. It’s almost 3 hours later, and it’s barely 600 words. I am easily distracted in this state.
Bring on the Tylenol threes!

Sabbats and Deities-Samhain

Okay, so, yesterday because my BOS page was from the Egyptian pantheon, it's felt like I did two deities of the day in a row. So, today, I present to you...a list of deities that are commonly called on during Samhain. As Samhain is coming up, you can all use this list to help you during your rituals, should you not have one yet.
Al-Ilat-Semetic
Am-Heh-Egyptian
Anubis-Egyptian
Baba Yaga-Slavic
Bast-Egyptian
Cerridwen-Celtic
Corn Father-Native American
Coyote Brother-Native American
Epona/Rhiannon-Celtic
Fortuna-Roman
Frigg/Freya-Norse
Ghede-Voodoo
Hades-Greek
Hecate-Greek
Hel-Norse
Inanna-Summerian
Ishtar-Babylonian
Kali-Hindu
Lilith-Mesopotamian
Loki-Norse
Mari-Pre-christian France/Spain
Nefertum-Egyptian
Odin/Woden-Norse
Pluto-Roman
The Morrigan-Celtic
Zorya Vechernaya-Slavic

Wow, There has been so much about deities this week! Tomorrow is another BOS page, maybe it won't be about deities: I'm posting a DotD on Friday because I'll be groggy from surgery, so a DotD post is easy to write and post either before I go to bed Friday morning, or schedule the post for sometime that afternoon.
It might be a Deity Week! Like Shark Week, but with Gods and Goddesses.

Heh

No, that isn't slang for a laugh, that is the name of an Egyptian deity.

Heh is the god of infinity and formlessness, usually shown as a crouching man holding out two palm ribs in his hands, each of which terminated with a tadplole and a shen ring. The shen ring is a symbol of infinity. The palm ribs were symbols of the passage of time, in the temples they were notched to record cycles of time. The tadpole hieroglyph represents the number 100,000.

The image of Heh himself was with his arms raised was the hieroglyph for the number one million.
Heh was a member of the Ogdoad of Hermopolis. He and his consort Hauhet together are the aspects of formlessness and endlessness that existed in the universe prior to the Creation. In Hermopolis, he was depicted as a serpent.

Ah-Puch

Also known as: Ahpuch, Cizin, God-A, Hanhau, Hunahau, Kimil, Kisin, Yum-Cimil, Yum-Cimih, Yum-Kimil

Ah-Puch is a Mayan death god, ruling the 9th level of the Underworld. The 9th level is the worst level. He is it the first of the Alphabet Gods, which are a compilation of deities for almost every letter of the alphabet.

Ah-Puch works at night. He usually appears as a putrefying corpse with an owl’s head. He often has bells in his hair.
There is only one way to make him leave you alone: if he is passing by your neighbourhood, make as much noise as you can! Scream, howl, and shriek, because Ah-Puch will assume you’re dealing with one of his demon minions and leave you alone.



He uses a screech owl nanmed Muan as his messenger. To this day, legend states that if you hear an owl screech, someone nearby will die.


Is it just me, or does the orange owl look like he look kind of creepy?

Also, these are tropical screech owls, that are common in South American and the tropics. The North American screech owls are smaller.

Madderakka

Yup, another Finnisah diety of the day. Madderakka, also known as Madder-Akka, or Maderakka, is the mother goddess of childbirth. With her daughters, she was responsible for the welfare of the baby from conception. The four of them--Madderakka and her daughters--were responsible for inspiring parents for baby names.

Madderakka may be a side of Akka, the main female Finnish diety, but this is uncertain.

Gran-Met

Gran-Met, also known as Gran-Maitre is the top goddess of the Caribbean pantheon. She is sometimes called the Black Mother.

Good/Evil rating: very good!

Pachacamac

Pachacamac is the almighty Incan creator god. He was super pumped to create a race of humans, but promply forgot to give them food. So, the human's began to die of starvation, all the humans started to curse him.
In the attempt to appease the starving, angry masses, Pachacamac turned the first woman's son into a potato. That didn't go over as well as he hoped.

Another deity eventually turned the humans into rocks, and spared the single potato

Anzu

Todays Deity of the Day isn't actually a deity! He's a fabulous creature. Anzu, also known as Imdugud or Zu, was a lion-headed eagle of Assyria who is in charge of storms and the wind.

This is about all I could find, does anyone know anything else?

Akka

Akka, also known as Maan-Emo, Maa-Emoinen, Rauni, Ravdna and Roonikka, is a Finnish Earth Goddess. In fact, she is THE Earth Mother Goddesses. She was the consort of the god Ukko, and is the main goddesses of the Fins. She is the goddess of fertility, sexuality, and strength.
If you are doing Earth magic—kitchen witchery, planting, ect—she is a great Goddess to call on. You can also call on her when harvesting, as this is another aspect of her.
Her sacred tree is the Rowan.

Her name, Akka, means “woman” or “female”.

Ninigi and a quick note.

Yay! Another Deity of the Day! Today's God comes from Japan, and goe by the name of Ninigi. He is also known as Ninigi-No-Mikoto.
He is a God of rice, and part of the Japanese royal family. His grandmother, the Goddess Amaterasu, left him in control of the most treasured objects: a mirror, a necklace and a sacred sword.

A note about Deities of the Day: these are meant as little introductions to deities from different cultures, so if you find one that interests you, you can go and reseatch out more. I hope I can help you expand your pantheon knowledge, so you can pick gods that are right for you.