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Liminal Deity
A liminal deity is a god or goddess in mythology who presides over thresholds, gates, or doorways; "a crosser of boundaries". Types of liminal deities include dying-and-rising deities, various agricultural deities, psychopomps and those who descend into the underworld: crossing the threshold between life and death. Vegetation deities mimic the annual dying and returning of plant life, making them seasonally cyclical liminal deities. In contrast, the one-time journey typical of the dying-and-rising myth, or legends of those who return from a descent to the underworld, represent a more narrow scope of liminal deities. Etymology The word "liminal", first attested to in English in 1884, comes from the Latin word "limen", meaning "threshold". "Liminality" is a term given currency in twentieth century British cultural anthropologist by Victor Turner. European Greek mythology * Adonis * Dionysus, who in one myth is torn apart by Titans, but brought back to life * Enodia, godd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ianus Ianuarius
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianuarius''). According to ancient Roman farmers' almanacs, Juno was mistaken as the tutelary deity of the month of January; but, Juno is the tutelary deity of the month of June. Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace. The gates of a building in Rome named after him (not a temple, as it is often called, but an open enclosure with gates at each end) were opened in time of war, and closed to mark the arrival of peace. As a god of transitions, he had functions pertaining to birth and to journeys and exchange, and in his association with Portunus, a similar harbor and gateway god, he was concerned with travelling, trading and shipping. Janus had no flamen or specialised priest ''( sacerdos)'' a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Janus
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianuarius''). According to ancient Roman farmers' almanacs, Juno was mistaken as the tutelary deity of the month of January; but, Juno is the tutelary deity of the month of June. Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace. The gates of a building in Rome named after him (not a temple, as it is often called, but an open enclosure with gates at each end) were opened in time of war, and closed to mark the arrival of peace. As a god of transitions, he had functions pertaining to birth and to journeys and exchange, and in his association with Portunus, a similar harbor and gateway god, he was concerned with travelling, trading and shipping. Janus had no flamen or specialised priest ''( sacerdos)'' a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chen Wenlong
Chen Wenlong (, 9 March 1232 – 17 January 1277) was a scholar-general in the last years of the Southern Song dynasty and early Yuan dynasty. He became the City God of Fuzhou and Putian. Biography Chen was born on 9 March 1232 (the 16th Day of Lunar 2 Month) in Yuhu Village, Putian, Fujian province (modern Licheng District, Putian). He passed local examination in 1251, and was selected into Taixue in 1256. In 1268, he participated in examinations in the capital, during which he was personally awarded first rank by the Emperor Duzong. Jia Sidao, who was the chancellor at that time, appreciated his talent for literary grace. Chen was later sent to Fuzhou, Jiangxi. Soon after his loose power, the Yuan army invaded the Song empire and within a short period, the whole empire entered a chaotic situation. Emperor Gong had to surrender to the Yuan. Lu Xiufu and Zhang Shijie escaped to Fujian and installed Duanzong as the new emperor in 1275. Chen was summoned back to Fujian, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Menshen
Menshen or door gods are divine guardians of doors and gates in Chinese folk religions, used to protect against evil influences or to encourage the entrance of positive ones. They began as the divine pair Shenshu ( ) and Yulü () under the Han, but the deified generals Qin Shubao () and Yuchi Gong () have been more popular since the Tang. In cases where a door god is affixed to a single door, Wei Zheng or Zhong Kui is commonly used. History The gates and doors of Chinese houses have long received special ritual attention. Sacrifices to a door spirit are recorded as early as the ''Book of Rites''.. By the Han, this spirit had become the two gods Shenshu and Yulü, whose names or images were painted into peachwood and attached to doors. When the Great Ancestor of the Tang ("Emperor Taizong") being plagued by nightmares, he ordered portraits of his generals Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong to be affixed to gates. They eventually came to be considered divine protectors, replacing S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City God (China)
The Chenghuangshen (), is a tutelary deity or deities in Chinese folk religion who is believed to protect the people and the affairs of the particular village, town or city of great dimension, and the corresponding afterlife location. Beginning over 2000 years ago, the cult of the Chenghuangshen originally involved worship of a protective deity of a town's walls and moats. Later, the term came to be applied to deified leaders from the town, who serve in authority over the souls of the deceased from that town, and intervene in the affairs of the living, in conjunction with other officials of the hierarchy of divine beings. Name In the name ''Chenghuangshen'' (), the first character ''cheng'' () means "city wall" (a "defensive rampart"; or, by extension, "walled city") and the second character, ''huang'' (), literally means "moat". '' Shen'' () means a god. Put together, Chenghuangshen was originally the name of a deity or type of deity believed to be able to provide divine prote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culsans
Culsans (Culśanś) is an Etruscan deity, known from two inscriptions and a variety of iconographical material which includes coins, statuettes, and a sarcophagus. Culśanś is usually rendered as a male deity with two faces and at least two statuettes depicting him have been found in close association with city gates. These characteristics suggest that he was a protector of gateways, who could zealously watch over the gate with not one, but two pairs of eyes. Many scholars recognize the deity Janus as a Roman equivalent to Culśanś because he is also rendered as a bifrons (two-faced god) and his divine realm also includes the protection of doorways and gates. Building on this idea, some scholars have proposed that the name Culśanś may contain an etymological root meaning “door” in Etruscan, just as Janus’s name comes from the Latin word for door, ianua. An Etruscan female deity named Culśu, whose name has the same etymological root as Culśanś, is also associated wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odin
Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the Runes, runic alphabet, and depicts him as the husband of the goddess Frigg. In wider Germanic mythology and paganism, the god was also known in Old English as ', in Old Saxon as , in Old Dutch as ''Wuodan'', in Old Frisian as ''Wêda'', and in Old High German as , all ultimately stemming from the Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic theonym *''Wōðanaz'', meaning 'lord of frenzy', or 'leader of the possessed'. Odin appears as a prominent god throughout the recorded history of Northern Europe, from the Roman occupation of regions of Germania (from BCE) through movement of peoples during the Migration Period (4th to 6th centuries CE) and the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries CE). In the modern pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermóðr
Hermóðr (Old Norse: , "war-spirit";Orchard (1997:83). anglicized as Hermod) is a figure in Norse mythology, a son of the god Odin and brother of Baldr. He is often considered the messenger of the gods. Attestations ''Prose Edda'' Hermóðr appears distinctly in section 49 of the ''Prose Edda'' book ''Gylfaginning''. There, it is described that the gods were speechless and devastated at the death of Baldr, unable to react due to their grief. After the gods gathered their wits from the immense shock and grief of Baldr's death, Frigg asked the Æsir who amongst them wished "to gain all of her love and favor"Byock (2005:66). by riding the road to Hel. Whoever agreed was to offer Hel a ransom in exchange for Baldr's return to Asgard. Hermóðr agreed to this and set off with Sleipnir to Hel. Hermóðr rode Odin's horse Sleipnir for nine nights through deep and dark valleys to the Gjöll bridge covered with shining gold, the bridge being guarded by the maiden Móðguðr 'Battle-fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heimdall
In Norse mythology, Heimdall (from Old Norse Heimdallr) is a god who keeps watch for invaders and the onset of Ragnarök from his dwelling Himinbjörg, where the burning rainbow bridge Bifröst meets the sky. He is attested as possessing foreknowledge and keen senses, particularly eyesight and hearing. The god and his possessions are described in enigmatic manners. For example, Heimdall is gold-toothed, "the head is called his sword," and he is "the whitest of the gods." Heimdall possesses the resounding horn Gjallarhorn and the golden-maned horse Gulltoppr, along with a store of mead at his dwelling. He is the son of Nine Mothers, and he is said to be the originator of social classes among humanity. Other notable stories include the recovery of Freyja's treasured possession Brísingamen while doing battle in the shape of a seal with Loki. The antagonistic relationship between Heimdall and Loki is notable, as they are foretold to kill one another during the events of Rag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frigg
Frigg (; Old Norse: ) is a goddess, one of the Æsir, in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about her, she is associated with marriage, prophecy, clairvoyance and motherhood, and dwells in the wetland halls of Fensalir. In wider Germanic mythology, she is known in Old High German as , in Langobardic as , in Old English as , in Old Frisian as ''Frīa'', and in Old Saxon as , all ultimately stemming from the Proto-Germanic theonym *''Frijjō''. Nearly all sources portray her as the wife of the god Odin. In Old High German and Old Norse sources, she is specifically connected with Fulla, but she is also associated with the goddesses Lofn, Hlín, Gná, and ambiguously with the Earth, otherwise personified as an apparently separate entity Jörð (Old Norse: 'Earth'). The children of Frigg and Odin include the gleaming god Baldr. The English weekday name Friday (ultimately meaning 'Frigg's Day') bears her name. After Christianization, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terminus (god)
In Roman religion, Terminus was the god who protected boundary markers; his name was the Latin word for such a marker. Sacrifices were performed to sanctify each boundary stone, and landowners celebrated a festival called the "Terminalia" in Terminus' honor each year on February 23. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill was thought to have been built over a shrine to Terminus, and he was occasionally identified as an aspect of Jupiter under the name "Jupiter Terminalis". Ancient writers believed that the worship of Terminus had been introduced to Rome during the reign of the first king Romulus (traditionally 753–717 BC) or his successor Numa (717–673 BC). Modern scholars have variously seen it as the survival of an early animistic reverence for the power inherent in the boundary marker, or as the Roman development of proto-Indo-European belief in a god concerned with the division of property. Worship The name of the god Terminus was the Latin wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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