Strange gods of ancient Egypt. The most terrible and bloodthirsty gods The strangest gods

The pantheon of ancient Egyptian gods is rich, diverse and exotic. The “Pyramid Texts” inscribed inside the monumental tombs of the kings and the surviving papyri are the oldest part of Egyptian funerary and religious literature, containing information about the First Age and the deepest respect of the ancient Egyptians for their gods.

The texts speak about the power and wisdom of these gods, their mysterious "high-tech" devices, about objects of incomprehensible purpose and principle of operation. In the attributes of Amon, Nut, Khonsu, Ihi and other numerous gods revered in Egypt in the eras of the Ancient and Early Kingdoms (3100-2150 BC) closer to us, nothing of the kind was found.

"The first to rule in Egypt"

The ancient Egyptians believed that their civilization and all the knowledge of the priests was inherited from the gods, who were "the first to rule in Egypt." The years of reign and the names of each of them are recorded in the Turin papyrus and in the "History of Egypt" by the priest Manetho. After the flood and the chaos of the universal cataclysm, the gods brought the few survivors, degraded people out of the state of savagery.

The gods themselves had supernatural powers. But they had the features of mortal people and were more like representatives of a highly developed technical civilization than gods. According to legend, despite their great power, they could get sick, grow old and die, and under certain circumstances they could even be killed. For example, it is described how the once young and energetic first ruler of Egypt, the blue-eyed Ra, aged and became completely feeble.

It was believed that the gods have a homeland, a fabulous and distant land, called in the ancient texts Ta-Ne-Teru, the Land of the Gods. The only way to get there was by sea, by ship.

The famous Osiris

In the temple of Pharaoh Seti I, who renovated many of the old buildings, the god Osiris is almost physically present in the stunning symphony of bas-reliefs that adorn the walls, preserving for centuries the image of a civilizing king sitting on a throne in the company of his beautiful and mysterious sister Isis. On images of Osiris, one can see the spiral ceremonial headdress of the gods of the First Time and bizarre crowns. Of particular interest is the so-called atef crown.

It was a white combat helmet - a khedzhet, and on it - a uraeus - not just a symbol of royal power in the form of a cobra ready to attack, but an unknown weapon, the principle of operation of which we still have no idea (according to the text - "a divine serpent capable of scatter the opponents). Two thin metal plates rose from the sides of the helmet, and in front was some kind of device of two wavy blades. On several bas-reliefs, Osiris is depicted precisely in the atef crown.

According to the Book of the Dead, the crown was given to him by Ra: “But on the very first day that Osiris put it on, his head began to hurt excruciatingly, and when Ra returned in the evening, he found Osiris with his head inflamed and swollen from the hot crown. Ra even had to release pus and blood. What is this crown, which is so hot that the skin begins to bleed and become covered with abscesses? For all the years of excavations, archaeologists have not found even a piece of such a headdress!

Osiris wearing the crown of Atef

Osiris stopped cannibalism in Egypt, taught the Egyptians agriculture, animal husbandry and viticulture, gave them a code of laws and the cult of the gods, introduced them to the art of writing, architecture and music. He possessed practical and scientific knowledge, characteristic of a highly developed civilization, disinterestedly using them for the benefit of people. Osiris organized a series of large-scale hydrotechnical works: "He built canals with sluice gates and regulators ... he raised the banks of the rivers and took measures so that the Nile did not overflow the banks ...". At the same time, Osiris "did not force people to carry out their instructions by force, but by soft persuasion and appealing to their common sense ...".

But when necessary, he showed firmness. When Osiris considered that he had put things in order in Egypt, he left the country for many years, handing over the rule to Isis. Osiris set out on his mission to to the ancient world: first to Ethiopia, where he taught agriculture to hunter-gatherers, founded many cities in India, and so on. According to myths, Osiris was killed by his brother Seth and became the god of the dead, whom the Egyptians then worshiped for many thousands of years.

Acts of Strange Gods

According to the texts, for Isis "there was nothing in heaven or earth that she did not know about," and the goddess was remembered for her spells. She "mastered the art of both an order and a cherished word." People believed that with her voice alone, Isis was able to change the surrounding reality. The Egyptians attributed even greater abilities to the god of wisdom, Thoth, who was depicted in the mask of an ibis bird, "responsible for all sacred calculations and interpretations, the ruler and multiplier of time, the inventor of the alphabet."

His name is especially associated with medicine, astronomy, mathematics, geodesy and geometry: "He understands the secrets of everything that is hidden under the vault of heaven." He was a "great lord of magic" who could move objects with the power of his voice, a great sage in all areas of knowledge: "He who knows the heavens, able to count the stars, enumerate everything that is on the Earth, and measure the Earth itself." He combined the ancient scientist and civilizer.

Artifacts beyond time

The older the dynasty, the higher were its technical achievements. According to scientists, the so-called House of Osiris and a number of other similar buildings are among the most ancient structures on Earth. Their load-bearing structures are made up of giant monoliths weighing over 200 tons. And there are hundreds of such blocks! Incredible dimensional accuracy and spatial orientation of grandiose structures. The power of the ancients is amazing, who were able to deliver cyclopean blocks from afar and lay them in such a jewelry way.

The stone-cutting technique of the ancients is also mysterious. The amazing cutting speed of granite and basalt was determined by the traces left by unknown tools. And thousands of different vessels, smooth, with thin, almost transparent walls, mysteriously carved from the hardest rocks! Tall vases with long narrow necks and a wide inner cavity! Even modern stone carvers are not capable of this, they have not yet invented tools for such work.

The cutting speed of basalt and granite was determined by the traces left by an unknown tool

Attributes

The atmosphere of technical (and not safe!) wisdom surrounds the gods of the First Time. The myth tells of the "golden box" in which Ra put his things, including the scepter and uraeus. This box, a powerful and mysterious "talisman", was hidden in the fortress "on the eastern border" of Egypt for many years after the ascension of Ra to heaven. When Geb came to power, he ordered the box to be brought and opened. A flame erupted from there, called in the text “the breath of the divine serpent”, killed all those present and mortally burned Geb himself. It seems that this is a distorted description of an accident in the event of a malfunction of some device dangerous to a person (or did the protection work?).

The priests gradually lost the ancient knowledge received from the gods. The blue-gold columns of the hieroglyphs of the Pyramid Texts contain amazing information. This is an attempt to talk about complex scientific and technical things that did not have adequate names in the ancient Egyptian language. For example, special equipment and devices for the movement of the pharaoh in heaven are described:

"The king is a flame moving ahead of the wind to the ends of the sky and to the ends of the earth." It follows from the texts that a ladder was lowered to him from heaven, from an “iron plate” (plate?) hanging in the sky: “O my father, great king, the opening of the heavenly window is open for you ... Sit on your iron throne, as That Great One… Be transported to the sky on your iron throne…”. And there are many such examples.

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Tired of being a role model? Do you want to not only love gratefully for creating yourself, but also be afraid to hell of your deity, who plays by dirty rules and is transported through worlds and spaces on the bones of his enemies? Well, then maybe someone will like you from the list we have proposed?

One of the most powerful spirits of Haitian voodoo magic. Baron Samedi is the spirit of death, he takes the dead to the underworld. It is said that no man will die until Samedi himself digs a grave for him. Usually depicted as a skeleton wearing a tuxedo and wearing a top hat, Samedi is a very busy deity. He has many responsibilities. After all, it is he who makes sure that the bodies in the ground decompose, and the dead do not return to life as zombies. He also loves sex, tobacco and rum.

Skadi

The Vikings worshiped many gods, among which you will find women. Skadi is the goddess of winter and hunting. She was not born a goddess, but received this status after marriage. Prior to that, she was an ice giantess in the mountain country of giants. Her father was killed in a battle with the gods, and Skadi, in a rage, seizing a weapon, went to the land of the gods Asgard. The terrified gods agreed to her three conditions, which were: turn her father's eyes into stars, make her laugh, and marry her. Odin fulfilled her first wish, Loki - the second, and she married Njord, the god of the ocean. But her husband seemed to her not very influential, and she changed him to Odin himself.

One

Lord of all Scandinavian gods. Sometime in his youth, Odin and his brothers killed a huge giant in order to create this world. His skull became the firmament of heaven, his bones became land and mountains, and his blood became seas and oceans. To learn the wisdom of the Runes, he hung upside down on the tree of the World, pierced by his own spear, for nine days and nine nights. It is unlikely that your school and university torments were so terrible. He also sacrificed an eye to know the past, present and future.

One of the most ancient gods who ruled in Egypt with his sister-wife Isis peacefully and wisely, until his brother Seth killed him and dismembered his body into twelve parts, scattering them all over the planet. Isis was not one to give up easily. She found all of his parts except for the penis, which she replaced with a wooden prosthesis. As soon as Osiris came back to life, the first thing they did was make love. As a result, Horus, the god with the head of a falcon, was born, who overthrew Set from the throne, taking his place. And Osiris became the god of the world of the dead, where he helps pure souls go through the Last Judgment, and gives the hearts of sinners to be eaten by jackals.

Kali

The wife of the god Shiva, Kali, also called Black, is the Hindu goddess of death, rebirth and change. With fangs, red eyes and a skirt made of human hands, Kali loves to drink someone's blood. And after such a "drunk", she falls into such madness that she almost destroys the world. Gets and mere mortals, and demons, and her husband. Poor Shiva!

That's how they are - these ancient gods, cruel, bloodthirsty and immoral. One can only imagine how unbearable life was for people who worshiped such deities. If you have anything to add, please share with us in the comments.

Gods in various religions, in principle, are extraordinary beings, endowed with various magical properties. But even among them there are more or less normal from a human point of view, and quite strange. Strangeness can manifest itself in the unusual appearance, which is attributed to them, or in unusual properties. It is about such strange gods that we will talk about in this article.

In Haitian and Creole voodoo, Baron Saturday is one of the gods associated with death, the dead, and also, oddly enough, with sexuality and childbirth. In addition, he is considered the patron of all bandits and thugs. Baron Saturday is depicted as a skeleton or a man in the clothes of a funeral master (a black tailcoat and a black top hat). Its main symbols are the coffin and the cross. By tradition, the first grave in the new cemetery is always dedicated to Baron Saturday. It is believed that a person who has been possessed by this god shows intemperance in drinking, food, smoking and sex.

The main goddess of Sumero-Akkadian mythology. Initially, Inanna was considered the patroness of food and a symbol of abundant harvests, but later, having supplanted the cult of the god Anu in Uruk, Inanna simultaneously performed the functions of the goddess of victory, the goddess of harvest, and the goddess of justice, she was the patroness of family life and much more. And unusual in her appearance is that this goddess possessed very earthly and human qualities. She was insidious, fickle, often changed spouses, lovers, and once even the limit of her husband, sending him instead of herself to the underworld.

As with many other ancient Greek gods, the origin of Pan is not exactly known. According to some versions, he is considered either the son of Hermes and the daughter of Dirop, or the son of Hermes and Orsinoe, or the son of Zeus and Hybris, or the son of Zeus and Callisto. In total there are more than a dozen such versions. Pan was born with goat legs, a long beard and horns, and immediately upon birth began to jump and laugh. Luxurious valleys and groves of Arcadia - the kingdom of Pan, where he frolics in a circle of cheerful nymphs. Under his flute or syringa, cheerful, noisy round dances are arranged, frightening mortals. At noon, tired of his studies, Pan falls asleep and all nature falls asleep with him under the sultry rays: this calm was considered sacred and not a single shepherd dared to break it by playing the flute, for fear of disturbing the sleep of the patron god.

Chinnamasta is not a very well-known deity and her cult itself is not very widespread. Nevertheless, her story, and especially the image, is extremely interesting. The classic depiction of Chinnamasta is as follows: in her left hand she holds her own severed head with her mouth open; her hair is disheveled, and she drinks the blood that spurts from her own neck. She stands or sits on top of a couple making love. To the right and left of her are two companions who joyfully drink the blood flowing from the neck of the goddess. There is a legend according to which Chinnamasta and her companions once walked along the banks of the river. At noon, hungry companions asked the goddess "Give us some food, we are hungry." On hearing this, Chinnamasta cut off her own head with a smile, and with jets of blood from her neck gave her companions to drink and satiated herself. Having thus amused herself, she returned her head to its place and assumed its former form.

Tsuku Chen is unusual, if only because she was considered the goddess of... latrines. According to legend, during the reign of Empress Wu Hu, an educated lady named Mei Li Chin became the mistress of a high-ranking government official. But he was a married man, and one day his wife, in a fit of wild jealousy, having caught the concubine in the restroom, killed her. When the empress found out about this, she decided to make this unfortunate goddess of latrines. On the anniversary of her death, special celebrations were organized throughout the country in latrines and pigsties, and local women brought her own images as sacrifices to the goddess.

The supreme deity of the Babylonian pantheon, the patron of Babylon, the god of wisdom, the lord and judge of the gods. It is believed that Marduk defeated the embodiment of chaos Tiamat in a hard fight, driving the “golden wind” into her mouth, and took possession of the book of fate that belonged to her. After that, he cut the body of Tiamat and created Heaven and Earth from them, and then created the entire modern, ordered world. The symbol of Marduk is also interesting - it is the dragon Mushkhush, which is a mixture of a scorpion, a snake, an eagle and a lion.

Almost nothing is known about the image of this goddess, and her name is rarely mentioned in Scandinavian myths. And it is interesting primarily for its, let's say, specialization. Var eavesdropped and recorded the oaths and promises of people, and then took revenge on those who violated them. In addition to the usual oaths, she was also the goddess of love oaths and marriage alliances.

A monkey-like god, one of the heroes of the Ramayana. It was thanks to him that the same “King of Monkeys” appeared in Chinese mythology and then in literature. In Hinduism, Hanuman is a highly revered being. He is honored as a mentor in the sciences and patron of village life. Largely thanks to the cult of Hanuman, homeless monkeys are fed in India.

Literally - "devourer of dirt (excrement)". One of the most important Mesoamerican mother goddesses associated with the earth, fertility, sexual pleasures, fertility and childbirth. For the Aztecs, Tlasolteotl was the personification of sins, especially sexual ones. "Women of Tlasolteotl" called prostitutes. At the same time, they believed that Tlasolteotl could both arouse passion and free it from it, as well as send madness and venereal diseases. According to the Aztec beliefs, Tlazolteotl came to the dying and cleansed his soul, eating all the "dirt".

The gods in various religions, in principle, are extraordinary beings, endowed with various magical properties. But even among them there are more or less normal from a human point of view, and quite strange. Strangeness can manifest itself in the unusual appearance that is attributed to them, or in unusual properties. It is about such strange gods that we will talk about in this article.

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The main goddess of Sumero-Akkadian mythology. Initially, Inanna was considered the patroness of food and a symbol of abundant harvests, but later, having supplanted the cult of the god Anu in Uruk, Inanna simultaneously performed the functions of the goddess of victory, the goddess of harvest, and the goddess of justice, was the patroness of family life and much more. And unusual in her appearance is that this goddess possessed very earthly and human qualities. She was insidious, fickle, often changed spouses, lovers, and once even the limit of her husband, sending him instead of herself to the underworld.

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The Chinese once had a goddess of outhouses. This peculiar deity (Tsuku Chen) was worshiped only by women, but not by men. The origin of this unique cult dates back to the reign of Empress Wu Xy (684-705 AD), when an educated lady named Mei Li Chin became the mistress of a high-ranking government official.

But he was a married man, and now his wife, in a fit of wild jealousy, having caught the concubine in the restroom, killed her. When the emperor found out about this, he decided to make this unfortunate goddess of latrines.

On the anniversary of her death, special celebrations were organized throughout the country in latrines and pigsties, and local women brought her own images as sacrifices to the goddess. They were made from scoops of "golden".

This vessel was used as a head and a woman's face was painted on it. Weeping willow branches were attached to the handle of the scoop, which became the hands of the goddess. Then she was dressed in some kind of rags.

Women worshiping the goddess burnt incense, urging the goddess to appear before them with such phrases: “Your husband is away, your lawful wife has died, and now, Little Lady, you can appear!” ("Little lady" was in those days a polite term for a second-ranking wife.)

If there was a female medium among the worshipers, she, as a rule, went into a trance, and many who were present sincerely believed that she was the very goddess. Through a female medium, the goddess was asked about what events they should all expect in the future, what the coming harvest will be like, who and when will get married or get married, etc.

The Japanese also had a goddess of the toilet (benjogami), who, among the three main household deities, was directly connected directly with the dwelling. It is said that believers asked the goddess of the toilet to protect against diseases. Bladder.

Deity of the tapeworm

Some peoples in Japan have strange associations with tapeworms. They believed that there was a certain deity called Amanjaka in the form of a tapeworm that temporarily resides in the human body. He can penetrate it only on certain nights and only in a dream.

On such a night, called "Koshin Night", in their opinion, this worm could crawl out of the human body to inform the heavenly god about the sins of those people in whose body it visited. It must be said that the tapeworm usually delivered unfavorable messages to the god, even if in reality it was otherwise. To prevent this, people usually stayed awake, did not go to bed during the entire "night of Koshin."

They did not even allow the children to sleep, fearing that a worthless and vile worm would not penetrate their body. Realizing that only on this night Amanjaka could deliver his report, people gathered the night before to honor this deity. They offered him their gifts, food, water, in order to occupy him with something, believing that when the deity eats and drinks to the full, he will become mad and he will become too lazy to deliver his reports to Heaven.

It was also believed that a person who did not sleep for a minute during the seven "nights of Koshin" thus received immunity, and he had nothing to fear from this deity for the rest of his life. On the "night of Koshin" it was strictly forbidden to have sex. It was believed that if, as a result of sexual intercourse on that night, a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child, she will grow very evil person.

There was also another "Koshin day", which was very popular among the Japanese aristocrats. In the 19th century, noble ladies and courtiers held a special celebration on this occasion, at which verses composed in honor of this deity were read.

living goddess

Travelers who came to Nepal could witness the worship of living goddesses, who were called kumari. In the Kathmandu Valley, for example, there were nine Kumaris. The most revered and famous is the royal kumari.

The Living Goddess of Nepal

They say that in her hands is the power and strength of the kingdom of Nepal. No Nepalese king since the 18th century has ruled without her blessing.

The royal kumari is not a goddess by birth, nor does she remain a divine being throughout her life. She becomes a living goddess when she is five years old.

The virgin girl is usually chosen among the representatives of the caste of goldsmiths. The final choice is made by a committee specially created for this purpose, which includes the chief royal priest (priest), several of his colleagues and an astrologer. The girl is chosen on the basis of thirty-two best qualities. Among these requirements - excellent health, clean skin without pockmarks, spots and scars, the presence of all teeth.

The astrologer will make sure that her horoscope does not diverge from the horoscope of the king. The girl must have a strong character, be fearless and balanced. She is fearlessly tested when ten potential kumari candidates are locked in a dark room full of monstrous masks and freshly cut buffalo heads, designed, according to the plan of the organizers, to scare the timid girls. In addition, strange, eerie sounds reach them.

The one who does not show a shadow of fear will be chosen as the living goddess of Kathmandu - the royal kumari. Before the final approval, several buffaloes, goats, sheep, ducks and chickens are sacrificed in front of the girl. She is richly dressed, and her forehead is decorated with the so-called "third eye".

She wears red robes, her toes are painted red, and she looks like a Christmas tree with iridescent jewels. Between the square and the now permanent residence of the Kumari, a white narrow path is spread, along which she walks to her new dwelling place in the temple. Every day, the royal kumari sits on the throne for three hours, receiving her admirers.

Only twelve believers are admitted to it daily. Since sometimes the living goddess is just a small, capricious girl, she may refuse to meet with believers, and then the pilgrims will have to patiently wait for her mood to change.

The royal kumari resides permanently in the temple during her "appointment" period, which can last for several years. At this time, the girl does not attend school. She maintains her high position as a living goddess until she sheds first blood. This usually happens during the first period, but bleeding can also be caused by an accidental cut or even a scratch.

If the keeper notices that the girl has shed at least a drop of blood, then he immediately informs the king about this. It is widely reported that the girl lost her divine power as the goddess left her body. She immediately loses all her essential privileges and again becomes, as before, an ordinary person.

The living goddess returns all her expensive jewelry to her patron, and she herself leaves the temple forever. Since that time, she usually leads a modest lifestyle, and no one else is interested in either her life or her future fate. There are even cases when former Kumaris vegetated in poverty.

Here is how one traveler describes the house of the former kumari:

“There are not even chairs in the room, so the former goddess usually sits on the windowsill, in her small room, in which, in fact, there is no furniture, only a few mattresses laid out on white-green linoleum. A forlorn lamp without a shade hangs from the ceiling. The walls are covered in faded wallpaper. A broken radio, a rickety stool, and a clock with broken hands."

A former living goddess usually remains unmarried for the rest of her life. There is a superstitious belief that the man who dares to take her wife will not last long.

A simple peasant as a god

Some people believe that divine spirits can possess a person either temporarily or permanently. In some regions of Cambodia, it was believed that the epidemic of the disease could be prevented if the deity got inside some local resident. The main thing is to find such a person. Lined up in a chain, people went from one village to another with an orchestra at the head.

A person who was destined to become a god was put on the altar in the temple. He thus became the object of universal reverence and worship, although before that he could have been just a poor peasant. Believers prayed to this man, sincerely believing that he could prevent the plague.

Sometimes, if the divine spirit invaded the body of a person, he became the god of people and their king. On the Marquesas Islands, there has always been a so-called god-man, whose duty it was to protect his fellow tribesmen from supernatural forces.

Missionaries reported that in the past such a god-man was on every island and his high position was inherited. According to their descriptions, it was usually an old man who lived in his temple-like house with an altar inside. A human skeleton hung in front of him. And all the trees surrounding his house were decorated with human skeletons swaying in the wind.

God, who inhabited a person, demanded human sacrifices for himself - such a custom was common among the Aztecs and Incas. The God-man regularly received people as sacrifices, but from time to time, when his appetite flared up, he also demanded more. To do this, he only had to declare, and his servants immediately delivered to him two or three human victims, who were killed at the appointed hour in his honor.

People believed that if the request of the god-man was not satisfied in time, he would be offended, which could result in a real catastrophe. God-men instilled such horror in everyone that sometimes they received more human victims than all the other gods combined. Sometimes the people deified their ruler during his lifetime.

For example, the Zimba tribe in Southeast Africa worshiped only one god, who was also their king. This king and god, according to everyone's belief, controlled Heaven, and if the rain did not stop at his will, he shot his arrows into the sky, thereby trying to punish Heaven for disobedience.

Sometimes the ruler, who took too much power for himself, decided to deify himself. This happened to the Burmese king Badonsakhen, who gained fame as a bloodthirsty ruler. During his reign, many more of his subjects were executed than died on the battlefield.

One day, says the legend, the king, renouncing his high title proclaimed himself a god. After leaving the royal palace and harem, he moved to the largest pagoda in the country.

But when he tried to convince the monks that he was their new Buddha, they were indignant and expressed their unanimous protest against his self-deification. Then the greatly disappointed king, resigned, renounced his claims and returned to the palace. The people considered some of their kings as gods and treated them accordingly.

In Thailand, there is a tradition that obliges people to prostrate at the place where the king passed, in order to show him their respect. When subjects came to his palace, they had to approach the royal person by crawling.

Even in our time, when ministers receive an audience with the king, they are required to "walk" on their knees. In the past, kings were considered sacred persons. Their veneration was so great that they were called only by the names of gods, and when Christian missionaries had to call the name of a god in front of believers, they used the Thai term for “king” for this.

The king enjoyed such deep respect that when people spoke of him, they used a specific language for this purpose. The king's hair, his hands, feet, each part of the body had its own, special name. Describing the behavior of the king, the way he walks, sleeps, eats and drinks, they used only special words and expressions that were never used in relation to mere mortals.

ruler of the gods

The emperor of Japan was considered a god for a long time. And he was not just one of many. He has always been the most important and most powerful of all Shinto gods. He was considered the personification of the sun goddess, who ruled all people and all gods in the entire universe.

For a month each year, the emperor became the most important of all the gods. This period was called the "month without gods." All this time, the temples in the country were empty, because it was believed that now all the gods are absent, that for a whole month all eight hundred gods are in the imperial palace, where they serve the emperor, who thus turned into the ruler of the gods.

There were, however, some restrictions for the emperor himself, something that he did not have the right to afford. He could not touch the ground with his feet, so he was usually worn on the shoulders of servants. Fresh air was considered something harmful for him, and the sun was unworthy to illuminate it.

Since his entire body was considered sacred, he could not cut his hair, trim his beard, or cut his nails. However, to prevent him from becoming a mess as a result, his servants cleaned up at night when the emperor slept, because, in their opinion, what they deprived him of was considered "theft" from the imperial person. But such "theft did not detract from his holiness, did not infringe on his imperial dignity."

In ancient times, the life of a god-emperor was by no means easy. Every morning, for several hours in a row, he had to sit on the throne like a statue, without moving his arms or legs or head, without turning his eyes, without moving any part of his body at all. Only in this way, as the subjects imagined, was he able to maintain peace and tranquility in the country.

If, unfortunately, he involuntarily leaned in one direction or another, or fixed his gaze for a long time in the direction of one of his vast possessions, then war, famine, fires or other serious misfortunes and misfortunes could be expected in fear, which could soon ruin the whole empire. If the god-emperor ate something, then all food was served exclusively on new dishes.

Previously used ones were broken, because if any of ordinary people If he dared to eat from this sacred utensil, then the inside of his mouth and throat would become inflamed.

The Japanese emperor officially ceased to be a god in 1946, when the Americans forced him to give up this privilege. But nevertheless, he still remains the "dad" of all believers who profess Shintoism.

Kitchen god

One of the most unusual Chinese gods is the god of cuisine, Xiao Yun Chen. His image can be seen in any traditional Chinese home. He is a deep old man in a mandarin attire with a white beard.

The kitchen god is said to always dwell in the kitchen, for that is the the best place to monitor the behavior of each family member. Believers believe that this god is always busy compiling secret lists of all the deeds committed by family members throughout the year. It includes both good and bad deeds. At the end of the year, the list is sent by the kitchen god to Heaven.

The main God responds to him accordingly: he is able to either increase the happiness of each family, or reduce it - it all depends on the deeds reflected in such reports. The kitchen god makes a trip to Heaven every year on Chinese New Year's Eve.

Before his departure, every Chinese family tries to appease him so that the kitchen god will only report favorable information about them to the Jade Emperor in Heaven. At this time, all the Chinese offer their gifts to the kitchen god, bringing incense sticks, sweets and wine to his altar.

Having offered up prayers to the god, they persuade him: “When you go to Heaven, then report only good things about us, and when you return from there, protect us properly, ensuring peace and security for us.” At the same time, they fill the cup in front of the altar to the brim with wine, being convinced that this god, like a mere mortal, will cling to her mouth before a long trip; they expect that the drunken god will forget about their impartial deeds and present them all in the most favorable light.

In some Chinese villages, it is customary to lubricate the lips of the kitchen god with honey so that he can say only “sweet” words about their family in heaven. When the kitchen god is not in his usual place, his image on the home altar turns to the wall. In some villages, in his absence, when he is in Heaven, his images are even burned, and when he returns, new ones appear on his altar.

In addition to this very popular god of cuisine among the Chinese, representatives of each profession in the country have their own favorite god.

Sometimes the image of the same god can be found both in the house and at work among representatives of different professions, for example, in a police station and in a brothel. Each Chinese family chooses for their home altar the god that seems most reliable to them. But if he does not help a person, despite long prayers and zealous worship, then his image can be removed, and in its place put the image of another, better performing his direct duties.

god slaying

Ancient Mexico is notorious throughout the world for human sacrifice. However, this does not mean that only people who aroused hostility or contempt among members of the community were sacrificed to the gods.

The Aztecs believed that some of their gods required the sacrifice of a person who was revered and universally respected in society. Such a person was supposed to represent, as it were, the god to whom he was sacrificed. For a whole year, this “lucky man” was to live among people, and everyone was instructed to treat him like a real god.

This is the legend of a human sacrifice to the most powerful Muaztec sun god Tezcatlipoca.

The person chosen as a god-man had to have a perfect, flawless body: “He must be thin, like a reed, straight, like a pillar, not too high, but not too low.” He was chosen not from among the Aztecs themselves, but from young captives. It was literally covered in gold.

Here is what James Fraser says about it:

“Gold jewelry hung from his pierced nostrils, gold bracelets intercepted his hands, golden bells tinkled on his feet with every step.”

For a whole year this god-man lived in breathtaking luxury in the temple of the god whom he would have to personify in the future. Everyone gave him honors, including the most noble people who, like simple servants, brought him food. When he went out into the street, all the inhabitants worshiped him as a real god.

People threw themselves before him, offered up prayers, asked to be healed and bless them. Fraser continues:

“People offered up prayers to him, sighing heavily and shedding tears, scooping up handfuls of dust from the road, they sent it into their mouths in order to thereby demonstrate to him their deepest humiliation and complete obedience.”

Nevertheless, this man was subsequently killed in the most cruel way.

Despite the fact that everyone treated this temporary god with the greatest respect, he was well aware that one day his happy “divine” life would come to an end and he would die at the hands of the very people who now adore him so much.

The temporary god was always accompanied by several servants everywhere, and he knew that they would never allow him to escape, even if he did. A few days before the fatal day, his life became even more beautiful, since now four beautiful girls were brought to him, who from now on became his temporary wives. These girls represented four goddesses - the goddess of milky corn, the goddess of flowers, the goddess "our mother in the middle of the waters" and the goddess of salt.

When the appointed day finally arrived, he was to say goodbye forever to his beautiful wives, after which he was taken by canoe across the lake to the temple of the sun god - a tall, pyramid-like structure, to the top of which a steep staircase with many steps led.

This god-man began to climb it. On each step he had to break one of the flutes he played when he represented the sun god on earth. Finally, he reached the top of the pyramid, where several priests were already waiting for him, in charge of conducting a sacred religious ceremony.

They immediately grabbed him, laid him on a platform that looked like a table, and one of them cut his chest with a knife, removing from there a still beating, living heart. The heart was offered to the sun god.

The ceremony was watched by a crowd of believers below, at the foot of the pyramid. As soon as the heart stopped its contractions and sank, the high priest of the temple called the name of the next victim, who was scheduled to be killed in exactly twelve months.

Sacrifice to the god of fire

Among the ritual human sacrifices that became popular among the ancient Maya and Aztecs, the most unusual, apparently, was performed in honor of the earth goddess Teteoinnan. This powerful Aztec deity was responsible for the harvest and was the most capricious and demanding of the entire ancient pantheon.

In order to pacify the goddess, to give her real pleasure, according to the established custom, it was necessary to kill not one human victim on her altar, but as many as five at a time. The first one must be a woman.

A piece of skin was cut from her thigh to cover the face of one of the high priests, who served another god - the god of the harvest of maize Chinteotl. The rest of the skin was used for his needs by a young man chosen to personify the earth goddess.

Accompanied by ceremonial priests, this man, hiding behind human skin, entered the temple of the goddess, where he sacrificed four more unfortunates to her, who were already waiting for him at the altar.

It was believed that some gods demanded horrific monstrous tortures for the victims chosen for their veneration, which was carried out before they were finally killed.

For example, in order to satisfy the fire god Xiutekutyai, it was required to sacrifice two newlyweds to him. The priest was instructed to choose the most beautiful couple among the newlyweds.

On this fatal day for them, a huge fire was lit at the altar of God. Then, dressed in expensive ceremonial clothes, young people were thrown into the fire on a signal.

The assistant priests closely watched the cruel ordeal and, noticing that they were about to die, snatched their bodies from the fire. They cut open their chest with knives, from where they removed a still pulsating heart, which was immediately offered as a gift to a demanding and cruel god.

sacred cactus

The Mexican Indians of the Zacatecs had such a custom. When a father had a son, the parent had to go through a terrible test of endurance. This man, sitting on the ground, was subjected to incredible torture by his own friends. They drove instruments of torture into his body. These were either carefully sharpened teeth or sharp bones.

As a result of the efforts of his friends, his entire body was actually perforated like a sieve, and blood flowed profusely from the wounds. The purpose of this monstrous custom is to determine the endurance and courage of the boy's father.

Such torture was able to predict what the child would be like when he grew up, whether he would become a hardy, courageous warrior. His father was only able to endure the cruelest tortures due to the intoxicating effects of a special peyote cactus, which he ate before the test.

This modest-looking plant among the Mexican Indians is considered the greatest gift of the gods. A small, smooth, thornless cactus has powerful hallucinogenic properties. It is worth swallowing a few pieces, as a person begins to experience such bliss, such pleasant sensations, as if he is not on earth, but in paradise.

Picturesque images of an unknown, fantastic world pass before his closed eyes, and they have such a strong effect on his consciousness that, as it seems to him, he comes into direct contact with the gods themselves.

Some people even experience a feeling of weightlessness during the entire period of intoxication. Therefore, it is not surprising that this plant has become an object of worship.

Among the Indian tribes, even a special religious cult arose, in which peyote turned into one of the holy gifts. As early as the 1890s, more than fifty tribes of Indians living north of the Rio Grande were peyote cults.

To prevent dangerous consequences from the use of such a powerful drug, the American authorities tried to ban it. But all their efforts were in vain, since the followers of this strange religious cult used this sacred plant secretly. The cult was eventually legalized, and in 1928 even the American Native Church for peyote worshipers appeared.

Those who preach this cult call themselves Christians, despite the fact that their great spirit is still considered to be peyote, which serves them as a kind of holy communion. They believe in Christ, but they see in him only one of the many holy spirits sent down to earth by God. In some regions, peyote has become a real panacea for all diseases.

They even believe that with its help you can get rid of blindness. Local shamans usually like to demonstrate to everyone its incredible power to predict the future, to regain lost property, and also to bring rain during a drought.

Shamans usually go into a complete trance after drinking peyote. Peyote is so highly valued among the Indian tribes that they sometimes make long journeys just to get hold of this amazing divine remedy.

So, Mexican Huichols can walk up to 300 kilometers just to get their favorite potion. During such a pilgrimage to the desert, where this cactus grows, they usually have nothing to eat except the cactus itself.

Such a hike is usually led by a local shaman, who is the first to discover cactus sprouts among the rocks. Before picking the plant, he shoots it with an arrow from a bow to hit the spirit that lives in it, to prevent it from escaping. Having collected a precious plant in their bags, the Indians return home so exhausted and exhausted that even their closest relatives are often unable to recognize them.

But they are happy all the same, happy that they now have a supply of a precious potion - this magical plant - for a whole year ahead.

sacred bear

The Japanese Ainu people are famous for their simply incredible customs and beliefs. They are not ethnic Japanese, but live on the islands that belong to this country. Their religion is based on bear worship.

The Ainu often hunted this animal, and their very existence largely depended on it. They believe that a giant bear, having descended from the sky, saved their people from starvation in times of great famine. To celebrate such an important event, they organize a special ceremony.

In the celebrations, which usually last three days and take place in the spring, the main role belongs to the bear himself. This ceremony, it should be noted, was distinguished by terrible cruelty, since the bear was subjected to terrible torture, after which he died.

Usually it was a young bear specially bred for this purpose. On the appointed day, the bear, accompanied by a solemn procession, was taken to a holy place, where a great sacrifice was to be made to the gods. When people surrounded the cage of the unfortunate bear, specially selected for this, in a dense ring, the person addressed him in the manner prescribed by tradition.

One eyewitness quotes his speech:

“Oh you, divine creature, you were sent down to us, to our world, so that we would hunt you. O you precious little deity, we all adore you, I beg you, hear the prayers offered to you. We nurtured you, raised you in labor and care, and all just because we love you so much. Now we intend to send you back to your father and mother.”

After the speech was delivered, the bear was released from the cage and tied to a pole.

Then he was showered with a cloud of blunt arrows, only to infuriate the animal, but not cause its death.

Finally, after much torment, the elder sent an ordinary sharp arrow at the enraged bear.

After that, the bear was tied by the head to two poles, and people, grabbing hold of them from different sides, dragged them towards themselves and strangled the unfortunate beast in this way.

The head of the sacrificed animal was cut off and strung on a high pole, since, according to the Ainu, it was easier for him to reach the sky from there. The body of the bear was skinned, chopped and boiled, and then all the participants in this religious ceremony feasted on it at a large feast arranged on this occasion.

The first description of this strange holiday with the massacre of the bear was made by one Japanese author Yeshe in 1652. In his book, he tells how a bear, which was supposed to be sacrificed to the gods, was finally strangled to death by fifty or even sixty Ainu, among whom were both men and women.

Despite the fact that they subjected the unfortunate beast to unbearable tortures, his tormentors nevertheless did not forget to ask him for forgiveness and special mercy for them before death: “Ask God for us, let him send us many otters and sables for the winter, and walruses and fish in great abundance. Do not forget about our requests, we all love you very much, and our children will never forget you!”

Among the various customs common among the Ainu, female tattooing seems to be the most famous.

large, blue color, the tattoo was usually done around the mouth of a young girl, who then constantly improved over the course of several years, becoming more and more intricate, in order to make the bride especially attractive to her future spouse.

If you look at the tattooed girl from afar, it seemed that she had a mustache and beard on her face. Since the operation was considered very painful, the Japanese authorities decided to ban it by a special law. However, even today in Japanese villages you can see women with a similar pattern around their mouths.

Bloodthirsty Goddess

Among all the Hindu deities, the goddess Kali was considered the most cruel, the most vengeful. This is the goddess of death and destruction, she is primarily responsible for the plague, cholera, smallpox and other no less terrible epidemics. She is traditionally depicted as a naked black woman with four arms.

If two she raises in a gesture indicating a blessing, then in the third she holds a severed human head from which blood oozes, and in the fourth she has either a dagger or a noose, which indicates her insatiable desire to kill. Her entire body is adorned with human skulls. Even the earrings are made from baby skulls.

The image of the Hindu goddess Kali.

Is it any wonder, then, that only human sacrifice, according to universal belief, could propitiate, pacify this terrifying goddess? Human sacrifices in her honor, offered at the annual religious ceremonies, were noted as early as the beginning of the 19th century, especially in the northeastern part of India. The victim was usually a volunteer.

It was an important event, and the execution attracted crowds of people. The victim in beautiful, elegant clothes was placed on a high platform so that everyone could watch the procession of the sacrifice. Since the victim was a volunteer, one of the admirers of the Kali cult, the executioner was forced to wait until he himself gave him a sign that he was ready to accept death.

After a prearranged signal, the volunteer's head was cut off, which was offered to the goddess on a golden ritual dish. Some yogis, following a long-standing custom, ate a piece of the cooked lung of the unfortunate victim.

His blood was mixed with rice, and this dish was eaten in a special ceremony by the local rajas and their families. Recently, rare, random human sacrifices have been observed in India, but in the 16th century this phenomenon was widespread.

For example, in 1565, a Raja named Nara Narayama turned out to be such an ardent and zealous worshiper of the bloodthirsty goddess that he cut down the heads of 740 of his subjects in her honor. They were offered to his beloved goddess on copper platters in a temple dedicated to Kali.

Back in 1830, one raja killed twenty-five people to please an overly demanding goddess. The British authorities officially banned this cruel custom in 1832.

Although many believe that the bloody rite has long been eradicated, there are still natik sects in India, convinced that only human blood can propitiate this cruel goddess! In the Indian press, reports of human sacrifice still slip from time to time, although, of course, they happen extremely rarely. On March 17, 1980, The Times of India reported on a ritual human sacrifice. It said that a 32-year-old villager took his daughter to a local temple and there cut her throat, thus sacrificing her to the goddess Kali.

In another report, placed on the pages of the Indian Express newspaper, it was said that the father, for this purpose, hacked to death his four children, who were not yet seven years old, with an ax. He committed his monstrous criminal act in front of the statue of a fierce goddess.

Skinning the dead

Until recently, among the Hiji tribe, who live in the mountains, in the border region between Nigeria and Cameroon, there was a widespread belief that before the dead man was buried in the earth, it was necessary to peel off all his skin.

This did not happen immediately after death, but only after the completion of a whole series of carefully designed rituals. First, the corpse was seated on a specially designed platform. The dead man remained in a sitting position for two days. One of his hands rested on a bowl filled to the brim with millet or sorghum, the other on a bowl of peanuts.

Such a ceremony was carried out in order not to allow the deceased to take with him into the world a different fertility of the soil. Before the funeral, a specialist, usually a member of the blacksmith clan, came and with his strong fingers tore off all the skin from the corpse. The skin was then thrown into a pot, which was buried in a pile of rubbish.

The skinless corpse was washed in red juice, smeared with goat fat and carried to the churchyard. A year after this ritual ceremony, another rite was held, in which only the sons of the deceased could take part. It was something like a ceremonial farewell at the grave with his father.

The sons drank a strong drink, standing at their father's grave, pouring a little intoxicating liquid on the grave and saying this prayer: “Here is your share of the funeral celebration. Today we part forever."

Although the ceremony no longer officially exists, such rites are still observed secretly from time to time, as the Hiji stubbornly cling to their religious beliefs.

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Kali

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