recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Karina

The first 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; King Solomon; Qarin; Umm Es Subyan

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Kartikeya

**Origin:** India

Kartikeya is a complex, mysterious, powerful spirit. Under the name Skanda or Murugan, he is the most beloved deity in modern southern India.

Kartikeya 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.

Kartikeya means “related to the Krittikas” and refers to the six Krittikas, the goddesses who raised him. In one version, they find 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, Kartikeya 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 different behavior in different parts of India and Sri Lanka.

**Favoured 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. Karttikeya has two wives in South India but is eternally celibate in the north.

**Bird:** Peacock

**Number:** 6

**Planet:** Mars

#### **Colour:** Red

**Offerings:** Many of his devotees adopt a vegetarian diet and abstain from alcohol; traditional offerings to Karttikeya include milk, fruit; cooked rice, boiled black lentils

**See Also:** Ganesha; Hanuman; Korravai; Parvati; Shiva

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Skadi

**Pantheon**: Norse

**Title**: Goddess of Winter

## Smite Lore

Full of mirth rang the halls of Asgard. Celebrating, the Gods drank of mead and feasted on roasted beast while the corpse of their defeated foe, the Jotun Thjazir, lay cold nearby. For decades were they at odds. Now, that conflict was ended. Odin and his ilk openly boasted of their achievements, laughing and cheering while the floor ran wet with spilled spirits.

Then, the doors swung wide, breathing icy winter wind across the hall. There she stood, spear in hand, skin, porcelain pale, clad in snow-dusted furs, and eyes blue as glacier ice but smouldering with vengeful fire. Skadi, the Jotun's daughter had come.

Transfixed by her beauty, the gathered Gods sought to dissuade her from violence. As a symbol of honour, Odin cast the eyes of her father into the heavens to twinkle as stars for eternity. Skadi was not moved. A life for a life, she demanded.

It was Loki that softened her heart with humour and dance. So jovial was he that, at last, her frozen features cracked a smile.

A wedding! Odin declared. Skadi would marry a God and so, herself become a Goddess. This would be her payment for the life of her father. Now warmed to them, Skadi agreed. Blindfolded, she was to choose her husband by only his feet. Eligible men came forth and Skadi made her choice.

Their marriage did not last. Niord was a God of Summer and Skadi a Goddess of Winter. After a few years, they amicably parted ways. Skadi returned to the snow-capped mountains of her youth, but without her father or husband, she soon grew lonely.
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

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Sol

**Pantheon**: Norse

**Title**: Goddess of the Sun

## Smite Lore

Sol and her brother came into this world radiant, glorious beings. So enamoured with them, their father arrogantly named each after a sacred heavenly body, he for the moon and she, the sun. As they grew, each child proved their namesake. Mani, of the moon, was contemplative, obedient, calm. Sol, conversely, became willful, spirited, passionate. His children were everything a father could dream, but Odin and his ilk were not pleased. For their father's hubris, Mani and Sol were punished.

To the sky, they were sent, each to lead the chariot that dragged the sun or the moon. At their heels were loosed the bloodthirsty sons of Fenrir. Hungry wolves, relentless in pursuit of their prey.

Resigned, Mani guided his steeds through the night, ever ahead of his hunter, but Sol did not accept her fate. Furious at the Gods, she taunts and challenges the wolf Skoll as she blazes across the sky, unleashing her spite on the only opponent she can reach.
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

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
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

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Melalo

**Origin:** Romani (Transylvanian Gypsy)

Melalo the master magician is the first 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 “filthy,” 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

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Vamana

**Pantheon**: Hindu

**Title**: Fifth avatar of Vishnu

## Smite Lore

Though small of stature, Vamana, the Fifth Avatar of Vishnu, should never be underestimated. His harsh lessons in humility have shamed even the proudest of kings.

The demon king, Bali, was fair and righteous, yet for all his virtues, Bali was extremely proud and driven by fierce ambition. After conquering the Underworld and all the Earth, Bali managed to wrest the Heavens from the God Indra. Unable to reclaim his seat, Indra implored Vishnu for aid, and so Vishnu took the form of a small mortal man, a priest named Vamana.

In his splendid palace, Bali was giving gifts to the pious. Vishnu, disguised as the monk Vamana and carrying a wooden umbrella, requested only as much land as he could cover in three steps. Bali offered Vamana an island but Vamana stuck to his request, which Bali granted against the wishes of his advisor. Immediately, Vamana grew to cosmic proportions, crashing through the ceiling of the palace and filling the sky. With one colossal step, he engulfed all the Earth and the Underworld. With a second step, he consumed the heavens. Now, with everything under his two feet, Vamana had nowhere to place his third step. He challenged Bali to go back on his word or offer somewhere else for him to step. Bali's demon army surged forth, but the demon king held them back. Bowing in humility, Bali offered his head as the third step. Vamana sends Bali to the underworld but, in recognizing Bali's benevolence, shows mercy by granting him sovereignty over it in appreciation of Bali's sacrifice.

Vishnu returned control of the Heavens to Indra and left his Avatar behind, but he also left behind a valuable lesson. Even the mightiest and most arrogant of kings can be humbled by the smallest of men.
Olorun

**Pantheon**: Yoruba

**Title**: Ruler of the Heavens

## Smite Lore

As the mountains and the seas have their gods, so too do the stars in the heavens. Greatest of their number is Olorun, God of the Sky and the Heavens, and supreme deity of the Yoruba pantheon. It was Olorun who kindled the spark that would become the sun, and at his command, the Orishas – the Yoruba gods – crafted the world and its inhabitants from the gathered dust of the cosmos.

But though Olorun is the greatest of the Orishas, he seeks no worshippers and asks for no offerings, yet entire nations follow his ideals. Like the stars, he is a remote deity, content to sit in quiet contemplation of the myriad wonders of creation. And he is powerful enough to ensure the sanctity of his solitude. Olorun commands the fundamental forces of the cosmos – even time itself.

Yet despite this power, Olorun is but one part of a greater whole. A tripartite being, Olorun possesses two other aspects – Olodumare, creator of the universe, and Olofi, the conduit between Earth and the Heavens. As befits a being of such might, Olorun is wise beyond measure, and rarely acts rashly or without some greater purpose in mind. Peaceful by nature, he will nonetheless fight when the need is great.
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 fulfill 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 signifies “vulva” and “seashell.” The Latin word for “comb,” pecten, can signify “vulva,” too.

**Element:** Water

**Planet:** Moon

**Amulet:** Coral is traditionally perceived as the petrified menstrual blood of mermaids and thus an exceptionally powerful protective charm.

**See Also:** Medusa; Psychopomp; Vampire Mermaids

## Appearance in Modern Media

From Sid StoryFrom Unison LeagueFrom Force of WillFrom Kamihime ProjectFrom Puzzle & DragonFrom Divine Gate
## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Plates

Plates were probably used before bowls. The first plates were flat pieces of wood or stiff leaves, which came in handy for holding and slightly cooling cooked food prior to eating. Plates are ruled by the sun and the element of earth. Generally speaking, they represent the physical world, money, and abundance. Any plate made of natural materials can be used for magic
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 labelled Saint Lazarus. No mistake has been made, The image of the Roman Catholic saint is used to represent Babalu Ayé, who may also answer the name Saint Lazarus. They are syncretized.

Syncretism tends to be the fruit of desperation. Babalu Ayé's syncretism to the beggar saint began with Africans, kidnapped during the slave trade and brought to labour 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 afford to abandon their spirits; on the other, they could not afford to openly break these rules, as punishment was 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 Christain conversion instruction. They were, however, given Christain imagery to venerate. People for whom an image is very familiar may assume that everyone sees what they see, but in fact different 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, dignified 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 mage but a devoted Christain.

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
New Year

Many cultures celebrate the New Year, but not always on the same date. Japanese and Chinese New Year festivals, for example, fall on different days each year (according to our calendar). The pre-Christian cultures of Europe didn’t always celebrate New Year’s on January 1. It has been observed on the evening of November 1 and at Yule. The actual date matters little, for the rituals performed at the beginning of the New Year remain quite similar.

New Year’s was once a time full of magic. Many of the old customs concerned food and its abundance. Past concerns and cares were ritualistically swept away, and good was invited into the home. It was once thought that whatever occurred on the first day of the year forecast the next 364 days, and people acted accordingly.

In the United States, many people eat cabbage on New Year’s Day. It is often cooked with a small piece of silver. The green color of the vegetable, along with the silver, ensures plenty of food and money in the coming year.

Black-eyed peas are another traditional favorite for “luck” in the New Year, particularly in the southern United States. Carrots eaten on the first day ensure a sweet year.

An old ritual: on New Year’s Eve, place a loaf of bread and a penny on a table. Leave overnight. This will provide plenty to eat in the coming year. Be sure to have a well-stocked pantry at this time.
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 identified 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

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Sulphur

In Alchemy, a Symbol of the masculine principle. Sulphur coagulates liquid Mercury (feminine), thus “fixing” it. It represents the fiery, active principle: the sun, the dragon or Ouroboros, and also the Prima Materia. Paracelsus said that sulphur and salt are the parents of mercury, which is the child of the sun and Moon.
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 financial 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 identified 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.

**Favoured 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 off. If you don’t want her to slack off, it is customary to give her daily offerings.

**Colour:** Red

**Creature:** Cat

**Offering:** Garland her image with red flowers. 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 offer something more elaborate, she favours 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:** Emerald Buddha; Golden Boy; Mae Po Sop, Maneki Neko; Parvati; Mantra

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Nemesis

**Pantheon**: Greek

**Title**: Goddess of Vengeance

## Smite Lore

Of arrogance and pride, the Greeks have but one word: hubris. It is a crime against Gods and Men, but a crime many commit with impunity. Even mighty Zeus is guilty. But when punishment is due, there is one from whom even the God of Thunder shrinks. She is Nemesis, the red-washed blade of Divine Retribution.

Recall the tale of Narcissus, so taken by his own beauty. Proudly, his visage was flaunted, to the detriment of all. Until, at last, he was led to a pond of crystal hue where his own reflection enraptured him. So long did he remain to gaze upon this self-image that hunger claimed his life. Thus does Nemesis respond to hubris. It is consequence equal to the crime.
Nakawe

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 fire 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 first created the world using her magical bamboo staff and her medicine basket. Nakawé is responsible for vegetation and agricultural abundance. She gave people healing and spiritual rituals.

Nakawé formed red flowers from her own bloody undergarments. permeated with her menstrual blood. She tossed these flowers into a desert spring, and fruits and flowers sprang up—as did her daughter, the Huichol goddess of childbirth. Nakawé, primal ancestress, also influences personal fertility. She blesses people with longevity and safe, easy childbirth.

In the Huichol version of the deluge myth, Nakawé foresaw the coming flood. (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 preserved.

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 staff in which her heart was hidden. They planted her heart in their fields, and maize of five different colors sprouted. A pepper tree sprang from her heart’s blood. Nakawé escaped underground, and the men became the first male shamans, appropriating her power and position.

**Manifestation:** Nakawé manifests as an elderly woman who walks with a staff. Like Moses, her staff 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-staff (Iwaitsu: a bamboo staff 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.

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Phit Nang Tani

**Also Known As:** Lady Banana Ghost

**Origin:** Thailand

Phit Nang Tani names a species of tree spirit who live within certain types of small Thai banana trees. Each tree has its own ghost. Phit Nang Tani 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 flowers, when she maybe particularly active. Should the tree die while flowering, 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.

Phit Nang Tani has fun terrorizing solitary men. She’ll emerge and do something scary (her sudden emergence may be sufficient) 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. Phit Nang Tani can also be magnanimous and benevolent and is known to offer alms to itinerant monks.

Phit Nang Tani 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 offerings 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

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Penthesilea

**Pantheon**: Greek

**Alignment**: Lawful - Good

## Fate Lore

**Height/Weight:** 158cm・49kg

**Source:** Greek Mythology, Trojan War

**Origin:** Greece

An ‘Achilles sure-kill’ woman. Penthesilea is a queen of the Amazónes (Amazons) from Greek Mythology. A daughter of Ares, supposedly she has several sisters - including Hippolyta, whose belt was stolen by Heracles.

After Hector’s death, the Amazónes troops lead by Penthesilea assisted the Trojan forces and fought against the Achaean army. And then, Queen Penthesilea ended up having a personal duel against the enemy hero, Achilles. Its conclusion was, for sure, the last and greatest disgrace of her life.

Being called "beautiful", he himself was not conscious of saying such a thing.

She fought as a warrior. Not to present herself as a "woman". If it had ended with a fight to the death with a true warrior, the hero would surely feel relief upon looking at their enemy. "I won" "I'm glad I didn't die" "There's no need to get up anymore". However――he still―― Rage surpassing rage evaporated all feelings,
she could only laugh. At most, she could only spew hateful curses as if to harass.

And so she pledged. In no matter what form, she will fight again with the man who carved this humiliation into her―to kill him.

**Golden Rule (Beauty): A**

Indicates the fate of growing up into an existence that possesses a goddess-like flawless beauty, no matter in which manner she is raised. Supposedly, at the time of the Trojan War, she was endowed with a beauty that would make people mistake her for a true goddess. That is why when Achilles removed that helmet---

**Mad Enhancement: EX**

It is possible to reach a mutual understanding with her under normal circumstances. However, her reason blows away when she faces Achilles. As expected, it is also blown away to some extent in regards to the hated Greek heroes. Due to her trauma, there is a possibility for it to be blown away if you call her beautiful.

**Bellow of Ares: A+**

A roar that awakens the blood of the War God Ares that flows in her body. As if being lead by a war god, allies that stand by her side as warriors are bestowed with bravery by that shout. It has been said that, during the Trojan War, enemies trembled violently at the war cry of the Amazónes troops.

When she stands before heroes of Greek Mythology (or possibly those whose origins lays there, making her feel a similar scent), causing her hatred to gush out--- this roar will probably not stop until that life has been wiped out.

**A Hero to Die on My Rage**

**Rank:** B

**Type:** Anti-Unit

Outrage Amazon. With her sleeping vengeance towards Achilles, and that warrior spirit that desires strength, the blood of the War God Ares; all of these are momentarily excited, and in terms of consciousness, she transforms into a true berserk warrior, like a beast that has lost all reason.

Shouting "ACHILLESSS" whilst advancing, (even if the other party is not Achilles. at that moment, she perceives them as him) she attacks with all her weapons and body parts, dealing the final blow by biting them like a beast. The ultimate anti-Achilles killing technique.
Poseidon/Neptune

## Smite Lore

Deep beneath the turbulent tides of the ocean lingers a God of idle rage. What must it be like to live forever in the shadow of your brother? To be denied again and again that which you desire, despite the power of the wrathful seas at your command? So Poseidon broods on his throne at the ocean floor.

As a child, Poseidon and his brother, Hades, were consumed by their father, Cronus. Powerless to escape, it was left to mighty Zeus to free them and slay their patron. Together, they defeated the last of the Titans and ushered in a new age of dominance for Olympian Gods, but their freedom, their very lives, Zeus would never let either brother forget were owed to him. Even as the heavens, the underworld, and the seas were divided among them, Zeus positioned himself as king of all, and what was Poseidon to do but be thankful he had been spared a fate in his father’s belly? So he retired to his new realm and began the pursuit of gathering worshippers.

Soon rose a great oceanfront city of mankind, and Poseidon presented himself as their God, but another had already come, Athena, Zeus’ daughter. A competition was held – each God would offer a gift and the people would select their sponsor. Confident, Poseidon drove his Trident, a trophy from the battle against the Titans, into the ground and a limitless spring emerged, but the people found the water salty and undrinkable. Athena extended her hand and a graceful olive tree rose from the earth. Wood, food, and oil, all from one gift. The people decided and the city was called Athens.
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.

**Favoured 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; Birth Fairy; Hathor; Isis; Khnum; Ma’at

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
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 significant 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 flood. 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 classified as a male sphere of power. (Conspiracy theorists perceive this as deliberate obfuscation.)

**Favoured People:** Adepts, sages, scholars, pursuers of truth and wisdom

**Number:** 7

**See Also:** Anat-Yaho; Lady Asherah of the Sea; Shekhina; Sophia

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Sidi Mimoun

**Origin:** Morocco

**Classification:** 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

**Colour:** Black

**Days:** Saturday, Sunday

**See Also:** Djinn; Melk; Zagaz

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Mononoke

**Origin:** Japan

The word Mononoke may theoretically be used to refer to any kind of spirit. Hayao Miyazaki’s 1997 film, Princess Mononoke, may be translated as “Princess of the Spirits,” but the word is also specifically 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 fit.

Some Mononoke are the stuff of nightmares, like doors or walls with eyes. Other Mononoke are your favourite 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

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
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 suffering.

Nefertem, the subject of many amulets, is usually identified as the son of Ptah and Sekhmet. The goddesses Bastet and Wadjet are sometimes identified as his mother instead. Nefertem is sometimes considered an aspect of the solar creator of the universe, known variously as Ra, Atum, or Ammon.

**Favoured People:** Perfumers, aromatherapists

**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.)

**Offerings:** Flowers, incense

**See Also:** Ammon; Bastet; Ptah; Sekhmet; Wadjet

## Appearance in Modern Media

From Kamihime ProjectFrom DislyteFrom Age of Ishtaria
## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Mylitta

**Also Known As:** Milidath

**Origin:** Assyria

Mylitta descended to Earth in the form of a flaming, 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 flames from ritual fires that fell into the waters were believed to possess revitalizing power, symbolizing the union of fire 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 first 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

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes
Yemoja

**Pantheon**: Yoruba

**Title**: Goddess of Rivers

## Smite Lore

Every river must have its beginning, and that beginning is Yemoja. The Goddess of the Ogun River is mother to the Yoruba pantheon, and from her floodwaters sprang the first mortals. She is the mistress of all rivers and the eternal guardian of the ancient mysteries of life itself. Fishermen and sailors seek her blessings, for she is the protector of all who travel on water. Mothers-to-be ask for her aid, for she is the patron spirit of women and governs everything pertaining to the feminine – especially childbirth. After all, who better than the mother of all life to oversee its continuation?

As such, she considers herself the caretaker of all that lives. She cares deeply for all of her children, be they mortal or god, comforting them and cleansing them of their sorrows. At Yemoja's blessed touch, wounds are healed and sickness is cured.

But even her kindness has its limits and should she be roused to anger, she becomes as violent and as destructive as the most turbulent of floodwaters. All who would dare stand against her are swept aside by her roaring fury. To challenge Yemoja is to challenge the river itself. But like the rivers, Yemoja has ever followed her own course.
Uziel

Uziel (Usiel, Uzziel) is a Fallen Angel who is also good. In kabbalistic lore, Uziel is a fallen angel who married women and begat giants. In the Sefer Raziel, Uziel is a good angel who is among the seven who stand before the throne of God and the nine who are set over the four winds.

## Information Source

The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology – Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Smoke and Fire Love Spell

#### Items needed:

One sheet of white parchment paper, love drawing incense (mix together 2 tbsp. each of sandalwood, lavender buds, orris root powder. To the powdered mixture add six drops rose oil and one drop cherry oil), church charcoal and censer, one red and one green candle, basic altar tools.

Try to time this spell with the turning of the moon from new to full. Before doing the ritual, draw the following symbols on the parchment paper. Place the paper on your altar and set the green candle on the Venus symbol and the red candle on the Mars symbol

Begin the ritual by casting the magick circle. Then light the green (Venus) candle as you say:

Lady of love, I appeal to thee.

Light the red (Mars) candle as you say:

Lord of lust, bring him [her] to me.

Light the charcoal. When the coal begins to glow, sprinkle the love-drawing incense on it. Stare into the smoke, visualize the one you desire, and chant the following three times in your most sultry, sexy voice:

The gods of love mine eyes dost kiss

And rise into ether, gather in mist

Then return to Earth, and my love impart

A passion so great as to inflame his [her] heart.

The incense smoke will carry the message to the one you desire, imbuing them with love and desire only for you.
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; La Madama; Metresili; Voodoo

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes