Water god in the context of "Finnish paganism"

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⭐ Core Definition: Water god

A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Another important focus of worship of water deities has been springs or holy wells.

As a form of animal worship, whales and snakes (hence dragons) have been regarded as godly deities throughout the world (as are other animals such as turtles, fish, crabs, and sharks). In Asian lore, whales and dragons sometimes have connections. Serpents are also common as a symbol or as serpentine deities, sharing many similarities with dragons.

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👉 Water god in the context of Finnish paganism

Baltic Finnic paganism, or Baltic Finnic polytheism was the indigenous religion of the various Baltic Finnic peoples, specifically the Finns, Estonians, Võros, Setos, Karelians, Veps, Izhorians, Votes and Livonians, prior to Christianisation. It was a polytheistic religion, worshipping a number of different deities. The chief deity was the god of thunder and the sky, Ukko; other important deities included Jumala, Ahti, and Tapio. Jumala was a sky god; today, the word "Jumala" refers to a monotheistic God. Ahti was a god of the sea, waters and fish. Tapio was the god of the forest and hunting.

Baltic Finnic paganism included necrolatry (worship of the dead) and shamanism (tietäjä(t), literally "one who knows"), and the religion was not always uniform across the areas it was practiced, as customs and beliefs varied during different periods of time and regions. Baltic Finnic paganism shares some features with its neighbouring Baltic, Norse and Germanic pagan beliefs.

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Water god in the context of Tiamat

In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat (Akkadian: 𒀭𒋾𒀀𒆳 TI.AMAT or 𒀭𒌓𒌈 TAM.TUM, Ancient Greek: Θαλάττη, romanizedThaláttē) is the primordial sea, mating with Abzû (Apsu), the groundwater, to produce the gods in the Babylonian epic Enûma Elish, which translates as "when on high". She is referred to as a woman, and has - at various points in the epic - a number of anthropomorphic features (such as breasts) and theriomorphic features (such as a tail).

In the Enûma Elish, the Babylonian epic of creation, Tiamat bears the first generation of deities after mingling her waters with those of Apsu, her consort. The gods continue to reproduce, forming a noisy new mass of divine children. Apsu, driven to violence by the noise they make, seeks to destroy them and is killed. Enraged, Tiamat also wars upon those of her own and Apsu's children who killed her consort, bringing forth a series of monsters as weapons. She also takes a new consort, Qingu, and bestows on him the Tablet of Destinies, which represents legitimate divine rulership. She is ultimately defeated and slain by Enki's son, the storm-god Marduk, but not before she conjures forth monsters whose bodies she fills with "poison instead of blood". Marduk dismembers her, and then constructs and structures elements of the cosmos from Tiamat's body.

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Water god in the context of Gònggōng

Gonggong (/ˈɡɒŋɡɒŋ/) is a Chinese water god who is depicted in Chinese mythology and folktales as having a copper human head with an iron forehead, red hair, and the body of a serpent, or sometimes the head and torso are human, with the tail of a serpent. He is destructive and is blamed for various cosmic catastrophes. In all accounts, Gonggong ends up being killed or sent into exile, usually after losing a struggle with another major deity such as the fire god Zhurong.

In astronomy, the dwarf planet 225088 Gonggong is named after Gonggong.

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