Category: Mythology

Magical Buffet Mythology: Chac

by Administrator, posted in Mythology

Article by Rebecca
Image by Will Hobbs (www.sirwilliamwesley.com)

This month’s Magical Buffet Mythology is chock full of Chacs…and Chac. Confused? Welcome to the religious practices of the Mayans.


Chacs are minor rain deities. Initially there were four Chacs, one for each of the directions, north, south, east and west. How many are there now? You tell me, I can’t find two sources that can agree. Chacs appear to look like old men and animal hearts were sacrificed to them during festivals.

The Chacs answer to Chac, the rulers of all the minor Chacs. That makes him THE rain god and patron of agriculture. He is often shown wearing a mask and holding an ax. During festivals humans, particularly children, were sacrificed to him to ask for rain and to receive prophecy.

Yes, unlike my Tanit article where the sacrifice was unconfirmed, humans were sacrificed to Chac. We all know that I’m not an expert. We all know that, don’t we? Well, I am not, so take this as the uninformed opinion that comprises 98% of what I write.

Is human sacrifice cruel? Yes. Should human sacrifice be practiced in modern times? No. Were the Mayans a bunch of barbarous evil doers? Absolutely not. Spiritual belief exists to provide people with answers. As the world grows smaller and science makes advances spirituality exists to provide answers to internal questions; questions of morality and a quest to understanding ourselves and the divine.

There was a time when the world was large, complex, and filled with mysteries. A few important questions like, why does it rain? How can I guarantee rain to sustain my people? That’s where Chac and his Chacs come in. How do we show Chac that our desire is strong? That we’re willing to put our trust in him? Perhaps by sacrificing the untapped potential of our young? Cruel, yes, but it does convey a strong message.

So let’s leave the sacrificing in the past, but cut Chac, Chacs, and the Mayans a little slack.

Magical Buffet Mythology: Hine-nui-te-po

by Administrator, posted in Mythology

Article by Rebecca
Image by Will Hobbs (www.sirwilliamwesley.com)

Some may recall a past article I wrote about the Maori duo of Rangi and Papa. When this loving couple was separated by Tane, Maori god of forests, the human race was discovered. Little known fact, but all of Rangi and Papa’s children were men, and soon Tane longed for female companionship. This brings us to Hine-nui-te-po, the goddess of the night and underworld for the Maori and Polynesians.


Tane created Hine from sand and clay, and then took her for his wife. One day Hine had the revelation that her husband, whom she had relations with (if you catch my drift), was also her father. Not cool. This realization drove her into the darkness of the Underworld, where she became Hine-nui-te-po. Now she is the goddess of the night and ruler of all ten levels of the afterworld, although some say she only has claim on four.

Hine-nui-te-po probably began her existence as a beautiful woman. I mean would a god create some average looking female to take as his wife? Of course, now Hine-nui-te-po has a frightening visage. She is generally described as having seaweed for hair, red eyes, the body of a man, and sharp teeth in a mouth like a barracuda. Maybe that’s the way Tane liked his women, but somehow I doubt it.

Perhaps with her current job title as ruler of the afterworld it should not surprise you to learn that it was she who helped play a part in giving mortality to the Polynesians. Due to an omitted portion in Maui’s baptism prayer, Maui began to fear that one day Hine-nui-te-po would claim him. His father told him where he could find Hine-nui-te-po, and with that knowledge, Maui and his companions set out to conquer death.

In order to gain immortality for himself, and mankind, he had to crawl through Hine-nui-te-po’s sleeping body. During his crawl, a songbird laughed and woke the goddess, who promptly crushed Maui. This introduced death by having Maui be the first man to die, and thus humans remained mortal.

Magical Buffet Mythology: Otorongo

by Administrator, posted in Guest Authors, Mythology

by Matthew

“Otorongo is a fierce warrior who teaches us integrity–how to leap gracefully from life to life.”

I first met Otorongo in a trailer park somewhere near Ann Arbor, MI. The master shaman stood in her house, surveying her students, silently trembling as the spirits began to make themselves known. She closed her eyes while I was sitting in the corner watching the spectacle – people stalking around acting like jungle creatures. The woman’s eyes opened and I swear that for a second they turned yellow, like a cats eyes, and she beckoned “Matthew, come.”

I left my perch and took my place in front of her, for a few moments I thought she was my mother, but she took different power objects and began to blow through them and into my chakras; it felt very strange, like a cored out tunnel of wind extending from my head down to my feet. In each chakra was planted a seed, and with each seed came a jungle spirit, and each spirit wanted to dance. The first spirit to really make herself known was Otorongo, the Warrior Goddess. We danced what seems for hours that night. I don’t really remember much of what happened, it was very ecstatic; I do know that I was able to climb a tree and see in the dark though. What a wild night!

Otorongo is actually a set of twins: the Night Jaguar (black with purple spots) and the Day Jaguar (orange with black spots). In both aspects she is the purr-fect mother who grabs us by the scruff when needed but she will also rub up against you to let you know everything is going to be ok. She really is very sweet to her children.

The Night Jaguar is the spirit of death, she is the psychopomp who escorts souls from this world to the next, but she can also be fear incarnate. This aspect of Otorongo can be fierce and unpredictable, often her host (the invoking priest or priestess) will get blood shot red eyes, and in this case it’s best to see what can be done to alleviate her anger. The great dichotomy of the Night Jaguar is that she is also the great sex kitten, er, goddess too! Her powers of seduction are legendary and I only have one thing to say about this: ouch!

The Day Jaguar is much more mother like in her temperament; she protects and cleans us, she goes hunting and feeds us, she guides us throughout life and teaches us when we need to get out of what we are doing and leap into something new. She teaches us how to walk without leaving footprints, how to stealthily become invisible. The Day Jaguar has no dichotomy, she is who she is.

If you would like to work with Otorongo, but you can’t make it to Michigan for the Three Worlds Shamanism workshops, here is what you can do: get an orange cloth with black candles for Day Jaguar, or a black cloth with purple candles for Night Jaguar. When you are ready to enter ritual consciousness begin thumping a drum or shake a rattle – make it slow at first, then let it pick up tempo as you go along. Light the candles and begin calling her. She always comes to the voice of her children; but please, don’t be afraid when she comes. I’ve worked with hundreds of spirits and Otorongo always has the strongest presence. You can literally feel her rub up against you. Offer her some water when she comes and ask her to help you with whatever it is you need help with. When finished, thank her for her assistance and put out the candles. Otorongo might stick around the house for a few days to clean your energy and give you further instruction through dreams and visions.
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Matthew is a teacher, magical counselor and frequent visitor to the Magical Buffet (“yummy Pagan food?”).

Magical Buffet Mythology: The Zorya

by Administrator, posted in Mythology

Article by Rebecca
Image by Will Hobbs (www.sirwilliamwesley.com)

The fate of the universe rests in the hands of three young women. Eat your hearts out Charlie’s Angels! We’re talking about the Zorya. These celestial Slavic beauties fill many important roles, but the most important one is the task that keeps the universe from being destroyed. The Zorya are generally three, but sometimes two, goddess who act primarily in the role of guardians. They keep watch over a hound chained to the constellation Little Bear. If the dog ever breaks loose, the universe comes to an end. No pressure.


Let’s do a Zorya role call, shall we? First, there is Zorya Utrennyaya, the Morning Star. Generally that’s all that is known, but according to the random folks at Wikipedia, “She opens the heavenly gates for the chariot of the sun in the morning. She is depicted as a fully armed and courageous warrior. She is the patron goddess of horses, and is associated with the planet Venus. She is invoked to protect against death in battle.”

Next up is Zvezda Vechernaya, the Evening Star. Again, our unverifialbe source at Wikipedia says, “She closes the gates of heaven each night as the sun returns home.”

Finally there is Zorya, or Zorya Polunochnaya, the sometimes unmentioned Midnight Star. Our Wiki pal tells us, “Each night, the sun dies in the Midnight Zorya’s arms and is then restored to life. She is a goddess of death, rebirth, magic, mysticism, and wisdom.”

I know that some legends prefer there to be only two Zorya, whonot only keep the hound of universe ending chained up, but also flank the sun. Personally, I can’t help but like three of them. The classic archetype of the maiden, mother, and crone. Of course, I would never tell one of these ladies that I consider her a crone!

As I’ve made abundantly clear, the primary source for most of my information is a touch on the questionable side. So why use it? Because if I opted not to this article would have been one paragraph, because I liked what I read, but most importantly, it’s because it’s what I want the three women who protect the universe to be like.

Magical Buffet Mythology: Rangi and Papa

by Administrator, posted in Mythology

Article by Rebecca
Image by Will Hobbs (www.sirwilliamwesley.com)

Now, I generally shun theme issues, but this issue is creation heavy…but hey, it’s not a holiday issue. I can’t help it, I’ve been inspired by the romance of creation. Sure, in the Judeo-Christian tradition God just created everything. Bam! A horse! Pow! A tree! Sure, that’s impressive, but not nearly as romantic as the creation tales of other religions and cultures. For instance, Rangi and Papa.


Rangi is the sky father and Papa the earth mother to the Maori. Like passionate lovers, they were joined together in an embrace in the dark void. The denizens of the void, which some say were the children of Rangi and Papa, were determined to separate Rangi and Papa to create light and darkness, even if it would kill the pair. Many attempted to force them apart but failed. Finally, Tane, god of the forests, managed to separate them, and in doing so found the human race.

Now Rangi is stuck in the sky and Papa bound to our earth. Some versions talk about Rangi taking other wives, but here’s my favorite version. Rangi and Papa, eternally separated yearn for each other to this day. Rangi’s tears are rain falling from the sky to let Papa know how he misses her. Papa will heave and pull herself apart to try to reach Rangi. That’s far more romantic than just zapping the earth and sky into existence, wouldn’t you agree?

Magical Buffet Mythology: Ba’alat

by Administrator, posted in Mythology

Article by Rebecca
Image by Will Hobbs (www.sirwilliamwesley.com)

Religious landscapes are always complex, but they can become downright insane when tracing the most ancient deities. This month we’re discussing the Phoenician goddess Ba’alat. Of course, the Egyptians and Semites claim her as well. She has a list of associated names, whether hers or deities believed to also be her, a mile long. None of that confusion matters to me though, Ba’alat is one of my favorite goddesses and here is why.


Ba’alat is sometimes referred to as the “Queen of Gods”. This is mostly likely because she is the female counterpart to the Phoenician deity Baal, who is the supreme God of all. To me, she is the “Queen of Gods” for breaking that most ancient of stereotypes, that smart women cannot be sexy.

Ba’alat is the goddess of libraries, books, and writers. She is responsible for giving humans papyrus, the forerunner of modern paper. Obviously, Ba’alat is a knowledgeable deity.

The Phoenicians would depict this smarty as a woman with a smokin’ hot body, naked, with her hands covering her full breasts. Later there was the addition of an elaborate Egyptian hairstyle and a tight robe with shoulder straps.

Apparently, the Phoenicians had no trouble believing that an immensely attractive woman could be intelligent and sexual, even if it may have only been in their deities. In my mind, this sexed up Velma Dinkley is a wonderful role model for women everywhere.

Fishing with the Patupairehe

by Administrator, posted in Creatures, Mythology

Article by Rebecca
Image by Will Hobbs (www.sirwilliamwesley.com)

Well, it’s been a year, and we’ve discussed loads of demons and critters here, but this one may be a first. A creature, a race more specifically, that actually helped shape a society’s skills. This month we’re talking about the patupairehe and how they helped the Maori of New Zealand.


The patupairehe are Maori fairies known to live in the Pirongia mountains and other secluded fog obscured hill top locales. They are seen mostly at night, and have the general appearance of humans, except for being exceedingly pale. Patupairehe frequently take human lovers, with the men of the species being skilled at arousing human women with their flute skills. That’s not a euphemism, they actually play the flute. Just like most fairies, they are guardians of the wilderness. The patupairehe fear the sun, fire, ash, and the color red. Also, they are repulsed by cooked food. All of these things can be used to protect yourself from them. Why protect yourself? Well, think of your family. Patupairehe males will make off with your women. Once your love has been spirited off to their new fairy home, they will forget their human lives.

Despite this, patupairehe have been incredibly helpful to the Maori. Once, a long time ago, a man came across the remains of a fish left on the beach. He found it odd that someone would abandon their catch, so he hid and waited for the fishermen to return. At midnight the patupairehe showed up and cast their magical fish nets. The man, who had fairly pale skin for a human, joined them unnoticed as they worked. Once they brought in the nets, they proceeded to string the fish they caught. The man struggled and so the patupairehe showed him how to do it.

As dawn approached, the patupairehe realized that the man, was well, a man. They argued amongst themselves as to what to do. Before they knew it, the sun was rising and they fled.

The patupairehe left all of the fishing gear. The man went back and taught the Maori what he had learned. That’s why the Maori are such skilled fisherman.

Magical Buffet Mythology: Amaterasu

by Administrator, posted in Mythology, Religion

Article by Rebecca
Image by Will Hobbs (www.sirwilliamwesley.com)

Good morning sunshine! This month we’re talking about Amaterasu, the Shinto goddess of the sun, agriculture, peace, and order. You are the sunshine of my life is more than just the lyrics to a song when spoken in reference to Amaterasu. When Amaterasu isn’t out, the sun isn’t out. No sun is bad. Right?


Described as beautiful, prudish, timid, industrious, temperamental, and compassionate, Amaterasu is a complex deific woman! As all of us woman tend to be. Here is one story that perhaps best sums up many dimensions of this time honored deity.

Amaterasu has a pain in the butt brother Susanowo, the god of storms. Unlike most brothers, who at their worst read your diary or listen in on your phone calls, Susanowo stepped up the annoying brother game by getting drunk, destroying Amaterasu’s rice fields and in a rampage killing two of her handmaidens. Brothers, what’s a girl to do?

Well, Amaterasu stomped off and sealed herself in a cave. One presumes she sat there and fumed, but I like to imagine a Sarah Connor training sequence, where Amaterasu buffs herself up for revenge. No matter what she was doing, it doesn’t change the fact that she had locked herself away, and as I mentioned before, no Amaterasu means no sun. As the other gods learned, no sun meant no food, and worse yet no food meant no worshippers!

This prompted all the gods to come and try to lure her out. This didn’t work. Fortunately, they hatched a plan. They set up a mirror across from the entrance to the cave. Then Ame-no-Uzume, whose name roughly means Heavenly Alarming Female, performed an exotic dance. Okay, it was a striptease. Anyway, of course all the other deities there got excited and started hootin’ and hollerin’

Finally, Amaterasu could not stand it any more and opened the cave to ask what was going on. They told her they found a woman even more beautiful than her to take her place and then cleared a path so Amaterasu could look into the mirror. She had never seen herself before, and was quite taken by the woman she was seeing. She stepped forward to take a closer look. Once she did, the gods ran up behind her and sealed the cave, so she could not go back in.

Thus, the sun came back. Tah dah! In some parts of Japan, they perform a ritual when there is a solar eclipse. Essentially, they make a lot of noise to recreate the racket the gods made to get Amaterasu to come out of her cave.

Magical Buffet Mythology: Nemesis

by Administrator, posted in Mythology

Article by Rebecca
Image by Will Hobbs (www.sirwilliamwesley.com)

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” ~ William Congreve

That fury, in the form of divine justice, gets meted out by Nemesis. Nemesis is the goddess of retributive justice. She relentlessly doles out just punishment to those who break the law and to the proud and snobbish.
A perfect example is the role Nemesis played in the life of Narcissus. In “Myths of the Greeks and Romans” by Michael Grant, he recounts the tale of Narcissus, a beautiful young man that was far too good for any lady. Echo wasted away to just a voice while pining for him. Another spurned female admirer made a plea to heaven that Narcissus would know the pain of falling in love with someone he could not have. Well, Nemesis heard the woman and set her justice mojo to work. That is when Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection. Unable to tear himself away from gazing at his reflection, Narcissus perished. That’s Nemesis.

She is where the Greeks get justice. Nemesis is generally described as very beautiful, seated in a chariot drawn by griffons. Her beauty caught the eye of Zeus, who being the horny god, eventually coupled with her. Nemesis was in the form of a goose, and Zeus was a swan. Therefore, Nemesis, to put it bluntly, laid an egg. The individual hatched from that egg grew up to be Helen of Troy (of thousand ship launching fame).