Tuesday, 28. November 2006
Windows to the Universe

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An example for The Sun:

In Vedic mythology, Garuda is the king of birds and the enemy of serpents. His body was that of a handsome man with the beak and the talons of a predatory bird. He is associated with the all-consuming sun's rays. Garuda is often depicted with the supreme Hindu god Vishnu and his wife Lakshmi riding on his back flying across the sky.

His father was Kasyapa, one of the seven great sages called the Rishis. Hindu people believe that he has the power to cure those suffering from snake-bite. In one myth, it is said that Garuda stole the water of life, named Amrta. Garuda needed the Amrta to release his mother Vinata, who had been enslaved by her rival Kadru with a subterfuge.


Kadru had asked the elixir of immortality as a ransom. The water of life was the ambrosia of the gods and it was carefully guarded in Indra's heaven. The task appeared impossible to him. Nevertheless, Garuda succeeded and won his mother's freedom. Indra had his thunderbolt broken during the battle.

An example for The Moon:

Diana was an ancient Italian goddess of woodland. In Capua and in Aricia, a locality near Rome, there are still shrines dedicated to the old Italian goddess. Her shrine in Aricia was on the shores of the lake Nemi. For that reason, she was named Diana Nemorensis, Diana of the Woods.

The rites dedicated to her were particularly brutal.

Human sacrifices were offered to the indigenous goddess. Diana's priest was an escaped slave. Every new priest had to kill their predecessors to obtain their offices. At Capua, people believed that the preservation of the city depended on the fate of a long-lived hind sacred to the goddess.

As the result of the influence of the Greek colonies in southern Italy around the sixth century BC, Diana became identified with the Greek goddess of woodland Artemis acquiring the attributes of this latter. For the Greeks, Artemis was also the personification of the Moon and her twin brother Apollo was associated with the Sun. Her father and mother were Jupiter and Latona.

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"Diane Chasseresse" School of Fontainebleau


Windows to the Universe

For thousands of years people have associated objects in the sky, the Earth, and aspects of their physical world with the gods and goddesses of their cultures. Through these pages, find out about the gods and goddesses of different cultures around the world, and the works of art people have created to give them expression.
Category: Astrology & Astronomy | Gods & Goddesses |


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