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

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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 saint of all bandits and thugs. Baron Saturday is depicted as a skeleton or a man in the clothes of a funeral master (black tailcoat and black top hat). Its main symbols are the coffin and the cross. By tradition, the first grave in a new cemetery is always dedicated to Baron Saturday. It is believed that the person in whom this god has taken possession shows intemperance in drinking, food, smoking and sex.

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The main goddess of Sumerian-Akkadian mythology. Initially, Inanna was considered the patroness of food and a symbol of bountiful 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 the harvest, and the goddess of justice, was the patroness of family life, and much more. And what is unusual about her appearance is that this goddess had very earthly and human qualities. She was insidious, fickle, often changed spouses and lovers, and once even sent her husband to the underworld in her place.

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As with many other ancient Greek gods, Pan's origins are unknown. 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. There are more than a dozen such versions in total. Pan was born with goat legs, a long beard and horns, and immediately upon birth began to jump and laugh. The luxurious valleys and groves of Arcadia are the kingdom of Pan, where he frolics in a circle of cheerful nymphs. To the accompaniment of his flute or syringa, cheerful, noisy round dances are held, frightening mortals. At noon, tired from his studies, Pan falls asleep and all of nature falls asleep with him under the sultry rays: this calm was considered sacred and not a single shepherd dared to disturb it by playing the flute, for fear of disturbing the sleep of the patron god.

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Chinnamasta is not a very well-known deity and her cult itself is not very widespread. Nevertheless, her story, and especially her image, is extremely interesting. The classic image 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 streams from her own neck. She stands or sits on 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 were once walking along the river bank. At noon, the hungry companions asked the goddess, “Give us some food, we are hungry.” Hearing this, Chinnamasta, smiling, cut off her own head and fed her companions with streams of blood from her neck and fed herself. Having thus amused herself, she returned her head to its place and assumed her former appearance.

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Tsuku Chen is unusual at least in that she was considered the goddess of... latrines. According to legend, during the reign of Empress Wu Hu, an educated lady named Mei Li Ching 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, caught her concubine in the restroom and killed her. When the empress found out about this, she decided to make this unfortunate goddess the 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 to the goddess as sacrifices.

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 piece of Egyptian funerary and religious literature, containing information about the First Age and the deepest respect the ancient Egyptians had for their gods.

The texts speak of the power and wisdom of these gods, their mysterious “high-tech” devices, and objects of unknown purpose and operating principle. In the attributes of Amun, Nut, Khonsu, Ikha and other numerous gods revered in Egypt in the eras of the Ancient and Early Kingdoms closer to us (3100-2150 BC), nothing like this was found.

"The First to Rule in Egypt"

The ancient Egyptians believed that their civilization and all the knowledge of the priests were 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 surviving, degraded people out of their 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, blue-eyed Ra, grew old and became completely weak.

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

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 decorate the walls, preserving for centuries the image of the civilizing king seated on the throne in the company of his beautiful and mysterious sister Isis. In images of Osiris one can see the spiral ceremonial headdress of the gods of the First Time and fanciful crowns. Particularly interesting is the so-called atef crown.

It was a white combat helmet - a hedget, 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 which we still have no idea about (according to the text - “a divine serpent capable of scatter the enemies"). Two thin metal plates rose from the sides of the helmet, and in front there was some kind of device made of two wavy blades. On several bas-reliefs Osiris is depicted wearing the atef crown.

According to the Book of the Dead, the crown was given to him by Ra: “But on the first day, when Osiris put it on, his head began to hurt painfully, 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 that is so hot that the skin begins to bleed and break out in boils? Over all the years of excavations, archaeologists have not found even a piece of such a headdress!

Osiris wearing Atef crown

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

But when necessary, he showed firmness. When Osiris considered that he had brought order to Egypt, he left the country for many years, transferring rule to Isis. Osiris went on his mission throughout 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 Set 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,” and the goddess was remembered for her spells. She “mastered the art of both the order and the cherished word.” People believed that with just her voice 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 fields of knowledge: "He who knows the heavens, who can count the stars, enumerate everything that is on the Earth, and measure the Earth itself." He combined an ancient scientist and a civilizer.

Timeless Artifacts

The older the dynasty, the greater its technical achievements. According to scientists, the most ancient buildings on Earth include the so-called House of Osiris and a number of other similar buildings. Their supporting structures are made of giant monoliths weighing over 200 tons. And there are hundreds of such blocks! The dimensional accuracy and orientation in space of these grandiose structures is incredible. The power of the ancients is amazing, they were able to deliver Cyclopean blocks from afar and lay them out so exquisitely.

The stone-cutting technique of the ancients is also mysterious. The amazing cutting speed of granite and basalt was determined by the marks 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 internal 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 marks left by an unknown tool

Attributes

An atmosphere of technical (and not safe!) wisdom surrounds the gods of the First Time. The myth tells of a “golden box” in which Ra put his things, including the scepter and uraeus. This box, a powerful and mysterious "talisman", was hidden in a fortress "on the eastern border" of Egypt for many years after Ra's ascension to heaven. When Geb came to power, he ordered the box to be brought and opened. A flame burst out from there, called in the text “the breath of the divine snake,” killed everyone present and fatally burned Heb himself. It seems that this is a distorted description of an accident when some device dangerous to humans malfunctioned (or protection worked?).

The priests gradually lost the ancient knowledge received from the gods. The blue and gold columns of hieroglyphs in the Pyramid Texts contain surprising 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 the skies are described:

“The king is a flame that moves ahead of the wind to the ends of the sky and to the ends of the earth.” From the texts it follows that the 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 heaven on your iron throne...” And there are many such examples.

The Chinese once had a goddess of latrines. 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 By Xy (684–705 AD), when an educated lady named Mei Li Ching became the mistress of a high-ranking government official.

But he was a married man, and his wife, in a fit of wild jealousy, caught her concubine in the restroom and 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 to the goddess as sacrifices. They were made from goldsmiths' scoops.

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 they dressed her in some rags.

Women who worshiped the goddess burned incense, begging the goddess to appear before them with the following phrases: “Your husband is away, your lawful wife is dead, and now, Little Lady, you can appear!” (“Little lady” was a polite way of referring to a wife of second rank in those days.)

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

The Japanese also had a goddess of the toilet (benzhogami), who, among the three main household deities, was directly associated directly with the home. They say that believers asked the goddess of the toilet to protect her from bladder diseases.

Tapeworm Deity

Some peoples in Japan have had strange associations with the tapeworm. They believed that there was a certain deity called Amanjaka in the form of a tapeworm who temporarily resided in the human body. He can only enter it on certain nights and only in his sleep.

On such a night, called “Koshin night,” in their opinion, this worm could crawl out of a person’s body in order to inform the heavenly god about the sins of those people in whose bodies it had visited. It must be said that the tapeworm usually delivered unfavorable messages to God, even if in reality everything was different. To prevent this, people usually stayed awake and did not go to bed during the entire “Koshin night.”

They did not even allow the children to sleep, fearing that a worthless and vile worm might penetrate their bodies. Realizing that only on this night could Amanjaka deliver his message, people gathered the night before to honor this deity. They offered him their gifts, food, water, in order to keep him busy, believing that when the deity had eaten and drunk to his fill, he would become tired and become 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 “Koshin night” it was strictly forbidden to have sex. It was believed that if, as a result of sexual intercourse on this night, a woman became pregnant and gave birth to a child, she would grow up to be a very evil person.

There was also another “Koshin day”, which was very popular among Japanese aristocrats. In the 19th century, noble ladies and courtiers organized a special celebration on this occasion, at which poems 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 lived nine Kumaris. The most revered and famous is the royal kumari.

Living goddess of Nepal

They say that in her hands lies the power and strength of the kingdom of Nepal. Not a single Nepalese king, since the 18th century, has ruled without receiving her blessing.

A 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.

A virgin girl is usually chosen from among the representatives of the goldsmith caste. 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 based on her thirty-two best qualities. Among these requirements are excellent health, clean skin without pockmarks, spots or scars, and the presence of all teeth.

The astrologer will make sure that her horoscope does not diverge from the king's horoscope. A girl must have a strong character, be fearless and balanced. She is fearlessly put to the test when ten candidates, potential kumari, are locked in a dark room full of monstrous masks and freshly cut off buffalo heads, designed, according to the organizers, to properly scare 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 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 is wearing red clothes, her toes are painted red, she looks like a Christmas tree with shimmering precious decorations. Between the square and the now permanent residence of the Kumari, a white narrow path is laid out, along which she walks to her new habitat in the temple. Every day, the royal kumari sits on the throne for three hours, receiving her admirers.

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

The royal kumari resides permanently in the temple during the period of her "appointment", 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 your first period, but an accidental cut or even a scratch can also cause bleeding.

If the guardian notices that the girl has shed even a drop of blood, he immediately informs the king about it. It is widely reported that the girl has 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 guardian, and she 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 known cases where former Kumari vegetated in poverty.

Here's how one traveler describes the house of a 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 and green linoleum. A lonely lamp without a shade hangs from the ceiling. On the walls there is wallpaper faded from time to time. 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 in the role of God

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

The man who was destined to become a god was seated on the altar in the temple. He thus became an object of universal veneration and worship, although before that he could have been just a poor peasant. Believers offered prayers to this man, sincerely believing that he could prevent the plague.

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

Missionaries reported that in the past there was such a god-man on every island and his high position was inherited. If you believe the descriptions they give, 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 man, demanded human sacrifices for himself - such a custom was widespread among the Aztecs and Incas. The God-man regularly received human 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 would immediately deliver to him two or three human sacrifices, who would be 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. The 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, ruled Heaven, and if the rain did not stop according to his wishes, he shot his arrows into the sky, thereby trying to punish Heaven for disobedience.

Sometimes a ruler who had taken 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 battlefields.

One day, legend says, 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 in connection with his self-deification. Then the greatly disappointed king, resigned, renounced his claims and returned to the palace. The people considered some of their kings to be gods and treated them accordingly.

In Thailand, there is a tradition that obliges people to fall on their faces at the place where the king passed, thereby demonstrating their respect to him. When his subjects came to his palace, they had to crawl closer to the royal person.

Even today, when ministers have 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 name the name of god in front of believers, they used the Thai term for “king”.

The king was so deeply respected that people, when talking about him, used a specific language for this purpose. The king's hair, his hands, feet, every part of his body had its own special name. When 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 Japanese Emperor 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 throughout the Universe.

Every year for a month, 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 were absent, that for a whole month all eight hundred gods were in the imperial palace, where they served the emperor, who thus turned into the ruler of the gods.

There were, however, some restrictions for the emperor himself, things that he had no right to afford. He could not touch the ground with his feet, so he was usually carried 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 trim his nails. However, to prevent him from becoming a mess as a result, his servants cleaned the place 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 or infringe on his imperial dignity.”

In ancient times, the life of the god-emperor could not be called easy. Every morning, for several hours in a row, he had to sit on the throne like a statue, without moving his arms, legs or head, without turning his eyes, without moving any part of his body at all. Only in this way, as his subjects imagined, was he able to maintain peace and tranquility in the country.

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

Previously used ones were broken, because if any of the ordinary people dared to eat from this sacred utensil, 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 “father” of all believers who profess Shintoism.

God of the kitchen

One of the most unusual Chinese gods is the god of the kitchen, Xiao Yun Chen. Its image can be seen in any traditional Chinese home. He is a very old man in the garb of a mandarin with a white beard.

The kitchen god is believed to always reside in the kitchen, as this is the best place to observe the behavior of each family member. Believers believe that this god is always busy making secret lists of all the actions performed by family members throughout the year. Both good and bad deeds are recorded in it. At the end of the year, the list is sent to Heaven by the kitchen god.

The Chief God reacts to him accordingly: he has the power 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 report only favorable information about them to the jade emperor in Heaven. At this time, all Chinese offer their gifts to the kitchen god, bringing sticks of incense, sweets and wine to his altar.

Having offered prayers to 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 us peace and security.” At the same time, they fill the cup standing in front of the altar to the brim with wine, being convinced that this god, like a mere mortal, will press his lips to it before a long trip; they expect that the drunken god will forget about their unpleasant actions and present them all in the most favorable light.

In some Chinese villages, there is a custom of smearing 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 kitchen god among the Chinese, representatives of every profession in the country have their own favorite god.

Sometimes an image of the same god can be found both in the home and at work of representatives of different professions, for example, in a police station and in a brothel. Each Chinese family chooses for its 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 who better fulfills his direct duties.

Killing a God

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 respected and respected in society. Such a person was supposed to represent the god to whom he was sacrificed. For a whole year, this “lucky one” was to live among people, and everyone was ordered to treat him like a real god.

This is the legend about human sacrifice to the most powerful Muaztec sun god, Tezcatlipoca.

A person chosen as a god-man had to have a perfect, flawless body: “He should be thin as a reed, straight as 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's what James Fraser says about this:

“Golden jewelry hung from his pierced nostrils, gold bracelets clasped his hands, golden bells jingled 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 paid him homage, including the most noble people, who, like simple servants, brought him food. When he went out into the street, all the residents worshiped him like a real god.

People threw themselves on their faces before him, offered prayers, asked to heal and bless them. Fraser continues:

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

And yet this man was subsequently killed in the most brutal manner.

Despite the fact that everyone treated this temporary god with the greatest respect, he was well aware that one fine 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 agreed to do so. 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 had 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. At each step he had to break one flute from those he played when he represented the sun god on earth. Finally, he reached the top of the pyramid, where several priests responsible for conducting a sacred religious ceremony were already waiting for him.

They immediately grabbed him, laid him on a table-like platform, and one of them cut his chest with a knife, removing his 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 beating and froze, the high priest of the temple announced 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 Mayans and Aztecs, the most unusual appears to have been 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 appease the goddess, to give her true pleasure, according to established custom, it was necessary to kill not one human victim on her altar, but as many as five at a time. The first of them 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 maize harvest, Cinteotl. The rest of the skin was used for his needs by a young man chosen to personify the earthly goddess.

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

It was believed that some gods required horrific, monstrous torture for the victims chosen for their worship, which was carried out before they were finally killed.

For example, in order to satisfy the fire god Siutekutai, it was necessary to sacrifice two newlyweds to him. The priest was tasked with choosing the most beautiful couple among the newlyweds.

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

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

sacred cactus

The Mexican Indians Tsakatek 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 able to withstand the most severe torture only thanks to the intoxicating effects of a special peyote cactus, which he ate before the test.

This modest-looking plant is considered by the Mexican Indians to be the greatest gift of the gods. A small, smooth, thornless cactus has powerful hallucinogenic properties. Once you swallow a few pieces, a person begins to experience such bliss, such pleasant sensations, as if he were not on earth, but in heaven.

Before his closed eyes, picturesque images of an unknown, fantastic world pass in succession, and they have such a strong impact 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. Already in the 1890s, more than fifty Indian tribes living north of the Rio Grande preached the cult of peyote.

To prevent dangerous consequences from using such a potent drug, 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 there was even an American Native Church for peyote worshipers.

The people who preach this cult call themselves Christians, despite the fact that their great spirit is still considered peyote, which serves them as a kind of holy communion. They believe in Christ, but see him as only one of the many holy spirits sent 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 for predicting the future, for regaining lost property, and also for causing rain during drought.

Shamans usually go into a complete trance after drinking peyote. Peyote is so highly valued among the Indian tribes that their representatives sometimes undertake long journeys just to obtain this amazing divine remedy.

Thus, the 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, as a rule, have nothing to eat except the cactus itself.

This trip is usually led by a local shaman, who is the first to discover cactus sprouts among the rocks. Before picking the plant, he shoots an arrow at it from a bow to hit the spirit living in it and prevent it from escaping. Having collected the 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 still happy, happy because they now have a supply of the precious potion - this magical plant - for the whole year ahead.

sacred bear

The Japanese Ainu people are famous for their simply incredible customs and beliefs. They are not ethnically Japanese, but live on islands belonging 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, descending from the sky, saved their people from starvation during a time of great famine. To celebrate such an important event, they organize a special ceremony.

At 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 characterized by terrible cruelty, since the bear was subjected to terrible torture, after which it died.

Usually it was a young bear, specially raised 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 formed a tight ring around the cage of the unfortunate bear, specially selected for this purpose, the person addressed him in the manner prescribed by tradition.

One eyewitness quotes him as saying:

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

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

Then they showered him with a cloud of blunt arrows, just to enrage the animal, but not to cause its death.

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

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

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

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

Despite the fact that they subjected the unfortunate beast to unbearable torture, his tormentors nevertheless did not forget to ask him for forgiveness and special mercy towards them before death: “Ask God for us, may he send us many otters and sables in the winter, and walruses and sables in the summer.” fish are in great abundance. Don’t 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, perhaps the most famous is the female tattoo.

A large, blue tattoo was usually made around the mouth of a young girl, which was 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 husband.

If you looked at the tattooed girl from afar, it seemed that she had a mustache and goatee on her face. Since the operation was considered very painful, the Japanese authorities decided to prohibit it with a special law. Nevertheless, 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 and vengeful. This is the goddess of death and destruction, she is primarily responsible for the plague, cholera, smallpox and other equally terrible epidemics. Traditionally she is depicted as a naked black woman with four arms.

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

Image of the Hindu goddess Kali.

Is it any wonder, then, that only human sacrifices, according to popular belief, could appease and pacify this terrifying goddess? Human sacrifices in her honor, made in annual religious ceremonies, were celebrated as early as the early 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, dressed 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 for him to give him a sign that he was ready to accept death.

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

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

For example, in 1565, a raja named Nara Narayama turned out to be such an ardent and zealous admirer of the bloodthirsty goddess that he cut off 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. British authorities officially banned this cruel custom in 1832.

Although many believe that the bloody ritual has long been eradicated, in India there are still Natik sects who are convinced that only human blood can appease this cruel goddess! There are still occasional reports of human sacrifices in the Indian press, although of course they are extremely rare. On March 17, 1980, the Times of India published a report on 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.

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

Flaying a dead man

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 burying a dead person, it was necessary to remove all the skin from him.

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 groundnuts.

This ritual was carried out in order to prevent the deceased from taking the fertility of the soil with him to another world. 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 garbage.

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

The sons drank a strong drink, standing at their father’s grave, spilling a little intoxicating liquid on the grave and saying the following 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 in secret from time to time as the hijjas stubbornly cling to their religious beliefs.

Gods in various religions are, in principle, extraordinary beings, endowed with various magical properties. But even among them there are those who are more or less normal from a human point of view, and those who are completely strange. Strangeness may manifest itself in the unusual appearance attributed to them, or in unusual properties. It is these 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 saint of all bandits and thugs. Baron Saturday is depicted as a skeleton or a man in the clothes of a funeral master (black tailcoat and black top hat). Its main symbols are the coffin and the cross. By tradition, the first grave in a new cemetery is always dedicated to Baron Saturday. It is believed that the person in whom this god has taken possession shows intemperance in drinking, food, smoking and sex.

The main goddess of Sumerian-Akkadian mythology. Initially, Inanna was considered the patroness of food and a symbol of bountiful 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 the harvest, and the goddess of justice, was the patroness of family life, and much more. And what is unusual about her appearance is that this goddess had very earthly and human qualities. She was insidious, fickle, often changed spouses and lovers, and once even sent her husband to the underworld in her place.

As with many other ancient Greek gods, Pan's origins are unknown. 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. There are more than a dozen such versions in total. Pan was born with goat legs, a long beard and horns, and immediately upon birth began to jump and laugh. The luxurious valleys and groves of Arcadia are the kingdom of Pan, where he frolics in a circle of cheerful nymphs. To the accompaniment of his flute or syringa, cheerful, noisy round dances are held, frightening mortals. At noon, tired from his studies, Pan falls asleep and all of nature falls asleep with him under the sultry rays: this calm was considered sacred and not a single shepherd dared to disturb 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 her image, is extremely interesting. The classic image 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 streams from her own neck. She stands or sits on 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 were once walking along the river bank. At noon, the hungry companions asked the goddess, “Give us some food, we are hungry.” Hearing this, Chinnamasta, smiling, cut off her own head and fed her companions with streams of blood from her neck and fed herself. Having thus amused herself, she returned her head to its place and assumed her former appearance.

Tsuku Chen is unusual at least in that she was considered the goddess of... latrines. According to legend, during the reign of Empress Wu Hu, an educated lady named Mei Li Ching 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, caught her concubine in the restroom and killed her. When the empress found out about this, she decided to make this unfortunate goddess the 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 to the goddess as sacrifices.

The supreme deity of the Babylonian pantheon, patron of Babylon, god of wisdom, ruler and judge of the gods. It is believed that Marduk defeated the embodiment of chaos Tiamat in a difficult battle, driving the “golden wind” into her mouth, and took possession of the book of destinies that belonged to her. After that, he cut Tiamat's body and created Heaven and Earth from them, and then created the entire modern, ordered world. The symbol of Marduk is also interesting - 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 extremely rarely mentioned in Scandinavian myths. And it is interesting primarily for its, let’s say, specialization. Var eavesdropped and recorded people's oaths and promises, and then took revenge on those who broke them. In addition to the usual vows, she was also the goddess of love vows and marriage unions.

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

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

Any religion has in its arsenal a set of parables that explain the basic provisions and norms of correct behavior from the point of view of this religion. And, of course, these parables are not complete without intimidating unscrupulous followers. So, here is a list of the most terrible religious monsters, closely monitoring your actions and just waiting for the chance to pay you a visit.

1. Dybbuks. The spirits of a dead sinner come from Ashkenazi Jewish folklore. Instead of going to eternal rest, the dybbuk, kept in the world of the living by the crimes committed, prefers to inhabit the body of some still living sinner and ruin the life of him and those around him. Dybbuks are analogous to the Catholic demons that priests love to exorcise in Hollywood horror films. Avoiding a meeting with a dybbuk is simple - do not commit sins.

2. Nephilim. Goliath was not the only particularly large man in the Bible. In fact, it is quite possible that he was a descendant of an entire race of biblical giants known as the Nephilim (giants). Theologians disagree about their origins: some believe that the Nephilim descended from Cain, others that they were children from unions between angels and earthly women. But in any case, it is clear that the giants were huge, ferocious creatures that you definitely would not want to mess with.

3. Pretas. Extremely unpleasant characters from Eastern religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. While Western religions have a tradition of linking the rebirth of people into demons with their own sins, pretas (“hungry ghosts”) are hostage to their bad karma, corrupted by previous incarnations. They constantly experience insatiable hunger and thirst, and look like creatures with a small throat and a huge insatiable belly. While the preta is wandering around the earth, his relatives must take care to correct his karma with the help of a special ritual, otherwise there is a danger of this spirit being reborn into an even more evil bhuta.

4. Rakshasas. Another greeting from Buddhism - a cannibal demon. Again, returning to Western religions, we note that in them spirits, as a rule, are endowed with very specific powers: some torture, others threaten, others scare, and others kill. Rakshasas, on the other hand, have a wide range of capabilities: depending on their desire, these monsters can take on any form: be tiny, huge, beautiful, ugly, people, animals. The only constant is that they have huge claws and feed on people. There is no consensus on where they come from, but it is clear why: so that it would be more terrible for decent Buddhists.

5. Jinns. In Islamic mythology, jinn are the only creatures other than humans who have free will. The genies live, as it were, in a parallel world: we don’t see them, but they exist. They are born, get married, produce offspring, and when they die, just like people, they appear before the judgment of Allah. Moreover, the genies are free to believe in its existence or not to believe. There are different types of genies, but the most evil of them are the ifrits: huge, winged, evil and cunning fiends of hell who live underground. And, of course, they serve Iblis - an analogue of Satan.

6. Abaddon. Traditionally used in the texts of Judaism, the word "abaddon", meaning "destruction", later receives a physical embodiment in Christian texts - the angel of extermination, destruction and death. Abaddon is also called "The Destroyer" and "Locust King" in honor of the disasters he caused. According to some texts, Abaddon was originally the angel Muriel, who collected the dust from which God created Adam. According to another version, his main function was to keep an eye on Satan in hell. Later texts describe Abaddon as a demon, sitting on a throne of maggots and commanding an army of locusts that destroys and devours all living things except the righteous and saints.

7. Pishacha. An even more vile creature than the rakshasa. These are the lowest and most evil of all eastern demons. Pishacha is the spirit of a person who has committed a crime during his lifetime, for example, fraud, rape, theft, etc. Pishachas look quite nasty: in many texts they are described as humanoids with black skin, red eyes and bulging veins. What they do is go to places of executions and cemeteries and spoil girls: it was their tricks that were attributed to someone’s unexpected pregnancy.

8. Azi Dahaka. Zoroastrianism, once a thriving world religion, is now found mainly in Iran, Pakistan and India. Azi Dahaka “moved” from it into Iranian folklore, becoming part of it. He is described as having three heads and six eyes. He has known all the sins of the world and is bleeding with snakes and rats. According to the prophecy in the Zoroastrian version of the Apocalypse, all this will end with the fact that before the end of the world, Azi Dahaka will devour all the animals in the world and a third of humanity.

9. Vetale. Unlike other eastern ghosts, vetale prefers to deal not with the living, but with the dead, and literally with corpses. After a vetale takes possession of a corpse, it stops decomposing and walks around the world in the manner of zombies from Central American mythology. The difference is that the vetale is not interested in devouring brains or human flesh. His goal is simply to irritate and torment people out of envy.

10. Hundun. A faceless deity from Chinese folk beliefs, the personification of chaos. Hundun is described as a humanoid creature that resembles a living, shapeless bag with no holes. Hundun primarily promotes evil and avoids good. However, at the moment, his fate has already ended tragically: the gods Hu and Shu, who always considered Hundun a freak, decided that they should drill his eyes, nose and mouth into him. Unfortunately, despite their good intentions, the deity died suddenly after this surgical intervention.

11. Xing Tian. Another Chinese folk myth states that there once lived a giant warrior who served under Emperor Yang. When Yang was defeated by the Yellow Emperor, Xing Tian decided to take revenge and challenged the offender to a duel. During the battle, the Yellow Emperor beheaded Xing Tian and hid his head in the mountains. And this is where the story gets strange. Instead of resting, Xing Tian's body lived and dragged along the ground in search of his head. After a long time of fruitless searching, the warrior gave up and... grew a new head on his body, using nipples instead of eyes and a navel instead of a mouth, turning into an ugly creature, forever rebelling against the gods.

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