Cabeiri
Also known as: Cabiri; Cabyri; Kabeiroi

The Cabeiri were subjects of an ancient Mystery tradition. They remain enigmatic and mysterious today. The three Cabeiri brothers,
spirits of fertility, smithcraft, magic, and the sea, are venerated alongside Heph aestus, who may be their father or grandfather, and their
mother, Cabeiro.
Because little of their mythology survives, the Cabeiri may seem to be minor deities, but they were not. Their Mysteries at
Samothrace were second only to those at Eleusis. (See the Glossary entry on Mystery for further information.) Endangered sailors
invoking their protection called them "great gods." Allegedly the Cabeiri protect against shipwreck and drowning.
The Cabeiri were venerated on the Greek mainland, at Thrace and in Phrygia in what is now modern Turkey, but the epicenter of
their veneration was the Northern Aegean islands of Lemnos and Samothrace, which were not originally ethnically Greek but were
conquered and colonized by Athens starting in the sixth century BCE. Devotion to the Cabeiri predated the arrival of the Greeks and
was adopted enthusiastically.
Various groups of divine smiths, many possessing very similar myths, were venerated throughout Greece and Anatolia,
including the Cabeiri, Curetes, Corybantes, Daktyls, and Telchines. Their names are sometimes used interchangeably, adding
to confusion. All are associated with Mystery traditions, fertility, Mother Goddesses, and, in many cases, protection of an
endangered Divine Child. Information was always reserved for initiates, and so it's now very difficult to determine whether
they are similar but distinct spirits or different regional names for the same spirits. These names may also refer to clans, secret
craft guilds, or ethnic groups.

Their origin is unknown. Cabeiri is not a Greek name but is generally believed to be Lemnian, a now extinct language possibly related
to Etruscan. Another theory suggests that they are named after and maybe come from Mount Cabeiros in what is now modern Turkey,
once a center of devotion to Kybele. Yet another theory suggests that Cabeiri is a Sumerian or Semitic name.
M anifestation: The Cabeiri are described as "dwarfs."
Rituals: Because the Cabeiri were the subject of Mysteries, much information is lost. What survives are descriptions of raucous
rituals, involving drinking lots of wine out of special ceremonial cups decorated with images resembling the Egyptian deity Bes with a
big, erect phallus. Cups were eventually smashed as part of the ritual.
Emblem: Phallic symbols
Animal: Crab (their pincers resemble smith's tongs)
Offerings: The Cabeiri are allegedly heavy consumers of wine; also first fruits of the season; metal smith's tools; phallic images
See also: Bes; Cabeiro; Dactyls; Kedalion; Telchines; Hephaestus

Cabeiro

Also known as: Kabeiro; Kabira

Cabeiro, mother of the Cabeiri, was venerated in Northern Aegean Mystery traditions. Surviving myth suggests that she was a local
Nymph, daughter of the sea, who married Hephaestus. Cabeiro may or may not be the same spirit as the Nymph Kapheira, also a
daughter of the sea. According to one myth, Kronos did not swallow baby Poseidon. Instead Rhea rescued him, hiding him in a cave on
the island of Rhodes, where Kapheira served as his guardian and wet nurse. When the Hellenic Greeks arrived in the Northern Aegean,
they identified Cabeiro with
Aphrodite, Demeter, Hekate, and Rhea. These goddesses are very different from each other, indicating that Cabeiro was
multifaceted and not easy to pigeonhole.
See also: Aphrodite; Cabeiri; Demeter; Hephaestus; Kronos; Nymph; Poseidon; Rhea; Telchines

Caboclo

In Spiritist traditions of Brazil, Caboclos are the souls of indigenous Brazilians, especially inhabitants of the Amazonian forests. They
are deified ancestors of individuals and the Brazilian nation. Caboclos are hunters, warriors, healers, and shamans. There are male and
female Caboclos. (Females are Caboclas.) Caboclo children are called Caboclinhos. There are an infinite number of Caboclo spirits,
and although some are famous, most are known only to the mortals with whom they communicate. Thus every person may work with a
different Caboclo.
Caboclos communicate via spirit mediums as well as directly to individuals. They appear in dreams or visions. Caboclos are
extremely active, vigorous, and articulate spirits. They are excellent communicators, adept at offering guidance and advice.
In non-mystic circles of Brazil, the term Caboclo is sometimes used to refer to people of mixed African and indigenous
ancestry and may be considered derogatory. However, in the context of spiritual traditions like Umbanda and Macumba ,
Caboclo refers exclusively to spirits of Brazilian Indians and is spoken with respect.

Caboclos possess their own realm called Jurema, a mythic paradise in the mato, the Brazilian jungle, presided over by the Cabocla
goddess Jurema. An alternative scenario suggests that they dwell in the realm of Aruanda with another family of Brazilian spirits, the
Pretos Velhos. ( Aruanda's name derives from Luanda, once a major slaving port in Angola and the point of embarkation for many
Pretos Velhos.)
In Yoruba-oriented traditions, Oxossi is chief of Caboclos.
Altars: If at all possible, offerings are given outdoors, ideally near trees or even hung from trees. If this is not possible, create an
indoor forest for them via houseplants. Place food offerings on mats set on the floor so that they can sit and eat.
Sacred animals: Amazonian animals in general, but especially snakes
Offerings: Roast corn; plantains; pineapples; melons; tobacco, especially cigars
See also: Caboclo of the Seven Crossroads; Jurema; Ochossi; Pretos Velhos

Caboclo of the Seven Crossroads
Also known as: Caboclo das Sete Encruzilhadas (Portuguese)

In the early twentieth century, conventional medical treatment failed to heal the paralysis suffered by a young man from Rio de
Janeiro named Zélio de Morais. His father, seeking spiritual solutions, brought Zélio to the Brazilian Spiritist Federation. It was a time o

conflict among Brazilian spiritualists. Brazilian Spiritualism is based on the teachings of Allan Kardec and is known as Spiritism. Kardec
was from France; the system originated in Europe. Some wished to keep the tradition exclusively European and white; others wished to
incorporate African practices.
As a result of colonialism and slavery, tremendous numbers of Africans and Indians had suffered death and inadequate funeral rites on
Brazilian soil, yet their souls were not honored or propitiated. Although many practitioners of Kardecian Spiritism were of African or
mixed descent, attempts to honor or incorporate souls of deceased Africans or Indians into Spiritist traditions were officially rebuffed.
Rather than being given respect, they were insulted and described as "low spirits."
At the Federation, Zélio received a visitation from a spirit identifying himself as a Jesuit priest, who revealed that Zélio's illness
indicated his spiritual mission to found a brand-new Brazilian tradition, which would incorporate devotion and propitiation of Caboclos,
souls of Brazilian Indians, and Pretos Velhos, souls of Africans enslaved in Brazil. The Jesuit told Zélio to await further instruction.
Zélio went home and miraculously recovered. Shortly afterward, he received a visitation from a spirit identifying himself as the
Caboclo of the Seven Crossroads, several centuries old. He told Zélio to found a new religion called Umbanda incorporating indigenous
Brazilian, European, and African spirits and promised to reveal doctrines and rituals. Soon after, Zélio de Morais officially inaugurated
Umbanda. Many consider Seven Crossroads to be the patron and spirit founder of Umbanda. He continues to communicate with spirit
mediums.
See also: Caboclo; Pretos Velhos

Caer Ibormeith

Yew Berry
Origin: Ireland

Angus Mac Og, Lord of Love, fell asleep, dreamed of a mysterious, beautiful woman, and fell in love. He reached out to embrace
her in his dreams, but the vision evaporated. She returned the next night and the next, and Angus began to pine away for love. Irony of
ironies: how could the Lord of Love die of heartbreak? A major search for Angus' dream woman was organized, coordinated by his
parents, Boann and the Dagda. Finally she was discovered standing by a lake as beautiful as in his dream, surrounded by three times
fifty maidens all linked together by a silver chain.
Her name was Caer Ibormeith (Yew Berry), and she was clearly no ordinary woman. Angus did the polite thing and asked her father
for Caer's hand in marriage. Her father explained that it was impossible. Caer is a shape-shifter, changing back and forth from female to
swan along with her maidens.
No love is impossible for Angus. He conferred with the Dagda and then went to wait by the shores of the lake where the swan horde
was anticipated. They arrived on Samhain (31 October). Caer promised to be Angus' bride if he, too, would become a swan. He
agreed; she transformed him, and the two flew happily off together. They flew three times around the lake; then flew off to Angus'
palace where they resumed human form. They still live happily ever after in any form they choose.
The love story of Angus and Caer was written down in the eighth century after Ireland's conversion to Christianity. Old myths were
loved and recorded so as not to be forgotten, but divine aspects of characters were downplayed. Caer is an ancient swan goddess, a
fitting mate for the Lord of Love. (Legend has it that swans mate for life, and so their coupling is an example to all.)
She is a mysterious primordial spirit: when Angus describes his dreams to the other deities, they don't recognize her. Although in
modern mythology books, Caer is a footnote, mentioned only as Angus' consort; it is Caer who approaches Angus in his dreams; Caer
who sets the terms for their marriage; and Caer who transforms Angus into a swan.
Caer has powerful associations with death:
• Yew berries are highly poisonous and are favored weapons in old British murder mysteries.
• Swans are among creatures serving as psychopomps: spirits who guide dead souls to their next destination. Caer's dual identity
indicates her power over life and death. She is a beautiful, fertile, magical woman while simultaneously a death goddess.
Color: White
Bird: Swan

Tree: Yew, a funerary tree
Place: Caer presides over Newgrange (Brugh na Boinne).
Day: 31 October, the festival of Samhain, precursor to Halloween. The ancient Celtic calendar was divided into two halves: the
light half and the dark. Samhain inaugurates the dark half of the year.

Offerings: Images of swans; mead; jewelry and perfume with which to adorn herself for her lover. Don't offer or handle yew
berries: they're deadly poisonous.
See also: Angus Mac Og; Boann; Dagda, the; Psychopomp; Swan Goddesses

Callisto

The Great Bear
Also known as: Kallisto; Themisto
Origin: Greece

Callisto is a Nymph and a close companion of Artemis. She may be her lover, best friend, or alter ego.
Zeus in the form of a wolf had sex with Callisto. Later myths suggest she was raped, but in the earliest versions, sex was consensual
and may even have been sacred: union occurred in the temple where he was worshipped in the guise of a wolf. Artemis did not take this
well. She either kills Callisto or transforms her into a bear.
That's the Classical Greek myth. Scholars suggest that Callisto is a particularly ancient goddess from the Arcadia region of Greece
who predates her Greek myth. No transformation may have been needed: Callisto is a primordial bear goddess. She already was a
bear. Callisto may be an early incarnation of Artemis or her ally from pre-Hellenic days before the arrival of Zeus.
The Hellenic Greeks did not particularly like deities in the form of animals. The concept of a sacred bear didn't necessarily appeal to
them. Callisto came with territory they conquered; they may have preferred the explanation that her bear form was a punishment. Before
she died, if she died, Callisto gave birth to Zeus' son, Arcas. Another version of the myth has her roaming Arcadia in the form of a
voiceless bear (a plain bear; not a spirit bear) until Zeus transfers her to the sky as the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear.
Callisto was venerated as an ancestral spirit. The Arcades from Arcadia (the "bear folk") traced their descent from Arcas. She is
invoked as a fierce guardian spirit on behalf of people and bears. She is also a spirit of transformation.

Iconography: She wears a bearskin in paintings from Delphi. Fifth-century BCE coins minted in Greece depict Callisto in the form
of a bear. Coins from fourth-century BCE Orchomenos show Artemis shooting a girl, identified as Callisto.
Constellation: Zeus transported Callisto and Arcas to the sky, allegedly to prevent Arcas the hunter from unknowingly killing his
own mother. Callisto is the Great Bear, and Arcas is Arcturus, brightest star in the constellation Bootes, the bear watcher.
Sacred site: Callisto's Tomb near Trikolonoi, Arcadia, was eventually topped by a sanctuary of Artemis.
Offerings: Honey, berries, sweet foods, spring water, images of bears
See also: Artemis; Black Madonna of Orcival; Dione; Maia; Nymph; Zeus: Zeus Lykaios

Calunga

Mother of the Waters

Also known as: Kalunga
Origin: Congolese; Bantu
Calunga is a Congolese spirit of death and the sea. The word
Calunga literally means "sea" but has implications in Congolese
cosmology beyond salty watery depths. Calunga also refers to the realm of the ancestors. The realm of death in many African traditions
is located beneath the sea. The ocean is associated with fertility, abundance, and death. Goddess Calunga presides over this realm.
What is called the Calunga Line is the watery frontier between the visible and invisible worlds, the threshold between realms of life
and death. Calunga the goddess rules that line and controls that frontier. She is among the most respected and feared deities because
she transcends divisions that stymie others, human and spirit alike. There are no barriers to Calunga's power. At one time, she was
considered a supreme deity. She remains the epitome of the protective mother, so powerful that she cannot help but be threatening even
if she doesn't seek to be. She is the great mother of the sea, guardian of life and death.
Calunga made a sea change while crossing the waters from Central Africa to Brazil with the slave trade, emerging as a male spirit. In
Brazil, Calunga Grande ("Big Calunga") refers to the ocean; Calunga Pequena ("Little Calunga") refers to the graveyard.
Element: Water
See also: Agwé; Pomba Gira

Calypso

She Who Conceals
Also known as: Kalypso

Calypso, daughter of Atlas, lives on an extremely remote island, Ogygia, far from mortals or deities. (According to Homer, anyway:
the not quite so remote Maltese island of Gozo claims to be her residence.) Calypso is most famous for her part in Homer's Odyssey.
Shipwrecked Odysseus lives on Calypso's paradise island for seven years as her lover. In the
Odyssey, Calypso is described as a
Nymph and a goddess. Odysseus calls her the "dread goddess with human speech."
Calypso offered Odysseus immortality if he stayed with her, but he chose to return to his home and wife. Although Calypso
attempted to keep him anyway, Zeus sent Hermes to tell Calypso to release Odysseus. She helped him build a boat and sent him on his
way.
Calypso is an ancient, pre-Olympian goddess. Her offer of immortality to Odysseus was sincere. This goddess of love, beauty, and
seductionhas powers over life and death. Calypso may have had a liaison with Hermes. She is matron of those who are selective with
lovers, who seek only true love or particularly exciting liaisons, who'd rather be alone than with the wrong person.

Calypso, her garden, and her long affair with Odysseus are favorite subjects of artists, including Max Beckmann and
Arnold Böcklin. Vanessa Williams is Calypso in Andrei Konchalovsky's 1997 television miniseries, The Odyssey.
M anifestation: She is described as eternally beautiful.
Tree: Poplar
Realm: Calypso lives in a cave, which opens into a garden with wildflowers; fruiting vines, poplar, and cypress trees; and four
fountains.
Sacred site: Calypso Cave on the Mediterranean island of Gozo
See also: Atlas; Circe; Hermes; Zeus

Camazotz

Snatch Bat; Death Bat
Also known as: Zotz
Origin: Maya

Long before Dracula, there was Camazotz, spirit of death in the form of a bat. Camazotz is the servant of the Lord of Death. He
leads the nightly arrival of twilight, the time when bats emerge from their caves.
Camazotz first appears on the stage of history among the Zapotec of Oaxaca, Mexico, but was incorporated into the pantheon of the
Quiché Maya of Guatemala. In the Mayan sacred text, thePopul Vuh, Camazotz decapitates the hero, Hunahpu.
His name literally translates as "snatch bat," and archaeologists suggest that Camazotz is a sacred vampire. He is identified with
various species, including the common vampire (Desmodus rotundus) or the false vampire (Vampyrum spectrum), the largest Western
Hemisphere bat. Some now connect Camazotz with recent fossils of a giant vampire bat (Desmodus draculae) or the chupacabra.
Favored people: Bat and vampire lovers
M anifestations: Camazotz may have a bat's head on a human male body, or he may manifest as a
really big bat. Because his
nose is described as being like a flint knife, there is some speculation that he is a leaf-nosed bat, as for example, the false vampire
(Vampyrum spectrum).

Camunda
Origin: India
Camunda, dread goddess, is venerated and propitiated in Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Her name derives from Canda and
Munda, the two Ashuras she slew. Camunda, demon killer, has the power to destroy the world with one glance. She dances the Dance
of Destruction while playing a musical instrument whose neck is holy Mount Meru and whose gourd is the crescent moon. Her
instrument is strung with the cosmic serpent. On a more mundane level, Camunda inflicts and heals disease. Those who venerate her
receive her blessings of courage. Camunda sponsors practitioners of witchcraft and sorcery. She bestows victory over one's enemies
and success in war.
Camunda is identified with Parvati and Dur ga, but she is also venerated as an independent goddess in southern India.

M anifestation: Flames shoot from Camunda's three eyes. She has four arms. She wears a garland of skulls and is covered with
snakes. She travels with an entourage of demons.
Iconography: Camunda stands atop a corpse, lion, or owl.
Attributes: Chalice and knife
Element: Fire
Color: Red
See also: Ashura; Durga; Kali; Parvati; Shiva

Candelina

Also known as: Candelina Sedifé; Candela
Classification: Lwa; Metresa
Candelina may be Candelo's sister, wife, or female alter ego. The nature of her relationship with Candelo evokes strong feelings
from devotees who argue passionately about whether she is wife or sister. If they are married, then they may have two children,
Candelito and Candelita, son and daughter respectively. They may all be venerated together. Candelina is a benevolent and generous
lwa who protects and guides her devotees. Although she has a temper, she is not as spectacularly fiery as Candelo. Candelina is
syncretized to the Black Madonna of Candelaria.
Color: Red
Sacred day: Candelina is honored at the Feast of Candelaria/Candlemas on 2 February.

Offerings: Scarlet lipstick; red clothing, fabric, and jewelry; perfume in red bottles like Christian Dior's Hypnotic Poison or
Cacharel's Amor Amor; red wine; red soda; hibiscus tea; add a little Florida Water and dark rum to a glass of dark beer and then offer
it to her. (Don't drink it yourself; Florida Water is an eau de cologne and not for human consumption.)
See also: Black Madonna of Candelaria; Candelo; Lwa; Metresa; Twenty-one Divisions

Candelo
Also known as: Candelo Sedifé; Papa Candelo
Classification: Lwa
Feast: 4 November

Candelo is an extremely popular Dominican lwa. Originating on the island of Hispaniola, comprising Haiti and the Dominican Re
public, he is now well known throughout the Spanish Caribbean and the United States.
Once upon a time, Candelo may have been an enslaved African forced to labor on a sugar plantation. He was a font of knowledge
regarding African religious, spiritual, and mystic traditions; others came to consult him and benefit from his expertise. Candelo also made
and sold potent firewater, another reason people flocked to him.
Candelo, now a powerful spirit, no longer enslaved, roams Dominican streets at night, playing dice and cards, and attending
cockfights. (Another version suggests that he was never truly enslaved or completely human: his spirit took human form to comfort
enslaved Africans and provide spiritual guidance.)
Candelo is an old, wise miracle worker who may theoretically be petitioned for anything, but his specialties involve improved luck,
business, and finances. He is invoked to ward off or alleviate poverty. Candelo is a classicist who strongly prefers that rituals be
performed carefully and correctly. He has a temper. He is not a spirit for the dabbler or the inexperienced.
Although frequently described as a severe spirit, Candelo has a lively side, too. He loves dancing. He likes the ladies. He enjoys
pyrotechnics, too. Because Candelo essentially is fire, it is crucial to be extra cautious with fire safety when honoring or invoking him, as
he has a tendency to announce his presence with conflagrations. His friend and compatriot Belié Belcan is syncretized to Michael
Archangel. Michael offers protection from fire, and so Belié exerts a balancing effect on Candelo. They are frequently venerated
together. (Don't be careless with candles or flaming alcohol offerings anyway.)
Favored people: Candelo protects women and children; he is the patron of cockfighters and those born under fire signs.
Attribute: Machete
Element: Fire
Bird: Rooster

Color: Red
Plants: Basil, rue
Offerings: Candelo is intensely fiery: offerings of alcohol, like rum or Florida Water, are traditionally set alight. He likes tobacco
products such as cigars or cigarettes. Light them for him when presenting.
See also: Belié Belcan; Candelina; Michael Archangel;and the Glossary entry for Syncretism

Cao Guo-Jiu
Also known as: Royal Uncle Cao; Cao Guojiu
Origin: China

Cao Guo-Jiu is the most recent addition to the party of spirits known as the Eight Immortals. There are strikingly different versions
of how he came to attain this role.
Before Cao Guo-Jiu was an Immortal, he was a powerful and very well connected courtier.
His father was a prominent military commander. His sister married one emperor and was the mother of another. Cao Guo-Jiu was the
uncle of a Song Dynasty emperor.
In one version, Cao Guo-Jiu just wasn't suited for court life or, as an honest man, he disapproved of the corruption he witnessed. He
abandoned court for a quiet, ascetic, meditative existence devoted to learning. Another version suggests he left court because his
younger brother was a libertine and murderer. In shame and sadness, Cao Guo-Jiu, an extremely ethical man, the opposite of his
brother, resigned his imperial post and embarked on a life as a holy man.
In yet another version, although Cao Guo-Jiu disapproved of his brother, his priority was protection of their family honor. When he
learned that his brother had murdered a man in order to possess his wife, Cao Guo-Jiu ordered the woman arrested and executed so as
to eliminate any witness who could sully their family name. Miraculously rescued by a celestial being, the woman petitioned the imperial
court for justice and damages. Again, Cao Guo-Jiu had her arrested and sentenced to death. Again, she was miraculously rescued. This
time, she was allowed to plead her case with the court. The brother was executed and Cao Guo-Jiu placed in the stocks for months.
When finally released, he abandoned all his worldly goods, left court, and headed for the mountains to repent. He lived in a cave and
devoted himself to the Tao. His repentance was so sincere that eventually Lu Tong-pin and Zhong Li-Quan invited him to join the
Immortals.
Favored people: He is the patron of those in theatrical professions as well as those who, ashamed of their past, seek salvation and
expiation and desire to make amends.
Iconography: Cao Guo-Jiu is depicted as an elderly, bearded man wearing traditional Chinese imperial court dress. He carries a
tablet that gains him admission to the imperial court.
Attributes: Jade tablet; castanets
Animal: The Qilin or Chilin, also known as the "Chinese unicorn," which is emblematic of perfect righteousness
See also: Chang Kuo Lao; Eight Immortals

Caointeach

The Keener

Also known as: Caoineag

The Caointeach of the Western Highlands is a Scottish equivalent of Ireland's Banshee. She is attached to a clan who comes to
mourn prior to a death, hence serving as a harbinger. She is usually heard crying, weeping, and wailing several days before a death in the
family. She keens, a word related to her name, the ancient Celtic mode of mourning. Like the Banshee, the Caointeach is a
psychopomp, a spirit who provides escort service to the world beyond.
Clans and families associated with the Caointeach include the Curries, Duffies, MacDonalds, Macmillans, Mackays, Macfarlanes,
Mathisons, and Shaws. The Caointeach of Clan MacDonald was heard to wail for several nights prior to the Massacre at Glencoe in
1692.
M anifestation: In general, the Caointeach is heard, not seen; she is described as child-sized and wearing a green shawl or dress.
See also: Banshee; Cyhyraeth; Psychopomp

Car
Also known as: Kar; Khar; Ker; Kher; Q'ar
Car is a great goddess of life, death, and the sun. She is a primordial cave mother, akin to Kybele or Echidna, who emerges from her
cave daily to drive the chariot of the sun across the sky, returning to the depths of Earth at night. The word
chariot and its derivative
car may derive from her name. Her vehicle would survive but with new drivers like Helios or Apollo.
Pay attention: if you start to look and listen for Car's sacred syllable, you will find it everywhere. Car's ubiquity is among
the mysteries of Katherine Neville's 1989 novel, The Eight.

Her origins date back at least as far as the Neolithic. She seems to have first emerged in North Africa and was widely venerated
throughout Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, and the Sahara. She may have been their preeminent deity: Arab commentators called her "Libya,"
indicating that she was the mother of that region, their presiding goddess. Devotees carried her devotion far and wide.
The syllable Car is ubiquitous among place-names and the names of goddesses. Speculation and debate exists as to whether all
derive from the same primordial spirit. Although impossible to prove definitively, the following are among the many places possibly
associated with Car:
• Carthage (allegedly founded by her priestess Elissa; also known as Dido)
• Carchemish
• Carcassonne
• Khartoum
• Carmel
• Khardaia (Algeria)
• Carnac (Brittany)
• Karnak (Egypt)
• Carnutes (Gaulish tribe)
• Chartres
• Carnuntum (on the Danube)
• Caraalis (now Cagliari, capital of Sardinia)
• Carpathians
• Corsica
• Caria (now modern Turkey)
Car may or may not be identical to (or the progenitor of) spirits like Kore, Ceres, Carna, Cardea, Carmenta, and Karina. (See their
individual entries.) Other words with which she is associated include cardiac, carmine, carnal , and karma. She may be the spirit of
sacred songs or carols.
Car remains a primordial force lurking in caves. She was beloved and venerated for millennia. Spirits who do not provide blessings or

at least some positive, benevolent gifts are rarely venerated for long.
Car is also a death goddess. She may be the earliest manifestation of Kore as an underworld goddess, older than Hades or even
Demeter. In Homer's Iliad, fierce Car drags the dead from the battlefield.
According to Greek myth, Car's son, Phoenix, was the ancestor of the Phoenicians, who are named after him. Their father is
Poseidon. (This is a Greek myth, not a Phoenician one.Phoenician was the Greek name for the Canaanites. The myth explains how the
Greeks viewed their seafaring neighbors, worshippers of a primeval goddess, not necessarily how the Phoenicians envisioned
themselves.)
M anifestation: According to the Iliad, Car is black, fanged, and dressed in red.
Color: Carmine
Planet: The sun and possibly also the moon: scholarly debate rages.
Sacred bird: Phoenix, the solar bird
See also: Apollo; Echidna; Helios; Keres; Kybele; Poseidon

Cardea
Origin: Italy

In Latin, cardo is a door hinge or pivot. Cardea is the goddess of hinges. She controls the opening and closing of doors, literal and
metaphorical. Ovid says her power is to open what is closed and close what is open. Cardea chooses whom to admit. Because of this
power, she is invoked to protect children from malevolent powers. She can block their path so they can't reach their victims.
Conversely, Cardea is petitioned to open doors to good fortune, opportunity, and success.
Hinges are physically attached to doors. Janus, Lord of Doors, was so enamored with Cardea (who may or may not originally have
been Carna) that he made her the goddess of hinges so that she would always cling to him. They may be venerated together.
Tree: Hawthorn (place a branch over or beside a child's bed or cradle to beseech Cardea's blessings and protection)
See also: Car; Carna; Janus

Carmenta
Also known as: Carmentia; Carmentis
Origin: Greece
Carmenta, the original Charmed One, was born in Arcadia, Greece, where she was known as Nicostrata. She moved to Italy and
changed her name, emerging as the goddess of prophecy. Carmenta sings the future and the past. The word charm, meaning a spoken
or sung magic spell, derives from her name. She is the goddess of charms.
Carmenta traveled to Italy with her son, Evander, whose father was Hermes. Evander is credited as the founding father of Greek
colonies in Italy, the first to bring Greek culture and myth to Italy. Carmenta is credited with inventing the Latin alphabet. Her Roman
shrine was beside the Porta Carmentalis, the Gate of Carmenta.
In Italy, Carmenta also emerged as a sacred midwife who protects women in childbirth. Carmenta is a goddess of higher learning and
may be invoked for help with academic issues, including exams and admissions. Although the majority of Car menta's celebrants were
women, she is not exclusively a women's goddess.
Consort: Hermes

Rituals: Present petitions in the form of rhymes or incantations, i.e., charms.
Sacred dates: Her festival, the Carmen talia, was celebrated from 11 January through 15 January (rituals are held on the first and
last days).
Offerings: In the twenty-first century, the word charm has the additional and now more common meaning of a small amulet, as in
the charms attached to a bracelet. Offer charms in the form of what you desire or for what you'd like to express thanks. Carmenta
drinks Carménère wine.
See also: Car; Hermes

Carna
Origin: Italy
Feast: 1 June
Carna is the flesh goddess, the carnal queen. She is the goddess who controls the functioning of the body, including the ability to
obtain nourishment from food and the pleasures of the flesh. Although Carna has dominion over the entire corporeal form, she is
particularly associated with inner organs, especially the heart, liver, and lungs. Invoke her assistance with any health issues. She is also
petitioned to strengthen health and body in general, especially in terms of the digestive system.
Carna may be invoked to help those suffering from eating disorders obtain nourishment and establish a healthy
relationship with food.

According to one myth, Janus was so taken with the carnal goddess that he transformed her into Cardea, goddess of hinges, the
better to keep her always near.
Rituals: Romans traditionally ate hot bacon and beans cooked with farro (emmer wheat) on Carna's feast day.
Sacred site: Carna had a grove beside the Tiber River.
Offerings: She was traditionally offered flour ground from fava beans.
See also: Cardea; Janus

Carrefour, Maitre

Master of the Crossroads
Also known as: Kalfu; Mèt Kalfou
Origin: Haiti
Classification: Lwa
Maitre Carrefour, master and guardian of the crossroads, may be the alter ego of Eshu Elegbara, his mirror image, shadow side, or
nocturnal counterpart. Eshu Elegbara (Leg ba; Elegba) is a solar spirit. Maitre Carrefour emerges with the moon. Papa Legba is a

trickster: Maitre Carrefour is a trickster taken to exponential extremes. Crossroads are places of decisions; the roadchosen (or not) can
impact one's entire life. Be careful: crossroads spirits are invoked to point you to the right road or direction. If Maitre Carrefour is
feeling tricky, he may point you in the wrong direction or make you lose your way. Crossroads are favorite haunts of witches, spirits,
and ghosts: those magical crossroads are under Maitre Carrefour's jurisdiction. Maitre Carrefour walks the crossroads at night, in the
company of malevolent spirits. He is their master and gatekeeper.
Maitre Carrefour controls comings and goings of ghosts and malevolent spirits. Carrefour unleashes the secret spirits of the night: he
may be petitioned to keep them far from you. He is, however, usually a spirit of last resort. Don't invoke him until other avenues and
attempts have failed. He is a great, powerful, and potentially dangerous spirit: never summon him for trifles. Don't get too comfortable or
familiar with him. He is the master. It is not necessarily to your benefit to attract his attention without very good reason. If you feel you
need him, it may be advisable to request the services of a reputable Vodou priest or priestess (houngan; mambo) to intercede for you.
Maitre Carrefour is an aggressive, effective spirit. He works quickly, and so devotees love him. There are no demons that he cannot
command. However, he also punishes quickly: he's not a good-natured, patient spirit. Never promise him what you're not absolutely
certain you can deliver immediately.
Maitre Carrefour is not a spirit for beginners. He doesn't care whether you're just learning. Pleas for mercy may have little effect. He
has a cold nature; hence he can behave cruelly although he does possess a sense of justice. He is not an evil spirit per se but a hardened,
tough one. He didn't get to be master of evil spirits by being nice. He is a brilliant, quick-thinking, tricky spirit: don't even think of
outwitting him.
Maitre Carrefour is petitioned to keep malignant spirits, ghosts, and people far from you. He can break hexes, curses, and spells. If
sorcerers have set ghosts or spirits after you, Maitre Carrefour can redirect them and prevent them from drawing near. Maitre Carrefour
owns the night: there's little he can't do.
• Maitre Carrefour is the Bizango counterpart to Legba, the first invoked in rituals and ceremonies.
• He is syncretized to Saint Andrew, the vampire saint.
• Carrefour is sometimes classified among the Barons, in which context he is Baron Carrefour (French) or Bawon Kalfou
(Kreyol).
Animal: Black pig
Color: Black
Numbers: 3, 7
Time: Night
Planet: Carrefour is the sun at midnight and the moon to Legba's noonday sun.
Altars: Maitre Carrefour typically has his own altars, not shared with other spirits.
Offerings: Rum set ablaze (be careful!); cigars; lace his food generously with hot sauce, cayenne, or habanero powder.
See also: Barons; Bizango Spirits; Eshu Elegbara

Castalia
Origin: Greece
Castalia is a spirit of water, prophecy, knowledge, purification, and divine inspiration. She is the presiding goddess of the Castalian
Springs, which emerge from a ravine on Mount Parnassus near the Oracle of Delphi. The Castalian
Springs were an integral part of Delphic rituals. Pilgrims, all who wished to consult the oracle, and contestants in the Pythian Games
were required to wash their hair at the Castalian Springs before continuing to the shrine. The water was used to cleanse the shrine and
served as drinking and bathing water for the Delphic priestesses.
When Apollo arrived in Delphi, Castalia already presided over the spring, although classical Greek myth suggests otherwise.
According to myth, Castalia, a daughter of Achelous, preferred to commit suicide by leaping into the spring rather than submit to

Apollo's embrace. Apollo named the springs in her honor. The Castalian Springs were placed under the dominion of Apollo and the
Muses. Drinking the waters of Castalia allegedly bestows the gift of poetry and creative inspiration.
Sacred sites: Her springs are still accessible and may be sipped from. Two fountain houses fed by the springs survive. The older,
from the early sixth century BCE, displays benches where people sat around the marble-lined basin. A later fountain features niches
carved into the rock wall where votive offerings to Castalia were placed.
See also: Achelous; Apollo; Daphne; Muse

Castor and Pollux
See: Dioscuri

Centella Ndoki
Also known as: Centella Endoki; Mari wanga; Mama Wanga; Mama Huanga
Origin: Congolese
Centella Ndoki is a spirit of the Afro-Caribbean spiritual tradition, Palo. She is the owner of the cemetery, gatekeeper of the portal
between life and death. She is the Queen of the World, among the most powerful forces in the universe, if not the most powerful.
Because Palo rituals may involve working with dead souls, Centella Ndoki is an exceptionally significant spirit in this tradition. She may
or may not be the same spirit as Oya. Like Oya, Centella Ndoki has associations with the marketplace and storms as well as the
graveyard.
In traditional Congolese culture, ndoki refers to someone possessing great reserves of magic power. The power is neutral;
it may be used for good or ill depending on the desires and intent of the individual.

Home: Present petitions and offerings in the graveyard; that's where you'll find her.
See also: Oya

Ceres
Origin: Italy

Ceres is the original Corn Mother, Goddess of Grain. Scholars now believe grains were first cultivated for the purpose of brewing
beer, not baking bread, and so Ceres is also a goddess of intoxication. She presides over the fertility and abundance of plants, people,
and animals.
Ceres may or may not be the same spirit as the mysterious, primordial goddess Car. Her name is believed to derive from a root word
meaning "growth." Related words include kernel, cereal, and cerveza (beer).
Ceres, the Italian Corn Mother, eventually became profoundly identified with Demeter and has become somewhat subsumed by that
Greekgoddess. Often the name Ceres is used when Demeter is intended. The two were originally distinct spirits. Because she was
identified with Demeter, her associations with Proserpina were eventually emphasized, but Ceres was originally venerated alongside
Liber and Libera, with whom she shared a temple in the Circus Maximus. Her constant companion is Tellus Mater, Mother Earth.

Ceres is literally an earthy goddess, beloved by the masses. She was a highly significant and respected spirit: the Sibylline Prophesies
recommended an annual fast honoring Ceres to ensure an abundant harvest and avoid famine. She is also a spirit of healing and dream
divination.
Farmers traditionally offered Ceres the first harvested stalk of grain.

Iconography: Ceres usually holds a stalk of wheat in her left hand and a basket or bowl of fruit in her right.
Animals: Sow (pigs were kept in underground enclosures in her shrines; sleeping among them allegedly produced healing dreams)
Feast: Her primary festival, the Cerealia, was celebrated around the full moon in April; it was a seven-day festival featuring games
and processions; another festival, the Ambarvalia, was celebrated around 29 May.
Sacred sites: Many shrines were rededicated to the Virgin Mary. The Roman Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is built over
Ceres' temple. Her temple in Apulia, Italy, was rededicated to the Madonna of the Wheat Stalk.
Offerings: Grains; baked goods; beer (in Spanish: cerveza); wine; honey; salt; incense; images of pigs, traditionally silver and gold
pigs; wear a charm bracelet featuring pig charms to signal your devotion; images of pregnant animals
See also: Car; Demeter; Keres; Liber; Libera; Proserpina; Sybil; Tellus Mater

Cernunnos

The Horned One
Also known as: Kernunnos
Cernunnos is the Latin name given this mysterious Celtic deity. Cernunnos is usually translated as "the horned one" and derives
from an Indo-European root word ker meaning "growth" or "to become large and hard." It may be a name, or it may be a title: the
word appears on an altar found at Notre Dame together with his image.
On the Gundestrup Cauldron, a highly ornamented silver vessel, discovered in a Danish peat bog in 1891 and dated to the
first or second century BCE, Cernunnos sits cross-legged surrounded by forest animals, holding a ram-horned serpent in one
hand and a torc in the other. In a relief from Reims, France, Cernunnos sits cross-legged with a stag and bull at his feet. He
has a large sack from which he distributes what may be coins or grain .

Cernunnos' image appears throughout Celtic Europe, from Ireland to Romania. The oldest surviving image is from the fourth-century
BCE Italian Alps, which were then Celtic. He remains beloved in the Neo-Pagan community, where he may be associated with the
Green Man. Cernunnos has dominion over nature, animals, and abundance. He dispenses and distributes wealth. He is the Lord of
Souls, Celtic Lord of the Underworld, the dead, healing, and wealth.
M anifestation: Cernunnos has a man's body and sports stag's horns, although this may be shamanic ritual garb. Sometimes his
legs are snakes.
Iconography: Over thirty surviving depictions exist. He is sometimes triple-headed or triple-faced and may be accompanied by a
female consort.

Attributes: Sack filled with treasure; a torc, Celtic emblem of power and nobility
Animals: Ram-horned snakes and regular snakes; bull; boar; stag
See also: Green Man; Pashupati

Cerridwen

The White Sow; The Old One
Origin: Welsh

Cerridwen is a shape-shifting lunar deity, witch, herbalist, and keeper of the Cauldron of Knowledge, Inspiration, and
Transformation. Cerridwen's most famous myth is preserved in the Book of Taliesin , a thirteenth-century manuscript named for the
sixth-century Welsh poet. He is the focus of the myth: Cerridwen's main significance in the context of that myth is as the vehicle of his
transformation. However, it is the document from which most modern knowledge of Cerridwen derives. In this myth, Cerridwen is
married to a giant, Tegidfoel, by whom she has two children:
• A daughter, Crearwy, whose name means "Beautiful" or "Light."
• A son, Afagddu, whose name means "Ugly" or "Dark."
It is theorized that these children are the Celtic equivalent of oppositional, yin-yang forces.
Cerridwen, who gave birth to them, contains and has access to all these powers. Cerridwen is a good mother: she wishes the best for
her children. She doesn't worry about her daughter but fears that her son lacks sufficient gifts for success and decides to brew a potion
for him to compensate. Once tasted, this potion bestows all knowledge, as well as all magical, oracular, and shamanic powers. Only
Cerridwen knows the formula: it takes a tremendous variety of botanicals, which must be ritually gathered and then added at just the
right moment. In addition, someone must continually stir the brew, which must be kept steadily boiling for a year and a day. Cerridwen
finds a poor, ignorant child to watch the pot, which is where Gwion, the future Taliesin, enters the story. He awakens her rage: she
pursues him with murderous intent. He finally finds safety by becoming her child: Cerridwen is ultimately unable to harm her own
children.
Cerridwen's name is interpreted as "white sow." She is a master of transformation. There is no magical skill or botanical secret she
does not know; however, secrets may be reserved for those she considers her children or initiates.
M anifestations: Cerridwen can take any form. The big question is not what form she will take but whether or not you will be able
to recognize her. She is an occult master: every encounter with her may be considered a test of your knowledge and psychic ability.
Color: White
Animal: Pig
See also: Henwen

Chalchihuitlicue

She of the Jade Skirt
Origin: Aztec
Chalchihuitlicue is queen of rivers, lakes, and standing, still waters. The meaning of her name refers to a jade skirt, a metaphor for
shining expanses of still water. Without Chalchihuitlicue, there is no irrigation. She presides over agriculture and was especially

associated with cotton, a plant with huge moisture requirements for healthy growth.
Chalchihuitlicue provides for people but is also a goddess of destruction. In Nahuatl (Aztec) myth, Chalchihuitlicue was the regent of
the previous world, known as 4 Water, destroyed by flooding.
Chalchihuitlicue also presides over amniotic fluids. She is a goddess of human as well as agricultural fertility. Pre-Christian Aztecs
possessed birth rituals involving baptism in which Chalchihuitlicue played a prominent, presiding role.
M anifestation: Chalchihuitlicue appears as a woman whose face is decorated with a pair of short black lines running vertically
down her lower cheeks. She wears a headband studded with balls of cotton. Her skirt is adorned with jade, and she often wears a
tasseled shawl.
Attributes: Ear of maize corn or corn cobs
Consort: Tlaloc
Plants: Corn, cotton, prickly pears
Colors: The various shades of jade and turquoise
M inerals: Jade, turquoise
See also: Tlaloc

Chan, Lady

Lady of Birth
Also known as: Ji Sung Niang Niang
Origin: China

Lady Chan, divine midwife, rules the birth process. She protects pregnant women and babies and oversees labor. In her most
famous legend, a Sung Dynasty official's daughter-in-law suffered a puzzling, never-ending pregnancy. The young woman had been
pregnant for seventeen months when a woman mysteriously appeared at the door, announcing that she was the midwife. She had not
been summoned; she just appeared out of the blue. Identifying herself as Mrs. Chan from Foochow, she immediately took charge,
demanding a special birthing room for this special pregnancy. As per her directions, a large hole was dug in the room and filled with
sharp stakes. The pregnant woman was placed above it and with the midwife's help delivered a white snake, which was trapped inside
the hole.
The family, impressed and relieved, sought to pay the midwife lavishly but she refused all money and gifts, asking for and accepting
only one white handkerchief. She blessed the young woman and departed. Although things returned to normal for the family, they
always remembered this strange experience and thought of the midwife fondly. When the official visited Foochow, he decided to look
up Mrs. Chan and offer further thanks. Although he searched high and low, she could not be found, nor had anyone heard of her. Finally
someone recommended that he try the local birth goddess' shrine, as that was where all the local midwives went to pay obeisance.
When the official approached the shrine's votive statue, he saw, attached to it, the handkerchief given Mrs. Chan. He took a good look
at the statue and recognized her as his midwife.
Favored people: Lady Chan is venerated almost exclusively by women. She is the matron saint of midwives and pregnant women.
Sacred site: Lady Chan's shrine and miraculous statue may be visited in Foochow, now more popularly spelled Fuzhou, Fujian
Province, in China.
Offerings: Candles, incense, handkerchiefs

Chandi

Queen of Dust
Origin: India
Chandi, goddess of birth and death, is a tribal and village goddess partially incorporated into the Hindu pantheon. She is venerated
alongside Kali and the Dakinis. Chandi bestows both good fortune and disaster. She is an oracular, prophetic spirit, petitioned for
safety, romance, and fertility. She banishes malevolent spirits. Chandi is invoked in love spells, particularly those involving footprints.
Dust taken from a person's footprint is believed able to magically influence them, hence Chandi's title, the Queen of Dust.
Chandi displays different aspects of herself in different locales, thus she is sometimes described as "Chandi of the River" or "Chandi
of the Grove." Among her other powers, she is a disease spirit: healing and causing eye ailments and cholera. She's held responsible for
illnesses of cattle and propitiated for their health.

Iconography: In tribal context, Chandi is venerated in the form of round black stones. The stones may be seated on a throne
and/or have a woman's face painted on them. In Hindu context, she appears in the form of a four- or more armed woman wearing a red
sari and adorned with a garland of skulls.
Attribute: A water pitcher for purposes of scrying and divination
M ount: Lion
See also: Dakini; Kali; Kybele

Chandra
Origin: India
Chandra, Lord of the Moon, married twenty-seven sisters, daughters of Daksha, known as the Star Maidens, but he really loved
only one, Rohini. He spent all his time with her, ignoring the other sister-wives. The other sisters complained to their father, who ordered
Chandra to fulfill his marital obligations. Chandra ignored him and so Daksha cursed him with a wasting ailment. Chandra waned away,
almost to nothingness. Shiva came to his rescue, permitting Chandra to rest his head at the end of every lunar cycle, in order to preserve
his vitality and rejuvenate. Shiva also brokered a truce: Chandra visits each wife once a month. He waxes joyful as he approaches
Rohini (identified with the star Aldebaran), then wanes when he is forced to leave her.
The twenty-seven sisters are identified with the mansions of the moon in Vedic astrology. Chandra is the ruler: he may be invoked for
assistance by astrologers and those seeking to learn the art. He rules the astrological sign Cancer. He is a spirit of fertility: his
moonbeams possess the magical power to stimulate pregnancy.
M anifestation: Chandra is described as a youthful, fair, very handsome man.
Attributes: Club, lotus
Consorts: His primary consorts are Rohini and Tara, but he also wed all the Star Sisters.
Animals: Antelope, rabbit
M ounts: Chandra rides an antelope or drives a chariot pulled by ten white horses.
See also: Khonsu; Shiva

Chang Kuo Lao
Also known as: Chokaro (Japanese); Zhang Guolao
Origin: China

Chang Kuo Lao, one of the Eight Immortals, was a seventh- or eighth-century CE Taoist hermit. He developed a brilliant reputation
as an alchemist, and so the emperor sought to have him in his service. He ordered Chang Kuo Lao to appear at the royal court. Chang
Kuo did not wish to give up his wanderings. (Alternatively he objected to serving a corrupt government.) He ignored the first summons
but after the second, he vanished, reemerging as one of the Eight Immortals.
He is a brilliant occultist with vast magical knowledge. He may be consulted for healing, advice, and instruction.
Favored people: Chang Kuo Lao is traditionally the patron of blind fortune-tellers.
Iconography: Chang Kuo is portrayed riding backward on his white mule.
Attribute: The yuku, or fish drum, a musical instrument formed from a bamboo tube, one end of which is covered by snake skin
Animal: A magical white mule, which carries Chang Kuo Lao amazing distances but when not needed can be folded up like paper
and carried in his wallet; whenever Chang Kuo Lao next needs his mule, he squirts water on the wallet and the mule reappears.
See also: Eight Immortals

Chang'O, Lady

The Moon Lady
Also known as: Heng-O; Chang'E

Origin: China
Although other places describe a man in the moon, in Chinese cosmology, the moon is inhabited by Lady Chang'O, a beautiful, lonely
woman. There are different versions of how she ended up there, but in all of them, she secretly swallows the Elixir of Immortality, which
may have been intended for her husband, Yi the Archer, only, or possibly for both of them. She either swallows his portion, or if there
are two, then she swallows both. She receives more than she anticipated: Chang'O expected to be made an immortal, which indeed
occurred. However, she unexpectedly floated up into the sky and onto the moon. Lady Chang'O lives alone on the moon in a palace
made of cinnamon wood; her sole companions are a three-legged toad and the rabbit in the moon who pounds out the elixir of
immortality with his mortar and pestle.
Lady Chang'O was never just an ordinary mortal. Prior to her marriage to Yi the Archer, Lady Chang'O was among the attendants
of Hsi Wang Mu, Queen Mother of the West. Even in exile on the moon, Lady Chang'O is a powerful presence on Earth. China's luna
exploration program is named in her honor. She stars in The Moon Lady, the best-selling children's book by Amy Tan and Gretchen
Schields.
Lady Chang'O is celebrated during the annual Moon Festival, also known as the Autumn Harvest Festival. It's the time to invoke her
blessings and also the time when she grants secret wishes. (Not just any wishes: they must be your secret desires.) Her moon festival
celebrates the power of Yin: the universe's divine feminine force. Although the Moon Festival is her big night, those who adore her may
venerate Lady Chang'O year round. Votive statues are available.
Lady Chang'O provides oracles during the Moon Festival. Light a stick of incense for her altar, then whisper your wish or
question. Be silent and listen. The first words heard from passersby represent Lady Chang'O's answer .

M anifestation: Lady Chang'O is invariably described as very beautiful.

Ritual: Gaze up at the full moon celebrated at the Moon Festival and articulate your secret wish, addressing Lady Chang'O. This
may be done silently; make sure no one else hears. It's crucial that the wish be secret. Theoretically, Lady Chang'O expects no
payment for favors done on this night: it's an example of noblesse oblige, but it wouldn't hurt to light some incense for her and pour her
a libation of wine.
Sacred day: The Moon Festival occurs on the 15th day of the 8th Chinese lunar month.
Altar: During the Moon Festivals, altars dedicated to Chang'O are placed outside in the moonlight. Votive statues of the lady may
be incorporated, but the focal point of the altar is usually an image of the Moon Hare surrounded by thirteen moon cakes, one for each
month of the lunar calendar. Add five more plates, each filled with a different fruit representing different blessings: apples, grapes,
melons, peaches, and pomegranates.
Offerings: Candles; incense sticks; moon cakes: special round, filled pastries commercially available during the Moon Festival.
Fillings often represent desires: for instance, a filling of watermelon seeds may indicate the wish for sons. The tops of the small cakes
may be ornamented with pictures of the moon rabbit, Lady Chang'O, or auspicious wishes for longevity or good health. (They may be
imprinted with the name of the bakery, too.)
See also: Chieh Lin; Hsi Wang Mu; Jade Maidens

Chango
See: Shango

Chantico
Also known as: Xantico
Origin: Aztec

Chantico is the Aztec goddess of fire and hearth. As a hearth goddess, she was venerated in the home as well as in temples. She is a
guardian spirit who protects whatever is valuable and precious. In 1519, after the arrival of the Conquistadores and accompanying
missionaries, Chantico's primary votive image was secretly buried to keep it safe. Chantico is associated with health, fertility, wealth,
and abundance.
M anifestations: As a woman and as fire
Attribute: Cactus spines
Animal: Red snake
Plant: Theobroma cacao, better known as chocolate

Offerings: Ideally light a hearth fire; if not possible, light candles or maintain a fire in an iron cauldron; cacao beans; molé sauce;
Chantico drinks Mexican-style hot chocolate. Starbucks named a deluxe chocolate drink after this goddess: serve her something
comparable.
See also: Huitzilopochtli

Chariklo
Also known as: Chariclo
Origin: Greece

Chiron the centaur raised and tutored many of ancient Greece's heroes, but he didn't do so by himself. He had help from his wife,
Chariklo. She knows all the heroes, having shared her cave with them. Chariklo may be a centaur, too, or she may be a Nymph. Her
other claim to fame is that she is Athena's best friend. Alternatively, she is Athena's lover. Chariklo's son, Tiresias, accidentally caught
sight of Athena naked; the goddess struck him blind. Although unable to undo her curse, when Chariklo bitterly complained, Athena
compensated Tiresias by blessing him with the gift of prophecy.
Chariklo, discovered in 1997, is the largest of the icy planetoids known as centaurs. She has an orbit of 62.4 years.

Iconography: Chariklo appears frequently on sixth-century BCE vase paintings depicting the wedding of Thetis. She forms a triad
of goddesses with Hestia and Demeter.
See also: Achilles; Athena; Chiron; Demeter; Heracles; Hestia; Thetis

Charites
Also known as: The Graces
Origin: Greece

The Charites are attendants of Aphrodite and Hermes but are also venerated independently as spirits of creative inspiration,
botanical abundance, moisture, and human fertility. The Charites are:
• Aglaia: "The Wonderful"
• Euphrosyne: "Joy"
• Thalia: "Plenty"
Their parentage is subject to dispute. The Charites may be the daughters of the primeval Pelasgian goddess Eurynome by either Zeus
or Kronos. (An obscure myth suggests that Aphrodite was the daughter of Eurynome and Kronos, which would make them her sisters.)
Alternatively the Charites are daughters of Nyx and Erebus or Lethe or Hekate and Hermes. Their name derives from a word meaning
"to rejoice." They are joyful, happy, sensuous spirits; their festivals had a reputation for being raucous. The Romans called them Graces,
indicating favor and thankfulness (as in saying grace before meals).
Favored people: Dancers, young women; those who need joy and beauty
M anifestations: The Charites, who manifest as beautiful, graceful, dancing young women, usually appear as a pair or triad.
Iconography: Their most familiar image depicts the three Charites standing close together. Two face the viewer while the Charite
standing in the center turns her shapely back. The Charites may be naked or clothed. At their shrine in Orchomenos in Boeotia, the
Charites were venerated in the form of three uncut stones described as falling from Heaven, presumably meteorites.
Sacred sites: Important cult centers included Athens, Arcadia, and the Aegean island of Paros.
See also: Aphrodite; Eurynome; Hekate; Hermes; Kronos; Lethe; Nyx; Persephone

Charlotte, Mademoiselle

Also known as: Mamzelle Charlotte; Maitresse Charlotte
Origin: Haiti
Classification: Lwa

Mademoiselle Charlotte is a lwa of European origin. She speaks only French, not Kreyol. Those whom she ritually possesses may
discover themselves suddenly fluent in the most stylish French even if normally they can't speak a word. (Please see the Glossary entry
on Possession for further information.)
To some extent, Mademoiselle Charlotte epitomizes a stereotypical rich, upscale white woman—and not her best traits, either. She's
fussy; impatient; a stickler for etiquette and what she considers appropriate behavior. She adores fine manners and Paris style and
visibly turns up her nose at what she considers uncouth.
Mademoiselle Charlotte rarely manifests during ceremonials, perhaps because she's a snob; perhaps because she's aware she's not
loved nor entirely welcome. She's a capricious lwa; somewhat lazy; not overly hardworking even on behalf of those she favors.
Mademoiselle Charlotte's assistance must be coaxed out of her. If and when she gives it, she can be very effective and helpful, but
Mademoiselle Charlotte will only help those who appeal to her and only for as long as they appeal to her. Did we mention that her
attention span is limited?
She is served in similar fashion to Ezili Freda Dahomey. If you are very chic or stylish, she may desire you as a pet, the equivalent of a
human poodle. If you are persuasive and persistent, she may even do some large favors for you.
Colors: Pink, cream

Offerings: French cosmetics; French perfume; elegant and expensive French scarves; delicate, refined, expensive foods, preferably
French; sweet soft drinks; pink champagne; aperitifs; rum liqueurs; cream-colored beverages; cream-filled pastries; French or luxury
cigarettes; serve all beverages, whatever they are, in a champagne flute; offer food on fine china.
See also: Ezili Freda Dahomey; Lwa; Mami Waters

Charon
Origin: Greece

According to classical Greek myth, in order to reach the afterlife in Hades, one must cross a river, the threshold between realms of
life and death. Charon is the ferryman, the one who controls the passage. He's a grim, cranky, merciless spirit. Those lacking a coin to
pay for passage are left behind to find their own, painfully long, dangerous route to Hades. (Or to wander in the dark for one hundred
years, whichever comes first.) Thus it was traditional to place an óbolos in the mouth of ancient Greek corpses, a coin of extremely little
worth but sufficient to pay for Charon's services. He also only accepts passengers who have received proper funeral rituals.
Charon has reasons for being cranky. Before the arrival of Lord Hades, Charon may have ruled the realm of death. He was demoted
to ferryman with the ascendance of the Olympian spirits. Charon is believed to be an old Pelasgian deity, a wolf-spirit of death.
Charon the Ferryman appears in Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem "Sappho Crosses the Dark River into Hades."

Charon is the prototype for the ferryman to the Afterlife, now a popular entertainment and literary motif. Many consider Charon to be
the prototype for the Grim Reaper, too. He sometimes appears in the form of a cloaked skeleton or cadaver. Many prefer to know
absolutely nothing of Charon until his services are required. However, shamans seeking round-trip
travel on his ferry may need to
cultivate a relationship with the gruff old spirit.
M anifestations: Charon takes various forms. He may appear as a simple, decrepit, sullen, elderly man or as a dark-winged angel.
He may have wolf ears.

Iconography: Charon's carved image appears frequently on Athenian tombs.
Attributes: Oar, double-hammer
Sacred bird: The tawny owl, known as "Charon's bird"

Planet: Charon, discovered in 1978, may be Pluto's largest moon or part of a double planet, together with Pluto (or double dwarf
planet, however Pluto is characterized); Pluto's alter ego. The diameter of Charon is just slightly over half that of Pluto.
See also: Charos; Charun; Hades; Olympic Spirits

Charos

Charon abandoned his boat and resumed what may have been his original function: Angel of Death. In modern Greek folklore,
Charon is no longer the ferryman or even just a psychopomp, an escort to the Realm of Death. Instead, Charon became Charos, Lord
of Death and Ruler of the Realm of Death. Charosis death itself.
The name of the realm that Charos rules is Hades. Charon/Charos turned the tables, banishing Lord Hades in the same manner that
he himself was once dethroned. Or perhaps, in the wake of Christianity, Charos found a vacancy and decided to re-occupy it.
Charos occupies Hades with his entire family: his mother, wife, and children all assist in the family business, which is death. Charos no
longer lingers by the rivers of Hades: he personally visits the land of the living to kill, collect, and transport the dead. He cuts his victim's
throats, releasing their souls, which he then transports to his realm. If the person puts up a struggle, he brutally overpowers them. He
turns a deaf ear to pleas for mercy. Don't bother making offerings: he cannot and will not be bribed. However, Charos does cooperate
with other spirits: he allows angels and archangels to accompany children and others to his realm; thus for the kindest, gentlest transport
to the Afterlife, it's best to request an additional escort, someone to encourage Charos to maintain good behavior.
Charos is a coldhearted, merciless spirit. He does, however, have a kind, softhearted mother . She is the one to appeal to.
She sometimes spontaneously urges her son not to part newlyweds or true lovers and to spare mothers of young children.
Sometimes he listens to her. If you fear Charon's imminent approach, present pleas and arguments to her and ask her to
intercede on your behalf.

M anifestations: Charos takes different forms, variously appearing as:
• A sharp-featured, white-haired old man with a severe expression
• A vigorous warrior dressed in black and riding a black stallion. His hair is either raven black or shining gold.

Attributes: Sword; double-edged knife; keys: souls in his custody are kept under constant lock and key. Charos keeps one set of
keys; his son has the backup set.

Consort: Charontissa, also known as Charissa, is Charos' wife and female counterpart. She's perfectly capable of filling in for him
if he needs a day off. Charontissa is not the merciful one in the family; that's Charos' mother. Charos and Charontissa have a son who
assists his father, as well as various adopted human children, kidnapped and brought from our realm to theirs.
Sacred animal: Charos has a three-headed watchdog, the family pet.
See also: Charon; Charun; Exotika; Gabriel; Hades; Olympic Spirits; Psychopomp; Thanatos

Charun

Origin: Etruscan

Charun is the Etruscan spirit of death. He is not the ferryman of classical Greek mythology but a psychopomp, a spirit who comes to
collect souls and escort them to the afterlife. Some psychopomps wait until the person has died. They are purely escorts. Others actual
deliver the coup de grace. Charun's attributes are potentially instruments of violence, and so we can surmise that he takes an active role
in the death process. He resembles modern Charos very much.
Charon, Charun, and Charos are all presumably the very same spirit .

M anifestations: He may appear as an old man with a beard, but he sometimes appears youthful. Charun has a hooked nose,
snake-like hair, and the ears of a wolf. His skin is greenish or greyish in hue. Sometimes he has wings.

Iconography: Charun appears frequently on vases, urns, and sarcophagi. He is usually depicted with the door to the netherworld
behind him.
Attributes: Axe, mallet, sword
See also: Charon; Charos

Chelone
Origin: Greece

Chelone, a mountain Nymph, objected to the nuptials of Hera and Zeus. Perhaps as a warning to others not to voice objections,
Zeus shut her up by transforming Chelone into a turtle. Another version has him so aggravated with her that he caused her house to
collapse on top of her. Now she carries it wherever she goes. (Later versions have Hermes, as Zeus' messenger and proxy, casting the
actual spell.)
Chelone, the Turtle Goddess, is the spirit of silence. She may be invoked by those who need silence as well as by those who have
been silenced. Chelone is the matron of political prisoners, those persecuted for voicing objections as well as those afraid to speak their
minds. Chelone is also the matron of the homeless and those able to carry all their possessions on their backs.
Altar: Decorate altar space with turtle imagery or with a terrarium for turtles.
Animal: Turtle
Flower: Chelone species, known as turtlehead flowers
See also: Hera; Hermes; Nymph; Zeus

Chemharouch
Also known as: Shamharush; Chamharouch; Shemharush
Classification: Djinn
Address him as Sidi or Lord: Chemharouch is King of Morocco's Djinn. If other Djinn are giving you trouble, complaints may be
addressedto Sidi Chemharouch. Although he is a Djinn, Sidi Chemharouch is also venerated as a saint in Marrakesh and elsewhere in

Morocco. Sidi Chemharouch may be buried at the foot of Mount Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak. His grave, at the end of a deep
gorge, beside a waterfall in the village of Sidi Chemharouch is believed to be a survival of a pre-Islamic shrine but, as of the time of this
writing, non-Muslims are forbidden to cross the bridge leading to his shrine. Pilgrims visit all year round. There is little that Sidi
Chemharouch cannot accomplish.
Days: Thursday, Friday
See also: Aisha Qandisha Paths: Aisha Sudaniyya; Djinn

Chi U
Origin: China
Huang Ti, the Yellow Emperor, unified China and taught the arts of civilization. Not everyone wanted to learn. Chi U is the chief of
the Chinese shamanic pantheon replaced by Huang Ti. Armies of spirits fought a terrible apocalyptic battle. Huang Ti was ultimately
victorious. The battle ended when Chi U was decapitated and his head hung from a gate. Images of the head of Chi U serve as
talismans to ward off and banish malicious and evil spirits.
M anifestations: Chi U may have the face of a man or a demon. He wears a horned helmet and is clad in armor and/or a tiger skin
(emblematic of East Asian shamanism).
Sacred day: Chi U presides over the fifth day of the fifth Chinese lunar month, the day most associated with harmful spirits and
venomous creatures. It's considered the most auspicious time for acquiring and posting Chi U's image. (It's also the time you're most
likely to find the best selection.)

Chieh Lin

The Old Man of the Moon
Origin: China

Chinese folklore has a woman in the moon, but there is an old man, too. Chieh Lin is a spirit of romance or at least marriage. He
determines marital unions; he decides who will marry whom. He records these decisions in his very large book, then connects the feet of
the predestined couple to each other's with an invisible red silk thread. Ideally, that thread will lead the couple toward each other and
happy matrimony. Appeal to Chieh Lin if that thread seems to be all tangled up or nonexistent.
Ritual: During the marriage ceremony, bride and bridegroom pledge their troth from two goblets of honeyed wine tied together
with red ribbons or cord.
See also: Chang'O, Lady

Chimata
Also known as: Chimata-no-kami
Origin: Japan

Classification: Kami
Chimata is lord of the crossroads, highways, byways, and footpaths. He is an ancient phallic spirit. Phallic images representing him
or meant to propitiate him are traditionally placed at crossroads. In addition to representing male fertility power, these phallic symbols
also serve to ward off and police the malicious spirits who sometimes congregate at crossroads. Chimata is also invoked to heal erectile
dysfunction and enhance fertility. He may or may not be the same spirit as Dosojin.

Iconography: Chimata is represented by stone road markers and phallic symbols. His image is
also sometimes found at onsen
(traditional Japanese hot springs). Allegedly stroking these images will remedy sexual dysfunction and/or infertility for both men and
women.

Ritual: Request Chimata's blessings and keep him happy by placing a smooth pebble at a crossroads' very point of intersection
and saying a prayer to him.
See also: Dosojin; Kami

Chinnamasta

The One Who Fulfills All Wishes; The Decapitated
Also known as: Chinnamastika
Origin: India

Chinnamasta, Tantric wisdom goddess, is the subject of an unforgettable votive image: beautiful Chinnamasta stands headless atop a
copulating man and woman who may be Kama and Rati. She holds her own severed head in one hand and a sword in her other. Three
streams of blood spurt from her neck: one into her own mouth and the others into the mouths of two attending dakinis. In traditional
iconography, they look exactly like her: they are her duplicates although usually smaller, visually emphasizing that she is the goddess and
they are the attendants. They resemble identical triplets.
No known sacred myth or narrative is associated with the image, but it is considered to have tremendous spiritual significance; some
say a lifetime may be spent meditating upon it. The image of decapitated, blood-drinking Chinnamasta expresses the eternal cosmic
process of creation, preservation, and destruction: the interdependence of sex, love, life, and death. Her blood leaves her but
simultaneously nourishes her. She is dead but alive, or vice versa. Her image is emblematic of self-sacrifice. Chinna-masta represents the
paradox of the loving mother as killer.
Chinnamasta is a great yogini. She serves as a vehicle of transformation. Chinnamasta fulfills the desires of her devotees. She is also
associated with a powerful yantra, a geometric figure for magical and spiritual use.
Consort: Headless Shiva
Attributes: Sword, bowl of blood
Color: Red
Animal: Cobra
Flower: Red jaba flower (red hibiscus)
See also: Dakini; Kali; Kama; Rati; Shiva

Chiron

The Wounded Healer
Also known as: Cheiron
Origin: Greece

Although centaurs are usually dismissed as raucous barbarians, Chiron is the exception to the rule: a brilliant, civilized culture hero.
Chiron has always been considered different from the other centaurs. In ancient times, debate raged as to whether centaurs were spirits
or transformed/possessed humans like werewolves. Chiron is always considered an immortal. His origins are divine: Kronos in the form
of a stallion had sex with Philyra, an Oceanid. Chiron is the result of their union and thus half brother of Zeus and the other Olympians.
Chiron is renowned as the tutor and foster-father of heroes including Achilles, Jason, and Heracles.
Chiron lives in a cave on Mount Pelion in Thessaly. Mount Pelion is called "Philyra's Bridal Chamber" and may be the site of his
conception, too. He's not a solitary spirit; his whole family lives together and may be venerated together, too. Permanent residents of
Chiron's cave include Philyra, his mother, and Chariklo, his wife. His many daughters come and go, as do the heroes he tutors. Jason
was raised in the cave; Achilles was nursed here. Chiron's daughter, Endaïs, may be the mother of Peleus, Achilles' father, which makes
Chiron his grandfather as well as his tutor. Chiron gave Heracles music lessons, suffering a head injury when Heracles hit him with a lyre;
nothing compared to what he would do to him later.
During his fourth labor, Heracles stopped to party with the centaurs. Very drunk, he accidentally wounded Chiron, his old
friend, with a poisoned arrow. As an immortal, Chiron didn't and couldn't die hut suffered excruciating agony. To relieve him,
Zeus placed him in the heavens as the constellation Sagittarius. Chiron is the archetypal wounded healer who heals everyone
hut is unable to help himself.

Chiron is a musician, healer, herbalist, prophet, and sorcerer. He restores eyesight to the blind and reputedly never lifts his hand in
anger. There is little he doesn't know. He is generous with his knowledge and an excellent teacher.
M anifestation: An old man with a white beard and the hindquarters of a pony
Planet: Chiron, officially discovered in 1977, is a mysterious space object, a dual asteroid/ comet, sometimes also classified as a
planetoid.
See also: Achilles; Asklepios; Chariklo; Heracles; Kallikantzari; Kronos; Oceanid; Olympian Spirits; Silenus; Zeus

Chthonic Spirits

Chthon means "Earth" in Greek and is used to indicate subterranean beings, those spirits who dwell inside Earth as opposed to in
the Heavens, within trees, or elsewhere on Earth. Any spirit who lives inside Earth is technically a chthonic spirit. Ancient metaphysical
wisdom suggests that those spirits who dwell below or within Earth share common interests: they tend to be involved with basic life
issues. Chthonic spirits are concerned with birth, fertility, death, destiny, minerals, and treasure.
Altars: Offerings are traditionally brought to the spirits: the Greeks actually dug altars into the Earth and offerings were placed
inside. (A description is found in Homer's Odyssey.)
Offerings: Libations for the spirits may be poured directly on Earth; traditional offerings include wine, water, honey, and botanical
gifts.
See also: Adonis; Charon; Dwarves; Ereshkigal; Hades; Hekate; Lethe; Persephone; Styx; Thanatos

Chung-Li Chuan
Also known as: Zhong Li-Quan
Origin: China

Chung-li Ch'uan, Chief of the Eight Immortals, allegedly lived during the Chou Dynasty (1122–249 BCE). A great alchemist, he
obtained the secrets of the Elixir of Life and the Powder of Transformation, better known in the West as the Philosopher's Stone.
Once upon a time, he was a Taoist master who encountered a young woman dressed in widow's weeds sitting beside a grave and
fanning the ground over it. When asked to explain her actions, she said she had promised her late husband not to re-marry until the dirt
over his grave was dry. She had found a man she wished to marry and was trying to hurry the process.
Chung-li Ch'uan offered to help. He invoked spirits, then, borrowing her fan, he struck the ground with it. It dried completely. The
widow was so ecstatic that she ran off, thanking him, leaving the fan in his hands. He went home and described his experience to his
own beautiful, much younger wife, who expressed strong disapproval of the widow's desires, protesting (perhaps too much) that she
herself would never behave in such fashion. Chung-li Ch'uan was inspired to prove a point.
Using spells, he made his body seem dead while his soul assumed the form of an extremely handsome young man in which guise he
aggressively courted his own wife. She held out for a few days but then agreed to marry him. Chung-li Ch'uan in disguise advised her
that her late husband's brains were required as an ingredient for a potion. Intending to fulfill her new lover's request, she opened the
coffin, only to witness the corpse come alive and the new lover vanish. Devastated and humiliated, she hung herself. Chung-li Ch'uan set
his house on fire including all his possessions, keeping only the fan and a copy of the I-Ching. Chung-li Ch'uan is invoked when his
magical or alchemical knowledge is needed; however, it is his powers of resurrection and his ability to bestow longevity that are
generally most sought.

Iconography: Chung-li Ch'uan is usually depicted as a fat man with a big naked belly. He always grasps his primary attribute, the
magical fan with which he resurrects the dead.
Attributes: Fan, peach of immortality
Offerings: Incense
See also: Eight Immortals

Cihuacoatl

Snake Woman
Origin: Mexico

Cihuacoatl, divine snake woman, is a native of the Valley of Mexico long before it was known by that name. The Mexica, also
known as the Aztecs, discovered her there when they arrived in the region. They loved her and claimed her as their own.
Cihuacoatl is a midwife spirit with a martial nature. Women in childbirth were considered the equivalent of soldiers in battle; hence
Cihuacoatl carries a warrior's weapons. Women were encouraged to call out her name during childbirth for courage, fortification, and
blessings. Cihuacoatl guards the souls of women who died during childbirth, as well as souls of those not born or prematurely dead:
abortions, miscarriages, and stillbirths. Premature babies who live briefly, then die are also under her protection.
Cihuacoatl's myths feature abandoned children. She left her son, Mixcoatl, at the crossroads. When she returned, she found a ritual
knife in his place and began to wail.
Cihuacoatl appears as a harbinger of disaster. The Florentine Codex describes her roaming at night, "weeping and wailing," a dread
phantom who foretells war. She may be the spirit at the root of Llorona, the wailing woman of modern urban myth. Initially, there was
no doubt regarding the identity of the wailing woman: in 1502, not long before the Spanish invasion, Cihuacoatl in the form of a beautiful
woman dressed in white wandered the streets of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, as well as other Aztec cities compulsively wailing, "Oh

my children, your destruction has arrived! Where can I take you?" She would then plunge into the river or transform into mist.
Cihuacoatl would appear in the marketplace dressed as a noblewoman in white with her hair twisted up to form two horns. She
would ask a shopkeeper to watch her heavily swaddled baby while she shopped. When she never returned, eventually someone would
examine the baby, only to find an obsidian knife wrapped within the swaddling clothes. (This apparition is interpreted as a warning to
mend one's ways or else.)
Favored people: Twins
M anifestation: She appears as a beautiful young woman or a fierce old one with a skeletal head. Her face may be painted halfblack and half-red. She wears golden earplugs and has an extensive wardrobe, including a headdress of eagle feathers. She may wear a
cradleboard with a baby (or without one) on her back.
Attributes: Warrior's shield and weapons; turquoise weaving stick (shuttle); obsidian knife
Color: White
Plant: Tobacco
Sacred sites: Talpa, now home to Our Lady of the Rosary of Talpa
See also: Berchta; Cihuateteo; Itzpapolotl; Jizo; Llorona; Mixcoatl; Rachel

Cihuateteo

Divine Women
Pronounced: See-wha-tet-ay-o
Origin: Mexico

The Cihuateteo are Aztec female warrior spirits, souls of women who died in childbirth, considered the equivalent of dying valiantly
in battle. The Aztec afterlife was fairly dismal for most dead souls, but the Cihuateteo were given the glorious role of escorting the sun on
its downward passage through the sky. When not busy with celestial chores, the Cihuateteo haunt crossroads, where they are accused
of stealing children, seducing and harming gullible men, and causing seizures and madness.
The bodies of women who died in childbirth were considered very valuable. Soldiers and warriors fought over their
remains, considered talismans ensuring courage and victory in battle .

Iconography: Aztec stone sculptures portray them as kneeling women with skeletal faces and taloned hands.
Sacred sites: Shrines for the Cihuateteo are placed at crossroads.
See also: Cihuacoatl; Itzpapalotl; Mictlante-cuhtli

Circe
Origin: Greece

Circe's very name is synonymous with "sorceress." The original divine witch, she is no minor spirit, but a goddess of tremendous
power. Daughter of Helios and Perse, an Oceanid, Circe comes from a family of divine enchantresses. Relatives include Hekate,
Pasiphae, Ariadne, Medea, and Angitia. Circe's most famous appearance is in Homer's
Odyssey, but she appears in other Greek
myths, too. Circe performs the cleansing rituals that purify Jason and Medea after their murder of Medea's brother, Circe's nephew.
According to Homer, Circe dwells in a marble palazzo on the Isle of Aiaia (also spelled Aeaea), named for magical Greek vowels.
Shespends her days singing and weaving, habits associated with the Fates. Circe is a shape-shifter but is most famous for transforming
others. When Odysseus and his crew, trying to return home from the Trojan War, land on Aiaia, they discover an island paradise ruled
by Circe and populated by her beautiful handmaidens and strangely human-seeming wild animals.
Circe transforms male visitors into lions, baboons, and other animals, but mainly pigs. Her transformations aren't random: she reveals
the true animal identity within each man. Odysseus alone is saved from this fate because Hermes, one of Circe's old boyfriends, warns
him, revealing an herbal antidote to her magic, a mysterious plant called moly.
Hermes advises Odysseus not to reject Circe's advances: he stays with her for years, fathering their son, Telegonus. Circe
indoctrinates Odysseus into shamanism, teaching him how to journey to Hades, interview dead souls, and return. She is his primary
tutor. Foreseeing the future, she offers Odysseus invaluable travel advice. Without Circe, it's doubtful that Odysseus would ever have
reached home.
M anifestations: Homer called her "the fair-haired goddess." She is eternally young, sexy, and beautiful, but she is a great
sorceress and can appear in any form she wishes, with one caveat: as a descendent of the sun, her eyes glint with brilliant light. That's
the telltale clue to her identity.
Sacred animal: Pigs
Sacred plants: Alders, enchanter's nightshade, junipers, and mandrakes
See also: Angitia; Ariadne; Calypso; Fates (1); Hades; Hekate; Helios; Hermes; Medea; Oceanid; Pasiphae; Scylla

Citipati

The Charnel Lords; Lords of the Cemetery
Also known as: The Chitipati
Origin: Tibet
The Citipati were two ascetics who meditated so deeply that they were completely unaware of being set upon by robbers and
beheaded. After death, they emerged as wrathful deities who are invoked as fierce but ultimately benevolent protectors. The Citipati are
companions of Yama, Lord of Death.
The Citipati are laughing, dancing skeletons. They represent the eternal dance of death. They are also erotic spirits: like the Barons,
they are lords of sex and death. Their dance embodies the undying life-force. The ritual Dance of the Citipati is commemorated twice
annually in Tibet. Post their image for protection and to drive off evil spirits.
Iconography: Two grinning, dancing skeletons, usually one is male, the other female; their bodies intertwined, they dance
ecstatically and joyfully. The Citipati wear headdresses of five jeweled skulls. Their heads resemble a big skull topped by tiny ones.
See also: Barons; Yama

Clairmesine Clairmeille
Also known as: Klermezine Klermeil; Klèmezin; Saint Claire; Clairmezine Clairmeille

Classification: Lwa
Clairmesine is a beautiful, sweet-voiced, dancing mermaid. She travels in the entourage of Ezili Freda Dahomey and may be her
sister. Clairmesine may also be Vodou Saint Claire. The glowing monstrance with which Saint Claire is traditionally portrayed was
understoodby Vodouistes as a picture of the moon. Clairmesine is a moon-gazer; she dances among the moonbeams. She is very
psychic. She and Saint Nicholas are sometimes considered to be the parents of the divine twins, the Marassa.
Iconography: Images of Roman Catholic Saint Claire are used to represent Clairmesine, but images of mermaids may be
subsituted.
Element: Water
Planet: Moon
Colors: Blue and white
See also: Ezili Freda Dahomey; Lwa: Marassa; Mermaid;and the Glossary entry for Syncretism

Cliodna
Pronounced: Clee-na
Classification: Tuatha Dé Danaan
Origin: Ireland
Cliodna, goddess of love, beauty, healing, and death, presides over an afterlife paradise where age, death, pain, illness, and decay
do not exist, only beauty. Just fragments of her myths survive; presumably once upon a time, there were more. Manannan, King of the
Sea, fell in love with Cliodna and sent a magical wave to sweep her into his undersea palace. She is a shape-shifter, allegedly incarnate
in every ninth wave that breaks on Ireland's shores.
Cliodna is now identified as a Queen of Fairies. As a goddess, she lived in a beautiful, lavish underwater palace in Loch Dearg; as a
Fairy queen she lives in a barrow near Mallow, County Cork. She reputedly lures human lovers into Fairy Land, from which they never
again emerge (perhaps because they're living happily ever after).
M anifestation: Cliodna is a beautiful woman accompanied by her trio of songbirds.
Sacred birds: Cliodna's three vividly plumed magical songbirds eat the apples of the Other-world. Their voices are so sweet, they
lull ailing people to sleep. When they awaken, they are healed. One bird is blue with a red head; one is red with a green head; and the
third is a speckled bird with a golden head.
Numbers: 3, 9
See also: Aibheall; Fairy; Fairy Queen; Manannan; Rhiannon; Sidhe; Tuatha Dé Danaan

Coatlique

She of the Serpent Skirt; Mother of the Heavens
Also known as: Tonantzin

Origin: Mexico
The goddess Coatlique, mother of the moon and stars, was keeper of the sacred shrine at Coatepec (Snake Mountain). One day
while sweeping, a ball of down feathers fell from the sky. She tucked it into her bosom. By the time she had finished sweeping, the
feathers had mysteriously disappeared—and Coatlique knew she was pregnant. It was not a virgin birth per se, but no sex was involved
and technically there was no father.
Her daughter, moon goddess Coyolxauhqui, enraged to discover this pregnancy, plots with her four hundred star brothers to kill
Coatlique and thus terminate the pregnancy, rather than submit to the forthcoming Huitzilopochtli, Lord of War, gestating in their
mother's womb. Coatlique was not unaware of the threat, but the child within her womb comforted her, advising her not to worry.
When Coyolxauhqui and her four hundred brothers attacked, slicing off
Coatlique's head, the divine child, Huitzilopochtli, leaped out, fully formed, fully armed (similar to the birth of Athena).
Coatlique is a fierce spirit of fertility. Some consider her the spirit who lies at the root of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

M anifestations: Coatlique's head is a human skull or that of a snake. She may have a double snake head. In Hoodoo parlance, a
two-headed woman is a conjurer with the power to see into two worlds, usually the past and future or the realms of the living and the
dead. Coatlique is a primal two-headed woman. She wears a necklace of human hands and hearts and a skirt of entwined serpents. Her
feet are tipped with talons.
Iconography: Surviving depictions of Coatlique are reasonably rare, but several colossal statues have been unearthed. Snakes
appear where her head and hands should be, representing blood flowing from her severed neck and wrists.
Realm: Coatepec: "Snake Mountain"
Element: Earth
Animal: Snakes, especially coral snakes
Number: 5
Sacred site: Tepeyac, site of her great temple, was considered a place of tremendous spiritual power and was a major pilgrimage
point before the Spanish Conquest.
See also: Anat; Athena; Baba Yaga; Coyolxauhqui; Guadalupe; Huitzilopochtli; Kali

Coventina
Origin: Celtic Britain
Classification: Mermaid
Coventina is a water spirit presiding over the Carrawburgh River, Northumberland, once the Roman settlement of Brocolitia. She
heals illness, restores fertility, and was venerated by colonizing Romans as well as Celts. The Romans identified her with Minerva. Her
temple surrounded a pool fed by a sacred spring. Although now her only known shrine, she was not a local goddess but was also
venerated in northwestern Spain and in Narbonne in Southern Gaul. She was not an insignificant deity—no little mermaid. The language
used by the Romans indicates that they considered her to have the rank of a state deity.
Her spring and well were enclosed in approximately 130 CE. The shrine was very popular in the late second and third centuries. In
391 CE, the Theodosian Edict abolished Paganism and ordered the closing of Pagan temples and shrines. Evidence indicates that
devotees attempted to hide Coventina's shrine by placing building stones over the well.
Attribute: Water lily or water lily leaf
Sacred site: Coventina's shrine was at Carrawburgh on Hadrian's Wall.

Offerings: Among the offerings recovered from her shrine are terra-cotta ex-votos in the form of parts of the body; as many as
16,000 coins and a bronze incense burner inscribed with Coventina's name; jewelry; pins (usually indicating petitions for safe childbirth)
See also: Mermaid; Minerva; and the Glossary entry for Milagro

Coyolxauhqui

She of the Golden Bells
Origin: Mexico
Coyolxauhqui, goddess of the moon, is Coatlique's daughter. Her name refers to the metal bells she wears on her face. Furious
overher mother's pregnancy, Coyolxauhqui and her four hundred star brothers (known as the Centzon Huitznahua) slew her but in the
process, liberated their brother, Huitzilopochtli, who immediately sprang to action, dismembering Coyolxauhqui. Her corpse and
severed remains tumbled down Coatepec, Snake Mountain.
The destruction of Coyolxauhqui indicates the rise of the new solar religion associated with Huitzilopochtli and the emergence of the
Aztecs as a political force in that region. Coyolxauhqui represents an older, lunar-based pantheon. Her severed white head rolls through
the sky nightly, accompanied by her four hundred brothers. (Four is a sacred number in Aztec cosmology, and so four hundred is a
random number indicating multitudes. There are actually as many brothers as there are stars in the sky.)

Iconography: On the night of 21 February 1978, during construction work, employees of the Mexico City Electric Light Company
discovered a massive stone image of Coyolxauhqui with head and limbs severed from her torso at the base of Huitzilopochtli's shrine in
Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City. Although Coyolxauhqui is usually portrayed as youthful, her image at the Temple of Huitzilopochtli
depicts her as an old woman with sagging breasts and belly, naked but for ornaments associated with warriors. Coyolxauhqui is also
sometimes depicted weeping. She may be represented solely by a dead, severed head.
M etal: gold, copper
Flowers: Aztec marigolds (Tagetes spp.) Ipomoeia alba and Datura inoxia: both species are colloquially known as moonflower
or moon vine.
Planet: Moon. Coyolxauhqui is especially present when the moon is red-hued and full. She is also associated with the Milky Way.
See also: Arianrhod; Coatlique; Huitzilopochtli; Malinalxochitl

Cybele
See: Kybele

Cyhyraeth

The Weeper; The Griever
Origin: Wales
The Cyhyraeth is a Banshee-like spirit from Glamorganshire, Wales. She is rarely seen but is most frequently heard crying and

moaning. The Cyhyraeth is a death omen. Like the Banshee or Caointeach, some are associated with specific families. They wail when a
member of the family dies far from home. Others weep in association with multiple deaths affecting a community. The sound of her
weeping may foretell epidemics or disaster. She is not a killer but a harbinger. She may deliver warnings, if only we knew how to
interpret or react to them.
She frequents crossroads and lingers near water. She may be related to the Washers at the Ford. The Cyhyraeth makes herself
visible alongside the Glamorganshire coast just before shipwrecks. She wanders weeping, accompanied by corpse-lights (will-o'-thewisps or phantom lights). In a Christian slant on her legend, she guides the souls of those who perished in shipwrecks to the nearest
church cemetery.
See also: Banshee; Caointeach; Llorona, La; Pixie; Washer at the Ford

Cymbee Spirits

Simbi survived the Middle Passage from Africa and arrived in South Carolina's Low Country, where this family of water spirits
promptly slipped into some water and made themselves at home. In the nineteenth century, both before and after the abolition of
slavery, white folklorists, geologists, and land surveyors began recording cymbee stories. Interviews were conducted orally; interviewers
spelled the word as it made sense to them: cymbee. Cymbees are Simbi spirits, but the spelling is now used to distinguish South
Carolina manifestations. These written reports tend to emphasize that local black people were frightened of the Cymbees, but it's crucial
to keep this in context.
Cymbees were secret, sacred lore: it was not considered wise or beneficial to discuss them too openly. (Cymbee spirits are sensitive
to what they perceive as disrespect.) Some of the earliest recorded stories were told as warnings to men sent to brick off a spring or
otherwise trouble the waters. These stories were recorded and fascinated other white men, who began collecting them, often
emphasizing what they perceived as the ignorant, superstitious nature of their sources.
Each spring or small body of fresh water has its own Cymbee, which has its own unique appearance, size, and habits. Individual
Cymbees have names, some wonderfully evocative like "The Great Desire of the Unrotting Waters." Plank bridges placed over the
water serve the Cymbees as seats.
Whether in America or Africa, Cymbees are guardians of water. The Middle Passage and the conditions awaiting in South Carolina
did not improve the Cymbees' tempers. They are fairly volatile spirits: any disturbance of the spring or disrespect toward it angers them.
They show their displeasure via water phenomenon: waters are described as roiling or churning. They also have the power to raise
storms. They demonstrate anger by removing water: springs drying up are interpreted as the departure or disapproval of the Cymbee.
If you have a spring- or freshwater pond, then you may have a Cymbee, even if it has been lying low. (Alternatively, if you seek one,
you can invite one.) In addition to guarding the water, a Cymbee may serve as a personal or family guardian. They bring prosperity,
good fortune, and abundance, including fertility, in their wake. Sit quietly near the water (not necessarily too near) and see whether the
Cymbee will reveal itself.
M anifestation: Cymbees are proportionate in size to the water source they inhabit and are described as vaguely human in
appearance. Some have webbed feet or are full-blown mermaids complete with fish tail.
Offerings: Always consider their water precious and sacred, treating it respectfully. Small gifts (shiny trinkets, libations, traditional
offerings for mermaids) are appreciated as well.
See also: Mami Wata; Mermaids; Simbi