Deities And Spirits

"Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal."

"And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made."

"These were the Chanaanitish Baalim, offshoots of the supreme Baal, who were returning to their first cause to humble themselves before his might and annihilate themselves in his splendour."

"Down fell the huge beasts, falling one above another. It was like a mountain; and upon the heap of dead bodies and armour a monstrous elephant, called “The Fury of Baal,” which had been caught by the leg in some chains, stood howling until the evening with an arrow in its eye."

"Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom."

"And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to another.And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only.And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go, his life shall be for the life of him.And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them.And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel."

"From the position of the sun above the moon he inferred the predominance of Baal, of whom the planet itself is but the reflection and figure; moreover, all that he saw in terrestrial things compelled him to recognise the male exterminating principle as supreme."

"For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them."

"And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;But sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel."

"Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars."

"He consulted all the soothsayers in the army one after the other,—those who watch the trail of serpents, those who read the stars, and those who breathe upon the ashes of the dead. He swallowed galbanum, seseli, and viper’s venom which freezes the heart; Negro women, singing barbarous words in the moonlight, pricked the skin of his forehead with golden stylets; he loaded himself with necklaces and charms; he invoked in turn Baal-Khamon, Moloch, the seven Kabiri, Tanith, and the Venus of the Greeks. He engraved a name upon a copper plate, and buried it in the sand at the threshold of his tent. Spendius used to hear him groaning and talking to himself."

"Hamilcar the Suffet, my father, the servant of the Baals!"

"They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead."

"The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit."

"“Never! Do you not know that it means death? The hermaphrodite Baals are unveiled to us alone who are men in understanding and women in weakness. Your desire is sacrilege; be satisfied with the knowledge that you possess!”"

"Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through? 9:13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink."

"For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal."

"And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people."

"As soon as Hamilcar turned away he began to cry aloud and invoke all the Baals. It was not his fault! he could not help it! He had watched the temperature, the soil, the stars, had planted at the winter solstice and pruned at the waning of the moon, had inspected the slaves and had been careful of their clothes."

"Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar."

"And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."

"Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. [...]And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely."

"When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died."

"Auramazda brought me help, and with it the other gods that are there. Therefore Auramazda and the other gods that are there brought me help, because I was not evil, I was not deceitful, I was not arrogant, neither I nor my family."

"All this I have done according to the will of Auramazda: may Auramazda protect me, together with the gods, and (protect) my lordship and what was built by me. May Auramazda protect me together with the gods; and that which was built by me, and that which was built by my father, king Darius, that also shall protect Auramazda. (Xerxes I of Persia)"

"By the grace of Auramazda I am king: Auramazda gave me the kingdom."

"Zarathustra's god is a unique god. This is a concept that is not only foreign to the entire Iranian tradition, but is in absolute contrast with it. For it Zarathustra inaugurates a new era in the history of the Iranian people. He is the prophet of Ahura Mazda, and Ahura Mazda is the only god. (Raffaele Pettazzoni:)"

"The name Ahura, like the name of Yahveh that the Bible gives to the God of Israel, means the Being, that is, the Being par excellence; and it is obvious to understand that such a concept, high and sublime, a mere and pure metaphysical abstraction, can only proceed from a select speculative mind and cannot belong to the order of ideas proper to naturalistic religions. And did this idea perhaps come to Zarathustra from the Semites, or rather from the Jews? (Italo Pizzi)"

"A great god (baga) (is) Auramazda, who created this earth, who created that sky, who created man, who created abundance of goods for man, who made Darius king, the 'one (made) king of many."

"Hel, daughter"

"Fenrir, son"

"Miðgarðsormr, son"

"He has all the attributes of a very high God, because he is omniscient, very wise, guardian and defender of his creatures, inaccessible to deception because he sees and knows everything, creator of light, of men and of the so-called primeval heifer which is, as will be seen, the living symbol of the strength and productive virtue of nature. His throne is in the highest heaven, and he sits there surrounded by the celestial hosts. This last concept is common, one can say, to almost all religions; but the attributes now enumerated are of a philosophical and theological nature, such that they bring Ahura Mazdao closer to the Semitic god, to the Yahveh in particular of the Jews, while distancing him from every other Indo-European god to whom, usually, they are always, or almost always, accompanied anthropomorphic attributes. (Italo Pizzi)"

"When I don't have my hammer, you're better than me at getting people to do things. (Thor)"

"Loki makes the world more interesting but less safe. He is the father of monsters, the author of suffering, the evil god."

"When something bad happens the first thing I think is, "It's Loki's fault." It saves a lot of time. (Thor)"

"When the god Loki did an incredibly bad thing, the other gods took him to a horrible, dark cave, and there they chained him to three sharp stones. Over him they hung a disgusting serpent, so that its venom would drip, drip, drip forever on Loki's face."

"Loki was handsome, and he knew it. Everyone wanted to love him and believe in him, but he was at best unreliable and self-centered, and at worst malevolent or even evil. He married a woman named Sigyn, who at the time of their courtship and marriage was beautiful and happy but after a while she had the face of someone who is always waiting for bad news."

"Among the Aesir is also counted what some call the slanderer of the Aesir or the origin of deception and the misfortune of all gods and men, he is called Loki or Loptr, son of the giant Fárbauti. His mother is Laufey or Nál, his brothers are Býleistr and Helbindi. Loki is handsome and handsome in appearance, evil in character and very changeable in behavior. He possessed much more than other men the science which is called cunning, and he achieves everything through deception. He always led the Aesir into great difficulties and often got them out of trouble with deceptive designs. (Snorri Sturluson)"

"No harm, no foul."

"You were angry with him even when you owed him deep gratitude, and you were grateful even when you hated him."

"Oh Marduk, only you emerge | Among the Great Gods! | Your destiny is unmatched, | Your command, sovereign! | From now on, | Your orders will be irrevocable! | Raise or tear down | It will be in your power! | What comes out of your mouth will come true, | Your command will never be deceptive! | None, among the gods, | It will go beyond the limits you set! | And like our places of worship | You will have your assigned seat | In all our sanctuaries! | Oh Marduk, to you alone, | Our avenger, | We have conferred Kingship | On the totality of Universality around!"

"Its shapes are incredible, | Admirable: | Impossible to imagine, | Unbearable to watch. | Four are his eyes, | And his ears are four. | When he moves his lips, | The Fire blazes! | Four ears | They're ticked off, | And his eyes, in equal number, | They inspect the Universe!"

"I have a talent that I am very ready to put to the test, that there is no one in here who eats his food faster than me. (Snorri Sturluson)"

"Loki is very handsome. He is very persuasive, convincing, nice, and is by far the shrewdest, most subtle and most sagacious of the inhabitants of Asgard. Therefore it is really a shame that inside him there is a sea of ​​darkness: so much anger, so much envy, so much greed. [...] He is more intelligent, sharp and cunning than any other god or giant. Not even Odin is as cunning as Loki. [...] The other gods tolerate him, perhaps because his stratagems and plans have saved them as many times as they have gotten them into trouble."

"If people paid more attention to the words they use, they wouldn't dare compare themselves with Loki, the wisest, the most brilliant, the most cunning, the most intelligent, the most beautiful... (Neil Gaiman)"

"That scoundrel, that impostor. The suffering of men is a joy to him."

"Mass genocide is the most exhausting activity there is, on par with football."

"That poem, the Walrus and the Carpenter, is an indictment of organized religion. The Walrus, with its corpulence and goodness, represents either the Buddha or with its tusks the Hindu Elephant God, Ganesh. This settles the Eastern religions. Now, the Carpenter is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ; he was the son of a carpenter and thus represents Western religions. Now, in the poem, what do they do? What are they doing? They snare a bag of oysters to get followed and then with large thrusts they shuck and devour those helpless creatures en masse. I don't know what you think, but to me all this says that following these faiths, based on mythological figures, favors the destruction of a person's interiority. Organized religion destroys who we are by inhibiting our actions, inhibiting our decisions for fear of an intangible father figure who has been pointing the finger at us for thousands of years now and saying, "Do it! Do it! I'll fucking split you in two!""

"Marduk redeemed the gods following Tiāmat from slavery, he freed them from slavery by creating men and making them carry the burden of serving the gods. That is, Marduk, to spare the vanquished gods from serving the other victorious gods, forms humanity which is therefore destined by original and natural disposition to serve the gods, to religion. Humanity is therefore the subject of redemption, it is not to be redeemed, but a part of the gods is redeemable: men redeem the gods. (Giuseppe Furlani)"