(^402) A Wiccan Bible
Uttu—Female—Middle East/Mediterranean
Sumerian goddess of vegetation and the
use of vegetation by humanity. Also a name
for the god Shamash.
Vach—Female—Near East
(Also known as Vac)
‘Speech’—Hindu goddess of speech and of
the process of experiencing the mysteries that
normal speech cannot express. She is thus as-
sociated with the initiatory path of mystery re-
ligions such as Wicca.
Vadjra—Male—Far East
Japanese god of three faces. Those faces
are the likely source for the statuary of three
monkeys found in a 17th century Japanese
temple. The best translation of the inscription
on that statue is ‘See no evil, hear no evil, and
speak no evil’ or ‘Mizaru, Kikazaru, Iwazaru.’
The statuary is most likely a representation of
the three faces of a much earlier deity form,
Vadjra. The fun part of this translation is that
the Japanese word for monkey is ‘saru,’ which
is similar in sound to the ending of each of the
three faces of Vadjra. It is likely that any asso-
ciation between monkeys and Vadjra is made
only through the pun intended on the names
of his three faces whose names are actually
verbs with an ending that only sounds similar
to monkey. In a modern context, this supports
the Wiccan principle that like attracts like and
the warning in the Wiccan Rede about spend-
ing time with fools. It is the commentary that
upon seeing, hearing, or speaking evil, one
risks becoming evil. Now that is not a stead-
fast rule, but an observation. Certainly statis-
tics show that abused children tend to grow
up to be abusive parents, but it is not always
the case.
Vajra, Dakinis—Female—Central Asia
Dakinis Vajra is the Tibetan goddess asso-
ciated with East, peace, love, and the divine.
See also Ratna, Padma, Karma, and Buddha.
Vali (1)—Male—Northern Europe
Father: Odin
Mother: Rind
Little is known about Vali other than he
was born for the purpose of avenging Baldur’s
death. He is sometimes cited as an excellent
archer, but I am unclear if this is a modern cre-
ation to connect him with the Roman Vali (son
of Juno), or if perhaps the Vali of Northern
Europe and Mediterranean have a connection
other than the name.
Vali (2)—Male—Mediterranean
Mother: Juno
Vali is cited as an excellent archer and son
of the goddess of love Juno Februa, making it
a no-brainer that St. Valentine’s Day is prob-
ably built on his story.
Valkyries—Female—Northern Europe
(Also known as Walkyries)
Animal associations: Horse, Eagle, Raven,
Wolf, Swan
Plant association: Aspen
‘Choosers of the slain’—The Valkyries are
not only Odin’s messengers, they are the be-
ings sent forth to select combatants for the fi-
nal battle of Ragnarok. These beautiful young
women comb the battlefields of man to wit-
ness how warriors fight and just as importantly,
how they die. If they fight with the fierceness
necessary for the final battle of the gods, the
Valkyries take note. If they die without fear
and having confidence that their cause was just,
then they raise the slain warrior (called the
Einherjar) and bring him to Valhalla where
they train every day for the end days. Interest-
ingly enough, that training involves being
wounded and killed each day, then healed at
night so they can participate in combat train-
ing the next day. Where other cultures con-
sider such an afterlife to be unpleasant, the
Norse folk considered it to be one of the high-
est honors a man could receive. Yet another
example of cultural different views of the ever
present lore of an afterlife.
z WB Chap 17.p65 402 7/11/2003, 6:05 PM
barré
(Barré)
#1