List of gods used in Gods and Other Creatures.
Selene
Moon goddess. Greek. The daughter of Hyperion (a Titan) and sister of the sun god Helios. The tutelory deity of magicians, she rides a chariot drawn by two horses. According to legend she fell in love with the sleeping Endymion. She becomes largely sycretized with Hekate and in Roman culture equates with the goddess Luna.
Shinigami.
God of death. Japanese?
Possible corruption of "Shin no Kami" (literally, God of Death). Most likely Buddhist in origin. No information found yet.
Hachiman
God of war and peace. Shinto [Japan]. A deity whose origins are confused. The name does not appear in either of the sacred texts of Shintoism, but such a deity was probably worshipped in the distant past with the alternate title of Hime-Gami or Hime-O-Kami. The cult center was on the southern island of Kyushu at Usa. In modern Shintoism, Hachiman originates as a member of the imperial dynasty. Named Ojin-Tenno and born in 200 A.D. to the empress Jingu-Kogo, he greatly improved the living standards and culture of Japan during his remarkable reign. The place of his birth was marked by a sanctuary and several centuries after his death, a vision of a child 'kami' appeared to a priest. The 'kami' identified himself by the Chinese ideogram representing the name Hachiman, and thus the link developed. The site is, today, the location of a magnificent shrine, the Umi-Hachiman-Gu, where Hachiman has been perceived as a god of war. Soldiers departing for battle once took with them relics from the shrine.
Hachiman is also a deity of peace and a guardian of human life and, when pacifism dominated Japan during the post-war era, he became more strongly identified in the latter context.
Hyperion
God of primordial light. Greek. A pre-Homeric deity, one of the race of Titans whose consort is, according to some texts, Thea and who is the father of Helios and Selene.
Ryujin
Dragon god. Shinto [Japan] A deity controlling thunder and rain and probably the most significant of the group of weather gods known as the Raijin. He is of Chinese origin and more Buddhist than Shinto. He does not appear in the sacred Shinto texts _Kojiki_ or _Nihongi_, but enjoys shrines in many Shinto sanctuaries and is worshipped by farmers, particularly in times of drought. He lives in the sea, lakes, and large ponds from which he ascends in mists and winds. He generates dark rain clouds that then burst. His main festival takes place in June.
Hekate (Hecate)
Origin: Greek. Goddess of the moon and pathways. Center of cult: Lagina.
Hekate is the daughter of Perses and Asteria and is honored by Zeus as a goddess. She is the mother of Scylla and is specifically a goddess of pathways and crossroads travelled at night. Artistic representations show her carrying torches. Where paths met, a triple figure of Hekate rose from masks placed at the junction. Offerings were left in roadside shrines and at junctions. In later times she tended to be sycretized with the goddess Artemis. Hekate is also the patron of Medea and other witches, and in some parts of Thessaly she was worshipped by occult bands of female moon worshipers. In variations of the Demeter legends, Hekate play a part in the return of Persephone from Hades. She is also invoked as a bestower of wealth and favor.
Thanatos
Minor god of death. Greek. According to legend, he is one of the two sons of Nyx, the goddess of night, and lives beside the river Lethe in a remote cave he shares with his twin brother Hypnos, god of sleep.
[2] In Greek mythology, death personified. He was the son of Night and the brother of Sleep and even the gods hated him. He often came after the dead and it was from him that Hercules wrestled Alcestis.
Reference:
Evans, Bergen. Dictionary of Mythology. Dell: New York, 1970.
[2] Jordan, Michael. Encyclopedia of Gods: Over 2,500 Deities of the World. Facts on File, Inc: New York, 1993.