The World's Most Bizarre And Weird Gods of the World
#1: The rainbow serpent.
This Aboriginal god is a serpent of the oasis. This god is one of the oldest worshipped deities in the world. He is worshipped by the natives of Australia to insure a safe passage through the outback.Â
#2: The Sheela-na-gigs
This ancient goddess of fertility adorns most of Europe and baffles the local authorities on archeology. They have no direct idea what the goddess stood for and where she originated.Â
#3: Raiden
Dada-dada-dada-dada-dun-dun! The teleporting thunder god character of the Mortal Kombat series was historically not portrayed as a glowy-eyed monk or by the guy who played the Highlander, but as a frightful demonic figure with eagle's talons and flaming hair, which honestly would've made those games a lot more entertaining.
#4: Son Goku
Sneaking arrogantly across the line between fiction and religion is Sun Wukong, an ancient and legendary figure fusing Taoist legend, Buddhist fable, and a healthy dose of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman into one of history's most memorable characters.
#5: Baron Samedi
In the complicated pantheon of Voodoo/Vodou/Voudoun, the Ghede represent the most powerful loa (spirits) of death and fertility, and among the Ghede, sharp-dressed corpse Baron Samedi is the most powerful of all.
#6: Tlazolteotl
Aztec goddess of midwives, adulterers, sin, purification and (for some reason) steam baths, Tlazolteotl went by many names, the most of apt of which was probably Ixcuina "She of Two Faces
#7: Abraxas
In Carl Jung's Gnostic treatise "The Seven Sermons to the Dead," the psychologist and philosopher referred to the god-aspect of Abraxas as higher than the Christian God and Devil combined, combining and uniting all opposites into a single almighty being, so that's definitely a point in his favor.
#8: Atum
What better deity for a self-made man than a self-made god? While not the first god of Egypt, Atum had little help from the self-absorbed pseudo-gnostic entities of the Ogdoad, rising from a mound that itself arose from the swirling primordial waters of Nu.
#9: Prince Philip
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#10: Fenrir
Loki the mischief-maker and lead baddie in Avengers has a favorite son, Fenrir. He's like a wolf-monster-joker-god hybrid. He lived in a KENNEL for a while and kept getting out, getting into all sorts of trouble, just like dad. And who do the Norse deities call when their crazy evil monster dog brethren gets out of line? Dwarves, of course. According to Nordic mythology, Fenrir will be restrained by Elven creatures until Ragnarock comes to free him so that he can join giants in the battle against the gods.
#11: Vishnu
Vishnu, one of the major Hindu gods, switches into ten different shapes: fish, boar, turtle, man-lion, dwarf, a bruiser with a battle-axe, a prince, a god, a dwarf and a Buddha. Oh, yeah, he also appears as Kalki, the rider on a white horse that appears when the world ends. This guy is always changing shapes, but don't call him fickle. Vishnu is a professional demon-destroyer, and needs to alter his form to keep those pesky ghouls on their ugly little toes.
#12: Chenrezig
This is the lord of compassion, which seems pretty down the middle until you take a peek at him. Chenrezig isn't your average dreamy, dewy-eyed God or Goddess. He's got 1,000 arms, one eye in the palm of each hand, and a 1,000 more heads with third eyes in them. I hope he was compassionate as a kid, because a game of hide-and-go-seek or jump rope probably wasn't any fun with him on the other team.
#13: Tapio
God of trees, this East Finnish deity is made entirely of said trees and a little moss. If there was ever a woman who claimed she wore the pants in a relationship, she hasn't met Tapio's wife Mielikki, goddess of the entire forest. So Tapio doesn't get around very much, and you know, he's a tree.
#14: Dedun
This is the ancient god of incense. My, how far they fall Incense, now relegated to head shops and hardcore yoga studios, were traded for big money back in ancient Nubia. This leads people to believe Dedun and his smoky sticks represented great wealth. He's depicted as a man or lion but never harms anyone, though apparently there's an anecdote of fire spreading from his temple that destroyed all the other Nubian shrines, hence killing their gods. Suspect, Dedun.
#15: Kalfu
Kalfu, or Kalfou (or Carrefour, depending on what language you worship voodoo gods in), is a Haitian Voodoo god ofroads coming together. This might not scare the everyday American, but in Haiti and for Voodoo worshippers, this god carries a particular strength: harnessing good and evil of the future. Part trickster, part devil and part god, Kalfu is a creature that denies being demonic at all, but considers himself a "lone wolf" within the teachings of Voodoo. If Kalfu had a dating profile, it would say that he digs gunpowder, rum, the color red and possessing a person to let all the evil and injustice into the world. Sexy!
