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Puck
god of Egypt, and the monarch was crowned in his temple. Puck In north Germany and Scandinavia a kind of goblin (the Norwegians call him Pukje); in English popular belief an evil spirit. The word was taken over by the Baltic peoples: → Pukis. Pudicitia (Latin ⫽ modesty) A Roman goddess, the personification of chastity and demureness, represented as a matronly figure, veiled or heavily cloaked. With the increasing erosion of morality in the Empire, her cult went out of fashion and was forgotten. Pugu The sun-god of the Yukagir in eastern Siberia. He is a champion of righteousness, and punishes all deeds of violence. Pukis A kind of dragon in Latvian folkbelief. The name may well be of German origin (cf. → Puck). As a rule, Pukis is not malevolent, indeed he may even help you to amass riches. In Lithuania, Pukys appears as a goblin-like domestic spirit: then again as a dragon bringing treasure. Pultuce
→ Castur
Purá (also under the name of Poré) The supreme god of the Indians in Guyana, also connected with the moon-god. The word is also used to denote a supernatural (divine) power of a general nature.
Purusa (‘human being’) In India, the primeval man. The Purusa hymn in the Rigveda tells us that three quarters of him are immortal and belong to heaven; one quarter is mortal. From this mortal quarter he released his wife → Viraj, and then he himself was born from her as universal spirit. Purusa assumed the form of a giant and was sacrificed by the gods: that is to say, he was ritually slain and separated into his constituent manifestations: head ⫽ heaven, navel ⫽ atmosphere, feet ⫽ the earth. In the Brahmanas and the Upanisads, Purusa serves as a designation for → Prajapati, and in Buddhist texts the name is applied to → Buddha. Pusan (‘the prosperer’) Old Indian god, who is described as radiant and toothless. He is married to the sunmaiden, and confers growth and prosperity through light. He watches over roads, protects travellers and guides the dead. His car is drawn by goats. Pwyll (Welsh ⫽ understanding, judgment) A god of the underworld worshipped in ancient Wales. It is told of his son Pryderi that he brought pigs from the underworld to Wales. Python A dragon which guarded the oracle of its mother, the earth-goddess → Gaia, in Delphi. It was finally slain by → Apóllon.