Relendo em uma antiga Seleções do Readers Digest uma referência a Henry L. Mencken (1880-1935), me lembrei de uma ótima tradução, e livro, de Ruy Castro (O Livro dos Insultos de H. L. Mencken, Cia. Das Letras) e não me contive em dar uma pesquisada sobre alguns dos deuses citados no capítulo "Cerimônia Memorial".

Talvez a televisão tenha me levado a esta curiosidade, pela quantidade de candidatos ao cargo, de Bush a Lula, cada qual por seus motivos pessoais e com a duração possível ao sonho atual. Afinal, hoje é só uma interpretação de conveniência do momento. Ninguém mais quer ser eterno.

Flashes de minutos, dias, anos, mas, com certeza a "mosca azul" se fez presente e inconfessável. Sempre tem que haver um início qualquer e quanto mais estapafúrdio, mais eficiente.

Enfim, Mencken explica melhor e na grandeza adequada:

..."Onde fica o cemitério dos deuses mortos?..Houve uma época em que Júpiter era o rei dos deuses, e qualquer homem que duvidasse de seu poder era ipso facto um bárbaro ou um quadrúpede. Haverá hoje no mundo quem adore Júpiter? E que fim levou Huitizilopochtli? Em um só ano - e isto foi há apenas cerca de quinhentos anos - 50 mil rapazes e moças foram mortos em sacrifício a ele. Hoje se alguém se lembra dele, só pode ser um selvagem errante perdido nos cafundós da floresta mexicana...
Todos deuses poderosos em seu tempo, adorados por milhões, cheios de exigências e imposições, todos capazes de unir e desunir - enfim, deuses de primeira classe...
O que terá acontecido a Sutekh, antigo deus de todo o vale do Nilo?

O que terá acontecido a: Reshep, Anath, Ashtoreth, Nebo, Melek, Ahija, Isis, Ptah, Baal, Astarte, Hadad, Dagon, Yau, Amon-Ra, Molech?...

Todos foram deuses da mais alta dignidade - deuses de povos civilizados -, adorados e venerados por milhões. Todos eram onipotentes, oniscientes e imortais. E todos estão mortos...(1922)"

Sutekh or Set (who also was the third child, Seth, of Adam-Geb and Eve-Nut) is the red Desert God of Storms, Chaos, Night and Wild Nature, and the Waning Moon. He is the brother-husband of Nepthys, the brother of Isis, Osiris, and Horus the Elder, and the father of Anubis.
In North America, Set or Seth would of course be Coyoté or Flint of the two children of Ataentsic. The Planet (and evening of the dekans) attributed to Set is Saturn; the Constellation (and Moon) Sagittarius, traditionally the Hunter or Bow-man. While no one knows for sure which animal is the Set animal, it could be a Boar, a Stallion, or a Wolf or Hyena. In Welsh mythology, Set corresponds to the White Sow who devours her own young, Ceridwen (Gaelic Cràin Finn.)

A Philistine deity. It is commonly admitted that the name Dagon is a diminutive form, hence a term of endearment, derived from the Semitic root dag, and means, accordingly, "little fish". The name, therefore, indicates a fish-shaped god. This the Bible also suggests when speaking of the Dagon worshipped in the temple of Azotus (I K., v, 1-7): he had face and hands and a portion of his body resembled that of a fish, in accordance with the most probable interpretation of "the stump of Dagon" (verse 5). From the received text of the Septuagint it would seem that he possessed even feet, although Swete's edition gives here a different reading; at any rate, this sentence, in the Greek translation, shows all the appearances of a gloss. With the description found in the Bible coincides that which may be seen on the coins of various Philistine or Phænician cities, on most of which Dagon is represented as a composite figure, human as to the upper part of the body, fish-like as to the lower. From this it may well be inferred that Dagon was a fish-god, a fact not in the least surprising, as he seems to have been the foremost deity of such maritime cities as Azotus, Gaza (the early sites of which are supposed to be buried under the sand-mounds that run along the sea-shore), Ascalon, and Arvad. In the monuments-also most probably in the popular worship-Dagon is sometimes associated with a female half-fish deity, Derceto or Atargatis, often identified with Astarte.
A few scholars, however, waving aside these evidences, consider Dagon as the god of agriculture. This opinion they rest on the following statement of Philo Byblius: "Dagon, that is, corn' [the Hebrew word for corn is dagan]. "Dagon, after he had discovered corn and the plough, was called Zeus of the plough" (ii, 16). The same writer tells us (in Eusebius, Præp. Evang., i, 6) that, according to an old Phænician legend, Dagon was one of the four sons born of the marriage of Anu, the lord of heaven, with his sister, the earth. Moreover, on a seal bearing certain symbolic signs, among which is an ear of corn, but not, however, the image of a fish, may be read the name of Baal-Dagon, written in Phænician characters. It is open to question whether these arguments outweigh those in favour of the other opinion; so much so that the etymology adopted by Philo Byblius might possibly be due to a misapprehension of the name. It should, perhaps, be admitted that, along the Mediterranean shore, a twofold conception and representation of Dagon were developed in the course of time as a result of the presumed twofold derivation of the name. At, any rate, all scholars agree that the name and worship of Dagon were imported from Babylonia.

Isis

Isis, though worshipped all over Egypt, was specially venerated in certain cities, and the following are among the most common of her titles: --"The great lady, the God-mother, lady of Re-a-nefer; Isis-Nebuut, lady of Sekhet; lady of Besitet; Isis in Per Pakht, the queen of Mesen; Isis of Ta-at-nehepet; Isis, dweller in Netru; Isis, lady of Hebet; Isis in P-she-Hert; Isis, lady of Khebt; Usert-Isis, giver of life, lady of Abaton, lady of Philae, lady of the countries of the south," etc. From a list of title of the goddess collected by Dr. Brugsch, it is clear that Isis was called Usert, in Thebes, Aat, in Heliopolis, Menkhet, in Memphis, God-Mother, in Coptos, Hert, in Letopolis; and "Hent," i.e., "Queen," in every nome; and another important list tells us that Isis was called Ament, in Thebes, Menhet, in Heliopolis, renpet, In Memphis, Sept, in Abydos, Hetet, in Behutet, Hurt, in Nekhen, Thenenet, in Hermonthis, Ant, in Dendera, Sesheta, in Hermopolis, Heqet, in Hibiu, Uatchit, in Hipponus, Mersekhen, in Herakleopolis, Renpet, in Crocodilopolis, Neb-tept, in Arsinoe, That, or Tchetut, in Aphroditopolis, and Shetat, in Bubastis. Among her general titles may be mentioned those of "the divine one, the only one, the greatest of the gods and goddesses, the queen of all gods, the female Ra, the female Horus, the eye of Ra, the crown of Ra-Heru, Sept, opener of the year, lady of the New Year, maker of the sunrise, lady of heaven, the light-giver of heaven, lady of the North Wind, queen of the earth, most mighty one, queen of the South and North, lady of the solid earth, lady of warmth and fire, benefactress of the Tuat, she who is greatly feared in the Tuat, the God-mother, the God-mother of Heru-ka-nekht, the mother of the Horus of gold, the lady of life, lady of green crops, the green goddess (Uatchet), lady of bread, lady of beer, lady of abundance, lady of joy and gladness, lady of love, the maker of kings, lady of the Great House, lady of the House of fire, the beautiful goddess, the lady of words of power, lady of the shuttle, daughter of Seb, daughter of Neb-er-tcher, the child of Nut, wife of Ra, wife of the lord of the abyss, wife of the lord of the of the Inundation, the creatrix of the Nile flood."

MOLOCH (MOLECH)

In the Masoretic text the name is "Molech"; in the Septuagint "Moloch." The earliest mention of Molech is in Lev. xviii. 21, where the Israelite is forbidden to sacrifice any of his children to Molech. Similarly, in Lev. xx. 2-5, it is enacted that a man who sacrifices his seed to Molech shall surely be put to death. Then, curiously, it is provided that he shall be cut off from the congregation. In I Kings xi. 7 it is said that Solomon built a high place for Molech in the mountain "that is before Jerusalem." The same passage calls Molech an Ammonite deity. The Septuagint as quoted in the New Testament (Acts vii. 43) finds a reference to Moloch in Amos v. 26; but this is a doubtful passage. In II Kings xxiii. 10 it is stated that one of the practises to which Josiah put a stop by his reform was that of sacrificing children to Molech, and that the place where this form of worship had been practised was at Topheth, "in the valley of the children of Hinnom." This statement is confirmed by Jer. xxxii. 35. From II Kings xxi. 6 it may be inferred that this worship was introduced during the reign of Manasseh. The impression left by an uncritical reading of these passages is that Molech-worship, with its rite of child-sacrifice, was introduced from Ammon during the seventh century B.C.

Appearance: A man with a punt beard, wrapped up like a mummy, but with his hands free which grip a great staff made up of the symbols for life, stability, and power. Sometimes he wears a skullcap crown and stands on the hieroglyph for Maat.
Description: In the Memphite theology, Ptah is the primal creator, the first of all the gods, creator of the world and all that is in it. He is not created, but simply is. In some stories he is the personification of the primal matter, Ta-Tenen, which rose out of Nun, the fundamental seas. His wife is said to be Bast (or Sakhmet) and their children are Nefertem, Mahes, and Imhotep.
Ptah's importance may be discerned when one learns that "Egypt" is a Greek corruption of the phrase "Het-Ka-Ptah," or "House of the Spirit of Ptah."
Ptah (Pteh, Peteh) was the predynastic Mennefer (Hikuptah, Memphis) god of craftsmen, pottery and creation. The Egyptians believed that he was a god who created everything from artifacts to the world egg to the other deities themselves. The Opening of the Mouth ceremony was believed to have been devised by him. He was a god of creation and rebirth.