Adonis



ADONIS Also Known As Pteor or Tammuz 

Pantheon

 * Shemite Pantheon

Regions of Worship

 * Shem

Divine Relationships

 * Ishtar (sister)
 * Nergal (enemy)

Representation
Adonis is often symbolized by a boar and his statues are nude, brass caricatures that emphasize his genitalia. As Pteor he is usually symbolized by a ram or a sheep. In Asgalun (the Pelishtim capital), Pteor is represented as a bull-headed god with obscenely exaggerated male characteristics/genitalia.

Gender representation: male

Symbolism

 * Goat, Ram, or Bull Horns
 * Phalli (Male Genitals)
 * Boars

Spheres of Power

 * Fertility
 * Night Sky
 * Male Sexual Power
 * Wisdom

Rituals & Beliefs
In the spring the priests celebrate by holding great festivals where the priests, stripped naked, gash themselves so as to spill their blood on the soil to symbolically awaken the fertility of the world. Many of Pteor’s followers’ festivals begin with a public show of nude performers followed by a ritual display of various people engaged in all manner of sex acts, including bestiality. Eventually the audience is invited to join. The love between Adonis and Ishtar sustains the world and exotic techniques of sexual intercourse is allegorical to the intercourse between those two gods.

The great idol of Pteor in Asgalun has a brazen door in his stomach where a great fire can be built and sacrifices thrown. Vents in his ears release the smoke. In times of crisis children are thrown into the belly of Pteor to win his pleasure.

Implementation IC & In-Game
Vanilla Derketo religion as placeholder for all pantheon of Shem. A ziggurat is a usual form of temple in Shem. Horned helmets are often used by priests of Anu and its followers as sign of the bull.

More Information

 * Faith and Fervour (Conan RPG Book)
 * Shem-Gateway to the South (Conan RPG book)