Velchanos
Velchanos, properly Welchanos, Gelchanos, or Elchanos, is an ancient Minoan god associated with vegetation and worshipped in Crete. He was one of the main deities in the Minoan pantheon, alongside a Mother Goddess figure who appears to have been his mother and consort, with the two participating in an hieros gamos.
The cult of Velchanos was likely influenced by Marduk. Following the rise of Mycenaean Greece and contact with the Minoans, Velchanos' cult influenced that of Zeus and Hephaestus, who was identified with Moloch.
According to Arthur Evans, a tree cult played one of the most important aspects of the Minoan religion in ancient Crete. In this cult, two deities were worshipped; one male and one female. In this tree cult, while the Mother Goddess was viewed as a personification of tree-vegetation, the male god formed a "concrete image of the vegetation itself in the shape of a divine child or a youth", with the two forming a mother and child relationship.
Worship
Mycenaean period
The Minoans viewed Velchanos as less powerful than the goddess. At some point, the Mycenaean civilization came in contact with the Minoans and identified their own god Zeus with Velchanos. This religious syncretism led to Zeus absorbing some of Velchanos' traits, which also being affected Zeus' mythology, who was henceforth stated to have been born in Crete and often represented as a beardless youth; he was also venerated as Zeus Velchanos.Hellenistic period
In the 4th century BC, during the beginning of the Hellenistic era, Hagia Triada fell under the control of the polis of Phaistos and was reinstated as a place of worship. In this period, an aedicula was installed over a Minoan stoa in honor of Zeus Velchanos. In the same location, a bull protome was also found, built around the 2nd century BC, which is attributed to the shrine of Velchanos. Velchanos appears to have been worshipped in Gortyna as well, as coins depicting him have been found.Velchanus' main festival, the Velchania, was likely celebrated in the Cretan poleis of Gortyna, Lyttos, and Knossos.