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Myths & Legends

All over the world there are extraordinary stories—stories that once upon a time were believed to be true but are today limited to the sphere of ancient myths and legends. The question remains, are those myths and legends something that existed in the minds of our ancestors, or were they based on true events? It is true that most of those ancient myths and legends appear to the scientific world to be fictitious products of vivid imaginations whose goals were purely to explain phenomena beyond their comprehension. Yet is it not arrogant to accuse our ancestors of being uncivilised and ignorant in one breath, then offer them praise and admiration over their monuments, buildings, art, sculptures, and societies in the next? This only proves that our modern society has two contradictory attitudes toward our past.

In this section we will explore some of the most amazing myths and legends from around the world—legends that may hold truths that can unlock the secrets of our ancient origins.

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? A Fearsome Beast in Legends and Tales Around the World

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? A Fearsome Beast in Tales Around the World

There are many stock characters that are present in folk stories, fairy tales, and legends from all over the world. However, few are as constant as the figure of the Big Bad Wolf, a giant predator...
Representation of Hel, the Norse goddess of the Underworld

Going to Hel and Back: The Realm of the Norse Goddess of the Underworld

By far, Loki’s most well-known children are the ones he had with the giantess Angurboda. These include the wolf Fenrir, the Midgard Serpent Jormugandr, and the goddess Hel. Legends say that the...
Could the origin of the Basajaun myth reside in an encounter between the primitive and Mesolithic populations of the ancient Basque Country, and the migrating Neolithic settlers? Source: Gorodenkoff / Adobe Stock

The Myth of the Basajaun: A Basque Story of an Ancient Encounter

The genetic background of modern day Europe can often be a complicated topic to talk about. History often brings the migrations of faraway peoples, which is how the Indo-Europeans merged with the...
Dante holding open a copy of the Divine Comedy while gazing towards Mount Purgatory (1530), Agnolo Bronzino

A Pilgrimage of Thought, Pt 2: The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

The most widely read work of Florentine politician and writer Dante Alighieri, the Divine Comedy dictates a tale of the three realms of the afterlife as believed by the Italians of the Middle Ages...
Mithras and the bull, fresco from Temple of Mithras, Marino, Italy, dated 2nd century AD.    Source: Public Domain

Mithras, the Persian God Championed by the Roman Army

Mithras the god originated in the east, in Persia (modern day Iran) where he was first worshipped. When soldiers of the Roman Empire came back to the West they brought this cult with them and in time...
Battle at Lanka, Ramayana, by Sahib Din. Source: Public Domain

Ramayana: The Grand Epic of Ancient India

Ramayana is an integral part of life for millions of Hindus across the globe. It is one of the two most popular epics written in Sanskrit from ancient India, the other one being Mahabharata...
Deadman’s Island Source: Екатерина Белоусова / Adobe Stock

Prison Hulks, Devil Dogs and Smuggling on Deadman's Island

Deadman's Island is located near the town of Queenborough, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, England. The uninhabited mudbank island, measuring 1200 by 200 meters (3937 by 656 feet), is home to...
The concept of magic, occultism and protection from demons in daily life lies at the heart what the Arslan Tash amulets provided to the ancient Phoenician and Assyrian peoples.                       Source: Sergei / Adobe Stock

The Mystical Arslan Tash Amulets: Protection From Night Demons

The culture of Phoenician civilization was one of the most inspiring and influential in the ancient world. Through maritime trade and over many centuries, the Phoenician writing script, their...
Immortal Koschei the Deathless on his enchanted steed

A Slavic Legend of Immortality: Koschei, the Deathless

A figure from Slavic folklore , Koschei the Deathless (aka Koschei the Immortal) was known for his titular characteristic: his inability to die. What is most interesting about this figure, however,...
Jinn by an ancient city

Jinn: Tales of Wish Masters Throughout Time

In translation, the term jinn can be interpreted as ‘hidden from sight’ or ‘the hidden ones.’ In Arabic, the word jinn defines a collective number and it derives from the root jnn or gnn, which means...
Supernatural beings such as the Kusarikku hybrid bull-men, pictured here in the middle, are featured in ancient Mesopotamian lullabies. They remain kind until disturbed, in this case, disturbed by a baby’s cries.                    Source: QuartierLatin1968 / CC BY-SA 2.0

Ancient Mesopotamian Lullabies, Sung to Soothe and Warn Babies

Lullabies are not a recent invention. In fact, they stretch back thousands of years, undoubtedly to the time before written history. Many ancient Mesopotamian lullabies, from the cultures of Babylon...
Mimir, the bodiless god of wisdom, plays a fundamental role in the stories of Odin and the Norse gods.

The Bodiless God of Wisdom: Mimir in Norse Mythology

The god who transcends even Odin’s power, Mimir (or sometimes called Mim) is remembered throughout Norse mythology as the oracular head from which the two races of gods, the Aesir and Vanir, seek...
The god Horus represented by a falcon at the Temple of Edfu. Source: Edyta / Adobe Stock

The Cult of Horus: Myths That Stretch From Egypt To Rome

Horus (also known as Heru) was one of the most important deities in the ancient Egyptian pantheon . The ancient Egyptians worshipped Horus mainly as the sky god and the god of kingship. In the cult...
King Arthur. Detail. Charles Ernest Butler, 1903.

Archaeologists May Have Discovered the Birthplace of King Arthur: Legends Come to Life?

The discovery of 1500-year-old ruins at Tintagel in south-west England made headlines around the world. What appear to the be the walls of a Dark Age palace have been found in the exact place, and...
Quetzalcoatl, detail. Source: Manzanedo/Deviant Art

The Real Story of the ‘Bearded God’ Named Quetzalcoatl

Many myths have cropped up in the centuries since Columbus landed upon the shores of Hispaniola. While some of these myths have come to be seen for what they are, many more persist in the zeitgeist...
Kamakura’s Sixteen Wells on the grounds of Kaizo-ji Temple. Photo source: Phlizz / Atlas Obscura

Kamakura’s Sixteen Wells: One of the Mysteries of Kazo-ji Temple

The Juroku-no-i, or Sixteen Wells in English, is a group of sacred wells at the Kaizo-ji Temple in Kamakura , Japan. The Sixteen Wells are located in a small grotto near the back of the temple. As...
Flying Rowan Tree, Isle of Skye, Scotland

The Power of the Flying Rowan Tree, Woe of the Witches

Why were certain plants raised from mere utility to reverence in the collective consciousness of various populations from different cultures? This elevation from purely physical use to the realm of...
Beowulf against the dragon.

Finding Beowulf: Is Some of the Famous Anglo-Saxon Heroic Epic Based on Truth?

Beowulf is possibly the most famous example of Anglo-Saxon literature. The heroic epic was created between the 8th-11th century and is set in Scandinavia. In the tale, Beowulf helps the king of the...
Vlad the Impaler as Dracula

Vlad the Impaler: The Real Count Dracula?

In 1897, Bram Stoker, an Irish writer, wrote a novel called Dracula , which has since become one of the classics of the Gothic horror genre. Despite the fact that Dracula is a fictional character,...
Ramesses II

The Life and Death of Ramesses II, Ramesses the Great

Ramesses II is arguably one of the greatest pharaohs of ancient Egypt (hence named Ramesses the Great), and also one of its most well-known. Ramesses II, the third pharaoh of the 19 th Dynasty,...
Golem of Prague and Rabbi Loew

Golem: A Legendary Clay Beast Created to Protect Jewish People

The gothic horror novel, Frankenstein , is one of the most well-known stories in which man tries to play god by attempting to manufacture a living being. A similar story, that of the golem, exists in...
Boreas, Greek God of the North Wind, who is strongly connected with the mythical land of Hyperborea, abducting Oreithyia.   Source: Giovanni Francesco Romanelli / Public domain.

Hyperborea: Mythical Land That Fascinated Writers of the Ancient World

Hyperborea is a location in Greek mythology . The inhabitants of this mythical land are known as Hyperboreans, whom the ancient Greeks believed enjoyed extremely long lives. Hyperborea is mentioned...
Solemn Knights Templar.

Greed and Decline: The Treasure of the Knights Templar and Their Downfall

The ‘Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon,’ more commonly known as the Knights Templar, or the Templars, was one of the most renowned military orders during the Middle Ages. The...
The coast of the Visayas islands, Philippines, today.               Source: attiarndt / Adobe Stock

Did Visayan Raiders Plunder the Coast of the Song Dynasty?

Roughly between the Song Dynasty years of 1174 AD to 1189 AD there were little-known accounts of ferocious tattooed bandits that terrorized the south-eastern shores and islands of China. As the Song...

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