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Mirrors appear in a wide range of human cultures throughout history. The idea of an image somehow floating, disembodied and separate from the person looking — shining on a piece of polished stone or...
In the beginning was the word, and by the time that word was made flesh some 85 million people would be dead. It would be incumbent upon us to discover just what that word might be. The word was ‘...
In every period throughout human history men and women have disappeared under unknown or mysterious circumstances. These disappearances present some of the most intriguing historical puzzles ranging...
Jews of Ethiopia have long believed they were descended from King Solomon through the mysterious queen of Sheba . In I Kings , chapter 10, she is said to have traveled to Jerusalem to experience for...
The modern English word, ‘Thule’, first appeared in ancient Greek and Roman cartographic documents as the Latin word Thūlē, describing farthest north location in the known world. Over the centuries...
February 12, is the celebration of the Chinese New Year Spring Festival . In ninth-century Chinese folklore, this is the festival where Ye Xian, the Chinese Cinderella, lost her slipper, and the rest...
When considering an ancient civilization, especially one that has been largely unexplored, it is easy to form ideas based on unexamined assumptions. The phrase ‘Lost Civilization’ probably brings to...
Greece, a modern country found in Southeastern Europe, has for more than a thousand years presented the world with famous battles, fine art, wine, poetry, gods, and tales that at times bewilder the...
The history of piracy has always held the imagination captive, both for what concerns the nautical and its techniques and for the geopolitical landscape it occupied. Its origins spring from the times...
The word shaman for most people, carries an aura of mystery and perplexity. Yet, it is a spiritual practice that began with early human societies. For people unfamiliar with at times perplexing...
The Egyptians, like many cultures, had no generic word for ‘demon’. Although some words, such as Akhw, get very close. Etymologically, the Greek derived term ‘daemon’ or ‘demon’ means divider or...
The names Thessalia, Hippolyta, Antiope, and even Princess Diana of Themyscira, better known as Wonder Woman are not unknown, even though up until recently only the romantics believed in their...
The mythological Alcinous and the location of his kingdom of the Phaeacians have remained one of the most elusive topics of ancient Greek literature. Clues to the ruler and his kingdom survive only...
On June 20, 1675, the small border town of Swansea, Massachusetts, was attacked by a band of Pokanoket of the Wampanoag tribe . No casualties resulted from the Pokanoket raid that day, except for...
Ghost stories abound about American presidents haunting the Oval Office. Wandering spirits returning from the dead to haunt the places they lived and worked in have been central components in...
The Andean mountain lion, often called the South American cougar, ( Puma concolor ), is perhaps best known simply as the puma, and this manhunter ruled the forests and jungles of western South...
A link to the treasures of the Templar Knights have come to light by way of a 17th-century manuscript, discovered by a historian, Giovanni Tomassini, in the small village originally called Ferentum...
An archetypal character who appears in the myths of many different cultures, the Trickster gleefully crosses and breaks physical and societal laws of both humans and gods, destroying norms, while...
Gilgamesh is one of the greatest heroes of the ancient Middle Eastern world. The epic named after him has become one of the greatest literary works of all ages. There is, however, one aspect of...
The Agricultural, or Neolithic (New-Stone Age) Revolution , marks the birth of modern civilization. Traditional wisdom says that is when we started to become us. That is when we began to grow crops,...
In Greek mythology, Melissa was a nymph who discovered and taught the use of honey and from whom bees were believed to have received their name. Regarded as nectar of the gods, honey is obviously as...
Counting from December 25, using the Julian calendar , Twelfth Night – January 6 – takes place on the last night of the ‘ Twelve Days of Christmas’ , marking the coming of the Epiphany, celebrating...
The historical existence of the Garden of Eden ( Genesis 2:4-3:24) remains a mystery. The Hebrew text depicts the Judaic Deity, Adam, Eve, and the villainous Serpent interacting within an intimate...
A peculiar pyramid with a ‘fan structure’ stands as an ancient stone solstice marker in Icod de los Vinos, a municipality on the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands (Spain). The precolonial...