Names have a powerful place in the beliefs and mythology of many cultures. The "true name" is an essential aspect of the holder of this name. You can use the name of a person, thing, or deity in negative ways, such as taking control over someone or summoning them when their presence is unwanted.

The Navajo tribe of the United States will not say the name of the Skinwalker, an evil shape-shifting shaman, for fear that it will seek them out and attack them.

 In Egyptian myths, if someone finds out the actual name of a god, they will have complete control over them. Isis figured out the true names of the sun god Ra. Isis did this by telling him that she could not heal him of a snake's bite unless she knew his true name. After she healed him, Ra could not get that power back, and she became equal to him in power. The Egyptians also believed that the name is tied into a part of the soul itself, called the Ren, and to erase that, say from their grave, is to erase them from the afterlife. 

There are, in many European cultures, euphemisms in place for the word bear. For example, in Ukraine, the scholar Roman Smal-Stocki asked the locals why they had euphemisms for the word bear and what he was told was that "the miraculous power of words to bring into existence the things or attributes which they designate... The utterance of a name evokes the thing named." In other words, they didn't say it out of fear of summoning a bear. 

In mythology and folklore, twins are sometimes seen as dualistic, sometimes due to opposing beliefs, will pit themselves against each other. Sometimes they will come together and marry and have children. They can be turned into stars or the sun and moon.

Roman - Romulus, and Remus are the twin founders of Rome. Romulus betrayed Remus, took his life, and then named the city after himself. 

Greek - The Dioscuri, which is named Castor, and Pollux. As Castor was dying, Pollux gave up half his immortality so that they never had to be apart. They would move between Olympus and Hades for periods. 

Nordic - Freyr, and Freyja are two fertility twins and the children of Njord. They were both originally Vanir gods but given to the Aesir after the Aesir-Vanir War. Freyja is a war goddess who has her own hall of the slain called Folkvangr. Freyr rules over the light elves in Alfheim and he gets sacrifices during harvest festivals and he blesses weddings.

Seagull - Some Native Americans believe that seagulls can control the weather. If they are high in the sky, a storm is coming; if they are moving in numbers inland, a storm is approaching from offshore.

Albatross - the sailors say that Albatross are the souls of dead sailors and that killing one is bad luck. Also, if you see an Albatross near your ship for a long time, it means that you will have a safe voyage. 

Boobrie - Usually taking the shape of a giant Cormorant, the Boobrie feasts on otters or livestock it finds on ships. The Boobrie is also able to take on the form of a water horse and gallop across the water as if it's on solid ground

Pelican - The Egyptians associated the Pelican with death and the afterlife. It prophesized safe passage through the underworld after a person died.

German - Death became the godfather of the 13th child of a family as they could no longer take care of him. Death raised him in the art of medicine and curing people. When Death stood at the end of a person's bed it meant they would die; but if he stood at the head of it, they would live and he could cure them. But one day the man was summoned by the King who had fallen ill, when he went to see him Death was there at the foot of the bed. So the man turned the bed around and healed him. This angered Death but he was not punished, only warned that if he did it again he would end his life. Later, the King's daughter fell sick and the King said that whoever could heal her could marry her. Again, Death was at the foot of the bed when the man walked in and he pulled the same truck again out of a desire to wed the princess. Death grabbed him and took him into a cavern where they were surrounded by thousands of candles each burned at different lengths. Death told the man that each candle was a single life and then showed him his own, which was almost burnt out. The man pleaded with Death to let him live longer or give him a new candle to no avail. Death lifts his scythe, the candle is extinguished, and the man falls to the ground dead.

Alchemy - The Philosopher's Stone is a theoretical object that has the ability to turn metals into gold. It is also capable of rejuvenation and making people immortal. The first mentions of it dates back to c. 300 A.D. by Zosimos of Panopolis in his book Cheirokmeta. It has been used in plenty of films and books, most notably in the Harry Potter series. 

The Fountain of Youth - There are many different cultures that believe in a type of fountain of youth that can come in forms such as rivers, springs, lakes, etc. It is thought that whoever comes across it can use it to cure themselves of any illnesses or even reverse their age. Alexander the Great went looking for it with his men and when the older soldiers bathed in it they came back out in their 30s and stronger than ever. 

There is great care taken in most cultures for honoring and taking care of the dead. They would even design buildings used exclusively to house the deceased, such as the House of Eternity in Egypt, where you go to meet yourself and immortalize yourself in the afterlife. Sometimes people would be buried with tools and even enslaved people and their pets to have with them in the afterlife. However, disturbing the deceased is a major taboo and can disrupt their peaceful afterlife. 

Mesopotamian - King Ashurbanipal of the Assyrians, when fighting with the Elamites, raided their tombs. On one of his tablets, he wrote that “...  I destroyed and devastated the tombs of their earlier and later kings… I took their bones to Assyria. I prevented their ghosts from sleeping and deprived them of funerary offerings and libations. On a march of one month and twenty-five days, I devastated the districts of the land Elam and scattered salt and cress over them." The Sumerians, like many other cultures, would bury their dead with items they thought the person would need in the underworld. This includes gold, tools, and food. If the dead were not buried with the food they would become hungry and come back from the underworld as ghosts.

Hawaiian - Iwi Na Kupuna (Bones of our Ancestors) are very sacred to the people of the Hawaiian islands and must not be disturbed. Within a person's bones lies their mana (spiritual essence) which Hawaiians would spend their life maintaining and enhancing. Desecrating or removing the Iwi from their grave will result in hurting the 'uhane (spirit) and affect their living descendants. It is believed that when a person is buried in Mother Earth they become a part of the land and therefore nourish it and their kin. By removing the Iwi you are in turn removing mana from the land and people of Hawaii.

Battle of Pelusium - According to the Greek author Polyaenus, during the battle of Pelusium, the Persians knew that Egyptians had many sacred animals that they would not harm for any reason. One of these animals was cats, so the Persians gathered up a bunch of cats and held them in front of them when they attacked, which allowed them success in the battle.

Operation Wandering Soul - During the Vietnam War, the US forces performed psychological warfare against the Việt Cộng in what was called Operation Wandering Soul, by creating distorted voices and screams of the dead. To do this, they had South Vietnamese soldiers come and record audio clips. They would then play these on speakers in the jungle, up in helicopters, and up and down the rivers on boats. “Some ghosts that were more malicious than others, the ‘tightening-knot ghost which was used during this war to convince Vietnamese troops to off themselves after whispering "cổ cổ" which translates to neck in Vietnamese”. The goal of this was to get the soldiers to defect to the other side and weaken the overall morale. The US played these noises so loud that the VC could hear them in their secret underground tunnels. They had sounds playing of children crying for their fathers and of souls saying that they are dead in hell.

Attack of the Aswang - During the cold war, there was an uprising among the Filipinos called the Hukbalahap Rebellion. To stop this rebellion, an officer in the CIA named Edward Lansdale, started a string of vampire attacks in the Philippines. He knew that the Filipinos heavily believed that Aswangs were real. The CIA took a straggler from the Hukbalahap and punctured two holes in his neck, drained his body, then left the body on the trail for the others to find. The tactic worked and cause the rebellion to flee their position.

Many cultures have experiences with bodily possessions, both good and bad. Possessions can come from spirits, demons, or even gods either to send a message to others or to cause chaos and harm. 

Native American - There is a spirit known as the Wendigo that possesses a person who has committed the taboo act of eating another human. Once it takes over a person, their hunger for flesh becomes insatiable, and no matter how much they consume they will never be full.

Haitian - Some Voodoo practitioners can be possessed by the Loa (gods) and tell of prophecies of their future or certain events. Possession is said to feel like energy flowing through the body.

Chinese - Possessions are said to be caused by evil spirits known as Kuei, who are created as a result of a person dying unexpectedly,  or when the dead are not worshipped, among other things.

Greek - Eidolones are daemons that possess the living. There are 2 accounts described by Apollonios of Tyana, one from India and one from Athens. Here is an excerpt from the Eidolon from India: 

"... the Daimon (Demon) discovered himself using my child as a mask, and what he told me was this, that he was the ghost of man, who fell long ago in battle, but that at death he was passionately attached to his wife. Now he had been dead for only three days when his wife insulted their union by marrying another man, and the consequence was that he had come to detest the love of women, and had transferred himself wholly into this boy. But he promised if I would only not denounce him to yourselves, to endow the child with many noble blessings. As for myself, I was influenced by these promises; but he has put me off and off for such a long time now, that he has got sole control of my household, yet has no honest or true intentions."

Definition - A Spiritual Twin is a kind of spirit or another part of the soul that is born/created at the same time as a human and is usually with them and/or watching over them for their entire life.

Shilombish - In Choctaw beliefs, the Shilombish (the outside shadow) is with every person and always follows them until death. After death it will roam the earth wandering aimlessly, frightening its living friends to try and get them to move away. There is also the Shilup (inside ghost) which, after death, will go to the land of the ghosts.

Itse - There are 3 parts to the Finnish concept of the soul: Henki, Luonto, and Itse. The latter is most like the idea of the Spiritual Twin. Itse is received at birth and it defines the personality of the person it is a part of. The word Itse means 'self' and it can leave the body of the person it inhabits. When this happens, however, it can cause sickness and depression if gone for too long. After death, the Itse will either join their deceased family or stay on earth as a ghost.

Ka - The Ka is a part of the soul in Egyptian belief. In one version of the creation of humans, the god Khnum creates two clay dolls at once, one is the Ka and the other is the physical body, and then when they are born they are born as one. It is considered the vital spark of the soul, in reference to the Pharaohs, all of them share one Ka and it is shared with the god Horus.

Greek - Orpheus was a famous musician who played on the lyre and was so good at it that he could make even the rocks dance to his music and could drown out the deadly alluring sound of the Sirens' call. 

Native American - Kokopelli is a trickster and creator god of multiple tribes. He is always depicted playing the flute and his hunchbacked stance is attributed to his dancing.

Nordic - Bragi is the bard residing in Valhalla, performing for Odin and his Einherjar (dead warriors). He has runes carved on his tongue and plays the harp. Bragi wasn't originally a god worshipped by the Nordic people but was a 9th-century poet named Bragi Boddason who was deified by poets later on.

German - The Pied Piper was a man with a magical pipe that was hired by a town to save them from a rat infestation. He used his magical pipe to march all the rats out of the town. But afterward, the townspeople refused to pay him and so he lured all the children out of the town and took them into a cave where they were never seen again. There were 3 children however that were saved because they were unable to keep up. One was lame, the second was deaf, and the third was blind.

Hopi - Spider-Woman, and Tawa created man and woman in their likeness and sang them to life.

Greek - The Virgin Goddess Artemis' sacred animal is the deer. Her golden chariot is drawn by four golden-horned deer that are bigger than bulls. One of her deer, the Cerynitian Hind, was taken by Heracles during his third labor for king Eurystheus which he tracked for over a year so that he could take it alive.

Nordic - Living in the Hall of the Slain (Valhalla) is a deer named Eikthyrnir who feeds on Yggdrasil and has water pouring out from his antlers to such a degree that it fills all the rivers of the world. There are also four other deer that live on the branches of the world tree and also have water pouring from their antlers. The god Freyr, after giving up his sword to marry Gerðr then uses a deer's antler as his primary weapon.

Japanese - Deer are seen in the Shinto religion as messengers of the gods, there is also a ritual deer dance performed called Shishi-odori in Northeastern Japan.

Scottish - Red Deer in Scotland are called "fairy cattle" as they are believed to be owned by fairies who get milk from them. They also protect the deer from hunters by attacking hunters with enchanted arrows.

Antlers in some cultures are seen as a symbol of rebirth/regeneration as the deer shed and grow back their antlers every year.

Definition: The word Dragon comes from the Greek drakōn which means serpent. It can be used to describe any large lizard-like or serpent-like monster.

Most people when they think of a dragon see a large, scaled beast with wings and the ability to breathe fire and fly. But in myth and folklore, their appearance is much broader in form and function.

Kalapuya is a tribe located in Oregon. They have a myth of a monster called Amhuluk that lives in a lake near Fork Mountain where it captures and drowns everything it can. It is described as a spotted, horned serpent. It once captured 2 kids by impaling them with its horns and letting them commune with their father for 5 days before disappearing underwater forever.

The Angont is another serpentine Dragon known by the Huron tribe living in Oklahoma. This beast lives in places like caves, forests, and lakes. It spreads death and disease and its flesh is poisonous. 

Around the area of the Great Lakes, the Seneca tribe has tales of a large serpent called Gaasyendietha. This giant serpent can fly on a trail of fire and can spew it out. It is also called a Meteor Dragon as it is believed to have come to Earth from a meteoroid.

Ihuaivulu - Similar to the Greek hydra, the Ihuaivulu is a giant seven-headed beast that breathes fire and lives in volcanoes according to the Mapuche tribe.

Iwanci - According to the Jivaro tribe in Ecuador, the Iwanci is a shapeshifting evil serpent that would turn into either a giant water snake or an anaconda.

Boitatá - A giant flaming serpent with firey eyes that hunt people in the night. They are said to eat your eyes first to absorb the light you saw during the day. They use their eyes to lure their victims into dangerous areas (similar to a Will-O-the-Wisp). 

Tizheruk - The Inuit tribe in Alaska near Key Island reports a giant sea serpent. It is said to snatch unsuspecting people off pairs without people noticing it happen. It is described as having a head 2 meters in length and a tail with a flipper.

Quetzalcóatl - This was a very important god to both the Aztec and Mayan people. 

He is described as being a giant feathered serpent. 

He is the god of death, resurrection, creation, and more. One important story states that Quetzalcóatl was a priest-king of Tula. He would only make an offering of snakes, butterflies, and birds, and was eventually expelled from the city by the god Tezcatlipoca using dark magic. After he was expelled, Quetzalcóatl got onto a raft made of snakes and sailed beyond the eastern horizon.

Nguruvilu - In Mapuche mythology, the Nguruvilu is a giant fox/serpent hybrid living in rivers. It is said that when people go to cross the river Nguruvilu will cause a whirlpool to appear and drown anyone it can. The only way to stop this beast from drowning more people is to have a shaman come in and threaten it, where it will then move on to a different part of the river leaving that community alone.

Cōātlīcue - The name translated from Nahuatl means "Serpent Skirt". She is an Aztec goddess of the earth, fertility, creation, destruction and more. She is described as having the body of a woman with 2 snakes for heads that face each other. She has a skirt of interwoven snakes and a necklace made of skulls, hands and hearts, her fingers and toes are claws.

In honor of Dinosaur Month, I will be looking into dragon mythology and how dinosaurs have influenced them over the years. 

For many decades in China, people would dig up dinosaur fossils that they believed to be the bones of dragons (Long Gu). They would then crush up the bones and make them into medicine to cure a multitude of different ailments. 

In Klagenfurt, Austria the people used to keep a skull of the wooly rhinoceros in their town hall because they believed it was the skull of a dragon that was slain before the city was founded in 1250 A.D.

All dinosaurs are dragons but not all dragons are dinosaurs. The word dinosaur was invented in 1841 by Richard Owens and came from the words deinos (terrible) and sauros (lizard). Before that time, any fossils found or encounters with large reptiles such as snakes, crocodiles, monitor lizards, and more (could) be considered a dragon encounter. The Japanese called dinosaurs Kyōryū which means "fearful dragon". Chinese call them kǒnglóng which essentially means air/sky dragon. In both German and Greek they call them fearful serpents.

Another possibility for the inspiration of dragons are crocodiles and alligators which lived at the same time as dinosaurs. With their large size, mouths full of teeth, and being covered in scales it is easy to see the similarities between the two creatures and how they could have inspired them. 

There are many reported sightings of giant lake monsters and other large beasts that roam the land that are eerily reminiscent of dinosaurs. These creatures are sometimes referred to as living dinosaurs or fall under the category of Cryptids. Many of these Cryptids are similar in shape to dinosaurs like Sauropods and Plesiosaurs. 

Mokele-Mbembe - One of the more popular examples of Dino Cryptids can be found hiding in the lush rainforest of the Congo River Basin. It is described as having smooth skin, a long neck, and a single horn.

Loch Ness Monster - Living in Loch Ness, Scotland is a giant plesiosaur-like monster with many reported sightings dating back to at least 565 A.D. Despite many sonar explorations and other searches over the years, there have been no successful results. But that hasn't stopped people from wanting to see it in person, it is estimated that the Loch Ness Monster brings in nearly $80 million annually to Scotland.

Lake Murray - In mainland New Guinea in 1999 local villagers as well as church officials claimed to have seen a bipedal, crocodile-skinned beast as long as a dump trunk. It had a cow-shaped head with sharp teeth and hind limbs as thick as coconut palm tree trunks. Paleontologists conducted a study by interviewing locals and discovered that it seemed to closely resemble the Ceratosaurus.

Definition - Geomythology is the study of myths that explain the origins of geological events such as earthquakes, floods, impact events (such as asteroids), and other things. In this post, I will be talking about geological formations such as the creation of rivers, mountains, rocks, etc., and the beings that made it happen.

Fimbukwinter - Nordic mythology states that Fimbulwinter is a terrible winter colder than any other that will last for 3 years with no warmth in-between and it will be the first sign of Ragnarök, the end of the world. This is theorized by some to have been based on an actual event in 535-536 A.D. It was volcanic eruptions that caused the sun to be obscured, temperature to drop drastically, and loss of crops and lives for years till about 560 A.D.

Troll Stones - Trolls are night-dwelling monsters, sometimes of enormous size, who will be turned to stone if they are exposed to sunlight. One such case is that of Hvítserkur or "white shirt", a troll who was fed up with the noose of the bells from church. He tried making his way to the church to detroy the bells but the trip took longer than he had anticipated and so the sun rose and he was turned to stone.

Giant's Causeway - The Giant's Causeway in Ireland is a rock formation that was said to be built by a giant named Finn McCool to get to Scotland to fight another giant named Benandonner. On his way back he ripped up the path leaving what is seen there today. 

Rama's Bridge - Located between Mannar Island and Rameswaram Island in India are a bunch of shoals that are speculated to have originally connected India and Sri Lanka. In Hindu belief, this bridge was built by Rama to get his army from India to Sri Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from Ravana, the Demon King. 

In Irish folklore, the Banshee (Old English ben síde which means 'woman of the fairy mound') is a harbinger of death. Usually, in the form of a woman, she will wail or lament outside of the house of a person who is about to die. The Banshee is sometimes tied to specific royal families such as ones whose name started with Ó or Mc/Mac. There are other cultures whose mythology has their variation of this mythical creature which I will go over in this post.

Clíodhna (Klee-uh-na) - She is the goddess of love and beauty and the queen of the fairies of South Munster (which includes Banshees). She has three birds whose songs could cure any illness.

Bean-nighe (ben-nee’-yeh) - In Scottish folklore the Bean-nighe or 'washer woman' is an omen of death and messenger from the Otherworld. She inhabits streams where she washes the clothes of those who are about to die. Bean-nighe, whose plural name is mnathan-nighe are described as having red, webbed feet like a duck and wearing green clothes. They also have a French equivalent called Les Lavandières.

Cyhyraeth (cuh-huh-raith) - The Welsh have their variation as well though this one is described as being a disembodied wailing voice that foretells someone's death. She will wail three times, each one getting fainter, and after the last one, that person will die. She will also cry for people who die in shipwrecks.

Caoineag (khoo-nyak) - A Highland Fairy whose name means 'weeper' who, like Cyhyraeth, is said to be invisible. Caoineag only foretells the death of someone from her clan, especially if they're to die in battle. She can be heard keening in places such as waterfalls, streams, glens, lakes, and mountains.

Japanese - Iso Onna is a vampiric mermaid that lives on the coast of the Kyūshū" islands. They hunt fishermen and travelers. Whenever someone approaches them on a sandy beach, they let out a terrifying shriek and then drag the victim into the ocean, where they drain the person's blood with their hair.

Scottish - Located in the waters around Shetland is a minster known as Bregdi. It had giant fins that it would use to wrap around boats and drag them under the sea. It is said by sailors that you can scare the Bregdi off by either slashing at it with a knife or by touching it with amber.

Ainu - The Amemasu is a giant fish whose name means rain trout. This monster is said to be able to grow to the size of a lake feeding on whatever they fit in their mouths. If fishermen on their boats get too close to the Amemasu when it is thrashing about, they risk being sunk and eaten by it. The Ainu believe that Amemasu's thrashing causes earthquakes. 

Korean - The Gwisusan (Turtle-headed mountain) is a giant turtle that looks like an island out at sea hundreds of meters in length. It has tentacles on its back that resemble bamboo. If you cut off the strands on its back, it will run away and eventually die (A similar myth comes from Greek mythology of the Aspidochelone, which i have mentioned in an earlier post).