WORLD
Explore Myths, Gods and Legends from Around the World
Stories of gods, heroes, monsters and legendary worlds from every culture
Kivutar
Kivutar is a female figure associated with pain, illness and suffering in Finnish mythic and incantation traditions. She belongs especially to the supernatural world described in Finnish healing charms, where diseases an…
Róta
Róta is a little-known female figure in Norse tradition, usually classified as a valkyrie. Her name appears in medieval lists of valkyries preserved in Old Norse literature, especially material associated with the Prose …
Macha
Macha is a name associated with several important female figures in Irish mythology and medieval Irish tradition. The name belongs to more than one character, and the surviving stories do not always present them as a sin…
Kotihaltija
Kotihaltija is a Finnish household spirit associated with the protection, prosperity and proper running of a home. The name is usually understood as “the guardian of the home” or “the household spirit”: koti means “home”…
Angerona
Angerona was a little-known Roman goddess associated with silence, secrecy, and the relief of distress. Her name appears in the forms Angerona and Angeronia, and she was honoured at a Roman festival called the Angeronali…
Amphion
Amphion is a legendary musician, prince and culture hero of Greek mythology, best known from the Theban cycle. He is traditionally the twin brother of Zethus and the son of Zeus and Antiope. His music was said to possess…
Amicitia
Amicitia is the Roman personification of friendship, goodwill and the bonds that unite individuals or communities. Unlike major Roman gods such as Jupiter, Juno or Mars, Amicitia does not possess a large, clearly defined…
Ampelos
Ampelos is a beautiful young companion of Dionysus in Greek mythology, best known from the late antique epic Dionysiaca by Nonnus. His story explains, in mythic form, the origin of the grapevine and connects love, loss, …
Orishas
Orishas (Yoruba: òrìṣà; also written orisa, òrìṣá or orisha) are sacred powers and divine beings in the religious traditions of the Yoruba-speaking peoples of West Africa. Yoruba communities are concentrated especially i…
Orunmila
Orunmila is a central orisha in Yoruba religious tradition, especially associated with Ifá, the divination system through which knowledge, guidance and insight are sought. He is linked with wisdom, human destiny, moral c…
Osanyin
Osanyin is a Yoruba orisha associated with leaves, herbal knowledge, healing, and the powerful life of the forest. His name is also written as Òsányìn, Osain, or Osaín, depending on the language, orthography, and religio…
Oshe
Oshe is usually the name given to the distinctive ritual axe or staff associated with Ṣàngó, the Yoruba òrìṣà of thunder, lightning, authority and warrior power. It is not generally understood in Yoruba religious traditi…
Jurojin
Jurojin is a Japanese god of longevity and one of the Shichifukujin, the Seven Lucky Gods. Usually portrayed as an elderly man with a long white beard, a staff, and a scroll, he represents a long life guided by wisdom, h…
Sanbo-kojin
Sanbō Kōjin (also written Sanbo Kojin or Sambō Kōjin) is a Japanese deity associated with fire, the hearth, the kitchen and the protection of the household. The name is usually translated as “the Rough Deity of the Three…
Kami
Kami is the Japanese term commonly translated as “god,” “deity,” or “divine spirit.” In Shinto, kami may be associated with natural phenomena, particular places, ancestral figures, legendary heroes, imperial ancestors, o…
Kami-kaze
Kami-kaze, more commonly written kamikaze in English, means “divine wind” or “wind of the kami.” In Japanese religious and historical tradition, it is not normally the name of a single god, monster or supernatural creatu…
Sedna
Sedna is one of the best-known figures in Inuit religious traditions: a powerful woman associated with the sea, marine animals and the continuing relationship between human communities and the natural world. In many trad…
Tekkeitsertok
Tekkeitsertok is a figure associated primarily with Greenlandic Inuit traditions and with the caribou on which many northern communities depended. He is commonly described in English as a master or guardian of caribou, a…
Torngarsak
Torngarsak is a powerful spirit known from several Inuit religious traditions, especially those recorded in Greenland and the eastern Canadian Arctic. Older English-language sources also use forms such as Torngarsoak, To…
Ahe’a
Ahe’a is a name associated in some modern references with Hopi religious tradition, but its identity is not securely established across the surviving documentation of Hopi culture. The spelling appears in several forms, …
Huitzilopochtli
Huitzilopochtli was a major deity of the Mexica, the Nahua-speaking people who founded and ruled the city-state of Tenochtitlan in central Mexico. He was associated with warfare, the sun, rulership, sacrifice and the Mex…
Huixtocihuatl
Huixtocihuatl—also written Uixtocihuatl, Uixtociuatl and in other spelling variants—was a goddess associated with salt in Mexica, often called Aztec, religious tradition. Her name is commonly translated as “Salt Woman,” …
Ilamatecuhtli
Ilamatecuhtli is an aged female deity in the religious traditions of central Mexico, especially those associated with the Mexica, often called the Aztecs. Her name is usually translated as “Old Woman” or “Old Lady,” alth…
Itztli
Itztli is a figure associated with obsidian, cutting blades and sacrificial violence in Aztec, or Mexica, religious tradition. The Nahuatl word itztli primarily means “obsidian,” a volcanic glass widely used in Mesoameri…Bachue
Bachué is a founding mother in the traditional religious world of the Muisca, an Indigenous society that lived mainly in the high plateaus and valleys of what is now central Colombia. Her story is closely associated with…
Bochica
Bochica is a culture hero and sacred teacher of the Muisca, an Indigenous people who lived mainly on the high plateaus of the central Colombian Andes before and during the period of Spanish conquest. In Muisca traditions…
Boraro
Boraro is a frightening forest being associated chiefly with Indigenous traditions of the north-western Amazon, especially the cultural region around the Vaupés River in present-day Colombia and Brazil. It is commonly de…
Ceucy
Ceucy, also written Ceuci or Ceucí in different accounts, is a little-documented female figure associated with the traditions surrounding Jurupari in the Indigenous cultures of the Upper Amazon. She is most often describ…Yara-ma-yha-who
Yara-ma-yha-who is a dangerous blood-drinking being associated with Aboriginal tradition in Australia. In commonly repeated accounts, it is a small red figure that waits in a fig tree and attacks people who come within r…
Yhi
Yhi is a name commonly used in modern accounts of Australian Aboriginal mythology for a female being associated with the sun, light, warmth and the awakening of life. Stories connected with Yhi describe light entering a …
Yingarna
Yingarna is an ancestral creator being in the traditions of the Kunwinjku people of western Arnhem Land in northern Australia. She is commonly described as a powerful female Rainbow Serpent and as an ancestral mother ass…
Ahoeitu
ʻAhoʻeitu, also written Ahoeitu or Ahoʻeitu, is a central figure in Tongan traditional history and mythology. He is traditionally regarded as the first Tuʻi Tonga, the sacred ruler whose dynasty became one of the most en…St. Philip Neri
St. Philip Neri (1515–1595) was an Italian priest, mystic and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory. Remembered as the “Apostle of Rome,” he played an important role in the Catholic renewal of the sixteenth century,…
Baradiel
Baradiel is an obscure angelic name associated, in some later angelological traditions, with hail and other forms of severe weather. Unlike Michael, Gabriel, Raphael or Uriel, Baradiel does not belong to the small group …
St. Pius V
St. Pius V was a sixteenth-century pope and Dominican friar whose pontificate helped shape the Catholic Church after the Protestant Reformation. Born Michele Ghislieri in 1504, he became Pope Pius V in 1566 and served un…
Balthioul
Balthioul is an obscure angelic name found chiefly in modern and post-medieval compilations of esoteric angelology. Unlike Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, or other angels named in Jewish and Christian scripture, Balthioul has…
Caim
Caim—also spelled Camio or Caym—is a demon of early modern European ceremonial demonology. He is best known as the fifty-third spirit in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon, where he is describ…
Bune
Bune is a demon or spirit listed in early modern European ceremonial-magic literature, especially the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is described as a powerful duke who appears as a dragon…
Buer
Buer is a demon of European grimoire tradition, best known from the Ars Goetia, the first part of the Lesser Key of Solomon. In that text, Buer is described as a powerful president among infernal spirits, associated with…
Botis
Botis is a demon described in the early modern European grimoire tradition, especially in the catalogue of spirits known as the Ars Goetia. He is listed as the seventeenth spirit and is given the titles of both a Preside…Mythology and the Stories of Ancient Civilizations
Mythology is the collection of stories, beliefs and traditions that ancient cultures used to explain the world around them. Long before modern science, myths offered answers to fundamental questions about the creation of the universe, natural phenomena, human existence, death and the forces believed to govern destiny.
Every civilization developed its own mythological tradition. Greek mythology tells of powerful Olympian gods, heroic warriors and terrifying monsters. Norse mythology describes a universe of interconnected worlds inhabited by gods, giants, elves and legendary creatures. Egyptian mythology revolves around divine kingship, the journey into the afterlife and the eternal struggle between order and chaos.
Beyond the most familiar traditions, thousands of myths emerged across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Oceania and the ancient Middle East. Hindu mythology contains vast cycles of gods, avatars and cosmic events. Japanese folklore is filled with kami, spirits and mysterious beings, while Celtic traditions preserve stories of warriors, magical lands and supernatural powers.
Although these traditions developed independently, many share recurring themes. Creation myths, great floods, journeys to the underworld, divine battles and heroic quests appear in cultures separated by enormous distances.
Gods and goddesses often represented the forces that shaped everyday life. Some ruled over storms, oceans, war or agriculture, while others protected families, cities or the dead.
Mythical creatures also played an essential role in these stories. Dragons, giants, spirits, shapeshifters, demons and hybrid beasts could act as enemies, guardians, warnings or symbols of forces beyond human control.
Myths were not simply invented as entertainment. They were connected to religious rituals, social customs, political power and cultural identity.
Many mythological stories survive today through literature, art, cinema, television and video games. However, modern adaptations often differ considerably from the original traditions.
At WorldMythos, you will find articles organised by mythology, culture and subject. Our aim is to present legendary stories in a clear and engaging way while distinguishing between ancient sources, folklore, historical interpretation and modern popular culture.