Mythology

As the mountains and the seas have their gods, so too do the stars in the heavens. Greatest of their number is Olorun, God of the Sky and the Heavens, and supreme deity of the Yoruba pantheon. It was Olorun who kindled the spark that would become the sun, and at his command, the Orishas – the Yoruba gods – crafted the world and its inhabitants from the gathered dust of the cosmos. But though Olorun is the greatest of the Orishas, he seeks no worshippers and asks for no offerings, yet entire nations follow his ideals. Like the stars, he is a remote deity, content to sit in quiet contemplation of the myriad wonders of creation. And he is powerful enough to ensure the sanctity of his solitude. Olorun commands the fundamental forces of the cosmos – even time itself. Yet despite this power, Olorun is but one part of a greater whole. A tripartite being, Olorun possesses two other aspects – Olodumare, creator of the universe, and Olofi, the conduit between Earth and the Heavens. As befits a b...

According to Kola Abimbola, the Yoruba have evolved a robust cosmology. In brief, it holds that all human beings possess what is known as "Ayanmo" (destiny, fate) and are expected to eventually become one in spirit with Olodumare (Olorun, the divine creator and source of all energy). Life and death are said to be cycles of existence in a series of physical bodies while one's spirit evolves toward transcendence. This evolution is said to be most evident amongst the Orishas, the divine viziers of Olorun. An Orisha is an entity that possesses the capability of reflecting some of the manifestations of Olodumare. Orishas are revered for having control over specific elements by nature, thus being better referred to as the divinities or Imole. Even so, there are those of their number that are more akin to ancient heroes and/or sages. These are best addressed as Dema Deities. Yoruba Orishas are often described as intermediaries between humankind and the supernatural.

Vodouists believe in a distant and unknowable Supreme Creator, Bondye ("Good God"). Bondye does not intercede in human affairs, and thus they direct their worship toward spirits subservient to Bondye, called loa. Every loa is responsible for a particular aspect of life, with the dynamic and changing personalities of each loa reflecting the many possibilities inherent to the aspects over which they preside. The most notable loa include Papa Legba (guardian of the crossroads), Erzulie Freda (the spirit of love), Simbi (the spirit of rain and magicians), Kouzin Zaka (the spirit of agriculture), and The Marasa, divine twins considered to be the first children of Bondye. To navigate daily life, vodouists cultivate personal relationships with the loa through the presentation of offerings, the creation of personal altars and devotional objects, and participation in elaborate ceremonies of music, dance, and spirit possession.

Slavic folk belief holds that the world organises itself according to an oppositional and yet complementary cosmic duality through which the supreme God, Rod, expresses itself, represented by Belobog ("White God") and Chernobog ("Black God"), collectively representing heavenly-masculine and earthly-feminine deities, or waxing light and waning light gods, respectively. All bright male gods, especially those whose name has the attributive suffix -vit, "lord", are epithets, denoting aspects or phases in the year of the masculine radiating force, personified by Perun (the "Thunder" and "Oak"). Veles, as the etymology of his name highlights, is instead the god of poetic inspiration and sight. The underpinning Mokosh ("Moist"), the great goddess of the earth, has always been the focus of a strong popular devotion, and is still worshipped by many Slavs, chiefly Russians.

In ancient Rome, people believed that gods were actively involved in their everyday lives. The three supreme deities, known as the Capitoline Triad, were Jupiter (the supreme deity), Minerva (his daughter), and Juno (his wife). Other gods such as Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Cupid, also played major roles and represented different aspects of life, such as war, love, music, and beauty. The Romans held festivals for and brought offerings to their gods, such as Pax the goddess of peace. They believed that gods lived everywhere - in trees, in animals, by the side of the road, in a flower, in a stream, and in your house. Almost everything in Rome was driven by a spirit of some sort within it.

The Polynesians were masters of navigation and other seafaring skills, and their religion and myths strongly reflected the importance of nature and the sea. Polynesians believed that all things in nature, including humans, contained a sacred and supernatural power called mana. Mana could be good or evil, and individuals, animals, and objects contained varying amounts of mana. The Polynesians' religion included many gods, local deities as well as the great gods of their pantheon. The people felt a close personal connection to their deities and to various heroes, demigods, and tricksters of their mythology. The most popular character was Maui, a hero-trickster well known throughout Polynesia.

In Norse Mythology, the gods and the earth were created at the death of Ymir, the primordial deity and ice-giant. Before he was slain, the cow Audhumla, who was created with the same materials as Ymir, started to lick the salt off an ice block which in turn created the god Buri, who then immediately produced a son of his own, Borr. While Ymir fell asleep after drinking the cow's milk, he too bore a son and a daughter out of his armpits and a six headed frost giant grew out of his feet. It was not too long before the frost giants and the gods did not get along with each other; the forces of good and evil were at war. One day Borr married the giantess Bestla, who gave them three mighty sons: Odin, Vili, and Ve. The trio decided to join their father, Borr, at defeating the frost giants, which they succeeded by killing the mighty Ymir. Thus, out of Ymir's flesh the Midgard or the earth was created, of his blood the sea, of his bones the hills, and of his hairs the trees. With his s...

The primary purpose of the ancient Maya was to give a sense of order and control to life, that was their world view. What created their world view was the mere fact that their primary crop was corn and they had to manage the wet and dry seasons which would predict the timing of the corn cycle. In the Popol Vuh, which is the Maya creation story, the creation of the earth and the first human beings focus on the establishment of corn and on the creator deities. The important creator deities consisted of Huracan and Itzamna. In the Popol Vuh, Hun Hunahpu loses a ballgame against the gods of the underworld and they decapitate him. However, his sons the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, defeat the gods of the underworld and restore the world to its former glory. The ancient Maya worshipped the gods in order to keep the crop cycle going, they also performed sacrificial rituals for the gods in order to make sure their demands would come to fruition.

Japan, land of the rising sun; their pantheon consists of many gods and goddesses, more commonly known as "Kami", or "highly placed being." The rank of Kami was bestowed on natural objects and beings such as mountains, rivers, animals, as well as esteemed ancestors. While Kami appear in many forms and usually have human qualities, they are powerful beings who control aspects of nature. Of the two types of Kami, the heavenly Kami are superior than their earthly counterparts and only reside in heaven, hence, they must use messengers to keep them up to date on earth and in the underworld. The main myths that accompany these religious traditions are that of the creation of the world, the founding of the Japanese Islands, and those of magical creatures, humans, and deities.

The Hindus believe that this is not the first universe. They believe in rebirth, meaning that there will be countless more universes. These universes are created by Lord Brahma, known as the Creator, maintained by Lord Vishnu the Sustainer and destroyed by Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is called the Destroyer and Re-creator, as with each destroyed universe another must be recreated. Once a universe is destroyed, nothing remains but an endless ocean. On a great swimming snake Ananta, is Lord Vishnu. Growing out of Lord Vishnu's navel is a lotus flower and out of this sprouts his servant, Lord Brahma, the creator of all things. Brahma divided his own body in two. Out of one, Brahma shaped man; out of the other, woman. The man was called Manu, and he was wise; the woman Shatarupa, and she was mysterious. Today, Hindus consistently worship their creator god Brahman, who is known as the supreme deity. There are countless gods in the Hindu pantheon, all known for their unique traits and mystic ...

The ancient Greeks did not believe that the gods created the universe but rather that the universe created the gods. Long before the creation of the gods, heaven and earth had already been formed. Heaven and earth were referred to as the parents and their children, the Titans. The Elder gods, also called the Titans, were known to have super strength and enormous size. The most powerful of the Titans was Cronus, who was the ruler of his kin. One day, however, his son Zeus, a mere god, dethroned Cronus and made himself ruler of all gods. He and the other gods, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, Artemis, and Hephaestus, were the 12 great Olympians. Immortal and invincible, they watched mortal men from their abode on Mt. Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. It is said that the entrance of Olympus is a great gate made up of clouds. It is a peaceful paradise where there are stretches of cloudless skies, endless sunshine, and where the sound of Apollo...

The Great Old Ones are a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a deathlike sleep. H. P. Lovecraft named several of these deities, including Cthulhu, Ghatanothoa, and Yig. The majority of these have physical forms that the human mind is incapable of processing; simply seeing them renders the viewer incurably insane. Although worshipped by deranged human (and inhuman) cults, these beings are generally imprisoned or restricted in their ability to interact with most people (beneath the sea, inside the Earth, in other dimensions, and so on), at least until the hapless protagonist is unwittingly exposed to them. Lovecraft visited this premise in many of his stories, notably his 1928 short story, "The Call of Cthulhu", with reference to the eponymous creature. However, it was August Derleth who applied the notion to all of the Great Old Ones.

In ancient Egypt, people paid great importance to mythology, rituals and belief. A vital part in everyday life was the belief in the afterlife. The burial process had to do with mummification and ritualistic spells guided the deceased into the underworld. Egyptians were polytheistic and believed in many gods and goddesses, whose purpose was to bring peace and harmony to Upper and Lower Egypt. There were gods and goddesses who took part in creating the world, such as Atum and Khepri. Moreover, some gods, like Hapi the god of the Nile, brought the flood every year, some such as Horus offered protection, and some like Anubis and Osiris took care of people after death. There were other minor gods as well, representing animals and plants. Lastly, they had local gods who were associated with towns. For the Egyptians, in order for life to continue peacefully and harmoniously, one must worship the gods.

The creation of the universe and the world began with the mighty god Pangu. Awoken by the discord from the formation of the universe, he swung his axe to break through the chaos. The exposed lighter matter of the chaos ascended and became the sky while the darker matter sunk and became the earth. Pangu stood in between the two layers and pushed up the sky. Once the earth and sky have reached its limit, Pangu created the world by sacrificing himself to form the world. Wind and Cloud was created from his breath; his voice became thunder; the sun was formed from his left eye and the moon from his right; his hair transformed into the stars and sky; his blood turned into the lakes and rivers, his bones became minerals, the rain came from his sweat, and the fur on his body transformed into forests and fields. As for mankind, it is said that Nu Wa dipped a rope in clay and when she flicked the rope a human arose from each globule that landed on earth. The world was divided into three realms c...

The Celts worshiped a variety of gods who appeared in their tales. Most were all-powerful local deities rather than gods with specialized roles. Each tribe had its own god, who protected and provided for the welfare of that tribe. Some of them had similar characteristics. For example, Dagda, the god of life and death in Ireland—known as the good god—resembled Esus, the "master" god of Gaul. Some deities had more clearly defined roles. Among these were Lug, or Lugus, a sun god associated with arts and skills, war and healing, and the horned god Cernunnos, who was god of animals and fertility. The Celts also had a large number of important female deities. These included The Morrigan, the "Phantom Queen"—actually three goddesses, Anu, Macha, Badb, who appeared as ravens during battle. Another important deity was Brigit, goddess of learning, healing, and metalworking. Epona, the horse goddess, was associated with fertility, water, and death.

The myths of the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians depicted a world full of mysterious spiritual powers that could threaten humans. People dreaded demons and ghosts and used magical spells for protection against them. They worshiped a pantheon of a dozen or so major deities and many other minor gods. Mythology was closely interwoven with political power in ancient Mesopotamia. Monarchs were believed to rule by the will of the gods and were responsible for maintaining good relations between the heavenly world and their kingdoms. Each of the early city-states had as its patron one of the deities of the pantheon, and the importance of the god rose and fell with the fortunes of its city. A main theme of Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation epic, is the rise of Marduk, the patron god of Babylon. Marduk became a leader of the gods, just as Babylon rose to power in the region. The best-known Mesopotamian myth is the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh, the story of a hero king's search for i...

Before there was air, earth, or even sky, there was only water—turbulent, bubbling water from which the first god, Ra, arose. Ra transformed into a new element in the cosmos, the sun. But the paucity of other life soon weighed heavily upon him, and so through communion with his own shadow, he sired a daughter, Tefnut. She also was a new element—moisture. And Ra's other child, Shu, became the air. They in turn had offspring of their own, Geb and Nut (the earth and sky). Soon an entire cosmological order had been established. But with it came unforeseen challenges. Soon Ra found himself forced into daily battle with the serpent Apep for control of the atmosphere. Enlisting the help of wife and daughter Bast (goddess of cats and fertility), Ra was successful on most days. But on days when Apep prevailed, storms and foul weather were the rule. This was the mere beginning of what Ra would contend with. The frustrations of lording over a human population that was prone to complaint and r...

In the beginning, Norse legend has it that there was nothing but fire and ice. Slowly these two forces forged two beings: Ymir the giant and Audhumla the cow. Audhumla subsisted by licking the salty ice, while Ymir survived off Audhumla's milk. Eventually the cow's incessant licking freed up a creature from the ice, the god Bor. Bor would father many other deities, but none would be more important than Odin. Odin was to become the ruler of all Norse gods—as well as the embodiment of all knowledge. This he accomplished by trading his right eye with a giant called Mime in exchange for access to the fountains of wisdom. Later, when Mime was decapitated in battle, Odin anointed the skull with herbs and revived it, keeping Mime's severed head at his side for his invaluable counsel. While Odin sired many children, it was the consummation of his marriage to the goddess Frigg that produced the greatest diversity of gods, from the stately and eloquent Bragi (god of poetry) to the mo...

Gaea, or the earth, was the first deity of the Greek cosmological order, born of the chaos that reigned before life. She gave birth to Uranus (the heavens), and together they conceived giants, cyclopes, and titans. Uranus was not pleased with his monstrous offspring, so he locked all his children away deep within the earth. And Gaea was not pleased with Uranus for this. So she enlisted the titan Kronos to attack his ungrateful father and seize power. But Kronos was an even less tolerant father than Uranus, and was soon dealt the same blow by his own son Zeus. And with Zeus's ascension to power, so begins the Greek era of the Olympians. Now controlling the entire cosmos, Zeus decided to divide the spoils between his brothers Poseidon and Hades. The drawing of lots decided that Zeus would retain his title as ruler of the gods, while Poseidon would take possession of the seas. Hades was left with control of the underworld, and felt slighted, but there he ruled nonetheless, an angry an...

Ancient Nepal By 55,000 years ago, the first modern humans had arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa, where they had earlier evolved. The earliest known modern human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago. The oldest discovered archaeological evidence of human settlements in Nepal dates to around the same time. After 6500 BC, evidence for the domestication of food crops and animals, construction of permanent structures, and storage of agricultural surplus appeared in Mehrgarh and other sites in what is now Balochistan. These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, the first urban culture in South Asia. Prehistoric sites of palaeolithic, mesolithic and neolithic origins have been discovered in the Siwalik hills of Dang district. The earliest inhabitants of modern Nepal and adjoining areas are believed to be people from the Indus Valley Civilisation. It is possible that the Dravidian people whose history predates the onset of the Bronze Age in the I...

Arthurian legend, part of the body of stories and medieval romances known as the matter of Britain, centers on the legendary King Arthur. Medieval writers, especially the French, variously treated stories of Arthur's birth, the adventures of his knights, and the adulterous love between his knight Sir Lancelot and his queen, Guinevere. This last situation and the quest for the Holy Grail brought about the dissolution of the knightly fellowship, the death of Arthur, and the destruction of his kingdom. Stories about Arthur and his court had been popular in Wales before the 11th century; European fame came through Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae, celebrating a glorious and triumphant king who defeated a Roman army in eastern France but was mortally wounded in battle during a rebellion at home led by his nephew Mordred. Later writers, notably Wace of Jersey and Lawamon, filled out certain details, especially in connection with Arthur's knightly fellowship (the K...

Long nineteenth century The long nineteenth century traditionally starts with the French Revolution in 1789, and lasts until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It saw the global spread of the Industrial Revolution, the greatest transformation of the world economy since the Neolithic Revolution. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain around 1770 and used new modes of production—the factory, mass production, and mechanization—to manufacture a wide array of goods faster while using less labor than previously required. Industrialization raised the global standard of living but caused upheaval as factory owners and workers clashed over wages and working conditions. Along with industrialization came modern globalization, the increasing interconnection of world regions in the economic, political, and cultural spheres. Globalization began in the early 19th century and was enabled by improved transportation technologies such as railroads and steamships. European empires lost territo...

The early modern period is the era following the European Middle Ages until 1789 or 1800. A common break with the medieval period is placed between 1450 and 1500 which includes a number of significant events: the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, the spread of printing and European voyages of discovery to America and along the African coast. The nature of warfare evolved as the size and organization of military forces on land and sea increased, alongside the wider propagation of gunpowder. The early modern period is significant for the start of proto-globalization, increaslingly centralized bureaucratic states and early forms of capitalism. European powers also began colonizing large parts of the world through maritime empires: first the Portuguese and Spanish Empires, then the French, English, and Dutch Empires. Historians still debate the causes of Europe's rise, which is known as the Great Divergence. Capitalist economies emerged, initially in the northern Italian re...

The post-classical period, dated roughly from 500 to 1500 CE, was characterized by the rise and spread of major religions while civilization expanded to new parts of the world and trade between societies intensified. From the 10th to 13th centuries, the Medieval Warm Period in the northern hemisphere aided agriculture and led to population growth in parts of Europe and Asia. It was followed by the Little Ice Age, which, along with the plagues of the 14th century, put downward pressure on the population of Eurasia. Major inventions of the period were gunpowder, guns, and printing, all of which originated in China. The post-classical period encompasses the early Muslim conquests, the Islamic Golden Age, and the commencement and expansion of the Arab slave trade, followed by the Mongol invasions and the founding of the Ottoman Empire. South Asia had a series of middle kingdoms, followed by the establishment of Islamic empires in India. In West Africa, the Mali and Songhai Empires rose. On...

Cradles of civilization The Bronze Age saw the development of cities and civilizations. Early civilizations arose close to rivers, first in Mesopotamia (3300 BCE) with the Tigris and Euphrates, followed by the Egyptian civilization along the Nile River (3200 BCE), the Norte Chico civilization in coastal Peru (3100 BCE), the Indus Valley civilization in Pakistan and northwestern India (2500 BCE), and the Chinese civilization along the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers (2200 BCE). These societies developed a number of shared characteristics, including a central government, a complex economy and social structure, and systems for keeping records. These cultures variously invented the wheel, mathematics, bronze-working, sailing boats, the potter's wheel, woven cloth, construction of monumental buildings, and writing. Polytheistic religions developed, centered on temples where priests and priestesses performed sacrificial rites. Writing facilitated the administration of cities, the expression of...