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Monsters of Aztec Empire are very eerie and creepy in some way. Since Aztecs did not have many monsters as the Greeks had, I'm inventing more from the folklores of Mexicos and other myths.

Managua ( plural: lingual) are shape shifting witches. The alternative meaning can be the animal spirit (such as the one used in some Native American cultures) that resides in. They are born from the animal that their day represents. (i.e. if a Managua was born on a "dog day", their form will be a dog). The good Managua sent people to Camp Aztlan while the evil ones kill people and abuse their magic on others. The Managua appear as normal humans so it is very easy to kill them.

Naguals took the role of "searcher" that sent demigods to Camp Aztlan/City of Tollan. Naguals usually want to be this so that they can take forms of the gods. Most naguals die in this attempts but later generations continue on to do so.

Naguals can take abilities and powers from people they transform into. However, the naguals require a lot of power if they were to transform into something twice their sizes. They can even transform into non-living things if they want. However, the nagual will disintegrate if they sustain the form bigger than them for an hour. Other than their transformation abilities, the naguals can -

curse a person with a transformation curse. this is not true

remove the curse as well

induce diseases

knowledgeable for bakin

Note: The Managua's main animal represents the day it was born. Find out more on Aztec Calendar

They are a dog-like creature, with hands capable of manipulation and an additional hand on its tail. The ahuizotl is feared due to its liking for human flesh, especially nails, eyes, and teeth. It was said to live in or near the water and uses the hand on its tail to snatch its prey.

Cipactli was a primeval sea monster, part crocodile, part fish and part toad, of

The Cihuateteo were the spirits of women who dies

Childbirth was considered a form of battle, and its victims were honored as fallen warriors. Their physical remains were thought to strengthen

☀"Groooaaaan..."|link=File:Cihuateteo.jpg soldiers in battle while their spirits became the much-feared Cihuateteo who accompanied the setting sun in the west. They also haunted crossroads at night, stealing children and causing sicknesses, especially seizures and madness, and seducing men to sexual misbehavior.

Their images appear with the beginning day signs of the five western trecena, ( 1 Deer, 1 Rain, 1 Monkey, 1 House, and 1 Eagle) during which they were thought to descend to the earth and cause particularly dangerous mischief. They are depicted with skeletal faces and with eagle claws for hands.

They are associated with the goddess Cihuacoatl and are sometimes considered envoys of Mictlan, the world of the dead. Cihuateteo are servants of the Aztec moon deities Tezcatlipoca and Tlazolteotl.

Tlatecuhtli was a sea monster formed from the chaos after order of the universe. So Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl decided to tear her apart to recreate this earth. They threw a part of her above where it formed the skies while another part of her became the sea. She remained alive however and demanded human blood.

After the fall of Aztec Empire, the goddess was enraged and began to devour the Aztec people. As the gods of the Aztlan worked very hard to restore their former glory, they sent their best demigod warriors to destroy the essence remained of the sea monster once and for all. All of them died in the attempt but managed to remove her essence from the Earth. Her blood spawned a new breed known as the Cueyatl. In revenge, they prepared to remove and destroy all demigods on this planet and restore their dead "mother".

The Cueyatl came with various sizes. The small frogs had poisonous tongues that could corrode a demigod's body. The small frog warriors are often disguised as normal frogs and lives in packs. However, it does no harm to mortals. The larger frogs are as large as a sea monster. They only reside in the sea.

The Omen Owls are creatures sacred to Mictlantecuhtli's much-loved consort, Mictecacihuatl and other denizens from the Aztec hell. Their appearance and purpose is related to the banshees. They were to foretold the death of someone in a house. Once the person hears the Owl's hoot, he/she is fated to die on some day/hour/minute. However, the Omen Owls can be driven away and killed by pulling out its heart from its body. Omen Owls have various abilities, the ability to cloak itself before it hoots, the ability to let out a piercing screech and most powerful of all, the power to induce death itself under the orders of the death gods. Most Omen Owls are freed to roam the earth and act out on malice. Without Omen Owls, the Aztec underworld would not be a neccessity as it revolves around deaths related to the Mexica gods or its people. They are quite powerful and are sometimes irritating foes to the Mexica demigods.

Tzitzimieh are the ultimate Aztec nightmare. They are skeletan creatures wearing skirts often with skull and crossbone designs. The leader of these horrendous creatures was Itzpapalotl, the queen. They resided in Tamoanchan, a paradiscal realm in the skies. Tzitzimieh were chaotic and dangerous and would devour mankind during solar eclipses and the New Year. Due to the Mexica's obsession with duality, these women were also the goddesses of the stars, protectresses of women and the progenitors of mankind.

These cute bunnies featured here are the Centzon Totochtin, the divine rabbit children of Mayahuel, the goddess of pulque. Four-hundred in this context means "innumerable". These bunnies rarely attack humans or demigods. However, when you see a walking rabbit with a bottle of tequila in its hand stumbling into things, you better not agitate it. These rabbits are gods of inconceivable forms of alcoholic effects and they will attack you if they are threatened.

The Centzon Mimixcoa are the children of Itzpapalotl and siblings to Mixcoatl. The Centzon Mimixcoa were celestial deities of the Northern Stars that neglected their duties and refused to sacrifice to the sun god, Tonatiuh. Their sloth and irritating disregard to the cosmic imbalance caused Mixcoatl (with varying intentions) to take up arms along with his closest four siblings and take them down. Mixcoatl has various intentions for his brothers' transformations into cloud serpents. One included that the fact that with four hundred of his brothers gone, he could abuse his powers anyway he like as the supreme leader of the Northern Stars.

The Ahuiateteo are the male equivalent to Cihuateteo and Tzitzmitl. For some reason, only five exist. These gods represent the Aztec morale to show why moderation is always a good thing (except for sacrificing of course). However, they were once gods of their own right but now they have been weakened to nothing more than spirits of excess and over-indulgence.

1. One spirit - Macuil-Tochtli takes the form of a rabbit (he is also part of Centzon Totochtin, see above)

2. Macuil-Malinali is adorned in grass.

3. Macuil-Xochitl is the god of hallucinogens "flowers". He was once an aspect of Xochipilli as the god of art and crafts before he split himself from the god's true self.

4. Macuil-Cozcacuahtli takes the form of a vulture.

5. Macuil-Cuetzpalin takes the form of a lizard.

Chanekeh, Chaneque or Ohuican Chaneque, as they were called by the Aztecs, are legendary creatures in Mexican folklore. They are conceived of as small, sprite-like beings, elemental forces and guardians of nature.

By tradition, these beings would attack intruders, frightening them so that their soul would abandon their body, which the chaneques enclosed in the depth of the land. If the victim did not recover their soul through a specific ritual, he or she would become ill and die soon after.

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Monsters of Aztec Empire are very eerie and creepy in some way. Since Aztecs did not have many monsters as the Greeks had, I'm inventing more from the folklores of Mexicos and other myths. Managua (plural: lingual) are shape shifting witches.

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The Bhagavad Gita - Krishna Speaks With Prince Arjuna - Extra Mythology

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Indian Pantheons: Crash Course World Mythology #8

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The Aztecs of northern Mesoamerica (c. 1345 and 1521 CE) worshipped some of the weirdest, most fantastic and downright scary gods seen anywhere in history. The Aztec civilization and the empire it created revolved around winning special favour with these gods in order to ensure a measure of balance in nature, the continuance of human life and even the daily rising of the sun itself. In this collection we examine 15 gods in detail, looking at the mythology they were involved in and their particular associations such as their special days, numbers and animals. Here are all the major gods from mighty Huitzilopochtli, Hummingbird of the South, and his links with war and eagles to mischievous Xochipilli, the Flower Prince, linked to summer, butterflies and poetry.

The Aztec gods were appeased through offerings, rituals, festivals and, of course, the infamous blood-thirsty human sacrifices which included beating hearts being ripped from the still-conscious victim, decapitation, skinning and dismemberment. It is perhaps important to remember, though, that the Aztecs believed several major gods had sacrificed themselves for humanity's good. Consequently, blood sacrifices were regarded as a payment back in kind and only one part of the Aztecs' worship. There were plenty of other ways the gods were kept happy, such as giving flowers, foodstuffs, precious objects, and the burning of incense and tobacco.

In the month of Tóxcatl, the sixth month (or 5th) of the Aztec solar year, Tezcatlipoca was worshipped in special ceremonies. As with other Aztec religious rites an important part of the ceremony was the impersonation of the god, most often by a prisoner of war, typically the best looking and most courageous one. For one year before, in fact, the captive was tutored by priests, treated as a noble and even given four women to look after him. These women themselves impersonated goddesses. When the special month finally came around the impersonator was handsomely dressed in a warrior costume and in a symbolic wedding festival he married his four goddesses. Honoured with flowers and dances the man-god was then ferried to a dedicated temple where he was promptly sacrificed and his heart removed to honour the real Tezcatlipoca.

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The Aztecs of northern Mesoamerica (c. 1345 and 1521 CE) worshipped some of the weirdest, most fantastic and downright scary gods seen anywhere in history. The Aztec civilization and the empire it created revolved around winning special favour with these gods in order to ensure a measure of balance in nature, the continuance of human life and even the daily rising of the sun itself.

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It's got a reputation for friendly faces and impeccable manners, but Canada is still, by and large, a vast and wild place. So it should come as no surprise to hear that it has its very own cultural pantheon of legendary beasts. Although some of them seem awfully similar to certain European creatures of lore and began as folktales brought across the ocean by settlers, other legends stem from aboriginal myths. A few have originated in the modern era, describing monsters that were first sighted-and sometimes even photographed-within recent memory.

For over 200 years, people in the coastal region of British Columbia have been spotting this Pleisosaur-looking sea serpent (supposedly pictured above) with the head of a horse or sometimes a camel, small flippers in the front, and either a large pair of flippers in the back or a powerful tail with a flipper on the end. Cadborosaurus, or "Caddy" for short, is named after Cadboro Bay on Vancouver Island, where it supposedly likes to hang out, and theories on it abound: Folks have explained it away as a pipefish, a giant oarfish, a basking shark, and even a sea lion. At least nine carcasses have surfaced that people have purported to be "caddies," although they usually turn out to be sharks or small whales. In 2009, fisherman Kelly Nash took a video of what he claims to be Caddy. Interestingly, the native tribes in Alaska, just to the northwest of B.C., tell a tale about a similar creature, and they once painted its image on canoes in hopes of warding it off.

Wendigo, or sometimes windigo, is an evil human-like demon who, it was believed by the Algonquin tribes of the Great Lakes region of Canada, can turn humans into cannibals by possessing them. It was thought that a human could also become a wendigo just by participating in cannibalism, and as such, it was considered preferable by the native people to kill yourself rather than resort to cannibalism, if the necessity should arise.

Wendigos are easy to spot: They're extremely tall and emaciated, with yellowed, rotting skin and sunken eyes, and they hang out in freezing forests, looking for people who might be starving enough to eat another person. The wendigo was also a symbol of greed, and the legend was clearly terrifying to some: In 1907, a Cree chief and medicine man named Jack Fiddler and his brother Joseph were charged with the murder of 14 people-the brothers claimed they were all wendigos or about to turn into them. Despite widespread appeals for his release, Jack either hung himself or died of consumption (sources differ) soon after, age 87.

DaMongMan, Flickr // CC BY 2.0

Canada loves its lake monsters, which makes sense for a country that has about 2 million lakes. Named after its home of Muskrat Lake, about 70 miles northwest of Ottawa, Mussie's most interesting attribute is that nobody can seem to agree what it looks like. Sometimes Mussie looks like a walrus, sometimes a big sturgeon, sometimes a three-eyed Nessie. Sometimes it has legs and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it has a mouth full of sharp teeth and sometimes it just has a single glorious one in front. But all accounts agree that it's a creature named Mussie-probably because it was originally called Hapyxelor and everyone agreed that that was too hard to say. Although no one can explain what Mussie is, no one seems to be afraid of it either, with nearby villages treating it as a cultural mascot and referencing it in travel pamphlets.

Waheelas are gigantic wolves with wider heads, spread-out toes, and long white fur, much like the prehistoric dire wolves. They are said to hang out in the Northwest Territories, specifically the remote Nahanni Valley, and their hobbies include ripping your head off. So established is this rep, in fact, that the area has been nicknamed "The Valley of the Headless Men," due to more than a few cases of decapitated corpses turning up there. All of these murders, of course, have been blamed on the wily waheela, who allegedly stands 4 feet at the shoulder. Like Caddy, this monster bears a strong resemblance to a mythical Inuit creature, one called an amarok: They're pretty much the same idea, except the amarok is gray and is less about ripping your head off than it is about just eating you for being dumb enough to hunt alone in the dark. Tough but fair.

This is another lake monster, but it's not your standard-issue dinosaur-in-a-lake. This creature is known as "Canadian Lizard Man" and he looks like a sleestak mixed with Gill-Man, a.k.a. the Creature from the Black Lagoon (above). Located (supposedly) in Thetis Lake on Vancouver Island, he's really just a short guy with silvery-blue scales and barbed fins down his back. He's only been sighted once, by two teenaged boys in 1972, one of whom said he was slashed by the monster's webbed claws. (Four days later, two men said they'd seen the same thing on the other side of the lake, but they later recanted, and in 2011 a Canadian fisherman supposedly encountered it, but that account is vague.) The story may have caught some air because of its similarity to a native legend from nearby Haidi Gwaii (a.k.a. the Queen Charlotte Islands) that is essentially the same concept, except the Haida monster has two tails and a hat.

Old Yellow Top is just a blonde Sasquatch who hangs out in Ontario instead of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. Originally reported in a newspaper in 1906 and sometimes called a " pre-Cambrian shield man," OYT is often mistaken for a bear, until people get a load of its yellow mane and talent for running around on two legs instead of four. The beast's fur is dark everywhere except its head, and it's said to rock a shoulder-length hairdo. For a while, it was sighted about once every 20 or 25 years, but its last cameo was in 1970, when it walked across the road in front of a vehicle carrying a group of miners and almost caused the driver to plunge down a rock cut.

Adlets are another Inuit invention- they're human people with dog's legs, who can run fast like dogs, and are said to be the product of a union between a woman and a giant dog. When this legendary woman birthed 10 puppies, she let five of them run across the ice, which, the story goes, became the original Europeans. The five that stayed behind became abominations and spent their time infighting and wandering the tundra, searching for Inuit villages to feast upon. Ethnologist Franz Boas recorded several native tales about adlets while traveling in Baffin Island and published them in 1889. Correlations were made to other cultures' stories of half-human/half-dog creatures, including those of the Dakelh tribe of British Columbia and the indigenous Chukchi people in Siberia.
Wikimedia Commons
The French word loup-garou translates to werewolf, but in French Canada, it denotes a very specific kind of werewolf. The Quebecois know le loup-garou as the unfortunate soul who failed to complete his religious duties in time for Easter-not once but seven years in a row. His miserable state may also be punishment for the crimes of either making a pact with the Devil or planting potatoes on a Sunday.

Despite the name, the loup-garou doesn't have to be a wolf and can take the form of a pig, a cat, a calf, an ox, or another animal. Most of the other werewolf rules apply to this monster, though: He takes on his animal form only at night, then goes around trying to eat people. If a loup-garou attacks you, you're supposed to throw rocks at it or stab it with a knife-if you can manage to draw blood, the curse will be broken and the monster will revert to its human form. Afterwards, neither side can talk about it or you both run the risk of turning into loup-garous.

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It's got a reputation for friendly faces and impeccable manners, but Canada is still, by and large, a vast and wild place. So it should come as no surprise to hear that it has its very own cultural pantheon of legendary beasts.

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5 Mythical Creatures from Greenland: Mother of the Sea, Tupilak, Qivittoq and more.

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Warlocks and Warriors - Russian Myth - Extra Mythology

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Most TERRIFYING Creatures From RUSSIAN Mythology!

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Māui - The Sun, Fire, and Fishing for Islands - Extra Mythology

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The of the Maya is a vast collection of gods and goddesses who were worshipped throughout the region which, today, comprises the Yucatán Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. Not all of the Mayan gods were venerated in all of the states of the Maya (at least, not by the same name) but the type of god, and what that god symbolized to Mayan people, was universally recognized.

Mayans worshipped around 250 deities, with some having older Mesoamerican origins while others were 'conceived' of during the late post classic period (900 AD till the early 16th century).

Much of ancient Maya history was lost owing to the mass burning of their books in 1562. Much information about the gods (and Maya culture) was irretrievably lost. Thankfully the Southern Quiche Mayan religious text, the , survived to give historians an understanding of the Mayan pantheon. The Madrid Codex and the Dresden Codex - two of the pre-Columbian Mayan books dating from circa 900-1550 AD were also spared during intended mass destruction of the Maya religion by the Catholic presence in the area.

The Mayan deities were involved in every aspect of the life of the Maya and were treated as supernatural entities. They controlled the weather, the harvest, they dictated one's mate, presided over every birth, and were present at one's death. The way in which a city was planned and the precision with which the central temples were constructed, all was related to the way of the gods.

As with many religions, the myths and facts are often blurred through time and by area. Yet many of the Mayan gods and goddesses have remained consistent throughout history. Here are a few of the most important Mayan deities that continue to be worshipped today.

1. Kukulcán - The Feathered Serpent God

The feathered serpent deity, known to the Yucatec Maya as Kukulcán, is the most well-known and prominent Mayan god of the Maya pantheon. You will also see this god referred to as Gucumatz in the Quiche Maya designation and as Quetzalcoatl in the Aztec Nahuatl language. His origins date back to the Late Preclassic period.

Revered as the deity of water, wind, and one of the three main gods that were believed to have created the world and human beings. It was thought that Kukulcán taught the Mesoamerican people rules of law, agriculture, literacy, the arts, medicine, architecture, construction, hunting, fishing, and all other aspects of how to cultivate and run an entire civilization. He was also the representation of both good and evil, light and darkness, and so became a central figure in many of the myths of the Maya religion and culture.

It's no wonder then that one of the most impressive architectural monuments in the world was built in the city of Chichen Itza in honor of Kukulcán by the Maya Itza people of the Yucatan Peninsula during the Pre-Columbian period. Chichén Itzá is a massive step pyramid, known as El Castillo or Temple of Kukulcán and is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

On the twin equinoxes each year (spring and autumn), the sun magically casts the shadow of a serpent which moves slowly down the stairs from the temple to the carved stone heads of Kukulcán and creates the image of a serpent descending to the earth. Even today, many of the Mayan, and non-Mayan people, congregate at the temple twice a year to receive the blessings of his visit to the earth.

2. Itzamná - The God of the Sky

Considered the founder of the Maya culture, patron and protector of the sciences, astrology, and writing, Itzamná is one of the most important ancient Maya gods known as the god of the sky and also as the god of wisdom. Often depicted as a toothless wise old man with a large nose, he was considered a creator and healer who could also resurrect the dead.

There are many stories and myths about him since he was considered a cultural hero, because of his contributions to the cultivation of corn and cacao, the creation of calendars, and the discovery of medicine. Further stories said that he was a priest who found the majestic city of Chichén Itzá and who produced the first characters (hieroglyphics) that served as letters for written communication in the region.

Itzamná was the son of the creator god Hunab Ku and was also associated with many patron gods including the sun god Kinich Ahau as well as being the husband of the goddess Ix Chel and father to their 13 children.

3. Ix Chel - The Mayan Moon Goddess

Ix Chel is one of the most important goddesses in the vast Maya Pantheon (from both the Classic and Late Postclassic Period, circa 250 - 1550 AD). She was also wife to Itzamná, one of the most powerful gods.

Like many Mayan gods, Ix Chel had powerful attributes and dual identities that made her very popular and she is still worshipped today.

One representation is as a young and beautiful seductress who espouses fertility, marriage, and love in addition to being the goddess of harvests and weather because she had power over the lunar cycles.

She was also represented as a wizened old woman who had the power to both create and destroy the earth, often being represented with claws, fangs, and a red body adorned with death symbols and skulls.

Ix Chel embodied both the yin and yang of female power.

The annual Sacred Maya Journey is a ritual ceremony held in honor of Ix Chel on May 26th, commencing at Xcaret Park in Quintana Roo. Hundreds of Maya canoers cross the Caribbean Sea to Cozumel Island to visit a temple dedicated to Ix Chel in order to receive blessings. This event is open for all and is quite an amazing experience to observe.

4. Ah Puch - The God of Death

Things get a bit complicated when it comes to the mythical scope of the Mayan gods of death, and in Mayan religion, Ah Puch is just one of the many names associated with the aspect of death, including Ahal Puh, Cizin, and Yum Cimil, and he stands above the others known for his sovereign rule over death, disaster, and darkness.

Ah Puch was the ruler of the Mayan underworld and Metnal, the most abysmal of the nine Mayan hells. Ah Puch, similar to the devil, is not a kind god. His image is usually depicted as being in a state of decay, with his skeletal mask, protruding belly (filled with rotting matter), body adorned with bones, and a neckless hanging with eyeless sockets.

He was generally accompanied by a dog or owl and he thrived on human sacrifice, and was especially revered in the city of Chichen Itza, where people were thrown into a Cenote, a sacred well, as human ritual sacrifices for Ah Puch. He took pleasure in extinguishing the very essence of souls and keeping them in the underworld where they could be tortured. Ah Puch is also known as the god of childbirth and beginnings, but he works against the gods of fertility.

5. Buluc Chabtan - The God of War

Buluc Chabtan was the Mayan god of war, violence, and sudden death. People prayed to him for success in war and, simply put, to stay on his good side in order to avoid sudden death. Blood was seen as nourishment for the gods and a human life was the ultimate gift to a deity. So many human lives were sacrificed to appease this deity on a regular basis.

In Mayan art, Buluc Chabtan is typically portrayed with a thick black line around his eyes and down one cheek. It's also common for him to be in images where he's setting fire to buildings and stabbing people. Sometimes, he is shown stabbing people with a spit which he uses to roast them over a fire. He's often pictured with Ah Puch the Mayan god of Death.

These are only five of the Mayan gods whom we considered important to mention, who represent good as well as evil and helped the Mayans to explain concepts like knowledge, nature, and death, but as we said earlier, there are literally hundreds more. To learn more about the fascinating Mayans and mayan gods, click here.

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5 Important Ancient Mayan Gods - Informative Blog

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The of the Maya is a vast collection of gods and goddesses who were worshipped throughout the region which, today, comprises the Yucatán Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.

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Celtic Myth - The Isle of Destiny - Extra Mythology - #1

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Irish Mythological Creatures appear often in Irish folklore and tales from the past. Most of these creatures feature in stories told to children to teach them lessons about safety and morality, or to explain the unexplainable.

Download FREE resources to teach children about 'Irish Mythological Creatures'

What are Irish Mythological Creatures?

Irish Mythological Creatures are often the antagonists of many Irish folk tales. They tend to haunt humans for their wrongdoings, trick them or sometimes even help them. The creatures usually have some supernatural characteristics, such as magical powers or other-worldly appearances.

Irish folklore has been the source of many mythical creatures that have made their way into many other cultures. Fairies, for example, are thought to have first appeared in Irish folk tales as 'faeries', but they exist in the mythology of lots of other cultures today.

Most of the Irish Mythological Creatures have their own legend in the form of a . These tales are usually directed at children, with the aim of teaching them lessons about morality and staying safe in certain situations.

Keep reading to find out more about some of the most well-known Irish Mythological Creatures, as well as some that you might not have heard of.

Twinkl has a wonderful selection of teaching resources that you can use to teach your children about this topic. Why not get your own Twinkl subscription now?

10 Irish Mythological Creatures to learn about

Here's a list of 10 Irish Mythological Creatures that you might like to learn about. Some may be more familiar than others, but they're all just as interesting! You can learn more about each of them below.

Leprechaun

A leprechaun might be the most iconic Irish Mythological Creaturesince they are often associated with Irish culture and they're the mascot of St. Patrick's Day.

In folk tales, leprechauns can bring people good fortune, but they can also be mischievous. If you see a leprechaun, they must grant you 3 wishes before they can leave you. However, many tales of leprechauns warn people to choose these wishes wisely to avoid being tricked. The moral of these stories is not to rely on quick routes to fortune.

Banshee

Banshees are often thought of as fearsome creatures that symbolize death. They're said to appear as a female figure in a white cloak and cry to signify an imminent death.

The story of banshees actually tells a less mystical truth. A banshee or a 'bean sidhe' (fairy woman) was the name given to 'keeners' who were women who sang at people's funerals. It was thought that they could be mythological creatures, due to their beautiful singing voice.

Kelpie

The kelpie is a commonly mentioned creature in Celtic folklore and is not only specific to Ireland, however, they do appear as common Irish Mythological Creatures in folk tales.

Kelpies are evil water spirits that live in rivers and lakes. They usually appear as horse-like creatures and they try to entice children into the water. Once their victim is on their back, they swim underwater, taking their victim with them. It's thought that this legend was made as a way of teaching children not to go near the edge of the water to stay safe.

Changeling

A changeling is a creature that replaces human babies to terrorize parents. They're thought to be deformed fairy babies that are swapped with a human baby by their fairy parents. This is because fairies are known for being obsessed with beauty, so they will steal a human baby in order to have a beautiful child.

Changelings thrive on bringing destruction to their human parents and feed off good fortune. We aren't certain where this story originates from, however, many think that the story of changelings was used as an explanation for particularly difficult babies.

Fear Gorta

Fear Gortas are perhaps one of the scariest Irish Mythological Creatures, due to their physical appearance. They are zombie-like creatures that are corpses who have risen from the dead. They have protruding bones and rotten blue skin.

Fear Gortas are usually seen in times of famine. They walk the streets asking those who they encounter for food. If you give the creature food, you'll be blessed with prosperity and fortune. If you don't, you'll be cursed with poverty and misfortune. The moral of the legend of Fear Gortas is to share what you have and look after each other.

Pooka

The Pooka is an evil shape-shifting fairy who wreaks havoc on people at night. Pookas will take on the form of a horse to stampede people's property and destroy buildings. They also tend to steal crops, which is why some farmers would allocate a section of their crops to the Pooka as a way of appeasing it.

Pookas can also take the form of a human-like goblin. They will call out the name of their victims outside a house and wait for them to emerge. If they do come out, the pooka will kidnap them. If they don't, the pooka will destroy their property outside. There is no clear meaning behind the legend of the pooka, but this creature most closely resembles the cross-cultural concept of a 'bogeyman'.

Far Darrig

Many consider the Far Darrig to be the leprechaun's evil twin since it is similar in appearance. Instead of green, it wears a red cape and a red hat, which is how it gets its name, which translates to 'red man'.

Far Darrigs are evil tricksters who take pleasure in terrorizing people. They carry a sack, which they use to kidnap people. If you want to escape the traps that Far Darrigs leave out for humans, you have to declare "you will not mock me". They're also associated with causing nightmares in children.

Werewolves of Ossory

There are many old Irish folk tales about the Werewolves of Ossory. They are a tribe of man-wolves, who were regularly called upon for help by old Irish kings to help in battle. They're said to be ancient descendants of Irish royalty.

The Werewolves of Ossory have appeared in many Irish folk tales going back generations. There are theories that the concept of these creatures originated from the tribal people who would live in the wild in ancient Ireland. They would often wear wolf-like dress when they were hunting, as well as for ritualistic events. Although there are no longer any actual wolves native to Ireland, it's said that the animals used to plague Irish people.

Fairies

Fairies (or 'faeries' in the more traditional spelling) are one of the most recognizable Irish Mythological Creatures since they're present in many different cultures. In Irish folklore, fairies are divided into two groups: Seelie fairies and Unseelie fairies. Seelie fairies have a friendly demeanor and are helpful to humans. Unseelie fairies are evil and tend to terrorize humans.

Most fairies are said to live in naturally beautiful locations that haven't been built on by humans, such as forests and meadows. They have magical powers and use these for good and mischief. Fairies are often used as the explanation for strange goings-on, such as items going missing.

Abhartach

The Abhartach is a vampire character in Irish folklore. He is an evil tyrant who had been killed and buried upside down after he had been terrorizing his people. He brought himself back to life with his magical powers to seek revenge and drink the blood of his victims.

The only way to stop the Abhartach is to repeat what had been done to him before: kill him and bury him upside down. It's thought that many vampire legends were based on the Abhartach.
Why not try this Teaching Wiki all about Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses?
What Irish Mythological Creatures resources are available?

If you want to teach your children about some of these Irish Mythological Creatures and Irish myths and legends, we have a fantastic selection of resources that you might like to try. Here are some that you might find particularly useful:

Why not take a look at the video below all about the Irish myth of the Giant's Causeway?

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What are Irish Mythological Creatures? - Teaching Wiki

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Irish Mythological Creatures appear often in Irish folklore and tales from the past. Most of these creatures feature in stories told to children to teach them lessons about safety and morality, or to explain the unexplainable. Download FREE resources to teach children about 'Irish Mythological Creatures' Irish Mythological Creatures are often the antagonists of many Irish folk tales .

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""There can really be as many Hindu Gods as there are devotees to suit the moods, feelings, emotions & social background of the devotees."

The Pantheon of Hindu Gods is vast. Yet, in fact, Hindus are a monotheistic religion worshiping one God. Hindus believe that there is only one ultimate reality; Brahman.

Brahman is a supreme spirit that permeates everything. Brahman is entirely impersonal, and entirely impossible to describe. Everything in the universe is part of Brahman, but Brahman is more than the sum of everything in the universe.

The Hindu gods; Shiva, Parvati, Krishna, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Ganesh, Nataraja, Devi, Saraswati, Shakti, Buddha, Kali, Murugan, Patanjali, and Hanuman serve as a way in which devotees can see, touch and feel this unknowable God, Brahman. They give the layperson a tangible, knowable aspect of the Supreme Being.

Each of the Hindu Gods represent one aspect of Brahman. Each Hindu God of the trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are each part of the godhead and each are responsible for one aspect of him. Brahma is the creator and creates all things in the cosmos. Shiva takes on the destructive aspect of Brahman. Vishnu preserves the Dharma, the working order of the universe. Each Hindu God is one aspect of the Supreme Being.

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""There can really be as many Hindu Gods as there are devotees to suit the moods, feelings, emotions & social background of the devotees." The Pantheon of Hindu Gods is vast. Yet, in fact, Hindus are a monotheistic religion worshiping one God. Hindus believe that there is only one ultimate reality; Brahman.

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Shintō, indigenous religious beliefs and practices of Japan. The word Shintō, which literally means "the way of " (generally sacred or divine power, specifically the various gods or deities), came into use in order to distinguish indigenous Japanese beliefs from Buddhism, which had been introduced into Japan in the 6th century ce. Shintō has no founder, no official sacred scriptures in the strict sense, and no fixed dogmas, but it has preserved its guiding beliefs throughout the ages.

Nature and varieties

Shintō consists of the traditional Japanese religious practices as well as the beliefs and life attitudes that are in accord with these practices. Shintō is more readily observed in the social life of the Japanese people and in their personal motivations than in a pattern of formal belief or philosophy. It remains closely connected with the Japanese value system and the Japanese people's ways of thinking and acting.

Shintō can be roughly classified into the following three major types: Shrine Shintō, Sect Shintō, and Folk Shintō. Shrine Shintō (Jinja Shintō), which has been in existence from the beginning of Japanese history to the present day, constitutes a main current of Shintō tradition. Shrine Shintō includes within its structure the now defunct State Shintō (Kokka Shintō)-based on the total identity of religion and state-and has close relations with the Japanese Imperial family. Sect Shintō ( Kyōha Shintō) is a relatively new movement consisting of 13 major sects that originated in Japan around the 19th century and of several others that emerged after World War II. Each sect was organized into a religious body by either a founder or a systematizer. Folk Shintō (Minzoku Shintō) is an aspect of Japanese folk belief that is closely connected with the other types of Shintō. It has no formal organizational structure nor doctrinal formulation but is centred in the veneration of small roadside images and in the agricultural rites of rural families. These three types of Shintō are interrelated: Folk Shintō exists as the substructure of Shintō faith, and a Sect Shintō follower is usually also a parishioner ( ujiko) of a particular Shintō shrine.

History to 1900

Much remains unknown about religion in Japan during the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages. It is unlikely, however, that the religion of these ages has any direct connection with Shintō. Yayoi culture, which originated in the northern area of the island of Kyushu in about the 3rd or 2nd century bce, is directly related to later Japanese culture and hence to Shintō. Among the primary Yayoi religious phenomena were agricultural rites and shamanism.

Early clan religion and ceremonies

In ancient times small states were gradually formed at various places. By the middle of the 4th century ce, a nation with an ancestor of the present Imperial Household as its head had probably been established. The constituent unit of society at that time was the ( clan or family), and the head of each uji was in charge of worshiping the clan's -its particular tutelary or guardian deity. The prayer for good harvest in spring and the harvest ceremony in autumn were two major festivals honouring the ujigami. Divination, water purification, and lustration (ceremonial purification), which are all mentioned in the Japanese classics, became popular, and people started to build shrines for their .

Ancient Shintō was polytheistic. People found kami in nature, which ruled seas or mountains, as well as in outstanding men. They also believed in kami of ideas such as growth, creation, and judgment. Though each clan made the tutelary kami the core of its unity, such kami were not necessarily the ancestral deities of the clan. Sometimes kami of nature and kami of ideas were regarded as their tutelary kami.

Two different views of the world were present in ancient Shintō. One was the three-dimensional view in which the Plain of High Heaven (Takama no Hara, the kami's world), Middle Land (Nakatsukuni, the present world), and the Hades (Yomi no Kuni, the world after death) were arranged in vertical order. The other view was a two-dimensional one in which this world and the Perpetual Country (Tokoyo, a utopian place far beyond the sea) existed in horizontal order. Though the three-dimensional view of the world (which is also characteristic of North Siberian and Mongolian shamanistic culture) became the representative view observed in Japanese myths, the two-dimensional view of the world (which is also present in Southeast Asian culture) was dominant among the populace.

Early Chinese influences on Shintō

Confucianism, which originated in China, is believed to have reached Japan in the 5th century ce, and by the 7th century it had spread among the people, together with Daoism and (harmony of two basic forces of nature) philosophy. All of these stimulated the development of Shintō ethical teachings. With the gradual centralization of political power, Shintō began to develop as a national cult as well. Myths of various clans were combined and reorganized into a pan-Japanese mythology with the Imperial Household as its centre. The kami of the Imperial Household and the tutelary kami of powerful clans became the kami of the whole nation and people, and offerings were made by the state every year. Such practices were systematized supposedly around the start of the Taika-era reforms in 645. By the beginning of the 10th century, about 3,000 shrines throughout Japan were receiving state offerings. As the power of the central government declined, however, the system ceased to be effective, and after the 13th century only a limited number of important shrines continued to receive the Imperial offerings. Later, after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the old system was revived.

The encounter with Buddhism

Buddhism was officially introduced into Japan in 552 ce and developed gradually. In the 8th century there emerged tendencies to interpret Shintō from a Buddhist viewpoint. Shintō kami were viewed as protectors of Buddhism; hence, shrines for tutelary kami were built within the precincts of Buddhist temples. Kami were made equivalent to deva, or "gods." According to Buddhist teachings, the deva are said to be undergoing the same suffering () within the endless cycle of death and rebirth ( samsara) that all creatures experience. Help was therefore offered to kami in the form of Buddhist discipline. Buddhist temples were even built within Shintō shrine precincts, and Buddhist sutras (scriptures) were read in front of kami. By the late 8th century, kami were thought to be avatars (incarnations) of buddhas (enlightened individuals who had attained liberation [] from samsara) and bodhisattvas (buddhas-to-be). Bodhisattva names were given to kami, and Buddhist statues were placed even in the inner sanctuaries of Shintō shrines. In some cases, Buddhist priests were in charge of the management of Shintō shrines.

From the beginning of the Kamakura period (1192-1333), theories of Shintō-Buddhist amalgamation were formulated. The most important of the syncretic schools to emerge were Ryōbu (Dual Aspect) Shintō and Sannō ("King of the Mountain," a common name of the guardian deity of Tendai Buddhism) Shintō. According to Ryōbu Shintō-also called Shingon Shintō-the two realms of the universe in Shingon Buddhist teachings corresponded to the kami Amaterasu Ōmikami and Toyuke (Toyouke) Ōkami enshrined at the Ise-daijingū (Grand Shrine of Ise, commonly called Ise-jingū, or Ise Shrine) in Mie prefecture. The theorists of Sannō Shintō-also called Tendai Shintō-interpreted the Tendai belief in the central, or absolute, truth of the universe (i.e., the fundamental buddha nature) as being equivalent to the Shintō concept that the sun goddess Amaterasu was the source of the universe. These two sects brought certain esoteric Buddhist rituals into Shintō. Buddhistic Shintō was popular for several centuries and was influential until its extinction at the Meiji Restoration.

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Shinto | Beliefs, Gods, Origins, Symbols, Rituals, & Facts

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Shinto, indigenous religious beliefs and practices of Japan. The word, which literally means 'the way of kami' (generally sacred or divine power, specifically the various gods or deities), came into use to distinguish indigenous Japanese beliefs from Buddhism, which had been introduced into Japan in the 6th century CE.

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According to the beliefs of the ancient Romans, the world started out with only one primordial deity, which was Chaos. Chaos was a dark, silent, abyss that housed all creation. The first thing to emerge from the abyss was the second deity, Gaia, the Earth. Gaia was said to be the mother of the universe, and from her came Uranus, or the sky. Many other primordial deities emerged from Chaos, notably including Cupid, the god of love.

After this first generation of gods, there were the Titans. The Titans were the offspring of Gaia and Uranus. The first generation of Titans consisted of six sets of twins, each one a boy and girls. The twelve were: Saturn, Oceanus, Iapetus, Hyperion, Crius, Coeus, Ops, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Themis, and Mnemosyne. From this generation came the next generation of Titans. The most notable Titans from this generation are Prometheus and Atlas, both sons of Iapetus. Prometheus is said to have given humans the gift of fire stolen from Saturn, his uncle. Atlas is known for his punishment of holding up the sky after the Olympian war.

Saturn and Ops had six children: Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Hestia, Juno, and Ceres. The first five Saturn ate at birth due to a prophecy that said he would be overthrown by one of his children. The sixth, Jupiter, was stolen by Ops and taken to Earth to be raised by nymphs on the island of Crete. Ops then fed Saturn a rock wrapped in a blanket, tricking him into thinking it was Jupiter.

Once Jupiter was an adult he returned to fight Saturn. He forced him to regurgitate his five siblings and proceeded to fight the Titans. He and his siblings, known as the Olympic Gods, defeated the gods with the help of Prometheus. These gods then set up their rule and distributed the powers between them, along with gods that were children of other Titans, including Apollo and Diana.

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According to the beliefs of the ancient Romans, the world started out with only one primordial deity, which was Chaos. Chaos was a dark, silent, abyss that housed all creation. The first thing to emerge from the abyss was the second deity, Gaia, the Earth.

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How Baba Yaga Mangles Slavic Mythology — Slavic Folklore Series

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Author Joseph Campbell once said, "Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation."

There are few places in the modern world in which this connection between mankind, myth, and nature is more obvious than .

More than 150 years before Charles Darwin wrote The Origin of the Speciesafter visiting the , Hawaiian kahunas (or priests) recited an ancient creation chant- the epic Kumulipo - which traced humanity's origins to a cosmic night, and established the concept of biological evolution.

As noted historian Herb Kawainui Kane stated in the PBS series, The Hawaiians, island natives believed that, "The entire universe was an orderly, fixed whole in which all the parts were integral to the whole, including man himself. Man was descended from the Gods, but so were the rocks, so were the , so were the fish. Thus man had to regard the rocks , the and the as his relatives."

This environmentally conscious point of view seems especially prominent on the east side of Hawaii's Big Island, whose ecologically diverse landscape features 11 of the planet's 13 climactic regions.

From lush rainforests and spectacular ocean vistas to the desert landscape of Ka'u and the snow-clad summits of the in the Pacific, the Big Island's bevy of natural wonders make it a must-see for ecotourism aficionados.

Here's a look at some of the major gods and goddesses of Hawaiian mythology, and how many of the island's finest attractions are connected to ancient legends.

List of Hawaiian Gods and Goddesses

Click on each link to learn more about a particular Hawaiian God or Hawaiian Goddess:

1. Pele: Goddess of Fire & Volcano Goddess

2. Na-maka-o-Kaha'i: Goddess of Water and the Sea

3. Poli'ahu: Goddess of Snow

4. Lilinoe: Goddess of Mist

5. Laka: Goddess of Beauty, Love, Fertility

6. Maui Demigod: God of the Sun

7. Kane: God of Forests and Wild Foods

8. Lono: God of Peace, Music, Learning, & Cultivated Foods

9. Ku: God of War

10. Kamapua'a: God of Wild Boars

HAWAIIAN GODDESSES

Pele Goddess (Goddess of Fire & Volcano Goddess)

Perhaps the most famous goddess in Hawaiian mythology, Pele is the goddess of fire and the volcano goddess.

Due to her fiery temper and attempted seduction of her sister Na-maka-o-Kaha'i's husband, her father Kane banished Pele from her home, leaving her to sail the earth.

Along the way, Pele created massive volcanoes at each of her island stops and eventually settled down at Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on Earth at 13,677 feet.

Na-maka-o-Kaha'i (Goddess of Water and the Sea)

With the opposite element of her passionate sister, Namaka was angered by her sister's seduction of her husband and chased her out of their home.

She is also known for casting massive waves over the fires started by her sister as the opposing element to fire.

In some Hawaiian legends, different forms Namaka takes are the cliff and the ocean.

Another story details Namaka's treatment of her sister Pele and her family: Namaka angrily tried to oust them from every place where they settled until Pele finally overcame her.
READ MORE: The 15 Best Kauai Waterfalls
Poli'ahu (Goddess of Snow)

She too has clashed with her sister Pele regarding who has true ownership of Mount Kilauea.

One legend tells of a sledding competition between Poliahu and her sisters: when Pele is angered at losing the competition, she unleashes lava on the ground that Poliahu helps put out by releasing snow onto it.

These clashes between elements show the difference in the temperaments of fiery Pele and snow goddess Poliahu.
READ MORE: Hawaiian Monk Seal (Endangered Species Spotlight)
Lilinoe (Goddess of Mist)

Lilinoe is the goddess of fine mist, dead fires, and desolation. She is the sister of Poliahu, Waiau, and Kahoupokane.

In a story involving her sisters and Pele sledding down the mountain, Lilinoe helped extinguish the fires set by Pele by releasing freezing mist across the blaze. Along with her sisters, Lilinoe is known for her beauty.

She was once the Hawaiian goddess of Haleakala, a massive dormant volcano on southeastern whose name means "house of the sun." Now, Haleakala National Park is a protected national park known for its beautiful view of the sunrise as well as scenic hiking trails.
READ MORE: List of National Parks By State (An Epic Guide to "America's Best Idea")
Laka (Goddess of Beauty, Love, Fertility)

The goddess of beauty, love, fertility and reproduction Laka is best known for creating the beautiful Hawaiian hula dance.

She is worshipped for creating it, and along with the hula dance, Laka is the goddess of the forest who enriches the plants with light.

Red lehua flowers growing along the sides of volcanoes are seen as a symbol of Laka and her association with fertility and fruitfulness, and she is also seen as the female variation of her husband Lono.

The flowers as well as the songs sung during the hula dance are dedicated to Laka.

She is married to Lono and some Hawaiian folklore say she is also the sister of Pele.

HAWAIIAN GODS

Maui Demigod (God of the Sun)

Seen most recently in Disney's Moana, Maui is a demigod and the god of the sun.

When the sun rose and set too quickly, Maui tamed it and extended the length of a day so people could have longer days to work.

He has been involved in several other adventures, and notably tried to secure immortality for humans (but ultimately failed).

Known as the "trickster hero of Polynesia," Maui was known for getting into situations throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

His origin story differs depending on each island, but his stories involve the sun-snaring story as well as fishing and rescue missions.

Kane (God of Forests and Wild Foods)

Along with Lono and Ku, Kane is the chief of the trinity of Hawaiian gods. He is the god of and the forest .

He is the father of several Hawaiian goddesses including Pele, whom he banished from the heavens. When creating human beings with his brothers, Kane was responsible for giving them life.

One Hawaiian creation myth involving Kane states that he created the first man's body out of red clay and his head from white clay.

Kane's home is called Hunamoku, a heavenly paradise thought to be home to all the gods, and good souls would travel there after death.

Lono (God of Peace, Music, Learning, & Cultivated Foods)

A foil to Ku, the god of war, Lono is the god of peace, music, learning and cultivated foods. Along with brothers Kane and Ku, he helped create humanity by supplying fertile soil from which people were created.

The rainy season from October-February is associated with Lono: some say after an incident with his first mortal wife Kaikilani, the rain was Lono's tears over his loss of her, while some legends say the rain is due to his connection with agriculture.

For this reason, he is also associated with clouds and storms. Offerings to Lono include fish and agricultural products.

Ku (God of War)

Ku is the god of war, and his weapon is a flaming mace containing the souls of those he has slain.

Brother to Lono and Kane and husband of Hina, Ku saved the other Hawaiian deities on numerous occasions when wars broke out. When creating humans with his brothers, Ku created their bodies.

Unlike other Hawaiian gods, human sacrifices were made to Ku, who was known as the "eater of islands" for his conquering of many islands.

People worship him in the hot summer months. He and Hina are seen as having control over the fertility of the earth, and together they make up the earth and heavens.

Kamapua'a (God of Wild Boars)

Husband of Pele and god of wild boars. With a name meaning "hog child," Kamapua'a was born on Oahu to humans and could transform from human to hog.

One advantageous feature of his hog-half was the snout, which Kamapua'a used to dig into the ground and bring up roots and find water sources.

Although he most notably transforms into a hog, he is also capable of turning into fish and plants, and some Hawaiian legends detail his escape from his wife's anger by transforming into a fish.

Other legends of Kamapua'a courting the daughters of various island chiefs as he traveled island to island before he married Pele.

HAWAIIAN LEGENDS

HAWAII TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN

Boasting over 2,000 species of plants, the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is set seven miles northeast of Hilo along the shores of Onomea Bay.

Onomea means "the best place," and it's an apt description for this fertile 40-acre valley, a natural greenhouse blessed with over 160 inches of rainfall a year and remarkably fertile volcanic soil.

Here, enormous mango trees and coconut palms tower above lush jungle filled with rare and endangered plants from Africa, Australia and Indonesia.

Built by Dan Lutkenhouse, a retired trucking business owner with no formal botanical training, the property was cleared by hand to avoid disturbing the natural environment, with Lutkenhouse and three assistants working seven days a week for eight years (1977-1984).

To protect the environment, there's no electricity in the garden, and no cars or buses are allowed into the valley; visitors park a half-mile from the entrance and are transported into the Garden by mini-bus.

The result is an Eden-like tropical paradise in which every step produces some new visual marvel, surrounded by brilliant flora, a gorgeous three-tiered waterfall, and historical remnants of Onomea Valley's past, including unmarked grave sites.

At the bottom of the path lies the Bay, where legend has it a chief of the village of Kahali'i once spotted canoes heading to shore as if to attack.

That night the villagers remained indoors, and when they emerged the next morning they found the lovers gone, and in their place two gigantic rock formations at the entrance to the bay, as if on guard.

Today, these "Twin Rocks" serve as a stunningly picturesque backdrop for weddings at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.
READ MORE: 40 Fascinating Hawaiian Goose Facts (a.k.a. Nene Goose)
HAWAI'I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK

No figure in Hawaiian mythology looms larger over the Big Island than Pele, the passionate, volatile goddess of fire referred to in sacred chants as "She Who Shapes the Land."

It is believed that Pele was exiled from her homeland in by her father after seducing the husband of her water-goddess sister, Na-maka-o-Kaha'i.

Pursued by her angry older sibling, Pele sailed from Tahiti in a canoe, creating new volcanic homes at each island she landed upon only to have Namaka flood them out.

Eventually she landed on Mauna Loa, which, at 13,677 feet, is the Earth's most massive active volcano.

Here, safe from Namaka's waves, Pele is said to have taken up residence in the fires of the massive Halema'uma'u Crater on the Kilauea Volcano, where she continues to live today, revered by locals and shrouded in superstition.

Nearly every geological formation in this area is tied to some Pele legend, with tear-shaped lava droplets called "Pele's tears" and fine golden strands of volcanic glass referred to as "Pele's Hair," and offerings of flowery leis and crowns are frequently left at the Crater's rim in an attempt to garner the goddess' blessing.

The most active volcano on the planet, Kilauea has been in nearly continuous eruption since 1983, and a drive through the 330,000-acre Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park reveals an otherworldly landscape of calderas, pit craters, cinder cones, spatter ramparts, lava flows, tree molds, lava tubes, black sand beaches, and thermal areas.

The park is also home to numerous significant . A post-sunset viewing of the glowing Kilauea lava flow exploding as it reaches the Pacific is an unforgettable reminder of the legendary battles between Pele and her sister.
Learning Hula at the Tiki Village Theatre (Moorea, Tahiti)
MAUNA KEA

No trip to the Big Island would be complete without making a trek up to the summit of Mauna Kea ("White mountain"), the dormant believed to be the sacred home of the snow goddess Poli'ahu.

But she revealed a softer side of herself on the fertile, sunny cliffs of Hamakua, where she trimmed the landscape with winding streams and waterfalls that led to the sea.

It was here that Poli'ahu and her sister Lilinoe (goddess of the mists) took off their white snow cloaks to challenge the chiefs to a sled-riding contest, and where Poli'ahu was confronted by a jealous redhead who proved to be Pele herself.

Pele's fires chased Poli'ahu back up the cliffs, where she summoned a mantle of frost to cover the flames.

Today, it is said that the Hawaiian goddesses keep each other in check, with Pele ruling the southern half of the island and Poli'ahu ruling the northern region.

With its height (13,796 feet), distance from city lights and dry conditions, Mauna Kea has become a hotspot for astrological observation, with its alien landscape dotted with an international array of working telescopes.

Tour companies such as Hawaii's Activities via Veltra offer guided adventures on the mountain.

You'll make a 30-minute acclimatization stop at the Onikuza Visitor Center before ascending the last 4,400 feet to the end of the winding road.

From that point, hardy hikers can climb to the summit for a spectacular view of the sunset from above the clouds.

The rapturous reverie is brief, as the dizzying altitude necessitates a descent back to the Visitor Center.

There you will conclude your evening with a guided Starshow to the celestial bodies that originally guided the ancient Polynesians to this heavenly paradise more than a millennium ago. -by Bret Love; photos by Bret Love & Mary Gabbett unless otherwise noted

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Hawaiian Mythology (An Intro to Hawaiian Gods, Goddesses & Legends)

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Author Joseph Campbell once said, "Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation." There are few places in the modern world in which this connection between mankind, myth, and nature is more obvious than .

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Discover Russian mythology including mythological creatures, legends, and myths. Learn about the most famous stories of Russian folklore.

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1 long Antarctica theory of multiple things... I think

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1 long Antarctica theory of multiple things... I think

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The Ancient Mystery of Antarctica | Grand Theories

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Witches and Hags: Crash Course World Mythology #39

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Fire and Buffalo Goddesses: Crash Course World Mythology #14

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"Japanese Gods." Mythopedia, November 29, 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/japanese-gods.

"Japanese Gods." Mythopedia, 29 Nov. 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/japanese-gods. Accessed on 9 Jan. 2023.

(2022, November 29). Japanese Gods. Mythopedia. https://mythopedia.com/topics/japanese-gods

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Japanese gods and goddesses include everyone from powerful creator gods to minor, localized kami. Particularly notable is the sun goddess Amaterasu, held to be the divine ancestor of the first emperor of Japan, a lineage that remains unbroken into the current day.

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Sacred Texts Pacific Index Previous Next

p. 42

IV

THE KANE WORSHIP

KANE was the leading god among the great gods named by the Hawaiians at the time of the arrival of the missionaries in the islands. He represented the god of procreation and was worshiped as ancestor of chiefs and commoners. According to the possibly late edition of the Kumuhonua legend, he formed the three worlds: the upper heaven of the gods, the lower heaven above the earth, and the earth itself as a garden for mankind; the latter he furnished with sea creatures, plants, and animals, and fashioned man and woman to inhabit it.

An account of the creation of the world which appears in the genealogical legend of Kumuhonua, the first man fashioned by the gods, represents Kane as playing a dominant role as creator, but assisted by Ku and Lono, a trilogy called lahui akua (union of gods) or he papa Kane (Kane class) said to be worshiped under the name of Ku-kauakahi. 1 The worship of Tane (Kane), Ro'o (Lono), and Tu (Ku) by the manahune in Tahiti, to whose mythology belong the Polynesian figures also of Atea (Wakea), Ti'i (Ki'i or Tiki), and Maui, is closely comparable with the Hawaiian Kane worship. 2

LEGEND OF CREATION

( a) Fornander version (1). In the first era Kane dwells alone in continual darkness (i ka po loa); there is neither heaven nor earth. In the second era light is created and the gods Ku and Lono, with Kane, fashion the earth and the things on the earth. In the third era they create man and woman, Kumu-honua (Earth beginning) and Lalo-honua (Earth below). In the fourth era Kane, who has lived on earth with man, goes up to

p. 43

heaven to live and the man, having broken Kane's law, is made subject to death. 3

( b) Fornander version (2). The three gods Kane, Ku, Lono come out of the night (po) and create three heavens to dwell in, the uppermost for Kane, the next below for Ku, and the lowest for Lono, "a heaven for the parent (makua), a heaven for Ku, a heaven for Lono." Next they make the earth to rest their feet upon and call it "The great earth of Kane" (Ka-honua-nui-a-Kane). Kane then makes sun, moon, and stars, and places them in the empty space between heaven and earth. He makes the ocean salt, in imitation of which the priests purify with salt water. Next an image of man is formed out of earth, the head out of white clay brought from the seas of the north, south, east, and west, the body out of red earth (apo ula) mixed with spittle (wai nao). The right side of the head is made of clay brought from the north and east, the left side is made of clay from the south and west. Man is formed after the image of Kane with Ku as the workman, Lono as general assistant. Kane and Ku spit (or breathe) into the nostrils, Lono into the mouth, and the image becomes a living being. "I have shaped this dirt (lepo); I am going to make it live," says Kane. "Live! live!" respond Ku and Lono. The man rises and kneels. They name him Ke-li'i-ku-honua (The chief Ku(mu)-honua) or Honua-ula because made out of "red earth." They give him a delightful garden to live in called Kalana-i-hauola, but later Paliuli, situated in the land of Kahiki-honua-kele (The land that moved off), and fashion a wife for him out of his right side and call her Ke-ola-Ku-honua (or Lalo-hana). "Great Hawaii of the green back and mottled seas" this land is called. A law is given him but he breaks the law and is then known as Kane-la'a-(kah)uli, "a god who fell because of the law." 4

In the original garden of Kumuhonua and Lalo-hana his wife, are to be found the pig, dogs of various varieties, mo'o of many sorts. A tapu tree, sacred apples which cause death if eaten by strangers, and tapu bark cloth forbidden to all but the

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high chiefs are spoken of. Some think that the laau (law or tree) which caused the expulsion of the pair from the garden refers to these things. The garden, which is very sacred, goes by a multiplicity of names. It is the great white albatross of Kane that drove them out of the garden (Ka Aaia-nukea-nui-a-Kane). Kumuhonua-mokupuni is the land to the eastward to which Kumuhonua retreats after he has broken the law, and he returns to Kapakapa-ua-a-Kane and is buried in a place called Kumu-honua-pu'u, which was afterwards called Ka-pu'u-po'o-kanaka (The hill of human heads). 5

(c) Kepelino version. Kane as a triad, Kane, Kana (Ku), Lono, exists alone in the deep intense night which he has created, and brings about, first light, then the heavens, then the earth and the ocean, then sun, moon, and stars. 6 Kane existing alone chants,
"Here am I on the peak of day, on the peak of night.
The spaces of air,
The blue sky I will make, a heaven,
A heaven for Ku, for Lono,
A heaven for me, for Kane,
Three heavens, a heaven. Behold the heavens!
There is the heaven,
The great heaven,
Here am I in heaven, the heaven is mine."
[paragraph continues] During the first five periods the heavens and earth are created and the sun, moon, and stars, and plants to clothe the earth. In the sixth period man is formed.

Kane, Ku, Lono, conceived as a single godhead, mold Kumuhonua, the first man, out of wet soil and he becomes living soil. They make him a chief to rule over the whole world and place him with his wife Lalo-honua in Ka-aina-nui-o-Kane (The great land of Kane), where they live happily until Lalo-honua meets the "Great seabird with white beak that stands fishing" (Aaia-nui-nukea-a-ku-lawaia) and is seduced to eat the sacred apples

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of Kane. She goes mad and becomes a seabird. The seabird carries them both away into the jungle, the trees part and make a path for them, but the trees return to their places and the path is lost, hence the name "Hidden land of Kane" for this first garden home. . . . Death is the penalty for Kumuhonua because he did not keep the command of the god. He gains the name Kane-la'a-uli and is jeered at by the people as he goes weeping and lamenting along the highway. For countless years he dwells as a refugee on the hill called Pu'u-o-honua, then he returns to Kahiki-honua-kele and is buried on a mountain called Wai-hon(u)a-o-Kumuhonua. There his descendants also are buried and the place is called "The heaping place of bones" (O-ke-ahuna-iwi). 7

( d) Kamakau version. Kane, assisted by Ku and Lono and opposed by Kanaloa, makes the heaven and the earth. All is chaotic. Nothing exists but the upper regions and the spirit gods. Kane excels among the gods in wisdom and power. The triad of gods unite in forming the world. They begin on the twenty-sixth day of the month, the day dedicated to Kane, and in six days, including the days of Kane, Lono, Mauli, Moku, Hilo, Hoaka, form the heavens and the earth. The sabbath or holy day of Ku is established on the seventh day. 8

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( e) Westervelt version. On the island-like peninsula of Mokapu on Oahu is the crater hill Mololani. On the east side near the sea red earth lies beside black soil. Kane makes an image of a man out of earth. . . . Ku and Lono catch a spirit of the air and give Kane's figure life. They name him Wela-ahi-lani-nui. The man notices his shadow (aka) and wonders what it is. The woman is torn out of the man's body by the god Kane; Ku and Lono heal the body. When the man sees her he names her Ke-aka-huli-lani after his own shadow. 10

The similarities here to biblical stories have made readers suspicious of the stories of the forming of man out of earth and of the fall of man and his being driven out of a sacred garden. It is, however, much more likely that familiarity with the biblical stories has lent a coloring and an emphasis to traditions which were genuinely native than that the Hawaiians have invented these stories in direct imitation of Bible accounts. In the southern groups, Tane (Kane) makes a woman out of sand. In Tahiti, although Ta'aroa (Kanaloa) is the great first mover, Tane is the god of beauty who adorns the earth and Tu (Ku) is the "builder."

The worship paid to Kane was of a simple character, without human sacrifice or laborious ritual. "Life is sacred to Kane" (ua kapu ke ola na Kane), was the saying. Kane worshipers were called he papa la'a (a consecrated class) as distinguished from image worshipers. 11 The heiau to Kane at first contained no images until image worship became popular, when they were introduced into all heiau. Ellis found the name Kane-nui-akea attached to a stone image from Kauai brought to the heiau of Kauai-kahaloa at Puapua'a in Kona, Hawaii, and with it two wooden gods called Kane-ruru-honua (Kane shaking the earth) and Rora-maka-ehe (probably Lono with flashing eyes) and a feather god called Ke-kua-ai-manu (The bird-eating god). 12

A family altar called Pohaku-o-Kane (Stone of Kane) was set up to Kane in the shape of a single conical stone from

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Each family worshiped Kane under the name of its own family Kane god, or aumakua, but invoked also all other Kane gods whose aid it desired. Kamakau lists thirty such aumakua and adds, with his customary love for exaggeration, "There were thousands and thousands of names to fit the work done, but all referring to one god. There was one altar and only one place to offer food, the stone of Kane, and among all inspired by a Kane god, one keeper should not despise another. They should all eat the sacrifices and offerings together; the difference lay in the law of each god and the things dedicated to each." The prayer to the aumakua must hence be inclusive. It enumerates first the male aumakua, then the female, and begins, "Stoop down, heaven! listen, earth! hearken, pillars of earth, aumakua at the rising and the setting of the sun, from that tapu point to this tapu point! Here is the offering and the sacrifice, a sacrifice to the god because we are in trouble," and concludes, after enumerating the gods of the heavens, "To all male aumakua and to all the chiefly ancestral aumakua, to you I appeal. Brush aside the dark-

p. 48

An example of Kane worship in the name of one of these lesser deities is illustrated in the description given by Kamakau of the place held by Kane-hekili (Kane in the thunder) as an aumakua on the island of Maui. Kane-hekili as god of thunder is associated with Kane-wawahi-lani (Kane breaking through heaven), Ka-uila-nui-maka-keha'i-i-ka-lani (Lightning flashing in the heavens), Ka-hoali'i, and other gods whose names suggest the lively phenomena of a thunderstorm. Humpbacked forms may be seen driving through the air at such times, led by Na-kolo-i-lani, or by the humpbacked brothers of Pele. During such a storm all containers should be turned bottom side up; all persons should lie face down-ward and make no outcry. Silence is the law (tapu) of Kane-hekili. Two stones in the cave of Ke-ana at Kahuku on Oahu are said to be the bodies of two boys who disobeyed their mother's injunction to keep silence during a thunderstorm.

Kane-hekili is the god worshiped by those who claim an aumakua in the thunder. Thunder is the divine form of the god. When he comes to his worshipers in a dream, he is seen in his human form with his feet standing on earth and his head touching the clouds, one side of his body black and the other side white. Such a mark on the body is hence the sign of one given to Kane-hekili. Anyone born with a birthmark on the right side is said to be so given. Ulumeheihei, the friend of Kamehameha and governor of Maui after the setting up of the kingdom, was one who had this sign. Kahekili, the last ruling chief of Maui, was tattooed on one side of his body to show that he belonged to the family of the thunder god. A kahuna named Kahekili who at one time kept the heiau of Pakana-loa, erected back of Keanae on Maui at a place where violent thunderstorms occur, came to be regarded as possessed by the spirit of Kane-hekili. He was feared as a sorcerer,

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Chiefs who count their genealogy direct from Kane, whether on the Ulu or Nanaulu line, rank among the hoali'i or high tapu chiefs as distinguished from the lower grades of chiefs with a less distinguished family genealogy. Descent is therefore of vital importance and the privileges enjoyed by Kane worshipers are on the basis of such rank, which gives them command of tapus comparable to those of the gods. They are in fact gods (akua) in name as in effect, with power over life and death because of the awful sacredness with which their presence is regarded. They are "chiefs with the tapus of gods" (na li'i kapu akua) as compared with the tapus enjoyed by the lesser chiefs (na li'i noa). They are "chiefs of the ikupau" as compared with "chiefs of the ikunu'u" who share the right to temporal power alone and the ordinary tapus of chiefs.

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The law (tapu) of this god was called Pu'u-koa-maka-ia (Hard eyeball of a fish) with reference to the human eyeball which was the offering he demanded. Kamakau asserts that a chief possessed by the spirit of Ka-hoali'i might invoke this law at any time when the followers of the chief were assembled. All must then look steadfastly at the chief thus possessed and anyone might be selected as victim and his eyes gouged out and swallowed in a cup of awa. 18 Maui, when he recovers his wife from Bat, has to be appeased with the eyes of the abductor offered to him in a cup of awa before his injured feelings are pacified. 19 Ku'i-a-lua, god of the art of bone breaking (lua), demands of his pupils that they eat an eye-ball of a victim after finishing their course of training.

The drinking of a victim's eye with the kava as an offering to deity is reported from other groups. In Tahiti, when human victims were sacrificed, says Ellis, the eye was given to the king. 20 In the Marquesas, the spirit of the brother-in-law of Tiki is caught up to the sky and sacrificed and the eyes are consumed with the kava. 21 In New Zealand eyes are scooped out and swallowed in order to obtain the spirit of the owner, says Taylor. 22

In myth Ka-hoa-li'i or an equivalent is represented as a god of the underworld, who occupied "the subterranean region through which the sun passes each night from west to east." In the legend of Kana, Ka-hoa-lei (or li'i), vexed by Niheu, withholds the sun and leaves the people in darkness until Kana visits the land to the far east, blackens his hands to resemble those of the god, and gets handed up to him the

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sun, the stars, and the cock that signals the dawn. 23 So in the legend of Aukele, that hero secures the water of life in the same manner from the servants of the underworld deity Ka-moho-ali'i at the pit of the far eastern edge of the world where the sun comes up. 24 Kane himself is said to have come to Hawaii from the east, and old Hawaiians make the front door face the east as a sign of Kane worship and turn toward the sun when they offer their morning prayer. 25

Chanted prayers to the gods were an important part, perhaps the important part, of temple worship. The most sacred of these were uttered by the high priest and for this ritual a scaffolding was erected within the temple area called the Lananu'umamao because built in three stages, called nu'u (earth), lani (heavens), and mamao (far off but not beyond hearing). This last and most sacred stage was entered by the high priest and ruling chief alone. The whole structure was covered with white bark cloth (oloa). On the floor of the temple platform surrounding the structure stood the images, the chief image directly in front of the staging. On each side of the tower were sometimes placed arches of bent saplings, three on a side, and these were supposed to bend if the offering (or prayer) was acceptable. This oracular response of the gods may be compared with the drum placed over a high chief's threshold, whose sounding or silence indicated the rank of the one entering, or the cord similarly hung across the en-trance which fell to the ground of itself before a high chief, but under which one of lower rank must stoop.

Prayers were offered at each step of the scaffolding. Some were offered at the altar before ascending the tower. A series of prayers used in the Kane worship and recited by an old Hawaiian from Kauai named Robert Luahiwa to Mr. Theodore Kelsey are here given as translated by Miss Laura Green in order to show the highly exalted religious feeling with which the high gods were approached by the priest who uttered

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the prayer, the audience meanwhile sitting motionless in perfect stillness until, at the word noa, the tapu was "freed" and they might resume their customary liberty of movement. The word amama with which the prayer concludes is pre-Christian and not connected with the Christian amen.

The first prayer is little more than an enumeration of the names of Kane as the subordinate forms by which the one god who embraces them all is worshiped. It is the prayer "given by Kane when he began to offer prayer in the heiau of Kuikahi, at Hanapepe, Kauai, near the stream of Manawai-o-puna" and "is calling on the lesser Kanes to do their duty and aid him."

The second prayer is one offered by Kane to the assembly (papa) of gods from the steps of the oracle. It is significant that the female gods of growth, Laka and Hi'iaka, are invoked with Kane, and that the plants used for temple decoration are included among the names of Kane: the fragrant myrtle (maile), the ieie vine or climbing pandanus, the sacred lehua and dracaena trees out of which images were carved. Pele, Kapo, and the male and female Ku gods are also invoked. The enchanted stone Kapolei, formerly belonging to Kauai, is mentioned.

The third prayer is offered at the altar. Lono of the heavens, Hi'iaka, and Laka are invoked with "red Kane." At the fourth prayer the priest is within the "six" arches and upon the steps of the scaffold. Here the reciter breaks off. The most sacred prayers, those uttered from the prayer tower, are not reported.

The same reciter gives a fifth prayer offered when gathering plants in the mountains for temple decoration. The guardian spirits are invoked to return and possess the plants. "Produce sacredness, produce freedom, freedom for me, a man," prays the gatherer, and then begins to pluck the leaves with prayer. The address to Kane-i-ka-pahu'a (Kane the thruster) is said to be to Kane in the guise of an owl, who thrusts with wings and talons at the enemies of his worshipers in time of battle and turns aside their weapons. The word may also mean "dancer." Kane-i-ka-pahu-wai is "Kane with a calabash of water" which he pours out upon the earth below.

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1. THE PRAYER OF KANE

1. KA PULE A KANE

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p. 55

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Arise, O Woman-in-green,
Arise, O red Kapo,
O Kapo, return-n-n!
A petitioning voice to you all, my guardians,
The male aumakua,
The female aumakua,
Turn all of you.
Guardians of the night and of the day,
I am your offspring,
To me, the man, grant life!

3. THE PRAYER AT THE ALTAR

E ala oe e Wahine-oma'o,
E ala oe e Kapo-ula,
E Kapo -ho'--i a-a--!
He leo lono no ia' oukou a pau, e o'u mau kiai,
Na ku kane,
Na ku wahine,
E huli mai oukou a pau.
E na aumakua o ka po a ma ka ao,
Owau nei la ka oukou pulapula nei,
Ia'u, i ke kanaka, e ola no a-a--!

3. KA PULE ANA I KE KUAHU

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4. THE PRAYER ON THE STEPS NEAR THE ALTAR

4. HE PULE IA I KA PAPA KUAHU

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Footnotes

42:1 For. Col. 6: 271.

42:2 Henry, 398-399.

43:3 For. Col. 6: 335.

43:4 Col. 6: 267, 268, 273-276.

44:5 For. Col. 6: 273-276.

44:6 14-17.

45:7 24-35, 42-47.

46:11 For. Col. 6: 266; Kepelino, 58.

46:12 Tour, 88; HAA 1908, 70.

47:13 Kamakau, Ke Au Okoa, March 3, 1870; Thrum, More Tales, 267-270.

49:15 Ke Au Okoa, March 31, 1870; Westervelt, Gods and Ghosts, 124-125; J. Emerson, HHS Papers 2: 15.

50:17 Malo, 197-199 note 25, 220-221; For. Col. 6: 10, 24-26.

50:22 147.

51:23 Rice, 102-105.

51:24 Ibid., 102-105; Ellis, Tour, 296; Dibble, 17; For. Col. 4: 86-96.

51:25 For. Col. 6: 275.

Next: V. Kane and Kanaloa

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hawaii hawai'i mythology legend legends genealogy kumulipo gods maui hina pele maori tahiti tonga new zealand

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Hawaiian Mythology: Part One: The Gods: IV. The Kane Worship

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Sacred Texts Pacific Index Previous Next p. 42 KANE was the leading god among the great gods named by the Hawaiians at the time of the arrival of the missionaries in the islands. He represented the god of procreation and was worshiped as ancestor of chiefs and commoners.

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Ma'ui, Oceania's Hero: Crash Course World Mythology #31

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Introduction to Roman mythology. A curated selection of Ancient Rome myths and legends originally from Rome, their origins and significance.
Roman mythology is the collection of ancient Rome myths and legends that form the basis of ancient Roman religion and belief.

We know Rome's myths and legends from ancient sources and authors, who recorded the most popular stories of Roman Gods and heroes.

Statue of the Capitoline Wolf showing Remus and Romulus as suckling infants.

As well as an invaluable source of information about Roman history and beliefs, Roman myths and legends are often highly entertaining.

Roman mythology fascinates me.

I am a Roman history graduate from the University of Rome and my studies gave me the privilege to be able to read ancient sources in the original language as ell as in academic translations.

Today, we look at the most important myths from Ancient Rome and famous Roman legends you may enjoy.

But first, let's see some fundamental facts about Rome mythology that will help put these myths in context.

How do we know Roman mythology?

Our primary sources of information about Roman mythology are ancient Roman writers and authors who wrote about it.

The most notable sources on Roman mythology we can access today are:

Livy (Titus Livius), who wrote the historical masterpiece Ab Urbe Condita, an account of the origins of Rome and, therefore, of the legends associated with it.

Virgil (Virgilius), who wrote the Aeneid, an epic poem about the divine origins of Rome

Ovid (Ovidius), who detailed the intricacies of the Roman calendar and its religious festivities in the book Fasti

Dyonisus of Alycarnassus, who wrote Roman Antiquities, a history of Rome detailing major events, religion and beliefs.

Is Rome mythology the same as Greek mythology?

Roman religious and culture inherited many elements from Greek culture.

Many of Rome's most important Gods are originally from Greece and many myths the Romand knew and made their own where originally from there.

However, Rome also has its own myths and legends and these original Roman myths are often the most interesting to understand what made Rome unique.

Their origin is often very ancient and has roots in the culture of the Etruscan, Latin and Italic populations that inhabited central Italy a the time of Rome's foundations.

Difference between myths and legends

Myth and legends often overlap.

For this article on Roman mythology, we include both and follow the standard understanding of the difference between roman myths vs roman legends:

Roman myths traditional stories that explains the beliefs of a people about the natural and human world, often involving gods, demigods and epic hero. The are highly symbolic in nature.

Roman legends: traditional story about the past, often based on historical events and then romanticised and modified to suit the educational needs and spiritual values of a certain time.

The most famous myths and legends of Ancient Rome of Roman origin

Please note: I have not included in this list myths and legends from Geek mythology such as those of Cassandra, Io or Hercules, and many others adopted by the Romans but not born in Rome itself.

The myth of Janus

Janus is one the most important ancient Roman gods, commonly represented as a man with two faces, one looking ahead and one looking behind.

The so called arch of Janus in Rome

His legend says that Janus was born a man and ruled over the ancient population of Latium, the region of Rome, bringing to the people good laws and rules.

Janus lived on the Janiculum hill and, one day, encountered Saturnus, the God of agriculture.

Saturnus has recently been overthrown by Jupiter, so Janus offered him to reign together.

Thankful for this act, Saturnus brought a Golden Era to the region and rewarded Janus with the gift of seeing both the past and the future.

This is a seminal myth in Roman mythology and unique as it tells us about a God that is originally from Rome and with a strong connection with the land.

The myth of Aeneas, Rome's heroic ancestor

An overview of Rome's most important myths must begin with a mention of Rome's semi-divine ancestor, Aeneas, whose adventures are the foundation of the history of the city.

We learn about Aeneas from Virgil, who devoted to him his most famous masterpiece: the Aeneid.

Aeneas was the son of the Goddess Venus and Anchises, a mortal from the city of Troy.

When the Greek captured Troy and sacked the city, Aeneas fled the city and took to the sea carving with him his father, his son Ascanius and the Troy's Lares and Penates, the deitieis protecting family and the State.

After long peregrinations, Aeneas settled in central Italy and founded a new city inhabited by Trojans and protected by the same deities: Lavinius.

As we will see below, Romulus and Remus are descendants of Aeneas so, according to Roman mythology, Aeneas is the progenitor of Rome's people and a direct connection between Rome and Venus herself.

Fun fact: You can see a statue commemorating this important event in Roman mythology in the Borghese Gallery.

Romulus, Remus and the She-Wolf

Another important ancient Roman myth connected to the origin of the city is that of Romulus, Remus and the she-wolf.

According to the legend, around the first half of the VIII century BC there were trouble in Albalonga, the town in central Italy founded by Ascanius, Aenea's son.

Numitor but his brother, Amulius, seized power and took the seat for himself.

To protect himself from revenge, Amulius killed Numitor's son and forced his daughter Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal, a priestess to the Goddess Vesta sworn to virginity.

He wanted to prevent Rhea Silvia for having children, who may one day seek revenge.

Despite her religious role, however, Rhea Silvia got pregnant with the God Mars and gave birth to two twins: Romulus, future founder of Rome, and Remus.

Amulius imprisoned Rhea Silvia and ordered the killing of the twins but a merciful servant put them in a basket and put them in the river Tiber instead, hoping for someone to find them and rear them.

This someone came in the form of a she-wolf, who fed and protected the twins until a local pastor, Faustulus, found them and adopted them.

The she-wolf, aka the Capitoline Wolf as she is also called, is still nowadays one of the most important symbols of Rome.

Fun fact! By involving the God Mars in the birth of Romulus, ancient Romand effectively stated that the city ancestors where two of the principal deities of the Roman pantheon and two of the most potent natural forces: Venus, goddess of love, beauty and procreation, and Mars, God of war and agricultural prosperity.

The legend of the Foundation of Rome

According to the legend, Rome has a birthday: the 21st of April 753 BC.

The view from the palatine hill where, according to the legend, Rome was founded

On this day, twins Romulus and Remus, sons of the God Mars and Rhea Silvia, decided to found a new city.

However, they couldn't agree on a location, so they came up with a system: each of them would pick a spot and wait for an auspicious signal from the Gods showing a divine preference for one or the other.

Looking for auspicious signs was typical in Ancient Rome and too many forms, including that or looking at the sky to spot flocks of birds, the system the twin chose.

Remus placed himself on the Aventine Hill and quickly saw a flock of 6 birds.

Romulus places himself on the Palatine Hill and quickly after his brother spotted a flock of 12.

The two bothers couldn't agree on the interpretation of the sign: Remus claimed he saw the birds first but Romulus that he saw the highest numbers.

They came to a fight that ended with the death of Remus and they left Romulus as the sole founder of the new city, with he called Rome.

The legends of the taking of the Sabines (Ratto delle Sabine)

Another important ancient Roman legend connected to the foundation of Rome is that of the taking of the Sabines.

According to the legend, right after its foundation Rome suffered from a lack of women.

To solve this problem, the Romans tried to negotiate with the Sabines, an Italic people living in northern Lazio, trying to convince them to give Rome their women so that the city could grow.

The Sabines refused and the Romans came up with a plan: they invited to the city the Sabines, under the pretence of religious games, and then captured the women against their will.

The Circus Maximus is the legendary location of the Roman myth of the taking of the Sabines

War ensued; the Sabine's kind Titus Tatius entered Rome with the aid of a young woman called Tarpea and battles began.

To prevent a bloodshed, the women themselves came to the rescue, pleading for an end of hostilities.

The plea worked and they came to a compromise: the women would move to Rome but not be subject to violence. Rather, they would enjoy civil rights and the two populations founded into one.

The legend of Tarpea

The legend of Tarpea is part of the legend of the taking of the Sabines.

Tarpea was a young Roman woman, daughter of Spurius Tarpeus, the keeper of the Capitoline rock.

Vain and avid, Tarpea fell for the promises of riches by Titus Tatius and betrayed the Romand opening the city gates to the Sabines' army.

Her act didn't go unnoticed: as a punishment for her betrayal, she got killed by getting pushed down the Capitoline rock, which still now takes the name of Rupe Tarpea.

Need to know: in historical times, killing people by throwing them people off the Tarpeian Rock was a common way to administer the death penalty in Ancient Rome.

The myth of Romulus' death

Roman mythology tells us the peculiar legend connected to the death of Romulus.

According to Roman myths, when Romulus died, he took to sky and became a God by the name of Quirinus.

This event is recorded as taking place neat the River Tiber, where we now see the Mausoleum of Augustus.

This is not by chance.

Augustus wanted to be seen as a new founder of Rome.

Placing his own mausoleum where the Romulus' deification happened, was a strong signal of his connection with Rome's legendary founder.

The Roman myth of Egeria and Numa Pompilius

According to the legend, Roman King Numa Pompilius was a devout man who loved to stroll in the woods surrounding the city of Rome.

During this peregrinations, he encountered the nymph Egeria, who inhabited this area, and they fell in love.

During their relationship, Egeria helped Numa Pompilius to bring positive reforms in Rome, including the creation of a Roman calendar that pleased the Gods.

When the Kind died of old age, Egeria cried so much she turned into a water spring, which still produced drinking water today.

Egeria's wood and sources till exists: you can see them along the road we know call Appia Pignatelli.

The legend of Horatii and Curiatii

The longed of Horatii and Curiatii is set during te kingdom of Tullo Ostilio, the third of the seven kids of Rome (673-642 B.C.).

At that time, Rome was at war with the city of Alba and it was decided that a duel would determine the outcome of such war.

Three Roman brothers, the Horatii, would fight three bothers from Alba, the Curiatii.

At the start, the Curiatii seemed to prevail and killed two of their Roman adversaries.

The third Horatii brother, however, survived, and single handedly killed the three Curiatii, sealing Rome's victory.

His success, however, displeased his sister.

Due to marry one of the Curiatii bothers, she broke down in laments when she saw his dead body.

Not tolerating her reaction to what he perceived was an important victory of the Roman people, he killed her.

When put under trial for murder, was absolved.

The most important archaeological remain connected to this legend is the tomb of the Horatii and Curiatii on the IV mile of Ancient Via Appia.

The most famous, later representation of this Roman myth is a well known painting by Jacques-Louis David now on display in the Louvre in Paris: The Oath of Horatii.

The legend of Horatius Cocles

Horatius Cocles is a legendary Roman hero from the time of Tarquinius Superbus and the war between Rome and the Etruscans.

Ancient sources tells us that the Etruscans, led by King Porsenna, were close to entering the city of Rome and had stationed their camp on the far end of Sublician Bridge (now in Rome center).

One day, a terrible battle erupted on the bridge: to save his soldiers, Horatius ordered them to retreat and faced the Etruscan army alone, winning the war.

The is the first of several Roman myths connected to King Porsenna, which is at the center of several other stories of Roman mythology.

The legend of Gaius Mucius Scaevola

The legend of Gaius Mucius Scevola is linked with the war between Rome and the Etruscans in the time of the Tarquinus Superbus.

Mucius Scevola was a Roman general in charge of infiltrating the Etruscan camp and kill the Etruscan King Porsenna.

While successful in the first part of his plan, Mucius Scevola mistook a sribe for the king, killed the wrong person and was captured.

Brought in front of the King, he admitted his mistake and declared he would punish his right hand by placing it onto a red-hot grill.

Impressed by this gesture, Porsenna set him free.

While thanking him for his mercy, Scevola told the King that he was only the first of three hundred valiant Roman men ready to kill him.

Terrified by this prospect, the myth tells us that Porsenna started peace negotiations with the Romans and posed an end to the war.

The Roman legend of Clelia

The legend of Clelia is also set at the time of the Etruscan war but has a woman at its center.

As part of the peace negotiations mentioned above, the Romand has given to Porsenna nine girls, which he kept as hostages in his camp.

The girls tired to escape and, under the leadership on one of them called Clelia, threw themselves in the Tiber to try and reach Rome swimming.

The Etruscan saw them and brought the back to Porsenna who questioned Clelia. She readily admitted to have been the brain being the escape and declared she would have no hesitation to try again.

Impressed by her bravery, Porsenna let her go and the girls were able to return to their families.

The legend of Lucrezia

The ancient Roman legend of Lucretia is connected with the end of the Kingdom of Rome and the birth of the Roman Republic.

According to Livy, Lucretia was a Roman matron whose beauty caught the attention of Sextus Tarquinius, the son of the seventh King of Rome: Tarquinius Superbus.

Married and uninterested in an affair, Lucretia refused Sextus' advances but he didn't accept her refusal and violated her agains her will.

Lucretia told her husband about the violence and, in despaired, put an end to her own life.

To vindicate her, her husband Collatinus and his friend Junius Brutus instigated a popular revolution that overthrew the Taruquinii and started the Roman Republic.

Collatinus and Giunius Brutus where the first Roman consuls, top magistrates of the newly founded republic of Rome.

The legend of the birth of the Tiber Island

According to ancient sources, the end of Tarquinius Superbus is at the origin of an extraordinary fact: the birth of Tiber Island!

When Collatinus and Brutus took power, they threw in the river all the belongings of the now-deposed king, which included large quantities of hay.

The hay bales were so numerous, they accumulated in the the middle of the river Tiber and turned into in an island, which brought prosperity to Rome as an important trade route.

The legend of Coriolanus

Coriolanus is a legendary at the center of an ancient Roman myth, then made famous by Shakespeare in his work Coriolanus.

According to the legend, Coriolanus became very unpopular in Rome when the told the Senate to withhold food from the people, unless they renounced their magistrates.

Accused of treason, he left the city and found refuge with the Volsci, enemies of Rome, about to carry a war agains the city.

Before the hostilities began, the Romans sent ambassadors to him to find a compromise: one of them was Coriolanus' mother.

When Coriolanus saw her, he went to hug her, but she stopped him asking to know, first, if she was about to hug a son or an enemy. Touched by her words, Coriolanus brought back the enemy army, stopping the war.

The legend of the Capitoline's Geese

The legend of the Capitoline Geese takes place in year 390 BC.

At that time, the city of Rome was under terrible pressure due to the attack of the Gauls, who had managed to reach the city and force the Romans to find refuge on top of the Capitoline Hill, the last safe place in the city.

One night, the Gauls were making progress towards capturing the hill; however, their movement disturbed the geese that inhabited the temple of Juno, to whom they were sacred.

The geese made a terrible noise that woke up the Romans and alerted them of the danger.

As a result, the Romand were able first to negotiate a truce, then to win over the Gauls. The Roman general associated with this victory is Camillus, remember d ny the myth for the sentence: Non auro, sed ferro, recuperanda est patria, which means: not with gold but with iron (aka, fighting), we are going to take our land back.

The legend of Aesculapius on the Tiber Island

According to ancient sources, during the III century B.C. a terrible plague pestered the city of Rome.

Desperate for some respite, the Romans sent a ship to the Greek city of Epidaurus, sacred to the God Aesculapius, protector of medicine and health and represented as a snake (you can read here >>> about ancient Roman Gods and their symbols)

While they were busy with their rituals, a snake entered their ship: they interpreted it as a sign of favour from the God and traveled back to Rome.

While on the Tiber, the snake jumped off and found refuge on the Tiber Island.

The Romans took it as a sign that that the place was sacred to the God and built a temple and a hospital.

To remember the event, they also rebuilt the island in the shape of a ship, a peculiar design we can still see today.

The Roman Myth of Caesar's comet (Sidus Julius)

The myth surrounding the appearance of Caesar's comet is very different from others and it was born as part of Imperial Propaganda, rather than ancient Roman mythology.

However, it is such an important myth for understanding the Roman psyche, that it deserved a place in this list.

According to the legend, when Julius Caesar died in 44 BC, a comet appeared in the sky. The Romans interppered it as a divine sign that Caesar had become a God and gave it the name 'Sidus Julius', Julius' Star (ala Julian Star).

Since then, Julius Caesar was worshipped in the temple called Temple of Divus Julius, still visible in the Roman Forum.

Ancient Rome most famous myths and legends meaning

Ancient Roman myths and legends have meaning that historians could partially identify.

The myth of Janus Bifrons

Rooting the history of Rome in that of Latium, strong divine connection between Rome location and its power

The myth of Aeneas fleeing Troy

Divine origins of Rome via Venus, mother of Aeneas

The myth of Rhea Silvia

Divine origins of Rome via Mars, father of the twins

The legend of the she-wolf

Connection with Rome and its terror and geography

The legend of Romulus founding Rome

Divine approval of the foundation of the city

The legend the taking of the Sabines

Legitimizes the power of Rome over neighbouring population

The legend of Tarpea

Warning story about betrayal and loyalty

The legend of the death of Romulus

Strengthens the idea of the divine origins of the city and the support of the Gods to its power.

The legend of Egeria and Numa Pompilio

Connection with territory and divinity of Rome origins

The legend of Horatii and Curiatii

Importance of individual courage in Roman Culture

Horatius Cocles

Importance of individual courage in Roman Culture

Mutius Scaevola

Importance of individual courage and loyalty in Roman Culture

Legend of Clelia

Importance of individual courage and loyalty in Roman Culture

Legend of Lucretia

Importance of purity and loyalty in Roman Culture

Legend of Coriolanus

Importance of loyalty in Ancient Rome

Legends of Tiber Island

Legendary explanations of the birth of significant geographical features.

Legend of Capitoline Geese

Divine protection over Rome for the Gods

Legend of Caesar's comet

Important of Julius Caesar as seminal figure for the beginning of the Imperial times, divine support from the Gods to the city.

I hope you enjoyed this quick introduction to Roman mythology and found these famous Roman myths and legends as fascinating as I do. Happy learning!

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Roman Mythology: 18 most famous ancient Rome myths and legends you need to know - Mama Loves Rome

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Introduction to Roman mythology. A curated selection of Ancient Rome myths and legends originally from Rome, their origins and significance. Roman mythology is the collection of ancient Rome myths and legends that form the basis of ancient Roman religion and belief.

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Famous artworks of the Mother of the Sea can be found in different towns of Greenland, for example in Qaqortoq and in Nuuk. Many imagined the Nuuk street artwork by Icelandic artist known as Mottan featured Sassuma Arnaa (otherwise known in Canadian Inuit myths as Sedna), the young girl whose father threw overboard one day.

He chopped off her fingers, and then hands, when she attempted to return to the boat. The fingers became the smaller marine life such as seals and fish; the remains of the hands turned into polar bears and whales, and she sank to become the Mother of the Sea. In Baldursson's art her hands are whole and she uses it to tame a polar bear.

MODERN DAY LEGENDS

If there is one thing that Greenlanders love, it's a spooky story. Many of today's stories involve the infamous qivittoq, a wandering spirit who chooses to or is exiled into the nature. It was believed that the exiled people turned into spirits, as they could not survive Greenland's harsh climate. Don't be surprised that even in modern day Greenland, a local's adventure stories into the wild nature will involve sighting a qivittoq. The legends live on!

You can find out more about Greenlandic culture and art in museums, or by joining city or northern light tours in Greenland.

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Famous artworks of the Mother of the Sea can be found in different towns of Greenland, for example in Qaqortoq and in Nuuk. Many imagined the Nuuk street artwork by Icelandic artist known as Mottan featured Sassuma Arnaa (otherwise known in Canadian Inuit myths as Sedna), the young girl whose father threw overboard one day.

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Ōkuninushi’s Tale - Japanese Myth - Extra Mythology

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Godchecker's Holy Hit Parade of popular Gods is powered by GodRank™ Technology.

Introduction

Like most 'discovered' countries, Australia had already been discovered by its original inhabitants - the Aboriginal peoples. Small nomadic tribes with many languages and ideas roamed the vast plains.

Much of Oz mythology is to do with Dreaming and the Dreamtime, a wonderful Golden Age in the remote past when Gods were real Gods and anything was possible.

Relying on memory and scratched images, Australian Aboriginal mythology is seemingly fragile, but in many instances it's amazingly durable. Many of the dreams were trampled on by European invasion, but fortunately there has always been a strong oral tradition, and the legends of the Outback may be making a Comeback.

Options

Introduction to Aboriginal Australian Mythology.

Use our Godbrowser™ to explore the Gods of Aboriginal Australia.

View the Aboriginal Australian pantheons. Family trees coming soon!

Consult Godchecker's complete alphabetical list of Aboriginal god and goddess names.

REGIONS COVERED: Arnhem Land, Central Australia, Kimberley Region, Melville Island, Murray River, New South Wales, Northeastern Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, Southeast Australia, West Arnhem Land, Western Australia, Victoria.

Many Gods are spread across different regions, cultures and tribes. We've tried to pin them down to a particular area if possible. But corrections are always welcome, especially from people with first-hand knowledge. So if you know the region and would like to comment, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us here.

TRIBES, CULTURES AND PEOPLES COVERED: Aranda people, Binbinga people, Gunwinggu people, Juma people, Kabikabi people, Kamilaroi people, Karadjeri people, Karraur people, Kulin people, Mandjindja people, Murinbata people, Murngin people, Nambutji people, Wallamba people, Wiradyuri people, Wulumba people, Wurunjerri people.

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Australian Mythology - the Gods of Aboriginal Oz

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Godchecker's Holy Hit Parade of popular Gods is powered by GodRank™ Technology. Like most 'discovered' countries, Australia had already been discovered by its original inhabitants - the Aboriginal peoples. Small nomadic tribes with many languages and ideas roamed the vast plains.

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The Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses were the deities worshipped by the Celtic people, including those in Ireland. These Gods and Goddesses feature heavily in Irish and Celtic mythology and literature.

Download FREE resources to teach children about 'Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses'

If you're looking to teach your children all about the Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses, why not use this Teaching Wiki to get to grips with the topic? We also have a selection of fabulous resources on this topic to help you with your lessons.

The Celtic people were polytheistic, meaning that they believed in more than one god. It's believed that they actually worshipped over 300 gods, but due to a lack of written sources, it's difficult to tell. For this reason, we don't know a great deal about Celtic religion. All of our knowledge is based on the sources that we do have, which are mostly myths and legends that were recorded.

There are 10 Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses that feature heavily in these myths and legends, each with their own tale. Each of the gods and goddesses were symbols of different aspects of life.

Who were the Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses?

Aengus Óg - God of youth, beauty and love

Dagda - God of the Earth

Áine of Knockaine - Goddess of youth, beauty and love

Eostre - Goddess of spring

Macha - Goddess of war, life and death

Caer Ibormeith - Goddess of sleep and dreams

Diancecht - God of healing and medicine

Cailleach - Goddess of disease and plague

Goibhniu - God of weapon-makers and blacksmiths

Badb Catha - Goddess of war

Aengus Óg

Aengus Óg was the god of youth, beauty and love. He's often pictured with birds flying around him, which are said to symbolise kisses and love surrounding him.

There is a story about Aengus falling in love with a maiden in a dream. He set out to find this maiden, who had been chained to 150 other maidens with gold. All the maidens were turned into swans, then Aengus had to work out which was his maiden so he could marry her. He guessed correctly, then he also turned into a swan and the two flew away together.

Dagda

Dagda is the god of the Earth and is often known as 'The Good God'. He's the leader of the 'Tuatha De Danann', which were supernatural beings that are said to have lived in Ireland before the arrival of the first Irish settlers.

He is the ruler of life and death and carries a huge club that can kill 9 men in one swing, or restore their lives with the other end. He also carries a harp and a cauldron. It's said that he can play the harp to call on the seasons and there's an endless supply of food in his cauldron.

Áine of Knockaine

Áine of Knockaine is known as the goddess of youth, beauty and love, although her story is different from that of Aengus Óg. She's recognised in stories for her pleasant and timid personality, which many of her followers would find comfort from.

Many of the stories about Áine are sad, since they talk about how she was often taken advantage of and treated poorly by the men in her village. Despite this, the stories also tell us that she brought hope to the women around her and would remind them of happier times.

Eostre

Eostre is said to be the goddess of spring. However, some mythologists have debated the idea that she may have been created by the English monk Bede, rather than an original part of mythology surrounding Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses.

More specifically, Eostre is the goddess of dawn and light and was thought to be friendly with rabbits and hares. She would celebrate with them every April with a feast, which forms part of our beliefs around Easter.

Macha

Macha is the goddess of war, life and death, but she's also associated with land and horses. She's actually thought to be one of the 3 traits of the goddess Morrigan. The legend says that Macha would feed on the heads of her slain enemies.

She regularly appears as a hooded figure with a crow or a hooded crow herself, since 'Badb', meaning 'crow', was one of Morrigan's other traits. Her name can be translated as 'Great Queen' or 'Phantom Queen'.

Caer Ibormeith

Caer Ibormeith is the goddess of sleep and dreams. She's also the wife of Aengus and is the maiden who is turned into a swan in the story of him finding love. Once Aengus recognised her, despite her being a swan, he was also turned into a swan and they flew away together.

The story goes on to say that they were both singing a lovely song as they flew away. According to legend, anyone who heard this song would sleep for 3 days and 3 nights. This is why Caer is known for being the goddess of sleep and dreams.

Diancecht

Diancecht is thought to be the god of healing and medicine, since he was the physician of the 'Tuatha De Danann'. There is a legend that Diancecht blessed a well, called the well of Slane. Those who were injured would be able to bathe in the water of the well to heal their wounds.

His brother, King Nuada, lost one of his hands in a battle. Diancecht was able to create a new hand made of silver to replace it. Diancecht's son, Micah, was jealous of the relationship between his father and his uncle, so he stole the silver hand. Micah was killed by his father soon after this.

Cailleach

Cailleah is said to be the goddess of disease and plague and is often depicted as an old hag with the teeth of a wild bear. She was often referred to as the 'Mother of All' and was one of the great sorcerers.

There is a farming superstition about Cailleach, which says that she is represented by the corn dolly that is made out of the first harvest of the season. The dolly is passed from farmer to farmer until it reaches the last farmer to harvest that season. This farmer has a duty to look after the old hag until the start of the next harvest season.

Goibhniu

Goibhniu is the god of weapon-making and blacksmiths and was the maker of weapons that would always strike true in the 'Tuatha De Danann'. He was also known as a legendary brew master who made eternal mead and tears of life. It's said that the beer he brewed could grant the drinker immortality.

Badb Catha

Badb Catha is the goddess of war and is another one of the 3 traits of Morrigan and Macha. Badb's name translates as 'Battle Raven', which is fitting to her role in war and the way she is often visually portrayed.

Badb would partake in battles and assure that it went in her favour, by confusing the enemy with her magic. She was so skillful in battle that a battlefield would often be referred to as 'the battlefield of Badb'.

Who were the Tuatha De Danann?

In Irish mythology, the Tuatha De Danann (Gaelic for 'People of the Goddess Danu') were a supernatural race of people who lived in Ireland before the ancestors of today's Irish people arrived on the island. Many of these Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses were thought to have been a part of the Tuatha de Danann.

According to legend, some members of the Tuatha De Danann are still present in Ireland and only interact with people in mystical forms, such as fairies or angels.

Learn about the Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses with these resources

Are you looking for some lovely teaching resources that you can use to make a fantastic lesson all about these Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses? Then you might like to try some of these:

Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses PowerPoint - Use this PowerPoint as a basis for an introductory lesson on this topic. Not only does it include beautiful illustrations, but you will also find some useful information on each of the gods and goddesses.

Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses Display Posters - Create an eye-catching classroom display on this topic. These posters include beautifully hand-drawn illustrations of each of the gods and goddesses with colourful scenery. These are bound to engage your children in learning about Irish mythology. You might like to use the Display Lettering with these posters to make your display stand out even more.

Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses Word Search - This activity is ideal for helping your children to remember all the names of the gods and goddesses. Once they've learnt the names well, you could challenge them to do a short writing task about their favourite god or goddess.

Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses Colouring Pages - Finish off your lesson on this topic with a fun, creative activity. These colouring pages will give your children the opportunity to reflect on what they've just learnt and reinforce it by using their art skills.

To learn more about who the Celtic people were and how Celtic designs are drawn, take a look at the video below.

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Who are the Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses? - Teaching Wiki

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The Irish Celtic Gods and Goddesses were the deities worshipped by the Celtic people, including those in Ireland. These Gods and Goddesses feature heavily in Irish and Celtic mythology and literature.

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You've definitely heard of these ten famous myths and legends from Irish folklore! Which is your favourite of these famous Irish legends?

Mythology and Ireland go hand in hand. The Irish tradition of storytelling has been a staple of our popular culture since the dawn of time.

Irish songs, tales, and limericks spread the world as the Irish emigrated and some of the best-known stories can be recounted the world over.

Some of the earliest manuscripts covering Irish mythology date back to the late 11th and early 12th century. Other important sources from the 14th century are also often consulted. This highlights the significance of this popular tradition in Irish life throughout the centuries.

From fairy trees to Saint Patrick, this oral tradition has been part of the fabric of Irish life. So, here are the ten most famous myths and legends in Celtic and Irish mythology.

Our top facts about myths and legends from Irish folklore:

Irish folklore is full of mythical creatures like leprechauns, banshees, and fairies. These creatures have inspired culture both in Ireland and internationally.

Irish folklore often depicts a close relationship with nature, with geographical landmarks such as trees, wells, and hills, having significant roles in stories.

Icons of Irish folklore continue to appear regularly in contemporary Irish art.

Folk tales, like that of Finn MacCool and the Giant's Causeway, inform much of the experience at visitor attractions.

10. The fairies - living all around us

One of the best Irish myths and legends has got to be the belief in fairies. If you haven't heard of fairies, then you've likely been living under a rock as they're one of the better-known Irish legends.

Fairies were said to live in "cnocs agus sibhe". In Irish, this means mounds of earth, where the fairies are ruled by a king or queen.

Maybe you've heard of the Celtic myth of the banshee, written in Irish as "bean sídhe", known culturally as the "fairy woman of death".

It is said that if you hear her wailing and shrieking that there will soon be a death of someone you know. She cries to warn the family of upcoming death.

9. The Pooka - beware these shape changers

The pooka (or púca) are shape-changers that are some of the most feared creatures in Irish mythology and folklore. According to Irish stories, they were said to bring either good or bad fortune to those who saw them and were particularly feared around times of harvest.

They often frequented the form of a wild dog, with red sulphurous eyes, but could also take the form of a goblin or human with animal features. According to Celtic mythology, they are often written as evil and bloodthirsty.

Still, there are also tales of them warning humans of accidents or being harnessed as protection.

8. The message of the butterflies - full of good luck

According to Irish mythology and folklore, butterflies are said to move between worlds and bring messages and warnings. They are said to be souls, waiting to be reborn on earth.

This is perhaps why butterflies still play such a prominent role in material culture today, with a wide range of clothes, stationary, and other good coming decorated with butterflies.

Butterflies with dark wings were said to warn of bad news such as an attack or failed crop, while white and yellow butterflies were told to bring good news such as a birth or success.

So, next time you see a yellow butterfly, it might be a good idea to put a bet in at your local bookies.

7. Mermaids - stay away from these sirens!

The myth of mermaids in southern Europe tells of fair-faced, beautiful women. Irish legends and famous stories, however, describe cold water mermaids or "merrows" as pig-faced with sharp teeth.

In Ireland, mermaids would sometimes be referred to as 'merrows'. This term appeared in folktales throughout the 19th century.

A mermaid was said to be formed when a woman was drowned in the creation of Lough Neagh. They were also said to come ashore and have relationships with men, before leaving them and returning to the sea.

6. The leprechauns - the most famous little people

Leprechauns or "Leath bhrògan" are the cultural symbol of Ireland, with their names translated from 'shoemaker'. They were said to roam Ireland before humans, with a unique hat and red hair.

In oral tradition, it is still said that you can find their pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, so if you visit Ireland, be sure to have a look. Be careful though, leprechauns may look friendly, but they are not to be trusted.

These little people have been immortalised through famous stories, such as the Disney classic, Darby O'Gill and the Little People.

5. Macha, Goddess of the Horses - one of the best myths and legends from Irish folklore

An old Irish legend of Ulster tells of Macha, a mysterious woman rumoured to be magic, who was forced to run against the king's horses while pregnant to pay for her husband's crimes.

The pain she suffered caused her to cast a curse on the men of the town, who were said to suffer labour pains for nine decades following. She is often associated with Navan Fort in County Armagh.

4. The pixie in love - one for all those romantics

This Irish myth is about a leprechaun named Coll encountering an evil fairy named Aine who had transformed into a beautiful goblin. They spent hours talking, until the empress of malevolent fairies cast a hex on Aine, turning her into a magpie.

Coll consulted the queen of the good fairies who promised to remove the spell if Coll found her and confessed his love. Eventually, he did, and Aine was restored to her prior form.

3. The harp - the story behind our national symbol

It is said that evil gods stole the first harp from the Dagda, a king in Irish/Celtic mythology. The lack of music in Ireland caused sadness to pass over the country until Dagda turned to art to cheer them up.

Eventually the evil gods gave it back to them, and joy returned to the land. This is how the harp became a national icon of Ireland and became cemented in the folk music tradition, everyday life, and popular culture of Ireland.

Dagda was one of the most legendary heroes from Celtic folklore. He was a god of the Tuatha Dé Danann from the Mythological Cycle.

LEARN MORE: Our guide to Irish Celtic symbols and their meanings.

2. The shamrock - St. Patrick's teaching tool

This three-leafed clover is not only a feature of Celtic mythology, it was very important in Irish legend in the spread of Christianity.

It concerns St. Patrick (Saint Patrick) as he tried to educate the Celts on the Holy Trinity, but they could not understand what he was trying to say to them.

St. Patrick saw a clover before him and decided to use it to explain the three strands of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one.

The Celts finally understood what he meant, and that's how the shamrock became so important in Irish history and social tradition.

READ MORE: The Ireland Before You Die guide to the shamrock.

1. The Dullahan - the terrifying tale of the headless horseman

This fairy is known in Irish mythology and folklore as a headless rider on a black horse, carrying their head in their arm.

He was said to ride fast through the counties of Down and Sligo, and if he suddenly stopped, it meant that someone in the community was due to die.

This legend gave inspiration for the character in Sleepy Hollow, played by Johnny Depp.

Now you're equipped with knowledge of myths and legends from Irish folklore, you are safe to wander through the most rural parts of Ireland.

As the Irish emigrated throughout the world, they brought Irish mythology with them. They soon became one of the greatest storytelling countries in the world.

RELATED READ: The IB4UD guide to Irish monsters that will give you nightmares.

Other notable famous myths and legends from Irish folklore

Our top ten list of stories and figures from Celtic mythology is far from exhaustive. So, we are going to make some notable mentions that you should be aware of from Celtic folklore and Irish culture.

Irish heroes, such as Fionn mac Cumhaill and Cú Chulainn, are perhaps two of the most well-known. The Fenian Cycle tells the stories of Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna.

Aside from the story of Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fenian Cycle, there are three other major cycles in Celtic myth. These are the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle, and the Historical Cycle.

Also in this cycle is the Celtic myth of the son of Fionn mac Cumhaill, Oisín, who followed Niamh to Tír na nÓg, the land of eternal youth.

One of the most famous Irish heroes, Cú Chulainn, is associated with the Ulster Cycle. Cú Chulainn is reputed to have had superhuman fighting skills that make him one of the foremost legends from Celtic myth to this day.

The Tuatha Dé Danann are associated with the Mythological Cycle, the Fenian Cycle, and the Ulster Cycle. According to Celtic Myth, they were a supernatural race with special powers. The Mythological Cycle comprises various stories, most of which centre around the Tuatha Dé Danann.

The final cycle is called the Historical Cycle, which centres around the Ancient Kings.

Your questions answered about famous myths and legends from Irish folklore

In this section, we answer some of our readers' most frequently asked questions as well as those that often appear in online searches on this topic.

Is Celtic and Irish mythology the same?

Irish mythology is a form of Celtic mythology, alongside Welsh mythology, Scottish mythology, Cornish mythology, and Breton mythology.

What is the most famous myth in Ireland?

The story of Fionn mac Cumhaill or Cú Chulainn and the Tuatha Dé Danann of the Ulster Cycle are some of the most famous Celtic myths.

How many gods are there in Irish mythology?

The Irish pantheon includes over 400 gods.

What is an Irish fairy called?

Irish fairies are sometimes known as aos sí or aes sídhe.

What is an Irish elf called?

Leprechauns are comparable with elves in Irish folklore.

What are Irish Sidhe?

Sidhe refers to fairy folk in Ireland.

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The 10 most famous MYTHS and LEGENDS from Irish folklore

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You've definitely heard of these ten famous myths and legends from Irish folklore! Which is your favourite of these famous Irish legends?

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Other than a few lesser-known tales, when you talk about Indian mythology mostly you are talking about the two epics written in Sanskrit named the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Like many other mythological tales, Indian mythology also deals with humans having superpowers and skills and is being ruled and guided by their worshipped gods and goddesses. In this article, you are going to have a look at the 10 great heroes of Hindu Mythology.

10 Great Heroes of Hindu Mythology | Indian Mythology -

Lord Krishna

Lord Krishna plays the central role in the Mahabharata as he was the charioteer of Prince Arjuna in the epic war of Kurukshetra between Kauravas and Pandavas. Krishna supported the Pandavas as they were on the good side and were contemplating if they should take revenge on their brothers for their actions or not. Krishna played the character of guide, and Mahabharata is the collection of advice that he gave the Pandavas, especially Arjuna. These are the pieces of advice that are applicable in today's life and will always be as they talk about what is morally wrong and ethically correct to do as a human being.

Lord Rama

Lord Rama is one of the most worshipped deities of Indian mythology. Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu. His tale is told in length in the Indian epic named Ramayana which means Rama's journey. In Ramayana, Rama along with brother Lakshmana and wife Sita went into exile for 13 years. During exile, Sita was abducted by Ravana and Rama with the help of his close friend and follower Hanuman saved Sita.

Lord Brahma

Lord Brahma is considered as 'The Creator' within the supreme divinity which also includes Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. His other names are Virinchi, Prajapati, and Svayambhu. Brahma's weapon is the deadly Brahmastra. His symbol is the lotus flower and his mount is Hamsa or swan.

Lord Shiva is one of the most powerful gods of the Hindu religion and Indian Mythology. He is considered the god of death and time. Shiva is also considered as 'the destroyer' within the supreme deity that governs the universe according to Indian Mythology, which includes two other dominant gods Vishnu and Brahma. He is believed to reside in Mount Kailash. His signature weapon is his trishula.

Karna is one of the major characters of Mahabharata. He is the son of princess Kunti who is also the mother of the Pandavas, and Surya, the son of god. He was unaware of the identity of his real mother and father till the beginning of the battle of Kurukshetra. Kunti was an unmarried teenager when Karna was born and this is why she left him and he grew up with Radha and Adhiratha Nandana who raised him like his real son and never disclosed that they are not his real parents. He was on the side of Kauravas in the epic battle being the closest friend of Duryodhana.

Arjuna is considered the most skilled warrior in the epic. He is the son of Pandu and Kunti; and the third brother among the Pandavas. He was the favorite student of Dronacharya, as he was best at handling every weapon. Lord Krishna was his closest friend and mentor in the battle. He got the opportunity to view the divine and real structure of Lord Krishna. The knowledge he received from him during the battle which includes the lessons of life is compiled in Bhagavad Gita, the holy book of Hinduism. Hindus believe that this book includes every life lesson and solution.

Indrajit is also known as Meghanada was the possessor of heaven or Indra Loka and prince of Lanka. He played a major role in the conflict between Rama and Ravana in Ramayana. Using the Brahmastra he managed to kill over 670 million Vanaras, who helped Rama, in a day making him one of the greatest warriors of Indian mythology.

Without a doubt, Abhimanyu is one of the greatest heroes of Indian mythology. He singlehandedly went inside the Chakravyuha, killed some of the major warriors, and altered the path of the epic. Abhimanyu was the son of the great Arjuna. He was as furious as Arjuna and a very obedient and disciplined warrior. He managed to enter the puzzle of Chakravyuha but was not familiar with the exiting root of the riddle. The Kauravas took the advantage of having this glorious warrior alone and killed him unethically, against the rules of war.

Bhima

Bhima was the second brother of the Pandavas. He was different from his other brothers because of his firm stature and strength. He had a son named Ghatotkacha with Hidimbi. Bhima was furious during the dice game that commenced the battle of Kurukshetra. He swore to kill Dushasana and drink his blood as he tried to strip Draupadi during the game. During the battle, his charioteer was Krishna's son and he managed to kill around 1,705,860 men and 787,320 beasts.

Dronacharya

Dronacharya was the guru of the brothers Pandavas and Kauravas. He was the teacher of the advanced military system. Dronacharya was the master of divine weapons as well. He also fought against the Pandavas with Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra.

Also Read: 10 Ancient Epics From Around The Globe

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10 Great Heroes of Hindu Mythology | Indian Mythology

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In this article, you are going to have a look at the 10 great heroes of Hindu Mythology | 10 great heroes of Indian Mythology.

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Romans believed that gods and goddesses helped to shape their lives everyday. There were the main twelve gods, read about them and view our tours today!

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Download FREE teacher-made resources covering 'Roman Gods and Goddesses'

Roman Gods and Goddesses

The Ancient Roman religion was based on a belief in a variety of different gods and goddesses, with each playing an important role in different aspects of everyday life during Ancient Roman times. While there were thousands of Roman gods, here, we'll introduce you to the 12 major Roman gods and goddesses.

Many of the Roman gods and goddesses were derived from the Ancient Greeks Gods. However, as the years went by, their polytheistic religion started to slowly decline, when Christianity became more influential during the 4th century, and eventually, Christianity overtook the polytheistic religion completely.

Who were the 12 Roman Gods and Goddesses?

Jupiter - God of the Sky

Juno - Queen of the Gods

Saturn - God of Time

Neptune - God of the Seas

Pluto - God of the Underworld

Venus - God of Love and Beauty

Minerva - Goddess of Wisdom

Mars - God of War

Mercury - Messenger of the Gods

Apollo - God of the Sun

Diana - Goddess of the Hunt

Ceres - Goddess of Agriculture and Familial Love

Roman Religion

The Romans worshipped many Gods - this is because they believed that everything from rivers to trees, and cows to crops, had a guardian spirit watching over it. Each god could be assigned one or more jobs - some of these jobs could be very important, like ensuring the sun rose each day, or crops grew in the fields, whereas others were less important.

The people of Rome would pray to their gods at least once a day - the god they would pray to would depend on what they wanted, or needed. As Rome expanded, and its citizens came into contact with people who worshipped other gods, they adopted more and more into their roster. The train of thought was that if the new people in Rome had been successful, the god they worshipped must have played a hand in their success. So the Romans decided to adopt gods from other religions. However, they would change their names to represent Roman names, and aspects of their personality too. The Romans particularly liked a lot of the Greek gods, so much so that they adopted many of them into their own religion, combining them with the older Etruscan gods that the Romans worshipped before.

The Romans took the worship of their gods extremely seriously, and they dedicated a lot of their time to it. As well as worship, sacrifices were also expected to be made to the gods. Almost everything that happened to a Roman citizen, good or bad, would be linked back to their worship, or in some cases, lack of it - to the gods.
Did you know: the Romans believed that blood sacrifices were the best way to communicate with the gods, and demonstrate their dedication. As a result, bulls, sheep, and pigs were common sacrifices.
Jupiter - King of the gods and the sky

Jupiter was regarded as the Roman equivalent of the Greek God - Zeus. Jupiter was the brother of Neptune and Pluto. He was the king of the gods, also known as the sky god, or the great protector. He controlled the weather and the forces of nature, and he was known to send thunderbolts to warn the citizens of Rome.

Juno - Queen of the Roman gods

Juno, who was based on the Greek goddess, Hera, was Jupiter's wife. It is said that she was the Queen of the Heavens, as well as childbirth and fertility. The month of June is named after Juno.

Neptune - Roman god of the seas

Neptune is the Roman equivalent of Poseidon. He was the deity of the sea, although later he was associated with rivers as well. In art, he is often shown with a trident and a dolphin.

Minerva - Roman goddess of wisdom and war

Minerva is the Roman name for Athena, most commonly known as the goddess of war, however, she was also the goddess of commerce, industry, and education. Legend has it that she sprung from Jupiter's head.

Mars - God of war

Mars was the Roman version of Ares. He was the god of war, and second in command to Jupiter. Mars was considered to be the father of Romulus and Remus, the mythical twin creators of Rome.

Venus - Roman goddess of love and beauty

Venus is based on the Greek Goddess Aphrodite and is the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. According to legend, Venus was born out of the foam of the sea. That's why in art she is often depicted rising out of the waves in a clam.

Apollo - God of sun, music, and dance

Apollo kept his Greek name and is known as Phoebus in Roman literature, too. Apollo had many jobs and responsibilities, as he was the god of archery, music, dance, healing, and disease, as well as sun and light. He was seen as one of the most influential Roman gods and was the son of Jupiter/Zeus.

Diana - Roman goddess of the hunt

Diana is the Roman version of Artemis. She was the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, the moon, chastity, and childbirth. She was the twin sister of Apollo, and she was very popular with Romans who lived in rural areas.

Pluto - God of the underworld

Pluto was the brother of Jupiter and Neptune and god of the Underworld - equivalent to the Greek god, Hades. The Underworld was believed by the Romans to be the place people went after death.

Mercury - Messenger of the gods

Mercury is the Roman version of Hermes, and is the god of translation, interpretation, and messenger of the gods. He was considered the cleverest out of all the Olympian gods, and he was a messenger for them. He also ruled over wealth, good fortune, and commerce.

Saturn - God of time

Saturn was the first king of the gods, and he was also known as the god of time. Saturn carries a scythe - a tool used to cut crops. Saturn's festival, the Saturnalia, became one of the most popular Roman festivals. When Saturn died, the world was split between his sons, Neptune, Pluto, and Jupiter.

Ceres - goddess of agriculture

Ceres was the Roman equivalent to the Greek goddess Demeter. In both Greece and Rome she was the goddess of grain and agriculture, so she was extremely important to farmers, and was credited with teaching humans how to grow, preserve, and prepare grain and corn, as she was thought to be responsible for the fertility of the land. Unlike a lot of the gods, Ceres was believed to take an active role in day-to-day life.

She was also heavily associated with motherhood and motherly love, due to her close relationship with her daughter Proserpine (or Persephone); the wife of Hades. The Romans believed that the were caused because Ceres went into mourning for half the year when Proserpine was in the underworld with her husband during the winter months, and would celebrate her return by making the earth fertile during the summer.

These are the 12 main gods and goddesses in both Greek and Roman polytheism. However, as we mentioned before, there were other gods too, though they took a back seat in comparison to the main Olympian gods, you might recognize a few of them:

Vulcan - god of fire and the forge, equivalent to the Greek god, Hephaestus.

Vesta - god of the home and domestic life, equivalent to the Greek god, Hestia.

Pax - the god of peace, equivalent to the Greek god, Eirene.

Nemesis - the goddess of revenge,also known as Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia to the ancient Greeks.

Cupid - the god of desire and love, equivalent to the Greek god, Eres.

Bacchus- the god of wine, drunkenness, madness, and revelry, equivalent to the Greek god, Dionysus.

Janus- the god of gates, doorways, and time,similar to the Greek god, Orthus.

The Furies - the goddesses of vengeance,equivalent to the Greek Erinyes.

Some other gods were also commonly worshipped in the Roman empire after being adopted from different regions. Some stayed quite regional, surviving as local patron deities, whereas others rose to the status of separate faiths worshipped instead of, or alongside, the core Roman pantheon. Here are some of the most well-known examples:
Mithras
Mithras was a god who was very popular with soldiers all over the Roman empire. We don't know exactly where Mithras came from, and indeed he may have been an amalgamation of a few other gods who were all bundled together to form a new faith, but historians and archaeologists believe that Mithras' origins were in modern-day Iran. He was commonly depicted slaying a bull, and was associated with warfare and the sun.
Isis
Isis was originally an Egyptian goddess, heavily associated with magic, mysticism, and with healing. She became very popular in Rome after Egypt was added to the Empire.
Cybele
Cybele was a mother goddess, originally from what's now modern Turkey. The Romans adopted her and renamed her 'Magna Mater', using her as a way to claim Trojan heritage (which the Romans commonly tried to lay claim to in order to give themselves a more glorious mythic history). Her worship was originally quite heavily Romanized, but later it began to return to older traditions from Asia Minor, and many Romans saw worshippers of Cybele as effeminate and barbaric.
Sol Invictus
Sol Invictus was a Romanized version of a Syrian sun god, who was combined with an early Roman sun god Sol who had largely been forgotten when the Romans adopted the Greek pantheon. The worship of this god was extremely popular during the later years of the Roman empire, prior to Constantine I's conversion to Christianity.

Fun Facts About the Roman Gods and Goddesses

It's believed Jupiter held thunderbolts in his hands that gave him the ability to fly.

Juno's sacred animal was a Peacock.

Mars' symbol was a sacred shield.

Mercury ruled over good fortune.

Neptune was seen holding a spear which he would use to catch fish.

Venus was made an ancestress due to her importance.

Apollo moved the sun with his chariot and golden horses.

Minerva was born from Jupiter's brain and didn't have a mother. It's believed she devoured her in an attempt to prevent her birth.

Vulcan was the god of fire and was believed to be behind volcanic eruptions.

Vesta is the goddess of the hearth fire and was represented by the fire in her temple.

Neptune was known to be moody, so people who lived along the coast were particularly frightened of him.

Rome and Christianity

As we said earlier, the answer to our question of what religion the Romans were, is multifaceted. This is because of the emergence of Christianity in the 4th Century.

It is widely known that Rome got bigger as it conquered neighboring cities and took control of new land, and the citizens that inhabited it. As a result, Romans would meet people who had different religious beliefs, and one of those was Christianity.

However, Rome didn't become a Christian empire overnight, and at first, there was a lot of resistance to it from the Roman people. Jesus was said to be born in Palestine. At the time, Palestine made up part of the Roman Empire, and when Jesus began to teach Christianity in around 29 A.D., he was crucified on the cross.

Unlike many other religions at the time, the teachings of Christianity were founded on forgiveness, peace, and unity. This was in stark contrast to the anger, jealousy, and punishment that many of the Roman deities seemed to encompass.

In spite of its gentle teachings, and messages of unity and forgiveness, followers of the Christian faith were ostracized, beaten, and blamed in Rome for a very long time. Other leaders were crucified too, and they were driven to worship underground, in Catacombs, to avoid harm and persecution.

It was not until Emperor Constantine was crowned, that Christianity became truly accepted. The acceptance of the Christian faith is believed to have come about because of a dream - Emperor Constantine reported that in his dream he was told to paint the Christian symbol on the shields of his soldiers. He did, and his men won the battle.

As a token of gratitude, he decided that he would allow citizens of the Roman Empire to worship any religion freely, and this included Christianity. Not long after this, Emperor Constantine converted the temples of the Olympian gods into Christian ones. Polytheism didn't evaporate straight away though, but eventually it completely declined and Christianity became the dominant religion.

It is said that one of the reasons Christianity was able to grow so widely and so quickly, was because of the structure of the Roman Empire. For example, the Romans built very good roads, making it easy for people to travel, and pass on the teachings from city to city.

The Roman Empire was also multi-lingual - they spoke Latin and Greek, making it easier to communicate and translate ideas to a bigger audience. The Roman Empire eventually become the Holy Roman Empire, and the Vatican, which is widely recognized as the heart of the Catholic Church, still stands in Rome to this day.

Teaching your Chil dren About the Roman Gods and Goddesses?

Here at Twinkl, we have everything you need to help support your teaching of Ancient Rome and its religion, with the help from worksheets, PowerPoints, and activities.

All of our resources are teacher-made and are in line with the Common Core State Standards, so you can feel confident that you'll be using high-quality resources. The best part is they're all ready-made which means all you have to do is download them. This will help you save heaps of time so that you can focus on what's really important - teaching!

If your children have more questions about the Romans, have a look at these resources as a starting point:

Roman Gods Coloring Sheets- These nifty coloring sheets are stacked with different illustrations of Roman Gods for your learners to color in.

Spread of the Roman Empire PowerPoint - This PowerPoint tracks the rise of the Roman Empire, charting how it became such a massive force across Europe.

Roman Numerals Symbol Chart - For a fun activity with your students, use this Roman Numerals chart to translate numbers into classic numerals - an innovative math experiment!

For more resources, be sure to check out our site today for tons more activities and worksheets.

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Roman Gods for Children | Teaching Wiki | Twinkl USA

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Learn all about the ancient Roman gods and goddesses in this teaching wiki. Includes a list of names and powers, fun facts and helpful teaching resources.

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Beliefs of the group
Cosmology
Santerians have five different levels of power in the Yoruba cosmology: Olodumare , the Orisha, human beings, human ancestors, and the lowest group (which includes plants, animals, natural entities, and manufactured items) They believe in one supreme god, Olodumare (also known as Olorun ).

He is the supreme source of ashe , the spiritual energy that makes up the universe, all life, and material objects. He coincides with Jesus Christ in the Catholic religion

Orishas

Olurun interacts with the world through emissaries called Orisha. Orisha rule over every force of nature and every aspect of human life. They can be approached through prayer, ritual offerings, and trance possession, and can be counted on to come to the aid of followers and guide them to a better life and spirituality. Each Orisha is attributed a special number and color, among other "favorite things," such as a food or day of the week. The member utilizes the colors by making beaded necklaces according to which Orisha they wish to worship. These distinguish the Orisha from one another when someone wants to make an offering to a certain one.

Each Orisha is guardian over a certain aspect of human life. The significant Orisha are listed below, as there are literally thousands of Orisha 10 . The first three Orisha listed - Elegba, Ogun, and Oshosi - are guardians over battle affairs and are called the Guerreros or Warriors.

Eleggua

The Orisha of the Crossroads.

Elegba (Eleggua) - the owner of the roads and doors in this world. He stands at the crossroads of humanity and the divine, the intermediary between Olorun and the Orisha and humans. When one wants to pray, they call on Elegba first, as he opens the doors of communication between this world and the Orisha.

Nothing can be done in either world without his permission. The Catholic saint he represents is Saint Anthony.
His colors are red and black and his number is 3

Oya
Ruler of winds and whirlwinds.

She rules over the dead and the gates of the cemeteries. She is a fierce warrior and was once the wife of Chango. She represents Our Lady of the Presentation of Our Lord and St. Theresa.
Her colors are maroon and white, and her number is 9

Thus, he is in charge of all the tools of the gardeners. He settles fights among the Orisha, especially those between Chango and his wives.
His saint is St.Ysidro. His color is lilac

He controls all the medicinal and magical herbs. The drums used in ceremonies are consecrated to him. He represents St. John (when in the city) and St. Ambrose (when in the country). His colors are white, red, and yellow

The Ibeyi
Children of Oshun and Chango.

They are identical in many ways and are the so-called children of the Orishas. They are associated with the acquisition of material property. Their saints are St. Cosme and St. Damian.
They have the same colors as their parents -- yellow and gold (Oshun), red and white (Chango)

He is the only Orisha who witnessed the creation of the universe, and is essentially next in line to Olodumare. He is the Orisha of the priests (Babalawos), whom he manifests himself to only intellectually.

They abide by the Table of Ifa, where the secrets of the universe and our lives are held. Oshun is knowledge while Orunmila is wisdom. These two must work together for "wisdom without knowledge is useless -- one who has knowledge without wisdom is a danger to themselves and others". He respresents St. Francis of Assisi. His colors are green and yellow and his number is 16

Communication with the Orisha is accomplished through several means, including prayer, ritual divination, and offerings (ebo - sacrifice). Although ebo sometimes refers to the practice of animal sacrifice, it encompasses a larger definition. Animal sacrifice is usually only used in important situations, such as death, sickness, or misfortune. Offerings can be made to the Orisha, with items such as candy, candles, and fruits, to name a few. The individual characteristics of each Orisha are important, as they give the people a way to distinguish how they contact the Orisha they wish to pray to. A person wears a beaded necklace with elaborate patterns of beads of the colors of the Orisha they wish to pray to. The numbers, colors, and also certain animals instruct the person on how to sacrifice to each Orisha. Because each Orisha represents a different aspect of life, a person can selectively pick an Orisha or several Orisha to pray to, depending on their needs. A participant can give up things, such as a Roman Catholic would for the season of Lent. They can also heed advice given by the Orisha in this manner
Human Beings
After Olodumare created the earth, he created the eleven commandments, and handed them down to Obatala. These he created to ensure that the people would not succumb to evil, and that they would live prosperous lives in union with the Orisha. The eleven commandments are:

1. You will not steal

2. You will not kill, except in self-defense and for your sustenance

3. You will not eat human flesh

4. You will live in peace among yourselves

5. You will not covet your neighbor's properties

6. You will not curse my name

7. You will honor your father and mother

8. You will not ask more than I can give you and you will be content with your fate

9. You will neither fear death nor take your own life

10. You will teach my commandments to your children

11. You will respect and obey my laws

Traditions are strictly observed in Santeria. They have been preserved for almost 500 years. Prerequisites to a deep involvement in the religion include full knowledge of the rites, songs, and language. The participants must follow a strict regimen, and answer to Olorun and the Orisha for their actions. When initiated into the religion, the participant becomes a member of their Godparents house (or Ile), and a member of that extended family, as well. These people oversee that the participant is continuing the traditions and wishes of the Orisha. The magic of the religion is based on knowledge of the mysteries of the Orisha and how to interact better with them. This correct interaction helps to better the lives of the participants and those around them. Santerians believe the world is magical, but in a natural sense, rather than the supernatural. "The most basic spell in Santeria will always require a plant, an herb, a stone, a flower, a fruit or an animal. The belief in the power of herbs is an intrinsic part of the religion."

Ebo contains many categories of sacrifice and offering to the Orisha. "There are offerings such as addimú which can include candles, fruits, candy, or any number of items oractions that may be appreciated by the deities or orishas in the religion. In divination, the orishas may ask for a favorite fruit or dish, or they may call for the person to heed advice given. At times they may ask that a person give up drinking or other practices that are unwise for that individual. They may request a person to wear certain jewelry, receive initiations or any number of other things. Or they may request an animal, usually a chicken or a dove, so the orisha will come to that person's aid. As a rule, animal sacrifice is called for only in major situations such as sickness or serious misfortune. Animals are also offered when a new priest is consecrated in service of her or his orisha during the birthing process of initiation. In every birth there is blood". Animal Sacrifices are essential to winning favor with the gods, and must be performed by a santero (priest).

Trance possession plays an integral part in the religious life. This occurs during a drumming party known as a bembe . "The purpose of a bembe is to honor the Orisha by playing specific drum rhythms, performing specific dance postures, and acting out in pantomime of the behavior of the Orisha." An Orisha may be persuaded to enter the body of a priest, if enticed by the proper drum rhythms associated to that spirit. The songs, rhythms, and dances are calculated to entreat the specific Orisha. "The drum rhythms and the dance postures are not ends in themselves, but are utilized to attain a sacred state of consciousness, manifested as a trance state or spirit possession. Spirit possession is desirable because it opens the channels of ashe as the dancers merge with divine rhythms." This bembe to Elegua demonstrates the typical songs and drum beats utilized for the trance possession.

Santeria and Voodoo

It must be stressed that Santeria and Voodoo are similar, but not the same thing. "Their similarities come from their origins in contiguous parts of West Africa, while the differences stem from their historical developments in the Americas." Both recognize the existence of a higher, supreme being, and the fulfillment of destinies with the help of what Santeria calls Orisha. Both also believe in the trance possession and choosing a specific Orisha to call upon. But, with reference to the Orisha, Santerians believe Catholic saints and Orisha are interchangeable. There is no division between Santeria and Catholicism. Voudoo, on the other hand, worships the same spirits as Santeria, but there is a separateness to Catholicism and Voudoo, thus they are not worshiping the same gods.

Controversy - Animal Sacrifice

Sacrifice, as stated earlier, is a type of Ebo. "Animal sacrifice is one of the most controversial aspects of this religion. Sacrifice, the giving of natural and manufactured items to the Orisha or ancestors, is viewed by practitioners as essential for human well-being. Through sacrifice, it is believed, one restores the positive life processes and acquires general well-being. To fulfill the wants and needs of the Orisha and the ancestors, practitioners make sacrifices to them. In return, the Orisha and ancestors are expected to meet the needs of the practitioners. This is believed to be the mutual exchange of ashe." "When the religion requires the sacrifice of an animal, it is offered to the Orisha or the ancestor with respect. It is killed quickly and with as little pain as possible." The meat is usually eaten by the participants of the sacrifice. "Sometimes an animal is sacrificed as part of a ritual cleansing. It is believed that such animals absorb the problems and negative vibrations of the person being cleansed. In such cases, the animal carcass is disposed of without being eaten." It was on this aspect of the sacrifice that the >The Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye received much criticism from the city of Hialeah. The city was concerned that by disgarding these carcasses from the ritual sacrifices, the church was creating a public health hazard. "In the early 1990's, the city of >Hialeah, Florida , passed a series of ordinances that made it illegal to unnecessarily kill, torment, torture, or mutilate and animal in a public or private ritual or ceremony not for the primary purpose of food consumption." From the onset, it appeared that the ordinance was targeted at the Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye for their practice of killing the animals for sacrifice. Other forms of killing animals, such as an owner tiring of caring for the animal, were permissible.

Ernesto Pichardo, founder of the church, decided to fight the ordinances, claiming it was a violation of their First Amendment right to freedom of religion. He claimed that animal sacrifice was an integral part of the religion. The church took the city to the Supreme Court, who ruled in favor of the church. The brief of the case of The Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah explains the proceedings in great detail. A summary of this brief can be found on The Religious Freedom Page . One justice, Justice Anthony Kennedy, was quoted, saying, "Although the practice of animal sacrifice may seem abhorrent to some, religious belief need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection." Another concern brought up about the method of sacrifice of Santeria, is presented by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals . "They argue that Santeria is less humane than methods used in licensed slaughterhouses. They note that animals die slowly and painfully and that they are often kept in filthy conditions before ceremonies." "Protection of public health and prevention of cruelty to animals could have been addressed with less sweeping ordinances. General standards for the disposal of organic garbage and for the humane slaughter of animals might have been imposed, but they were not." Practitioners claim that the methods they use during sacrifice are no more cruel than the legal types of slaughter. They die quickly and painlessly and are generally eaten afterwards, like any animal killed for food. "Despite the oddity of animal sacrifice to most Americans, mainstream religious groups have weighed in to support the Lukumi Babalu Aye church. Jewish organizations feared that Hialeah's law might have ruled out kosher slaughtering. Christian groups like the Presbyterian Church and National Association of Evangelicals want to prevent the Supreme Court from further restricting religious rights."

How to judge a babalao

If a Babalao asks the wrong questions, he will get the wrong answers! "How can this be," you might ask, "isn't it Orunmila talking?" The answer is that yes, Orunmila is talking, but he demands an intelligent conversation! Just as there are incompetent lawyers, plumbers or physicians, there are incompetent Babalawo. Simply because you have been initiated, doesn't make you competent or wise. That may be a heretical thing for a Babalawo to say, but it is not only true, it is way past time someone said it. And, the danger of being guided by someone who doesn't know what they are doing, or, equally frightening, has their own agenda, primary to yours, can be absolutely catastrophic.

The ancient Yoruba were a very wise people. In the cultural context of their time, they created a system that tended to weed out the incompetent, unintelligent and those of questionable character and dedication before they could be unleashed on the populace with the title of Babalawo. The arduous apprenticeship period, where the would be Awo was asked to do menial labor to assist the Babalawo, extended for years. The strict disciplines of having to learn and memorize hundreds of pataki as they applied to specific Odu, to learn the sacrifices, herbs and medicine, went on for an equally long period of time. In the end, ONLY the word, or approval, of the Babalawo, based on judging the knowledge, character and dedication of the apprentice determined if they would go on to practice. While surely, some rogues, dolts and incompetents undoubtedly slipped through the net, they were by far the minority. In our culture, no such safeguards exist. With the exception of the Ifa Foundation, which grants scholarships to those deemed worthwhile, but who lack the financial where with all for initiation, the office of Babalawo has become a strictly cash business. If you can afford it, someone will initiate you. Worse yet, for the most part, the individuals leave their initiations with no real training, or foundation, for future learning. This is not an indictment of all those doing initiations. Many, such as the Ifa Foundation, try and work with those of good character, offer the follow up training and growth.but the singular truth in our culture of short term gratification, is that too many use their initiation as a stepping stone for personal power, enrichment or control, rather than as a never ending journey of wisdom and knowledge. The Yoruba expression: "It is easier to change a man's destiny then his character," might well have been constructed to highlight this danger. When it is a question of character, there is little that can be done. Those that use their power for their own personal short-term gratification ultimately do themselves and the philosophy no good. Yet, they leave a host of victims in their wake. Honest, needy and trusting individuals who have come for the universal guidance and wisdom of Orunmila are stripped of their dignity and dollars by the unscrupulous.

When it is a question of competence, something can be done.both for them and to protect you. In order to understand this, you must understand the power and meaning of divination. Too many individuals have taken the paternalistic view of Western Religion, and attempted to transfer it to Ifa. They would like the Babalawo to magically cast, magically fix, and magically protect them. It does not work that way.and anyone trying to tell you, or sell you, that it does, is either fooling them or you. Ifa is about personal empowerment, and the Babalawo's role is to ascertain how you can reach the balance in your life to achieve it. While it is true that the changes can be magical, they can only be consistently achieved through your personal growth and development. The Babalawo that attempts to infantalize you, through the use of fear, dependence, or power, is denying you your basic rights of growth, wisdom and development.and generally doing so for his personal gratification and desires. So, you must go to the Babalawo looking for growth as well as solutions. Looking for personal development and fulfillment is as important as looking to fix whatever is troubling you. There is still another area that can cause individuals grief. That has to do with the training and modality of the Babalawo. Another incredibly profound Yoruba saying is: " A Babalawo is as good as the questions they ask." If a Babalawo asks the wrong questions, he will get the wrong answers! "How can this be," you might ask, "isn't it Orunmila talking?" The answer is that yes, Orunmila is talking, but he demands an intelligent conversation! If a Babalawo asks that that they already know, or if they go to illogical extremes of questions and specificity, the answers will not only be suspect, they will generally be totally wrong!

Divination is designed to help the individual achieve balance in their life, not to select between the red or yellow blouse. It is the assumption, and a correct one, that once your life is in balance, the specifics will tend to fall into place. Yet, young, or uneducated, Babalawo after Babalawo become so fascinated with the concept of being able to ask questions of the Opele or Ikin, that they turn a profound communication with a divine energy into a chat room gossip exchange. When they do this, the perfection of the information evaporates and becomes as silly and meaningless as the questions they ask. A Babalawo can go down this road for two reasons.each, equally destructive to the client. First, they may do so because the client wants (and believes) the Babalawo can fine-tune their universe for them. This occurs most often when the client wants to go beyond the overall advice and wisdom of the reading. For example, if they have come because a monetary issue is troubling them, they find it not enough that the Babalawo casts and finds them on path, with good monetary implications. They hear the answer to their problem, but they insist on fine tuning the advice. They want to go on to see, " is my sales call to ABC Corp. going to be successful? " will I get the $4500 raise?" can I re-finance my house?" When you bring this kind of specificity to the table, after having received the critical information that "you are on path and money will be favorable," you are making two critical mistakes. Initially, you are confining your view to those areas that you know about.while Orunmila is looking at a much bigger picture. You may win the lottery, your great Aunt Nellie may die and leave you a fortune, you may have a new job offer coming, yet you want to know how the next 20 minutes on YOUR agenda is going to go. Well, that's not what divination is about. Also, in some way you are questioning Orunmila. He has just told you money will be fine, but you know want to "make sure." That is insulting to Orunmila, and may well be rewarded with wrong answers. The wise Babalawo should attempt to dissuade the client from this questioning, but too often simply lets the client run amuck in their desire for absolute certainty. That is not to suggest that there are no issues where specificity of questioning isn't appropriate. What it is saying is that if a competent and well-trained Babalawo looks at the overall energy of your Odu, and ascertains your path, that 90% of the time the solution to your specific questions will be contained in the advice given. The advice is designed to bring your spiritual and temporal energy matrixes in balance. The specifics will fall into their proper place once this balance has been achieved. The untrained Western Babalawo, who has grown up believing that our world is a result of accumulating things, will unwittingly follow this worldview to the detriment of the client. The second, and more frightening reason, is because they are attempting to gain power, control or influence over the client. In this case, by continuing down the path of asking enough questions (which they "know" are not true) they will eventually be able to show the client that Orunmila has supported their contentions. This occurs as a result of Orunmila providing the wrong answers to questions for which the trained Babalawo should have known better than to ask, or to which they already knew the answers. The Truth of Orunmila is not available to the untruthful behavior and bad character of those whose primary interest is their own personal satisfaction rather than improving the client's life. The number of Babalawo who have bedded clients, slandered other professionals, and generally used the assumed power and accuracy of divination for their own enrichment, anger or self gratification is astonishing. It is also reprehensible. . In a universe constructed by an all-knowing and powerful God, it would be logical that one of the primary tools He provided for our guidance would function only when treated with, and used with, the respect, knowledge and good character that benefits all. So, quite simply, Babalawo of bad character or improper training will not receive the clarity and accuracy of Orunmila's wisdom How do you protect yourself from this? How can you make a judgement about the individual in whom you place your trust? Just as you would, or should, not go to a doctor, attorney or stockbroker without carefully examining their background, you should do the same with the Babalawo you deal with. Talk to some of their clients, ask those who have dealt with them what their results have been. And, you should go one step further. You should examine their lives. If their lives do not reflect meaningful and loving relationships, general success and happiness, then you are at the very least dealing with someone who has not yet learned the proper use of Orisa energy.. And, at very worst, misuses it. Look, if they can't make their own lives good, how in the world can they help you? Hopefully, as the Ifa Foundation and others organizations and individuals of good character continue to bring our work proudly to a public forum, as opposed to hiding in secrecy, more and more people will see that objective judgments regarding talent, training and character can, and must, be made if our use of this divine energy is to lead us to fulfillment and wisdom.

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Cosmology Santerians have five different levels of power in the Yoruba cosmology: Olodumare , the Orisha, human beings, human ancestors, and the lowest group (which includes plants, animals, natural entities, and manufactured items) They believe in one supreme god, Olodumare (also known as Olorun ).