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According to the ancient Hebrews and hence in Christian mythology, Abaddon was chief of the demons of the 7th hierarchy. He was the destroyer, and guardian of the bottomless-pit.
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In Camma mythology, Abambou is an evil spirit capable of causing sickness and death.
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In Efik mythology, Abassi was god and the father (together with his wife Atai) of all mankind. They had two children, and when the children were grown up they wanted to leave heaven and settle on earth. Abassi was hesitant, worried that they may breed a warrior people which might then attack him, but Atai persuaded him to let the children leave and live on earth providing that they never mated or worked and that they came back to heaven to eat when he rang the dinner-bell. This arrangement worked for a while, but then the children began experimenting with ploughing, sowing, harvesting and sex - and soon the earth was swarming with their descendants. Atai solved this potential problem by giving them two presents: argument and death. The primordial parents immediately died, and their offspring have been brawling and haunted by death ever since. As for Abassi and Atai, they were so disgusted with mankind that they lived aloof and alone in heaven taking no notice of mankind at all.
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In Christian mythology, Abdiel was the faithful seraph who withstood Satan when he urged the angels to revolt.
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In Kalmuck mythology, Abida is the god who receives the soul of the dead at the moment of death, and grants permission for the soul to enter a new body, either human or animal and thus have another life, or if the deceased has led a spotless life Abida allows the spirit to rise and live in the air.
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In Antioquia mythology, Abira is the creator.
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The Abominable snowman is a legendary creature, said to resemble a human, with long arms and a thickset body covered with reddish grey hair. Reports of its existence in the Himalayas have been made since 1832, and they gained substance from a published photograph of a huge footprint in the snow in 1951. No further 'evidence' has been found.
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In French mythology, Abonde is the equivalent of Father Christmas or Santa Claus, the good fairy who comes at night to deliver toys to children while they sleep, especially on New Year's Day.
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In Muslim mythology, Abou Jahi'a (also known as Azrael by the Arabs and Mordad by the Persians) was the angel of death.
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In Muslim mythology, the Aboulomri is a fabulous bird, a sort of vulture, which lives for 1000 years. In Persian mythology it is called Kerkes and in Turkish mythology Ak-Baba.
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In Persian mythology, Abracax was the Supreme Being which presided over 365 impersonated virtues, one of which prevailed on each day of the year. The Greeks adopted Abracax as Abraxas.
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Abraxas was an ancient Greek word of power made into an amulet for protection against ills. The amulets, or talismans, were known as Abraxas Stones and were cut into symbolic forms combing a fowl's head, a serpent's body and human limbs and engraved with the name Abraxas.
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The acadine was a fountain in Sicily which, according to legend, would reveal if writings were truthful. Written documents to be tested were thrown into the fountain, those which were false or spurious would sink to the bottom, faithful and sincere documents would float. The fountain was used to test oaths and promises.
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In Chaldean mythology, Aciel was the underworld god of darkness, a god of death.
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In Mesopotamian mythology, Adapa was the first human being. He was created from mud by the water-god Ea. He was half mortal and had immortal strength and one third of all the knowledge in the universe, taught him by Ea. He taught the rest of humanity language.
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In the mythology of the Solomon Islands, Adaro is a sea-spirit.
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In Aryan mythology, Aditi was the mother of the gods and the vault of heaven.
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In Rosicrucian mythology, Adonai was the son of the star-beam and the god of light.
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In Lugbara mythology, Adro was the evil earth-spirit split from Adroa when the earth was created. It swam in the rivers of the world and its children were the Adroanzi (water snakes) which drowned and ate people.
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In Lugbara mythology, Adroa was the all-good creator of everything, including himself. He divided himself in two in order to create the earth, the other half being the evil earth-spirit Adro.
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In Lugbara mythology, the Adroanzi are the children of Adro. They are the water snakes which drown and eat people.
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In Arab mythology, Afrits are the most powerful class of evil spirits.
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An agla is a talisman used by the rabbis to exorcise evil spirits.
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In Canaanite mythology, Aglibol was a god of the moon. He was depicted with a sickle moon on his forehead or on his shoulders.
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In Phoenician mythology, Ahat (Aqhat) was a mortal hero, the son of a local ruler, Daniel, given to him by the god El. As a grown up, Ahat was given a bow made of twisted horns. The goddess Anat coveted the bow and when Ahat refused to give it to her she sent Yatpan, her attendant to kill him. Ahat was killed, the bow being lost in the struggle, and in punishment Baal stopped the rains from falling causing the crops to fail.
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In Zoroastrianism the Ahriman or Angra Mainyu, is the supreme evil spirit, lord of the darkness and death. He is the antagonist of Ahura Mazda.
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In Finnish mythology, Ahto or Ahti was the god of seas, lakes and rivers. His palace was the hollow heart of a black cliff curtained by clouds and protected by waves. He was always jealous of the sky gods and spent all his time brooding and because mankind prayed to the sky gods and not him, he sent his servants the whirlpools, genies and water sprites to harass mankind.
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In Persian Zoroastrianism Ahura Mazda (or Hormuzd) is the spirit of supreme good, god of light and life. He is the god of light and ruler of the universe. He is the twin brother of Ahriman. It was Ahura Mazda that created human beings and created his own son, Atar, to fight the dragon Azhi Dahaka created by his brother to destroy the universe.
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In Hottentot mythology, the Aigamuxa were man-eating monsters. The Aigamuxa were hampered by having their eyes positioned in their insteps, so that they ran blind, having to lie down to see where they were going, during which time their prey could escape.
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In Guianan mythology, Aiomum Kondi was the ruler of the gods and the sky. He created mortals in the image of the gods, but was so disgusted by their debauchery that he destroyed them in a fire from heaven. He remade them, and again disappointed he sent a flood to wash them away. However, this time there was one good man, Marerewana, and he and his wife were allowed to survive the flood and regenerate the human race. This is why good and evil and permanent characteristics of mankind, and why the gods take so little interest in mankind.
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In Sudanese mythology, Ajok was the creator. He made mankind in his own image. When the child of the first pair of humans died, its mother begged
Ajok to bring it back to life. Ajok did, and was about to grant it and all its descendants immortality when the child's father burst in. Furious that he hadn't been consulted, the man killed the child and its mother, Ajok left, never to visit earth again and henceforth mankind has been plagued by death.
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In Finnish mythology, Akka was the consort of Ukko.
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In Persian mythology, Akuan was a giant, slain by Rustan.
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In Persian mythology, Akuman was the most malevolent of the gods.
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In Persian mythology, Akwan was a demon. he tried to kill Rustem by throwing him into the sea while he slept.
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In Inuit mythology, Akycha is the sun spirit.
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In Canaanite mythology, Al-Lat or Allat was a mother goddess, a daughter of Allah, she represented the earth.
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In Muslim mythology, Al-Sirat is the bridge over hell, a path no wider than the edge of a sword, across which everyone wishing to enter heaven must pass.
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In Arabian mythology, Al-Uzza (El-'Ozza)also known as Han-Uzzai, was a goddess. The youngest daughter of Allah, she lived in a tree and demanded human sacrifice.
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In Ibo mythology, Ala is the Earth Mother, Law-giver, protectress of the harvest. She who receives the dead into her pocket.
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In Gypsy mythology, Alako is the son of Baro-De'vel, the great god. It is said that Alako will ultimately restore the gypsies to Assas in Assyria. Alako is depicted as folding a pen in his left hand and a sword in his right hand.
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In Hittite mythology, Alalu was the first king of heaven. After nine years he was deposed by Anu and fled to the earth.
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In Arabian mythology, Aldebaran was the sun.
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An Alectorian stone is a stone said to be of talismanic power, found in the stomach of cocks. It is said that those who possess such a stone are given strength, courage and wealth.
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In Arabic mythology, Alicon is the seventh heaven to which Azrael (Abou Jahi'a) conveys the spirits of the just.
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In Siberian mythology, Alklha was a universe-filling monster whose wings and body were impenetrable blackness, and which fed by gnawing and swallowing the moon each month, and the sun when ever it got the chance. Because the sun and moon are hot, Alklha regurgitates them after each time it eats them.
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In Arabian mythology, Allah was the supreme god. He lived in the heavens with the other gods, and it was Allah who created the earth and put water on it. The prophet Mohammed proclaimed Allah to be the only god, when he devised Islam.
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In Eastern mythology, Alrinach is the demon who presides over floods and earthquakes, rain and hail. It is she who causes ship wrecks.
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In Chaldean mythology, Amelon was a hero who reigned for thirteen sares (46,800 years).
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In Zoroastrianism, the Amesa Spentas were holy immortals who served Ahura Mazda. Each of the Amesa Spentas ruled over a particular aspect of reality, such as useful animals or fire.
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An amulet is an object employed to protect the wearer, from harmful influences or to attract good fortune, money and the like. Scientific knowledge would suggest that amulets are superstitious nonsense with no basis in fact. However, psychology may indicate that amulets do indeed function, though not quite by 'magic'. Psychologists have long established that that attitude and belief can affect a person. Salesmen chant mantras of success, and believe in their ability. This belief makes them confident and more effective at selling. Former cancer patients who believe they are free from the disease following operations are significantly less likely to redevelop the disease compared to those who believe the disease may come back. There is then a scientific basis for the functionality of amulets. If the wearer of an amulet believes in the power of the amulet, this belief will affect their behaviour, albeit unconsciously, and in turn will improve the immune system to protect against illness, or increase confidence to help attract a mate, or increase confidence and make perception
more positive to allow the wearer to realise 'good luck'. Classic amulets include the Utchat, or 'Eye of Horus'; Ankh; Scarab; The Tau; The Tet; Swastika; Crescent and Hand.
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In Persian mythology, Anahita (Immaculate-one) is a motherly goddess of life waters, weather, fertility, procreation, war and victory.
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In Syrian, Canaanite and Phoenician mythology, Anath is a goddess of earth, grain, and sacrifice. She is the sister or consort of Baal and is the strength of life, a bloodthirsty maiden and a violent Virgin.
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In Arabian mythology, Anbay was the god of justice. He was famed for his oracle and spoke on behalf of the moon god Amm.
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In Guarani mythology, Angatupyry is the spirit of good. Together with Tau they guide people which road to follow.
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In Christian mythology, angels (from the Greek angelos, a messenger) are spiritual intelligences who are regarded as dwelling in heaven and employed as the ministers or agents of god. To these the name of good angels is sometimes given, to distinguish them from bad angels, who were originally created to occupy the same blissful abode, but lost it by rebellion. Scripture frequently speaks of angels, but with great reserve, Michael and Gabriel alone being mentioned by name in the canonical books, while Raphael is mentioned in the Apocrypha. The angels are represented in Scripture as in the most elevated state of intelligence, purity, and bliss, ever doing the will of God so perfectly that we can seek for nothing higher or better than to aim at being like them. There are indications of a diversity of rank and power among them, and something like angelic orders. They are represented as frequently taking part in communications made from heaven to earth, as directly and actively ministering to the good of believers, and shielding or delivering them from evils incident to their earthly lot. That every person has a good and a bad angel attendant on him was an early belief. Roman Catholics show a certain veneration or worship to angels, and beg their prayers and their kind offices; Protestants consider this unlawful.
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In Inuit mythology, Anguta is a god who lives under the sea and drags down the dead.
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In Inuit mythology, Aningan is the moon spirit.
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The Ankh was the ancient Egyptian amulet of life symbolising immortality and life that is to come. It was formed of the combined male and female symbols of Osiris and Isis. It was usually employed as a pendant for a necklace.
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In Christian mythology, annunciation was the declaration of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary informing her that she was to become the mother of the Lord.
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In Truk Island mythology, Anulap is the sky god and the husband of Ligougubfanu.
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In Christian mythology, Apollyon (the destroyer) is the king of the bottomless pit.
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In Guarani mythology, Arasy is the wife of Tupa. She lives in the moon.
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In magic, Aratron is ruler of the affairs of Saturn. It is a spirit which can be invoked on the 1st hour of Saturday.
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In Hittite mythology, Arinna or Ariniddu, was a sun goddess who protected the Hittites from their enemies and assisted them in times of war.
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Ashera was an ancient Semitic goddess symbolised by the phallus. A bountiful great mother goddess of heaven, the moon and sea. In wisdom, she was the mistress of the Deities.
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Ashtaroth was the moon goddess worshipped by the ancient Canaanites. She was regarded as symbolising the productive power of nature.
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In Islam, Asrael is the angel of death who takes the soul from the body.
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Astarte was the principal goddess of the Phoenicians, representing the productive power of nature. She was a moon goddess and was adopted by the Egyptians as a daughter of Ra or Ptah. In Jewish mythology, she is referred to as Ashtoreth, and sometimes considered the wife of Yahweh.
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In Taino mythology, Atabey is the goddess of human fertility.
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In Efik mythology, Atai was the wife of Abassi. She was fate, and gave mankind argument and death to reduce their numbers.
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In the mythology of The Marquesas Islands, Atanua is the dawn goddess. She was the wife of Atea, and it was her miscarriage that created the seas.
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In Persian mythology, Atar is the son of Ahura Mazda. He was a god of fire and was said to bring comfort and wisdom to men and to defend the world from evil.
Atar fought the dragon Azhi Dahaka, and chained it to a mountain.
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In the mythology of the Marquesas Islands, Atea is the god of light and husband of Atanua.
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Ateshga was a sacred site for the Guebres. It was on the peninsular of Apsheron on the west coast of the Caspian sea. Pilgrims would bow before the sacred flames which issued forth from the bituminous soil.
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In the mythology of the Gilbert Island, Au is the sun god and lord of the skies.
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Avali is the plural of Omuli.
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In Persian mythology, Azhi Dahaka (also known as Dahak) was a dragon created by Ahriman to eat the universe. It had three heads: pain, anguish and death. Its wings were so vast and so dark that they hid the stars. Azhi Dahaka was finally subdued by Atar, who chained him to a mountain where he will remain until he breaks free at the end of human time, beginning the battle between good and evil which will destroy one third of all creation and will only end when Atar finally kills Azhi Dahaka and scatters his ashes into the gulf of oblivion.
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Abbreviations
Mythology
