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Did you know that humans can't walk in a straight line without a visible guide point (such as the sun, a tall building or a mountain)? http://vimeo.com/17083789?pg=embed&sec=17083789 Scientists have shown that, if we lack visual cues to guide us, we tend to walk in circles. Many theories have...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azeban Azeban was a trickster god in the Abenaki mythology. He was a raccoon-like being who played tricks on animals and people in order to obtain various advantages from them. However, he is not considered dangerous because he would never kill a creature with his...

Do you know any accounts of human sacrifice in Norse mythology? I read online that there are several historians who wrote about this issue (Ahmad ibn Fadlan, Tacitus, Saxo Grammaticus and Adam von Bremen). There is one story about a slave-girl who had volunteered to accompany her lord to the...

Does anyone know any details about trolls? No, not the ones on the internet. The ones from Norse mythology. The only thing I know is that they differ in form from legend to legend. They are either hairy hunchbacked monsters that live in the mountains and hills, or giant humans that resemble the...

What do you think of the evolution of vampires in popular culture over the years? From Bram Stoker's blood-thirsty Dracula, who was based on the cruel prince of Wallachia, Vlad III the Impaler, to the sparkling vampires from Twilight, the vampire species has sure changed a lot, don't you think...

The Encantado is my favorite South-American mythical creature. The Encantado are a species of underwater mischievous elf-like creatures that are said to live in the depths of the Amazon river, in a deep underwater realm named the Encante. They can shape-shift into humans, but their foreheads...

Has anyone read Marie Phillips's book "Gods Behaving Badly"? It's an interesting novel putting a twist on Greek mythology. It places twelve gods of Mount Olympus in today's society. As the Greek gods live in the postmodern England, together in an apartment, they start to battle and two perplexed...

I was pondering upon this issue after reading a few articles about the downfall of the Roman religion... How did Christianity succeed to take the place of the Roman religion in such a short time? One hypothesis historians have brought forward was that, as the Roman Empire began to crumble, the...

Have you heard about Gaius Mucius Scaevola, the Roman young man who attempted to murder Porsenna, and - after being caught - thrust his hand into one of the Etruscan camp fires to prove his bravery and will power? Do you think that this story is historical or mythical? More info about it here...

I guess most people have seen Tim Burton's animated movie, "The Corpse Bride". Well, I recently read a trivia fact on a movie website saying that there is a Russian nighttime horror story or folk tale dating from the 19th century, about Jewish girls who were ambushed and murdered on their way to...

So, this thread is for all the male users of this forum... If you could choose one goddess from any mythology to be your girlfriend / wife, which one would it be? Don't forget to mention the reasons for your choice. :) My personal choice would be either Artemis, the Greek, virgin goddess of...

There's a lot of discussion about the gods of Norse mythology, but... what about the goddesses? Who was the most important Norse goddess, in your opinion? Was it Frigga, Odin's wife (who is considered the mother of all)? Or Freya, the goddess of love and beauty? Skadi, the giantess and goddess...

The myth of Rainbow Crow is pretty much the Native American version of the legend of Prometheus. It's about how fire got on earth, through the means of the crow, who was once the most beautiful bird on the planet, and was chosen to travel to Kijiamuh Ka'ong, "the Creator Who Creates By Thinking...

Daughters of Themis (the Titan of Justice), The Fates have the incredible power of deciding a man's destiny. There are three Fates, namely Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. The first spins the thread of life, the second measures how long it will be, and the last cuts the thread of life with her...

The Norse mythology is one of the few mythologies I know of having a legend about the death of the gods. "Ragnarök" (translated as the "final destiny of the gods" or the "doom of the gods") is a series of future events mentioned in the Poetic Edda. These events include: a great battle foretold...

As you probably know, the Norse cosmogony speaks of nine homeworlds, that are - from North to South - as follows: South 1. Múspellsheimr: World of Muspell (fire, in the south) 2. Álfheimr: World of the Ljósálfr ('light elf') 3. Vanaheimr: World of the Vanir 4. Goðheimr: World of the Æsir which...

Ghost sickness is a psychotic disorder characteristic for the Navajo tribes. It is thought to be caused by association with the dead, and it consists of various symptoms: loss of appetite, a feeling of suffocation, recurring nightmares, feelings of terror... The Native Americans attribute the...

Not much is known about Paleo-Balkan mythology, because after the Romans conquered the Balkan regions, the natives were forced to give up their religion and adopt the Roman gods. However, what is known about it is very interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo-Balkan_mythology The...

Besides Athena and Artemis, do you know any other virgin goddesses in the Greek mythology? Are there any virgin gods, or gods that haven't got offspring? I'm interested in the aspect of virginity in mythology. I find it fascinating to view the way in which the Greeks' libertine society...

As far as I know, the only god in Norse mythology possessing a mask was Odin (he is said to have worn a horrifying mask to scare his enemies). I've never heard anything about Loki having a magical mask, so where do you think the Hollywood writers that created "The Son of The Mask" got their idea...