Ancient Religions & Mythology, JAS-LYC
What did our ancestors believe in? What myths and stories did they use to explain the world around them and find meaning in it? How have their beliefs influenced modern religion and spirituality? Explore these questions and more while discovering notable traditions, figures, and legends that figured prominently in ancient religion and mythology.
Ancient Religions & Mythology Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Jason
Jason, in Greek mythology, leader of the Argonauts and son of Aeson, king of Iolcos in Thessaly. His father’s half-brother......
Jehovah
Jehovah, artificial Latinized rendering of the name of the God of Israel. The name arose among Christians in the......
Jesus
Jesus was a religious leader revered in Christianity, one of the world’s major religions. He is regarded by most......
- Introduction
- Jewish Palestine, Messiah, Nazareth
- The Jewish religion in the 1st century
- Galilean, Nazarene, Messiah
- Jewish Law, Teachings, Parables
- Messiah, Scribes, Pharisees
- Apostles Creed, Early Church, Messiah
- Incarnation, Humiliation, Ministry
- Dogma, Councils, Christianity
- Messiah, Christianity, Judaism
- Christology, Modern Christianity, Debate
Jesus, Passion of
Passion of Jesus, final events in the life of Jesus as related in the canonical Gospels. The word passion is derived......
Jingū
Jingū was a semilegendary empress-regent of Japan who is said to have established Japanese hegemony over Korea.......
Joan, Pope
Pope Joan, legendary female pontiff who supposedly reigned, under the title of John VIII, for slightly more than......
Juno
Juno, in Roman religion, chief goddess and female counterpart of Jupiter, closely resembling the Greek Hera, with......
Jupiter
Jupiter, the chief ancient Roman and Italian god. Like Zeus, the Greek god with whom he is etymologically identical......
Jupiter Dolichenus
Jupiter Dolichenus, god of a Roman mystery cult, originally a local Hittite-Hurrian god of fertility and thunder......
Jurōjin
Jurōjin, in Japanese mythology, one of the Shichi-fuku-jin (“Seven Gods of Luck”), particularly associated with......
Jörd
Jörd, in Norse mythology, a giantess, mother of the deity Thor and mistress of the god Odin. In the late pre-Christian......
Jörmungandr
Jörmungandr, in Germanic mythology, an evil serpent and the chief enemy of Thor. The monstrous serpent was the......
Jötun
Jötun, in Germanic religion, race of giants that lived in Jötunheim under one of the roots of Yggdrasill. They......
ka
ka, in ancient Egyptian religion, with the ba and the akh, a principal aspect of the soul of a human being or of......
Kailushen
Kailushen, in Chinese religion, a deity (shen) who sweeps away evil spirits (guei) that may be lurking along a......
Kali
Kali, in Hinduism, goddess of time, doomsday, and death, or the black goddess (the feminine form of Sanskrit kala,......
Kalkin
Kalkin, final avatar (incarnation) of the Hindu god Vishnu, who is yet to appear. At the end of the present Kali......
kalma
kalma, in Finno-Ugric religion, Finnish term referring to the dead and used in compound words with concepts associated......
Kalvis
Kalvis, in Baltic religion, the heavenly smith, usually associated with a huge iron hammer. A smith in the tradition......
Kama
Kama, in the mythology of India, the god of erotic love and pleasure. During the Vedic age (2nd millennium–7th......
kappa
kappa, in Japanese folklore, a type of vampirelike lecherous creature that is more intelligent than the devilish......
Kart
Kart, in Finno-Ugric religion, the sacrificial priest of the Mari people of the middle Volga River valley. The......
Kekri
Kekri, in ancient Finnish religion, a feast day marking the end of the agricultural season that also coincided......
Khepri
Khepri, in ancient Egyptian religion and mythology, the god of the morning sun, representing its transformational......
Khiḍr, al-
al-Khiḍr, a legendary Islamic figure endowed with immortal life who became a popular saint, especially among sailors......
Khnum
Khnum, ancient Egyptian god of fertility, associated with water and with procreation. Khnum was worshipped from......
Khonsu
Khonsu, in ancient Egyptian religion, moon god who was generally depicted as a youth. A deity with astronomical......
Kingu
Kingu, in Mesopotamian mythology, the consort of Tiamat. The creation epic Enuma elish tells how Tiamat, determined......
kitsune
kitsune, trickster foxes from traditional Japanese folklore. They are a type of yōkai, a class of supernatural......
kobdas
kobdas, magic drum used for trance induction and divination by the Lapp shaman, or noiade. The drum consisted of......
kobold
kobold, in German folklore, mischievous household spirit who usually helps with chores and gives other valuable......
Kojiki
Kojiki, (Japanese: “Records of Ancient Matters”), together with the Nihon shoki (q.v.), the first written record......
Kothar
Kothar, ancient West Semitic god of crafts, equivalent of the Greek god Hephaestus. Kothar was responsible for......
Kotosh
Kotosh, pre-Columbian site, near the modern city of Huánuco in present-day central highland Peru, known for its......
kraken
kraken, legendary sea monster of Scandinavian and Norwegian lore, perhaps imagined from sightings ofgiant squids......
Krampus
Krampus, in central European popular legend, a half-goat, half-demon monster that punishes misbehaving children......
Kriemhild
Kriemhild, in Germanic heroic legend, sister of the Burgundian kings Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher. In Norse legend......
Krishna
Krishna, one of the most widely revered and most popular of all Indian divinities, worshipped as the eighth incarnation......
Kshitigarbha
Kshitigarbha, bodhisattva (“buddha-to-be”) who, though known in India as early as the 4th century ce, became immensely......
kuala
kuala, in Finno-Ugric religion, a small, windowless, and floorless log shrine erected by the Udmurt people for......
Kubaba
Kubaba, goddess of the ancient Syrian city of Carchemish. In religious texts of the Hittite empire (c. 1400–c.......
Kubera
Kubera, in Hindu mythology, the god of wealth and the king of the yakshas (nature spirits). He is associated with......
Kuei Xing
Kuei Xing, in Chinese religion, a brilliant but ugly dwarf who, as the god of examinations, became the deity of......
Kurma
Kurma, one of the 10 avatars (incarnations) of the Hindu god Vishnu. In this incarnation Vishnu is associated with......
Kusanagi
Kusanagi, (Japanese: “Grass-Mower”), in Japanese mythology, the miraculous sword that the sun goddess Amaterasu......
Kushukh
Kushukh, the Hurrian moon god. In the Hurrian pantheon, Kushukh was regularly placed above the sun god, Shimegi;......
Kvasir
Kvasir, in Norse mythology, a poet and the wisest of all men. Kvasir was born of the saliva of two rival groups......
Kālacakra-tantra
Kālacakra-tantra, chief text of a divergent, syncretistic, and astrologically oriented school of Tantric Buddhism,......
Labours of Hercules
Labours of Hercules, the 12 labours, or tasks, assigned to the Greco-Roman legendary hero Hercules (Heracles) by......
Laestrygones
Laestrygones, in Greek mythology, fictional race of cannibalistic giants described in Book 10 of Homer’s Odyssey.......
Laetus, Julius Pomponius
Julius Pomponius Laetus was an Italian humanist and founder of the Academia Romana, a semi-secret society devoted......
Lahmu and Lahamu
Lahmu and Lahamu, in Mesopotamian mythology, twin deities, the first gods to be born from the chaos that was created......
Laima
Laima, (from Lithuanian laimė, “happiness,” “luck”), in Baltic religion, the goddess of fate, generally associated......
Lakshmi
Lakshmi, Hindu goddess of wealth, good fortune, beauty, and abundance. The wife of Vishnu, she is said to have......
Lamashtu
Lamashtu, in Mesopotamian religion, the most terrible of all female demons, daughter of the sky god Anu (Sumerian:......
Lamia
Lamia, in Classical mythology, a female daemon who devoured children. The ancient commentaries on Aristophanes’......
Lan Caihe
Lan Caihe, in Chinese religion, one of the Baxian, the Eight Immortals of Daoism, whose true identity is much disputed.......
Laocoön
Laocoön, in Greek legend, a seer and a priest of the god Apollo; he was the son of Agenor of Troy or, according......
Laomedon
Laomedon, legendary king of Troy, son of Ilus and Eurydice and father of Podarces (later famous as King Priam of......
Last Supper
Last Supper, in the New Testament, the final meal shared by Jesus and his disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem,......
Latinus
Latinus, in Roman legend, king of the aborigines in Latium and eponymous hero of the Latin race. The Greek poet......
Lauma
Lauma, in Baltic folklore, a fairy who appears as a beautiful naked maiden with long fair hair. Laumas dwell in......
Lazarus
Lazarus, (“God Has Helped”), either of two figures mentioned in the New Testament. One, Lazarus of Bethany, is......
Le Braz, Anatole
Anatole Le Braz was a French folklorist, novelist, and poet who collected and edited the legends and popular beliefs......
lectisternium
lectisternium, (from Latin lectum sternere, “to spread a couch”), ancient Greek and Roman rite in which a meal......
Leda
Leda, in Greek legend, usually believed to be the daughter of Thestius, king of Aetolia, and wife of Tyndareus,......
legend
legend, traditional story or group of stories told about a particular person or place. Formerly the term legend......
Lei Gong
Lei Gong, Chinese Daoist deity who, when so ordered by heaven, punishes both earthly mortals guilty of secret crimes......
Leib-olmai
Leib-olmai, in Sami religion and folklore, forest deity who was considered the guardian of wild animals, especially......
Lethe
Lethe, (Greek: “Oblivion”), in Greek mythology, daughter of Eris (Strife) and the personification of oblivion.......
Leto
Leto, in classical mythology, a Titan, the daughter of Coeus and Phoebe, and mother of the god Apollo and the goddess......
Leucothea
Leucothea, (Greek: White Goddess [of the Foam]), in Greek mythology, a sea goddess first mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey,......
Leviathan
Leviathan, in Jewish mythology, a primordial sea serpent. Its source is in prebiblical Mesopotamian myth, especially......
Lha-mo
Lha-mo, in Tibetan Buddhism, the only goddess among the “Eight Terrible Ones,” who are defenders of the faith.......
Li Tieguai
Li Tieguai, in Chinese religion, one of the Baxian, the Eight Immortals. He was an ascetic for 40 years, often......
Libertas
Libertas, in Roman religion, female personification of liberty and personal freedom. Libertas was given a temple......
Libitina
Libitina, in Roman religion, goddess of funerals. At her sanctuary in a sacred grove (perhaps on the Esquiline......
Linus
Linus, in Greek mythology, the personification of lamentation; the name derives from the ritual cry ailinon, the......
Llorona, La
La Llorona, a mythological woman in Mexican and Latin American oral tradition whose siren-like wails are said to......
Llyr
Llyr, in Celtic mythology, leader of one of two warring families of gods; according to one interpretation, the......
Llywarch Hen
Llywarch Hen was the central figure in a cycle of poems composed in the 9th or 10th century in Powys (Wales). Set......
Loch Ness monster
Loch Ness monster, large marine creature believed by some people to inhabit Loch Ness, Scotland. However, much......
Lohengrin
Lohengrin, the knight of the swan, hero of German versions of a legend widely known in variant forms from the European......
lokapāla
lokapāla, in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, any of the guardians of the four cardinal directions. They are known......
Loki
Loki, in Norse mythology, a cunning trickster who had the ability to change his shape and sex. Although his father......
long
long, in Chinese mythology, a type of majestic beast that dwells in rivers, lakes, and oceans and roams the skies.......
Lorelei
Lorelei, German legend of a beautiful maiden who threw herself into the Rhine River in despair over a faithless......
Lotus-Eater
Lotus-Eater, in Greek mythology, one of a tribe encountered by the Greek hero Odysseus during his return to Ithaca......
Lu Dongbin
Lu Dongbin, in Chinese religion, one of the Baxian, the Eight Immortals of Daoism, who discoursed in his Stork......
Lucifer
Lucifer, in classical mythology, the morning star (i.e., the planet Venus at dawn); personified as a male figure......
Lucretia
Lucretia, legendary heroine of ancient Rome. According to tradition, she was the beautiful and virtuous wife of......
lud
lud, among the Votyaks and Zyryans, a sacred grove where sacrifices were performed. The lud, surrounded by a high......
Lugnasad
Lugnasad, Celtic religious festival celebrated August 1 as the feast of the marriage of the god Lugus; this was......
Lugus
Lugus, (Celtic: “Lynx,” or “Light”?), in ancient Celtic religion, one of the major gods. He is one of the deities......
lunar deity
lunar deity, any god or goddess related to or associated with the moon and its cycles. See moon...
Lupercalia
Lupercalia, ancient Roman festival that was conducted annually on February 15 under the superintendence of a corporation......
lustration
lustration, (from Latin lustratio, “purification by sacrifice”), any of various processes in ancient Greece and......
Luxing
Luxing, in Chinese mythology, one of three stellar gods known collectively as Fulushou. He was honoured as a deity......
Lycaon
Lycaon, in Greek mythology, a legendary king of Arcadia. Traditionally, he was an impious and cruel king who tried......
Lycurgus
Lycurgus was traditionally the lawgiver who founded most of the institutions of ancient Sparta. Scholars have been......