NORSE MYTHOLOGY (Odin and other Lesser Gods) Urda's Well.
Urda's Well. The three Norns guarded it: The three were URDA (the
Norse or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths of the North
Germanic peoples, stemming from Norse paganism and continuing
after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Scandinavian
folklore of the modern period. It is also known as Norse Peganism,
was the religion of the Vikings in Europe centuries ago.
Oldest manuscript of the Elder Edda - is a collection of Old Norse
poems from the Icelandic medieval manuscript.
➢ The Elder Edda is much the more important of the two. It is
made up of separate poems.
➢ The Younger Edda, in prose, was written down by one Snorri
Sturluson.
➢ North was Niflheim (the cold realm of death)
➢ South was Muspelheim (the land of fire)
The rivers of the mist world flowed into the void, which was called
Ginnungagap, the “yawning gap.”
Drop of water fell from the mist and out of them there were the
frost maiden's and Ymir, the first giant.
Ymir slept, and while it slept, it gave birth: a male and a female
giant were born from beneath Ymir’s left arm, a six-headed giant
born from its legs.
Buri was created by a cow named Audhumla.
Odin and his two brothers killed Ymir. They made the earth and sky
from him, the sea from his blood, the earth from his body, the
heavens from his skull. They took sparks from Muspelheim and
placed them in the sky as the sun, moon, and stars. The earth was
round and encircled by the sea. A great wall which the gods built
out of Ymir’s eyebrows defended the place where mankind was to
live.
“Yggdrasil” has a complex etymology and mysterious meaning. The
word was formed from the Old Norse yggr, meaning “terror,” and
drasil, meaning “horse.”
First root goes to Niflheim.
Second goes to the realm of frost giants.
Third goes to the home of gods, to Asgard.
Past), VERDANDI (the Present), and SKULD (the Future).
Frigga Main goddess. Wife of Odin and mother of Balder.
Balder Son of Odin and Frigga. Known as a gentle and wise god.
Killed accidentally by his brother Hod.
Loki The sly, trickster of the Norse gods. Son of two giants.
Hod Son of Odin. A blind god who accidentally killed his brother
Balder.
Freyr Important god of the Vanir. Son of Njord and brother of
Freyja.
Thor Son of Odin and Earth and husband of Sif. Also known as the
“thunder god” and “charioteer”.
Sif, golden haired goddess associated with fertility and harvest. Wife
of Thor.
Tyr War god. Son of Odin who sacrificed his hand in the binding of
Fenrir.
Freya was the Goddess of Love and Beauty
Valkyries - Beautiful women who carried dying warriors to Valhalla.
Val means “slain,” and the Valkyries were the Choosers of the Slain;
and the place to which they brought the heroes was the Hall of the
Slain, Valhalla.
RAGNAROK (The Final Destiny of the Gods)
Midgard will be wrenched and racked by wars for three winters.
Then Fimbulvetr, the winter of winters, will grip and throttle
Midgard. So the end will begin.
JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Izanagi and Izanami, (Japanese: “He Who Invites” and “She Who
Invites”) in full Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto, the
central deities (kami) in the Japanese creation myth.
The two decided that they wished to unite—often interpreted as
marriage—but their first attempt at sexual union resulted in a
deformed child, Hiruko (“Leech Child,” known in later Shintō
mythology as the god Ebisu), and they set him adrift in a boat.
Attributing the mistake to a ritual error on the part of Izanami, who,
as a woman, should never have spoken first, they began again and
produced numerous islands and deities. In the act of giving birth to
the fire god, Kagutsuchi (or Homusubi), Izanami was fatally burned
and went to Yomi, the land of darkness. The grief-stricken Izanagi
followed her there, but she had eaten the food of that place and
could not leave. She became angry when he lit a fire and saw her
rotting and covered with maggots. A horrified Izanagi fled, with a
host of women and then Izanami herself in pursuit. After reaching
the entrance to Yomi, Izanagi placed a stone across it, thus sealing
in Izanami and breaking their union.
Izanagi bathed in the sea to purify himself from contact with the
dead. As he bathed, a number of deities came into being. The sun
goddess Amaterasu was born from his left eye, the moon god
Tsukiyomi was born from his right eye, and the storm god Susanoo
was born from his nose. In the Shintō religion, Izanagi’s bath is
regarded as the founding of harai, the important ritual purification
practices of Shintō.
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY - is a collection of cultural history, folktales,
and religions that have been passed down through generations.
Inside the egg was a giant, named Pangu. He was the first living
things in the earth. Around 18, 000 years Pangu grow in the egg and
finally awoke and broke free. After the egg hatched, he split it into
halves. The top part of the egg formed the heaven (Yang) and the
bottom part formed the earth (Yin). he stood between the two and
started pushing the sky upwards, growing ten feet taller each day.
After Pangu’s task was completed and he died.
2. Nuwa Creates People - She is the goddess of humankind, and one
of the most popular characters in ancient Chinese mythology.
3. Fushi Teaches the People was the first ruler of this magical
period.
4. Water War Gong Gong (aka Kang Hui), a Chinese water god, is
one of the frequently described characters in ancient Chinese
mythology
5. Yu Rebuilds the Earth The myth about Yu the Great is based on
Chinese legends dating from 2205 to 2197 BC.
6. The Grand Archer Yi is one of the few mortals who has helped the
gods.
7. The Moon Goddess Chang-O (or Chang’e), the Chinese goddess of
the moon, is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology.
8. The Unicorn’s Prophecy The myth of the unicorn’s prophecy
sprang up around the life of Confucius.
9. The Monkey Myth A government official named Wu Ch’eng-en in
his popular novel, Journey to the West, tells the myth about the
Monkey King, Sun Wukong.
10. The Legend of Mirrors They believed that the reflection in the
mirror was not a reflection at all, but a species from another planet.
11. The Pilgrimage Mythology primarily talks about Kwan Yin, the
goddess of mercy and compassion.
12. Chinese New Year One of the most important aspects of Chinese
New Year are the decorations and firecrackers.
13. The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd this romantic myth tells the
tale of two people: the weaver girl and the cowherd.
14. Jade Rabbit is also known as “the rabbit who lives on the moon.”
Jade Rabbit is the companion of the moon goddess Chang’o.
15. Chinese Dragon is the most iconic creature in the history of
China. Dragon consider as the water controller and the symbol of
emperor.
DIETIES
1. Jade the emperor Known as the “Jade Deity” He is human-
like representation of one of the first Chinese gods.
2. Pangu is known as the first living being and the creator of all
in Chinese cosmology.
3. Commonly referred to in English text as the Queen Mother
of the West, and is an ancient being who holds power over longevity
and eternal bliss.
4. YANLUO WANG Also known as Jim Wong or sometimes Lord
Yama, Yanluo Wang is the deity who rules over the underworld.
5. GUANYIN She is one of the most well-known figures in
Chinese mythology and religion,
6. WENDI AND WUDI This pair is best known for being the
deities of civil and martial affairs.
7. WONG TAI SIN Originally hailing from Hangzhou He was a
poor shepherd who learned the way of Taoism from an immortal
and, after years of solitary practice himself, also achieved
miraculous feats and immortality.
8. CAISHEN Known as the Chinese god of wealth and
prosperity
9. Yue Xia Laoren is literally meaning “Old Man under the
Moon,” Yue Lao is the Chinese deity of love and marriage.
10. THE THREE STARS They represent the top three traditional
qualities of a good life:
prosperity
status
Longevity
The trio are often portrayed together in statues, paintings, and
ornaments.
Fuxing- depicted with children
Luxing - associated with luck in passing imperial examinations;
Shouxing- is typically a bald old man carrying a walking stick and a
peach of immortality
11. MAZU is seen as the Chinese goddess of the sea and is
widely worshipped along coastal regions of China and Southeast
Asia.
HINDU THE TRUINE GOD AND THE LESSER GODS
The Hindu trinity comprises Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the
preserver, and Shiva (or Mahesh), the destroyer. These three Gods
represent the cyclical nature of our existence from birth,
preservation, and destruction to subsequent regeneration. These
Gods are identifiable in their artistic representations by the icons
commonly associated with them.
Hinduism is broadly divided into the Puranic Period and the more
recent, Vedic period. The Puranic period entailed worship of the
Gods of the elements of nature, such as Surya, the Sun God; Indra,
the God of rain and thunder; Chandra, the moon God, etc. Worship
was generally in form of yagnas or elaborate rituals conducted by
the priest caste known as the Brahmins.
Vishnu is the preserver and protector of the Hindu pantheon who
descends to the earthly plane of existence whenever it is
threatened by chaos or evil.
The blue-skinned Shiva is the destroyer of the Hindu trinity. In
contrast to Vishnu, Shiva is described as a hermit or ascetic being
dressed in animal skins with matted and dreadlocked hair. His
common identifying features in artworks include his third eye, a
damaru (drum), a Trishul (trident), the serpent around his neck, and
the crescent moon with the holy river Ganga flowing through his
hair.
Brahma, the creator is usually depicted as an old man with four
heads facing in each direction. It is believed that each of the four
heads recited one of the four Vedas of Hinduism. Unlike the other
two gods in the triumvirate, Brahma is not portrayed with any
weapons of war but instead holds symbols of knowledge, wisdom,
and creation.
FILIPINO (BATHALA AND THE OTHER LESSER GODS)
Philippine Mythology - the caretaker of nature and the creatures of
the earth. “Hence the beautiful word “bahala” or “mabahala”
meaning “to care.” From this evolved the Filipino attitude of “bahala
na” or “Let Bathala take care of it” which gives a person
tremendous courage in the face of danger.”
Diwatas came from the Sanskrit word devata which means “deity“,
one of the several significant Hindu influences in the Pre-Hispanic
religion of the ancient Filipinos.
In the beginning, there was nothing except three gods; Bathala,
Ulilang Kaluluwa (Orphaned Spirit), and Galang Kaluluwa
(Wandering Spirit).
One day, Galang Kaluluwa became extremely ill. Before his
impending death, Galang Kaluluwa instructed his friend to bury him
on the same place where Bathala burned Ulilang Kaluluwa’s
remains.
Out of the grave of the two dead gods grew a tall tree with a big
round nut, which is the coconut tree.
Bathala realized that he was ready to create the creatures he
wanted with him on earth. He created the vegetation, animals, and
the first man and woman.
The word Bathala is believed to have come from the Sanskrit
Bhattara Guru or “the highest of the gods.”
• Kaluwalhatian (the Ancient Tagalog Skyworld).
• Amanikable  – Originally this god was worshipped as the god of
Hunters.
• Idiyanale – The goddess of labor and good deeds.
• Dimangan - The god of good harvest. He was married to Idiyanale
and had two offspring.
• Ikapati –  The goddess of cultivated land.
• Mayari – The goddess of the moon and she was the most charming
of all the goddesses.
• Tala – The goddess of the stars.
• Hanan – The goddess of morning; sister of Mayari and Tala and one
of the three daughters of Bathala by a mortal woman.
• Dumakulem  – The strong, agile guardian of mountains and the son
of Idiyanale and Dimangan.
• Anagolay  – The goddess of lost things and the only offspring of
Ikapati and Mapulon.
• Anitun Tabu  – The fickle-minded goddess of wind and rain.
• Apolaki  – (Jocano’s Tagalog Pantheon) The god of sun and the chief
patron of warriors.
• Diyan Masalanta  – The goddess of love, conception and childbirth
and the protector of lovers.
• The souls of good men were said to be taken to a village of rest
called Maca.
• Kasanaan the village of grief and affliction.
• Sitan The guardian of Kasamaan and the keeper of all souls therein,
the counterpart of Satan.
• Mangagauay - was the one responsible for the occurrence of
disease.
• Manisilat - was sometimes known as the goddess of broken homes.
• Mankukulam -  whose duty was to emit fire at night, especially
when the night was dark and the weather was not good.
• Hukloban -  had the power to change herself into any form she
desired.
• Visayan
• Kaptan – The supreme god who dwells in the sky.
• Maguayan – The god of the sea.
• Lihangin – The god of the wind and the son of Kaptan.
• Lidagat – The goddess of the sea, daughter of Maguayan.
• Adlaw – God of the sun.
• Bangun Bangun – God of time and cosmic movements.
• Barangaw – He is the god of the rainbow.
• Bulalakaw – Goddess of greediness.
• Dalikamata – The many-eyed goddess, cures eye illnesses.
• Kan – Laon – He is the Ancient Visayans counterpart of Bathala) and
he is the god of time.
• Kasaraysarayan sa Silgan – God of rivers.
• Lalahon – She is the goddess of fire, volcanoes and harvest.
• Mahuyokhuyokan – Goddess of the night breeze.
• Luyong Baybay – Goddess of the tides.
• Magdang Diriinin – God of the lakes.
• Maklium sa Tiwan – God of the valleys and plains.
• Maklium sa Tubig – God of the sea.
• Alunsina – She was the virgin goddess of the eastern skies.
• Tungkung Langit - was a lesser deity and brother of Panlinugon, god
of earthquakes.
CUPID AND PSYCHE by Apuleius
The fantastically beautiful Psyche is the Greco-Roman goddess of the
soul. She is often shown as having butterfly wings, which makes a lot of
sense, since her name not only means "soul" in Greek, but also
"butterfly."
Cupid, god of love and desire, pops up in a story, he wreaks havoc by
making other people fall in love. In the tale of "Cupid and Psyche,"
however, we see the tables turned. It's Cupid's life that is turned upside
down when his own arrow stings him, causing him to fall in love with
the stunningly beautiful mortal girl, Psyche.
Venus (called Aphrodite by the Greeks) may be the goddess of beauty
and love, but in the story of "Cupid and Psyche," she gets downright
ugly and hateful. When men start worshiping the beautiful mortal
princess, Psyche, the jealous Venus sends her son Cupid to punish the
girl. The tables are turned on Venus, however, when Cupid himself falls
in love with the Psyche. The last thing Venus wants is a gorgeous
daughter-in-law.
Zephyr, the west wind, comes and lifts her, carrying the princess gently
from the mountaintop down to a beautiful field of flowers.
The jealous sisters remind Psyche of the prophecy that she would marry
a monster, and they convince their sister that she has to see what her
husband looks like. They advise her to wait until he's asleep, then stand
over him with a lamp and a knife (in case he's a monster).
That night she follows her sisters' advice and sees that her husband is
none other than Cupid. Psyche is blown away by how ridiculously
handsome her husband is. She's so distracted that she lets a drop of oil
fall and burns his skin. Cupid wakes up and sees his wife standing there
with the lamp and a knife. Furious, he flies out the window, telling
Psyche that she'll never see him again.
Metamorphoses, published in the 8th century AD. Ovid took a
preexisting origin myth or a myth that explains how an object came to
be and adapted it for Book IV of his magnum opus.
Pyramus: Handsome youth of Babylon who falls in love with his
neighbor, Thisbe.
Thisbe: Beautiful young girl of Babylon who returns Pyramus's love.
Parents of Pyramus and Thisbe: They oppose a relationship between
Pyramus and Thisbe for reasons not explained in the story.
Semiramis: Queen of Babylon and the subject of myths and legends.
Ninus: King of Assyria and late husband of Semiramis.

The beautiful palace disappears and Psyche is left all alone. Totally Pyramus and Thisbe live next to each in houses with connected walls.
depressed, Psyche goes back to her sisters and tells them what They talk through a crack in the wall but one night, they decide to meet
happened. As if they hadn't already shown how totally awful they were, at the tomb of Nimas just outside the city walls. A lioness, who had just
the sisters now go to the mountaintop thinking that one of them might made a kill, startles Thisbe and she flees She loses her veil and the
take Psyche's husband for themselves. They jump off the mountain, lioness stiffs it, leaving blood on the veil. When Pyramus arrives, he sees
expecting Zephyr to take them down. The jealous sisters fall to their the blood-soaked veil. He thinks that Thisbe has been killed and kills
deaths on the rocks below.
himself, not wanting to live without her. He falls on his sword and his
Cupid, who has finally recovered from his burn, flies to help his wife. He
blood stains the white mulberry fruits. Thisbe comes out to tell Pyramus
wakes her up with one of his arrows, and he points out that once again
what happened and sees his dead body. Devastated by the loss of her
her curiosity has gotten her in trouble. Cupid tells her to take the box to
Venus and to let him take care of the rest.
lover, she kills herself with the same sword. The gods feel bad for
He flies to Jupiter (a.k.a. Zeus), and he begs the king of the gods to help
Thisbe and turn the mulberry tree the colour of the lovers' blood
him and Psyche. Jupiter summons Venus and convinces her to chill out
about the whole thing. Then he brings Psyche up to Mt. Olympus, the
home of the gods, and gives her some ambrosia, which makes the girl
ORPHEUS AND EURIDYCE
immortal. At long last, Cupid and Psyche get to be together. Cupid and
Psyche end up having a daughter together, named Voluptas (a.k.a. The earliest account comes from Ibycus (circa 530 BC), a Greek lyric
Hedone, sometimes translated as Pleasure). poet. Perhaps one of the most famous Greek myths
PYRAMUS AND THISBE WRITTEN BY: THE ROMAN POET, OVID Orpheus is known as the most talented music player of the ancient
times. It is said that god Apollo was his father, and the Muse Calliope
The poem of Pyramus and Thisbe is a Babylonian tragedy, the oldest
surviving version dating back to the Roman poet, Ovid's,
was his mother. Orpheus is accredited to have taught agriculture,
writing and medicine to the mankind.
The girl was called Eurydice, she was beautiful and shy. She had been
drawn to Orpheus enamored by his voice and such was the spell of
beauty in music and appearance that neither could cast their eyes off
each other. Their wedding day dawned bright and clear. Hymenaios, the
god of marriage, blessed their marriage and then a great feast followed.
Aristaeus, a shepherd, had plotted a plan to conquer the beautiful
nymph. Few steps away, Eurydice had stepped on a nest of snakes and
had been bitten by a deadly viper. After the death of his beloved wife,
Orpheus was no more the same carefree person he used to be.
he decided to go to Underworld and try to get his wife back. Apollo, his
father, would talk to Hades, the god of the Underworld, to accept him
and hear his plea. He played his lyre and sang out to King Hades and
Queen Persephone Hades openly wept, Persephone's heart melted and
even Cerberus, the gigantic three-headed hound guarding the entry to
the underworld, covered his many ears with his paws and howled in
despair. The moment he stepped on the world of the living, he turned
his head to hug his wife. Unfortunately, he got only a glimpse of
Eurydice before she was once again drawn back into the underworld.
From then on, the heart-broken musician was wandering disoriented,
day after day, night after night, in total despair. The women killed him,
cut his body into pieces and threw them and his lyre into a river. His
soul descended down to Hades where he was finally reunited with his
beloved Eurydice.
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is similar to the story of Lot. The
analogy of "not looking back" is of great importance to both stories.
ALCYONE AND CEYX
The story of Alcyone and Ceyx is very touching and portrays the love
that triumphs over tragedy.
● Alcyone sometimes spelled Halcyone, was the daughter of Aeolus,
the king of the Aeolian Islands and the ruler of the winds and his
wife, Aigeale or Enarete.
● Ceyx
was the son of Eosphorus, also referred to as Lucifer, and it’s not clear
whether he had a mother or not. 
The two were very much in love, and though they hated to be apart,
Ceyx decided to travel across the sea to consult the Delphic Oracle since
his brother, Daedalion had been transformed into a hawk by Apollo.
Ceyx decided to consult the oracle of Delphi. Therefore he decided to go
by sea, although Alcyone, said to have pleaded with her husband not to
make the trip. But Ceyx had made up his mind, and so leaving his wife in
Trachis, then the king set sail. Mid way of their journey their ship got
wreck due to the storm. Ceyx realized his end was near he feared that
he would drown but felt a ray of happiness that his wife was not with
him, for he didn’t know what he would’ve done, he prayed that his body
at least returned by the waves to Trachis and his wife.
Hearing the prayers, the goddess Hera was consumed with pity for
Alcyone, for she knew that the young man was already dead. She sent
Iris to look for Hypos to assigned a mission on gently informing Alcyone.
Soon after, Morpheus, the god of dreams, disguised as Ceyx, appeared
to Alcyone as an apparition to tell her of her husband's fate.
Morning comes Alcyone rush to the shoreline she discovered a floating
body. Upon coming closer, she realized its her beloved husband corpse.
After performing the last rites and unable to continue living, she threw
herself into the sea determined to join her husband on the land of the
dead. Out of compassion, the gods changed them both into kingfishers,
or "halcyon birds", named after Alcyone.
PYGMALION AND GALATEA BY: OVID
In ancient Greece, on the island of Cyprus, there lived a handsome and
talented sculptor named Pygmalion. He loved his work and would spend
hours carving beautiful ivory statues, always at his happiest when
immersed in his art.
One day he chose a large, beautiful piece of ivory, and worked for many
long hours at it, chiseling and hammering until he finished. It was a
statue of a beautiful lady, so exquisitely carved that she seemed almost
alive. Pygmalion at once fell in love with his creation - he thought it was
so beautiful, and he clothed the figure, gave it jewels, and named it
Galatea, which means "sleeping love".
During a big festival in honor of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and
beauty, Pygmalion went to the temple of Aphrodite to pray for a wife
just like the statue in his home. His prayers were so fervent and heart-
felt, and his passion so great, that the great goddess took notice.
Wanting to see for herself what all the fuss was about, Aphrodite
visited the home of the sculptor and was delighted to see the ivory
Galatea. She couldn't help but think that the statue looked much like
herself, it was so perfect.
Indeed, Pygmalion had fashioned his ivory lover after the most
beautiful woman alive, Aphrodite. Pleased and flattered she
immediately brought the statue to life, not even waiting for Pygmalion
to come home. Galatea told Pygmalion that it was his deep love for her
that had convinced the goddess of love to bring her to life.
Soon thereafter the two got married and invited Aphrodite as their
guest of honor at the wedding.
Aphrodite blessed them with happiness and love in return, and
permitted both of them to live long and blissful lives. They had two
children, a boy named Paphos and a girl called Metharme. The city of
Paphos in Cyprus was named after their son.
PROPOITIDES, is a local prostitutes, were Pygmalion is disgusted
DAPHNE
A Naiad nymph of the river Ladon of Arkadia or the Peneios (Peneus) in
Thessalia. (Greek mythology.)
 Peneus A river god in Greek and one of the three thousand children
of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys.
 Apollo God of Light, music, poetry
 Eros Greek god of love, or more precisely, passionate and physical
desire.
 Prometheus One of the Titans, the supreme trickster, and a god of
fire.
 Setting Delphi, somewhere near the base of Mt. Parnassus
Daphne was a Naiad nymph She is said to have been Apollo's first love,
but she fled from him. She doesn't want to be one of those unfortunate
maiden, loved by another Gods, who kild her child secretly or herself
because of love.
Her father, Peneus, begged her to to marry for he wants to have
grandchildren. Peneus greatly tried because Daphne refused all the
eligible and young handsome men.
And at last, Apollo saw her, captivated by her beauty and everything
ended for her. Frightened, Daphne fled and she was an excellent
runner, even Apollo had a hard time to overtake her; still Apollo did
managed. If Apollo was indeed following her, the case is hopeless but
she was determined struggle to the very end. When she felt a breath
upon her neck, it had all but there in front of her the trees opened and
she saw her father's river. She screamed to him, “Help me! Father, help
me!” At her words, a dragging numbness came upon her, her feet
seemed to be rooted in the Earth she had been so swiftly speeding over.
Bark was enclosing her; leaves were sprouting forth. She had been
changed into a tree, a laurel.
Apollo just stand there in gried and dismay. Mourning. Apollo said
that her leaves shall be part of all of his triumphs.