Narasimha slays Hiranyakashipu (a daityas) as Prahlada watches – 18th century – Artist Unknown In Hindu mythology, the Daityas are giant evil spirits who are known for their opposition to…
In Aboriginal cultures, the yara-ma-yha-who was a little red man, about 4 feet tall, with a large head and mouth. He had no teeth and swallowed his food whole. The…
Dictionnaire Infernal – Collin de Plancy (1863) (paraphrased) Tornarsuk – Dictionnaire Infernal Torngarsuk is the chief and most powerful supernatural being in Greenland. He appears in the form of a bear,…
It was a dark and stormy night. The sky outside the window was black, with flashes of lightning illuminating the sky in brief bursts. Inside the house, a family huddled…
The rakshasas are evil spirits in Hindu mythology with magical and shape-shifting abilities. The Ramayana states that they were created from the foot of Brahma to protect the primeval waters….
Pretas – Hungry Ghosts (Photo: Falk Kienas via iStockphoto) In Hindu mythology, the Pretas are the spirits of dead people that inhabit Preta-Loka, the realm of tortured spirits. These…
Vishnu resting on Ananta-Shesha, with consort Lakshmi. In Hindu mythology, the Nagas/Nagis were a race of serpents whose purpose was to populate the underworld, Patalas. They were the 1000…
Mara’s assault on the Buddha – Amaravati, India Mara (“death” or “thirst”), also called Papiyan (“more wicked”) and Varsavarti (“he who fills desires”), is the evil spirit (or sometimes as…
Drawing of Kappa (1836) – Artist Unknown The Kappas are water demons in Japanese mythology. They are monkey-like creatures with saucer-shaped heads, yellowish-green skin, and long noses. Their main weakness is…
Funeral Symphony (V) – Mikalojus Ciurlionis The Jinn are spirits that were created by God out of fire, and are roughly equivalent to the daimonesor daimonia of Greco-Roman mythology. The jinn spirits…
Izanagi and Izanami – Kobayashi Eitaku Izanagi and Izanami were the two young gods chosen to bring order to the world of chaos in Japanese mythology. Izanagi was a…
Ishtar Vase – early 2nd millenniu BC Ishtar/Inanna is the sister ofEreshkigal, who rules the dead. In Babylonian tradition, Ishtar, the daughter of Sin and sister of Shamash, was…