Here are 10 famous constellations you should know.

Ever since humans walked the Earth, great significance has been given to the celestial objects in the sky. Throughout history, names and mythical stories have been attributed to the star patterns, giving birth to what is now known as constellations. The International Astronomical Union lists 88 constellations—48 of which were recorded by Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy during the 2nd century. For the Greeks, stars were a way of preserving folklore and mythology. The images depicted in their constellations are of heroes and beasts who received a place among the stars as tribute for their deeds on Earth. 

 Read here to discover the stories of some of the most famous constellations, as well as some tips for identifying them in the night sky.

 

Yamata no Orochi

Kuri Huang

 

Ancient Night

In Noche Antigua (Ancient Night) an opossum and a rabbit work together—and against each other—to create and maintain the sun and the moon. The book, written in Spanish and illustrated by Mexico-based artist David Álvarez is based on elements from ancient myths in several Central American cultures. Álvarez captures a sense of quiet magic with the simplified forms and hushed tones of his illustrations, which seem to glow from the illumination of the moon.
 more 

Rise and Fall of the Mighty Minoans

In the epic poem The Odyssey, the Greek poet Homer praised an island that lies “out in the wine-dark sea . . . a rich and lovely sea-girt land, densely peopled, with 90 cities and several different languages.” This sophisticated place is not just a random spot in the Mediterranean—Homer is describing Crete, southernmost of the Greek islands and home to one of the oldest civilizations in Europe. Located some 400 miles northwest of Alexandria in Egypt, Crete has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, around 7000 B.C. The culture that developed there during the second millennium B.C. spread throughout the entire eastern Mediterranean world. Crete’s command of the seas would allow its stunning art and architecture to deeply influence the Mycenaean Greek civilization that would succeed it.
 Read more

 

Aesop’s Fables

via

 

Mari Shimizu’s dolls contain worlds.

The Japanese artist crafts surreal, disconcerting figures whose torsos are often hollowed and reveal views into scenes ripped from mythology.

 

Norse Mythology art book cover, Milivoj Ceran

more

 

Mythical creatures

Unicorns

 Perhaps the most beautiful and most longed-for of all mythical beasts, the magical horse with the long, pointed horn on its forehead is a symbol of purity and grace and is even said to have healing powers. The Ancient Greeks believed they were real (Aristotle even wrote about them) – and in the Middle Ages they became a religious symbol. Now, sadly, unicorns are most likely to be found adorning a hipster’s T-shirt.
 Read more

 

Busting the Myth of Friday the 13th and the Knights Templar

The origins of superstitions can be hard to pin down. There are often several theories about how they started, and a bunch of people ready to debunk those theories. Friday the 13th is one such example. If you read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, you might remember learning that members of the Knights Templar—a medieval society—were arrested on Friday the 13th. Brown’s book helped popularize the belief that these arrests are the reason people fear the date. But although some of the Knights Templar were arrested on Friday, October 13, 1307, that isn’t the origin of the superstition. Right now, the hottest take on Friday the 13th is that it wasn’t associated with bad luck until 1907, when a novel titled Friday, the Thirteenth was published. In his book on the number 13, author Nathaniel Lachenmeyer argues that before the 20th century, “13” had been an unlucky number, and “Friday” had been an unlucky day, but “Friday the 13th” wasn’t necessarily a concept. Whether or not the superstitions began with that novel, it’s clear that a lot of rationalizations for it—such as the Templar tale—are recent inventions.
 So, too are many of the other myths about these misunderstood knights.

 

Creation Myths From Around the World

These stories have been passed down from person to person, across generations and cultures, since the beginning of time.

 

Who Were the Ancient Gods?

While the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations are things of the past, they live on in the stories and myths of their polytheistic religions, which are inhabited by a multitude of gods and goddesses with distinctive appearances and nuanced personalities.
 Those deities also embody the beliefs and values of the past, and provide a glimpse inside the minds of the ancient people who worshipped them.
Here are a few of the ancient world's important supernatural figures.

 

Mythical Cut Paper Illustrations By Morgana Wallace

more

 

How the world of antiquity inspired comics

Comic book tales of masked do-gooders now dominate cinemas, but these stories are not new – in fact, they have their origins in antiquity, writes Natalie Haynes.

 

Is the Yeti just another mythical creature or is the Yeti a real thing?

You can probably picture a Yeti, even if you've never visited the Himalayas. From Scooby Doo to Doctor Who, Tintin and Monsters, Inc., the "Abominable Snowman" has popped up regularly in films, video games and television for decades. In popular culture, a Yeti is an enormous, shaggy ape-man with huge feet and aggressive sabre-like teeth. Its fur is either grey or white. It is often depicted roaming the snowy mountains alone, a feral throwback to our violent evolutionary past. Is there anything to this mythical figure, beyond tall tales and vivid imaginations? In the last few years, modern genetics has been brought to bear on the Himalayan Yeti.
 As a result, we may finally be able to put the mystery to bed.

 

Perun - Slavic God

In Slavic mythology, Perun is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of thunder and lightning.
 His other attributes were fire, mountains, the oak, iris, eagle, firmament , horses and carts, weapons , and war. He was first associated with weapons made of stone and later with those of metal.
 Perun is described as a rugged man with a copper beard. He rides in a chariot pulled by a goat buck and carries a mighty axe, or sometimes a hammer. The axe is hurled at evil people and spirits and will always return to his hand.

Essentially, Perun is not only the god of thunder and lighting, he is also the patron of soldiers and noble warriors, the ruling god and keeper of the law and the standard of male power and dominance as well. Perun occupies a familiar place in mythology as a powerful, temperamental god whose actions were based in part on his temper. As with much of mythology in all cultures, the stories of Perun were meant at least in part to help explain the world in which the Slavs lived. Earthquakes, violent storms and other unpredictable acts of nature were often attributed to Perun and his fiery temper. As leader of the gods, Perun was the most visible example of how their power influenced the world in which the Slavs lived.

Perun is the son of Svarog and Lada whose birth was heralded with a might earthquake. Perun is also the most famous of the Svarozhich brothers who rule the heavens. But Perun is also the most powerful and most temperamental of them all which may be why he was chosen to be the leader of the gods in Slavic mythology.  

 

10 Facts About Easter More Interesting Than the Chocolate

 Why do we celebrate a bunny that hides multi-colored Easter eggs?
And why do we eat ham for Easter?
There are so many strange questions around this spring holiday, but you can find the answers to them all in this fascinating TopTenz article filled with fascinating facts about Easter.

  Just make sure to keep some chocolate on standby in case of cravings.

 

6 myths about the Ides of March and killing Caesar

This is what most of us know about the death of Julius Caesar, half-remembered from movies and plays:
 Some soothsayer said, "Beware the Ides of March."
A few idealistic Romans decided to win back Rome for the people.
Caesar got stabbed by Brutus with a big sword, said "Et tu, Brute?" and died nobly.
 All of that is wrong.
 In major and minor ways, a lot of us misunderstand the death of Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 BC.

 

Did an Entire Culture Write 'The Odyssey'?

The Iliad and The Odyssey are two of the key works of Western civilization. But almost nothing is known about their author and the date and manner of their creation. In Why Homer Matters, historian and award-winning author Adam Nicolson suggests that Homer be thought of not as a person but as a tradition and that the works attributed to him go back a thousand years earlier than generally believed. Speaking from his home in England, Nicolson describes how being caught in a storm at sea inspired his passion for Homer, how the oral bards of the Scottish Hebrides may hold the key to understanding Homer's works, and why smartphones are connecting us to ancient oral traditions in new and surprising ways.

 

Argentina Has a Superstition That Seventh Sons Will Turn into Werewolves

Christina Fernández de Kirchner, the president of Argentina, got a new addition to her family last week when she adopted a 13-year-old Jewish boy named Yair Tawil as her godson, the Independent reports. Her motivations for doing so are based on a centuries-old legend that seventh sons will transform into werewolves.

 

Animal Myths From Around the World

The baby-delivering stork is a beloved animal myth in Europe and the U.S.—especially for parents looking to answer that perennial childhood question, "How did I get here?"
 In the early 20th century, anthropologist and folklorist Elsie Clews Parsons documented numerous conception myths around the world, from spirit-inhabited boulders in Australia catching women unawares to the paternity of Alexander the Great via serpent. Anthropologist Alexander F. Chamberlin wrote in 1896 of international myths that describe children emerging from natural landscapes, including caverns and cabbage patches.
 As for the stork, the Greeks and Romans considered it to be a real family bird.
The National Zoo says that European white storks form monogamous pairs—though the partnerships aren't for life. This temporary monogamy, along with their diligent efforts at child care, including disgorging food for their young, would have given the birds a rep as model parents. Storks also seem comfortable living among us, which may contribute to the animals' association with home and family.

 From the baby-delivering stork to the sacrificial lamb, people have long used animals in their legends and religion.