American Gods

American Gods is a novel by Neil Gaiman. The novel is an ambitious blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on a mysterious and taciturn protagonist, Shadow. It was Gaiman's fourth prose novel, being preceded by Good Omens (a collaboration with Terry Pratchett), Neverwhere, and Stardust (a fairy tale illustrated by Charles Vess). Several of the themes touched upon in the book were previously glimpsed in The Sandman ...

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• American Gods - Plot

Read more here: » American Gods: Encyclopedia - American Gods

The book follows the adventures of ex-convict "Shadow" Moon, upon his early release from prison due to the death of his wife, Laura, in a car accident. He is hired by the mysterious Mr. Wednesday to act as an escort and bodyguard, and travels across America visiting Wednesday's colleagues and acquaintances. Gradually, it is revealed that Wednesday is an incarnation of Odin the All-Father (the word Wednesday is derived from "Odin's (Woden's) day"), who is recruiting American manifestations of the Old Gods of ancient mythology, whose powers ha ...

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American Gods, American Gods - Plot

Read more here: » American Gods: Encyclopedia II - American Gods - Plot

Vagina dentata is Latin for toothed vagina. The myth of the vagina dentata in the Western world was popularized chiefly by Sigmund Freud, who found that it neatly meshed with his theories concerning castration anxiety. Freud bestowed this name on the phenomenon, inspired by a number of legends about women with vaginas which were supposed to contain teeth or other weapons, and with which they were supposed to be able to murder or castrate their sexual partners. The motif is contained in a number of myths from Asia, especially Southeast ...

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• Vagina dentata - Examples in popular culture and literature
• Vagina dentata - Vaginas with actual teeth
• Vagina dentata - Anti-rape condom
• Vagina dentata - Source

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A confidence trick, confidence game, also known as a con or scam, is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the "mark") usually with the goal of financial or other gain. The confidence trickster, con man, scam artist or con artist often works with one or more accomplices called shills, who try to encourage the mark by pretending to believe the trickster. In a traditional con, the mark is encouraged to believe that they will obtain money dishonestly by c ...

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• Confidence trick - Origin of the term
• Confidence trick - Well-known confidence tricks
• Confidence trick - Extra finesse
• Confidence trick - Famous convicted and alleged con artists
• Confidence trick - Confidence tricks in the movies and television
• Confidence trick - Confidence tricks in literature
• Confidence trick - Quotations

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Anansi is one of the most important and famous gods of west African lore. He is a trickster and a culture hero, who acts on behalf of Nyame (his father, the sky god) and brings rain to stop fires and performing other duties for him. His mother is Asase Ya. There are several mentions of Anansi's children. According to some myths his wife is known as Miss Anansi or Mistress Anansi. Eventually, Anansi was replaced by a chameleon. He is depicted in numerous form ...

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• Anansi - Myths
• Anansi - Other names
• Anansi - In modern fiction
• Anansi - External link
• Anansi - In Music

Read more here: » Anansi: Encyclopedia - Anansi

Thor, Oku-Thor, Þórr (ON), Þunor (OE "Thunor" ), Donar or Donner (German) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Norse Mythology and more generally Germanic mythology. He is the son of Odin and Jord. While Odin is the god of the powerful and aristocratic, Thor is much more the god of the common man. During Ragnarök, Thor will kill and be killed by Jörmungandr. He lived in the hall of Bilskirnir in Thrudheim. Thor - Thor's character. Thor features strongly in ...

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• Thor - Thor's character
• Thor - Thor's family
• Thor - Thor's possessions
• Thor - Stories and myths
• Thor - Thor in Norse literature
• Thor - Named after Thor
• Thor - Other names
• Thor - Homologues
• Thor - Homologues in related Indo-European religions
• Thor - Homologues in other religions
• Thor - Thor in modern popular culture

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In Irish mythology, a leprechaun (Modern Irish: leipreachán) is a type of male elf said to inhabit the island of Ireland. They are a class of "faerie folk" associated in Irish mythology and folklore, as with all faeries, with the Tuatha Dé Danann and other quasi-historical races said to have inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts. Leprechauns and other creatures of Irish mythology are often associated with "faerie forts" or "faerie rings" — often the sites of ancie ...

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• Leprechaun - Etymology
• Leprechaun - Mythology
• Leprechaun - Appearance
• Leprechaun - Related creatures
• Leprechaun - In politics
• Leprechaun - Popular culture
• Leprechaun - Films / TV:
• Leprechaun - Literature:
• Leprechaun - General:

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In Egyptian mythology, Bast (also spelt Ubasti, and Pasht) is an ancient goddess, worshipped at least since the Second Dynasty. The centre of her cult was in Per-Bast (Bubastis in greek), which was named after her. Originally she was viewed as the protector goddess of Lower Egypt, and consequently depicted as a fierce lion. Indeed, her name means (female) devourer. As protectress, she was seen as defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the chief god, Ra, who was a solar deity, gaining her the titles La ...

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• Bast goddess - Bast in Popular Culture

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The Buile Shuibhne is the tale of Sweeney, a legendary king of Ulster in Ireland. The story is told in mixture of poetry and prose and exists in manuscripts dating from 1671 - 1674 but which was almost surely written and circulated in its modern form sometime in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. It is likely, from references in works going back to the tenth century, that some form of the ta ...

Read more here: » Buile Shuibhne: Encyclopedia - Buile Shuibhne

Genie is the English term for the Arabic "jinni | جن". In pre-Islamic Arabian mythology and in Islam, a jinni (also "djinni" or "djini") is a member of the jinn (or "djinn"), a race of spirits. Genie - Etymology. Genie is an Anglicization of the original Arabic term jinn. However, it may not have come directly into English language but rather through sources in Latin or French or even Spanish. It may have first been used in English as geny to mean a guardian spirit, with the first rec ...

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• Genie - Etymology
• Genie - Jinn in pre-Islamic mythology
• Genie - Jinn in Islam
• Genie - Jinn in the Occult
• Genie - Genies in Western culture
• Genie - Djinn in Popular Culture

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Crnobog (The Black God) or Pya is the god of night and darkness in Slavic mythology, and the waning year in opposition to Belobog, the White God of the waxing year. The sinister holiday of Korochun was devoted to him. It should be noted that the ancient Slavic religion, possibly influenced by Persian or Zoroastrian sources, made wide use of dualism and therefore Crnobog might not necessarily be associated with evil in the typical sense. He is simply the opposite of Belobog, just as night opposes day, winter opposes summe ...

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• Crnobog - Crnobog in Novels
• Crnobog - Crnobog in Movies
• Crnobog - Crnobog in computer and video games
• Crnobog - External link

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Anubis, is the Greek name for the ancient god in Egyptian mythology whose hieroglyphic is more accurately spelt Anpu (also Anup, Anupu, Wip, Ienpw, Inepu, Yinepu, or Inpw). Prayers to Anubis have been found carved on the most ancient tombs in Egypt, indeed the Unas text (line 70) associates him with the Eye of Horus. Anubis - Lord of the dead. Originally, in the Ogdoad system, he was god of the underworld, and his name is frequently thought to have ref ...

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• Anubis - Lord of the dead
• Anubis - Embalmer
• Anubis - Anubis in modern culture

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The Norns (Old Norse: norn, plural: nornir) of Norse mythology are three dísirs by the names of Urd (the past), Verdandi (the being) and Skuld (what is to come). (Skuld was also the name of a Valkyrie.) They live beneath the roots of Yggdrasil, the world tree at the center of the cosmos (although some accounts have it that they dwell above the arch of the Bifrost Bridge), where they weave the tapestry of fates. Each person's life is a string in their loom, and the length of the string is the length of the ...

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• Norns - Trivia

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Kobolds are ugly spirits of German folklore. The name comes from the German word kobalt or kobold meaning "evil spirit", and is often translated in English as goblin. The most common version, Heinzelmännchen, is similar to Robin Goodfellow and brownies: as household elves of ambivalent nature, they sometimes perform domestic chores, but play malicious tricks if not appeased (Hinzelmann is a particular example). Kobold is often used in German to translate the wor ...

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• Kobold - Kobolds in fantasy fiction

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In Egyptian mythology, Thoth (also spelt Thot or Thout), pronounced "tot", is the Greek name given to Djehuty (also spelt Tahuti, Tehuti, Zehuti, Techu, Tetu) - the original pronunciation of his name is disputed, and may have been approximately Tee-HOW-ti -, who was originally the deification of the moon in the Ogdoad belief system. Initially, in that system, the moon had been seen to be the eye of Horus, the sky god, which had been semi-blinded (thus darker) in a fight against S ...

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• Thoth - Thoth in more recent times
• Thoth - Thoth in media

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Urine therapy is a specialized branch of alternative medicine. Any sort of oral or external application of human urine for medicinal purposes falls into this category. Promoters of urine therapy believe urine to have many curative powers. Some cultures, especially Indian, have traditionally used urine as a medicine. According to one theory, this perhaps dates to a time when the Amanita muscaria mushroom was used as Soma in Vedic rituals. The psychoactive alkaloids of the mushroom are passed unchanged in human urine, leading to ...

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• Urine therapy - Books on the subject
• Urine therapy - In fiction

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In Japanese folklore, these animals are believed to possess great intelligence, long life, and magical powers. Foremost among these is the ability to take the shape of a human; a fox is said to learn to do this when it attains a certain age (usually a hundred years, though some tales say fifty). Kitsune usually appear in the shape of a beautiful woman, a pretty young girl, or an old man. Other powers commonly attributed to the kitsune include possession, the ability to breathe or otherwise create fire, the power to manifest in dreams, ...

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Kitsune, Kitsune - Folklore, Kitsune - Kitsune in fiction, Kitsune - Other Meanings

Read more here: » Kitsune: Encyclopedia II - Kitsune - Folklore

Originally, in the Ogdoad system, he was god of the underworld, and his name is frequently thought to have reflected this, meaning something like putrefaction. He was said to have a wife, Anput (who was really just his female aspect, her name being his with an additional feminine suffix: the t), who was depicted exactly the same, though feminine. His father was originally said to be Ra, as he was the creator god, and thus his mother was said to be Hesat, Ra's wife, who later was identified as Hathor (who her identity was ...

See also:

Anubis, Anubis - Lord of the dead, Anubis - Embalmer, Anubis - Anubis in modern culture

Read more here: » Anubis: Encyclopedia II - Anubis - Lord of the dead

The Colonel's secret recipe of eleven herbs and spices remains one of the best-kept trade secrets in business. The original, handwritten recipe is locked securely in a vault in Louisville, with partial copies stored elsewhere as backup. The two suppliers of the seasonings each only provide parts of the recipe, and do not know each other's identity. Not even the company's president knows the ingredient list, and the few people who do are subject to a strict confidentiality agreement. Several people have contacted KFC, claiming to have found c ...

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Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kentucky Fried Chicken - Food, Kentucky Fried Chicken - Controversy, Kentucky Fried Chicken - Slogans, Kentucky Fried Chicken - Countries with KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken - Industrial relations, Kentucky Fried Chicken - Trivia

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Charlie is a boring person with a boring, but contented, life. Then his father dies and abnormal things start to happen. There's his brother, even though he knows he has no brother, or thought so. When his brother, Spider, arrives for a visit Charlie becomes desperate to get rid of the brother who seems to do impossible at will and has stolen Charlie's life as well as his fiancee. But trying to get rid of his brother only makes things worse. Charlie has to confront the fact that his father was the ancient trickster god Anansi and that niether Charlie nor his life is normal any more. He'll just have to live with it, and up to ...

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Anansi Boys, Anansi Boys - Plot, Anansi Boys - External link

Read more here: » Anansi Boys: Encyclopedia II - Anansi Boys - Plot