Special Topics in Folklore and Mythology

Astronomical Bears Birds Cats Christian Christmas and Winter Solstice Cinderella-related Computer-related Fairies Flowers Ghosts Goddess, women in mythology Grimm's Fairy Tales Halloween Hero Hyenas Meteorological Mineralogical Mithraism Mushrooms and other Psychoactive Substances Musical Sacred Geometry and Pythagoreanism Science Fiction and Mythology Snakes, Serpents, and Dragons Storytelling Trees UFOs Urban Folklore and Legends

This page offers links to information about folklore and mythology topics of particular interest to me that cut across many cultural and geographical regions. In particular, I believe that the influence of astronomical events and castastrophes in the origins of myths and legends, is not always fully appreciated. Some of the astronomical ideas presented in these links are generally accepted. Others are very unorthodox. Probably the most popular mythology link here is Mark Isaak's Flood Stories From Around The World. He offers an excellent collection of flood stories along with a bibliography.

Astronomical

• AEON is a journal devoted to mythological interpretation in the Velikovsky tradition of recent planetary catastrophes.
• Alex Michael Bonnici's Astronomy Page. offers annotated links to sites about archaeoastronomy.
• Andromeda, Lady of Fall by Brian Mason discusses the myths associated with the constellation of Andromeda.
• Base for Calendar Exploration by Bill Hollon discusses the history of calendars and telling time across many different cultures. Includes many myths about astronomical objects.
• Bob Kobres's home page offers mythological interpretation from the catastrophist viewpoint of Clube and Napier.
• Celestial David and Goliath presents an idea by F. Graham Miller postulating an astronomical origin for this legend among prehistoric Sanskrit-speaking peoples. Miller suggests Bootes was David while Orion was Goliath.
• Cheryl Robertson's Whole Moon Page offers a collection of folklore about the moon.
• Comets: Fear and Loathing offers a brief look at legends associated with comets.
• Constellations by Frank presents the history and mythology surrounding those shapes in the night sky.
• Constellations by Richard Dibon-Smith offers information on the 88 constellations, including the Greek myths associated with many of them.
• Hamlet's Mill offers Craig Rairdin's review of this seminal work on astronomical bases for mythology written by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend.
• Homer's Astronomy offers an short essay on the astronomical background in Homer's Illiad and Odyssey.
• Ian's Lunar Page includes mythology about the moon.
• Japanese Starlore presents legends of the sun, moon, stars, planets, meteors, and comets, as well as information about Japanese amateur astronomers.
• Jerry Elizares suggests several symbols (the Holy Grail, the Omphalos, the Ark of the Covenant, the Tree of Life, and others.) have celestial origins in the constellations of Pegasus and Pisces.
• Legends of Forever by Madhury Ray offers a compilation of legends of the sun and information on their respective cultures.
• Luna's Moon Page offers moon lore, moon mythology and symbolism, and Sailor Moon mythology.
• Meteorite Legends from around the world appear on this page at The Meteorite Market web site.
• Meteors and the Native Americans by Gary W. Kronk discusses meteor lore among various Native American peoples. Includes a bibliography.
• Mill of Time: Celestial Cycles and Ancient Mythological Science by Terry Alden discusses myths of precession as presented by Giorgio de Santilliana and Hertha von Dechend in their book "Hamet's Mill."
• MoonXcape offers moon facts, folklore, cycles, weather lore, and more.
• Mythology from the University of Michigan offers a compendium of myths related to the Sun, Moon, Earth, Planets, and Stars.

• Orion Mystery sites

  • Solos Home Page by Adrian Gilbert offers a defence of the book which he co-authored with Robert Bauval.

  
  
• PASSAGE by Maurice Diepeveen offers his musings on cultural and spiritual etiology, based upon the ideas of Zecharia Sitchen.
• Pleiades Mythology by Steven Gibson provides an overview of the extensive mythology associated with the Pleiades or "seven sisters" star cluster.
• Solar Folklore offers tales about the Sun, primarily from Native American sources.
• Star Myths offers scholarly information and images relating to the 48 classical constellations of Greece and Rome. This site is associated with the recently published book Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook, translation and commentary by Dr. Theony Condos.
• Stars and Constellations includes myths about the constellations.
• Stellar Lore offers myths and legends about the moon and constellations as well as poetry about the moon and the sky.
• Wise Women of the DreamTime offers a review by PRF Brown of the book of this title edired by Johanna Lambert, which contains stories originally collected by K. Langloh Parker. Includes a few short extracts from the book.

Bears

• Bear Stories by Glenn Welker offers bear tales from several Native American peoples.
• Bears by Gary Coulbourne and Phil Pollard presents names used as terms of respect for bears, a description of the Ainu bear ritual, and Scandinavian mythology about bears. Bear cults have played an important part in the development of human societies throughout the world.

Birds

• Bird Tales by Dick E. Bird News offers a brief overview of the history of birds and winged creatures in mythology.

Cats

• C.A.T.S. and World Mythology by Michael Pio Deguara offers mythology and folklore about cats from all over the world.
• Cat folklore by Corbin Dunn discusses the lore of the black cat, and the relationship between the cat and mouse in legends about the beginning of the world.
• Cat Folklore offers folklore and superstitions about cats.
• Cat Folklore and Mystery by Vanessa offers cat weather lore, cat spells and charms, cat dream interpretations, and more.
• Cat Legends, Folklore, Fables by Diane offers "Why Don't Cats Wash Up Before They Eat?", "How Pussy Willows Got Their Name," "Cats and Witches," and other cat-related stories and legends.
• Cats!!! by Corbin Dunn includes folklore about cats.
• Cybercat's Space offers a look at myths involving cats and gods: Bast, Ra, Diana, Freya, Tsun-Kyanske, and others.
• Grenouille Cattery offers the Legend of the Welcoming Cat from Japan.

Christian

• Mary's Gardens discusses floral folklore in Medieval Catholicism.
• Saint Valentine's Day Legends by Michael Allen Gates discusses the origins of this holiday.

Christmas and Winter Solstice

• Christmas Page by David K. Brown offers stories about Christmas and links to related sites.
• Christmas 'round the World (Wide Web) offers stories and legends about Christmas.
• Holiday Greetings from Nightkitchen offers Solstice-related myths and legends.
• Legend of the Candy Cane by Howard W. Powers offers the story of the candy maker who wanted to invent a candy that was a witness to Christ.
• Legend of the Sand Dollar appears on D. J.'s Shadow Box page.
• Magi: The Quest for a Secret Brotherhood offers a summary of Adrian Gilbert's ideas about the astronomical underpinnings of the Star of Bethlehem.
• Santa legends and folklore by Patricia McCarty offers legends about "Father Christmas" from many European countries and America.
• Solstice Evergreen by Sheryl Ann Karas talks about her book on the history, folklore, and origins of the Solstice evergreen. Web pages include the Swiss tale of the singing fir tree.
• Star of Bethlehem by John Charles Webb, Jr. suggests that the Star of Bethlehem was a rare planetary configuration which occurred in March, 5 B.C.
• 'Tis the Season To be Giving by I. Robert Von Rudloff suggests Santa Claus originated from legends surrounding the Horned God leading the Wild Hunt.
• Winter Festivals by Carol McCullough discusses winter feasts and festivals from around the world.

Cinderella-related

• Cinderella Project: Home Page from the English department of the University of South Mississippi offers a text and image archive containing a dozen English-language versions of the Cinderella fairy tale.
• Cinderella Stories is a list of references to variants on the Cinderella story compiled by Kathy Martin and David K. Brown.
• In Search of Cinderella (world-wide) offers a bibliography of story books (with thumnbnail images of the book covers) each of whose premise is a variant on the Cinderella story.

Computer-related

• Myths and Legends of the Internet discusses the Goodtimes email virus and the X Windows virus, among other things.

Fairies

• Faerie Encyclopedia by Rebecca Lehmann offers an alphabetical list of the denizens of the Fey Folk. Attempts to cover the many types of faeries defined in folklore. Includes information on fairy locales, flora and trees, poetry, superstitions, and more.
• Faeries, Elves, and whatnot by Dryta discusses faeries, elves, dragons, unicorns, gnomes, goblins, and other legendary creatures.
• Fairyweb by Tara offers links to fairy sites. Includes a collection of fairy pictures.
• Forest of Ealdwood discusses fairies, primarily from Celtic lore. There are also sections on King Arthur and Beowulf.

Flowers

• Language of Flowers discusses the meanings behind different floral arrangements, including roses.

Ghosts

• Ghost stories is an FTP site offering many downloadable ghost stories in text format.
• Ghost Stories and Folklore by Samuel K. Spitzner is part of the WWW Virtual Library and offers a variety of stories and personal anecdotes about ghosts.
• Invisible Ink by Chris Woodyard offers reviews and excerpts from over 500 books on ghosts from around the world.

Goddess, women in mythology

• Clio: Women in Mythology, Religion and Herstory by Rebecca Salek offers stories and essays about creation, the descent of the gods, goddesses, muses, amazons, and women and religion.
• Dark Goddesses by Robin M. Weare discusses Artemis, Hecate, Kali, the death goddesses, monsters like the gorgon, warrior goddesses and women. Includes a bibliography for further reading.
• Goddess Study Outline offered by Martha L. Embry.
• Goddesses of the World by Kat offers information on goddesses from Norway, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and other cultures.
• Kat's Realm by Travis Masterson offers information on Amazons in Greek Mythology, Faeries, Goddesses of the World, and Mermaids and other mythical sea beings.
• On and on: G is for Goddess by J. Henderson offers annotated links to goddess sites.
• Selene's Shrine to the Goddess by Selene Morgana offers information on Selene, Lilith, Isis, Kali, and Hecate from a modern pagan point of view.
• TripleE Goddess Guide by Rufus C. Camphausen offers an encyclopedia of goddesses with images, bibliography, and more.
• Witches' Web offers information on Goddess symbols, myths, and legends.

Grimm's Fairy Tales

• Cinderella
• Classic fairy tales (texts of; gopher)
• Grimm's Fairy Tales offers the text of about one hundred fairy tales.
• Little Red Cap
• Rapunzel

Halloween

• Halloween: Facts And Misinformation tries to clear up misconceptions about various religious festivals which take place around November 1.

Hero

• Archetypal Hero in Literature, Religion, Movies, and Popular Culture: A Graduate Project by B. Davis looks at what heros like Moses, King Arthur, William Wallace, and Simba have in common.

Hyenas

• Folklore About Hyenas offers European and African folklore about the hyena. Mentions that the spotted hyena is to Africa what the black cat is in the U.S. -- the premier witch animal, uncanny and terrifying.

Meteorological

• Aurora discusses the nature of the aurora and points to the page below on auroral folklore.
• Auroral Folklore offers lore about the aurora from the Inuit and medieval Europe. There is also a form which allows you to send the authors your favorite auroral tale.
• Flood Stories From Around The World by Mark Isaak offers an excellent collection of flood stories along with a bibliography.
• Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra legend is a book by Robert M Best which suggests that the Near Eastern flood myths are exagerated retellings of an actual river flood event that took place in Shuruppak in Sumeria about 2900 BC. The web pages offer extensive summaries of the material from the book.
• Northern Lights and Folklore includes two historical representations of auroral phenomena as well as a modern photograph.
• Rainbow Mythology by Fred Stern discusses rainbow myths from around the world.
• Selected Bibliography of Weather Related Mythology
• Tornado myths and misconceptions counters some widely held folk beliefs about tornados, including the mistaken belief that the safest place is the southwest corner of a basement.
• Weather Flashes offers weather lore and proverbs.
• Weather proverbs by Shirley A. Arora, which comes from the journal De Proverbio, discusses Spanish weather proverbs.
• Weather Proverbs and Folklore by Riley Koch looks American weather-related provresb and folkore and discusses whether they have any validity.
• Weather Signs offers traditional Appalachian weather forecasting methods which rely on observation of plants, insects, animals, and other natural signs.
• Weatherlore from the National Weather Service offers folklore about weather.
• Winter Festivals by Carol McCullough offers a look at the history of winter solstice festivals.

Mineralogical

• Foxfire Jewelers offers extracts from the book Gemstones: Beauty, Lore, and Fascination by Michael F. Babinski which discusses the history, legends, and folklore surrounding gemstones.
• International Colored Gemstone Association offers some tidbits of folklore about gemstones.

Mithraism

• Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras by David Ulansey offers an astronomical interpretation of the Mithraic cult by a leading contemporary Mithraic scholar.
• Mithraism offers an essay by Alison B. Griffith, written for The Ecole Initiative, on the history and meaning of Mithraism. Covers both the traditional Cumontian and alternative astronomical interpretations of K. B. Stark and Roger Beck.

Mushrooms and other Psychoactive Substances

• Erowid - Sacred Mushrooms discusses the use of psychoactive substances, derived from mushrooms, in sacred traditions. Includes links to related web sites.
• Mushrooms and Magic: the Mycotheology Home Page by Vicka discusses the use of psychoactive mushrooms in ancient Greece, India, South America, and the present.
• Robert Graves on Myths and Mushrooms summarizes his thoughts on mycotheology in ancient Greek culture.

Musical

• Doorways In Consciousness: An Exploration Of Resonant Being by Carlisle Bergquist offers an essay on the role played by sound (as music, toning, chant, instruments, and prayer) in religions, creation myths and sacred technologies of various cultures.
• Percussion Folktales by Mary Mark offers stories involving drums.

Sacred Geometry and Pythagoreanism

• Mathematics of the Ancient Mysteries by Charlie Higgins discusses mathematics in astrology, alchemy, I Ching, Kaballah.
• Sacred Geometry Home Page by Bruce Rawles discussses the "principle of oneness underlying all geometry that permeates the architecture of all form in its myriad diversity."
• Sacred Landscape by Catherine Yronwode offers information on sacred architecture, sacred geometry, sacred landscape, archaeoastronomy, and vernacular sacred sites.
• School of Pythagoras by Mark Alexander offers a wealth of links to sites about sacred geometry and Pythogoras. Includes a bibliography which includes tables of contents and excerpts from important works about these subjects.

Science Fiction and Mythology

• Mythology and Science Fiction is an essay by Christi Malmberg which discusses appearances of ancient history and mythology in modern science fiction and fantasy.
• Science Fiction as the New Mythology is an essay by D. T. Sagolla II discussing the role of science fiction as the expression of modern mythology.

Snakes, Serpents, and Dragons

• Here Be Dragons by Shelly Farnham offers a fine selection of dragon images, a bibliography about dragons, and links to web sites about dragons,
• Naga: The Serpent by Soror Ourania discusses the symbolism of the serpent throughout the ancient world.
• Ouroboros offers information about the history and meaning of the "serpent swallowing its own tale" motif.
• Serpent's Prayer: The Psychology of an Image by Greg Mogenson offers a Jungian look at the serpent as an archetypal symbol.
• Snake Mythology by Scott Jackson discusses the role of snakes in mythology and folklore throughout the world.

Storytelling

• Aaron Shepard's Storytelling Page offers his "Gifts of Story" series, an online guide for beginning storytellers, articles of interest to storytellers, a bibliography of recommended folklore titles, annotated link to online resources for storytellers, and more.
• Odds Bodkin, Master Talesman offers news, articles, performance schedules, posters, an online audio store, and more for this storyteller. You may also find his ongoing long "tale in the ancient manner" entitled The Rowan Canticles of interest.
• Storytelling FAQ by Tim Sheppard covers frequently asked questions about the art of storytelling as discussed in the USENET new group alt.arts.storytelling .
• Tales From Afar lists storytelling events around the world.
• Tall Tales on the Web by Jason Webb describes Tall Tales at the Trip, a storytelling event held at Nottingham in England's oldest pub, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. Includes links to storytelling pages.

Trees

• Sacred Woods and the Lore of Trees by Jennifer Smith discusses the apple tree, ash, birch, elm, hawthorn, hazel, holly, larch, maple, oak, and yew.
• Tree and Plant Lore offers folklore about various trees and plants. Includes a bibliography.

UFOs

• UFO Folklore by Dan Geib offers what he considers to be "the most substantial portion of the Greatest Folklore of the Century, UFOs."

Urban Folklore and Legends

• Barbara's Tales of the Wooden Spoon and Urban Legends Reference Pages by Barabara and David P. Mikkelson and the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society offers a collection of urban legends, curious and unusual facts, and rumors. Includes a searchable database.
• Guinness Beer FAQt and Folklore discusses a variety of Urban legends surrounding the famous Irish beer maker.
• Jean Fideler's Generation X Mythology offers a sampling of anecdotes including gems like "Alice Cooper is Eddie Haskell from Leave It To Beaver," "Mr. Green Jeans is Frank Zappa's Dad," "Chewing gum stays in your stomach for seven years," and many more.
• Mat's Page of Urban Mythology by Mat Honan offers a collection of Urban Legends, "the pop culture folklore of the modern era."
• Monkeyburgers by Patrick Arink offers urban legends about sex, computers, celebrities, human weakness, death, animals, unpleasant events, and more.
• Skew: Legends in our own time by Eric Schmoyer.
• Uncle Ken's Urban Myth Page includes the Neiman-Marcus recipe story, the winning woman in Las Vegas, the great kidney harvest caper, and more.
• Urban Legends and Myths by Brendan Delaney offers pointers to web sites which information about urban legends on a variety of topics.
• Urban Legends Reference Page: College offers urban legends about academia and the college experience.
• Urban Legends Reference Page: Disney offers myths, legends, and rumors about Walt Disney, Disney theme parks, and Disney characters.
• Urban Legends Reference Page: Sex indexes legends and stories pertaining to sex, love, and romance.

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Last modified by pib on February 17, 2002.