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Nuragic - Island Nation of Sardinia

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The Mediterranean was the heart of Bronze Age Europe and North Africa, which is why most of its great civilizations developed near its coastlines. And while the eastern part of the sea is quite well known, thanks to the Egyptians, Mycenaeans (Greeks) and Hittites, the western shores were far from empty. Indeed, they had quite a number of people who settled in and d eveloped their own nations, even if they were not as great and mighty as their eastern counterparts. One such culture was the Nuragic, great builders in their own right living on the teeny tiny island of Sardinia.   The Nuragic people came from the Bell Beaker Culture, which had migrated to the island. Here, isolated from continental Europe , they developed their own distinct ident ity around the year 2000 BCE. The Nuragic history is quite long, as they remained the masters of the island until the arrival of the Phoenicians around the year 900 BCE. Despite early amicable relationships, a certain powerful Phoenician ...
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Baba Yaga - The Slavic Witch

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Everyone is familiar with the image of a cranky old hag living in the woods doing strange things in her hut. Well, Slavic myths have the end-game boss of this archetype, the witch Baba Yaga, who haunts the woods and, depending on her mood, could be a blessing as much as a curse. Also, she lives in a house mounted on chicken legs so she could change scenery whenever she wants... where can I get one?   In today’s day and age, Baba Yaga is often used as an evil witch serving as an obstacle for the heroes to defeat . However, in Slavic folklore, her character is far more complex, being sometimes helpful when you ask nicely. That’s not to say Baba Yaga is a benevolent figure, she’s still cruel , dangerous, and ultimately works for her own benefit, even if she has some redeeming quality sometimes. Her character is ultimately hard to pin down , as ethics seem to change from one story to another .   For example, in the tale of Vasilisa the Brave, our titular hero is sent...
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God and Figures of Death in Mythologies

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The concept of death and the afterlife has alway s been a major aspect of the various mythologies and religions around the world, well save a few exceptions like Shintoism. As such, mystical figures ruling over the domain of death generally become important figures in the many pantheons that existed in our history, although not all of them were gods .   Speaking of which, these lesser figures tend to be more obscure than the death gods, as they either hail from older mythologies that are less well known or belong to a more niche following. An example of the latter is, of course, the Baron de Samedi from Haitian Voodoo. S ince it is still widely practiced in the Caribbean , the Baron thus is extremely well known in the region. The Baron de Samedi's main function is to manage all the voodoo figures connected to death, like his wife Maman Brigitte, as well as watching the crossroads between the living and the dead. Outside of his homeland, the Baron still enjoys quite a bit of...
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