Flo's History

Hindu Mythology is full of colourful characters, all of which have some crazy stories to tell from epic quests to your average household adventure. Today’s story belongs to the latter as you will discover the origin  s tory of the elephant-headed god Ganesha, better known as Ganesh, patron of wisdom and endeavors. Everything started with one of the most polarizing couples in mythology, as well as one of the most powerful . Parvati was the daughter of the Himalayas , because having normal parents was probably to base, and goodness of motherhood and compassion , under normal c ircumstances . Meanwhile Shiva was a warlike deity who was tasked with destroying the universe at the end of its cycle of life, paving the way for a new one. However, their marriage seemed to be one of the healthiest among the deivines, and the two tend to get along well. However just like all couples, disputes were bound to happen from time to time. During one of Shiva’s meditations, Parvati decid...

Dungeon and Dragons, the first and most popular RPG game designed, isn’t lacking in the departments of monsters to throw at the players . Among them, the Manticore stands as one of its most utilized and popular one , serving as early challenges for low- level parties. But just like the vast majorities of dnd monsters, the Manticore take roots in real life mythology of the lands of the Achaemenid Empire, better known as Persia. Just like most ancient mythological monsters, the Manticore’s appearances varied from time to time but kept some core features. These being a man-faced lion with a scorpion tale delivering paralyzing poisons, while wings and throwing quills being added eve ry known and then. Behavior- wise, the Manticore was purely a feral predator, killing to eat rather than inflicting torment and its appetite was ravenous. Its three rows of teeth allowed them to chew anything between flesh and bone to metal and stone, leaving nothing of its victims behind. The creature wa...

  Slavic mythology is full of surprises, and by surprises I mean horrible monsters that will kill you painfully. This might be caused by the fact that Eastern Europe remained rather wild and unexplored deep into the medieval age and even into the Renaissance, allowing for far more horrible tales to develop. Keep in mind that Baba Yaga, a witch who has the reputation of a cranky and vindictive granny, is actually on the nicer end of the spectrum Anyway, the entity that will interest us today is the Strzyga, a cursed woman who has returned as a scary, predatory creature that feasts on humans. Its nocturnal lifestyle and habit on eating humans had caused the Strzyga to be associated with vampires, which she definitely shares some resemblances with.   As mentioned, Strzyga starts as a woman with a curse that gives them two souls, teeth rows and hearts. And since people are always welcoming to those looking slightly different from the masses, these women are always chased off into ...

  With the arrival of the Christmas season, legends and traditions from this celebration start to resurface. The most common in the West is, of course, Santa Claus, who used to be known as Saint-Nicholas, and his Gulag... I mean the toy factory in the North Pole. But did you know that Saint Nicholas wasn't the only one who visited children in December? If the patron of children delivered presents to those who behaved well, someone else came along to punish the disobedient. This being was Krampus, also known as Belsnickle or Knecht Ruprecht. He was a sort of devil following the Saint during his annual visit. If you couldn't tell already, he was German. While Saint Nicholas would distribute presents to nice children, as we mentioned earlier, Krampus came to punish the misbehaving ones by either beating them up with a stick (when he was feeling nice), eating them or dragging them to hell (if they were REALLY pushing it). So, kids, behave or else…! Like all old legends, it is a bit...

  Some time ago, Disney released a Marvel series based on the character Moon Knight, featuring the anti-hero Egyptian moon god Khonshu. In the series, he is the god of justice, punishing those who committed evil and protecting the "travellers of the light". Now returning to the real world, Khonshu is inspired by a real-life Egyptian god (sure they wouldn't get inspired by a Maori deity!) named Khonsu. Yeah, creativity was on vacation the day Marvel named this character. Just like his Marvel counterpart, he is the god of the moon. Unlike his Marvel counterpart, he has nothing to do with justice and vengeance. Justice was the domain of the goddess  Matt , while vengeance was the domain of the dreaded Sekhmet.  Khonsu, besides representing the moon, also ruled over time and …baboons?  Sometimes mythology is undoubtedly weird. Back to Khonsu himself, in terms of appearance, he is one of the rare Egyptian gods with a human head and is described as relatively young. This i...

  After exploring the famed Kelpie, let’s discover a more exotic being for this week. The Akhlut is a monster hailing from the legends of the Inuit’s inhabiting the arctic regions. Like most of the supernatural creatures of the area, the Akhlut is more of a spirit than a creature, only taking physical form when active. The Akhlut is quite a badass spirit. He is generally portrayed as a mix between a wolf and an orca. If you don’t find this awesome, nothing will meet your expectations! However, being the mix of two predators means that this creature is not to be messed with. It is considered extremely dangerous by the Inuit tribes. The spirit is known to be quite ravenous, preying on anything that it can find, but it seems to have a taste for human flesh. The Akhlut would only take physical form when it is hungry, which is about all the time. Most of the time, it would attack isolated fishermen or travellers sleeping close to the seashore. However, it is not unheard of that when the...

Well, after the last three posts being about a historical figure, I think it is time that we return to the supernatural part of cultures. Let’s visit one of the most recognizable monsters of Scottish mythology, which at first glance may not look like it but is very much of the mythical world. Today I present you the Kelpie. Kelpies are shapeshifting monsters, usually resembling a great black or grey horse. They live exclusively in aquatic environments like lakes or rivers and only ever go to the surface to hunt. Be wary of them as Kelpies are expert hunters. They use their appearance to attract unsuspecting victims before dragging any unfortunate individual into the depth of their domain to be devoured. Their body is also extremely adhesive, making approaching one even more dangerous. If you couldn’t tell already, that creature isn’t exactly the friendliest thing to hang around. I mean it will be more than happy to invite you for dinner, except you are the dinner. Kelpies, however, are...

  Buddha, the founder of the Buddhist religion, is one of the most well-known figures in India and Tibet. However, his path to illumination wasn’t an easy journey, with one encounter in particular, which will be today's topic of interest. This being is known as Mara, the demon King of the Sixth Realm. Mara is a recurrent figure in Buddhist texts, being a usual adversary of Prince Siddhartha before he became Buddha. But first, we need to understand where this figure comes from. Unfortunately for us, his origins are incredibly blurry, with no legend covering where this being came from. Regarding inspiration, it is highly debated that its creation might have been inspired by an entity dating back from an even older folklore, now forgotten. It was noted that every culture based in India had its own version of Mara, making him a rather widespread concept. Regarding his various conflicts with Buddha, there is one for which he is truly known for. The demon always had a grudge against the ...