Aloka-nanda: One of the four branches of the river Ganges, which flows south of thecountry of Bharata. This is said by the Vaishnavas to be the terrestrial Gang , whichSiva received upon his head. (DOWSON, H. C. D., p. II.) Alpe: In Germany the Mara (q.v.) is usually designated by this name. Alphito: In Classical mythology these were beings which belonged to the same class asthe Lamia (q.v.). Al Raqim: In the Qor an (Sura xviii) this is a name connected with the legend of theSeven Sleepers; it usually refers to their dog, now in Paradise and in charge of lettersand correspondence. Alraune: It is a kind of Kobold who brings gold through the chimneys. (East Friesland,
Oldenburg, WUTTKE, P. 230). Alrinach: In Eastern mythology it is the demon who causes shipwrecks and presidesover storms and earthquakes. When visible, it is always in the form and dress of awoman (BASSETT, p. 69). cf. Nixe, Lorelei, Siren, Jal Pari, Bugarik. Al Sirat: An imaginary bridge between the earth and the Mahometan paradise; it is notso wide as a spider s web. Those laden with sin fall over into the abyss below. cf.
Bifrost. Alsvid: Vide Arvak. Altar: To dream that you are kneeling at an altar is a bad omen. Alte: Old one it is the name of a Teutonic field-spirit in human form. Alu: In Babylonian superstition this was a demon. The word signifies the strong one. Alukah: The blood-sucker or vampire (q.v.) of Jewish superstition whose two daughterscontinually cry: Give, give. It is none other than the Ghoul (q.v.) of the Arabs. (WELLHAUSEN,
Vol. III, PP. 135-7). Alwantin: In the Deccan it is the spirit of a pregnant woman, one dying on the day ofchildbirth or within the puerperal pollution. (JACKSON, F.L.N., Vol. II, P. 55.) Amalthea: Class. Myth. The goat which nourished Jupiter. One of her horns becamethe horn of abundance. Amara-Kantaka: Peak of the Immortals ; it is a place of pilgrimage in the table-landeast of the Vindhyas. (DOWSON, H.C.D., p. II.)
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And it would work em woe:
For all averred I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow.
COLERIDGE: The Ancient Mariner, II, 3.
Vide Petrel.
Al Borak: This is the name of the animal which conveyed Mahomet to the seventh
heaven. He not only spoke good Arabic, but had also a human face. He was brought
by Gabriel. His other peculiarities were: he had the cheeks of a horse and the wings of
an eagle. cf. Balaam s Ass, Arion, Achilles Horses.
Alceste: Gr. Myth. Daughter of Pellias and wife of Admete (q.v.). After her death
Hercules entered the infernal regions to bring her back to earth again.
Alceus: Gr. Myth. Son of Perseus, grandfather of Hercules.
Alcide: Gr. Myth. Grandson of Alceus. Surname of Hercules and his descendants.
Alcmaeon: Gr. Myth. A son of Amphira s, leader of the Epigoni against Thebes. He was
driven mad by the Erinyes for killing his mother Eriphyle (q.v.). He was slain by a son of
Phegeus.
Alcmene: Gr. Myth. The wife of Amphitryon and mother of Herakles (Hercules) by Zeus.
Alcyon: A fabulous bird which was supposed to build its nest on the calm waters of the
sea. It was regarded as a bird of good omen. (Petit Larousse illustr , P. 26.)
Alcyone: Gr. Myth. Daughter of Eolus, wife of the King of Trachis. She and her husband
were changed into alcyons.
Alectoria: It is a stone extracted from a capon. It is said to render the wearer invisible,
to allay thirst, to antidote enchantment and to ensure love. cf. Agate.
Alecto: Gr. Myth. One of the three Erinnys or Furies.
Alectryon: Gr. Myth. A youth sent by Mars to guard against surprise. He fell asleep, and
Apollo surprised Mars and Venus in each other s arms. Mars, in anger, changed
Alectryon into a cock.
Alexandrite: A species of beryl found in Siberia; it shows the Russian imperial colours-red
and green–and is named from the Emperor Alexander of Russia.
Allatu: In Babylonian mythology this is the name of the wife of Nergal (q.v.). Vide Aralu.
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Ahura-Mazdas: Vide Ormazd.
Airavat: Hind. Myth. A fine elephant. An elephant produced at the churning of the ocean
and appropriated by the god Indra (q.v.)
Airi: Indian Folklore. The ghost of someone who was killed in hunting. Those who see
Airi face to face are burnt up by the flash of his eye, or are torn to pieces by his dogs,
or have their livers extracted and eaten by the fairies who accompany him. (CROOKE,
P.R.I., Vol. I., p. 262; Ethnologie du Bengale, p. 100). cf. Wild Huntsman.
Ajagava: Hindu Myth. The primitive bow of Siva (q.v.), which fell from heaven at the
birth of Prithu. (DOWSON, H.C.D., p. 10.)
Ajax: Gr. Myth. The names of two heroes of the Trojan war, which has remained synonymous
with impetuous warriors.
Akhkhazu: The Seizer. In Babylonian superstition it was an evil spirit, who had the
power of securing his victim under his control. cf. Labasu.
Akratos: Gr. Myth. It was the potent spirit of the unmixed wine.
Akupara: Hind. Myth. The tortoise or turtle on which the earth rests. (DOWSON,
H.C.D., p. 10.)
Vide Earthquake.
Akuti: Hindu Myth. The daughter of Manu, who was given to the patriarch Ruchi. She
bore twins, Yaj a and Dakshina, who became husband and wife and had twelve sons,
the deities called Yamas (DOWSON, H.C.D., p. 10).
Aladin s Wonderful Lamp: Al -ud-Din (Aladin), the son of a poor tailor, obtains a certain
lamp. Every time this lamp is rubbed, a jinn (q.v.) appears and executes all his commands.
Aladin becomes a rich man, but the lamp is afterwards obtained by a trick by a
magician. After a series of adventures, Aladin succeeds in killing the magician and
recovering his lamp. (BURTON, Alif laila wa laila.)
Alasnam s Mirror: This mirror remained unsullied when it reflected a chaste and pure-
minded woman, but became dim when the woman reflected on it was faithless, wanton
and light. cf. Florimel s Girdle, etc.
Al-A war: A son of Iblis, a jinn (q.v.), who encourages debauchery. (Jew. Enc. Vol. IV, P.
521.)
Albatross: In sailors superstition, this bird is supposed to cause the wind to blow; if this
bird be killed, some terrible disaster will happen to the ship. (BASSETT, p. 128.)
And I had done a hellish thing,
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Agdistis: Gr. Myth. The Great Mother was so called at her reputedly original shrine at
Pessinus from the rock Agdus on Mt. Dindimus.
Age: One should never tell his age to others, lest he die. (STRACKERJAN, Vol. I, P.
49.)
To ascertain a girl s age, pull a hair from her bead, tie a ring to it and hang this inside a
tumbler or a goblet in such a manner that it does not touch the sides of the glass; the
ring will begin to oscillate and will strike the sides as many times as the number of
years the girl s exact age is. (Parts of Gt. Britain).
Aghasura: Hind. Myth. An Asura (q.v.) who was Kansa s general. He assumed the form
of a vast serpent, and Krishna s companions, the cowherds, entered its mouth, mistaking
it for a mountain cavern; Krishna rescued them. (DOWSON, H.C.D., p. 6).
Aglaia: Class. Myth. One of the three Graces (q.v.).
Agni: Fire. One of the most ancient and sacred objects of Hindu worship. It appears in
three phases in heaven as the sun, in mid-air as lightning and on earth as ordinary
fire. (DOWSON, H.C.D, p. 6.)
(ii) The most important of the Vedic gods; originally the god of the altar fire, he yet represents
a trinity in which to earthly fire are joined the lightning and the sun. He is themediator between gods and men. He is represented as red and with two faces.
Ague: The two patron saints for this disease are: St. Pernel and St. Petronella. VideIliad, Spider. (Various remedies are given in Lean s Collectanea, Vol. II, Pt. ii, PP. 483et seq.) Ahasverus: A legendary personage better known by the name of the Wandering Jew(q.v.). Ahi: Hindu Myth. A serpent. A name of Vritra, the Vedic demon of drought (DOWSON,
H.C.D., p. 9). Ahlmakoh: In the Vancouver Islands this is a kind of demoniac wood-spirit. He plays animportant part in the ritual as an amulet-dispenser. His nasal mucus is valued as anamulet for invulnerability. Ahnfrau: In German superstition she is an ancestress of some noble family, whose spirit
appears to give warning of an approaching disaster or death. cf. White Lady,
Melusine, Bertha, Death Warnings. Ahriman: In Zoroastrianism he is the spirit of evil. He stands at the head of the host ofevil spirits; he is the prince of darkness personified and is malevolent in the extreme.
He was the Evil Principle or Being of the ancient Persians.
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AEgisthus: Gr. Myth. Son of Thyestus and Palopea. He killed Agamemnon, after having
seduced his wife Clytemnestra.
AEgle: Gr. Myth. One of the Hesperides.
AEgyptus: Gr. Myth. A son of Balus, twin brother of Dana s and king of Libya, who
conquered and gave his name to Egypt.
Aello : Gr. Myth. One of the Harpies (q.v.).
AEolus: Class. Myth. The happy ruler of the AEolian Isles, who had dominion over the
winds.
AEsculapius: Rom. Myth. The god of medicine.
AEsir: Teut. Myth. The chief gods of the Teutonic pantheon. With the AEsir were associated
the Asynjur or goddesses, of whom there were eighteen.
Aesma: In Persian mythology this is a clearly defined, outrageous and assaulting
demon, whose name has been thought to be reflected as Asmodaeus in the Book of
Tobit. (D.R.E., Vol. IV, p. 620.)
AEthra: Gr. Myth. Mother of Theseus.
Afanc: In Wales an Afanc is regarded as a kind of crocodile, but it was originally, in the
opinion of Sir John Rhys, a kind of monster in human form, as is suggested by the Irish
cognate Abhac. (D.R.E., Vol. IV, p. 576.)
Afrit: In Arabic demonology Afrit is the chief of the demons. The word in Arabic simply
means a demon.
Afterbirth: If dogs eat of the afterbirth of mares, they will go mad. (STRACKERJAN,
Vol. I, P. 49; See PLOSS, Das Weib, Vol. II. P. 221 et seq.).
Agamemnon: Son of Atreus, brother of Menelaus, husband of Clytemnestra by whom
he was slain with the help of AEgisthus.
Agate: Agate quenches thirst, if kept in the mouth; it also has the power of allaying
fever. It is supposed to render the wearer invisible ; it turns the swords of foes against
themselves.
The agate is the emblem of health and long life and is dedicated to June.
In the Zodiac it stands for Scorpio. cf. Alectoria.
Agatha, St.: She protects from fire (q.v.).
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Aderyn y Corph: In Welsh folk-lore it is a kind of supernatural bird which appears as aforeteller of death. Vide Death Warnings, etc. Adhyatman: Hind. Myth. The supreme spirit; the soul of the universe (DOWSON,
H.C.D., P. 2). Admete: Gr. Myth. Founder and king of Pheres in Thessaly, and one of the Argonauts.
He was husband of Alceste (q.v.) whom he offered as a sacrifice in order to prolong hisown life. Apollo guarded his troops. Adolf: He was bishop of Cologne; he is popularly believed to have been devouredeither by mice or by rats in A.D. 1112. cf. Hatto, Freiherr von G ttingen, Widerolf,
Graaf. Adona: A seraph who was the first of the twelve martyrs. Adona was the tutelar spirit ofJames. Adon-Ai: He was the spirit of love and beauty. Adonis: Class. Myth. A beautiful youth beloved by Aphrodite. He was born of a myrrhtree. In the flush of his youth, he was slain by a wild boar. After his death, he waschanged into an anemone by Venus. Adultery: Many of the indigenous tribes of Sarawak are firmly persuaded that were theirwives to commit adultery while their husbands are searching for camphor in the jungle,
the camphor obtained by the men would evaporate (FRAZER, G.B., Vol. I, p. 29).
Among the inhabitants of the hills near Rajmahal, Bengal, it is believed that adulteryundetected and unexpiated will cause epidemics in the villages. (FRAZER, Psyche sTask, 2nd Ed., P. 45). A don: Gr. Myth. A queen of Thebes who killed her own son by mistake. Zeus relievedher grief by turning her into a nightingale. AEgeon: Gr. Myth. A huge monster with one hundred arms and fifty heads who, withhis brothers Cothus and Gyges, conquered the Titans by hurling at them three hundredrocks at once. AEgeus: Gr. Myth. The father of Theseus, who, in grief at the supposed loss of his son,
threw himself into the sea, which was named AEgean Sea after him. AEgina: Gr. Myth. A daughter of the river-god Asopus. Zeus in the form of an eagle carried
her off to an island which bears her name. AEgir: In old Norse mythology this was the name of a water-demon. Vide R n.
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Acheron: The River of Grief ; one of the four rivers of Hell. Hell itself is sometimes
designated by this name. The name is taken from the Greek xxxx xxx meaning I flow
with grief.
Et l avare Ach ron ne lache point sa proie.
Racine.
Achilles: Gr. Myth. Son of Thetis and Peleus, the most famous Grecian hero of the
Iliad. In the siege of Troy he killed Hector, and was himself mortally wounded by a poisoned
arrow shot by Paris. In his infancy he was dipped in the river Styx by his mother,
so that he became invulnerable; his only vulnerable part was his heel. He was brought
up by the centaur Chiron. Achilles disguised as a woman lived with the daughters of
Lycomede but was discovered by Ulysses. The lance of Achilles cured all wounds that
were caused by it.
Achilles Horses: The two horses belonging to Achilles possessed the power of human
speech. cf. Arion, Al-Borak, Balaam s Ass.
Acis: Sicilian Myth. A Sicilian shepherd loved by the Galatea (q.v.). The monster
Polypheme, a Cyclops, was his rival and crushed him with a huge rock. The blood of
Acis was changed into a river which bears the same name and flows at the foot of Mt.
Etna (DR. BREWER, R.H., P. 5.)
Acorn: To dream that you are eating an acorn indicates that you will gradually rise to
riches and honour. Vide Sweet-flag.
Acrisius: A fabulous king of Argos, father of Dana s. He was accidentally killed by a
disc thrown by Perseus his grandson.
Acteon: Gr. Myth. A hunter who surprised Diana in her bath. The goddess was enraged
and changed him into a deer; in this form he was devoured by his own hounds.
Adad: Babyl. Myth. He is an ancient god who personifies winter storms. He is depicted
as armed with a thunderbolt and lightning; he has many other names.
Adamida: A planet on which reside the unborn spirits of saints, martyrs and believers
(KLOPSTOCK).
Adder : The bite of an adder can be cured by an ointment made from its liver (LEAN,
Vol. II, P. 485).
It is said in fable that the adder, in order to prevent hearing the voice of a charmer, lays
one ear on the ground and sticks its tail into the other.
Address: Vide Change of Address.
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A
Aalu: This was the name by which the Egyptian Elysium was designated.
Aasgaardsreia: Aasgard s Chase ; a frequent appellation of the Wild Hunt (q.v.) of
Northern mythology.
Abaris: Gr. Myth. It was Abaris to whom Apollo (q.v.) gave a golden arrow on which to
ride through the air.
Abhac: It is the Irish cognate of an Afanc (q.v.).
Abhaswaras : Hindu Myth. A class of deities, sixty-four in number, of whose nature little
is known. (DOWSON, H.C.D.)
Abraxas: A stone with the word Abraxas engraved on it is said to be a famous talisman.
The word symbolizes the 365 intelligences between deity and man.
Acacia: Acacia-wood was held in ancient times to be the Wood of Life. According to
Kercher, it was sacred to the sun god of Egypt.
Academus: Gr. Myth. A hero of Attica. He told Castor and Pollux where Theseus had
hidden Helen.
He is sometimes identified with Cadmus (q.v.).
Acca Laruntia: According to a legend, she was the wife of Faustulius. She saved
Remus and Romulus exposed on a hill and brought them up. These children after
wards founded the city of Rome.
Accidental upsetting of a cup: In Japan if a cup of medicine destined for a sick person
be accidentally upset, it is a sure sign of his speedy recovery. (GRIFFIS, M.E., P. 467.)
Acco: Gr. Myth. A class of beings belonging to the same species as Lamia (q.v.).
Acephali: A fabulous race of people, reported by ancient writers to have had no heads.
cf. Blemmyoe, A-Siras.
Achaeus: Gr. Myth. Brother of Ion, nephew of Helen, ancestor of the Achaeans.
Achelous: Gr. Myth. God of the river bearing this name, and father of the Sirens (q.v.).
Acheri: Indian Folklore. They are the ghosts of little girls, who live on the tops of moun
tains, but descend at night to hold their revels in more convenient places (CROOKE,
P.R.I., Vol. I, P. 263; TRAILL, Asiatic Researches, XVI, PP. 137 seq.; N.I.N.Q., Vol. II, P.
27; Ethnologie du Bengale, p. 99).
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