Kutkh

Kutkh

Region of origin: Eastern Russian

A raven-spirit deity and trickster figure from the mythologies of the Russian Far East region, Kutkh is vital to myths of creation and providing mankind with things from light and fire and parts of the landscape to concepts like sex and language. Stories often depict Kutkh as crude, lazy and self-centered, and the resulting benefits that are imparted to the earth and its people tend to be more aftermath or comeuppance from a scheme than intentionally helpful, such as when the Kamchatka peninsula was created as the result of a drinking binge with a bear. Due to proximity of the regions and similarities between the figures, it is believed Kutkh may share some origins with the Raven myths from indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest.

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Dirawong

Dirawong

Region of origin: Bundjalung Nation, Australia

A creation deity for people of the Bundjalung nation in western Australia, Dirawong was spirit who took the form of a giant goanna during the Dreamtime and functioned as a protector and a teacher, instructing mankind in all manner of subjects, from societal matters such as language and law to artistic ones like dance and painting. He fought with the Rainbow Serpent after the serpent had committed some now-forgotten evil act and their battle ravaged the then-flat countryside, altering the landscape and creating new rivers, islands and other geographical features.

Originally posted on Tumblr on August 21, 2016

Wandjina

Wandjina

Region of origin: Kimberly, Western Australia

Creator deities of the Mowanjum people, the wandjina were said to arrive to the Dreamtime from the clouds and crafted the earth and the beings that lived there. They taught humanity things it needed to survive, but could also bring punishment in the form of harsh weather. When they were done, they prepared to leave into the earth and under the sea, leaving paintings of themselves on caves in the region which have since been maintained by the indigenous people. From the stories of the “sky beings” descending from the heavens and the paintings’ resemblance to the modern stereotypical depiction of an alien, the wandjina are often held up as a possible example of “ancient astronauts” who visited earth and encountered humans early in their development.

Originally posted on Tumblr on July 28, 2016

Cagn

Cagn

Region of origin: Southern Africa

The first being and a creator entity of several nations of people in southern Africa. He is noted as a trickster god and a shapeshifter, often appearing as a praying mantis or an antelope but taking on numerous forms in various stories. Originally a benevolent god, he maintained a world of peace but as his creations became more disrespectful he introduced more dangers and destruction into the world and eventually abandoned them altogether, fleeing to an unknown location in the heavens.

Originally posted on Tumblr on July 18, 2016

Ai apaec

Ai apaec

Region of origin: Northwestern Peru

The primary deity of the Moche tribe of what is now Peru, Ai apaec was a cultural hero in the Moche’s creation myth and also a fearsome but revered supreme being taking on various forms, including aspects of jaguars, spiders and the ocean itself. Often depicted with a blade and a severed head, Ai apaec demanded sacrifices, earning him the nickname “the Headsman” or “the Decapitator” from modern archaeologists. Sacrifices, often prisoners taken after battles with neighboring tribes, had their heads chopped off and left on alters in several temples, gaining Ai apaec’s favor in the form of increased food, luck and fertility, and victories in martial conflicts.

Originally posted on Tumblr on June 26, 2016

Ördög

Ördög

Region of origin: Hungary

The embodiment of evil in traditional Hungarian mythology. In the beginning of the universe the Hungarian creator god, Isten, was assisted by Ördög, but Ördög delighted in tormenting mortals on Earth and Isten eventually banished him to Pokol, the underworld. In Pokol, he attends to a massive cauldron filled with souls trapped in his domain, but he often will come to Earth to cause mischief, such as tempting humans into evil to get back at Isten or wagering them for their own souls to add to his collection. He often appears as a dark-skinned faun, but is a shape-shifter and will arrive on earth taking on new forms such as a fox or a black flame.

Originally posted on Tumblr on May 17, 2016

Cipactli

Cipactli

Region of origin: Mesoamerica

In the Aztec creation myth, Cipactli was a massive beast with an unquenchable appetite who lived in the ocean-like void at the start of the universe. The four gods charged with creating all the world would contain soon found their creations were invariably being consumed by Cipactli’s many mouths and decided the only course was to slay it. After luring it out and engaging it in a long battle they finally slew Cipactli and used its body and all it had consumed to form the Earth.

Originally posted on Tumblr on April 19, 2016

Punga

Punga

Region of origin: New Zealand

In the creation myth of the Māori people, Punga, son of the god of the sea, was the progenitor of “strange” and ugly animals; his own two sons separated to land and sea and became the fathers of all reptiles and sea creatures, respectively.

Originally posted on Tumblr on January 9, 2016

Déélgééd

Déélgééd

Region of origin: Navajo nation

Born as the offspring of a human mother and an antelope horn, a child with no head was abandoned to die but instead survived and grew into the Great Horned Monster, one of the various monsters two heroic twins had to kill, in this case with the help of a gopher and a squirrel, as part of the Navajo creation myth.

Originally posted on Tumblr on September 25, 2015