Tag Archives: Mythology

Top Tens – Heroes & Villains: Top 10 Villains of Mythology (Special Mention) (4) Leviathan & Behemoth

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Aww – they’re adorable! Behemoth and Leviathan, watercolor by William Blake from his Illustrations of the Book of Job (1826)

 

 

(4) LEVIATHAN & BEHEMOTH

 

And now it’s time for a series of special mention entries consisting of matched pairs of mythological villains, commencing with the most primeval Biblical beasts of all, the ur-beasts, arguably greater than even the most apocalyptic beasts – Behemoth and Leviathan.

They appear in most detail in the Book of Job, effectively as a matching set. The central plot of the Book of Job essentially has God and Satan playing cosmic poker, using Job and his family as chips. Behemoth and Leviathan appear almost as a tangent, when God is telling off Job for questioning God’s questionable poker game. As usual, God appeals to His own greatness, which He demonstrates by stating that even primal chaos monsters such as Behemoth and Leviathan are basically just His pets.

God expounds on Behemoth in Chapter 40 in the Book of Job as some primal beast of the land – “Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you; it eats grass like an ox. Its strength is in its loins and its power is in the muscles of its belly”. Although Behemoth has typically been identified as an extremely large or powerful mythic beast, it has also been associated with more mundane animals – usually a hippopotamus, but also an elephant, rhinoceros or buffalo (while creationists have seen it and Leviathan as dinosaurs).

However, poor Behemoth has been overshadowed by his aquatic and serpentine counterpart, Leviathan, the primal beast of the sea or water. Leviathan’s most distinctive appearance is in the chapter following that for Behemoth, Chapter 41 of the Book of Job, in which God goes fishing. Unlike Behemoth, Leviathan is also mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, typically as a poetic image or reference, and is identified in the Book of Isaiah as a serpent or dragon of the sea. Accordingly, Leviathan has typically been identified as an aquatic beast, following in the Near East mythic traditions of sea serpents or monsters, with the Babylonian Tiamat coming to mind (or the Nordic Midgard Serpent for that matter). Or maybe it was just a crocodile. After all, those things are scary enough…

Both have entered popular parlance but again Leviathan has overshadowed Behemoth – while both have been adapted as words signifying “something overwhelmingly huge, powerful, or monstrous”, leviathan tends to have the more common usage, boosted among other things by its use by Hobbes for the title of his book on political philosophy (essentially signifying the state’s monopoly on violence).

 

 

RATING;

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

Top Tens – Heroes & Villains: Top 10 Heroes of Mythology (Special Mention) (4) Savior – Jesus & Buddha

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Clipped cover of Jesus & Buddha: The Parallel Sayings by Marcus Borg and published by Ulysses Press in 2004 – an interesting book and also apt illustration for this special mention entry

 

 

(4) SAVIOR – JESUS & BUDDHA

 

By definition, mythic heroes tend to be saviors on a mythic scale, even on the scale of saving the world.

Jesus and Buddha are the definitive world saviors – indeed, so much so that one might wonder why I don’t rank them higher than this special mention entry.

Well, firstly and most fundamentally, Jesus and Buddha are world saviors as the foundational figures of the world religions named for them (or technically, Jesus’s title as Christ). Other heroes of mythology, notably those of classical mythology, may have had their cults, but the hero cults of Jesus and Buddha – if one calls them that, as at least one historian did when observing Christianity to be a Greek hero cult devoted to a Jewish messiah – persist in contemporary religious belief. Accordingly, as heroic figures they are regarded with reverence that requires them to be ranked separately, even uniquely – hence this special mention. Indeed, even ranking them together or among the heroes of mythology might be regarded as controversial to that reverence.

There’s another reason I rank them as special mention. Jesus and Buddha are similarly unique as heroes in that they are not saviors by the use of violence, even that violence used against the forces of evil or chaos that is characteristic of other heroes. Instead, they defeat those forces and save the world by other means, spiritual rather than physical – Jesus by belief or faith, and Buddha by enlightenment.

Indeed, it’s a plot point in Buddha’s legendary biography that he renounces his princely status – and the prophecy of more conventional heroic conquest, eschewing conquering the world for saving it. He effectively renounces it again when tempted in his fabled meditation under the Bo Tree by the forces of evil represented by the demon lord Mara. Jesus similarly renounces such things as all the kingdoms of the world when offered to him instead of his path to salvation, in his even more famous trial of temptation. Jesus also famously inverts the model of heroic conquest even more so than Buddha, saving the world not by conventional victory or violence but by self-sacrifice – the ultimate gambit of winning by losing, as it were.

Otherwise, they are so well known as religious figures, even outside their respective religions – albeit more so for Jesus due to the more pervasive extent and influence of his religion – that it would be redundant to recite further details, other than to observe that each could be the subject of their own top ten, indeed of many such lists.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GOD TIER)

Top Tens – Heroes & Villains: Top 10 Villains of Mythology (Special Mention) (3) Tarot – Death & The Devil

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Collage of Death (left) and The Devil (right) from the most iconic modern Tarot deck, the Rider-Waite Tarot deck designed by A.E. Waite and Illustrated by Pamela Colman-Smith (first published by William Rider & Son in 1909, hence the name) – public domain image

 

 

(3) TAROT – DEATH & THE DEVIL

 

The Tarot may have its mystique and even its mythos, but does it have villains?

O yes – hence this special mention, drawn from the archetypal characters of individual cards, particularly those of the more iconic Major Arcana or “trumps” of the Tarot.

But are there enough ‘villainous’ cards of the Tarot for their own top ten?

Well, yes and no.

Yes, in that all or almost all cards of the Tarot have their dark inversions or negative connotations and are therefore capable of being villainous cards in that respect. Setting that aside, twelve cards of the Major Arcana – from the Hermit as ninth card through to Judgement as the twentieth card – are ‘underworld’ cards, depicting figures of the mythic narrative of the Fool’s descent into the underworld or hero’s journey, and are hence potentially ‘villainous’ cards.

And no, because when you come down to it, there are only three unequivocally ‘villainous’ cards that are also the infamous trinity of cards one flinches at in readings as ‘bad’ – Death, the Devil, and the Tower Struck by Lightning.

Unequivocally ‘villainous’ that is, in the sense that they are not also at the same time among my heroes or girls of the Tarot – only as ‘villains’, even if they can have positive interpretations. Aptly enough for a card midway through the Tarot, the Death card has interpretations of a new beginning after an end, rebirth or transformation – famously in that episode of The Simpsons with Lisa’s future foretold by a Tarot reading, although it added its own ominous card of The Happy Squirrel.

Of this trinity, I rank Death and the Devil in this special mention, given that the Tower Struck by Lightning does not feature a distinctive figure as such but instead evokes an impersonal force of destruction. Death of course features the personification of death, while the Devil is the literal personification of evil. The visual design of the latter card in the Rider Waite Tarot deck sees the latter and raises it even higher in evil stakes, as a dark inversion of the card of The Lovers, including the two figures of the Lovers themselves, now demonic figures chained to the Devil’s altar – and of the backdrop of Hell now substituted for the Garden of Eden.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (DEVIL TIER)

Top Tens – Heroes & Villains: Top 10 Heroes of Mythology (Special Mention) (3) Tarot – Fool & Hanged Man

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Collage of The Fool (left) and The Hanged Man (right) from the most iconic modern Tarot deck, the Rider-Waite Tarot deck designed by A.E. Waite and Illustrated by Pamela Colman-Smith (first published by William Rider & Son in 1909, hence the name) – public domain image

 

 

(3) TAROT – FOOL & HANGED MAN

 

The Tarot may have its mystique and even its mythos, but does it have heroes?

O yes – hence this special mention, drawn from the archetypal characters of individual cards, particularly those of the more iconic Major Arcana or “trumps” of the Tarot. Indeed, there are enough ‘heroic’ cards of the Tarot for their own top ten and a few special mentions beyond that.

However, as the title of this special mention entry indicates, two cards stand out above all others as heroes of the Tarot – the Fool and the Hanged Man.

At first glance, both might seem unusual choices. There are cards that might seem more conventional heroic figures by the metric of power – the Magician, the Emperor, the Hierophant, the Chariot, and the Sun.

However, it is the Fool that is the true hero of the Tarot. In its modern form, the Major Arcana has its own mythic narrative, essentially a version of the archetypal hero’s journey, with the Fool – traditionally numbered zero or just unnumbered – as its hero, similar to the figure of the holy fool. The Fool sets out on his quest, innocence in search of experience, poised to fall or fly. The rest of the Major Arcana depicts the figures he encounters, as well as ultimately his descent into and triumphant return from the underworld.

Coming in close second place is the Hanged Man, a self-sacrificial mystical inversion of the Fool, that the Fool either encounters or – in my preferred reading – becomes, in his descent into the underworld. Indeed, the image of the Hanged Man is parallel to that of the Fool. Where the Fool innocently and seemingly inadvertently is poised to step off a precipice while gazing (or perhaps dreaming) skywards, the Hanged Man is more deliberately poised to descend into the Underworld, hanging by his foot in seemingly mystical pose with head downwards.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GOD-TIER)

 

Top Tens – Mythology: Top 10 Mythologies (Special Mention: Divine Comedy Rankings – Complete Rankings)

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An Italian joker card – public domain image Wikipedia “Joker (playing card)”

 

 

 

Life is the laughter of the gods – but how do my mythology special mentions rack up against my top ten mythologies when ranking them for comedy and tricksters?

 

Well, joke’s on them as it turns out – only three of my top ten mythologies make it into my top ten comedy and trickers rankings, replaced by seven special mentions, while five more special mentions score higher than other top ten mythologies.

 

SCORE:

7 SPECIAL MENTIONS – TOP 10 DIVINE COMEDY RANKINGS

(12 SPECIAL MENTIONS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN TOP 10 MYTHOLOGIES)

 

So here’s ranking all my top ten mythologies and special mentions by their comedy and tricksters, from the laughter of the gods to serious business.

 

At the laughter end of the scale –

 

S-TIER (GOD TIER – OR IS THAT JOKER TIER?)

 

(1) DISCORDIANISM

 

What else could be in top spot for divine comedy than Discordianism, even just edging out my second top spot, as something that may just be all a big joke disguised as a religion – or a religion disguised as a joke? In either case, it scores the top spot for divine comedy.

 

(2) ZEN

 

What is the sound of one hand clapping? Yeah – I hear it all the time in reaction to my jokes.

But seriously, zen ranks above all other mythologies but one for divine comedy, with its koans and eccentricities seeming like nothing so much but a series of gags or jokes where the punchline is enlightenment.

 

When you get it,

you get

it.

 

And it’s hard to trump Zen masters as tricksters.

Ditto Tao and its wu wei – or the art of doing nothing effectively.

 

(3) PAGANISM

 

What can I say? Paganism combines all the divine comedy of its original forms but doubles down on the joke in its playful modern form or neopaganism, which seems inherently humorous in conception and nature – a latter-day LARP that does not take itself too seriously.

 

(4) CLASSICAL

(5) NORSE

 

Two of my top ten mythologies that remain in the top ten divine comedy rankings, albeit both bumped down a couple of places (literally) for more divinely comedic special mention mythology entries.

 

(6) FAIRIES

 

For once, fairy folklore ranks not only close to the Celtic mythology and Arthurian legend it overlaps but ahead of it. Indeed, fairies and Fairyland often seem to be nothing but comedy and tricks (or tricksters), albeit often absurdist or black comedy and confidence tricks.

 

(7) CELTIC (ARTHURIAN)

 

The third of three top ten mythologies to remain in the top ten for divine comedy rankings, bumped down an extra place for the comedy and tricksters of fariy folklore.

 

(8) SHAMANISM

 

Like paganism, shamanism combines the divine comedy and trickster figures of tribal mythologies or religions – I mean, Paleolithic cave art often seems a collection of d!ck jokes – but doubles down on the jokes in its modern reconstruction of neo-shamanism.

 

(9) TAROT

 

“I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died” – Steve Wright

Yeah, that’s the Tarot as the punchline of a joke in a deadpan standup comedy routine but you don’t get much more divine comedy than the Tarot – for all its vivid and occasionally violent imagery or its mystique for divination with dire portents, it originated as a game of playing cards for trumps.

Or for that matter, even with all that mystique for divination, you could say it’s focused on the Fool, a literal unnumbered wildcard amidst the trumps, reminiscent of the joker. And it doesn’t get much more divine comedy than a literal joker.

 

(10) MAGIC

 

You know, I’m going to rank magic in god-tier of divine comedy rankings. I’m serious and I’m joking – much like magic seems to be, that is deadly serious in purpose (often literally) but resembling nothing other than visual gags or verbal jokes in execution. The ‘laws’ of sympathetic magic proposed by Fraser often seem like nothing so much as punchlines of a cosmic joke – or cosmic con, pulling a fast one on the universe. Throw in that the arsenal of your average trickster seems to include a utility belt of cantrips, charms, or conjurations – and you have that god-tier ranking in divine comedy.

 

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

(11) EGYPTIAN

(12) HINDU

 

Sadly, these two top ten mythologies just drop out of the top ten when it comes to divine comedy and trickster rankings.

 

(13) TANTRA

 

Given the overlap between Hinduism and tantra, I thought I’d rank it here. Besides, there’s just something inherently funny (or at least playful) about s€x magic.

 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

(14) NATIVE AMERICAN (LAKOTA)

(15) AFRO-AMERICAN (VOODOO)

 

These top ten mythologies are still respectably high-tier for divine comedy and tricksters but are just outranked by other entries.

 

(16) CRYPTIDS

 

I mean, there’s just something funny about cryptids.

 

(17) UFO

 

There’s certainly something funny about UFOs – and at least some of them seem to be pranksters.

 

(18) URBAN LEGENDS

 

Urban legends often even sound like jokes, down to set-up and punchline – the latter usually the twist in the tale that is often the heart of the legend.

 

(19) CONSPIRACY THEORIES

 

Same as urban legends, only the joke is often just how wild the conspiracy theory or just how much of a tinfoil hat it requires. And they are very much trickster territory – both for theorists and the conspirators.

 

(20) MIDDLE EASTERN (BABYLO-SUMERIAN)

(21) MESO-AMERICAN (AZTEC)

 

Rounding out B-tier, these top ten mythologies rank low for divine comedy as mostly serious business, just on the cusp of my wild tier rankings.

 

X-TIER (WILD TIER)

 

And now we come to wild tier rankings – which in a reversal of my usual wild or weird tier entries, given that the subject is itself comedic, means that these entries tend to mean more serious business than they do comedy or tricks. But not always – sometimes they’re joking and they’re serious.

 

(22) BIBLICAL

 

Mostly serious business but you’ll be surprised how much comedy and tricksters are there if you look at it the right way so it tops my wild-tier rankings, albeit well below its top spot in my general, sacred space, and apocalyptic rankings.

 

(23) WITCHCRAFT

 

Witchcraft might seem too dark (and deadly serious, literally) for divine comedy but it has similar divine comedy (and tricks) to magic, just ranked lower because of the serious consequences for belief in it. Indeed, the lurid descriptions of witchcraft in European witch trials come across as parody of Christianity, albeit with black or dark comedy and working blue to boot in the lurid details. Of course, that would say more about the people running those trials, since those descriptions tended to be extracted from leading questions under torture and more reflected the projections of those conducting witch hunts or trials…

 

(24) DRAGONS

 

Dragons might seem too deadly serious for comedy but dragons are occasionally the butt of a joke – literally in the case of the Dragon of Wantley, dispatched by knightly kick in the butt. Even the Bible gets in on the joke, with Daniel killing a dragon by blowing it up.

 

(25) GIANTS

 

Like dragons, giants might seem too deadly serious for comedy but they too are often the butt of the joke – think giants or ogres in fairy tales – and also often trickster figures themselves, as in Norse mythology.

 

(26) GHOSTS

 

Like dragons or giants, ghosts would seem too deadly serious – literally – or tragic for divine comedy. And yet, even ghosts occasionally pop up as comic figures or even tricksters such as poltergeists.

 

(27) VAMPIRES

 

I’m happy ranking vampires below ghosts for divine comedy – as deadly serious as ghosts seem to be, vampires would seem more deadly and more serious, with few comic figures or tricksters among them. Still, there’s some black comedy to be had with vampires – there’s something blackly comic about the protection against vampires using grains or seeds to exploit their obsessive compulsive disorder, with vampires being compelled to count every grain or seed before they could do anything else. I like to attribute the Count from Sesame Street to this obscure vampire folklore tradition.

 

(28) LYCANTHROPES

 

They may not have obsessive compulsive disorder of vampires but even werewolves and other lycanthropes have their comedic moments, albeit mostly black comedy.

 

(29) LEGENDARY CREATURES

 

Legendary creatures might well have ranked higher, if the absurd comedy of some creatures wasn’t as esoteric or obscure.

Still it’s nice to see that there’s at least some divine comedy all the way down, right down to my next (and last) entry.

 

(30) ATLANTIS & BERMUDA TRIANGLE

 

As I said in my previous entry, it’s nice to see the divine comedy goes all the way down, even to the bottom of the ocean with Atlantis – or the Bermuda Triangle. I mean, there’s not too much comedy in what is, after all, meant to be the tragic tale of Atlantis, but there’s still some in just how silly the legend is, particularly in you throw in fantasies of submerged post-apocalyptic Atlantis. Especially in comics or popular culture – where you have the likes of Aquaman or the Man from Atlantis…

The Bermuda Triangle on the other hand is funnier if you’re not disappearing in it.

Top Tens – Heroes & Villains: Top 10 Villains of Mythology (Special Mention) (2) Demons & Devils

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Detail of a 16th-century painting The Last Judgement by Jacob de Backer in the National Museum in Warsaw in WIkipedia “Devil” (public domain image)

 

 

(2) DEMONS & DEVILS

 

Demons and devils – even archdemons, daemons, fallen angels or legions of hell, fiends, imps, incubi or succubi.

Demons and devils came very close to their own special mention entry for my Top 10 Mythologies, given how pervasive demons or demonic beings are in myth and folklore. Ultimately however I deferred that special mention entry to here as I was not prepared to tempt fate from the forces of hell if I ranked them anywhere else. Also, demons and devils in popular culture or imagination have largely been assimilated into those of Biblical mythology, albeit that in turn took many of its cues from Middle Eastern mythology.

Demons or devils tend to be depicted as chthonic beings but also as more villainous than the other chthonic or underworld beings of mythology in general, albeit with substantial overlap between them. While chthonic deities can be depicted as neutral or even benevolent, there is usually no such ambiguity for demons or devils – chaotic, destructive or evil to the core. Bad to the bone as it were, although there is occasionally sympathy for the devil.

Indeed, they tend to be the benchmark for evil beings, such that demonic is an adjective for evil, literally or metaphorically (or metaphysically). The wider or “most generic definition” of demon would be “any evil or injurious spirit or supernatural being” – which could be very wide indeed, including things such as vampires or even dragons.

A good or noble demon is something of an oxymoron – even relying on one to not lie or cheat on a deal is fraught with peril. At best, a demon might be depicted as capable of redemption, in which case it becomes something else or is no longer a demon, but almost universally they are depicted as irredeemably evil in nature. Even when they purport to do something good, it turns out to be for the greater evil.

The archetypes of demons or devils – essentially synonymous, albeit occasionally distinguished in such things as Dungeons and Dragons where demons are chaotic evil and devils are lawful evil – are those from the Bible or Biblical mythology. The latter can get convoluted, on occasion distinguishing demons native to Hell or other eldritch beings as opposed to damned souls or fallen angels from Heaven, although they all tend to be conflated under the label of demon or devil. Also, as noted before, the demons and devils of the Bible or Biblical mythology in turn are influence by those of Middle Eastern mythologies, notably Mesopotamian and Persian.

However, there are similar beings or eldritch abominations in other mythologies that are translated as demons or devils – Buddhist and Shinto mythology are particularly notable in this respect. The televised version of Su Wukong or Monkey is forever etched into my mind with his declaration of demonic opponents – “Ah, DE-MON!”.

One reason that they are so pervasive in mythology or folklore is that they often stand in for the chaotic or destructive forces of nature – or humanity. There is a large overlap between demons or devils and other supernatural beings – with witches, fairies, dragons, ghosts and vampires perhaps as foremost for similar elements, tropes or types.

Devils are perhaps at their worst doing their deals (or Faustian pacts) for souls, while demons are at their worst corrupting or possessing good or innocent beings – demonic possession is arguably the most villainous weapon in their arsenal and comes in various forms, such that it could be the subject of its own top ten, particularly as it extends to animals or objects other than humans, ending up much like fairies or ghosts with various demon or demonic animals or objects.

For that matter, demons or devils in myth or folklore could well be the subject of their own top ten list, whether for named individuals or broader classifications, including their various elements, tropes and types – not to mention the elements, tropes and types of those most important human interaction with them, demon-slayers or exorcists.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (DEVIL TIER)

Top Tens – Heroes & Villains: Top 10 Heroes of Mythology (Special Mention) (2) Pan & Abraxas

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Collage of public domain images – “Sweet, piercing sweet was the music of Pan’s pipe” in captioned illustration of Pan by Walter Crane (Wikipedia “Pan”) on left and trace of an image of Abraxas stone or gem “The Gnostics and their remains” by Charles W. King, 1887 (Wikipedia banner image for gnosticism) on right

 

 

(2) PAN & ABRAXAS

 

Io Pan! Io Pan Pan!

Iao Abraxas!

Pan, the original horny god with the groin of a goat or as Bill Hicks styled him, randy Pan the Goat Boy. God of nature, mountains, shepherds and s€xuality – also the source of our word panic, for the divine mad fear he could inspire in people, including as savior of Athens, the invading Persian army at Marathon.

As a Capricorn goat boy myself, I’ve long been a Pan fan. Ironically, the only classical Greek god reported as dead – in a historical legend by Plutarch, with a sailor during the reign of Tiberius reporting a divine proclamation from an island that “the great god Pan is dead” – but reports of his death, to paraphrase Mark Twain, were greatly exaggerated. Pan was the one god that endured more than all the others, even to the extent of embodying in horned and hooved form all classical paganism as a whole in modern romanticism and neo-paganism. Perhaps aptly enough, given the pun on Pan – as the word for “all” in Greek also being Pan.

One might call it Pan’s odyssey – from mythic Pan through medieval and early modern Pan to his romantic rebirth, Edwardian height of popularity, and ultimately contemporary Pan. There’s just too much Pan – or is that too many Pans? – out there.

Sadly, one of my favorite historical legends of how Christianity embodied Pan as its devil – may be just that, a legend dating back only to the nineteenth century (following the hypothesis of Ronald Hutton to that effect).

I still prefer the legend. In one of my story ideas, a somewhat lost and forlorn Satan muses to the protagonist (with whom he has occasional chats) of his origin from Pan (as one of his multiple-choice origin stories). The protagonist calls him out on his conflicting origin stories, to which Satan replies “Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself. I am legion, I contain multitudes”. But then he becomes sadly wistful “I would give anything just to dance in the moonlight again, when I was not evil but only wild and free”.

Another of my mythic idiosyncrasies is that I tend see a matching figure to Pan in Abraxas, even if the latter has nowhere near the classical pagan firepower as Pan in popular culture.

One reason is something of a physical resemblance in their half-animal half-human form. Where Pan is essentially a satyr as goat from waist down and with goat horns on his head, Abraxas is similarly animal from waist down and from neck up, only more so. For the former, Abraxas has much the same animal proportions of Pan – only more eerie or eldritch as instead of the lower half of goat, as Abraxas had a serpent (or serpentine tail) for each leg, anguiped rather than satyr. For the latter, Abraxas goes hard into animal head territory – instead of dainty goat horns on a human head, Abraxas has an actual animal head, with the head of a rooster. Serpentine legs and head of a rooster – if there’s a divine figure as more overt phallic symbol, then I don’t know what it is, particularly if you use the alternative word for rooster.

As to what sort of divine figure Abraxas is, well, that’s not entirely clear – Gnostic aeon or archon, classical or Egyptian god, or magical figure?

There’s even more direct parallels with Pan in the inscriptions and images on the prolific engraved ‘Abraxas stones’ that have been located in archaeology. There’s the salutation of Iao for Abraxas, echoing that of Io for Pan – and according to Egyptologist E. Wallis Budge, Abraxas was a Pantheus or Pantheos, that is, All-God.

I particularly have a soft spot for Abraxas from two sources for my personal mythos. One is the 1970 Santana album of that name, featuring its psychedelic cover art with the gloriously naked and voluptuous black magic woman as its centerpiece. The other is Piers Anthony’s Tarot trilogy, in which Abraxas is an unlikely candidate as the one true god, boosted by his golden priestess and devotee Amaranth, one of the s€xiest fantasy or SF female characters I have read. Iao Abraxas, indeed!

 

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GOD-TIER – OR IS THAT PAN-TIER?)

Top Tens – Heroes & Villains: Top 10 Villains of Mythology (Special Mention) (1) Chthonic Deities

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The classic chthonic god Hades depicted as villain in Disney’s 1997 Hercules film – character profile image in the Disney fan wiki

 

 

(1) CHTHONIC DEITIES

 

Chthonic deities are underworld deities – “gods or spirits who inhabited the underworld or existed in or under the earth, and were typically associated with death or fertility” (usually more the former than the latter). I mean, they were going to get special mention just based on the word chthonic alone, one of my favorite words.

It is somewhat unfair to rank chthonic deities as villains in mythology – and as my top special mention at that.

For one thing, while some gods are clearly more chthonic than others, “virtually any god could be considered chthonic to emphasize different aspects of the god” – Demeter and Hermes are classic examples, but even Zeus was referenced with the epithet at times.

For another, with those gods that were clearly more chthonic such as Hades, just because they were associated with death or the underworld did not make them evil or villainous as such. They could equally be neutral or even benevolent.

However, even when such deities are neutral or benevolent, there is just too powerful a tendency to default to depictions of them as adversarial or antagonistic – as with Hades himself, all too often cast as Olympian villain in popular culture. That’s just how the bones roll when your iconic association is with death or the underworld.

And for all the chthonic or underworld deities that are neutral or even benevolent, there’s others that are indeed chaotic, destructive or outright evil. After all, the Devil himself is a chthonic deity…

 

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (DEVIL TIER)

Top Tens – Heroes & Villains: Top 10 Heroes of Mythology (Special Mention) (1) Apollo & Dionysus

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Collage of statues – the head of the Apollo Belvedere statue in the Vatican photographed by Marie-Lan Nguyen (left) and in wall protome of Dionysus in Kinsky Palace photographed by Zde (right) in Wikipedia “Apollonian and Dionsyian” under licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/deed.en and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en respectively

 

 

(1) APOLLO & DIONYSUS

 

Nietzsche famously propounded a literary or philosophical dichotomy or duality (or duo, if you prefer) between the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The classical Greeks themselves did not see Apollo and Dionysus as opposing figures but would probably applaud Nietzsche anyway, with all the reboots and retcons they gave the classical mythology.

The golden god of the sun, Apollo was the archetypal divine hero of classical mythology – the original Olympian Superman. His divine attributes or powers were extremely varied – the sun and light obviously but also archery (the symbolic equivalent of the sun’s rays), prophecy and truth (he was patron of the Delphic oracle), music and poetry, healing and more. In popular religion, he had a strong function as protector from evil – in short, he stood for truth, justice and the Grecian way. For Nietzsche, the Apollonian stood for the forces of reason and logic, control and clarity, structure and order, art and science – in short, the ideal of perfection

On the other hand, Dionysus was a foreign newcomer to Olympian pantheon and the god most associated with mortality – the son of a mortal mother (by Zeus) and a god who died to be reborn. He was also a darker figure as the god of intoxication in all its forms – ecstasy, fear and madness. What’s more, Dionysus was the god of the mysteries and theatre. For Nietzsche, the Dionysian stood for the forces of passion and emotion, chaos and mysticism, music and intoxication – in short, the ideal of a good night out…

 

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GOD TIER)

Top Tens – Mythology: Top 10 Mythologies (Special Mention: Equal Rites Rankings – Complete Rankings)

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Cropped image Afterlife (Egyptian Mythology) – free divine gallery sample art from OldWorldGods

 

 

TOP 10 MYTHOLOGIES

(SPECIAL MENTION: EQUAL RITES RANKINGS – COMPLETE RANKINGS)

 

She is the goddess and this is her mythology – but how do my mythology special mentions rack up against my top ten mythologies when ranking them for their goddesses?

Pretty well, as it turns out, with one special mention taking out the top spot above all other mythologies and five more taking out top ten goddess rankings – so six special mentions swap out for my top ten mythologies when it comes to goddess rankings. That leaves only four of my top ten mythologies in the top ten when ranked by goddesses. One more special mention scores higher than the top ten mythology with the lowest goddess ranking.

 

SCORE:

6 SPECIAL MENTIONS – TOP TEN GODDESS RANKINGS

(7 SPECIAL MENTIONS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN TOP 10 MYTHOLOGIES)

 

Anyway, here’s my complete goddess rankings for my top ten mythologies and special mention entries.

 

S-TIER (GODDESS TIER)

 

(1) PAGANISM – GODDESS

 

She is the goddess and this is her body – o yes!

In my equal rites rankings, paganism is its own goddess-tier of goddess-tier, combining as it does all the divine female figures or goddesses of all pagan mythologies in my top ten – classical, Norse, Celtic, Egyptian, and Middle Eastern. Indeed, arguably all but Biblical mythology – and there’s arguments for paganism even reclaiming goddess figures from Biblical mythology.

As such, it would outrank all other mythologies, particularly in its modern form or neopaganism, which adapts all divine female figures – arguably including those of the other mythologies in my top ten – into an uber-goddess or Goddess, a supreme female divine figure. Almost all versions of modern paganism propose at least equality between female and male divine figures, while some versions go all out for the supremacy or even exclusivity of a divine female figure or Goddess.

Indeed, modern paganism is distinct from the original forms of paganism and arguably unique among modern religion for its supreme divine female figure, with the exception of my next entry – which outranks modern paganism in number of followers but paganism wins out for me with the overarching quality of its goddess movement).

 

(2) HINDU – SHAKTI

 

My highest ranking top ten entry, up five places from seventh place in my general rankings, not surprisingly as the closest rival to modern paganism as goddess movement (and outranking it in number of followers)

 

(3) CLASSICAL – APHRODITE VENUS

 

(4) EGYPTIAN – ISIS

 

(5) MIDDLE EASTERN (BABYLO-SUMERIAN) – ISHTAR

 

Top ten entries, up or down only slightly from their general rankings – reflecting their iconic and influential divine female figures, particularly the ones nominated for their entries.

 

(6) TAROT – HIGH PRIESTESS & EMPRESS

 

I’m as surprised as you are by the Tarot’s goddess-tier ranking but the cards don’t lie. The Major Arcana – the 22 major cards of any Tarot deck – isn’t quite evenly balanced between its male and female figures but it comes close with ten of its cards as female figures and arguably they make up that slight deficit in quantity with better quality in positive aspects or meanings (and the female figure of the World card as the supreme or ultimate culmination of the Major Arcana).

The Minor Arcana are also balanced, with two of its suits traditionally seen as female – the suit of Cups (often identified with Hearts in modern decks and associated with the ‘female’ element of water) and the suit of Coins or Pentacles (often identified with Diamonds in modern decks and associated with the ‘female’ element of earth). The court cards are also balanced in some decks, with jacks or pages often converted to princesses or otherwise seen as female to add a second female court card to the queens.

 

(7) MAGIC – FATES

 

Magic ranks in goddess tier for equal rites because it gives opportunity or empowerment for just that – balancing the scales against male mythic figures, particularly those that rely on force, martial prowess, or physical strength. That can be seen by recurring goddesses of magic or other divine female sorceresses – with Hecate, Freya, and Isis particularly notable as goddesses of magic. Charms and enchantment – in the magic sense of those words – tend to have connotations with female magical figures. There’s also the recurring prevalence of female figures, particularly triple female figures, associated with fate or magic – Fates, Norns, and Weird Sisters among others.

 

(8) WITCHCRAFT – GODDESS

 

Where else could witchcraft rank but in goddess-tier?

I’d almost rank witchcraft higher because of its typical connotations as female magic, but those connotations are also typically negative or adverse – virtually by definition as it were. Good magic is male – high magic, ceremonial magic, ritual magic, theurgy and so on – while bad magic is female and witchcraft. And the latter can extend to almost anything by a woman if you so choose, particularly if it’s in rivalry to a male counterpart such as healing or herbalism.

Of course, witchcraft has also been associated with men – but the predominant association tends to be with women, particularly in Europe.

Modern witchcraft (or Wicca) and historians have sought to reclaim witchcraft as positive, female empowerment or even as a goddess religion – or Goddess religion, to rival the supreme divine female figure of modern paganism. Hence witchcraft also came close to a similar ranking as paganism.

 

(9) DISCORDIANISM – ERIS DISCORDIA

 

“How I found Goddess and what I did to Her when I found Her”

Hail Eris! Eris Discordia!

As per the subtitle of the Principia Discordia, Discordianism had to rank in goddess-tier and I might well have ranked it up with modern paganism as effectively a subset of the latter.

The reasons I didn’t were, firstly that Discordianism is very much a fringe religion within even the fringe religion of modern paganism, and secondly that it’s not clear how much the goddess is the punchline in a joke disguised as a religion – or a religion disguised as a joke.

 

(10) TANTRA – SHAKTI KUNDALINI

 

I might well have ranked tantra up there with Hinduism, as I understand that it effectively overlaps to a large degree with Shaktism, but I just felt it didn’t have the same weight and rounded out goddess-tier of goddess rankings with it instead.

 

 

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

(11) NORSE – FREYA

 

(12) CELTIC (ARTHURIAN) – LADY OF THE LAKE & MORGAN LE FAY

 

Even though they still rank in top tier, these two mythologies are outscored by special mention entries for goddess rankings – which sees them drop out of the top ten goddess rankings (all of which are S-tier or goddess tier)

 

(13) FAIRIES – FAIRY QUEEN

 

“O what can ail thee, knight at arms…La Belle Dame Sans Merci hath thee in thrall!”

Once again, fairy folklore ranks close to the Celtic mythology or Arthurian legend it overlaps, particularly when it comes to fairy female figures, foremost among them the Fairy Queen.

 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

(14) NATIVE AMERICAN (LAKOTA)

 

(15) AFRO-AMERICAN (VOODOO)

 

(16) MESO-AMERICAN (AZTEC)

 

While they have their goddesses, these top ten mythologies take a big hit from other entries to rank below the top ten goddess rankings.

 

X-TIER (WILD TIER)

 

(17) BIBLICAL

 

Biblical mythology takes out the top spot, but of wild tier rankings as opposed to THE top spot as in my general rankings, sacred space rankings or apocalyptic rankings! I mean, it could only have ranked in wild tier given its masculine monotheism (or Trinity) but its surprisingly prolific and iconic female figures earn it top spot of wild tier – even if they aren’t divine as such, unless you look under the (God)hood…

 

(18) GHOSTS

 

Wait – what? Ghosts rank just under Biblical mythology in wild tier?

Well, yes, because it’s surprising how large female figures loom in ghost lore – from White Ladies to the terrifying female figures of Japanese ghost lore.

 

(19) VAMPIRES

 

Not surprisingly, vampires rank close to ghosts for female figures – arguably they might even have ranked close to witches given the overlap between the two. It is also arguable whether they might outrank ghosts in terms of the prevalence of female figures as vampires, although I believe that prevalence may be more so in vampire fiction from Dracula (and Carmilla) onwards rather than in vampire folklore. There was of course the vampire hunting technique of locating their grave through a (naked) female virgin on horseback – which featured much to my delight in the 2025 Nosferatu film directed by Eggers.

 

 

(20) LEGENDARY CREATURES

 

It’s the mermaids.

They pretty much drag up legendary creatures to a ranking close to ghosts and vampires all on their own.

 

(21) SHAMANISM

 

Shamanism isn’t particularly associated with female figures but they’re not absent from it either – it is hard to generalize for equal rites in shamanism but some variants of it, particularly modern ones or neo-shamanism, have female practitioners (labelled as shamanka by Wikipedia) or at least divine female figures as guidance for shamans.

 

(22) ZEN

 

Although zen would seem to tend towards equal rites in principle, it has tended towards male figures in practice, albeit it has had some notable female practitioners.

 

(23) DRAGONS

 

Dragon folklore might not seem to have any distinctive association with female figures, except perhaps for female dragons, but there is indeed at least one such recurring distinctive association – and that is the sacrificial maidens that recur throughout dragon folklore, so much so that they have their own Wikipedia article as “Princess and Dragon”. Andromeda from classical mythology is the archetypal example.

 

(24) GIANTS

 

“Rest well, and dream of large women”

I rank giants similiarly to dragons for distinctive association with female figures. On the one hand, there is not the recurring sacrificial maiden or princess trope as there is with dragons. On the other hand, however, female giants are more distinctive, as in Norse mythology.

 

(25) LYCANTHROPES

 

There are female werewolves, right?

Well, yes – there are, enough for their own Wikipedia article (as werewomen). It’s not so surprising, given the overlap between werewolves and witches.

I suppose seal and swan maidens might also count but they’re more fairy folklore.

 

(26) UFO

 

I mean, there are female aliens, right? Or at least abductees? Science fiction – or pulp science fiction – seems to feature both, particularly s€xy ones.

Yeah, we’re starting to scrape the bottom now.

 

(27) URBAN LEGENDS

 

Well yes, there are female figures in urban legends – some of which even have some prominence in or are the central figures of the legend, such as the Vanishing Hitchhiker (when female) or Bloody Mary.

 

(28) CONSPIRACY THEORIES

 

Similar to urban legends, there are female figures in conspiracy theories – some of which again have some prominence in or are the central figures of the conspiracy theory, such as the conspiracy theories around the deaths of Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana.

 

(29) ATLANTIS & BERMUDA TRIANGLE

 

If I recall correctly, the gods – and goddesses – that feature in Plato’s legend of Atlantis are the Greek ones, so you could argue Atlantis should rank up there with classical mythology but I just don’t think the Greek deities in Plato’s legend get it that far.

You could also argue for topless Atlantean priestesses in similar style to those in the Minoan civilization which is usually seen as the historical inspiration for Plato’s legend.

But again that only gets it so far in equal rites rankings, indeed only one entry short of last place. Well, that and whatever bikini girls the Bermuda Triangle snatches up…

 

(30) CRYPTIDS

 

I got nothing – we’ve hit bedrock for divine or really any sort of female figures, so it comes last. I suppose some of the cryptids must be female for the ongoing survival of the species – female Bigfoot swiping right on Bigfoot Tinder – but that’s about it.