El Dorado

The legendary country of the Golden Man which originated in South America. The legend was thought to come from the custom of a people of Colombia who each year anointed a chief; the king was said to be covered with gold dust at a religious festival. The ceremony took place when a new ruler was elected. With this ceremony the new ruler was recognized as king.

El Dorado is a myth in which precious stones were found in abundance; it has fascinated explorers who quested for it since the days of the Spanish conquistadors who conquered the Central and South Americas.

The tale of El Dorado has evolved several times throughout the centuries, and eventually accounts of the previous myth were combined with those of the legendary city. The resulting El Dorado legend which for centuries drew the European explorers. El .Dorado is similar to other myths commonly named as The Fountain of Youth and Shangrila.

El Dorado is also sometimes used as a metaphor as the ultimate prize that one spends a lifetime seeking; It could be a lover, happiness, or fame. It is also used s as a figure of speech to represent something which may not ever be found. The name of El Dorado came to be used as a place where wealth is rapidly accumulated.

The Druids

Druids were priests of an ancient Celtic religion. In the Celtic world, they were the religious leaders teachers, judges, advisers, healers, fortunetellers and poets. The Druids controlled the religious and political power of the time.

The earliest records in the ancient accounts of the Druids date back to the 200s B.C. Various ancient  from the Greek sand Romans described the beliefs and practices of the Celtic priests.

Caesar in around 100 B.C. wrote about the Druids and recorded some facts of the Druids. 

According to his records there were two leading classes in Celtic society: the knights or warriors and the Druids. The Druids did not perform manual labor, serve in the military, or pay taxes. The members of this class devoted their lives to religious worship and were responsible of human sacrifices.

The Druids were respected and were sought for advice and instruction. They also served as judges for most public and private disputes, and crimes. Disobeying the Druids' decisions led to removal from the order the most severe punishment. Training to become a Druid was a long practice which could take up to 20 years. Those who wanted to join the order had to learn the religious laws and traditions and the philosophical principles of the Druids.

The Druids believed in a supreme god, whom they called Be' al.  The symbol of this Supreme Being was fire; the Druids also worshiped lesser gods.

The Druids taught that the human soul upon death passed into the body of a newborn child. To the early Druids the oak tree was sacred and they performed their rituals in oak forests.  The Druids associated the mistletoe, which grows on oak trees, had healing powers

Details of Druid ceremonies are not fully known.

The practice reported in detail was the practice of human sacrifice. The Druids believed that human sacrifices were necessary to get favor of their God.  In times of illness, or war, people would be gathered, placed in wicker containers, and burned alive.

The Druids' role in religion and society is seen in mythology. It was believed that the Druids had magical powers and could foretell the future. It is said that the Druids used human sacrifice and magic rituals to ensure prosperity and success.

In ancient Celtic literature, Druids were frequently symbolized as magicians and prophets were influential royal advisers. It was believed that the Druids could read minds and predict the future; it was also believed that they could take the form of birds or women.

The belief of the Druids is seen in early Irish mythology. The Irish hero Finn was raised by a Druid. Throughout the myths, Druids used their powers for both for good and for evil.

By the 18^th century,  Druids were presented in literature had lost much of their connection with the ancient religious order.  The myths of the Druids persist over the centuries.  There are questionable facts about their history and the beliefs and practices that dispute myth from fact. The Druids are considered to have earned a place in the mythological world. 

A History of Greek Mythology

Greek Mythology, are the beliefs and ritual practices of the ancient Grecian civilization from around about 2000 BC. It was a culture full of distinct stories and legends about a variety of gods. By about the 700s BC the mythology of Greece was fully developed and included classic collections of by the poet Hesiod and the Iliad and by Homer whose works began about that time.

Greek mythology has several characteristics which were different from other mythological stories. The Greek gods were humanlike in form and exhibited human feelings. This differed from other ancient religions such as Hinduism or Judaism; Greek mythology did not have structured spiritual teachings. The practice and belief was without a written code, such as a bibles or sacred books.

In Greek mythology the weakness of humans was given emphasis compared to the powers of nature. The Greeks believed that their gods, who were immortal, had control over all parts of nature.
The mythology was instilled in with every aspect of Greek life. Each city contained temples of worship to a particular God or group of Gods. They honored the Gods in their festivals and other official gatherings, poets narrated legends which were learned by many about the Gods. Most of the myths were learned orally. Different parts of the home were dedicated to certain Gods, and people offered prayers to those Gods.

The Gods were also honored in holy places. Delphi was a holy site dedicated to Apollo. A temple built at Delphi contained an oracle and the people travelled to with questions about the future. In addition to prayers, the Greeks offered sacrifices to their Gods.

Greek myths were built upon the primitive religions of the region of Crete which appeared around 4000-3000 BC. They believed that objects had spirits, and, had special magical powers. Over time, these beliefs expanded into legends involving objects, animals, and Gods. These legends became a part of classical Greek mythology.
As the Greek civilization advanced the mythology was gradually altered with the influence of neighboring civilizations which caused a variation of Greek beliefs.


The myths were passed on from generation to generation.  With the appearance of Christianity there was a transformation of the stories into myths which though entertaining were consider fictional.  The myths are still being learned and studied which keeps the Greek mythology alive to this day.

Miraculous Births in History

Miraculous births are a common myth in historical literature and religious texts. Stories of miracle births often include miraculous conceptions by a God, the supernatural or in some mythologies linked to creation.


In the story of Krishna, the God is the responsible for the conception and is also the result of the conception.

The stories of Buddha and his unusual birth developed through the centuries. In Buddhism, miraculous birth traditions were described as a series of incarnations. According to this recorded history Buddha was the first of six incarnations.  The legendary account of the birth of Buddha is in that the Great Being decided  where and when he was to be born according to the story Maya, his mother, fell asleep and dreamed of four archangels carried her to the Himalaya Mountains in her dream the Great Being came to her in the form of a white elephant. .'"


In the Hebrew Bible, there are stories of barren women giving birth where the God miraculously intercedes. The birth of Moses and the Sarah in the Old Testament is one example. The birth of Moses was foretold to Pharaoh in which caused him to command that all the male children to be thrown into the river. Moses was born on in the year 2377.


In certain Christian beliefs, Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox, the birth of the Virgin Mary is miraculous. The Virgin Mary's parents, St. Anne and St. Joachim, were childless, when an angel came to them and told them that they would give birth to a daughter Mary, she was born without the original sin.

The Gospels record the birth of Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel and she learned that she will conceive and bear a child called Jesus. When she asks how this can be, since she is a virgin, he tells her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her. In the Gospel of Matthew, the birth came to Joseph in a dream, in which he is told to name the child Jesus. This miraculous bit is the most well known.


The Gospel of Luke recounts that Jesus was conceived when Elizabeth was about six months pregnant; when her cousin, the Virgin Mary, came to tell her about her news, Elizabeth's unborn child jumped. The Catholic calendar places the feast of John the Baptist on June 24, six months before Christmas.




The birth of a child by a God and a mortal which results in the birth of a hero comes from the belief of the origin of Gods. Some of the heroes who were born of a God with a mortal are Ion by Apollo and Creus; Asclepius by Apollo and Coronis; Helen by Zeus and Leda and Romulus by Mars and Aemila.

The majority of civilizations and cultures have stories of miraculous births in one way or another.  This belief is widespread and persists until today.  Within each account of an unusual birth there is a truth that links all of these cultures together into one sacred belief.  Are miraculous births factual or merely myths?  

Myths and Legends

Myths and legends are types of stories and often with folk tales and fairy tales make up a civilization and culture of the peoples of the world.

A myth gives an explanation for something unknown: or how the world or a particular custom began. Myths or a cycle of myths may have a chronology; but for the most part is timeless and the events are sometimes symbolic. Myths are considered a religion in certain parts of the world.

Some anthropologists and scholars of religion came have ascertained that certain Christian stories shared many of the features of myth, and could be called myths.

A legend is a story which is told as a historical event. The legend may be version of a historical event in which the participants have become larger than life. Examples of legends are the legends of which are set in a definite period, the reign of Richard I of England (1189-99), or about King Arthur which may be based on facts. These legends have a definite time period.

 Myths and legends may be passed down orally or in writing, from generation to generation their origin or author is unknown.

The concept of a myth is that it is a belief or religion of a culture and has its basis in an attempt to explain natural events such as Creation myths.

Along the same line the Great Flood myths appear in many cultural myths as an event which caused a renewal of a civilization through a great catastrophe.

Myths reinforce the beliefs of a culture and sets and example for what is often consider to morally and symbolizes the purpose to strive for in ones life.

Myths are examples of the sophisticated stories attempting to rationalize the world around the people and to gain insight into what is in the realm of the unknown.

Greek History and Mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks. Their Gods, heroes, and the nature of their world are the basis of myths. The origins of their own cults and the rituals that were practiced were a significant part of their culture. They were a part of religion and continue to be a part of religion in modern day Greece. Scholars study myths in order to discover and understand the religious and political policies of Ancient Greece, as well as its civilization.


Greek mythology is a large collection of narratives, and in Greek art. Greek myths, as with most civilizations in the world, was an attempt to explain the origins of the world with Gods, Goddess, and heroes which made up their lives. Greek mythology has been an influence on the culture, the arts, and the literature of the Western world and at the present time is a part of Western legacy along with language. Greek mythology has changed over time to with the evolution of their culture.


A variety of myths and legends in Greek mythology the gods were essentially humanistic but with ideal bodies. The Ancient Greek gods did not suffer from disease, and could be wounded. Most gods were associated with specific aspects of life. Love tales often include incest, the rape of a mortal woman by a God which resulted in heroes Tales of punishment with the invention of the Gods as when Prometheus steals fire from the gods to bring to humankind.


Mythology was at the heart of everyday life in Ancient Greece. Greeks regarded mythology as a part of their history. They used myth to explain natural phenomena, cultural variations, hostilities along with friendships. It was a source of pride to be able to trace the descent from a mythological hero or a god.


The facts behind mythology and history are not as farfetched as one might think. When a civilization is confronted my mystery the myths can be a source of comprehending and in the explaining what is unknown. The historical events such as the Trojan War may be fact or fiction but the myths can be considered as an attempt of a civilization to identify their status in the world around them.

The Mystery of Atlantis

 According to ancient Egyptian records the Athenians fought a war against Atlantis and were victorious.

The rulers of Atlantis controlled Atlantis and other islands. They began a war from their island in the Atlantic Ocean they sent troops to Europe and Asia. Against this attack the men of Greece gathered men from all over Greece to prevent it. However when there were challenges with the defense their allies deserted them and the Athenians were forced to fight to defeat the Atlantians alone. They prevented the invasion of their own country and freed Egypt and every other country which were controlled by the rulers of Atlantis.

Within a short time span after the victory of the Greeks Atlantis was the victim of horrific earthquakes and floods and sunk into the sea in a day and a night according to the legends.

In the stories in a history of Atlantis that shows how the rulers of Alantis wanted to conquer everyone because of the intense pride. This history that has been recorded tells of  Atlantis beginning from the beginning of time. The Gods divided the world among themselves and each ruled their own portion. The God Poseidon was allotted to rule Atlantis. His wife the mortal woman Cleito, and the royal family of Atlantis was started from this history.

Cleito and Poseidon had ten sons, five sets of boys. Atlas the first son the twins, was made king. Atlas had many sons and the succession of the throne was passed down to the eldest son.

Atlantis was peaceful and prospered over many generations. The city Metropolis and the  city of Atlantis were surrounded behind a wall splendorous and wealthy.

Poseidon placed laws for Atlantis that the rulers were to fellow. The ruling body judged matters concerning the kingdom according to Poseidon's laws. As long as they judged and lived by Poseidon's the kingdom flourished.  After some time the laws were neglected the rulers married mortals soon pride convinced the rulers that the need for greater power was their right. When Zeus saw what had happened to the rulers  that they had abandoned the laws of the Gods he brought all the gods of Olympus to pronounce judgment on Atlantis.

 The Gods decreed that Atlantis should be punished for their pride by having their island perish into the sea and so Atlantis was engulfed by the Atlantic Ocean with the destruction of their civilization.

Whether the myth of Atlantis is true is left to the scholars and the archeologists to decipher however the myth still is strong that Atlantis did exist and is still a source of tales throughout the centuries.