Ammit - The Supernatural Being from Egypt

Egyptian mythology has brought us lots of gods, goddesses and demons but there are certain figures that are forgotten. One of the small players in Egyptian folklore is Ammit. She is a scary looking demon that has the head of a crocodile, body of the lion or leopard, and feet of the hippopotamus. She is referenced in hieroglyphics found in tombs.


It should be noted that Ammit was never considered a goddess. Yet, she embodies everything Egyptians fear of. She could give them eternal restlessness if they don’t follow the laws of Maat. Ammit’s name means the devourer or eater of the dead. She is also known as devourer of Amenti, swallower of the dead, and dweller in Amenta, which is the place where the sun sets. Amenta is also what Egyptians call their cemeteries that are located at the western bank of the River Nile. The mere mention of her name alone can cause panic during those days.

According to the Egyptian lore, Ammit would sit under the Scales of Justice, which is located at the Hall of the Two Truths. Anubis, as the conductor of souls, would usher in the dead into the hall. Then the dead will have the chance to say his piece with regards to his past deeds with Osiris listening. Thoth will be responsible for prosecuting and recording the results. Also in the hall would be the Great Ennead who will be observing from their thrones.

Then its heart would be placed in the Scales of Justice. The ideal scenario would be for the balance to stay horizontal after the heart is placed on the scale. If the heart is judged to be unworthy, the scale would dip and the heart would be fed to Ammit. The soul would then vanish into limbo with no hope of further reincarnation. Egyptian would prepare their dead loved ones with spells so that the soul would be prepared for the ordeals that it would face in the afterlife.
There are other sources that states that Ammit didn’t live at the Hall of the Two Truths but instead stayed near a lake of fire where the evil souls are thrown. In this version of the story, she would not be eating the hearts of the guilty but would be guarding the lake of fire.

Ammit would be related by some to other goddesses and figures of Egyptian mythology. Because of her similarity in appearance with the goddess Taweret, experts would link Ammit to her. Then there are some that would connect her to the goddess Sekhmet because of the similarity of their lioness body and the reference to the lake of fire.

Although Ammit is something that is feared by the Egyptians, it should be considered that she does what she does not because she wants to but it is ordered to her by the gods. She consumes only those who are judged to be sinful and not worthy to live another life. This is why she should still be seen as a force of good because what she destroys is considered evil.

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Krampus - Your Christmas Nightmare

When Christmas season comes, one person comes into mind and he is Santa Claus. His image is plastered everywhere when the holiday season arrives. The idea of Santa Claus is to make children behave the rest of the year for them to make it into Santa’s list. Naughty kids would receive nothing.

That is not the case in the region around the Alps. Boys and girls of southern Germany, Austria, northern Italy and Switzerland would try not to naughty so that Krampus would not visit them during the holiday season.

The word Krampus came from the Old High German word krampen which means claw. It is said that Krampus is a hairy monster with horns, covered with balls ad would be dragging chains. There are stories that Krampus would be carrying gift for children who have been good and a birch stick or lumps of coal for those who have been bad. There were tales in which Krampus would be place naughty ones in his sack to be brought to hell with him.

Krampus was originally an Austrian custom that has spread throughout its neighbors. It is observed that there are two takes on Krampus. The first one would involve Krampus being the antithesis of Santa Claus. On December 5, which is the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas, Austrians would be running across the city in scary masks and would try to scare the children. Then the next day St. Nicholas would be making his rounds doling out gifts. There are some that don Krampus’ hideous masks in the hopes that they ward off evil spirits in the process.

There’s a variation of this celebration in which Krampus is said to be one of Santa Claus’ minions, who would follow Santa Claus around, giving out gifts according to the child’s behavior. This makes Krampus one of Santa’s elves but then again this would still be subject to debate.
Typical Krampus costume would consist of red wooden masks, ebon sheep’s skin and horns. Krampus masks are known as Larven. Considerable efforts are put on making these masks as they are an essential part of the celebration. The horns would typically be made from horns of ibex, chamois or goats. The more scarier the mask the better.

In the Salzburg region, you have two options to choose from if you want to get a glimpse of St. Nicholas and Krampus. If you have children, you can invite Saint Nicholas into your home. The second option would be to go to one of the Krampus runs or parade.

No matter what you might think of Krampus, the celebration in his name is an excuse for small towns to come together and drink to their heart’s content. It would involve a lot of silly activities that would look senseless in any other day. It got nothing to do with chasing away spirits or the winter away. It boils down to the basics of rewarding the good and punishing those who are bad.

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Garuda - The Feared Creature of the Hindus

There are three main animal deities in the Hindu religion. They are Ganesha the elephant-headed son of the goddess Durgha, Hanuman the monkey god and Garuda the king of birds. Even at present, Garuda is very much revered by Hindus for his ethics and his strong will of correcting wrongdoers. The Indonesian National Airlines is named after him.

Being the kings of birds, he has the ability to fly at very fast speeds. This is the reason why Vishnu chose Garuda to be his personal mount, which is also the reason why he is venerated by a lot of devout Hindus.


Garuda was born to Kashyap, a great sage and Vinata, daughter of King Daksha. Stories tell of how Vinata laid and hatched Garuda from an egg. He was born with the head, talons, wings, and beak of an eagle, yet has human limbs. His face is white, his wings are red and his body is gold. When he was born, he shone really bright that he was mistaken for Agni, the god of fire and was worshipped.
Garuda is said to be born with low tolerance for evil and is known to roam around the universe seeking and destroying the evil ones. The only exception would be Brahmins because his parents told him not touch them.

Like his mother Vinata, Garuda has a great dislike for serpents. There’s a story behind Vinata’s hatred towards serpents. It is said that Garuda’s father had two wives. There’s great rivalry between Vinata and Kadru. There was a time that Vinata lost a bet to Kadru and had to be a slave for a day. Kadru chose to imprison Vinata in Patala, guarded with serpents. According to other myth, the serpents were sons of Kadru.

Upon hearing of Vinata’s imprisonment, Garuda went to Patala and asked the serpents to release his mother. They asked for amrita in exchange for his mother’s freedom. So Garuda went to the celestial mountain where the drink is hidden for safekeeping by the gods. He had to overcome obstacles set by the gods. Yet he successfully got to the amrita only to be chased by Indra, the king of gods. He was struck by a thunderbolt but proved to be more superior to the gods and safely got away. Once he handed the amrita to the serpents, they released his mother. Although he got his mother back, Garuda developed hatred towards the serpents.

Throughout the Mahabharata, Garuda is portrayed as the symbol of martial strength, speed and violent force. Even Krishna is said to carry a flag with Garuda depicted on it.

In Buddhism, garudas are large birds with vast wisdom. Though their exact size is unknown, it is said that their wingspan can reach a couple of miles. Once they flap their massive wings, they can cause strong winds that can destroy houses.

According to some Buddhist stories, garudas have cities and their own king. Some of them can even change into human form if they have to deal with humans. Garudas are sworn enemies of the Nagas, serpent-like creatures.

Thanks to http://blog.baliwww.com for the image of Garuda


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Halloween is Almost Near

Just a few days from now, we will welcome the month of October. This is one of my most favorite months because of the event called Halloween, happening once a year every October 31.


This is a great time for adults to showcase their creativity and unleash their inner self (may it be the knight, the goddess, or the evil in them) by wearing outfits during the costume parties. Of course, this is also the time for the kids to enjoy as much candies as they like without the need to buy one for themselves (thanks to Trick or Treat).

But of course, who would forget the ghosts stories that are best told during the Halloween. Each place has its own ghost stories to tell and creatures to fear.

I also have my own scary experiences no matter where I go. Some say that it's just a figure of my imagination while others believe and scare themselves to death as well.

And to be in time for the upcoming Halloween, I thought of making some posts about the supernatural beings from different countries. Who knows, you might encounter one of these "unknown creatures" sooner or later. At least you get to know their names beforehand so you will get acquainted with them later on.
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