Xana
The xana (Asturian: /ˈʃana/or �ɕa.na is a character found in Asturian mythology. Always female, she is a creature of extraordinary beauty believed to live in fountains, rivers, waterfalls, or forested regions with pure water. The origin of the Asturian word ''xana'' is unclear, though some scholars see it as a derivation from the Latin name for the goddess Diana. References to where the mythological xanas lived are still common in Asturian toponyms. They also appear in Eastern Galician and Cantabrian mythology (Anjanas). Characteristics The xanas promise treasures and can be disenchanted. Some xanas also attack people and steal their food. They live in fountains and caves. A xana can be a beneficial spirit, offering "love water" to travellers and rewards of gold or silver to those found worthy through some undefined judgment. Their hypnotic voices can be heard during spring and summer nights. Those who have a pure soul and hear the song will be filled with a sense of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zână
''Zână'' (plural ''zâne''; ''zînă'' and ''zîne'', ''d̦ână'' and ''d̦âne'' in old spellings) is the Romanian equivalent of the Greek Charites or the fairy godmother. They are the opposite of monsters such as Muma Pădurii. These characters make positive appearances in fairy tales and mostly reside in the woods. They can also be considered the Romanian equivalent of fairies and the Germanic elf. They vary in size and appearance and can transform to blend into their surroundings for protection and cover. They can appear openly in the woods and coax travelers to follow them in order to help them find their way. They can also hide in the woods and quietly guide those who need help through signs and "breadcrumbs" through the forest. Mythological role They give life to fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zana (mythology)
Zana (''Zanë'' in Gheg or ''Zërë'' in Tosk, pl. ''zanë(t)'', see other variants below) is a nymph-like figure in Albanian mythology and folklore, usually associated with mountains, springs and streams, forests, vegetation and animals, human vital energy and sometimes destiny. Zana e Madhe ("the Great Zana") is thought to have been an Illyrian goddess, equivalent of the Ancient Greek Artemis and Roman Diana. The zana are considered in folk beliefs to be extraordinary courageous (thus the Albanian expression ''trim si zana'') and they confer their protection on warriors similarly to Pallas Athena of Ancient Greece. Innumerable Albanian folk poems, myths and legends that are dedicated to Zana and her friends have been handed down to modern times. The zana are thought to have observed the speeches at the League of Prizren at 1878. Similar Albanian mythological figures with nymph-like attributes are: Ora, Bardha, Shtojzovalle, Mira and Fatí. Name Variants The name of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Diana (mythology)
Diana is a goddess in Religion in ancient Rome, Roman religion, primarily considered a patroness of the countryside and nature, hunters, wildlife, childbirth, crossroads, the night, and the Moon. She is Syncretism, equated with the Greek mythology, Greek goddess Artemis, and absorbed much of Artemis' mythology early in Roman history, including a birth on the island of Delos to parents Jupiter (mythology), Jupiter and Latona, and a twin brother, Apollo,''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. though she had Diana Nemorensis, an independent origin in Italy. Diana is considered a virgin goddess and protector of childbirth. Historically, Diana made up a triad with two other Roman deities: Egeria (mythology), Egeria the water nymph, her servant and assistant midwife; and Virbius, the woodland god. Diana is revered in modern Modern paganism, neopagan religions including Reconstructionist Roman religion, Roman neopaganism, Stregheria, and Wic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lamia Waterhouse
Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon". In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with Zeus and gave birth to his children. Upon learning of this, Zeus's wife Hera robbed Lamia of her children, either by kidnapping them and hiding them away, killing them outright, or forcing Lamia to kill them. The loss of her children drove Lamia insane, and she began hunting and devouring others' children. Either because of her anguish or her cannibalism, Lamia was transformed into a horrific creature. Zeus gifted Lamia the power of prophecy and the ability to take out and reinsert her eyes, possibly because Hera cursed her with insomnia or the inability to close her eyes. The ''lamiai'' () also became a type of phantom, synonymous with the empusai who seduced young men to satisfy their sexual appetite and fed on their flesh afterward. An ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Island Of Eternal Love
''The Island of Eternal Love'' is a 2006 novel by Cuban author Daína Chaviano. The plot is a family saga that takes place along two parallel lines: one during our time and another that begins in the 1850s. The modern story revolves around the paranormal investigations of Cecilia, a young journalist researching a phantom house that appears and disappears in different parts of Miami. Several witnesses claim to have seen the inhabitants of that house, whose behavior seems to hide a secret that she decides to find out. Before starting her investigations into the house, Cecilia goes to a bar, where she meets an old woman whom she befriends. Night after night, Cecilia listens to the story of that woman, who returns to that spot each evening to await a mysterious visitor. And this account is the other part of the novel, which begins in the nineteenth century in three regions of the world: Africa (Kingdom of Ifé, currently Nigeria), China ( Canton) and Spain ( Cuenca). Different m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spanish Legendary Creatures
Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture **Languages of Spain, the various languages in Spain Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Canada * Spanish River (other), the name of several rivers * Spanish Town, Jamaica Other uses * John J. Spanish (1922–2019), American politician * "Spanish" (song), a single by Craig David, 2003 See also * * * Español (other) * Spain (other) * España (other) * Espanola (other) * Hispania, the Roman and Greek name for the Iberian Peninsula * Hispanic, the people, nations, and cultures that have a historical link to Spain * Hispanic (other) * Hispanism * Spain (other) * National and regional identity in Spain * Culture of Spain The culture of Spain is influenced by its Western ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Asturian Mythology
Asturian refers to something related to Asturias, in northern Spain: * Asturians, the people of that region * Asturian language Asturian (; )Art. 1 de lLey 1/1998, de 23 de marzo, de uso y promoción del bable/asturiano ">aw 1/93, of March 23, on the Use and Promotion of the Asturian Language/nowiki> is a West Iberian languages, West Iberian Romance languages, Roman ... * Asturian cuisine, cuisine of the Asturias region of Spain * Asturian culture of the Epipalaeolithic or Mesolithic Stone Age * Western Asturian, a dialect Asturian language * Asturcón, also known as an Asturian pony * An informal name for Westphalian D, an interval of the Carboniferous Period {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Enchanted Moura
The Enchanted moura or (enchanted female Mouros) is a supernatural being from the fairy tales of Portuguese and Galician folklore. Very beautiful and seductive, she lives under an imposed occult spell. Shapeshifters, the occupy liminal spaces and are builders with stone of formidable strength. Appearance The enchanted Moura often appears singing and using a golden comb on her beautiful long hair, the colour of gold or black as the night, promising to give treasures to whomsoever sets her free by breaking her spell. (In Galicia, though, they are more commonly redheads.) Enchantment According to José Leite de Vasconcelos, ''mouras encantadas'' are “''beings compelled by an occult power to live on a certain state of siege as if they were numb or asleep, insofar as a particular circumstance does not break their spell''”. According to ancient lore, they are the souls of young maidens who were left guarding the treasures that the males, '' mouros encantados'' (enchanted mou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Darkest Powers Series
''The Darkest Powers'' is a series of paranormal novels by Kelley Armstrong. The series revolves around The Edison Group, a team of supernatural scientists, and the subjects they have experimented on. The novels are divided into two trilogies. ''The Summoning (Armstrong novel), The Summoning'', ''The Awakening (Armstrong novel), The Awakening'', and ''The Reckoning (Armstrong novel), The Reckoning'' comprise ''The Darkest Powers'' trilogy, which follows fifteen-year-old necromancer Chloe Saunders. ''The Gathering (Armstrong novel), The Gathering'', ''The Calling'', and ''The Rising'' comprise ''The Darkness Rising'' trilogy, which follows a sixteen-year-old girl named Maya Delaney. Darkest Powers series The Darkest Powers trilogy The Darkness Rising trilogy The Darkest Powers short stories *Dangerous, Divided and Disenchanted are no longer available in the Edison Archives. In late September 2011, they will be released as a "Darkest Powers bonus pack." This will be availab ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kelley Armstrong
Kelley Armstrong (born 14 December 1968)Bio for school projects archive is a Canadian writer, primarily of novels since 2001. She has published thirty-one fantasy novels , thirteen in her '''' series, five in her ''Cainsville'' series, six in her Rockton series, three in her ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Changeling
A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore. According to folklore, a changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. Sometimes the changeling was a "stock" (a piece of wood made magically to resemble the kidnapped human), more often the changeling was a supernatural being made magically to look like the kidnapped human. Supernatural beings blamed for stealing children included Fairy, fairies, demons, trolls, nereids and many others. Usually, the kidnapped human was a child; but there were cases, particularly in Scandinavia and Ireland, where adults were taken. Some modern scholars have argued these stories of replaced children originated as folklore explanations for autism or other developmental conditions. Description A changeling is typically identifiable via several traits, which vary from culture to culture. In Irish mythology, Irish legend, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Daína Chaviano
Daína Chaviano () (born 19 February 1957, Havana)Profile ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Accessed April 9, 2015. is a writer of French and Asturian descent. She has lived in the United States since 1991. She is considered one of the three most important female fantasy and science fiction writers in the Spanish language, along with Angélica Gorodischer (Argentina) and Elia Barceló (Spain), forming the so-called “feminine trinity of science fiction in Ibero-America.� ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |