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Entity Classification
Beings associated with forests, mountains, rivers, seas, storms, fire, air, earth and specific natural locations.
71 documented entities
Nature, Land and Elemental Spirits
Russian and East Slavic traditions
Alkonost is the crowned bird-woman of Russian tradition, associated with paradise, divine mercy, overwhelming song and the transformation of Mediterranean siren imagery within Christian Slavic…
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Hindu and Buddhist traditions
Apsaras are celestial female beings associated with water, cloud, dance, beauty, fertility, courtly performance and the dangerous interruption of ascetic power.
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Khmer and Southeast Asian traditions
Arak are Khmer spirits connected with families, communities, illness, possession, protection and the division of sacred authority alongside Neak Ta traditions.
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Baule traditions of Côte d'Ivoire
Asye Usu are Baule wilderness spirits associated with untamed nature, possession, misfortune, divination and idealized carved figures created to attract and contain their attention.
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Māori and wider Polynesian traditions
Atua are sacred powers, gods and nonhuman persons in Māori and wider Polynesian traditions, connected with ancestry, natural domains, warfare, fertility, craft, weather and social…
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West African traditions, especially Fon and related regions
Aziza are small forest beings in West African tradition, often associated with hidden knowledge, hunting, magic, craft, music and the social intelligence of the wilderness.
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East Slavic and Russian traditions
Bolotnik is the male swamp or marsh spirit of East Slavic folklore, associated with bogs, reeds, false ground, bubbles, drowning and the deceptive appearance of…
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Mesoamerican and Mexican traditions
Chaneques are small or hidden Mesoamerican beings associated with forests, rivers, fields, caves, animal protection, fright illness and the ownership of specific places.
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Ancient Egyptian tradition
Decans are the thirty-six star groups or stellar powers used in ancient Egypt to organize night hours, calendars, ritual time and later astrological interpretation.
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Philippine and broader Austronesian traditions
Diwata are Philippine sacred beings and nature-associated powers connected with mountains, forests, water, fertility, protection, ancestry and the ownership of place.
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Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist traditions
Drala are Tibetan and Himalayan powers associated with landscape, strength, protection, warfare, local territory and the vivid presence of the natural world.
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Ancient Greek and Roman religion
Dryad is the tree-spirit whose life ends with the axe, a presence preserved in Ancient Greek and Roman religion traditions of the unseen world.
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Old Norse and Germanic traditions
Dvergar are Old Norse dwarfs, subterranean beings associated with stone, craft, treasure, knowledge, cursed objects and the creation of divine weapons.
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Old Norse and Germanic traditions
Dísir are female supernatural powers in Old Norse tradition, associated with ancestry, fate, protection, death, fertility and collective cult.
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Old Norse and Germanic traditions
Dökkálfar are the dark elves named in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, associated with underground dwelling and contrasted with light elves.
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Scottish Gaelic traditions
Each-uisge is the Highland water horse, a lethal shape-shifting being associated with lochs, sea inlets, deceptive beauty and the devouring of riders.
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Norwegian and Scandinavian traditions
Fossegrim is the Norwegian waterfall spirit and supernatural fiddler associated with music, dangerous water, instruction and the price of artistic mastery.
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Old Norse and Icelandic traditions
Fylgjur are follower spirits in Old Norse tradition, appearing as animals or female beings connected with a person's character, fate, family and approaching death.
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Russian and East Slavic traditions
Gamayun is the Russian prophetic bird-woman associated with knowledge, fate, state calamity and the visual family of Sirin and Alkonost.
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Hindu and Buddhist traditions
Gandharvas are celestial male beings associated with music, fragrance, Soma, water, marriage, hidden knowledge and the courts of gods.
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Hindu and Buddhist traditions
Garudas are great bird beings derived from the divine Garuda, associated with solar force, speed, kingship, protection and conflict with Nāgas.
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Ancient Roman traditions
Genius Loci is the Roman indwelling or guardian spirit of a specific place, represented in inscriptions and art as a serpent, youth or localized divine…
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Renaissance and Western occult tradition
Gnome is the earth-dweller beneath stone and root, a presence preserved in Renaissance and Western occult tradition traditions of the unseen world.
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Medieval European and later British traditions
The Green Man is the modern name for medieval foliate heads carved in churches and secular buildings, showing human faces issuing leaves, vines or branches.
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Old Norse and Icelandic traditions
Hamingjur are personified or transferable powers of luck and fortune in Old Norse tradition, sometimes appearing as female beings connected with families and heroic success.
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Malay and Southeast Asian traditions
Hantu Air is a Malay water spirit or ghost associated with rivers, pools, drowning, deceptive forms and the belief that water contains unseen inhabitants.
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Malay and Southeast Asian traditions
Hantu Galah is a tall or elongating Malay spirit associated with night roads, palm groves, extreme height and the terror of a human form extending…
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Malay and Southeast Asian traditions
Hantu Tinggi is the Malay tall ghost or towering apparition associated with isolated roads, forest margins and the sudden enlargement of a humanlike presence.
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English folklore and literary tradition
Herne the Hunter is the horned ghost or forest being associated with Windsor, an oak tree, midnight wandering, chains, cattle harm and the later mythology…
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Norwegian and Scandinavian traditions
Huldra is the Scandinavian forest woman associated with beauty, cattle, seduction, marriage, hidden people and the wild interior beyond the farm.
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Sawa and related coastal traditions of Cameroon
Jengu, plural Miengu, are water spirits of Cameroonian coastal traditions associated with healing, beauty, divination, fertility, river and sea power.
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Coastal Cameroon and Sawa traditions
Jengu, plural Miengu, are water spirits of coastal Cameroon and related Sawa traditions, associated with beauty, healing, wealth, initiation and the power of rivers and…
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Scottish and broader Celtic traditions
Kelpie is the Scottish water horse associated with rivers, fords, pools, shapeshifting, drowning and deceptive encounters at the edge of water.
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East Slavic traditions
Kikimora is a female East Slavic household or marsh spirit associated with spinning, sleep disturbance, domestic disorder and ominous nocturnal sounds.
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Hindu and Buddhist traditions
Kinnaras are celestial or liminal beings associated with music, devotion, beauty, love and hybrid human-animal form across Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
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Japanese Shinto and folkloric traditions
Kodama is the tree echo that answers with a spirit’s voice, a presence preserved in Japanese Shinto and folkloric traditions traditions of the unseen world.
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Buddhist traditions
Kumbhandas are a Buddhist class of powerful nonhuman beings associated with grotesque bodies, fertility symbolism, disease, guardianship and the retinue of Virūḍhaka.
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Slavic folklore
Leshy is the forest master who rearranges the path, a presence preserved in Slavic folklore traditions of the unseen world.
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Tibetan and Himalayan traditions
Lu are Tibetan serpent and water spirits associated with springs, lakes, underground wealth, illness, weather and the protection of environmental purity.
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Southern African traditions
Madebele is a regional name used in some Southern African traditions for powerful nonhuman or ancestral-associated beings tied to wild places, illness and local sacred…
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Colombian and Latin American traditions
Madremonte is the powerful Colombian forest and mountain woman associated with rain, vegetation, rivers, storms and punishment of those who damage land or violate social…
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Buddhist and Hindu traditions
Mahoragas are great serpent beings in Buddhist cosmology, often represented with human upper bodies and serpentine lower forms and included among the Eight Classes of…
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African and African-diasporic traditions
Mami Wata is a broad African and African-diasporic complex of water spirits associated with beauty, wealth, healing, sexuality, modernity, possession and dangerous reciprocity.
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Vietnamese traditions
Mộc Tinh is a Vietnamese tree or wood spirit associated with ancient trees, forest danger, transformation and the consequences of cutting inhabited wood.
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Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions
Nāgas are powerful serpent beings associated with water, rain, treasure, fertility, kingship, subterranean realms and sacred protection.
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Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions
Nāginīs are female serpent beings associated with water, fertility, beauty, treasure, protection, lineage and dangerous enchantment.
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Ancient Greek and Roman religion
Naiad is the living presence within the spring, a presence preserved in Ancient Greek and Roman religion traditions of the unseen world.
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Thai traditions
Nang Takian is the female spirit associated with the Hopea odorata tree, connected with beauty, dreams, lottery luck, protection and danger when the tree is…
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Thai traditions
Nang Tani is the female spirit associated with wild banana plants, moonlit groves, beauty, protective relationships and danger toward abusive men.
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Myanmar traditions
Nat is the broad Myanmar category for spirits, deities and powerful beings associated with place, violent death, ancestry, royalty, protection and possession.
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Khmer traditions
Neak Ta are Khmer territorial and guardian spirits associated with villages, land, ancestors, shrines, boundaries and local protection.
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Dogon traditions of Mali
Nommo are primordial Dogon beings associated with water, speech, sacrifice, twinship, cosmic order and ancestral transformation.
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Ancient Greek and Roman traditions
Nymphs are female divine or semi-divine beings associated with springs, rivers, trees, mountains, caves, meadows, fertility and local cult.
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Scandinavian and Germanic traditions
Nøkk, Näcken and Nix are related northern European water spirits associated with rivers, lakes, music, shapeshifting, drowning and dangerous beauty.
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Scandinavian and Germanic traditions
Nøkk, Näcken and Nix are related Scandinavian and Germanic water-spirit names associated with music, shape-changing, drowning danger and the deceptive beauty of rivers and lakes.
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Ancient Greek and Roman religion
Oread is the mountain nymph walking above the tree line, a presence preserved in Ancient Greek and Roman religion traditions of the unseen world.
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East Slavic traditions
Polevik is the East Slavic field spirit associated with grain, agricultural boundaries, noon heat, crop success and danger to workers who violate field time.
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Slavic traditions
Poludnitsa is the Slavic noon woman associated with fields, heat, agricultural labor, riddles, illness and punishment of those working at the dangerous midday hour.
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Slavic traditions
Raróg is a Slavic fiery bird or spirit associated with whirlwind, flame, speed, household luck and the mythic imagery of the falcon.
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Tibetan and Himalayan traditions
Sadak are Tibetan earth and land spirits associated with soil, construction, territorial disturbance, illness and the ritual ethics of using ground.
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Renaissance and Western occult tradition
Salamander is the fire being living inside the flame, a presence preserved in Renaissance and Western occult tradition traditions of the unseen world.
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Korean traditions
Sanshin is the Korean mountain spirit or mountain god associated with peaks, tigers, longevity, protection, fertility and the authority of sacred landscape.
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Chinese traditions
Shanxiao is a Chinese mountain being associated with wild places, strange cries, one-legged or small humanoid form, theft and fear of explosive sound or fire.
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Philippine traditions
Sirena is the Philippine mermaid figure created through the interaction of Spanish vocabulary with older Indigenous water beings and maritime traditions.
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Russian and East Slavic traditions
Sirin is the Russian woman-headed bird associated with paradise, dangerous song, sorrow, divine mystery and the visual tradition shared with Alkonost and Gamayun.
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Old Norse traditions
Svartálfar are the black elves of Old Norse literary classification, closely associated or possibly identical with dwarfs in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda.
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Renaissance and Western ceremonial philosophy
Sylph is the intelligence moving inside the air, a presence preserved in Renaissance and Western ceremonial philosophy traditions of the unseen world.
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Aztec and Mesoamerican traditions
Tepeyollotl is the Nahua 'Heart of the Mountain,' a jaguar-associated deity or power connected with caves, echoes, earthquakes, darkness and the living interior of mountains.
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Myanmar traditions
The Thirty-Seven Nats are the standardized royal pantheon of major Myanmar spirits, many associated with violent death, kingship, local cult and integration beside Theravāda Buddhism.
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Renaissance and European occult tradition
Undine is the water elemental seeking a human soul, a presence preserved in Renaissance and European occult tradition traditions of the unseen world.
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Slavic folklore
Vodyanoy is the old man beneath the millpond, a presence preserved in Slavic folklore traditions of the unseen world.
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