Myths Related to Aspects of the Earth

Early civilizations had many myths about gods and goddesses associated with what they experienced in their daily lives at the surface of the Earth. This section provides a glimpse of myths associated with aspects of Earth - storms, precipitation, lightning and thunder, winds, clouds, rainbows, water and the seas, aurora, volcanoes and the underworld - which early civilizations used to help understand the sometimes frightening world around them.
<a href="/mythology/tlaloc_rain.html&edu=high&dev=">Tlaloc</a> was an important deity of <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/precipitation/rain.html&edu=high&dev=">rain</a> and fertility of the Aztec mythology, associated with caves, springs, and mountains. Tlaloc was depicted as a man wearing a net of <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/cloud.html&edu=high&dev=">clouds</a>, a crown of heron feathers, foam sandals and carrying rattles to make thunder. While he was thought to sustain life, he was also feared for sending <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/precipitation/hail.html&edu=high&dev=">hail</a>, <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/tstorm/tstorm_lightning.html&edu=high&dev=">thunder and lightning</a>. This image shows Tlaloc on a multicolor ceramic vessel from the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of the Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico.</em></small></p>

Explore Myths Related to Aspects of the Earth

Norse: Freya

The Norse mythology associates the aurora with the goddess Freya. Freya was the goddess of ...Read more

Norse: Valkiries

It has been suggested that the northern lights, or aurora, represented the reflections of the ...Read more

Chinese: Pan-ku

According to a primitive Chinese myth, at the beginning of time only chaos existed. The universe ...Read more

Pawnee: Tirawa

According to the Pawnee Indians, the world was created by the god Tirawa who assigned to the ...Read more

Greek: Pan

Pan is the Greek god of wild nature. He protected shepherds, sheep, and goats. Pan's name is ...Read more

Roman: Faunus

Faunus was a Roman pastoral god. The Romans identified him with the Greek god Pan. Some times ...Read more

African: Shango

Shango was the fourth king of the ancient Oyo Empire, the West African center of culture and ...Read more

Japanese: Susanowo

Susanowo was the god of the sea and the storms according to the ancient Japanese religion Shinto, ...Read more

Aztec: Tlaloc

Tlaloc was an important deity of rain and fertility in the Aztec mythology. Aztec people were ...Read more

Navajo: Tonenili

Tonenili, who is also known as the Water Sprinkler, is the Navaho God of Water.  He is responsible ...Read more

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