RESEARCH BASE

Search 3,721 documents across 34 fields — every claim tier-rated by evidence

3,721 Documents 34 Sections 43,625 Citations 34,852 Keywords Indexed 4 Evidence Tiers

3,633 are the core, quality-scored corpus (34 lettered sections — see How We Work); the remaining 88 are cross-corpus synthesis documents (68 InterDocs, 12 Connections, 8 Theories) also indexed here.

2,509 results for "sacred and profane" — page 95 of 126

B_5_18 Credible Beings & Entities

B_5_18 — Iranian Mythology: Shahnameh, Divs, and the Cosmic Struggle

Iranian mythology constitutes one of the world's oldest and most influential mythological traditions, deeply shaped by Zoroastrian cosmic dualism — the eternal struggle between Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord, truth/asha) and Ang

iranian mythology shahnameh ferdowsi zoroastrian mythology divs ahura mazda
B_5_09 Verified Beings & Entities

B_5_09 — The Underworld: Descent Myths and Subterranean Realms

The Underworld — the realm beneath or beyond the living world where the dead reside, spirits dwell, and cosmic forces operate — is among the most universal motifs in human mythology. Virtually every major civilization ha

underworld descent myth katabasis Duat Hades Xibalba
B_5_13 Speculative Beings & Entities

B_5_13 — Insectoid Beings in Mythology and Modern Encounter Reports

Insectoid beings — entities with arthropod morphology including mantis-like, ant-like, and beetle-like forms — appear across two distinct domains: ancient mythology and modern encounter reports. In mythology, insects ser

insectoid-beings mantis-entities bee-goddess scarab-mythology insect-symbolism alien-encounter
B_5_05 Credible Beings & Entities

B_5_05 — Megafaunal Fossil Misidentification and the Origins of Monster Traditions

The field of geomythology — a term coined by geologist Dorothy Vitaliano in 1968 — investigates how ancient peoples interpreted fossils, geological formations, and megafaunal remains, and how those interpretations genera

fossil mythology Adrienne Mayor geomythology griffin origins cyclops skulls dragon bones
B_5_02 Verified Beings & Entities

B_5_02 — Shape-Shifting, Therianthropy, and Human-Animal Transformation

The belief that humans can transform into animals — and that some beings exist in hybrid human-animal forms — is one of the oldest and most widespread motifs in human culture. The famous "Lion-Man" of Hohlenstein-Stadel

shape-shifting therianthropy therianthrope lycanthropy werewolf skinwalker
B_4_05 Verified Beings & Entities

B_4_05 — Ancestor Spirits and Ancestral Worship Traditions

Ancestor veneration is arguably the most universal religious practice in human history, attested in every inhabited continent from the Neolithic onward. It rests on a shared premise: the dead do not disappear but persist

ancestor worship ancestor spirits veneration Obon Egungun Vodou
B_4_09 Verified Beings & Entities

B_4_09 — Skin-Walker, Wendigo, and Indigenous Predatory Spirits

Indigenous North American spiritual traditions include powerful predatory spirit entities whose cultural significance, cosmological depth, and moral weight far exceed their common (and often distorted) depictions in popu

skin-walker yee naaldlooshii wendigo windigo witiko wiindigoo
B_4_14 Verified Beings & Entities

B_4_14 — Valkyries and Warrior Spirit Women: Norse, Celtic, Slavic

Warrior spirit women — supernatural female figures who choose, accompany, or determine the fate of warriors in battle — constitute a distinctive category of being that crosses the boundaries between deity, spirit, and pe

Valkyrie warrior spirit woman chooser of the slain Brynhild shieldmaiden Morrígan
B_4_06 Verified Beings & Entities

B_4_06 — Djinn Ecology — Classification, Habitat, and Interaction Traditions

The Islamic tradition preserves the most elaborate and internally consistent classification system for non-human intelligent beings in any world religion. Jinn (al-jinn) — created from "smokeless flame" (mārijin min nār,

djinn jinn Marid Ifrit Si'la Ghul
B_4_17 Speculative Beings & Entities

B_4_17 — Psychic Vampires and Energy Parasites: Cross-Cultural Concepts of Vital Force Draining

The concept of psychic vampirism — entities or persons who drain vital energy, life force, or emotional well-being from others — appears across cultures and historical periods, bridging folklore, occultism, psychology, a

psychic vampire energy vampire psychic parasitism vital force prana draining qi depletion
B_4_01 Beings & Entities

B_4_01 — Solomon and the Jinn

The Islamic tradition preserves one of the most detailed and theologically developed accounts of a human ruler commanding non-human beings. In the Quran, Sulayman (Solomon) is granted divine authority over the jinn — int

Solomon Jinn Quran Iblis Ifrit Marid
B_2_18 Credible Beings & Entities

B_2_18 — Star Beings and Sky People: Celestial Origin Myths

Across cultures worldwide, myths describe beings who originate from the stars or descend from the sky to interact with humanity — teaching knowledge, founding civilizations, or serving as ancestral progenitors. These cel

star beings sky people celestial origin star ancestors Pleiades mythology Sirius
B_2_24 Credible Beings & Entities

B_2_24 — Wild Man: Feral Human Mythology and Bigfoot Traditions

The Wild Man — a large, hairy, human-like being living in the wilderness beyond civilization's edge — appears in mythologies, folklore, and claimed-sighting reports across every inhabited continent. The earliest fully de

wild man Enkidu Sasquatch Bigfoot yeti yeren
B_2_14 Verified Beings & Entities

B_2_14 — Undead and Revenant Traditions Beyond Vampires

The revenant — a corpse that returns from death to interact with the living — is one of the most ancient and widespread categories in world folklore, distinct from (though overlapping with) the vampire tradition treated

undead revenant draugr jiangshi zombie voodoo
B_2_07 Credible Beings & Entities

B_2_07 — Fairy, Fae, and 'Hidden People' Traditions

Across virtually every human culture, traditions exist of "hidden peoples" — beings who inhabit a parallel realm adjacent to but normally invisible within the human world. In Ireland, they are the Aos Sí (Tuatha Dé Danan

fairy fae faerie sidhe aos sí tuatha dé danann
B_2_13 Verified Beings & Entities

B_2_13 — Succubi, Incubi, and Supernatural Sexual Encounters

Reports of nocturnal supernatural sexual encounters constitute one of the most globally consistent categories of anomalous experience, documented across every inhabited continent and spanning thousands of years. The incu

succubus incubus Lilith supernatural sexual encounter sleep paralysis night visitor
B_2_21 Verified Beings & Entities

B_2_21 — Unicorn: Horse-Horn Mythology and Cultural Persistence

The unicorn — a single-horned equine creature of extraordinary beauty and power — is one of the most enduring mythological figures in world culture, with a documented textual tradition spanning at least 2,400 years and p

unicorn monoceros re'em qilin kirin Ctesias
B_2_17 Verified Beings & Entities

B_2_17 — Ancestral Heroes and Demigods: Heracles, Maui, Cú Chulainn

Ancestral heroes and demigods — beings of mixed divine and human parentage, or mortal heroes who achieve quasi-divine status through extraordinary deeds — represent a theological category that mediates between the fully

demigod culture hero Heracles Hercules Maui Cú Chulainn
B_2_11 Verified Beings & Entities

B_2_11 — Wild Man, Sasquatch, and Hairy Hominid Traditions

The figure of the "wild man" — a large, hairy, human-like being dwelling in wilderness — constitutes one of the most persistent and geographically widespread archetypes in human tradition. From Enkidu in the Epic of Gilg

wild man Sasquatch Bigfoot yeti Enkidu Grendel
B_2_09 Verified Beings & Entities

B_2_09 — Shadow People, Sleep Paralysis Entities, and Dark Figures

Shadow people, dark figures, and night-visiting entities represent one of the most consistently reported anomalous experiences across human cultures. The phenomenon centers on sleep paralysis — a state where the body rem

shadow people sleep paralysis Hatman Old Hag night terrors mare