The English name 'jade' derives from Spanish piedra de ijada ('flank stone'), recorded in 1565 and reflecting a folk belief in the stone's efficacy for ailments of the loins and kidneys. The Latin lapis nephriticus gave rise to the term 'nephrite'. Archaeologically, nephrite sources were exploited in Neolithic China (e.g., Liangzhu culture) and in regions feeding rivers of Xinjiang (Yurungkash and Karakash). Jadeite of the bright emerald-green varieties entered Chinese markets in quantity after about 1800, imported from Burma; over centuries jade objects became deeply embedded in ritual, funerary, and courtly systems, including use as grave furnishings (jade burial suits) and as imperial tribute.
Jade, as used in art and jewelry, denotes two mineralogical aggregates. Nephrite is an amphibole-group silicate of calcium and magnesium; it is typically green but can also be yellow, white (notably 'mutton fat' white), or black. Jadeite is a pyroxene-group silicate of sodium and aluminum with a broader color range: white through various greens (including the prized 'imperial' emerald-green), lavender, yellow, orange, brown, black, and rare blues. Both occur as tough, compact rocks worked into ornaments and ritual objects; the visual and tactile qualities (color, translucency, texture) determine cultural preferences.
Sources do not describe supernatural powers. Historical and folk attributions treat jade as possessing beneficial or protective qualities: the Spanish-derived name implies a reputation for treating flank and kidney ailments; in Chinese cultural history jade has been accorded symbolic and ritual efficacy, used in burial suits and cult objects to signify status and possibly to provide protective or continuity functions in funerary contexts. Such properties are cultural beliefs about material efficacy rather than documented agency.
Weaknesses
None recorded.
Wards
- otheruse as funerary furnishing (jade burial suits)
Abzar İyesi
A Turkic iyesi (possessive/guardian spirit) of the courtyard, outbuildings, and farmstead grounds; ambivalent in nature, it protects its domain but may harm livestock and cause mischief, often appearing in animal forms.
Acolnahuacatl
Acolnahuacatl is a name attested in central Mexican sources both as a historical Tepanec ruler of Azcapotzalco and, in several modern compilations and trivia lists, as a minor chthonic or underworld-associated figure (often given the variant Acolmiztli). The evidence in the provided material is divided: the historical/genealogical reading is supported by standard reference entries, while the deity reading appears mainly in secondary online god-lists and quizzes and is not substantiated by detailed primary ritual or mythic texts in the supplied set.
Ahuiateteo
Ahuiateteo (Āhuiatēteoh; also rendered Mācuīltōnalequeh) are a quintet of Aztec deities associated with excess, pleasure, and the dangers that accompany over‑indulgence. They appear in calendrical and codical contexts, are invoked in divinatory practice, and are thematically linked to pleasures (feasting, drinking, gambling, sex, music) and the misfortunes that follow excess.
Ahuitzotl
Ahuitzotl is both the personal name of the eighth tlatoani (ruler) of Tenochtitlan (reigned ca. 1486–1502) known for military expansion and monumental rebuilding, and an onomastic term in Nahuatl for an aquatic animal/legendary creature (commonly glossed 'water thorny' and often associated with an otter or water opossum). The sources treat these registers—historical ruler and animal-name—as related but distinct uses of the same Nahuatl lexeme.
Akateko
Akateko (赤手児, lit. 'red child's hand') is a yōkai from Japanese folklore commonly told as a small, red, disembodied child's hand that appears from trees—especially the Japanese honey locust—and startles travelers; in some regional variants it is accompanied by a specter of a young woman or manifests as paired foot- or leg-like apparitions. Accounts vary between mostly harmless trickster apparition and a violent variant that attacks humans.
Akshobhya
Akshobhya is a transcendent buddha of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism, one of the Five Wisdom (Dhyāni) Buddhas. He personifies 'mirror knowledge' (ādarśa-jñāna), is conventionally placed in the East, and is lord of the eastern Pure Land Abhirati; in esoteric texts he is associated with the eastern Vajra division and invoked in mantra/mandala ritual contexts.
Alicante
Alicante is attested in available reference sources as the proper name of a mythological snake identified with Mexico. The surviving entries provide only the name and a categorical label (mythological snake) without accompanying narrative, attributes, or ritual context.
Amazons
A society of women-warriors in ancient Greek myth and legend, depicted as skilled horsemen and archers who inhabit the periphery of the Greek world and act as recurring opponents and counterparts to Greek heroes. Treated by ancient authors as a past people and by modern scholars as a mythic construct possibly inspired by Eurasian female warrior burials.
Amitābha Buddha
Amitābha is a principal Mahayana Buddha who presides over the Western Pure Land (the Land of Ultimate Bliss). Devotional practices—most centrally recitation of his name and chanting of Pure Land sutras—are presented in sources as the means by which Amitābha welcomes practitioners for rebirth in his hindrance-free realm.
Anantacāritra
Anantacāritra (Sanskrit: अनन्तचारित्र) is a bodhisattva figure in the Lotus Sūtra, identified as one of the four great perfected bodhisattvas who attend Gautama Buddha. The name is glossed as "Boundless Practice" and, in Tiantai commentary, is read as representing eternity.
Antimachus
Antimachus is attested in the provided sources primarily as a classical Greek personal name borne by historical figures (notably Antimachus of Colophon, a poet and grammarian ca. 400 BC, and Antimachus I Theos, a Greco-Bactrian king). The name is also reused in modern contexts (a Wikidata taxon entry and small-press fictional/divinatory pages). The sources do not present Antimachus as a supernatural or folkloric entity.
Ao Guang (Dragon King of the East Sea)
Ao Guang is the Dragon King (Dragon God) who presides over the East Sea (Dōng Hǎi) in Chinese mythology, literature, and folk-religion. He is presented in sources as a regional aquatic deity associated with water and weather and appears as a named supernatural figure in classical vernacular novels such as Journey to the West and Fengshen Yanyi.
Community Record
- [1]Jade — Wikipedia. Wikipedia contributors. 'Jade.' Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadewiki
- [2]Jade — Wikidata entry. Wikidata. 'Q761570 — Jade (given name)'. http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q761570other
- [3]Neuroimaging, cognitive, physiological and psychological evidence associated with long-term yoga experience: a scoping review (registration). Archive (OSF registration). https://archive.org/details/osf-registrations-294md-v1other
- [4]Orofacial and cervical myofunctional intervention programs for older people: a scoping review (registration). Archive (OSF registration). https://archive.org/details/osf-registrations-xsq3a-v1other