Invisible cities. Lost islands. Realms shimmering at the edges of history and imagination. Across cultures, humanity has always told stories of places that lie just beyond reach—lands of eternal spring, magical healing, or phantom skylines flickering in the night.

From ancient Greece to medieval Britain to the islands of the Philippines, the myths of Hyperboria, Avalon, and Biringan remind us of our endless search for the hidden and the sacred. These places call to us across cultures and centuries, whispering of gateways to other realms.

The next time you feel the tug of mystery, pause and listen. Maybe Avalon is closer than you think. Maybe Hyperboria is within your soul. Maybe, just maybe, you have already glimpsed the glowing towers of Biringan in the corner of your vision.

Mystical lands are never as far away as they seem—they are invitations to journey inward, outward, and beyond.

Hyperboria: The Northern Utopia Beyond the North Wind

Origins and Myth

Hyperboria appears in Greek myth as a paradisiacal, remote land located “beyond the North Wind.” It wasn’t just cold or remote—Hyperboria lay past the boundaries of the known world, a place of eternal spring, abundant harvests, and blessed serenity. Its people were said to live without toil, disease, or sorrow.

The Landscape of Legend

Poets described trees that wept amber, rivers filled with swans, and a landscape so fertile it produced two harvests of grain each year. The land was governed by the Boreades—priest-kings descended from Boreas, the god of the north wind—who led their people in devotion to Apollo, god of light and prophecy. Apollo himself was believed to spend his winters in Hyperboria, among those who knew no pain.

Symbolism and Esoteric Resonance

Hyperboria became a symbol of utopia and eternal youth. Over centuries, scholars and mystics tried to locate it—was it in northern Europe, the Arctic, or perhaps a vanished polar continent? In esoteric traditions such as Theosophy, Hyperboria was envisioned as a primeval spiritual homeland, a center of higher wisdom and the cradle of an ancient root race. Whether seen as myth, metaphor, or hidden truth, it remains an image of humanity’s yearning for a Golden Age.

Avalon: The Isle of Apples and Eternal Healing

Arthurian Origins

Avalon emerges from Arthurian legend as the mystical island where King Arthur was taken after his final battle. First described as the “Isle of Apples,” Avalon was a sanctuary of healing and magic, a place where mortals might find rest from the wounds of the world.

Enchantment and Priestesses

Avalon was said to be ruled by Morgan le Fay and her sisters, powerful enchantresses and healers. These women embodied the mysteries of the Celtic Otherworld—timeless, transformative, and rich in symbolism. Avalon was also tied to Excalibur, the enchanted sword that Arthur wielded, said to have been forged on the island itself.

The Celtic Otherworld

In Celtic belief, the Otherworld was a realm where time flowed differently, where immortality and abundance reigned. Apples, long symbols of wisdom and eternity, were central to Avalon’s identity. To eat an apple from Avalon was to taste the Otherworld itself.

Modern Connections

By the late Middle Ages, Avalon became associated with Glastonbury in Somerset, England. When monks claimed to find Arthur’s grave there, Glastonbury Abbey rose as a powerful pilgrimage site. Today, Glastonbury remains a magnet for spiritual seekers, who see in Avalon a symbol of transformation and mystical rebirth.

Biringan: The Phantom Metropolis of the Philippines

The Legend

On the Philippine island of Samar, stories circulate of Biringan City—an invisible metropolis said to shimmer into view for only the chosen few. Unlike the ancient myths of Avalon and Hyperboria, Biringan’s legend is modern, first emerging in the 20th century. Yet it has quickly become one of the most fascinating urban myths in Southeast Asia.

The City and Its People

Fisherfolk and travelers tell of seeing dazzling cityscapes rising from the sea—skylines of glass and steel, impossibly futuristic, yet vanishing as quickly as they appear. The inhabitants of Biringan are believed to be engkanto—shape-shifting spirit beings who live parallel to humans. Some say these beings can be recognized because they lack the philtrum, the groove between the nose and the upper lip.

Portals and Disappearances

Local tales speak of portals scattered across Samar. Those who are taken into Biringan often do not return—or if they do, they are forever changed. Some say that the bodies left behind are illusions, replaced with logs or stones, while the soul travels into the phantom metropolis.

Modern Mysteries

Stories persist of trucks delivering goods to addresses in Biringan, only to find no trace of the city on any map. Skeptics suggest optical illusions or natural phenomena, but believers insist that Biringan exists on another plane, accessible only through spiritual doorways.

Parallels Between These Realms

Though they emerge from different cultures and centuries, Hyperboria, Avalon, and Biringan share striking similarities:

• Hidden Thresholds: Each lies just out of reach—beyond the north wind, across the western seas, or behind unseen portals.
• Supernatural Inhabitants: Hyperboria had priest-kings and immortals, Avalon had enchantresses and faeries, Biringan has engkanto.
• Spiritual Geography: These places are not just lands but mirrors of human longing—visions of paradise, healing, and mystery.
• Timeless Themes: Whether utopia, sanctuary, or phantom city, they remind us of the possibility of other worlds overlapping our own.

Stories of these mystical places are not just entertainment—they express something deep within us. We yearn for realms where pain vanishes, where magic heals, and where mysteries unfold beyond the limits of ordinary perception. Hyperboria speaks to our dream of paradise, Avalon to our hope for renewal, and Biringan to our awe of the unknown that still lingers in the modern world.

In the end, these places may be real or symbolic—or both. Perhaps Avalon is not only an island but a state of consciousness. Perhaps Biringan flickers not on maps but in moments of trance or dream. And perhaps Hyperboria is less a place than a memory of when humanity lived closer to the divine.

✨NEXT: Investigating Skypiea: Myth or Skyward Mirage?

Skypiea—or “Skypea” as some modern retellings dub it—is best known from the manga/anime One Piece as a floating city in the clouds.

Fandom Consensus
According to the One Piece Wiki, Skypiea is a sky-bound island populated by winged humanoids who regard soil as sacred, thanks to its life-giving rarity above the clouds.

Fan Theories & Reddit Discussions
In r/OnePiece, there are multiple threads speculating on Skypiea’s connections to other sky-islands like Birka, its origin myth, and cultural inspirations. One post alone gathers dozens of comments theorizing real-world links to ancient civilizations.

Broader Genre Context
Skypiea fits the common literary trope of the “Floating Continent”—a recurring motif in fantasy, often unexplained or magical in origin.

In the digital modern mythos, Skypiea exists predominantly within One Piece canon, amplified by fan extrapolation—especially on Reddit, where speculation threads number in the tens. It also resonates with age-old fantasy tropes of sky cities. While not a legend in the traditional sense, it’s become a vibrant subject of modern mythic fascination.

Short list of sky cities and floating realms from different cultures and sources, similar to Skypiea:

• Shambhala (Tibetan Buddhism) – a hidden kingdom sometimes envisioned as elevated or otherworldly, existing beyond ordinary maps.

• City of the Sun (Platonic/utopian philosophy) – though earthbound in some accounts, later esoteric retellings described it as radiant and skyward.

• Tír na nÓg (Irish mythology) – the “Land of the Young,” sometimes depicted as floating above the sea or across the western horizon.

• Vimāna Cities (Hindu epics) – described in texts like the Mahabharata as flying palaces or airborne cities of the gods.

• The City of the Celestial Sphere (Chinese myth/Daoist tradition) – sky palaces inhabited by immortals and Jade Emperor’s court.

• Castle in the Sky Laputa (Jonathan Swift & Studio Ghibli) – Swift’s satirical floating island later became re-imagined as a mystical city in anime and modern myth.

• El Dorado in the Clouds (South American legends) – some variations place the golden city not in the jungle, but “above” or unreachable in the skies.