The archetypal system used in Neuromythography is a eclectic, syncretic, sometimes whimsical set of free-association metaphors that attempt to characterize the ecological role of a biological entity such as a neurotransmitter, receiver, brain area, or zone inside of the brain. It should be noted that the appropriation of spiritual ideas from across religions is done with the utmost respect and reverence, in the spirit of synthesizing truths found in all religions. To avoid unintended offense and to provide continuity with deities familiar to mythologists, the Neuromythograph has defaulted to Greek mythology complemented by Roman extensions, with many personified references to philosophy, mathematics, and literature.
Following is the list of mythological domains that the canonical Neuromythograph archetypal mapping draws upon:
| African | Deities of the African religions, particularly the Yoruba |
| AI pioneers | Certain parts of the cortex are involved in abstractions that were not well-covered by mythology. Artificial intelligence pioneers were drafted to serve as deities. For example, object-oriented object-method bindings were invented by Simula inventor Kristen Nygaard. Left area s6-8 tracks the kinds of verbs that can be applied to an object. Thus we assign this area to Nygaard. |
| Animal totems | The rich mythological source of animal totems and spirit animals. |
| Artists | The occipital cortex and ventral temporal cortex parcellation was deconstructed as a set of famous painters and sculptors who are most famous for visual features processed by the particular brain area. |
| Australian aboriginal | Deities of the Australian aboriginal religions |
| Aztec | Deities of the Aztec religion. South American religions are underrepresented in the model simply because so many of their names are unpronounceable, at least for Westerners. |
| Biblical | Biblical characters |
| Blakean | William Blake was a Romantic-era poet and author who created his own mythology. |
| Brazilian | Deities of the Brazilian native pantheon |
| Buddhism | Abstract concepts of Buddhism |
| Celtic | Deities of the Celtic religion |
| Chinese | Deities of the Chinese pantheon |
| Christian theology | Abstract concepts of Christian theology, deified (e.g. Acedia) |
| Demonology | Demons of Judaic and Christian tradition |
| Egyptian | Deities of the ancient Egyptian religion |
| Famous people | Iconic historical individuals that represent an archetype |
| Gemstones | Mythology associated with gemstones |
| Gnostic | Gnostic deities and concepts |
| Greek | Ancient Greek mythology, the backbone of the Neuromythograph |
| Hawaiian | Deities of the Hawaiian religion |
| Hindu | Deities and spiritual concepts of the Hindu religion. Where there is overlap with Buddhism, the original Hindu source is preferred. |
| Incan | Deities of the Incan religion. South American religions are underrepresented in the model simply because so many of their names are unpronounceable, at least for Westerners. |
| Inuit | Deities of the Inuit religion of North America |
| Islamic | Abstract concepts of Islam (e.g. Niyyah) |
| Japanese | Deities of Japanese religions, especially Shinto and folk religions. Also includes Japanese cultural concepts such as Kawaii (cuteness). |
| Kabbalah | Spiritual entities of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah |
| Literary | Classic literary authors (e.g. Shakespeare, Orwell) and concepts (e.g. Thinnai) |
| Literary characters | Classic literary characters (that are not considered mythological, e.g. Jiminy Cricket) |
| Lithuanian | Deities of the Lituanian mythology |
| Maori | Deities of the Maori mythology |
| Mathematicians | Analysis of the mathematical network of the brain required incorporating concepts outside of mythology. Mathematicians who are credited with originating mathematical concepts such as geometry, category theory, set theory, mathematical notation, etc. are eponymously associated with the brain areas that have been found to specialize in these. Note that these areas (mainly intraparietal sulcus and frontal eye fields) are also associated with hand targeting and movements from monkey studies; however, their repurposed role in mathematics is modeled in the Neuromythograph. |
| Mayan | Deities of the Mayan religion. South American religions are underrepresented in the model simply because so many of their names are unpronounceable, at least for Westerners. |
| Mesopotamian | Deities of the ancient Mesopotamian religions |
| Native American | Deities of the Native American tribes |
| New Age | Spiritual concepts of New Age religions, e.g. Source |
| Norse | Deities of the Norse religion |
| Philosophers | Certain of the brain areas correspond to philosophical concepts rather than mythological ones. For these, philosophers who are credited with originating the philosophical concept were recruited, including Aristotle, Pyrrho, Protagoras, Hegel, Wittgenstein (early), and Wittgenstein (late). |
| Polynesian | Deities of the Polynesian islands |
| Pop Culture | When we lack a religious, mythological, literary, mathematical, philosophical, scientific, or artificial intelligence archetype, and can identify a pop culture reference, we (reluctantly) use it, Scooby Doo. |
| Psychology | Psychological concepts. We mostly eschew these, as we argue that our archetypes are superior to the lifeless abstract nouns reified by psychology in its performative scientism. However, we borrow analytic psychology terms from Jung and Freud. |
| Roman | Deities of Roman mythology. We prefer to use the Greek deities when they overlap with Roman, and try to use unique Roman deities to complement the Greek ones. However, in some cases we are imagining the Roman deity as a distinct entity from the Greek one, because we are dealing with more than a thousand biological entities to personify and we need to cut ourselves a break. |
| Slavic | Deities of the Slavic religions, e.g. Svetovid |
| The Little Prince | The archetypal characters of The Little Prince, by Antoine Saint-Exupery. |
| Ugaritic | The deities of the Ugaritic-speaking civilization of Assyria. E.g., Kothar |