The rainbow has been a favorite component of mythology throughout history. Rainbows are part of the myths of many cultures around the world. The Norse saw it as Bifrost; Abrahamic traditions see it as a covenant with God not to destroy the world by means of floodwater. Whether as a bridge to the heavens, messenger, archer's bow, or serpent, the rainbow has been pressed into symbolic service for millennia. There are myriad beliefs concerning the rainbow. The complex diversity of rainbow myths are far-reaching, as are their inherent similarities.
Rainbow deities
In Mesopotamian and Elamite mythology, the goddess Manzat was a personification of the rainbow. In Greek mythology, the goddess Iris personifies the rainbow. In many stories, such as the Iliad, she carries messages from the gods to the human world, thus forming a link between heaven and earth. Iris's messages often concerned war and retribution. In some myths, the rainbow merely represents the path made by Iris as she flies. Many Aboriginal Australian mythologies include a Rainbow Serpent deity, the name and characteristics of which vary according to cultural traditions. It is often seen as a creator god, and also as a force of destruction. It is generally considered to control the rain, and conceals itself in waterholes during the dry season. In Chinese mythology, Hong is a two-headed dragon that represents the rainbow. In Mesoamerican cultures, Ix Chel is a maternal jaguar goddess associated with rain. Chel means rainbow in the Yucatán Poqomchi' language. Ix Chel wears a serpent headdress and presides principally over birth and healing. Anuenue, the rainbow maiden, appears in Hawaiian legends as the messenger for her brothers, the gods Tane and Kanaloa. Several West African religions incorporate personified rainbow spirits. Examples include Oxumare in the Yoruban religion Ifá; Ayida-Weddo in Haitian Vodou, as practiced in Benin; and the pythons Dagbe Dre and Dagbe Kpohoun in West African Vodun, as practiced by the Ewe people of Benin. In Māori mythology there are several personifications for the rainbow, depending on its form, who usually appear representing omens and are appealed to during times of war. The most widespread of these are Uenuku and Kahukura. For the Karen people of Burma, the rainbow is considered as a painted and dangerous demon that eats children. In Muisca religion, Cuchavira or Cuhuzabiba, who was called "shining air" is the rainbow deity, which in the Andes rain and sun were both very important for their agriculture. Amitolane is a rainbow spirit from the mythology of the Zuni, a Native American tribe. In Albanian folk beliefs the rainbow is regarded as the belt of the goddess Prende, and oral legend has it that anyone who jumps over the rainbow changes his sex. In pre-Hispanic Andean cosmology, the rainbow was related with both the sacred serpent or Amaru and the thunder god Illapa.<John E. Staller, Lightning (Illapa) and its manifestations: huacas and Ushnus, 177-79><The Incas have gone inside: pattern and persistence in Andean iconography, pg 179-99 > It was simultaneously considered as a mediating symbol between the lower, middle and upper worlds. <https://www.dukeupress.edu/inka-bodies-and-the-body-of-christ pg. 145-47></ref>
Rainbow bridges
In Norse religion, a burning rainbow bridge called the Bifrost connects Midgard (earth) with Asgard, home of the gods. Bifrost can be used only by gods and those who are killed in battle. It is eventually shattered under the weight of war – the Ragnarok (German Götterdämmerung). The notion that the rainbow bridge to heaven is attainable by only the good or virtuous, such as warriors and royalty, is a theme repeated often in world myths. In Japanese mythology, the Floating Bridge of Heaven may have been inspired by the rainbow. The creator deities Izanami and Izanagi stood upon this bridge as they brought the Japanese archipelago into existence. In Navajo tradition, the rainbow is the path of the holy spirits, and is frequently depicted in sacred sandpaintings. Māori mythology tells a tale of Hina, the moon, who caused a rainbow to span the heavens even down to the earth, for her mortal husband to return to earth to end his days, since death may not enter her celestial home. Shamans among Siberia's Buryats speak of ascending to the sky-spirit world by way of the rainbow.