Saturday, June 14, 2008

Are mermaids for real?














"The mermaid is the loveliest creature on a' Geud's earth, or in a' the wide sea."


Just recently, I had been watching tv shows about mermaids, and it came to my mind, are these creatures really true?
A Mermaid is said to be marine creature with the head and upper body of a beautiful young maiden and with the lower body of a fish. She can be found in seas and lakes, or lying on a rock and combing her hair with one hand while holding a mirror in the other. Mermaids sometimes foretell the future and are often accompanied by seals.

According to myth, they lure sailors by singing and with lovely music. They live in a kingdom on the bottom of the sea, and it is here they take their prisoners to. From this story, the fear amongst the sailor grew and they thought that seeing a mermaid would cause bad luck: it could predict death by drowning.

The belief in mermaids is not limited to a few countries, but there are tales from all over the world (in India, for instance, there are the Apsara, beautiful water nymphs). However, most of those tales were told by sailors who "saw" them on their long journeys. The idea of mermaids and mermen, the male equivalent, could be based on creatures from Greek and Babylonian mythology:Sirens and Tritons of the Greeks, and the fish gods, who were half human and half fish, from the Babylonians.

Up to the present times, no one really know if mermaids really exist, still it serves as a mystery.

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1 comment:

ourgreatgreenglobe said...

I think mermaids are such a beautiful and mythical creature. I want to believe they are real. I just added a mermaid pendant to my shop. Check it out http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14942491. I love the lounging mermaid!