Legends of the Deep - Merpeople through the Ages

The Ocean has long been a source of mystery and legend. In times past the farthest reaches of the Seas were marked only with “Here Be Dragons.” Their sheer magnitude and depth made these giant bodies of waters places no man could fully explore or fully understand. This left the Seas wide open for the influence of human imagination.

Black Dragonfish

Even today, the Oceans are some of the most difficult places to explore on the planet. There are deep sea crevaces where the pressure is great enough squash a person to jelly. Strange and exotic creatures exist in these only recently explored areas. But it is not just these far off, unexplored aspects of the sea that continually intrigue humanity.

Water is necessary for life. In many cultures it is a symbol for fertility. Water grows food, keeps people healthy and is even the root of many Fountain of Youth legends. However, water is also associated with death and battle and the unknown in many cultures. It is necessary to live but can also kill with the smallest effort. There are many creation myths in which water represents the great chaos. It is in the taming of this chaos through the defeating of the primordial sea monster that creation occurred.

Thus it makes sense that humanity would try to understand the life giving and life taking beings that inhabit the great vistas of the Oceans. One of the most popular creatures through the ages has been the Mermaid or Merman.

Artargatis, Syrian Goddess

The first Mermaid myths began as early as the eigth century BC. The earliest references to Mer-people see them as Gods and Goddesses of the Sea, or even the Moon. One of the earliest recorded “Mermaids” was a Semitic Moon-Goddess, worshipped by the Syrians and the Philistines, named Artargatis. It was in the form of a mermaid that she controlled the ebbing and flowing of the tides. Eventually, after giving birth to a fully human child, she became so ashamed she killed her lover and reverted to a wholly fishy state.

Many cultures in the ancient world contained legends of Merpeople including the Asparas of Indian culture; the Ningyo of Japanese culture; the Vatea of Polynesian culture; the Merrymaids of Cornish culture; the Muirruhgach of Irish culture; and many more. In these earlier manifestations of the legends Mer-people would take on a variety of roles: helper, seducer, enchanter, trickster, and many more.

Medieval Christian Mermaid

However, when Christianity began to spread, the legends began to shift. As much as it might surprise you, the medieval church supported the belief in Mer-people, particularly Mermaids. Whereas before, Mer-People took up any number of roles within mythology, during Christendom they came to serve as a moral emblem of sin, the femme fatale. They were typically portrayed with a mirror and a comb to symbolize their vanity and beauty. These represented the beauty which could lead men to their destruction. Thus it served the church’s purpose of subjugating women and teaching a strict sexual morality. This is also when earlier depictions of Mermaids with split tails (for all the easier sexin’) became less popular.  

Modern Mermaid

After the advent of the Enlightenment, the Mer-person began to represent a dichotomy between a person’s animalistic insticts and the human intellect. This is when stories of Mer-people wanting a human soul and lusting after human men became popular (Think Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid). This is also when positive images of beauty began to return to prominence in mermaid legends.

Even today, the Mermaid/Merman holds a special place in people’s hearts. They are found in movies as varied as The Little Mermaid, Splash, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Carribbean. People still report sightings and are die hard believers of this mythological phenomenon. Who knows what could exist in the unexplored deep dark places of the Earth? Whether you believe Mer-people actually exist or that they are symbols of something inherent to humanity, you have to admit, they are facinating creatures.

Kathleen

*Thanks to marinebio.org for some of the earlier mermaid legends.

Magic and Evolution

When I was a kid the whole world was magical. I remember sneaking into the kitchen trying to steal a cookie from the cookie jar, but my mom always caught me. I could have sworn my mother had magical powers, or at the very least, eyes in the back of her head. I just couldn’t figure how she knew what I was doing.

As time passed I had my own kids and my hearing sharpened to inhuman capabilities. The hushed whispers of plotting children and that distinct rattle of the cookie jar lid could be heard whether I was in the room or in the basement pantry. I became just as ‘magical’ as my own mother.

I miss that magic. It was a time in my life when anything and everything seemed possible. Back then, idea of finding a leprechaun at the end of the rainbow was a secret ambition of mine and the thought of becoming a butterfly when I grew up sounded fantastic. Then again, I was a strange child.

But what if there was magic out there? Real honest to goodness magic.

When you’re thinking really hard about someone and wondering how they are, is it coincidence when the phone rings and it’s the person you were thinking about? What about those CIA astral projectors that were paid to find enemy bases through out-of-body experiences and mental pictures? Is that what magic is? Is it even real, or just a hoax on the tax payers and government?

I like to think some things are real. That the mind is capable of things we all just don’t have access to yet, that maybe we just haven’t finished evolving into our true potential.

Maybe we’ll all have the ability to bend spoons, send empathic or telepathic messages, and project ourselves into other place while our bodies are safely tucked into bed. What magical powers would you like to evolve to have?

What about science?

I’m currently taking a refresher class in Quantum Mechanics at university. No, I’m not a sweet young thing anymore, things change and I’m more like an old fogey desperate to keep the brain cells active but that’s another story. So, last week we’re looking at temperature. Not as straight forward a concept as one might think but that’s not what I wanted to share. During the course of the class, the tutor was referring to the electromagnetic spectrum and specifically the part visible to the human eye. The 400 to around 650 nanometre wavelengths are the ones we see. 

But why? And this is what I found very interesting. 

Our sun’s rays that penetrate the atmosphere peak somewhere in the green spectrum for black body radiation and it’s known that the human eye finds green the easiest colour to see (don’t know how colour blindness fits into this equation by the way). One of the questions postulated was perhaps this is because the sun’s rays peak in this area – therefore, if humanity evolved in a solar system where the star’s (one or even a binary sun system) rays peaked… say… in the blue part of the spectrum would our eyes have evolved to see into the ultraviolet? If the star peaked in the red spectrum, would we see into the infrared? 

My daughter thought it was hilarious when I pointed out that perhaps this is why Superman has x-ray vision.

It lead on to a conversation about rods and cones in the eye and how and when they work. In low light or at night we tend to see things in shades of grey. This is because the cones don’t operate well in low light and we see with the rods. The rods don’t register colour hence we see in shades of grey. However, our peripheral vision and ability to detect motion is sharper at night because the rods are distributed throughout the retina but not in the macula or fovea centralis area that has the densest concentration of cones. 

It got me to thinking about how many people talk of spooky experiences. A flutter in the corner of your eye, a sudden movement in low light that can’t be explained, to full-on spectral activity. In a play of light and motion are we seeing those things that skirt the edges of the capacity of the human eye to detect? Things that are less obvious during good lighting conditions because the cones gives us a higher definition view of life and hold our attention letting the brain tune out the things at the periphery? 

I don’t know the answers, but I did find it interesting to look in more detail at how and what we see and maybe even why.

A long-standing tutor of mine always coined the phrase ‘call it a miracle, call it future science – the decision is yours’. Miracles, the paranormal, the supernatural. As science marches forward into the unknown, we may well end up with more than spaceships, time machines and photon torpedoes. We may end up with real-time measurements for ghosts and other spooky phenomenon that makes me think of one of my favourite series – PsyCops by JCP. 

What are your thoughts on things that go bump in the night and the likelihood of a defining science at some future time that will render some areas of the paranormal normal? Do you see any limits on our favourite subgenres and reality or are we a pre-emptive wave of enlightened souls like those hundreds of years ago who just knew the earth was round and we weren’t the centre of our galaxy?

Local Legends

I love a good local ghost story.  Not an urban legend where you can find the same tale with minor variations almost anywhere (though those are fun too), but a legend that’s linked to your local area.  When I first moved to Southern Maryland, I had no idea how far back the history went.  There’s a small village nearby, Port Tobacco, that became the county seat back in 1658. 

Since it was located on the Port Tobacco River, it became a seaport and the 2^nd largest town in Maryland until they were upstaged by the coming of the railroad to another town.  The population moved, and the town dwindled back to a village, but quite a bit of local legends and history remained.



Dr. Gustavus Brown's house, near where Sims was killed.



One of my favorites is the ghost of the blue dog.  Back when Port Tobacco was a busy seaport they had many waterfront taverns.  Following the American Revolutionary War, a soldier, Charles Thomas Sims, and his blue tick hound had come to one of the taverns on February 8.  He boasted of having gold and a deed to an estate. 

When he left the tavern and headed down Rose Hill Road, he was followed by a local man, Henry Hanos who murdered Sims and his dog and buried the treasure.  When Hanos returned the next day to recover his stolen treasure, he was confronted by the ghost of the blue dog, and died. Ever since then, the ghost of the blue dog has been seen up and down Rose Hill Road, guarding the treasure of his slain master.

The first written account of this story came from Olivia Floyd, confederate spy, and the owner of the property where Sims was killed.  She told the Port Tobacco Times that she had seen the ghost of the Blue Dog. 

The first time I heard the tale I was coming back from a play at high school and we were taking Rose Hill Road home.  Beautiful country road during the day and damn dark at night.  I’ll never forget the shiver that went through me as I searched the trees, hoping (and not hoping) that I’d catch a glimpse of the dog.  What made it so scary, was the legend claimed that if you saw the blue dog near the rock where his master was killed, you would die soon after.  Supposedly, you can hear him on the anniversary of his master’s death.  I haven’t been anywhere near Rose Hill Road on February 8^th, let me tell you.

Now whenever I pass Rose Hill Road and the Blue Dog Saloon named after the legend, I point them out to my son and tell him the tale of Charles Sims and his blue dog and how the dog howls and mourns for his slain master.  It’s usually at night and we both shiver and watch the road, hoping to catch a glimpse of the ghost dog.  One of these nights, I'm sure we will.  Please tell me some of your own local legends.  I love hearing about them.

Paranormal TV by Marie Sexton & Heidi Cullinan

Part of what makes paranormal stories so fun is how seamlessly they blend the supernatural/fantastical into reality. While it’s hard not to love outright fantasy like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, there’s a special thrill to a story that blends the world we know with a world that might be. It’s fantastic in books, and both of us write and read stories with paranormal elements. But when we need to recharge our paranormal batteries, one of the best places we’ve found to go is paranormal TV.

Heidi: I love the show Medium. I just recently found it, but it’s become an obsession I’m in no hurry to shake. The writing is superb, to start. I almost always know the solution before they do, but that isn’t why I’m there. I love seeing how prophetic dreams can weave into reality. I love it best when the dreams initially seem to make no sense when stacked against the crime the DA is investigating and I have to be patient to see how it all shakes out in the end.

What I love most, though, is how heavy the reality component is to the show. How it’s less about Allison’s ability and more about her struggle to find “normal” within her unique gifts. How the show deals with the children showing increasing signs of the same psychic powers and the family’s wrestling with how much to explain to them and when.  I love Joe and his calm, constant support and heavy yanks back into the practical, keeping Allison grounded. And Bridget. Man, I love Bridget. I can’t wait to see her grow up.

Marie: To this day, my favorite paranormal TV show is still The X-Files. I love Scully constantly arguing that there’s a scientific explanation for everything, and Mulder flying off the handle at the most absurd possibilities. My very favorite episode is Bad Blood, where Mulder drives a wooden stake through a kid’s heart, resulting in a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the FBI. Mulder and Scully each get to tell their version of what happened and not surprisingly, their tales are radically different. It’s a fabulous demonstration of how point of view can change a story (and I’m a nut for point of view). And I’m also a big fan of just about any kind of good monster story.

What about you? Are you a fan of paranormal TV? Tell us about your favorites.

Heidi and Marie are co-owners of a naughty little blog called Coffee and Porn in the Morning. Stop by for some NSFW pictures, ebook giveaways, and 25 free short stories from some of your favorite m/m authors! http://cupoporn.net

Marie Sexton lives in Colorado. She’s a fan of just about anything that involves muscular young men piling on top of each other. In particular, she loves the Denver Broncos and enjoys going to the games with her husband. Her imaginary friends often tag along. Marie has one daughter, two cats, and one dog, all of whom seem bent on destroying what remains of her sanity. She loves them anyway.

Her most recent release is Cinder, a sweet and sexy novella from Silver Publishing about a young man’s adventures in finding (and keeping) his Prince Charming.

You can find out more about Marie at http://mariesexton.net/.

Heidi Cullinan has always loved a good love story, provided it has a happy ending. She enjoys writing across many genres but loves above all to write happy, romantic endings for LGBT characters because there just aren’t enough of those stories out there.  When she isn’t writing, Heidi enjoys knitting, reading, movies, TV shows on DVD, and all kinds of music.  She has a husband, a daughter, and too many cats.

Her most recent release is A Private Gentleman, an early Victorian m/m historical from Samhain about a book-loving whore, a stammering gentleman botanist, and a terrible secret.

Find Heidi on the Web: Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, and her website.

The Djinn in the Tree

Djinn or Genie, are supernatural beings that are neither angles nor the traditional ‘fallen angel’ demon. There are good and bad djinn, male and female, and some are said to grant wishes or make deals with us mere mortals but woe betide the man (or woman) who breaks a deal with them.

The mythology has Islamic root and some believe that they were created by Allah while others believe they came before humans. Of course, if you’ve read 1001 Arabian Nights, many of the stories in there features Djinni, the most familiar story being, Aladdin’s Magical Lamp.

My story is not nearly as fantastic, but interesting nonetheless.

I was 13 years old and we had move into a rundown duplex that we rented for cheap if my dad would do repairs on the place. Whoever had lived in the place before us had done a serious number on the place. There were holes in the walls, cabinets had been torn down and the yard was nothing but bare dirt and a gnarled old tree in the front yard.

The tree was twisted and old, and being a mesquite tree, didn’t really provide much shade and gave more of a creepy feeling to the front of the house.

Over the next few weeks, odd things began to happen in the house. Things would come up missing, there were strange noises and my dad began to have serious headaches. Fights became common place in the house and some of the objects reappeared near the tree outside. My sister was convinced something strange was happening. She called it a ghost, but she’s always been easy to scare and I ‘might’ have added to her fears, because, well, it was fun to mess with her. (Yes, it might have been mean, but hey, I was 13.)

My dad however, took it seriously, and began to study the tree. After some time, announced that there was a djinn in our tree.

I have to say, I didn’t really believe all that nonsense. I made a point in saying as much. Anyone of my younger siblings could have put the things under the tree, or dropped stuff outside. The house had sat for a while; the sounds could have been mice. But my dad insisted it was a djinn and went about the task of ridding the tree of the spirit.

A few days later, I was on my way home, my sister met me at the bus stop when I got off school. She was very excited and was babbling about the djinn-tree and that our dad had made the djinn leave.

I was skeptical, but as I rounded the corner to our house, there in the front yard the tree was dead. A main branch was broken and lying on the ground and it looked as if it had been dead awhile and the sparse leaves were gone.

Whether there was really a djinn in the tree, I will never know, but there are a lot of things in this world that make you wonder. It’s quite possible my dad killed the tree to put my sister’s mind at ease and get rid of the eyesore. Or maybe it really was a djinn. Either way it made me think, left me curious, and drove me to look into the supernatural and paranormal and for that, I’m glad there was a djinn in my tree.

Angelics Part 2

So, where was I? Ah yes – angels.

Who are the big names and what are they usually associated with? If you pick up an angel dictionary or a book on Angelology, they’re cram packed with hundreds of ‘angel names’ and what they do. It’s interesting to see that many (though not all) angel names end in ‘-el’ – why is that? 

El is one of the names of God. I could say it’s Hebrew but there are those who could argue it stems from a proto-Hebraic language or even the language of the angels themselves that humanity spoke before the Tower of Babel was destroyed and the language of man confused (but that’s another story entirely – I’ll try to keep on topic). Having ‘-el’ at the beginning or end of the name denotes a reference in some way to God or being ‘of God’, ‘from God’, or a function of God. 

You may dislike the idea that angelics stem from God or gods that perhaps you don’t believe in even though you do believe in angels and that’s okay. There’s always a way around these things but for the moment I’ll get back to...

There aren’t just individual angels bouncing around them there heavens – oh no. For many traditions there isn’t even just one heaven – heavenly realms – plural. Shamayyim – Hebrew often translated as heaven is actually a plural meaning heavens (Deut 10:14 – heaven of heavens, highest heavens). Paul speaks of the third heaven in the New Testament (2Cor 2:12). The Gnostics speak of many aeons surrounding the planetary realms before getting anywhere close to the Treasury of Light. Within these layers of intelligence there are Orders of angels with specific functions.

Open for your interpretation is the possibility of billions upon zillions of intelligences that are entirely aside to the whole angelic buzz that’s going on for the traditionalist. The Father's House has many rooms and all that. Think pantheons, Rome, Greece, Norse and Celtic gods and goddesses? In the Old Testament we’re told to have no other gods but God. Why, what were the choices? But ahem, I digress and wanting to avoid a stoning… moving along…

There are realms of angels with precise energy signatures (after all that’s what a name is, isn’t it?) and then there are the guys that hightailed out of heaven on Lucifer’s coat tails. The fallen angels, often times referred to as demons, we met in Mary’s post the other week.

The most commonly recognized Orders – Hashmalim, Malachim, Seraphim, Cherubim, Elim, Ishim, Ophanim, Hyos Ha Koidesh, the Twenty-Four Elders (not a conclusive list) – overseeing everything from inspiring music and art to ruling and security; bringing down fire, communication and my favourite – singing – yay for the party in the heavens. 

Then we have the Michaels, Gabriels, Uriels, Raphaels, not just one Archangel but whole hosts of angelics operating within that vibration, busying themselves with protecting and healing, announcing and bringing forth, uh…stuff. Throw in all the other angelics you can think of and that’s one hell (oops – heaven) of a gathering.

This fabulous rendering of Michael binding Lucifer (and oh the plot bunnies that throws up) by Guido Reni shows an androgynous beauty and whoa – that is some tight and well-crafted body armour he’s got on there – leather, Lycra or Kevlar? He’s famous in certain scriptures for standing up for humanity, for binding Satan/Lucifer and generally being an all-round good guy.

Now Lucifer, here’s an interesting character. The most beautiful of the heavenly beings, the Morning Star, (not looking very pretty in the picture above mind you), cast into the fiery pit because he didn’t like the new kid on the block, Adam. Not quite how it went but artistic license and all that. Actually, for those of you that like to delve a little into the old scrolls I recommend digging out a copy of The Apocalypse of Moses and The Slavonic Adam and Eve. They are both Apochryphal/Pseudepigraphal and are sometimes lumped together as The Books of Adam and Eve. The texts give an expanded version of the rebellion in the heavens over the creation of the Adam/Adam Kadmon (depending on personal interpretation). If you delve into the Books of Enoch the Prophet, you’ll even find a list of some of the fallen angels that set up an alternative creation with Lucifer in order to whisper quietly in humanities ear. 

Angels. You gotta love ’em and to each of us they have a particular meaning or none at all. And what a muse they make. Good boys, bad boys, never sure which way to hedge their bets boys. And girls, of course. Or maybe not. Asexual, pansexual, anything you want sexual, angels can do it and be it all and there is no shortage of authors exploring their own interpretations of heavens, hells, angels and demons.

Perhaps you have a favourite or one that really didn’t work for you at all? I’ve certainly come across books that fall into both camps. I keep thinking that one day I’ll write about angels but there’s something about solidifying them into words that doesn’t gel with my muse. I’m happy to leave it to the many authors that do it well and let the closest I come to the concept be Reeve, my paralemptor. 

And boy is he going to have fun when he tries out the human life…and all to sample the taste of lurve.