Chapter Spirits of the Otherworld Ghosts and Vampires
Ghosts 1 The word alone creates images of translucent and flowing spirits, spirits that have either failed to realize that they are no longer physically alive or who intend to exact revenge from those left living. Ghosts are feared the world over, and have been since humans began to recognize realities and dimensions outside of the present one. Are they creations of our own minds Native American lore is filled with legends about ghosts and the Other-world that they inhabit. Native Americans are...
Chapter Giants
Early natural historian Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hamilton Smith wrote in 1848, There were, in early antiquity, nations, tribes, and families, existing in nearly every part of the earth, whose origin and affinities appear so exceedingly obscure, that they have been transferred from physical realities to poetical mythology.1 One of these nations or tribes is that of the Giants. In Greek mythology, the giant Titans were the offspring of Gaia, the earth goddess, and Uranus the sky god. The Titans...
Chapter An Overview of the Little People in Native America
When we think of Fairy lore, many of us in the US naturally think of Ireland. However, Fairies appear in the folklore of most every culture and on every continent. The similarities are striking and some have suggested that a common source memory exists or existed widely among people at one time. John Rhys advanced this theory at the beginning of the 20th century. Rhys thought that the lore of the Fairy were ancient stories of the original inhabitants of Britain. They were called the Corannians...
Chapter Werewolves Not Just in Transylvania
Werewolves have been a fear of humankind since the Neolithic age and may have originated in the shamanic rituals that seemingly transformed men into wolf-like creatures. During the Middle Ages, legends of the werewolf expanded into tales of daily occurrences. There are places in the world that even today the werewolf remains a feared creature that decimates livestock and threatens the lives of local inhabitants. The interesting thing about the folklore surrounding the werewolf is that, like the...
Ca Buttes Myths
The legend of a mysterious tree-creature is part of the lore of the Maidu Indians living in Butte County in Northern California. Butte County, by the way, has had several reported sightings of Big Foot over the years. Anthropologist D.L. Spencer gave this account of the Chamlakhu Chamlakhu was an old man living in the trees, differing from human beings only in the fact that his hands and feet were armed with long bearlike claws. Although not known to commit injury, he was greatly feared. The...
According To Lakota Mythology What Is The Name For The Spirits That Inhabit The
The simbi spirits were reportedly of human form, albeit vaguely human, and they were fond of preying upon women who went to the springs to draw water, or children who attempted to swim in the springs. These spirits were greatly feared, and people would go to great lengths not to offend them as occasionally the springs would disappear suddenly which was interpreted as a sign that the resident spirit had died or departed because of some human offense.34 To the slaves and their African forebears...
Chapter Comparative Fairy Mythology and Folklore
Folklore is rife with stories about the little people and the powers that they wield. Both good and bad, malevolent and ambivalent, the Fairy both assist humankind and war against it. As symbologist J. E. Cirlot notes, .they fulfill humble tasks, yet possess extraordinary powers.1 There is a duality in these stories in regard with the Fairy that is similar to many sacred and unknown things in the world. The Fairy are said to steal children and at the same time assist in their birth. The Fairy...
Chapter The Forest Folk
Thoughts of Fairies and little folk seem to bring up scenes of the forest where they live in a cartoon world of mushroom houses, snail-carriages, flower parasols and an ambivalent co-existence with the few humans who live in the area. They are usually thought of as somewhat mischievous but harmless. However, like other nature spirits, they may also be expressions of mankind's primeval sense of the mystery and awe of nature. Most cultures have myths of tree gods and tales of strange fairy-like...
Middle Ages Wild Man
Legends concerning a group of shaggy and primitive Wild Men have survived over the centuries. Some tales of the Wild Man are most likely based in reality. During the Middle Ages, a sub-culture existed on the fringes of society made up of outlaws and social outcasts. At times, individuals made their way into the towns and cities and the Wild Man-Wild Folk stories began. At the same time, the term was applied to the mythical race of dwarves who were called Moss-Folk. One folklorist wrote, they...
Chapter Fairies and Giants A World of Reality or World of Myth
Fairy lore around the world is remarkable for its uniformity between countries, cultures and times. What are the reasons for this Are these stories just that stories Are the tales passed down from generation to generation to explain the unknown or to persuade children to behave in certain ways Or are they something else What is remarkable about fairy belief, wrote Marc Alexander, is that it survived so vigorously for so long, especially as it had no organized structure to support it, unlike...
Info Yar
37. Miller, Mary and Karl Taube. An Illustrated Dictionary of The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. London Thames and Hudson 1993, 82. 38. Sturluson, Snorri. Edda. London J.M. Dent 1987, 14. 39. Bierhorst, John. The Mythology of Mexico and Central America. New York William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1990, 8. 40. Spence, Lewis. Legends and Romances of Brittany. Mineola Dover Publications, Inc. 1997, 50. A reprint of an undated edition published by Frederick A. Stokes Company, New...
Chapter Mermaids Water Beings
Stories about mermen and mermaids can be traced back to ancient Babylonian mythology, from the Old Babylonian times onward through the history of Mesopotamia and into the modern world. In fact, as Richard Carrington so aptly put it, There is not an age, and hardly a country in the world, whose folklore does not contain some reference to mermaids or to mermaid-like creatures. They have been alleged to appear in a hundred different places, ranging from the mist-covered shores of Norway and...