Mermaids hold a special and wonderful place in my heart. When I was a child I would fantasize every time I was near water that suddenly I would become a mermaid. I would feel the water sweeping over my fins, through my hair, down my neck and back, cooling and refreshing me. I would open my eyes and breathe in the powerful water, thick and wondrous. As a child, breathing water never worked though, and although now I have a better idea as to real shapeshifting and what mermaids are and possibly were, I think I have a better grasp on the situation.
Mermaids are aquatic creatures with the head and torsos of human women and legs that are finned or the tail of a fish. There are creatures similar to the mermaid in most cultures. Males are often called mermen and the nonsexual reference to the race is merfolk or merpeople. The Ea of Babylon was a similar creature as well. Generally, it was believed that humans came from an aquatic creature. There are even some stories of mermaids that were huge and grew up to 160 feet long! Mermen were often said to be ugly but they also avoided people.
Mermaid lore is often similar to the lore of sirens. They are often said to lure men close with the dulcet tones of their music and sometimes to their death. Others say they are rescued and their lives are saved. Other say that they are taken to a magical underwater castle. Sometimes the death is not on purpose, as merfolk may forget that humans cannot breathe underwater. Manatees carry their young much in the same way that people carry their babies, so that might have sparked some of the original mythology. If they were swimming with a lot of seaweed around them, it might give the impression of long hair. Most of the accounts of mermaids who are mute are those with black or dark green tresses.
Some of the earliest accounts of mermaids are as far back as 5,000 B.C. One of the best and most reliable accounts was in Assyria 1000 BC when Atargatis tried to turn herself into a fish after she accidentally killed a mortal she loved. However, she was a goddess and the waters would not change her completely and therefore made her into a mermaid. Tessalonike, Alexander the Great's sister was said to have turned into a mermaid when she died. She lived in the Aegian and unless you said that Alexander was living and ruling she would get angry and destroy you.
The mermaids of Britain were often portents of disaster, rocky times or bad weather. Sometimes however, mermaids brought powerful healing potions or spells. Many said that mermaids did not have an immortal soul. The Japanese believed that by eating the flesh of a mermaid, you could become immortal. Sometimes mermaids can grant wishes, heal, get rid of sickness, lift curses and brew magical potions.
The mermaid is a symbol of humanity's attempt to rationalize the distance it has held from the animal kingdom, yet how it truly is a part of the animals. Similar to a minotaur or centaur who is also a human-animal hybrid, the mermaid is a way of rationalizing the strangeness people tend to feel. This is also a symbol of the virgin. She is awkward with men (conjoined fish tail legs) and yet is also vain and beautiful. She has to pay for her transition from mermaid to woman by paying with her voice, her symbol of innocence. Though now she can never be a mermaid/virgin again, she now walks among normal people.
Mermaid Traits: Vanity, Innocence, love, water, eloquence, virginity
Godesses/Gods: Atargatis, Aphrodite, Derketo, Mother/Maiden/Crone
Elements: Water
Heraldry: The mermaid is usually presented holding a comb and mirror which is blazoned as a "mermaid in her vanity." Having a mermaid on your heraldry was a symbol of eloquence.
Complimentary Creatures (These are creatures which are complimentary, adversaries or opposite the mermaid or its magick. They can create a yin-yang effect): Man, Sea Serpent
Associated Mythical Creatures: Selkie, siren, nymph, Ea, water breathing people or "sea people," Aycayía, Melusine, Greek Oceanids, Nereids, and Naiads, African Mami Wata, Jengu, Merrow, Russalki, Simbi
Magick: this is the creature you need to invoke for healing, weather spells and love spells. She is valuable as an ally when coming to terms with negative past experiences that have affected your sexuality. She can be used to help you when you wish to be beautiful, attractive or healthy. She also has the mysteries of the ocean at her beck and call. Be aware she can have a dark side, she is part woman and just as she has the maiden and mother, she also has the powers of the crone, wisdom and destruction, regeneration and change.
Locations: Aegian Sea, Strait of Georgia, the oceans and seas, some creeks, lakes and fresh water with access to oceanic water as mermaids were said to travel upstream.
Flora: seaweed, hibiscus flower of the majagua tree
Fauna: Manatees, dugong, doves, fish, humans
SOURCE
Wikipedia (mermaids)
Books: Coming soon
Ted Andrews
Mythical Magical Creatures
Mermaids
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