There have long been many myths and legends in the world about mermaids and sirens, which sailors met on their long voyages. These creatures were endowed with magical powers of a negative nature, they were credited with abducting sailors and luring ships to reefs, where imminent death awaited them. So who do people call mermaids and sirens, did these mythical creatures really exist in reality?
Secrets of the deep sea
Almost all people know stories about half-women, half-fish that live in the seas and oceans. These insidious creatures lured sailors with their beauty and magical singing to the seabed, depriving them of their mind and life. Even ancient historians and naturalists thought about the likelihood of the existence of mermaids and sirens - were they a myth or a few, but a reasonable branch of evolution? According to eyewitness accounts, sometimes strange creatures with bare skin, a flat tail and front short fins resembling hands fell into the nets of sailors.
For the first time, charming mermaids and sirens were mentioned in the annals of ancient Babylon, where newts, the male version of the mermaid, were also described.
The ancient Babylonians worshiped the powerful sun god Oannes, who was half fish. In the 30s, French explorers of West Africa discovered the oldest tribe on its territory - the Dogons. The Dogon managed to live for several thousand years in complete isolation from civilization, while possessing an amazingly accurate knowledge of astronomy. The Dogon priests claimed that this knowledge was passed on to them by amphibious space aliens, one of which was Oannes.
Legends of mermaids and sirens
The rocky Scottish coastline has a small island. It is completely covered with small gray-green pebbles, which the locals call "mermaid tears". According to legend, one mermaid fell in love with a young monk from the monastery of St. Jonah. The monk taught her prayers, and the lovers began to beg God for the mermaid's soul so that she could leave the sea and become a man. However, God did not answer their prayers, and the mermaid had to return to the sea, from where she periodically returned, mourning her love on that island.
Against the background of myths about mermaids, this legend of the 16th century is unique - in fact, unlike stories about bloodthirsty sea beauties, it tells about love.
In almost all legends and parables, sirens and mermaids are represented by insidious seductive creatures who are attracted only by the desire to lure more sailors into their nets and ruin their souls. The sailors considered even a mermaid who just flashed on the horizon as a bad omen - they believed that after that their ship would certainly be doomed to wreck. In Slavic folklore, mermaids were called the souls of girls who drowned in unhappy love and after death began to take revenge on all men, luring them into the river.
