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The following story appeared in the Peruvian news site Pro&Contra (article not available anymore), and was copied on the blog of Paco Bardales on September 26, 2007. I copy this news text, published today in the newspaper Loretano Pro & Contra because it testifies to the presumed appearance of a siren (!!!!). Yes, a mermaid, the famous mythological character, who introduced herself to some children in the lagoon of Quistococha, a few kilometers from Iquitos. The borders between reality and fiction, between pure speculation and affirmation, are constantly changing in this story. Until now, this situation seems disconcerting to me. More than 20 students of the fourth grade of the school "María Parado de Bellido", last Thursday at noon, were refreshed in the waters of the lagoon of Quistococha, when suddenly the merriment was interrupted, and they all left the water stating that A woman appeared and called them with her hands. The children, whose ages oscillate between 7 and 8 years, when noticing the woman were scared and gave notice to the teacher Marianela Sánchez de Alarcón, who reassured them and asked them to explain what happened, but it was very difficult to listen to all, because nobody wanted to remain silent and all told the presence of the young woman. After several minutes of fuss, the children calmed down and could only explain, indicating that while they were bathing a woman with a fish tail appeared in the middle of the lagoon as if she were bathing, picked up the water with her hands and threw herself into the water. When they looked at he, she made a gesture of inviting them to the center of the lagoon. The little ones said that the girl was very pretty, her hair was golden and in the form of waves, her skin was very white, but she had no legs, they could only see a very thin tail like a fish and then disappeared into the waters. They also said that it looked very good and that it does not represent any danger. Professor Sanchez told Pro & Contra that she only saw that something was submerged in the center of the lagoon when her students came out of the water and precisely in the place where the children affirmed that the siren appeared. Similarly, the teacher Emilia Flores, who at that time rested a little away from the group, also saw that in the same place the water was moved, but did not give importance until he heard the comments. Some people who live by the place, said that the appearance of the siren at noon is very unusual, since it usually does at night, especially if they are moonlit nights appears at the center of the lagoon with bright hair. In some opportunities that appear, the neighbors of the area hear her cry very sad, her cry is very bleak, melancholic and increasingly intense that is lost in the depth of the lagoon, but that never hurt anyone, rather it is considered as the guardian of the place. The living ones indicated that the visitors should not be afraid, but rather feel privileged because the siren is the contact with our Amazonian beliefs. |
At Odds with the Sea by Lisa Keene
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The existence of mermaids was generally accepted as true throughout the centuries and throughout the world, based on the many sightings and encounters, both in the ocean as in inland waters. Even in our modern times, when such creatures are restricted to only fairy-tales, mythology or fantasy, mermaids are still being seen and interacted with. When something is rooted in reality, it doesn't matter if the authorities claim that it doesn't exist. Although in this article I will restrict myself mainly to the term of mermaid for convenience’ sake, mermen are also seen. A mermaid is feminine in form in that it is her receptivity that is emphasized. A merman is male in form because it is his activity that is emphasized These beings can also appear as fully human, without fishtail. |
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A merman, by the sea. Wood engraving. |
 Unknown Russian artist, 1886 |
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In the last two centuries a lot of stories about nature spirits have been popularized in books and films that reflect a more commercial value, and intended only for children, than what these nature spirits are actually about. It always starts with original, authentic encounters. These stories were then transmitted orally, and later on written down, but by then alteration of the stories had happened. However, the main characteristics of such encounters remains, and encounters with these beings still happen all around the world. We find this also to be true in the case of mermaids and other water spirits. Water spirits have different names according to what kind of body of water they are found in, like undines, naiads and sirens. I am using the name of mermaid in this article as this is the most well-known term. Usually mermaids refer to the sea or ocean, but women with fishtails have also been seen in rivers and lakes. Less often seen are their counterpart, mermen. I have been especially interested in first-hand accounts or mermaids/men as these show interesting details which gives us a clearer view of who these beings are. |
Mermaid by John William Waterhouse (1849–1917)
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Do mermaids really exist? Yes, they do, but not in the form as most people are familiar with. They are not physical beings. They are not humans with fish tails, simply because the human body cannot stay underwater, and is not suitable for living in rivers or the ocean. Mermaids are nature spirits. In other words, they are ethereal, or astral, beings belonging to the element of water. Ethereal, or astral, means a subtle energy that lies 'beyond', or penetrates physical matter. It is a kind of life energy that vivifies our physical reality. Beings that live and reside in ethereal realm are nature spirits, some of which belong to one of the four elements, earth, water, air and fire. There are other kinds of beings that live in these ethereal realms for their own purposes and reasons. Elemental beings are spirits that exist on these astral worlds, and they have a close affinity with nature. These beings embody an intensity and power of astral life, an emotional force that rarely appears on earth. And this comes from their connection to nature. Beings that belong to one of the four elements have mastery over these elements and usually also function as protectors. In the case of mermaids, it is clear that they care very much about the pristine nature of water, and that they don't like that humans pollute or destroy water resources. They also show an unconditional love for all life forms. |
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Why do mermaids (or mermen) appear as a half naked women (or man) with the bottom half a fish. She usually has a white or pale skin. In a rare occasion she is seen holding a child. As ethereal spirits they are actually formless, but they can take on the shape of anything they want. When they want to appear to humans, they can lower their vibration to that our physical world and take on a human shape in order us to relate to them more easily. A human form does not make us afraid, although they want us to know that they are water spirits by also showing their water element in the form a fish tail. Most of the time the approaching human can only see the back of the mermaid. When he comes closer she usually slips into the water and disappears. Ethereal spirits are actually formless, but they can take on the shape of anything they want. When they want to appear to humans, they can lower their vibration to that our physical world and take on a human shape in order us to relate to them more easily. A human form does not make us afraid, although they want us to know that they are water spirits by also showing their water element in the form a fish tail. Most of the time the approaching human can only see the back of the mermaid. When he comes closer she usually slips into the water and disappears. Historically mermaids were often seen holding a mirror in one hand and combing their hair with the other. Even today she is still seen like this. The following pictures are typical images of the mermaid holding a comb and mirror. |
15th century manuscript illustration |
 15th century mermaid depicted inside the Clonfert Cathedral in Galway, Ireland |
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Less frequent, but remarkably consistent across the globe, a mermaid is seen sitting on a rock playing a musical instrument, usually a harp or a guitar, depending on what the local population themselves use. The water spirits seem to be very interested in music, as there are stories of beautiful music coming from the depth of lakes. |
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However, there are cases in which the water spirit shows itself as a complete human looking naked women, no fish tail. |
painting by Hans Zatka (1859-1945)
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Elemental beings often have a liking to (respectful) humans, and this shows up in the love stories between mermaids and mermen and humans. This might be part why the mermaids often shows themselves as a beautiful women, with long blond hair, holding a mirror and combing her hair. By showing herself as an extreme beautiful women, a mermaid can exert a strong psychic bond with a man. When such a man falls in love with the mermaid, she sometimes lures him into the body of water she resides in, telling him that she and her companions are living at the bottom, where life is pretty much the same as it is on the surface. A man in such a psychic influence, or even a trance, will take the projected images in his mind as real, and follow her into the lake or other water body. Here is the tale of a man who was lured into a lake by a mermaid with this promise: One morning in 1987, in the
community of Shintuya (Rio Alto del Madre de Dios, Prov. Del Manu), Mr.
Luís Kiramo, 65 years old, was working on his farm; but around 02.00pm,
he returned restlessly to his house, took his machete and without saying
anything to his wife returned to his work, to then disappear for two
days. Kiramo claimed to have walked on a wide and clear path to get to the house, always guided by the strange young woman (but in reality, the men who followed him, affirmed that the path was covered with abundant thorny vegetation of "pachaquilla", which caused many scratches among the rescuers) but the strange thing is that Kiramo did not have any scratches. Kiramo also claimed to have entered the house, but had actually entered the interior of an unexplored lake, and the dog that Kiramo claimed was actually a large black alligator that could be observed by the rescuers inside the lake. Within a year Kiramo suffered from cancer to the face and died 4 years later. Source: 1 |
Fisherman Engulfed by a Siren by Knut Ekvall
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From this and other stories, we can conclude that mermaids/men communicate and appear primarily with the mind of humans, projecting images. Thus, they can appear to one person only, and be invisible to another. Unless they lower their vibration to our physical reality, they remain invisible to us, but they can make themselves visible inside the mind of a man. This man will see the mermaid clearly, and believes that she is really there, even when she visits him at his house. The mermaid spirit is really there inside his house, but is actually invisible to our eyes. It is all a question of manipulation of the human mind. You can also say that the mermaid opens the physic senses of the person, so he will be able to see her spirit form, changed into a female appearance. Elemental beings have no morals or ethics as we do, and they often don't know the difference between death and life. From their point of view they are not doing anything wrong. For humans, they can be outright dangerous. But this is not always be the case in mermaid/men and human relationships. Some lasting relationship, even sexual (although this is not physical), are positive for the concerned human party. Elementals of any kind have known to bestow gifts like the power of healing. |
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Mermaids are responsible for the state of health and balance of water resources, such as a river, lake or the ocean. They are in harmony with the water flow and the aquatic life forms in it. Like all the other elements it is a question of harmony. When humans disturb this harmony by their disrespect towards nature, by pollution or by exhausting the fish supply, mermaids become very upset and can take action against those humans. There are stories of fishermen not catching any fish for a certain period, even their fishing nets disappear and are moved to the shore (overnight), because the water spirits don't want them to over-fish the waters.
Leoncio Vela, who witnessed a formidable event, had hired a fisherman to
extract fish from the "Cachuela" sector (Madre de Dios River, Tambopata
District). Source: 1
In contrast, fishermen who respect the mermaids are often rewarded with plenty of fish. Mermaids/men will also bring fish as gifts when visiting the people they are attracted to. The following is a clear example in which a mermaid is very upset and even hateful with a diver. Maybe the mermaid was the protector of the underwater ruins, or maybe it had witnessed disrespectful behavior or actions from other humans in the past. In this case the mermaid did not appear as a beautiful women but took on a frightful appearance. It was 1988, and professional scuba diver Robert Froster was looking for some underwater formations off the coast of Florida when he suddenly noticed a disturbance in the water in his peripheral vision. As if due to some unknown force, the water around him had suddenly become extremely choppy and violent, and plumes of shaken sediment spiraled up from the seafloor. Through the chaos, a bizarre figure slowly became visible... He turned to look at the area of anomalously-violent water, and he could see a figure seemingly undulating its way towards him. By the time the gyrating ghoul had got within 20 yards of his position, he could see that it had arm-like appendages tipped with talons, and that these limbs were reaching out towards him. The creature continued to swim closer and closer to be stunned diver, who was soon able to make out 'a pair of unmistakable breasts' and smooth skin on the entity's top half, and flowing hair crowning its head. Its hindquarters were covered in scales. The aquatic enigma certainly didn't seem to be your run-of-the-mill Little Mermaid, however. Froster was terrified, and would later say that he had 'never seen such evil hate in the eyes of any human or animal before'. Immediately making a beeline back up to the surface, Robert managed to scramble back onto his boat without ever being physically attacked by the wrathful mermaid. He would never see the creature again. Source: 2 |
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Seeing a mermaid can have a very strong effect on the witness. There are many tales of men who briefly saw a mermaid, and who became desperate to see her again. Mermaids have a strong energy of love, of unity with everything that exists, ad when an ordinary person comes within her sphere of influence, or aura, that person is going to feel so much more alive, so much more vitalized. He is experiencing a kind of love that has never experienced before. When the mermaid disappears he is going to feel his old self again, and starts to long for that wonderful feeling that is now gone. August 18, 1991, around 23:30 near Batiliman, Cape Aya, Crimean Peninsula, in the Ukraine: Vyacheslav((Slava) Tertus, the leader of the Sevast opol based music group “Oreol” was swimming alone at night in the area of Cape Aya, between Seva stopol and Foros. As a strong swimmer he was about 100 meters from the rocky rugged coast of the southwestern Crimean Peninsula. The Black Sea was completely calm and there was a magnificent full moon. Enjoying the magnificent sight of the moon, Vyacheslav swam slowly along with the sea current. Suddenly the witness felt someone jabbing his shoulder, he immediately turned around but did not see anyone, only heard the splashing of water. He thought that maybe his friends, who were staying on the shore, were playing a joke on him, so he began to swim towards the shore. Suddenly he again felt a jab or kick on his shoulder. When he turned around this time he saw the face of a young woman with long light hair, clearly visible under the full moon. Her eyes were much bigger than normal human eyes and seemed to emit a phosphorescent light. Scared, the witness stroke the woman’s hand and then began swimming towards the shore at very high speed, behind him he could hear the water splashing, but he did not turn around to look. Near the shore he felt a very strong jab on his back and when he finally turned around he saw the face of the woman again which appeared to be “disappointed”, but he didn’t stop and upon reaching the shoreline he ran out screaming. His friends ran to him and briefly noticed a shiny silvery body that appeared visible for a moment in the narrow strip of water lighted by the moon and also heard a splash of water. Vyacheslav only managed to calm down several hours later after a hefty drink of vodka. However later he somehow felt the desire to see the strange “mermaid’ again and on several occasions visited the location and swam alone at nights in the Black Sea but apparently he never saw her again. His friends managed to calm down several hours later after a hefty drink of vodka. However, later he somehow felt the desire to see the strange “mermaid’ again and on several occasions visited the location and swam alone at nights in the Black Sea but apparently he never saw her again. He had dreams of seeing the mermaid beckoning to him. Source: 3 Mermaids and mermen sometimes take a liking to certain humans, looking for a love affair. Appearing as good-looking women and men (no fishtail) they visit their homes and even have sex with them. There are also plenty of stories of men who witnessed a mermaid sitting on a rock or on the bank of a river, and in the days after he strongly longs to see her again. He will return to the place again and again, until his family or friends persuade him that his behavior is not normal. Mermaids/men can have a very strong energetic attraction on certain people who are not aware of this kind of psychic influence. The attraction or love affair is innocent enough, but in some cases it can be fatal when the man enters the waters while in this trance. Elementals have little or no concept of death, and they see no problem for the human discarding his physical body so his spirit can enter their ethereal realm. Mermaids, or water spirits, can also engage in normal relationships. Although sexual or fatal attraction get a lot of attention and put the mermaid in a negative light, they can also seek a friendly relationship with a human, as in the following story: In the year 1976, in the sector of Chonta, by the Tambopata River, Elena had a strange experience. One day while she was washing her boat, a pretty young girl appeared to her, who came by in a small canoe along the river. Upon arriving, the young woman approached her, greeted her and sat next to Elena to talk. After the talk, the young girl said goodbye to her, telling her that her name was Rogelia and that she would come to visit her another day. The strange young lady was very pretty. Her skin was very white, her hair was very blond, her eyes were bright green, and she wore a nice green suit, with low-heeled shoes. After such a surprise, Elena finished washing her clothes and went home. The next day Rogelia appeared again. Elena invited her breakfast and after a long conversation, the young girl left. From that date on, visits would be repeated every day in the morning hours. Elena's husband, named Heliodoro, went to work in the fields early in the morning and did not notice the visits Rogelia made to his wife, who arrived after he left. One day Elena told her husband that she was being visited by a friend named Rogelia, and whom she wanted to introduce to her; but her always retired before he got home. The husband did not believe her, much less gave importance to the matter. One day when the husband arrived, Elena left the house and said: "Heliodoro, Rogelia left a little while ago". The husband already bored with Elena mentioned her so much, and without having indications of the existence of such a visitor, only managed to respond with rude words to his wife. On another occasion, when Rogelia came to visit him, he found that Elena's son was suffering from severe diarrhea. Seeing this, Rogelia told her: “Elena, look, my mom is a doctor, why do not we take your son to be cured?” “OK”, answered Elena, and together they went to the river bank to embark on the canoe of Rogelia. When Rogelia pushed the canoe into the water, Elena, who was already sitting in it, felt like she was sinking into the water. She became afraid and quickly jumped to the other canoe that was tied on the shore. Elena no longer wanted to go, and only managed to say: "Rogelia, your canoe is very small, it will sink, we better go another day", and she ran back to her house. Another day, around 10 am, Elena's husband returned home early and found his wife strangely talking to someone, but he did not see anyone around. When he reached the threshold of his house, he threw the machete down and it fell into the ground. Seeing this, Elena complained to him saying: "Heliodoro, you almost cut off the foot of Rogelia". Supposedly the machete had fallen very close to the young girl's feet, but the husband did not see or heard anyone, and only managed to swear, without paying attention to his wife. Rogelia said: "I'm leaving Elena." Whenever the river was swollen, Elena saw Rogelia sailing in her canoe on the river and when her husband was nearby, she said "Heliodoro, look, Rogelia is coming down", but the husband, as always, saw nothing. One day when
Rogelia came to talk with Elena, she said, "Elena, you know that I like
your neighbor's son, I would like to steal him". Her neighbor was
Ernestina, and when Elena visited her she told her to be careful because
someone wanted to steal her son. When they talked about
issues related to the river, Rogelia said: "Elena, inside the river
there is land, there are houses, if you go you will see that it is just
like here". But Elena answered her: "Where will you go, Rogelia? I will
drown". "No Elena, it's just like here, there's everything" One day Rogelia sayd to her, "Elena, you know what ?, we are going to make a pact, because I do not want to come anymore". "But what agreement are we going to make?" Elena replied. "Now, look, I'm going to come at midnight, I'm going to whistle and you go out to make the pact", and that's how it was. At midnight, Elena heard the whistles, but did not leave her house because she was afraid and continued to sleep. In dreams, he saw Rogelia talking to him and saying: "Elena, why did not you come out? I did not want to hurt you, I did not want to bother you, I just wanted to make a pact with you so you can live well, but do not worry, I will not come to your house anymore." After this event, that lasted almost two months, Elena never saw Rogelia again. The strange girl never returned to Elena's house. Inquiries were made, but nobody ever mentioned having met her. Source: 1 |
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based on the experience of William Mistele William Mistele has studied different hermetic traditions over many years and especially the system of Franz Bardon (1909–1958), who was an occultist who was well experienced in contacting the elemental beings. The following is a short summary about who mermaids are, or water spirits in general. I find it interesting as it gives a much deeper inside into the nature of these beings than the often short sightings of contacts often reported by witnesses. Because mermaids belong to the water elements, they are very emphatic. They function through their feelings. When they contact humans they do so in primarily in the form of feelings, flowing like water, water in all its aspects as it exists on earth. The center of their feeling is of course love. This is of course not love as humans understand it, but love for everything that exists, unconditionally. They share their incredibly sensitivity, receptivity, innocence, and healing with any race on earth. The elemental watery love that mermaids embody is almost never found among human beings. Elemental water put simply allows you to feel fully alive because with it you feel you are joined from within to a sea of love. They feel each moment is new and has its own life that is separate from what has gone before. Life within everything and everyone. Everything is all one in that the same energy. This life energy animates all of us. It is extraordinarily vivacious and receptive, and the vitality within water in the natural world freely flows through everything and everyone. Through contact with the mermaid realm in human and spiritual forms it is possible to experience the dazzling inner peace with the universe these beings possess, their innocence, and their love in which you feel you are united with nature and with all life in the same moment. The magnetic fluid within water, which relates to water magic, is basically the essence of the feminine spirit in nature and among spiritual beings. It is contracting, cool, attractive, calming, soothing, healing, sheltering and protecting, inspiring, animating, nurturing, the essence of receptivity, and it basically in its very nature brings to life the deepest dreams within you. A mermaid, even when she assumes human form and lives among us, will often say, “I exist to love.” And what she means is that she loves with all of her being in the present moment and in whatever situation she finds herself. It is not natural for her to pursue causes or abstract ideals, and human religion has no meaning to her. She has no other purpose than to love unless she adopts a purpose through her involvement with human beings. Source: 4 |
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As mentioned in the previous chapter, Franz Bardon was an occultist who was well experienced in magic and how to contact elemental beings. Here is an excerpt from his book Initiation Into Hermetics, page 171-172 concerning water spirits like mermaids. It is intended for the magician who wants to contact mermaids, but it also gives more information about the nature of these water spirits. "Usually the water sprites, called nixies, mermaids, or nymphs, are very attractive females although there are male water sprites or mermen too. As for visits to the kingdom of water, it is not absolutely necessary to adopt the shape of a woman; it is entirely up to the magician to transmute himself imaginatively into a mermaid. There is an advantage here: he will not be molested so much by the mermaids, because they are not only fascinating and dashingly beautiful, but also very obtrusive and sexy. Providing the magician is mentally prepared so that he has impregnated his spirit with water, he may transfer himself to a big lake or ocean, wherever he likes, and submerge down to the bottom of the water. Here as well he will not meet water sprites at once, but by repeating the experiment many times and according to his vivid desire to communicate with these beings, he will finally attract them. At first he will see only female beings moving about in the same free attitude as human beings do. He will hardly meet an unpleasant mermaid; in spite of the fact that all mermaids are very beautiful, he might indeed happen to meet the more intelligent ones, the so-called 172 royal leaders, since a very peculiar class-consciousness exists here. The magician will notice that they do not dance all the time as they are generally supposed to do, but that they do a certain amount of work too. It’s no use to write more about this theme, since the magician will convince himself. Here as well the rule goes that nobody must ever address one of the mermaids first, but he has to wait until the being starts talking or asking him questions about something. From the intelligent leaders the magician can learn such a lot about the water element that he could write books himself. He gets information about the life of fish, about the different water plants, the stones below the water and about other magic tricks related to the water element. But beware of the beauty of these beings! The magician is seriously warned not to fall madly in love with a mermaid and not to lose his balance. A love like this could become fateful to him. That does not exactly mean that he is not allowed to have fun with the mermaids. He must keep the motto in mind: love is the law, but love under a strong will. A mermaid is quite able to fascinate the magician with her incredible beauty, charm and intoxicating eroticism so much that he is in serious danger of becoming one of the kind, a fact that undoubtedly would cause his physical death. How many magicians have been wrecked by an unhappy love! Therefore the magician should remain firm in command of his passions, because it is this kingdom in the sphere of elements that is the most attractive and if the magician gave way to his passions, he would fall into the hands of the mermaids for good." |
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Sources: 1. Monograph by Víctor Hugo Velásquez Zea: The "sirens" or "yakurunas" and the Amazonian worldview about water sources. Original Spanish text: Las "sirenas" o "yakurunas" y la cosmovisión amazónica sobre las fuentes de agua. He took the time and effort to go to the rural inhabitants of the Amazonian Region of Southeast Peru, and collect first-hand encounters with mermaids. 2. E. Randall Floyd, “Great Southern Mysteries” 3. Valeriy B. Ivanov, “Mysteries of Sevastopol” Volume #4 in: “Natural Mysteries” Sevastopol 20 4. Mermaids FAQ, by William Mistele |
