Another Fishy Tale

For centuries now, many tall tales have been told but the tallest of them all are about mermaids. These tales seem to be heard in every country of the world and in every village, including the most remote ones. These mermaid legends all have a degree of similarity, irrespective of which country they come from. But what is the truth behind all these especially since these stories have been handed down from one generation to the next.

The creature is depicted as a half-human and half-fish. Sightings are meant to bear ill omens, foretelling bad storms, rough seas and death, with the exception of Mami Wata, the West African mermaid goddess who was believe to have healing powers. Mermaids are believed to lure men at sea to their grave. Recently, mermaids have a pretty image, a romantic makeover in Disney's The Little Mermaid and Splash, the movie of Daryl Hannah. But older versions of these stories say that these creatures yearn for a soul, which they can obtain by marrying a human. They would stalk men until they get their way.

One holistic therapist believed that she was once a mermaid in her past life following an unusual experience. I recently came across one of her claims, which goes: "I have a hand-painted picture of a dolphin and a mermaid on my wall at home. One night, the painting came to life. It was a though the top part of the room became deep seawater and the mermaid floated above me, singing and talking with incredible passion. I felt that I was told that my mission on Earth was to return others to their inner soul life journey and to awaken people who are destroying the seas". You will probably laugh at this claim because I did too.

While most people will think that this story is purely fabrication, this holistic therapist admits her encounter seems so real that she is absolutely convinced that her experience was as dramatic as a flesh-and-blood sighting.

The last reported mermaid sighting was by a fisherman who said that he had seen the creature sitting on a lobster pot near the shore combing her hair. (I'd personally think that this fisherman had recently watched Ariel in The Little Mermaid.) All these sightings might or might not be real, but the many made up stories have dented the idea of mermaids as real.

For example, the most famous made up tale was of the Fiji mermaid, found near the Fiji Islands in 1842. This ugly creature was found to be a composite of papier-mache, a baby orang-utan, a monkey head and different bits of fish. The most recent one came from Chennai after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 where the so-called mermaid was once again made up of primate and fish parts. Disgusting!

Bottom line, there are probably no such things as mermaids. We will only believe it if we see one. It is just amazing how stories travel from one century to the next from the tiniest village to the busiest city.