Man and Mystery

A collection of intriguing topics and fascinating stories about the rare, the paranormal, and the strange

Monsters and CryptidsVolume 13

Journey into the mysterious realm of cryptids. Uncover mysterious cases of psychic phenomena, ghosts and UFOs.

Pablo C. Agsalud Jr.Revision 6

Foreword

In the past, things like television, and words and ideas like advertising, capitalism, microwave and cancer all seemed too strange for the ordinary man.

As man walks towards the future, overloaded with information, more mysteries have been solved through the wonders of science. Although some things remained too odd for science to reproduce or disprove, man had placed them in the gray areas between truth and skepticism and labeled them with terminologies fit for the modern age.

But the truth is, as long as the strange and unexplainable cases keep piling up, the more likely it would seem normal or natural. Answers are always elusive and far too fewer than questions. And yet, behind all the wonderful and frightening phenomena around us, it is possible that what we call mysterious today wont be too strange tomorrow.

This book might encourage you to believe or refute what lies beyond your own understanding. Nonetheless, I hope it will keep you entertained and astonished.

The content of this book remains believable for as long as the sources and/or the references from the specified sources exist and that the validity of the information remains unchallenged.

Creepy Cryptids

These are the most common mythical creatures known to man.

A cryptid is an animal whose existence is not confirmed by science. The study of these creatures is known as cryptozoology. Those that study the existence of cryptids are called cryptozoologists. Cryptids have been sighted and documented for centuries. There are hundreds of creatures thought to be in existence today.

AswangWikipedia.org

An Aswang (or Asuwang) is a mythical creature in Filipino folklore. The aswang is an inherently evil vampire-like creature and is the subject of a wide variety of myths and stories. Spanish colonists noted that the Aswang was the most feared among the mythical creatures of the Philippines, even in the 16th century.

The myth of the aswang is well known throughout the Philippines, except in the Ilocos region, which is the only region that does not have an equivalent myth. It is especially popular in the Western Visayan regions such as Capiz, Iloilo, Negros, Bohol, Masbate, Aklan, Antique. Other regional names for the aswang include "tik-tik", "wak-wak" and "soc-soc".

Definition"Aswang" is a generic term applied to all types of witches, vampires, manananggals, shapeshifters, werebeasts and monsters. The original definition is an eater of the dead, also called the bal-bal (maninilong in Catanauan, Quezon), which replaces the cadaver with banana trunks after consumption. Aswang stories and definitions vary greatly from region to region and person to person, and no particular set of characteristics can be ascribed to the term. However, the term is mostly used interchangeably with manananggal and are also usually depicted as female.

SuperstitionsBefore modern medicine and science, aswangs served to explain miscarriages and other maladies. Today, aside from entertainment value, Filipino mothers often tell their children aswang stories to keep them off the streets and keep them home at night.

Like UFO stories, aswang stories are one of the favorites of sensationalist tabloids, especially when there are grave robberies, kidnapped children, strange noises, people with eccentric or peculiar habits, and other bizarre incidents that can somehow be attributed to them.

Stories of the aswang are popular in the Visayan region of the Philippines, especially in the western provinces of Capiz (a province on Panay Island), Iloilo and Antique. Capiz, in particular, is singled out by tabloids as an area of high supernatural activity: a home to aswangs, manananggals, giant half-horse men (tikbalang) and other mythological creatures. Many of those who live in Capiz are superstitiously inclined, and adorn their homes with garlic bulbs, holy water and other objects believed to repel aswang. Since the stories recount aswang eating unborn children, pregnancy is a time of great fear for superstitious Filipinos.

In Southern Luzon, the city of Antipolo is rumoured by locals to be a popular place for Aswang sightings, especially during the Holy Week, where legend says that paranormal activities are at their peak during the three days that Christ was dead.

Some have contended that the aswang is the progenitor of many classified cryptozoological species.

Appearance and activitiesThe wide variety of descriptions in the aswang stories make it difficult to settle upon a fixed definition of aswang appearances or activities. However, several common themes that differentiate aswangs from other mythological creatures do emerge: Aswangs are shapeshifters. Stories recount aswangs living as regular townspeople. As regular townspeople, they are quiet, shy and elusive. At night, they transform into creatures such as a cat, pig, bird, or most often, a dog. They enjoy eating unborn fetuses and small children, favoring livers and hearts. Some have long proboscises, which they use to suck the children out of their mothers' wombs or their homes. Some are so thin that they can hide themselves behind a bamboo post. They are fast and silent. Some also make noises, like the Tik-Tik, (the name was derived from the sound it produces) which are louder the further away the aswang is, to confuse its potential victim; and the Bubuu, an aggressive kind of aswang that makes a sound of a laying hen at midnight. They may also replace their live victims or stolen cadavers with doppelgangers made from tree trunks or other plant materials. This facsimile will return to the victim's home, only to become sick and die. An aswang will also have bloodshot eyes, the result of staying up all night searching for houses where wakes are held to steal the bodies.

Alleged Cases

2013 TV Documentary

Aswang in the City in Hiwagahttp://www.atcontent.com/

On Friday (Feb 22) in "Pinoy True Stories: Hiwaga," news anchor, Atom Araullo enters the world of the paranormal and meets with a mother of eight who has had encounters with an aswang for three times and it has put her and her children's lives in danger.

It all started in Samar when Annie was pregnant with her sixth child. The incidents with the aswang, who are notorious for preying on pregnant women and eating their unborn children, have followed her ever since.

The first encounter was with a seemingly innocent grandmother who lived beside them but had "eyes" for Annie's big tummy.

The second was in Makati where a strange woman with long-hair appeared out of the blue whom Annie believes turned into a huge snake to follow them when she tried to run.

But the third incident nearly cost Annie and her soon-to-be-born child's lives and it was in the form of an innocent black cat that was out for blood.

Can science explain what happened to her or could aswang exist? Is it really possible for an aswang to roam the busy streets of Makati and Taguig?

2012 Kidapawan City Incident

Residents say 'aswang' killed livestock in KidapawanJune 30, 2008 2:53pmhttp://www.gmanetwork.com/news/

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines Villagers here panicked when they learned that another group of livestock were killed by what they believed was an "aswang," a ghoul in Philippine mythology, which appears to be human by day and turns into a blood-sucking monster as darkness falls.

Three goats owned by Cielo Alonzo were seen dead without inner organs, including hearts and livers, in a vacant lot owned by Danny Guerero in Purok 2A in Barangay Lower Manongol here, about 2:30 p.m., Sunday.

The incident was the second since May, according to Edgar de Jesus, Purok president of Purok 2A in Lower Manongol village.

Last May, a flock of sheep, was also attacked by the "mysterious killer." The animals were owned by a state university here.

Their internal organs were also feasted on by the killer," de Jesus said.

Glenda Canete, caretaker of Alonzos goats, said she does not believe a stray dog could have killed the animals.

Something that is bigger than the dog, or a wolf maybe, or something that has supernatural powers could be behind the killing," said Canete.

Both Canete and de Jesus pointed to the "aswang" as the culprit.

"After our animals, they might kill our children or those weak individuals. The killing must be stopped," de Jesus said.

An "aswang," according to beliefs, can transform into animals, usually taking the form of a black dog, pig or bull.

They prey on weaker victims like children and old people, but will also attack timid, defenseless, and usually easily-preyed animals, like goat, sheep," the residents said.

But police dismissed those beliefs as baseless.

We cannot say that one hundred percent, an 'aswang' could be behind the killing. Were in a modern world now. Yang aswang, sa mga pelikula lang yan (That aswang thing is only in the movies)," said a police officer.

Chief Inspector Leo Ajero, city police director, has already ordered a thorough investigation on the killing.

We will find out who did the killing and make those responsible for it accountable," he said.

- Malu Cadelina Manar, GMANews.TV

2012 Lambunao Incident

'Aswang' attacks poultry in Iloilo?ABS-CBNnews.comPosted at 04/22/2012 1:40 PM | Updated as of 04/23/2012 7:02 AM

MANILA, Philippines Residents of Barangay Pasig in Lambunao, Iloilo were startled when they found 17 dead chickens owned by pastor Vincent Franciso early Saturday morning.

Some residents suspect the attack was done by an evil spirit (aswang) because the dead chickens had their blood sucked and no internal organs were left.

Even barangay captain Rogelio Lebero believes it was done by an "aswang" because of the finger prints found in the kitchen near the place where the chickens were killed.

Hindi ko masasabing hayop ang gumawa dahil hindi kaya ito ng hayop. Tao ang gumawa nito na sinaniban ng masamang espiritu," he said.

What made the suspicions stronger was when the same "evil spirit" allegedly lunged towards 20-year-old Jeffrey Divino around 3 a.m. on the same day while he was on his way to the field.

Mataas at malaki. May mga bilog-bilog sa mukha at may kahabang kadena," Divino said.

Francisco, however, refuses to believe that a supernatural creature has done such a thing.

Naniniwala akong tao ang gumawa na kontrolado siguro ng droga o ano mang bagay. Hindi ako naniniwalang aswang," he said.

This was the first time that such attack happened in Barangay Pasig that is why some residents cannot help but be worried.

Local government officials are planning to heighten the security in the area especially at night to capture whos behind this incident.

from a report by Kenneth Ladigohon, ABS-CBN News Iloilo

Big FootWikipedia.org

Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid. The term "sasquatch" is an anglicized derivative of the word "ssquac" which means "wild man" in a Salish Native American language.

Scientists discount the existence of bigfoot and consider it to be a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax, rather than a living animal, in part because of the large numbers thought necessary to maintain a breeding population. A few scientists, such as Jane Goodall and Jeffrey Meldrum, have expressed interest and belief in the creature, with Meldrum expressing the opinion that evidence collected of alleged Bigfoot encounters warrants further evaluation and testing. Bigfoot remains one of the more famous examples of a cryptid within cryptozoology, and an enduring legend.

Description

Bigfoot is described in reports as a large hairy ape-like creature, ranging between 610 feet (23 m) tall, weighing in excess of 500 pounds (230 kg), and covered in dark brown or dark reddish hair. Alleged witnesses have described large eyes, a pronounced brow ridge, and a large, low-set forehead; the top of the head has been described as rounded and crested, similar to the sagittal crest of the male gorilla. Bigfoot is commonly reported to have a strong, unpleasant smell by those who claim to have encountered it. The enormous footprints for which it is named have been as large as 24 inches (60 cm) long and 8 inches (20 cm) wide. While most casts have five toeslike all known apessome casts of alleged bigfoot tracks have had numbers ranging from two to six. Some have also contained claw marks, making it likely that a portion came from known animals such as bears, which have five toes and claws. Some proponents have also claimed that bigfoot is omnivorous and mainly nocturnal.

History

Before 1958

Wildmen stories are found among the indigenous population of the Pacific Northwest. The legends existed prior to a single name for the creature. They differed in their details both regionally and between families in the same community. Similar stories of wildmen are found on every continent except Antarctica. Ecologist Robert Michael Pyle argues that most cultures have human-like giants in their folk history: "We have this need for some larger-than-life creature."

Members of the Lummi tell tales about Ts'emekwes, the local version of bigfoot. The stories are similar to each other in terms of the general descriptions of Ts'emekwes, but details about the creature's diet and activities differed between the stories of different families.

Some regional versions contained more nefarious creatures. The stiyaha or kwi-kwiyai were a nocturnal race that children were told not to say the names of lest the monsters hear and come to carry off a personsometimes to be killed. In 1847, Paul Kane reported stories by the native people about skoocooms: a race of cannibalistic wild men living on the peak of Mount St. Helens. The skoocooms appear to have been regarded as supernatural, rather than natural.

Less menacing versions such as the one recorded by Reverend Elkanah Walker exist. In 1840, Walker, a Protestant missionary, recorded stories of giants among the Native Americans living in Spokane, Washington. The Indians claimed that these giants lived on and around the peaks of nearby mountains and stole salmon from the fishermen's nets.

The local legends were combined together by J. W. Burns in a series of Canadian newspaper articles in the 1920s. Each language had its own name for the local version. Many names meant something along the lines of "wild man" or "hairy man" although other names described common actions it was said to perform (e.g. eating clams). Burns coined the term Sasquatch, which is from the Halkomelem ssqets, and used it in his articles to describe a hypothetical single type of creature reflected in these various stories. Burns's articles popularized both the legend and its new name, making it well known in western Canada before it gained popularity in the United States.

After 1958

In 1951, Eric Shipton had photographed what he described as a Yeti footprint. This photograph generated considerable attention and the story of the Yeti entered into popular consciousness. The notoriety of ape-men grew over the decade, culminating in 1958 when large footprints were found in Del Norte County, California, by bulldozer operator Gerald Crew. Sets of large tracks appeared multiple times around a road-construction site in Bluff Creek. After not being taken seriously about what he was seeing, Crew brought in his friend, Bob Titmus, to cast the prints in plaster. The story was published in the Humboldt Times along with a photo of Crew holding one of the casts. Locals had been calling the unseen track-maker "Big Foot" since the late summer, which Humboldt Times columnist Andrew Genzoli shortened to "Bigfoot" in his article. Bigfoot gained international attention when the story was picked up by the Associated Press. Following the death of Ray Wallace a local logger his family attributed the creation of the footprints to him. The wife of Scoop Beal, the editor of the Humboldt Standard, which later combined with the Humboldt Times, in which Genzoli's story had appeared, has stated that her husband was in on the hoax with Wallace.

1958 was a watershed year for not just the bigfoot story itself but also the culture that surrounds it. The first bigfoot hunters began following the discovery of footprints at Bluff Creek, California. Within a year, Tom Slick, who had funded searches for Yeti in the Himalayas earlier in the decade, organized searches for bigfoot in the area around Bluff Creek.

As Bigfoot has become better known and a phenomenon in popular culture, sightings have spread throughout North America. In addition to the Pacific Northwest, the Great Lakes region and the Southeastern United States have had many reports of Bigfoot sightings.

Prominent reported sightings

Left: Distribution of reported Bigfoot sightings in North America.

About a third of all reports of Bigfoot sightings are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with most of the remaining reports spread throughout the rest of North America.

Some Bigfoot advocates, such as cryptozoologist John Willison Green, have postulated that Bigfoot is a worldwide phenomenon. The most notable reports include:

1924: Prospector Albert Ostman claimed to have been abducted by Sasquatch and held captive by the creatures in British Columbia. 1924: Fred Beck claimed that he and four other miners were attacked one night in July 1924, by several "apemen" throwing rocks at their cabin in an area later called Ape Canyon, Washington. Beck said the miners shot and possibly killed at least one of the creatures, precipitating an attack on their cabin, during which the creatures bombarded the cabin with rocks and tried to break in. The supposed incident was widely reported at the time. Beck wrote a book about the alleged event in 1967, in which he argued that the creatures were mystical beings from another dimension, claiming that he had experienced psychic premonitions and visions his entire life of which the apemen were only one component. Speleologist William Halliday argued in 1983 that the story arose from an incident in which hikers from a nearby camp had thrown rocks into the canyon. There are also local rumors that pranksters harassed the men and planted faked footprints. 1941: Jeannie Chapman and her children said they had escaped their home when a 7.5 feet (2.3 m) tall Sasquatch approached their residence in Ruby Creek, British Columbia. 1958: Bulldozer operator Jerry Crew took to a newspaper office a cast of one of the enormous footprints he and other workers had seen at an isolated work site at Bluff Creek, California. The crew was overseen by Wilbur L. Wallace, brother of Raymond L. Wallace. After Ray Wallace's death, his children came forward with a pair of 16-inch (41 cm) wooden feet, which they said their father had used to fake the Bigfoot tracks in 1958. Wallace is poorly regarded by many Bigfoot proponents. John Napier wrote, "I do not feel impressed with Mr. Wallace's story" regarding having over 15,000 feet (4,600 m) of film showing Bigfoot. 1967: Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin reported that on October 20 they had captured a purported Sasquatch on film at Bluff Creek, California. This came to be known as the Patterson-Gimlin film. Many years later, Bob Heironimus, an acquaintance of Patterson's, said that he had worn an ape costume for the making of the film. 2007: On September 16, 2007, hunter Rick Jacobs captured an image of a supposed Sasquatch by using an automatically triggered camera attached to a tree, prompting a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Game Commission to say that it was likely an image of "a bear with a severe case of mange." The photo was taken near the town of Ridgway, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny National Forest.

Proposed explanations for sightings

Various types of creatures have been suggested to explain both the sightings and what type of creature Bigfoot would be if it existed. The scientific community typically attributes sightings to either hoaxes or misidentification of known animals and their tracks. While cryptozoologists generally explain Bigfoot as an unknown ape, some believers in Bigfoot attribute the phenomenon to UFOs or other paranormal causes. A minority of proponents of a natural explanation have attributed Bigfoot to animals that are not apes such as the giant ground sloth.Misidentification

Left: Photo of an unidentified animal the Bigfoot Research Organization claims is a "juvenile Sasquatch"

In 2007, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said that photos the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization claimed showed a juvenile Bigfoot were most likely of a bear with mange. Jeffrey Meldrum, on the other hand, said the limb proportions of the suspected juvenile in question were not bear-like, and stated that he felt they were "more like a chimpanzee."

Hoaxes

Both scientists and Bigfoot believers agree that many of the sightings are hoaxes or misidentified animals. Cryptozoologists Loren Coleman and Diane Stocking have estimated that as many as 70 to 80 percent of sightings are not real.

Bigfoot sightings or footprints are often demonstrably hoaxes. Author Jerome Clark argues that the Jacko Affair, involving an 1884 newspaper report of an apelike creature captured in British Columbia, was a hoax. Citing research by John Green, who found that several contemporary British Columbia newspapers regarded the alleged capture as very dubious, Clark notes that the Mainland Guardian of New Westminster, British Columbia, wrote, "Absurdity is written on the face of it."

On July 14, 2005, Tom Biscardi, a long-time Bigfoot enthusiast and CEO of Searching for Bigfoot Inc., appeared on the Coast to Coast AM paranormal radio show and announced that he was "98% sure that his group will be able to capture a Bigfoot which they have been tracking in the Happy Camp, California area." A month later, Biscardi announced on the same radio show that he had access to a captured Bigfoot and was arranging a pay-per-view event for people to see it. Biscardi appeared on Coast to Coast AM again a few days later to announce that there was no captive Bigfoot. Biscardi blamed an unnamed woman for misleading him, and the show's audience for being gullible.

On July 9, 2008, Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton posted a video to YouTube claiming that they had discovered the body of a dead Sasquatch in a forest in northern Georgia. Tom Biscardi was contacted to investigate. Dyer and Whitton received $50,000 from Searching for Bigfoot, Inc., as a good faith gesture. The story of the men's claims was covered by many major news networks, including BBC, CNN, ABC News, and Fox News. Soon after a press conference, the alleged Bigfoot body arrived in a block of ice in a freezer with the Searching for Bigfoot team. When the contents were thawed, it was discovered that the hair was not real, the head was hollow, and the feet were rubber. Dyer and Whitton subsequently admitted it was a hoax after being confronted by Steve Kulls, executive director of Squatchdetective.com.

Gigantopithecus

Left: Fossil jaw of Gigantopithecus blacki, an extinct primate

Bigfoot proponents Grover Krantz and Geoffrey Bourne believe that Bigfoot could be a relict population of Gigantopithecus. Bourne contends that as most Gigantopithecus fossils are found in China, and as many species of animals migrated across the Bering land bridge, it is not unreasonable to assume that Gigantopithecus might have as well.

The Gigantopithecus hypothesis is generally considered entirely speculative. Gigantopithecus fossils are not found in the Americas. As the only recovered fossils are of mandibles and teeth, there is some uncertainty about Gigantopithecus's locomotion. Krantz has argued, based on his extrapolation of the shape of its mandible, that Gigantopithecus blacki could have been bipedal. However, the relevant part of mandible is not present in any fossils. The mainstream view is that Gigantopithecus was quadrupedal, and it has been argued that Gigantopithecus's enormous mass would have made it difficult for it to adopt a bipedal gait.

Matt Cartmill presents another problem with the Gigantopithecus hypothesis: "The trouble with this account is that Gigantopithecus was not a hominin and maybe not even a crown-group hominoid; yet the physical evidence implies that Bigfoot is an upright biped with buttocks and a long, stout, permanently adducted hallux. These are hominin autapomorphies, not found in other mammals or other bipeds. It seems unlikely that Gigantopithecus would have evolved these uniquely hominin traits in parallel."

Bernard G. Campbellin wrote: "That Gigantopithecus is in fact extinct has been questioned by those who believe it survives as the Yeti of the Himalayas and the Sasquatch of the north-west American coast. But the evidence for these creatures is not convincing."Extinct hominidae

A species of Paranthropus, such as Paranthropus robustus, with its crested skull and bipedal gait, was suggested by primatologist John Napier and anthropologist Gordon Strasenburg as a possible candidate for Bigfoot's identity, despite the fact that fossils of Paranthropus are found only in Africa.

Michael Rugg, of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum, presented a comparison between human, Gigantopithecus and Meganthropus skulls (reconstructions made by Grover Krantz) in episodes 131 and 132 of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum Show. He favorably compares a modern tooth suspected of coming from a bigfoot to the Meganthropus fossil teeth, noting the worn enamel on the occlusal surface. The Meganthropus fossils originated from Asia, the tooth was found in the Pacific Northwest.

Some suggest Neanderthal, Homo erectus, or Homo heidelbergensis to be the creature, but no remains of any of those species have been found in the Americas.

Scientific view

Bigfoot is more than just a silly slice of history. The beast's appearance on the national scene marked an important milestone: the first widely popularized example of pseudoscience in American culture. The debate over its legitimacy reached a zenith in the 1970s, with a slew of high-profile magazine stories and TV specials that gave prominent coverage to theories supporting the creature's existence, concocted by self-styled Bigfoot "experts" spouting factoids cherry-picked from bona fide scientific research. The controversy led anthropologists and other scientists to run for cover to avoid being tarred by association with such specious ideas. As a result, the "evidence" in Bigfoot's favor was presented essentially unchallenged, effectively legitimizing the pseudoscientific claims. Because the existence of the beast could not be disproved, many readers and viewers were left feeling that its existence was quite probable. By absenting themselves from the debate, the scientific community appeared out of touch and elitist. In the three intervening decades, the increasingly common use of pseudosciencejunk science, voodoo science, pathological science, or whatever you choose to call ithas transformed public debate.

-Anatomy of a beast: obsession and myth on the trail of Bigfoot (2009).

The scientific community discounts the existence of Bigfoot, as there is no evidence supporting the survival of such a large, prehistoric ape-like creature. The evidence that does exist points more towards a hoax or delusion than to sightings of a genuine creature. In a 1996 USA Today article titled "Bigfoot Merely Amuses Most Scientists", Washington State zoologist John Crane says, "There is no such thing as Bigfoot. No data other than material that's clearly been fabricated has ever been presented." In addition to the lack of evidence, scientists cite the fact that Bigfoot is alleged to live in regions unusual for a large, nonhuman primate, i.e., temperate latitudes in the northern hemisphere; all recognized nonhuman apes are found in the tropics of Africa and Asia (although some smaller primates, such as Japanese macaques, are found in Asia up to the latitude of Northern California, and can cope with air temperatures to -20 C (-4 F)). Thus, as with other proposed megafauna cryptids, climate and food supply issues would make such a creature's survival in reported habitats unlikely. Furthermore, great apes are not found in the fossil record in the Americas, and no Bigfoot remains have ever been found. Indeed, scientific consensus is that the breeding population of such an animal would be so large that it would account for many more purported sightings than currently occur, making the existence of such an animal an almost certain impossibility.

A few scientists have been less skeptical about the claims of the existence of sasquatch. Jeffrey Meldrum characterizes the search for Sasquatch as "a valid scientific endeavor". and says that the fossil remains of an ancient giant ape called Gigantopithecus could turn out to be ancestors of todays commonly known Bigfoot. John Napier asserts that the scientific community's attitude towards Bigfoot stems primarily from insufficient evidence. Other scientists who have shown varying degrees of interest in the legend are anthropologist David Daegling, field biologist George Shaller, Russell Mittermeier, Daris Swindler, Esteban Sarmiento, and discredited racial anthropologist Carleton S. Coon. Jane Goodall, in a September 27, 2002, interview on National Public Radio's "Science Friday", expressed her ideas about the existence of Bigfoot. First stating "I'm sure they exist", she later went on to say, chuckling, "Well, I'm a romantic, so I always wanted them to exist", and finally: "You know, why isn't there a body? I can't answer that, and maybe they don't exist, but I want them to." However, the vast majority of evolutionary biologists, anthropologists and paleontologists completely dismiss the possibility of the existence of sasquatch.

Chupacabrahttp://paranormal.about.com/

Even though some sightings date back to the 1970s, El Chupacabra - "the goat sucker" - is primarily a phenomenon of the 1990s, and its fame has largely been spread by the Internet. The sightings started in earnest in 1995 with reports coming out of Puerto Rico of a strange creature that was killing farmers' livestock - chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits and, of course, goats - sometimes hundreds of animals in one evening. The farmers, who were familiar with the killing practices of wild dogs and other predators, claimed that the methods of this unknown beast were different. It didn't try to eat the animals it killed, for example; nor did it drag them away to be devoured elsewhere. Instead, the creature killed by draining its victims of blood, usually through small incisions.

Then came the bizarre eyewitness descriptions:

about the size of a chimpanzee hops about like a kangaroo large glowing red eyes grayish skin and hairy arms long snake-like tongue sharp fangs quills running along its spine that seem to open and close like a fan some believe it may even have wings

Toward the end of the '90s, the sightings of Chupacabra began to spread. The creature was blamed for animal killings in Mexico, southern Texas and several South American countries. In May and June of 2000, a rash of incidents took place in Chile, according to certain newspapers there. In fact, some of the most incredible claims yet came out of those sightings: that at least one of the creatures was caught alive by local authorities, then handed over to official agencies of the US government.

What is it? Theories abound, including: an unknown but natural species of predator; misidentified known predators; the result of genetic experimentation; an alien. Most serious researchers consider Chupacabra merely folklore, perpetuated by over-enthusiastic locals immersed in superstition or a penchant for telling tall, exaggerated tales.

Texas IncidentTexas Woman Claims to Have Found Mythical 'Chupacabra'Published September 01, 2007http://www.foxnews.com/

Phylis Canion lived in Africa for four years. She's been a hunter all her life and has the mounted heads of a zebra and other exotic animals in her house to prove it. But the roadkill she found last month outside her ranch was a new one even for her, worth putting in a freezer hidden from curious onlookers: Canion believes she may have the head of the mythical, bloodsucking chupacabra.

"It is one ugly creature," Canion said, holding the head of the mammal, which has big ears, large fanged teeth and grayish-blue, mostly hairless skin.

Canion and some of her neighbors discovered the 40-pound bodies of three of the animals over four days in July outside her ranch in Cuero, 80 miles southeast of San Antonio. Canion said she saved the head of the one she found so she can get to get to the bottom of its ancestry through DNA testing and then mount it for posterity.

She suspects, as have many rural denizens over the years, that a chupacabra may have killed as many as 26 of her chickens in the past couple of years.

"I've seen a lot of nasty stuff. I've never seen anything like this," she said.

What tipped Canion to the possibility that this was no ugly coyote, but perhaps the vampire-like beast, is that the chickens weren't eaten or carried off all the blood was drained from them, she said.

Chupacabra means "goat sucker" in Spanish, and it is said to have originated in Latin America, specifically Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Canion thinks recent heavy rains ran them right out of their dens.

"I think it could have wolf in it," Canion said. "It has to be a cross between two or three different things."

She said the finding has captured the imagination of locals, just like purported sightings of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster have elsewhere.

But what folks are calling a chupacabra is probably just a strange breed of dog, said veterinarian Travis Schaar of the Main Street Animal Hospital in nearby Victoria.

"I'm not going to tell you that's not a chupacabra. I just think in my opinion a chupacabra is a dog," said Schaar, who has seen Canion's find.

The "chupacabras" could have all been part of a mutated litter of dogs, or they may be a new kind of mutt, he said.

As for the bloodsucking, Schaar said that this particular canine may simply have a preference for blood, letting its prey bleed out and licking it up.

Chupacabra or not, the discovery has spawned a local and international craze. Canion has started selling T-shirts that read: "2007, The Summer of the Chupacabra, Cuero, Texas," accompanied by a caricature of the creature. The $5 shirts have gone all over the world, including Japan, Australia and Brunei. Schaar also said he has one.

"If everyone has a fun time with it, we'll keep doing it," she said. "It's good for Cuero."

Dover Demonhttp://paranormal.about.com/

Dover, Massachusetts was the location of the sighting of a bizarre creature for a few days beginning on April 21, 1977. Although the creature, which became known as "the Dover Demon," was only seen by a few people in this short period of time, it is considered one of the most mysterious creatures of modern times.

The first sighting was made by 17-year-old Bill Bartlett as he and three friends were driving north near the small New England town at around 10:30 at night. Through the darkness, Bartlett claimed to have seen an unusual creature creeping along a low stone wall on the side of the road - something he had never seen before and could not identify. The other boys did not see it, but it was obvious to them that Bartlett was shaken by the experience. When he arrived home, he told his father about his experience and sketched a drawing of the creature.

Just a few hours after Bartlett's sighting, at 12:30 a.m., John Baxter swore that he saw the same creature while walking home from his girlfriend's house. The 15-year-old boy saw it with its arms wrapped around the trunk of a tree, and his description of the thing matched Bartlett's exactly.

The final sighting was reported the next day by another 15-year-old, Abby Brabham, a friend of one of Bill Bartlett's friends, who said it appeared briefly in the car's headlights while she and her friend were driving. Again, the description was consistent. This is the creature they allegedly saw:

about four feet tall on two legs hairless body with rough-textured skin long, spindly peach-colored limbs a large watermelon-shaped head, nearly as big as its body large glowing orange eyes

Subsequent investigations into this unusual case turned up no hard evidence for the reality of the creature, but neither was there evidence of a hoax nor a motive for perpetrating one. Skeptics suggested that what the teenagers saw was a young moose, while UFOlogists who looked into the case wondered if there was an extraterrestrial connection.

Elfhttp://paranormal.about.com/

On a summer night in 1919, 13-year-old Harry Anderson claimed to have seen a column of 20 little men marching in single file, made visible by the bright moonlight. He noted they were dressed in leather knee pants with suspenders. The men were shirtless, bald and had pale white skin. They ignored young Harry as they passed, mumbling something unintelligible all the while.

FairiesWikipedia.org

A fairy (also faery, faerie, fay, fae; euphemistically wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk, etc.) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.

Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term fairy offers many definitions. Sometimes the term describes any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term only describes a specific type of more ethereal creature.

Etymology

The word fairy derives from Middle English faierie (also fayerye, feirie, fairie), a direct borrowing from Old French faerie (Modern French ferie) meaning the land, realm, or characteristic activity (i.e. enchantment) of the legendary people of folklore and romance called (in Old French) faie or fee (Modern French fe). This derived ultimately from Late Latin fata (one of the personified Fates, hence a guardian or tutelary spirit, hence a spirit in general); cf. Italian fata, Portuguese fada, Spanish hada of the same origin.

Fata, although it became a feminine noun in the Romance languages, was originally the neuter plural ("the Fates") of fatum, past participle of the verb fari to speak, hence "thing spoken, decision, decree" or "prophetic declaration, prediction", hence "destiny, fate". It was used as the equivalent of the Greek Moirai, the personified Fates who determined the course and ending of human life.

To the word faie was added the suffix -erie (Modern English -(e)ry), used to express either a place where something is found (fishery, heronry, nunnery) or a trade or typical activity engaged in by a person (cookery, midwifery, thievery). In later usage it generally applied to any kind of quality or activity associated with a particular sort of person, as in English knavery, roguery, witchery, wizardry.

Faie became Modern English fay "a fairy"; the word is, however, rarely used, although it is well known as part of the name of the legendary sorceress Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend. Faierie became fairy, but with that spelling now almost exclusively referring to one of the legendary people, with the same meaning as fay. In the sense "land where fairies dwell", the distinctive and archaic spellings Faery and Faerie are often used. Faery is also used in the sense of "a fairy", and the back-formation fae, as an equivalent or substitute for fay is now sometimes seen.

The word fey, originally meaning "fated to die" or "having forebodings of death" (hence "visionary", "mad", and various other derived meanings) is completely unrelated, being from Old English fge, Proto-Germanic *faigja- and Proto-Indo-European *poikyo-, whereas Latin fata comes from the Indo-European root *bh- "speak". Due to the identical pronunciation of the two words, "fay" is sometimes misspelled "fey".

Characteristics

Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers. Their origins are less clear in the folklore, being variously dead, or some form of demon, or a species completely independent of humans or angels.[3] Folklorists have suggested that their actual origin lies in a conquered race living in hiding,[4] or in religious beliefs that lost currency with the advent of Christianity.[5] These explanations are not necessarily incompatible, and they may be traceable to multiple sources.

Much of the folklore about fairies revolves around protection from their malice, by such means as cold iron (iron is like poison to fairies, and they will not go near it) or charms of rowan and herbs, or avoiding offense by shunning locations known to be theirs.[6] In particular, folklore describes how to prevent the fairies from stealing babies and substituting changelings, and abducting older people as well.[7] Many folktales are told of fairies, and they appear as characters in stories from medieval tales of chivalry, to Victorian fairy tales, and up to the present day in modern literature.

In his manuscript, The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies, Reverend Robert Kirk, minister of the Parish of Aberfoyle, Stirling, Scotland, wrote in 1691:

These Siths or Fairies they call Sleagh Maith or the Good People...are said to be of middle nature between Man and Angel, as were Daemons thought to be of old; of intelligent fluidous Spirits, and light changeable bodies (lyke those called Astral) somewhat of the nature of a condensed cloud, and best seen in twilight. These bodies be so pliable through the sublety of Spirits that agitate them, that they can make them appear or disappear at pleasure[8]

Although in modern culture they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, humanoids of small stature, they originally were depicted much differently: tall, radiant, angelic beings or short, wizened trolls being two of the commonly mentioned forms. Diminutive fairies of one kind or another have been recorded for centuries, but occur alongside the human-sized beings; these have been depicted as ranging in size from very tiny up to the size of a human child.[9] Even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant.[10]

Wings, while common in Victorian and later artwork of fairies, are very rare in the folklore; even very small fairies flew with magic, sometimes flying on ragwort stems or the backs of birds.[11] Nowadays, fairies are often depicted with ordinary insect wings or butterfly wings.

Various animals have also been described as fairies. Sometimes this is the result of shape shifting on part of the fairy, as in the case of the selkie (seal people); others, like the kelpie and various black dogs, appear to stay more constant in form.[12]

In some folklore fairies have green eyes and often bite. Though they can confuse one with their words, fairies cannot lie. They hate being told 'thank you', as they see it as a sign of one forgetting the good deed done, and want something that'll guarantee remembrance.

Origin of fairiesFolk beliefs

Dead

One popular belief was that they were the dead, or some subclass of the dead.[13] The Irish banshee (Irish Gaelic bean s or Scottish Gaelic bean shth, which both mean "fairy woman") is sometimes described as a ghost.[14] The northern English Cauld Lad of Hylton, though described as a murdered boy, is also described as a household sprite like a brownie,[15] much of the time a Barghest or Elf.[16] One tale recounted a man caught by the fairies, who found that whenever he looked steadily at one, the fairy was a dead neighbor of his.[17] This was among the most common views expressed by those who believed in fairies, although many of the informants would express the view with some doubts.[18]Elementals

Another view held that the fairies were an intelligent species, distinct from humans and angels.[19] In alchemy in particular they were regarded as elementals, such as gnomes and sylphs, as described by Paracelsus.[20] This is uncommon in folklore, but accounts describing the fairies as "spirits of the air" have been found popularly.[21]

Demoted angels

A third belief held that they were a class of "demoted" angels.[22] One popular story held that when the angels revolted, God ordered the gates shut; those still in heaven remained angels, those in hell became devils, and those caught in between became fairies.[23] Others held that they had been thrown out of heaven, not being good enough, but they were not evil enough for hell.[24] This may explain the tradition that they had to pay a "teind" or tithe to Hell. As fallen angels, though not quite devils, they could be seen as subject of the Devil.[25] For a similar concept in Persian mythology, see Peri.

Demons

A fourth belief was the fairies were demons entirely.[26] This belief became much more popular with the growth of Puritanism.[27] The hobgoblin, once a friendly household spirit, became a wicked goblin.[28] Dealing with fairies was in some cases considered a form of witchcraft and punished as such in this era.[29] Disassociating himself from such evils may be why Oberon, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, carefully observed that neither he nor his court feared the church bells.[30]

The belief in their angelic nature was less common than that they were the dead, but still found popularity, especially in Theosophist circles.[31][32] Informants who described their nature sometimes held aspects of both the third and the fourth view, or observed that the matter was disputed.[31]

Humans

A less-common belief was that the fairies were actually humans; one folktale recounts how a woman had hidden some of her children from God, and then looked for them in vain, because they had become the hidden people, the fairies. This is parallel to a more developed tale, of the origin of the Scandinavian huldra.[31]

Babies' laughs

A story of the origin of fairies appears in a chapter about Peter Pan in J. M. Barrie's 1902 novel The Little White Bird, and was incorporated into his later works about the character. Barrie wrote, "When the first baby laughed for the first time, his laugh broke into a million pieces, and they all went skipping about. That was the beginning of fairies."[33]

Pagan deities

Many of the Irish tales of the Tuatha D Danann refer to these beings as fairies, though in more ancient times they were regarded as Goddesses and Gods. The Tuatha D Danann were spoken of as having come from Islands in the north of the world, or, in other sources, from the sky. After being defeated in a series of battles with other Otherworldly beings, and then by the ancestors of the current Irish people, they were said to have withdrawn to the sdhe (fairy mounds), where they lived on in popular imagination as "fairies."

Sources of beliefs

A hidden people

One common theme found among the Celtic nations describes a race of diminutive people who had been driven into hiding by invading humans. They came to be seen as another race, or possibly spirits, and were believed to live in an Otherworld that was variously described as existing underground, in hidden hills (many of which were ancient burial mounds), or across the Western Sea.[4]

In old Celtic fairy lore the sidhe (fairy folk) are immortals living in the ancient barrows and cairns. The Tuatha de Danaan are associated with several Otherworld realms including Mag Mell (the Pleasant Plain), Emain Ablach (the Fortress of Apples or the Land of Promise or the Isle of Women), and the Tir na ng (the Land of Youth).[34]

The concept of the Otherworld is also associated with the Isle of Apples, known as Avalon in the Arthurian mythos (often equated with Ablach Emain). Here we find the Silver Bough that allowed a living mortal to enter and withdraw from the Otherworld or Land of the Gods. According to legend, the Fairy Queen sometimes offered the branch to worthy mortals, granting them safe passage and food during their stay.

Some 19th century archaeologists thought they had found underground rooms in the Orkney islands resembling the Elfland in Childe Rowland.[35] In popular folklore, flint arrowheads from the Stone Age were attributed to the fairies as "elf-shot".[36] The fairies' fear of iron was attributed to the invaders having iron weapons, whereas the inhabitants had only flint and were therefore easily defeated in physical battle. Their green clothing and underground homes were credited to their need to hide and camouflage themselves from hostile humans, and their use of magic a necessary skill for combating those with superior weaponry.[4] In Victorian beliefs of evolution, cannibalism among "ogres" was attributed to memories of more savage races, still practicing it alongside "superior" races that had abandoned it.[37] Selkies, described in fairy tales as shapeshifting seal people, were attributed to memories of skin-clad "primitive" people traveling in kayaks.[4] African pygmies were put forth as an example of a race that had previously existed over larger stretches of territory, but come to be scarce and semi-mythical with the passage of time and prominence of other tribes and races.[38]

Christianised pagan deities

Another theory is that the fairies were originally worshiped as gods, but with the coming of Christianity, they lived on, in a dwindled state of power, in folk belief. In this particular time, fairies were reputed by the church as being 'evil' beings. Many beings who are described as deities in older tales are described as "fairies" in more recent writings.[5] Victorian explanations of mythology, which accounted for all gods as metaphors for natural events that had come to be taken literally, explained them as metaphors for the night sky and stars.[39] According to this theory, fairies are personified aspects of nature and deified abstract concepts such as love and victory in the pantheon of the particular form of animistic nature worship reconstructed as the religion of Ancient Western Europe.[40]

Spirits of the dead

A third theory was that the fairies were a folkloric belief concerning the dead. This noted many common points of belief, such as the same legends being told of ghosts and fairies, the sdhe in actuality being burial mounds, it being dangerous to eat food in both Fairyland and Hades, and both the dead and fairies living underground.[41]

As components of the human psyche

Faeries are the inner thoughts and feelings we have that seem to have a life of their own. You might say a human being is the king of an inner fey kingdom, because life happens within his psyche without his full attention. Concepts are faeries, and to live within you, they have needs, such as periodic regeneration through the focus of human concentration, and also, they must co-vibrate with their owners to remain active. Jesus said an unclean spirit returns to it's home with even more of it's own kind - when we are angry, a lot of other angry thoughts can activate and also cloud the consciousness. It is also said that these inner faeries also go outward from their human owners and look for new homes, in physical objects and living animals and humans. Faeries enter a human being from all kinds of sources - from heavenly sources, creative sources, and environmental ones. Also, hellish concepts can be energized by an individual against himself, the result is torture for him and his/her loved ones.

-Russell Ackerman, rabbit-hole expert.

Fairies in literature and legend

The question as to the essential nature of fairies has been the topic of myths, stories, and scholarly papers for a very long time.[42]Practical beliefs and protection

When considered as beings that a person might actually encounter, fairies were noted for their mischief and malice. Some pranks ascribed to them, such as tangling the hair of sleepers into "Elf-locks", stealing small items or leading a traveler astray, are generally harmless. But far more dangerous behaviors were also attributed to fairies. Any form of sudden death might stem from a fairy kidnapping, with the apparent corpse being a wooden stand-in with the appearance of the kidnapped person.[7] Consumption (tuberculosis) was sometimes blamed on the fairies forcing young men and women to dance at revels every night, causing them to waste away from lack of rest.[43] Fairies riding domestic animals, such as cows or pigs or ducks, could cause paralysis or mysterious illnesses.

As a consequence, practical considerations of fairies have normally been advice on averting them. In terms of protective charms, cold iron is the most familiar, but other things are regarded as detrimental to the fairies: wearing clothing inside out, running water, bells (especially church bells), St. John's wort, and four-leaf clovers, among others. Some lore is contradictory, such as rowan trees in some tales being sacred to the fairies, and in other tales being protection against them. In Newfoundland folklore, the most popular type of fairy protection is bread, varying from stale bread to hard tack or a slice of fresh home-made bread. The belief that bread has some sort of special power is an ancient one. Bread is associated with the home and the hearth, as well as with industry and the taming of nature, and as such, seems to be disliked by some types of fairies. On the other hand, in much of the Celtic folklore, baked goods are a traditional offering to the folk, as are cream and butter.[32]

The prototype of food, and therefore a symbol of life, bread was one of the commonest protections against fairies. Before going out into a fairy-haunted place, it was customary to put a piece of dry bread in ones pocket.[44]

Bells also have an ambiguous role; while they protect against fairies, the fairies riding on horseback such as the fairy queen often have bells on their harness. This may be a distinguishing trait between the Seelie Court from the Unseelie Court, such that fairies use them to protect themselves from more wicked members of their race.[45] Another ambiguous piece of folklore revolves about poultry: a cock's crow drove away fairies, but other tales recount fairies keeping poultry.[46]

In County Wexford, Ireland, in 1882, it was reported that if an infant is carried out after dark a piece of bread is wrapped in its bib or dress, and this protects it from any witchcraft or evil.[47]

While many fairies will confuse travelers on the path, the will o' the wisp can be avoided by not following it. Certain locations, known to be haunts of fairies, are to be avoided; C. S. Lewis reported hearing of a cottage more feared for its reported fairies than its reported ghost.[48] In particular, digging in fairy hills was unwise. Paths that the fairies travel are also wise to avoid. Home-owners have knocked corners from houses because the corner blocked the fairy path,[49] and cottages have been built with the front and back doors in line, so that the owners could, in need, leave them both open and let the fairies troop through all night.[50] Locations such as fairy forts were left undisturbed; even cutting brush on fairy forts was reputed to be the death of those who performed the act.[51] Fairy trees, such as thorn trees, were dangerous to chop down; one such tree was left alone in Scotland, though it prevented a road being widened for seventy years.[52] Good house-keeping could keep brownies from spiteful actions, because if they did not think the house is clean enough, they pinched people in their sleep. Such water hags as Peg Powler and Jenny Greenteeth, prone to drowning people, could be avoided by avoiding the bodies of water they inhabit.[36]

Other actions were believed to offend fairies. Brownies were known to be driven off by being given clothing, though some folktales recounted that they were offended by inferior quality of the garments given, and others merely stated it, some even recounting that the brownie was delighted with the gift and left with it.[53] Other brownies left households or farms because they heard a complaint, or a compliment.[54] People who saw the fairies were advised not to look closely, because they resented infringements on their privacy.[55] The need to not offend them could lead to problems: one farmer found that fairies threshed his corn, but the threshing continued after all his corn was gone, and he concluded that they were stealing from his neighbors, leaving him the choice between offending them, dangerous in itself, and profiting by the theft.[56]

Millers were thought by the Scots to be "no canny", owing to their ability to control the forces of nature, such as fire in the kiln, water in the burn, and for being able to set machinery a-whirring. Superstitious communities sometimes believed that the miller must be in league with the fairies. In Scotland fairies were often mischievous and to be feared. No one dared to set foot in the mill or kiln at night as it was known that the fairies brought their corn to be milled after dark. So long as the locals believed this then the miller could sleep secure in the knowledge that his stores were not being robbed. John Fraser, the miller of Whitehill claimed to have hidden and watched the fairies trying unsuccessfully to work the mill. He said he decided to come out of hiding and help them, upon which one of the fairy women gave him a gowpen (double handful of meal) and told him to put it in his empty girnal (store), saying that the store would remain full for a long time, no matter how much he took out.[57]

It is also believed that to know the name of a particular fairy could summon it to you and force it to do your bidding. The name could be used as an insult towards the fairy in question, but it could also rather contradictorily be used to grant powers and gifts to the user.

Changelings

A considerable amount of lore about fairies revolves around changelings, fairy children left in the place of stolen human babies.[4] Older people could also be abducted; a woman who had just given birth and had yet to be churched was considered to be in particular danger.[58] A common thread in folklore is that eating the fairy food would trap the captive, as Persephone in Hades; this warning is often given to captives who escape by other people in the fairies' power, who are often described as captives who had eaten and so could not be freed.[59] Folklore differed about the state of the captives: some held that they lived a merry life, others that they always pined for their old friends.[60]

Classifications

In Scottish folklore, fairies are divided into the Seelie Court, the more beneficently inclined (but still dangerous) fairies, and the Unseelie Court, the malicious fairies. While the fairies from the Seelie court enjoyed playing pranks on humans they were usually harmless pranks, compared to the Unseelie court that enjoyed bringing harm to humans as entertainment.[36]

Trooping fairies refer to fairies who appear in groups and might form settlements. In this definition, fairy is usually understood in a wider sense, as the term can also include various kinds of mythical creatures mainly of Celtic origin[citation needed]; however, the term might also be used for similar beings such as dwarves or elves from Germanic folklore. These are opposed to solitary fairies, who do not live or associate with others of their kind.[61]

Legends

In many legends, the fairies are prone to kidnapping humans, either as babies, leaving changelings in their place, or as young men and women. This can be for a time or forever, and may be more or less dangerous to the kidnapped. In the 19th Century Child Ballad, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight", the elf-knight is a Bluebeard figure, and Isabel must trick and kill him to preserve her life.[62] Child Ballad "Tam Lin" reveals that the title character, though living among the fairies and having fairy powers, was in fact an "earthly knight" and, though his life was pleasant now, he feared that the fairies would pay him as their teind (tithe) to hell.[62] Sir Orfeo tells how Sir Orfeo's wife was kidnapped by the King of Faerie and only by trickery and excellent harping ability was he able to win her back. Sir Degare narrates the tale of a woman overcome by her fairy lover, who in later versions of the story is unmasked as a mortal. Thomas the Rhymer shows Thomas escaping with less difficulty, but he spends seven years in Elfland.[63] Oisn is harmed not by his stay in Faerie but by his return; when he dismounts, the three centuries that have passed catch up with him, reducing him to an aged man.[64] King Herla (O.E. "Herla cyning"), originally a guise of Woden but later Christianised as a king in a tale by Walter Map, was said, by Map, to have visited a dwarf's underground mansion and returned three centuries later; although only some of his men crumbled to dust on dismounting, Herla and his men who did not dismount were trapped on horseback, this being one account of the origin of the Wild Hunt of European folklore.[65][66]

A common feature of the fairies is the use of magic to disguise appearance. Fairy gold is notoriously unreliable, appearing as gold when paid, but soon thereafter revealing itself to be leaves, gorse blossoms, gingerbread cakes, or a variety of other useless things.[67]

These illusions are also implicit in the tales of fairy ointment. Many tales from Northern Europe[68][69] tell of a mortal woman summoned to attend a fairy birth sometimes attending a mortal, kidnapped woman's childbed. Invariably, the woman is given something for the child's eyes, usually an ointment; through mischance, or sometimes curiosity, she uses it on one or both of her own eyes. At that point, she sees where she is; one midwife realizes that she was not attending a great lady in a fine house but her own runaway maid-servant in a wretched cave. She escapes without making her ability known, but sooner or later betrays that she can see the fairies. She is invariably blinded in that eye, or in both if she used the ointment on both.[70]

Fairy Funerals : There have been claims by people in the past, like William Blake, to have seen fairy funerals. Allan Cunningham in his Lives of Eminent British Painters records that William Blake claimed to have seen a fairy funeral. 'Did you ever see a fairy's funeral, madam? said Blake to a lady who happened to sit next to him. 'Never, Sir!' said the lady. 'I have,' said Blake, 'but not before last night.' And he went on to tell how, in his garden, he had seen 'a procession of creatures of the size and colour of green and grey grasshoppers, bearing a body laid out on a rose-leaf, which they buried with songs, and then disappeared'. They are believed to be an omen of death.

Literature

Fairies appeared in medieval romances as one of the beings that a knight errant might encounter. A fairy lady appeared to Sir Launfal and demanded his love; like the fairy bride of ordinary folklore, she imposed a prohibition on him that in time he violated. Sir Orfeo's wife was carried off by the King of Faerie. Huon of Bordeaux is aided by King Oberon.[71] These fairy characters dwindled in number as the medieval era progressed; the figures became wizards and enchantresses.[72] Morgan le Fay, whose connection to the realm of Faerie is implied in her name, in Le Morte d'Arthur is a woman whose magic powers stem from study.[73] While somewhat diminished with time, fairies never completely vanished from the tradition. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late tale, but the Green Knight himself is an otherworldly being.[72] Edmund Spenser featured fairies in The Faerie Queene.[74] In many works of fiction, fairies are freely mixed with the nymphs and satyrs of classical tradition;[75] while in others (e.g. Lamia), they were seen as displacing the Classical beings. 15th century poet and monk John Lydgate wrote that King Arthur was crowned in "the land of the fairy", and taken in his death by four fairy queens, to Avalon where he lies under a "fairy hill", until he is needed again.[76]

Fairies appear as significant characters in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream, which is set simultaneously in the woodland, and in the realm of Fairyland, under the light of the moon.[77] and in which a disturbance of Nature caused by a fairy dispute creates tension underlying the plot and informing the actions of the characters. According to Maurice Hunt, Chair of the English Department at Baylor University, the blurring of the identities of fantasy and reality makes possible that pleasing, narcotic dreaminess associated with the fairies of the play.[78]

Shakespeare's contemporary, Michael Drayton features fairies in his Nimphidia; from these stem Alexander Pope's sylphs of The Rape of the Lock, and in the mid 17th century, prcieuses took up the oral tradition of such tales to write fairy tales; Madame d'Aulnoy invented the term contes de fe ("fairy tale").[79] While the tales told by the prcieuses included many fairies, they were less common in other countries' tales; indeed, the Brothers Grimm included fairies in their first edition, but decided this was not authentically German and altered the language in later editions, changing each "Fee" (fairy) to an enchantress or wise woman.[80] J. R. R. Tolkien described these tales as taking place in the land of Faerie.[81] Additionally, not all folktales that feature fairies are generally categorized as fairy tales.

Fairies in literature took on new life with Romanticism. Writers such as Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg were inspired by folklore which featured fairies, such as the Border ballads. This era saw an increase in the popularity of collecting of fairy folklore, and an increase in the creation of original works with fairy characters.[82] In Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, Puck holds to scorn the moralizing fairies of other Victorian works.[83] The period also saw a revival of older themes in fantasy literature, such as C.S. Lewis's Narnia books which, while featuring many such classical beings as fauns and dryads, mingles them freely with hags, giants, and other creatures of the folkloric fairy tradition.[84] Victorian flower fairies were popularized in part by Queen Marys keen interest in fairy art, and by British illustrator and poet Cicely Mary Barker's series of eight books published in 1923 through 1948. Imagery of fairies in literature became prettier and smaller as time progressed.[85] Andrew Lang, complaining of "the fairies of polyanthuses and gardenias and apple blossoms" in the introduction to The Lilac Fairy Book, observed that "These fairies try to be funny, and fail; or they try to preach, and succeed."[86]

Fairies are seen in Neverland, in Peter and Wendy, the novel version of J. M. Barrie's famous Peter Pan stories, published in 1911, and its character Tinker Bell has become a pop culture icon. When Peter Pan is guarding Wendy from pirates, the story says: "After a time he fell asleep, and some unsteady fairies had to climb over him on their way home from an orgy. Any of the other boys obstructing the fairy path at night they would have mischiefed, but they just tweaked Peter's nose and passed on."[87]

Fairies in art

Images of fairies have appeared as illustrations, often in books of fairy tales, as well as in photographic-based media and sculpture. Some artists known for their depictions of fairies include Cicely Mary Barker, Arthur Rackham, Brian Froud, Alan Lee, Amy Brown, David Delamare, Meredith Dillman, Jasmine Becket-Griffith, Warwick Goble, Kylie InGold, Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, Myrea Pettit, Florence Harrison, Suza Scalora,[88] Nene Thomas, Gustave Dor, Rebecca Guay and Greta James. The Fairy Doors of Ann Arbor, MI are small doors installed into local buildings. Local children believe these are the front doors of fairy houses, and in some cases, small furniture, dishes, and various other things can be seen beyond the doors.

The Victorian era was particularly noted for fairy paintings. The Victorian painter Richard Dadd created paintings of fairy-folk with a sinister and malign tone. Other Victorian artists who depicted fairies include John Atkinson Grimshaw, Joseph Noel Paton, John Anster Fitzgerald and Daniel Maclise.[89] Interest in fairy-themed art enjoyed a brief renaissance following the publication of the Cottingley Fairies photographs in 1917 and a number of artists turned to painting fairy themes.

Fairies in religionTheosophy

In the teachings of Theosophy, Devas, the equivalent of angels, are regarded as living either in the atmospheres of the planets of the solar system (Planetary Angels) or inside the Sun (Solar Angels) (presumably other planetary systems and stars have their own angels). They are believed to help to guide the operation of the processes of nature such as the process of evolution and the growth of plants. Their appearance is reputedly like colored flames about the size of a human being. Some (but not most) devas originally incarnated as human beings. Smaller, less important, evolutionarily undeveloped minor angels are called nature spirits, elementals, and fairies.[90]

The Cottingley Fairies photographs in 1917 (revealed by the "photographers" in 1981 to have been faked) were originally publicized by Theosophists, many of whom believed them to be real. C.W. Leadbeater and other Theosophists wrote many books on supernatural creatures, emphasizing that any sufficiently enlightened human should be able to see devas, nature spirits, elementals (gnomes, ondines, sylphs, and salamanders), and fairies when the third eye is activated.[91][92] They are said to have etheric bodies that are composed of etheric matter, a type of matter finer and more pure that is composed of smaller particles than ordinary physical plane matter.[93]

Theosophists believe that these less evolutionarily developed beings have never been previously incarnated as human beings; they are regarded as being on a separate line of spiritual evolution called the deva evolution or "angel evolution path"; eventually, as their souls advance as they reincarnate, it is believed they will incarnate as devas.

FairiesThe Encyclopedia of AngelsBy Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Supernatural beings both helpful and harmful who are attached to the earth, and who sometimes are associated with angels. Fairy beliefs are universal and strikingly similar; they attempt to explain the reasons for illnesses, deformities, and untimely deaths among children;epidemics among livestock; and various disasters of weather. The term fairy comes from the Latin fata, or fate, which refers to the Fates of mythology, three women who spin, twist, and cut the threads of life.

Contemporary popular Western beliefs about angels link fairies to angels as a subordinate class of beings, in accordance with the idea of MINISTERING ANGELSeverything in nature has its guiding angel. In folklore tradition, fairies are not a type of heavenly angel, but a separate class of being; conceivably an angel might be invoked to protect against the tricks and malice of fairies.

Folklore traditions give various origins of fairies. They are:

souls of the pagan dead, caught between heaven and earth because they were not baptized; guardians of the dead; ghosts of venerated ancestors; FALLEN ANGELS, cast out of heaven with Lucifer but condemned by God to remain in the elements of the earth; NATURE SPIRITS who are attached to particular places or elements; Small-statured human beings.

Fairies are especially known for their roles in enchantments and bewitchments; in witch lore they are sometimes said to be the FAMILIARS of witches. Fairies have many names and descriptions; most are diminutive or even tiny. They may be beautiful or ugly, may resemble humans, or have wings and carry wands and pipes. Wings are small and not feathered as in depictions of angels, but more resemble butterfly or gossamer dragonfly wings. They usually are invisible save to those with clairvoyant sight; they can make themselves visible to humans if they so desire. Some are morally ambivalent, whereas others are always benevolent, and still others are always malevolent. Some live as a fairy race or nation; the Land of Fairy, also called Elfland, has characteristics of the land of the dead: it exists underground and is accessed through barrows and mounds; time ceases there. The fairies come out at night to dance, sing, travel about, make merry, and make mischief. They steal human women for wives, and also steal unprotected human children, leaving their own children (changelings) in exchange. In order to stay in the good graces of the little people, the good people and the good neighbors, as they are called, humans are to keep clean houses and leave out food and drink. In return, fairies bestow gifts and money and help humans with their chores. Fairies also are propitiated with offerings and rites at sacred wells, fountains, lakes, and tree groves so that humans may ward off illness and misfortune.

Encounter with Fairieshttp://paranormal.about.com/

In Stowmarket, England in 1842, a man claimed this encounter with "fairies" when walking through a meadow on his journey home: "There might be a dozen of them, the biggest about three feet high, and small ones like dolls. They were moving around hand in hand in a ring; no noise came from them. They seemed light and shadowy, not like solid bodies. I... could see them as plain as I do you. I ran home and called three women to come back with me and see them. But when we got to the place, they were all gone. I was quite sober at the time."

Other cryptids related to Fairies

European Folklore

Dwarf Elf Goblin Gnome Gremlin Hobgoblin Imp Mermaid Sprite/Water sprite Sylph Tooth fairy Wight

African Folklore

Abatwa Asanbosam Aziza Bultungin Jengu Kishi Mami Wata Obayifo Rompo Tikoloshe Yumboes

Australasian Folklore

Bunyip Manaia Muldjewangk Patupaiarehe Taniwha Tipua Wondjina Yara-ma-yha-who Yowie

American Folklore

Alux Curupira Encantado Ishigaq Jogah Menehune Nawao Nimerigar Pukwudgie Saci Squonk

Asian Folklore

Diwata Kitsune Kappa Kijimuna Orang Bunian Tengu Yaksha Ykai Peri Tanuki Tennin Yosei

Greek Folklore

Dryad Hamadryad Kallikantzaros Lampad Maenad Naiad Nereid Nymph Oceanid Pan Satyr Silenus

Romantic Folklore

Cpcun Faun Iele Lares Penates Snzian Spiridu Squasc Vlv Vntoase Xana Zn Zmeu

Germanic Folklore

Haltija Heinzelmnnchen Hdekin Huldra Klabautermann Kobold Radande Tomte Lorelei Undine

Slavic Folklore

Bagiennik/Bannik Berehynia Domovoi Karzeek Kikimora Likho Polevik Psotnik Rusalka Vila Vodyanoy

*GolemGrolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

The Hebrew word golem means "unformed mass." It appears once in the Bible (Psalm 139:16) to refer to a human as an incomplete substance. The golem of medieval legend was a clay robot activated by magical words. In the famous tale of Rabbi Loew of Prague, the golem was a servant made of clay and brought to life by placing a piece of paper inscribed with the name of God under its tongue. Fearing that the creature, which had run amok, would desecrate the Sabbath, the rabbi destroyed it.

GoblinWikipedia.org

A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.

They are attributed with various (sometimes conflicting) abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little creatures somewhat related to the brownie and gnome. They are usually depicted as small, sometimes only a few inches tall, sometimes the size of a dwarf. They also often are said to possess various magical abilities.

Name

English goblin continues Anglo-Norman gobelin, rendered as Middle Latin gobelinus, itself a loan from a Germanic term cognate to German kobold.

Alternative spellings include gobblin, gobeline, gobling, and goblyn.

Hiisi, folletto, duende, tengu, Menninkinen and kallikantzaroi are often translated into English as 'goblins'. The Erlking and Billy Blind are sometimes called goblins. 'Goblin' is often used as a general term to mean any small mischievous being.

Origins in Hinduism

They are originally mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana as servants and attendants of God Hara-Bhava, lord of the sub-region Vitala, one of the seven sub-regions of Patala (underworld and netherworld) in Hindu cosmology.

Origins in folklore

In "The Goblin Field" (Moldova), Goblins were described as 23 feet tall, thin, and brown. Most were bald and "if there were females among the group they could not be distinguished from the males". They seemed to exist in two realms, one physical and one spirit. They were fiercely loyal and allied with particular sorcerer or witch tribes, whom they protected and served as an equally allied tribe rather than servants or slaves. "This perception might seem a bit strange to any not accustomed to the goblin outlook" because the goblins often did what might be considered slave work for very little reward.

They could be called by an allied individual or group, summoned by spell, or called to bargain at particular places by individuals or groups not known to them. Because of their power they were much sought after, but because of the corruption of mankind, rarely found. Crossing them was a thing to avoid as they had refined a grudge to a fine art. They could be fierce and mind-numbingly frightening, and only the hardiest of souls were sent to strike a bargain with them. However they had a side which few ever saw, which was their great love for those who were able to create an understanding and friendship with them. At the passing of such a person, they would treat the body with proper respect and then quietly weep.

The Benevolent Goblin, from Gesta Romanorum (England) The Boy Who Drew Cats (Japanese fairy tale) Chinese Ghouls and Goblins (England 1928) Erlking is a malevolent goblin from German legend. The Goblin of Adachigahara (Japanese fairy tale) The Goblin Pony, from The Grey Fairy Book (French fairy tale) The Goblins at the Bath House (Estonia), from A Book of Ghosts and Goblins (1969) The Goblins Turned to Stone (Dutch fairy tale) Gwyn ap Nudd was ruler over the goblin tribe. (Welsh folklore) Shiva has a cohort of goblins and ghouls (India). Twenty-Two Goblins (Indian fairy tale) King Gobb (Moldovan Gypsy folktale)

Goblin-related place names

'The Gap of Goeblin', a hole and underground tunnel in Mortain, France. Goblin Combe, in north Somerset, UK Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, U.S. Goblin Crescent, Bryndwr, Christchurch, NZ Yester Castle (aka 'Goblin Hall') East Lothian, Scotland Goblin Bay, Beausoleil Island, Ontario, Canada Harrison High School, Harrison Golden Goblins, Harrison, AR

Other cryptids related to Goblins

Fairy Ghoul Gremlin Hobgoblin Imp Kypelinvuori Nilbog Oni Orc Pca Pukwudgie Redcap Sprite (creature) Tengu Troll Uruk-hai Vinayakas Wight Wirry-cow

ImpWikipedia.org

An imp is a mythological being similar to a fairy or demon, frequently described in folklore and superstition. The word may perhaps derive from the term ympe, used to denote a young grafted tree.

Folklore

Originating from Germanic folklore, the imp was a small lesser demon. It should also be noted that demons in Germanic legends were not necessarily always evil. Imps were often mischievous rather than evil or harmful, and in some regions they were portrayed as attendants of the gods.

Imps are often shown as small and not very attractive creatures. Their behavior is described as being wild and uncontrollable, much the same as fairies, and in some cultures they were considered the same beings, both sharing the same sense of free spirit and enjoyment of all things fun. It was later in history that people began to associate fairies with being good and imps with being malicious and evil. However, both creatures were fond of pranks and misleading people. Most of the time, the pranks were harmless fun, but some could be upsetting and harmful, such as switching babies or leading travellers astray in places with which they were not familiar. Though imps are often thought of as being immortal, many cultures believed that they could be damaged or harmed by certain weapons and enchantments, or be kept out of people's homes by the use of wards.

Imps were often portrayed as lonely little creatures always in search of human attention. They often used jokes and pranks as a means of attracting human friendship, which often backfired when people became tired or annoyed of the imp's endeavors, usually driving it away.

Even if the imp was successful in getting the friendship it sought, it often still played pranks and jokes on its friend, either out of boredom or simply because this was the nature of the imp. This trait gave way to using the term impish for someone who loves pranks and practical jokes. Being associated with hell and fire, imps take a particular pleasure from playing with temperatures.

To this end it came to be believed that imps were the familiar spirit servants of witches and warlocks, where the little demons served as spies and informants. During the time of the witch hunts, supernatural creatures such as imps were sought out as proof of witchcraft, though often the so called imp was typically a black cat, lizard, toad or some other form of uncommon pet.

Imps have also been described as being bound or contained in some sort of object, such as a sword or crystal ball. In other cases imps were simply kept in a certain object and summoned only when their masters had need of them. Some even had the ability to grant their owners wishes, much like a genie. This was the object of the 1891 story The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson, which told of an imp contained in a bottle that would grant the owner their every wish, the catch being that the owners soul would be sent to hell if they didn't sell the bottle to a new owner before their death.

IncubusWikipedia.org

An incubus (nominal form constructed from the Latin verb, incubo, incubare, or "to lie upon") is a demon in male form who, according to a number of mythological and legendary traditions, lies upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have intercourse with them. Its female counterpart is the succubus. An incubus may pursue sexual relations with a woman in order to father a child, as in the legend of Merlin. Religious tradition holds that repeated intercourse with an incubus or succubus may result in the deterioration of health, or even death.

Medieval legend claims that demons, both male and female, sexually prey on human beings - generally during the night when the victim is sleeping.

Origins

Victims may have been experiencing waking dreams or sleep paralysis. Nocturnal arousal or nocturnal emission could be explained away by creatures causing otherwise guilt-producing behavior. Then again, victims of incubi could well have been the victims of real sexual assault. Rapists may have attributed the rapes of sleeping women to demons in order to escape punishment. A friend or relative is at the top of the list in such cases and would be kept secret by the intervention of 'spirits.' The victims and, in some cases, the magistrates, may have found it easier to explain the attack as supernatural rather than confront the idea that the attack came from someone in a position of trust.

Ancient and religious descriptions

One of the earliest mentions of an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerian King List, ca. 2400 BC, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu. It is said that Lilu disturbs and seduces women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their erotic dreams. Two other corresponding demons appear as well: Ardat lili, who visits men by night and begets ghostly children from them, and Irdu lili, who is known as a male counterpart to Ardat lili and visits women by night and begets from them. These demons were originally storm demons, but they eventually became regarded as night demons due to mistaken etymology.

Debate about the demons began early in the Christian tradition. St. Augustine touched on the topic in De Civitate Dei, The City of God. There were too many attacks by incubi to deny them. He stated, "There is also a very general rumor. Many have verified it by their own experience and trustworthy persons have corroborated the experience others told, that sylvans and fauns, commonly called incubi, have often made wicked assaults upon women." Questions about the reproductive capabilities of the demons continued. 800 years later, Thomas Aquinas lend himself to the ongoing discussion, stating, "Still, if some are occasionally begotten from demons, it is not from the seed of such demons, nor from their assumed bodies, but from the seed of men, taken for the purpose; as when the demon assumes first the form of a woman, and afterwards of a man; just so they take the seed of other things for other generating purposes." It became generally accepted that incubi and succubi were the same demon, able to switch between male and female forms. A succubus would be able to sleep with a man and collect his sperm, and then transform into an incubus and use that seed on women. Even though sperm and egg came from humans originally, the spirits offspring were often thought of as supernatural.

Though many tales claim that the incubus is bisexual, others indicate that it is strictly heterosexual and finds attacking a male victim either unpleasant or detrimental. There are also numerous stories involving the attempted exorcism of incubi or succubi who have taken refuge in, respectively, the bodies of men or women.

Incubi are sometimes said to be able to conceive children. The half-human offspring of such a union is sometimes referred to as a cambion. The most famous legend of such a case includes that of Merlin, the famous wizard from Arthurian legend.

According to the Malleus Maleficarum, exorcism is one of the five ways to overcome the attacks of incubi, the others being Sacramental Confession, the Sign of the Cross (or recital of the Angelic Salutation), moving the afflicted to another location, and by excommunication of the attacking entity, "which is perhaps the same as exorcism." On the other hand, the Franciscan friar Ludovico Maria Sinistrari stated that incubi "do not obey exorcists, have no dread of exorcisms, show no reverence for holy things, at the approach of which they are not in the least overawed."

Regional variations

There are a number of variations on the incubus theme around the world. The alp of Teutonic or German folklore is one of the better known. In Zanzibar, Popo Bawa primarily attacks men and generally behind closed doors. "The Trauco," according to the traditional mythology of the Chilo Province of Chile, is a hideous deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young women and seduces them. The Trauco is said to be responsible for unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women. Perhaps another variation of this conception is the "Tintn" in Ecuador, a dwarf who is fond of abundant haired women and seduces them at night by playing the guitar outside their windows; a myth that researchers believe was created during the Colonial period of time to explain pregnancies in women who never left their houses without a chaperone, very likely covering incest or sexual abuse by one of the family's friends. In Hungary, a lidrc can be a Satanic lover that flies at night and appears as a fiery light (an ignis fatuus or will o' the wisp) or, in its more benign form as a featherless chicken.