Chapter III

Chapter III

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS

SUMMARY

     This paper attempted to know the reasons why people have to fabricate fake evidence about mermaids and how do these fabricated evidence affect people and society.

     The research design used in this study is the informative research method wherein the data used  to answer the research question are from the articles from the internet.

1. There are mermaids sightings happened before, that are not true. Different countries claim to have sightings of mermaids. One of mermaids sightings, is the mermaid who entered Holland through a dike and people said that later on she learned to speak dutch and did some household chores. Another example of mermaid sighting happened is, there's a sea captain named Smith who supposedly saw a mermaid. It is said that he fell in love as he gazed on it, seeing only the upper body part of it, and was disappointed when he realized that it was a half fish waist down.

2. There are two documentary films, about mermaids that were released recently on television. The television show Animal Planet published the two documentary films. It is the "Mermaids: The Body Found" and "Mermaids: The New Evidence".

3. Few supposedly dead mermaids have been found washed up or caught in sailor's net before. They explore its body parts even the internal organs. They discovered that some of human organs and fish organs are seen inside the supposedly dead body of a mermaid.


CONCLUSIONS

Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions are drawn:
1. Mermaids are described as a legendary creature who has a female human head, torso and a fish tail. They are also deals with love and also associated with the goddesses of love, like Aphrodite and Venus. Mermaids are also represent as wild, rebellious spirits and cruel independent.

2. The reason why people create mermaid hoaxes is one of the reason is they use this fake mermaid evidence for them to be able to make money and also for entertainment of other people. People create hoaxes because they have their own beliefs. People are fascinated with mermaids because they are an idealized version of us.

3. People make fake evidence, because they try to trick a person into believing something that is not true. They enjoy tricking other people, and some hoax are made to cover criminal purposes. Some are made for educational purposes, to give us some information that we do not know.

4. Publishing a fake evidence or anything, will let people have violent reactions, opinions, etc.. Some probably will be disappointed. Publishing any fake evidence will be damage an overall public perception of reality.


RECOMMENDATIONS

After drawing the conclusion of the study, the researcher hereby make the following suggestions/recommendations:

1. Nowadays, many people are now fascinated with mermaids. Some of them are really fan of it. The researcher's suggestion to mermaid fans is, always be careful of mermaid hoaxes that they can become victim of it. It is better if they think before they conclude.

2. It is better if Psychologists, study the human behavior of a mermaid fan. Psychologist can study if there can be a disorder, if a person is addicted to mermaids, and what can be its effect to them. They can also study if there is a possible that the mermaids symbolism might be the reason why people are fascinated by mermaids because some mermaid symbolism is related to human characteristics.

3. Since population around the world is getting bigger, there's a possible way that in the future, there will be also interested to mermaids. The future researchers can get different ideas or information about mermaids through books and internet.

References

A. Electronic Media

Bard, Judith. "The Sarvonian Merfolk" from http://www.santharia.com/races/mermaids.htm

Boese, Alex (2014). "The Feejee Mermaid, 1842" from http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/the_feejee_mermaid.

Day, Patrick Kevin. "Animal Planet's mermaid hoax special draws record ratings" Retrieved May 30, 2013 from http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/30/entertainment/la-et-st-animal-planet-mermaid-hoax-special-record-ratings-20130530

Genzlinger, Neil. "One More Reason to Fear the Beach" Retrieved May 25, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/arts/television/mermaids-the-body-found-on-animal-planet.html?_r=0

Miller, Gerri. "Are mermaids real?" Retrieved May 24, 2013 from http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/are-mermaids-real

Radford, Benjamin. " 'Real' Mermaids?" Retrieved September 23, 2013 from http://www.livescience.com/39882-mermaid.html

Stewart, Michael. "Mythical Beings: Sirens/Mermaids" from http://www.quicksilvermint.com/medallions/pages/siren.htm

Venefica, Avia. "Mermaid Meaning and Symbolism" from http://www.whats-your-sign.com/mermaid-meaning-and-symbolism.html.

Vorel, Jim. "Mermaid body found? No, bad TV" Retrieved July 17, 2012 from http://qctimes.com/entertainment/mermaid-body-found-no-bad-tv/article_5037b13c-d040-11e1-953f-0019bb2963f4.html

Wiesen, G. (2013-2014). "What are internet hoaxes?" Retrieved March 19, 2014 from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-internet-hoaxes.htm.

Chapter II

Chapter II: 

DISCUSSION

What reasons do people have for fabricating evidence about mermaids and how do these fabricated evidence affect people and society?

I. History and Definition

Michael Stewart wrote the article, "Mythical Beings: Sirens/Mermaids". The article talks about the history and mythologies of mermaids. Mermaids first appeared historically in Assyria, ca. 1000 BCE. A goddess named Atargatis, the mother of legendary Assyrian queen Semiramis, loved a mortal shepherd and in the process killed him. Because of her shamed, she jumped into a lake to take the form of fish, but the waters wouldn't hide her divine nature. Instead she took the form of a human above the waist, and fish-tailed below - which now we called a Mermaid.

A Mermaid is a legendary creature, who has a female human head, torso and has a fish tail. If it's a male, it is called a merman. In Greek Mythology, sirens were sea nymphs who lived on an island that is surrounded by cliffs and rocks. They approach the sailors using their enchanting singing voice. Because of their enchanting singing, sailors sails on the cliffs and drown (http://www.quicksilvermint.com/medallions/pages/siren.htm).

On the other hand, according to  Avia Venefica who wrote the article: "Mermaid Meaning and Symbolism", mermaids also deals love and also associated with the goddesses of love, like Aphrodite and Venus. They are matrons of enchantment, entreating sailors with beguiling beauty, grace and mesmerizing melodies. Seductive and charming, those who are in contact with mermaids are said that they are subject to their persuasion. Sexually tantalizing and devastatingly lovely, mermaids are perfect pinups for feminine power. It is said that, it's quite nice as mermaids also represent as wild, rebellious spirits and cruel independent.

Mermaids usually uses combs that are made of fish bones. It is an ancient nautical symbol of power over nature as sailors believed that fish bones divide and control storms at sea. Mermaids also hold mirrors that symbolizes the symbol of the moon which speaks as the reflective nature and also symbolizes self admiration too. Since mermaids are rarely seen, this could be taken for modesty. They know the heart of a man, and are legendary that they only appear to the true heart. When they are seen in the light of the moon between the hours of dawn and dusk, it is said that these the magical times when sight and perception becomes fuzzied in mellow whirlpools dawn/dusk glows. This is a symbolic of perfect timing to create magic in our lives by relaxing our vision. We come up to show ourselves in the glow of truly magical color (http://www.whats-your-sign.com/mermaid-meaning-and-symbolism.html).

 Most hoaxes on mermaids were inspired by these myths. The question the researcher is interested in is, "Why do people make mermaid hoaxes?"

II. The Mermaid as a Hoax - Mermaid Hoaxes in History

Mermaid hoaxes are not new, there are mermaid hoaxes before. The researcher found out that behind those mermaid hoaxes happened before, there are reasons behind it. People before have reasons why they created it.

Alex Boese wrote an article titled "The Feejee Mermaid, 1842". The article is all about the first mermaid hoax in history. It is said that in Feejee Islands in South Pacific, supposedly a real mermaid were caught. The press were expecting Dr. J. Griffin, since they had been receiving letters from Southern correspondents describing the doctor and his mermaid. The reporters were waiting for him. And what they saw totally convinced them of the creature's appearance. They use the Feejee Mermaid for advertisement. Technically, they use this fake mermaid for them to be able to make money and also for entertainment of other people. It was exhibited for a week at Concert Hall on Broadway. Several people showed up for the exhibit and Dr. Griffin lectured about his experiences as an explorer & described his theories of natural history. These theories are a bit odd. His main argument was that mermaids must be existed because all things in land have their counterpart in the ocean - sea-horses, sea-lions, sea-dogs, etc. So, therefore there must be also sea-humans.

The researcher analyzed that, people create hoaxes because they have their own beliefs. Beliefs that they want to prove that it's true or can be true. They create mermaid hoaxes because they think of their experiences with them, because of their studies about mermaids. And lastly, mermaids are in demand before. People will probably get interested with mermaids, describing them as a beautiful long haired woman and a half fish down. Because it is something unique for them.

Alex Boese says that,
"Throughout all this, the deception of the public had been three-fold. First, although advertisements had shown the mermaid to have the body of a young, beautiful woman, the creature itself was far less attractive. It had the withered body of a monkey and the dried tail of a fish. As a correspondent from the Charleston Courier put it: "Of one allusion... the sight of the wonder has forever robbed us — we shall never again discourse, even in poesy, of mermaid beauty, nor woo a mermaid even in our dreams — for the Feejee lady is the very incarnation of ugliness" (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/the_feejee_mermaid).


III. Why hoaxes are created?

A lot of hoaxes are spread in the internet. G. Wiesen wrote the article "What are internet hoaxes?". It talks about the reasons behind people's mind why they make hoaxes. It is said that, people do hoaxes because they try to trick a person into believing something that is not true. They enjoy tricking other people, and some hoax are made to cover criminal purposes. Some of internet hoaxes attained the level of popularity but didn't last, it quickly fade away or die out in the light of popularity. There are more impressive hoaxes, however, can last much longer  and may continue for years while still being passed around on the internet.

In the article, Wiesen says that,
"...These types of hoaxes can be merely innocuous tales spread in order to play on people’s inherent willingness to believe in the outrageous when presented in a realistic way or can be more malicious efforts to crash servers and spread viruses. Internet hoaxes have existed just about as long as the Internet itself, and many of them have become parts of modern urban legendry" (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-internet-hoaxes.htm).

If we are going to talk about mermaids hoaxes, if we'll search on the internet, you'll see several of it. And the most popular mermaid hoaxes are the two videos of Animal Planet that are in a documentary format.

Namely, "Mermaids: The Body Found" and "Mermaids: The Evidence". Gerri Miller wrote the article "Are Mermaids Real?", that article talks about the interview of Charlie Foley,  “Mermaids” creator, writer, and executive producer and senior vice president of development for Animal Planet. Charlie Foley gave some insights about the videos. Based on the interview, Charlie Foley created this sci-fi video wanted the story to appeal to a sense of genuine possibility and incorporating real science and evolutionary theory and real-world scientific examples. He also thinks that the story works because it's possible to believe that mermaids might have an evolutionary. It works because we can believe that they are real.

Charlie Foley says that,
" Using a straight, documentarian approach made the story more persuasive by appealing more to a sense of intellectual possibility as well as emotional possibility" (http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/are-mermaids-real)


IV. How Mermaid Hoaxes Achieve the Goals of Hoaxing?

Publishing a fake evidence or anything, will let people have violent reactions, opinions, etc.. Some probably will be disappointed. Jim Vorel wrote the article "Mermaid body found? No,bad TV". In the article he talks about the effect of the hoax videos of mermaids: "Mermaids: Body Found" and the "Mermaids: The Evidence" to people who have watch it. According to him, shows like this can be damaging to an overall public perception of reality. Those people who watch these programs, in the near future when they meet other people, they might tell that "mermaids are totally real, I saw it on Discovery channel". There are people who easily believe to what they hear or see. There are still people that are foolish. Examples of it, there are still people debating an 11-year-old moon landing hoax special that aired on FOX, even thought it was nonsense. There are people who believes that our planet earth is flat.

The problem is people, can't be bothered to verify any of the information in the video, and just take it simply. They take it seriously. On the internet, you'll find people looking for reasons to believe the two-hour television on the existence of mermaids. There are people will appear suddenly and try to explain why mermaids are real and the others will try to explain why mermaids are not real, and that's when a debate is happened.

Jim Vorel says that,
"...That’s the nature of rumors about secret knowledge—we really want to believe them, because they confirm our biases and make us feel informed" (http://qctimes.com/entertainment/mermaid-body-found-no-bad-tv/article_5037b13c-d040-11e1-953f-0019bb2963f4.html).

Since the researcher found out that, people create fake evidences about mermaids, it is because, people can make money and can entertain other people by using it.

Patrick Kevin Day wrote the article "Animal Planet's mermaid hoax special draws record ratings", it's about the two documentary films regarding mermaids that were published by Animal Planet.  In the article it is said that, the first documentary film which is the "Mermaid: The Body Found" has the strongest ratings in channel since the "Death of Steve Irwin" in 2006. After the first documentary film was released, it was followed up by its sequel the "Mermaid: The Evidence
" and it has the largest audience ever.

People create fake evidences about mermaids, just to make money of it or to entertain other people. Example of it are said above. Media created hoax videos about mermaids to create money and at the same time to give entertainment to us. They create those hoax videos of it, because they knew that people will. be interested to watch it, because its a creature that is something unique and never seen by many. They knew that several people will be convince that mermaids are true, because many of them are fascinated by mermaids.

Patrick Kevin Day says that,
"About 3.6 million viewers tuned in to watch the special, which claimed to have never-before-seen footage taken of the mermaids in the Greenland Sea. Both "Mermaids" specials were hoaxes, designed to look like real documentaries. But that didn't stop people tuning in en masse to witness a fake investigation into a mythical creature" (http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/30/entertainment/la-et-st-animal-planet-mermaid-hoax-special-record-ratings-20130530).

Chapter I

Chapter I:

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

There are mermaid sightings happened before that are not true. Different countries claim to have sightings of mermaids. One particular country which boasts multiple mermaid sightings is Holland.

Benjamin Radford wrote the article, "Mermaids & Mermen: Facts & Legends." In this article Radford talks about a sea captain who supposedly saw a mermaid. A captain named Smith fell in love as he gazed on the woman who's swimming, but was disappointed and realized that she was a fish waist down.

In the article Radford quotes a section from Edward Snow's "Incredible Mysteries and Legends of the Sea":

"Captain John Smith saw a mermaid 'swimming about with all possible grace.' He pictured her as having large eyes, a finely shaped nose that was 'somewhat short,' and well-formed ears' that were rather too long. Smith goes on to say that 'her long green hair imparted to her an original character that was by no means unattractive" (http://www.livescience.com/39882-mermaid.html).

The article further talks about other mermaid sightings including a mermaid who was injured entered Holland through a dike. Legends has it that she was cured then eventually became a productive citizen and even learned to speak Dutch. There are many stories of sightings like the examples mentioned above that seem to be realistic, but can't be proven.

There are two documentary films about mermaids that several people were fooled by it. Many  people were convinced and some of them tweeted on twitter that mermaids are real.

The television show Animal Planet published two documentary films about mermaids namely, "Mermaids: The Body Found" and "Mermaids: The New Evidence". Neil Genzlinger wrote the article, "One More Reason to Fear the Beach ‘Mermaids: The Body Found,’ on Animal Planet". In this article he talks about the first film which is the "Mermaids: The Body Found". The film talks about the Aquatic Ape Theory, where it explains where mermaids came from and how did evolve. Aside from that, the film also talks about the living of the mermaids and other evidences.

According to Genzlinger,              
"Mr. Foley finds assorted ways to lend plausibility to the tale, like expanding the aquatic ape theory, which postulates that human evolution was influenced by a shore-dwelling phase; in this film’s version, one branch of our ancestors actually took the plunge, as it were, and began living in the sea. And, of course, the mermaids-are-real hypothesis is also given credence by the sheer abundance of the danged things in cultural references over the centuries" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/arts/television/mermaids-the-body-found-on-animal-planet.html?_r=0).

While the second film or the part two discussed about different mermaid evidences, such as mermaid sightings and video footage of mermaids under the ocean, and several interviews to some professionals were done. At the end of the film they said that its content are not real (http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/are-mermaids-real).

Few supposedly dead mermaids have been found washed up or caught in sailor's net before They study their parts of the body even the internal organs. They discovered something, that some of the human and fish organs are present inside the dead body.

According to Bard Judith who wrote the article entitled "The Sarvonian Merfolk", the upper bodies of the mermaids are slim, like with a human body. All the skin above the waist are pale greenish or bluish color. Then the body parts of the mermaids were dissected and they found that the internal organs of it are quite related to humans and fishes as well. They found one huge lung that occupied the whole chest, their heart are smaller than a human heart. The digestive passage runs to the mouth, mermaids have lips and tongue like humans, they have pointed teeth and an odd sieve-like structure in the throat.

In the article, Bard says that:
"Their upper bodies appear like those of an elven maiden, or a slim human, small-breasted and finely-featured. All the skin above the waist is a pale greenish or bluish color. Their bodily fluids are also a soft turquoise shade. Around the hairline I discovered a large number of small oil-secreting glands, whose function seems to be to protect the skin from its constant immersion in water. As sailors tell me that they often see the mermaids grooming their hair with their fingers and then running their hands over their bodies as they perch on the rocks, I believe this guess to be the most accurate. Long fins stretch along the backs of their arms and a fine webbing is present between each of the slim, taloned fingers" (http://www.santharia.com/races/mermaids.htm).

However, despite the general opinion that mermaids are not real, the researcher observes that a lot of people have made false evidence about mermaids and try to imply that mermaids are real.

Benjamin Radford wrote an article entitled "'Real' Mermaids?"

In that article, it was discussed how people from the 1800's made fake mermaids for public interests. Those who are willing to pay 50 cents hoping to see a long limbed, fish-tailed beauty comb her hair were surely disappointed; they saw a grotesque fake corpse a few feet long. It had the torso, head, and limbs of a monkey and the bottom part of a fish. It fooled several people that time.

The reason for this research is that many people make fake evidence and try to imply that mermaids are real. Having background information on what motivates people to fabricate false evidence will allow the reader to discern the role myths play in the economy, and recognize how certain companies & people have been using myth to promote products & services.

The purpose of this study is to explain the reasons why some people fabricate evidence about mermaids and to discuss how these false evidence can affect people & society.

B. Statement of the Problem

1. What reasons do people have for fabricating evidence about mermaids and how do these fabricated evidence affect people and society?

C. Significance of the Study

               

"Mermaid" fans. Those people who are addicted, interested or curious about mermaids, will gain something from this study. They will probably learn information that are not yet told before. They will get more interested. Informations that they can tell to other people that doesn't know about mermaids.

Psychologists. Some part of this paper can be related to the said symbol of mermaids that can be related to humans' characteristics. They can make studies about it, and discover some new human behavior.

Future Researchers. Nowadays, people are more interested to something unique things. Future researchers can learn new things about mermaids from this research. 

D. Scope and Delimitation

This study focuses on different information about mermaids that audiences might get interested to. Since people are most likely to have curious about things that might be real or not. Mermaids has been considered as an interested topic to people nowadays. 

This study will discuss the mermaids' modern publicity. Since some people have curiosity in mind about mermaids, different findings, evidences, symbolism, etc.. about mermaids will be discussed. 

E. Materials and Methods

This research will be explaining different topics about mermaids. It may also conduct an interpretation from the topics. Most of the information was gathered from different online articles.

F. Definition of Terms

Grotesque. Comically or repulsively ugly or distorted.

Marine Biology. The scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water.

Greek Mythology. The body of myths and teachings that belong to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece.

Curiosity. A quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human and many animal species.

Humanoid. Looking or acting like a human.

Symbolism. The use of symbols to express or represent ideas or qualities in literature, art, etc. The particular idea or quality that is expressed by a symbol

Blog post 7: " The Little Mermaid": Message and Influence

On my first blog, I told you that "Little Mermaid" is one of my favorite Disney movies.  Even though it's a good movie for me and for others, other people thinks that this animated film is not a good movie especially for the kids.

The film's message

       We all know that "The Little Mermaid" is a film that its goal is to entertain children and learn a  good lesson from it. But, there is something wrong with the movie. It seems that it have a bad message and can influence children. From the article entitled "Why My Kids Will Not Be Watching The Little Mermaid" from the site huffingtonpost.com, Hilary Sheinbaum says that the moral lesson from the movie is, change what you really are so that people can accept and love you. In other words, being true to yourself can be a bad thing. It's awful right? Being rejected by others because they don't accept the way you do things, the way you act, the way you talk, the way you dress, etc... is such a painful thing. She said also that it portrays men as physically judgemental, only caring about the way a woman looks, bats her eyes and smiles -- that they do not consider any thoughts, feelings or concerns.

     Behind its good story and message that we all know, we didn't know that it has also bad message. Messages that can change our thoughts and our minds the way we think. It also tells us that men are attracted to those women who looks good and does sing perfectly.--- some will think like this. And when somebody thought of this, then eventually she will change herself to something she's not so that maybe someone can be attracted to her.

Influences to children
     

       When children watch tv expect that it can influence them. They might do the same thing from the movie they're watching. I've read an article, a mother is complaining about her daughter's attitude. In the article entitled, "I Regret The Day I Let My Daughter Watch ‘The Little Mermaid’"

from the site mommyish.com, Sarah Bregel, a mother, says that she made a mistake to let her child watch "The Little Mermaid". She regret it, because her 2 year-old daughter is obsessed with princesses and marriage, that for her it sounds strange. And also this is the first she heard her daughter to shout "I'm not a child anymore!" and she thought it was weird and mildly hilarious but, she realized that it was from the Disney movie film's "The Little Mermaid" line. 

       So this is one of the influences of "The Little Mermaid" movie to the children. Children are easily influenced by things they hears and sees, because they are still small and the way they think are different from the elders. They think that those things they see and hear are good, so they are easily influenced by it. So, every time children will watch television, make sure that they will be guided by adults. Don't just leave them alone watching inside the room.

Blog post 6: "The Little Mermaid": Original Story

Since our topic is about mermaids, let's move on to something quite related to our generation. Let's talk about the film, which is one of my favorite films of Disney, "The Little Mermaid". Now that we're leading to this movie, let me ask you something.. Do you know the original story of this? That's what will I'll be talking about in this blog.

The Untold Story.
      I was quite shocked when I figured out that "The Little Mermaid" movie is just a revised version. In fact it has its original story. This film is based from the story of Hans Christian Andersen. In the article entitled "The Little Mermaid" from the site andersen.sdu.dk, Jean Hersholt tells the original story of "The Little Mermaid".  The story goes like this, the little mermaid lives underwater kingdom with her grandmother, father and her five sisters. When a mermaid turns 15, she is permitted to swim to the surface to watch the world above, and when the sisters become old enough, each of them visits the upper world every year. As each of them returns. When the little mermaid's turn come, she rises up unto the surface and sees a handsome prince and falls in love with him from a distance.Then the little mermaid ask her grandmother, if human can live forever and if they can breathe underwater. The grandmother explains that humans have a much shorter lifespan than merfolks' 300 years, but that when mermaids die they turn to sea foam and cease to exist, while humans have an eternal soul that lives on in Heaven.

    The little mermaid went to the witch to drink a potion that will turn her into human, but in exchange for her tongue. She cannot speak. She will feel terrible while walking, as if she is walking on a sharp knives that her feet will bleed terribly. The prince must marry and love her in return to maintain her beautiful feet. If the prince cannot do it, she will die brokenhearted and disintegrate to sea foam. In the end, the prince didn't marry her.  She despairs, thinking of the death that awaits her, but before dawn, her sisters bring her a knife that the Sea Witch has given them in exchange for their long hair. If the Little Mermaid slays the prince with the knife and lets his blood drip on her feet, she will become a mermaid again, all her suffering will end, and she will live out her full life. But she didn't kill the prince, instead, she jumped into the sea and her body dissolved into sea foam.

Blog Post 5: Mermaids Symbols

There are several questions that came up to my mind about Mermaids. Of course the first two questions that came to my mind are: "Are they real?" or " do they exist?" and it was answered and discussed on my blog post 2 and 3. So, I came up to a new question: "What do they symbolizes?" and that's what I will be talking about in this blog.

What does Mermaids symbolizes?

            There's an article entitled "The Mermaid" from the site endicott-studio.com, Heinz Insu Fenkl  says that the word "mermaid" is usually read as "sea maid," but it is more properly glossed as "sea maiden" or "virgin of the sea." Because of the connections of the mermaid and the ancient Goddess, whose origin and power are associated with the sea. According to her the deep meaning of "Mermaid" is "virgin mother". In French the "mer" = "mêre" which means mother. The term "Virgin Mother" is linked to "Virgin Mary". There are three other bits of information worth bringing together here, all mentioned in The Woman's Dictionary, though gleaned from various sources ranging from the Oxford English Dictionary to Joseph Campbell's multivolume The Masks of God series. First, the mermaid and siren referred to prostitutes in the 16th and 17th centuries. Second, "The ancients insisted that women's sexual secretions smelled like fish, which is why the sign of the yoni came to be called vesica piscis. One of the Hindu titles of the Great Goddess was 'a virgin named Fishy Smell, whose real name was Truth'" (quoting from Joseph Campbell). And third, ""Medieval books of alchemy described the mermaid as the Siren of the Philosophers, crowned and lactating the milk of enlightenment."

        According to Scarlet deMason, that the mermaid's  "abundant flowing hair symbolizing an abundant love potential, was also an attribute of Venus in her role as fertility goddess. Her comb . . . carried sexual connotations for the Greeks, as their words for comb, kteis and pecten, also signified the female vulva. Thus the mermaid is the surviving aspect of the old goddesses . . . ." The mermaid signifies the fundamental mystery of female sexuality, particularly for men, because they cannot comprehend it, are simultaneously drawn to it and terrified by it. That is why the mermaid becomes so easily conflated with the siren and her irresistible call that leads men to their doom.

      So the mermaid's symbolism is that they symbolizes female sexuality. The 3 symbols are related to female sexuality. Mermaids have lots and lots of symbols, and meanings but people usually symbolizes mermaids as beauty and love but also relates to danger.

Other Mermaids symbolism
       If you're going to search on what does mermaid symbolizes, you'll found severals of it. There are several different symbols of mermaids. Mermaids is a broad topic actually, if you will search about them, it will lead you to a different topics about them. I found on this article entitled "Mermaid Meaning and Symbolism"  from the site whats-your-sign.com, Avia Venefica says that Mermaids are also deals love, as they are also associated with love goddesses like Aphrodite/Venus. They are also affiliated with other sea goddesses.

           They are matrons of enchantment, entreating sailors with beguiling beauty, grace and mesmerizing melodies. Seductive and charming, those who are in contact with mermaids are said that they are subject to their persuasion. Sexually tantalizing and devastatingly lovely, mermaids are perfect pinups for feminine power. It is said that, it's quite nice as mermaids also represent as wild, rebellious spirits and cruel independent.  

           

           Mermaids usually uses combs that are made of fish bones. It is an ancient nautical symbol of power over nature as sailors believed that fish bones divide and control storms at sea. Mermaids also hold mirrors that symbolizes the symbol of the moon which speaks as the reflective nature and also symbolizes self admiration too. Since mermaids are rarely seen, this could be taken for modesty. They know the heart of a man, and are legendary that they only appear to the true heart. When they are seen in the light of the moon between the hours of dawn and dusk, it is said that these the magical times when sight and perception becomes fuzzied in mellow whirlpools dawn/dusk glows. This is a symbolic of perfect timing to create magic in our lives by relaxing our vision. We come up to show ourselves in the glow of truly magical color .

          Other symbols of mermaids are: Love, Beauty, Elusive, Mystery, Allure, Private, Sensual, Emotion, Untamed, Femininity, Persuasion, Perception. See? Mermaids really have different symbolism, they have different symbols because people have different insights about mermaids. The symbols maybe a good or bad symbol to us. It is quite surprising that even their comb and mirror have symbols and meanings.

Blog post 4: Mermaid Mythologies

Like any other mythology, mermaids have different mythologies, came from different places and perspective view. Since mermaids are not real, I searched some mermaid mythologies on the internet.

MERMAID MYTHS: Death and Destruction

I found several articles on the internet about mermaid mythology. And I read an article that entitled "Mermaids and Sirens" from the site witcombe.sbc.edu, Proffessor Chris Witcombe says that, a powerful and often feared aspect of women is their ability to seduce men. In mythology, when a divine female seduced a mortal man, it usually culminated in his death and destruction. Almost every civilization has believed that life began in the sea and so water has been identified as female and associated with women. In mythology, the treacherousness of water is personified as alluring and irresistible women without souls who lure unwary men to a watery death. They may appear as mermaids, sirens, undines, ladies of the lake, nixies, or water nymphs.

Sometimes, I wonder where mythologies came from. Because some mythologies are somewhat weird. For example this one, they said that life began in the sea and water has been identified as female and associated with women. Weird but interesting, why is it like that. This article tells that the powerful and feared aspect of women, is their ability to seduce a man. That is why in mythology, when a divine female seduced a mortal man, or an ordinary man it is usually to be result of his death and destruction. Why? Because mermaids and other mythical water creatures in some stories, are great danger to humans. Mermaids lure and destruct sailors with their beautiful voices and drown them to death. They die because, mermaids are usually described as "irresistible" by their physical appearance and enchanting beautiful voice. So it seems like mermaids have powers. But in other stories, they do something good to sea men. They warn them if there is a storm coming. But it only happens when sailors do something good to mermaids.

According to Professor Chris,
"A  powerful and feared aspect of a woman, is their ability to seduce a man. "

For me, this is kinda' true, only for it is a powerful thing. Because when a woman can seduce a man, it only means she has the power of beauty. Why? Think why most men are seduced by women. It is because of their beauty right? It's all because of their physical appearance. That is why in these generation, men are more likely to like and court women who's attractive than women who has an average look.


OTHER MERMAID MYTHOLOGY

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           I read some articles about mermaid mythologies.. Some of them are being compared to Sirens, that some articles says that mermaids and sirens are most likely the same. In the article "Mythical Beings: Sirens/Mermaid" from the site quicksilvermint.com, Michael Stewart says that sirens and mermaids are not the same. According to him, in Greek mythology, the sirens were sea nymphs who lived on an island surrounded by cliffs and rocks. Approaching sailors were drawn to them by their enchanting singing, causing them to sail on the cliffs and drown. Odysseus escaped the Sirens by having all his sailors plug their ears with wax and tie him to the mast. He was curious as to what the Sirens sounded like. When he heard their beautiful music, he ordered the sailors to untie him but they ignored him. When they had passed out of earshot, Odysseus stopped thrashing about and calmed down, and was released.

          He describe sirens as birds with the heads of women while mermaids as a female human head and torso (if it's male, it's called a merman) and the tail of a fish, which inhabits the water. Mermaids first appeared historically in Assyria, ca. 1000 B.C.E. Atargatis, the mother of legendary Assyrian queen Semiramis, was a goddess who loved a mortal shepherd and in the process killed him. Ashamed, she jumped into a lake to take the form of a fish, but the waters would not conceal her divine nature. Thereafter, she took the form of a mermaid - human above the waist, fish below, though the earliest representations of Atargatis showed her as being a fish with a human head and legs, similar to the Babylonian Era, precursor of the Biblical Noah. The Greeks recognized Atargatis under the name Derketo, where she was often associated with Aphrodite.

          As I was telling a while ago, Sirens and Mermaids are almost the same. The only difference between them are their appearance. In addition, since they are most likely the same, they are depicted as a beautiful woman or as a mermaid. That's why in some languages (such as French) the word for mermaid is Siren adds to this confusion.