naomi121406:

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💙 A little introduction 💙

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This post includes what I have in my personal grimoires and what I personally know based on research, reading a lot, practicing myself, etc. It is a long list of creatures from different cultures, always be respectful and do your own research of the creature AND the culture they come from before contacting any of these. Some of them, in my point of view, should never be contacted, but that’s left to you. Be deeply respectful, minding and responsible for your acts.

💧 Freshwater Merfolk:

~ Iara (Amazonia): Beautiful ladies from tupí and guaraní culture. Immortal, known for luring man to the waters, leading to their dissappereance.  

~ Melusine (Waters near France, or Germany): 

A Melusine is a typical illustration of a two-tailed siren or mermaid.

Melusine was the daughter of Pressina, a water fairy, and a mortal man, King Elinas (or King Helmas). She wasn’t always a mermaid/serpentine creature. According to the myth and legend stories, she was stricken with this ailment or condition after her mother found out what Melusine did to her father, King Elinas. As Melusine convinces her two other sisters to help her kidnap their father and imprison him inside of a mountain, Pressina finds out and becomes very upset, punishing Melusine by telling her that she will become a half-fish/serpent creature every Saturday for the rest of her life.

~ Naiad (All kinds of waters of Greece): They were the nymphs of rivers, streams, lakes, marshes, fountains and springs, depicted as beautiful young women, usually seated, standing or reclining beside a spring, and holding a water-jug (hydria) or a frond of lush foliage. Often considered minor goddesses who attended the assemblies of other Gods and Goddesses on Mount Olympos. These nymphs were sometimes classified by domain: Pegaiai (Pegaeae) were the nymphs of springs, Krenaiai (Crenaeae) were naiads of fountains, Potameides presided over rivers and streams, Limnades and Limnatides inhabited lakes and Heleionomai were the nymphs of marshes and wetlands. Naiades, in conjunction with the goddess Artemis, were nurses of the young and the protectors of girls, overseeing their safe passage from child to adult. Of the various types of Naiad, the Pegaiai (of Springs) and the Krinaiai (of Fountains) were the ones most often individualised and worshipped. Those whose waters were believed to possess some special property might even have proper shrines and cults. Examples of these include the Anigrides of Elis whose waters were believed to cure disease and the Nymphs of Mount Helikon and Delphoi whose springs were thought to be fonts of poetic and prophetic inspiration. It is said that, if their home dries, they would perish too.

~ Rusalka (Cold waters of north Europe and Russia): plural=rusalki. They have really pale skin, ussually with dark hair, in colors like dark green, brown or black, and wear beautiful detailed dresses. These come from slavic folklore. They were once considered goddesses or nymphs of the waters, and offerings were done to them. They are often considered spirits today. They spend most of their time underwater, but come out of the water ussually in the first days of June, when they are seen in forests, near rivers and lakes, dancing, brushing their long hair or playing. It is said that if their hair dries, they die, so they always carry with them a magical “always wet” comb to mantain their hair wet. Also, it is said that hearing a rusalka cry is a bad omen, that is announcing the death of someone.

~ Jinjahime (Originally from japanese deep lakes,*): Serpentine creature, almost 7-8 meters long, with human head. They have two horns on their heads. Jinjahime rarely interact with humans, and spend most of their lives underwater. Some of them are servants at the Ryūgū, the palace of the Sea Dragon King. When they go out of the waters, is to deliver a message from the Sea King Ryūjin, or some other important sea creature they serve. *They can live both in freshwater castles or in saltwater castles.

~ Undine (From german lakes and rivers):  Although this term is often used to refer to all merfolk, Undine was originally a freshwater sprite who was immortal yet had no soul.  She could obtain a soul by marrying a human and bearing him a child. Legend tells that she married a human, and after having a child, she gets a soul and starts to age.  Her husband then is unfaithful and she curses him and returns to the water.

~ Kappa (Japanese waters, lakes, rivers and ponds): These are mostly river sprites from Japanese culture, with some chinese and hindu antecedents. Often considered Kawa no Kami (river kami). The flesh-eating Kappa is mostly evil, but when captured, it will pledge to assist with farm work or to teach its captor the arts of setting bones and making medicines and salves. The defining characteristic of the Kappa is the hollow cavity atop its head. This saucer-like depression holds a strength-giving fluid. Should you chance upon the quarrelsome Kappa, please remember to bow deeply. If the courteous Kappa bows in return, it will spill its strength-giving water, making it feeble, and forcing it to return to its water kingdom. About the size of a child aged 6 to 10, the Kappa is nonetheless incredibly strong. It attacks horses, cattle, and humans, usually dragging its prey into the water

~ Kelpie (Scottish lakes and rivers):  They are able to transform themselves into beautiful women who can lure men and trap them. However, the Kelpie does not always take a female form and are mostly male. In horse form, they ussually appear as dark horses, with green or black manes covered in algae. They are also described as being a particular danger to children when in the shape of a horse. Attracting their victims to ride them they are taken under the water and then eaten. It is said that once people tried to tame them, and failed, with great retailation. Sometimes, they take male human form, and there are stories of happy marriages and children of kelpies. Versions of this creature exist in the other Celtic nations. In Wales the “Ceffyl Dŵr” is another spirit associated with water. A shape shifter that can also take the form of a horse, sometimes with wings that can take any unfortunate rider into the air from where they plunge to their death. In Manx mythology there is a water horse known in Manx Gaelic as “Cabbyl-Ushtey”, that can also take the form of a gigantic bird, with noticeable grey or pale yellow colors, and also exists the “Each-uisge”, a saltwater variation described later.

🌊 Saltwater Merfolk:

*For saltwater merfolk, I’ve chosen to use my personal division of the oceans in 7 main oceans, the Indic, the Artic, the Antarctic, and I’m also dividing the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans by the ecuator line. So, finaly, I’m going to use these abreviatures: NPO (North Pacific Ocean), SPO (South Pacific Ocean), NAO (North Atlantic Ocean), SAO (South Atlantic Ocean), IO (Indic Ocean), ArO (Artic Ocean) and AntO (Antarctic Ocean).*

~ Aicaya (NAO*): From the caribbean sea.  Aicaya are said to be young men and women who are disowned by their native communities and went to live by the sea. Aicaya will seek out these individuals and turn them in one of their own so they won’t have to feel rejected or alone again. The amazing and unique thing about the Aicaya is that they are all different but all accepted, so they aren’t all the exact same.

~ Amabie (NPO*): From japanese seas. Mermaid-like yōkai with a mixture of human and fish features. It has long hair and a scaly body. It has a beak-like mouth, and three legs. It glows with a bright light that can be seen from the shore. Their story is very similar to other prophetic yōkai such as jinja hime and kudan, which deliver a prognostication and then disappear.

~ Atargatis (NAO*): From Assyrian mythology. One of the appearances of mermaids in human culture seems to have occurred about 1000 BC in Assyria (roughly equivalent to present-day Syria plus the northern area of Iraq). In the mythology of Assyria the beautiful fertility goddess Atargatis became a mermaid after casting herself into a lake. The Assyrian mythology has several versions of events, but most include Atargatis falling in love with a mortal shepherd and having a daughter (the legendary Syrian Queen Semiramis), after which she throws herself into a lake (from shame or from grief at inadvertently killing her lover, who didn’t survive the divine lovemaking).  Her beauty is such that she cannot die nor be fully transformed into a fish, and so she retains her feminine shape and beauty above the waist, while having a fish tail instead of legs.

~ Ceasg (NAO*): From scottish seas, specially the west coast of Scotland, although sometimes you can also encounter her in rivers and streams. Upper part of a young beautiful lady, lower part of a salmon. Also known as “maighdean na tuinne” (“maid of the wave”) or “maighdean mhara” (“maid of the sea”) in scottish. Legends say that if you catch her, she will have to grant you three wishes in exchange for her freedom. They are said to be curious about humans, and there are few tales about humans marrying ceasg mermaids. It is said the sons of a human and a Ceasg will turn out to be excellent sailors.

~ Cecaelia (NAO* and NPO*): These creatures are human looking from the waist up, and have a cephalopod body from waist down, may it be of an octopus, squid, or else, but mostly those two. (I’ve personally have known of Nautilus cecaelias…). They can also be called Sea Witches, mostly in the Pacific. They’re known for being remarkably intelligent, masters of glamour magic, and mimicry, and some folks are really good in the magical arts. They ussually hide themselves in deep oceans, caves or passing off as usual cephalopods.

~ Each-uisge (NAO*): A saltwater variation of the scottish Kelpie, also carnivorous, found in the Scottish coastlines, although can sometimes be also found in rivers and lakes near the ocean. By far, the most dangerous shape-shifter of them, in my opinion. Can take many forms, but ussually prefers that of a horse with tail, long sharp teeth and almost always in bright colors. Can also take forms of human, birds, pony, etc. It is said that they have sticky skin, to catch their victims, for example, when someone tries to ride them or simply touches them. 

~ Gorgons (NAO*):  They were three powerful, winged daimones named Medousa (Medusa), Sthenno and Euryale. Of the three sisters only Medousa was mortal. King Polydektes of Seriphos once commanded the hero Perseus to fetch her head. He accomplished this with the help of the gods who equipped him with a reflective shield, a curved sword, winged boots and helm of invisibility. When he fell upon Medousa and decapitated her, two creatures sprang forth from the wound: the winged horse Pegasos (Pegasus) and the giant Khrysaor (Chrysaor). Perseus fled with the her head in a sack and her two angry sisters chasing close on his heels.

~ Hydra (NAO*): From greek mythology. The hydra was a gigantic, nine-headed water-serpent, which haunted the swamps of Lerna. Herakles (Heracles) was sent to destroy her as one of his twelve labours, but for each of her heads that he decapitated, two more sprang forth. So with the help of Iolaos (Iolaus), he applied burning brands to the severed stumps, cauterizing the wounds and preventing the regeneration. This creature was one of the children of Typhon (Typhoeus) and Echidna (Ekhidna), the so called parents of monsters.

~ Hyppocampus (NAO*): Fish-tailed horses on greek mythology. In mosaic art they were often had green scales and fish-fin manes and appendages. The ancients believed they were the adult-form of the small fish we call the “sea-horse”. Hippokampoi were the mounts of Nereid nymphs and sea-gods, and Poseidon drove a chariot drawn by two or four of the creatures.

~ Ketea Indikoi (IO*): These were creatures from greek culture believed to reside in the Indic Ocean. These had the head of any land creature (human, goat, lion, wolves, etc) but ended up with a fish body, with sharp spines for hair.

~ Kraken (NAO*): Originally from

Scandinavian mythology, the Kraken is a giant sea creature that attacks ships and is generally described as huge squid.

The Kraken was said to lie at the bottom of the sea and only go to the surface in search of food or when disturbed, probably by a large ship. It was believed to cause large whirlpools and fierce storms.

~ Merrow (NAO*): These sidhe (irish faefolk) live near the Irish Coastline. They’re humans from the waist up, and fish from the waist down, ussually with noticeable soft green hair. According to the Gaelic myths, human men would see the beautiful female Merrow on the shores, and some would try to steal their cohuleen driuth (magic red caps they use to live underwater), so that they could not go back underwater. Many marriages (some less than ideal, given the method of “wooing”) were thusly arranged between Merrow and man. Just as selkies, if they recovered their caps, they would escape back to the waters. Some Merrows had chosen to live on land before, but after sometime they would feel naturally homesick and return home. Other Merrows would sometimes lure desirable men with their sweet voices and their magical wiles, and then take them under the waves to live amongst their own fairy kind.

~ Nereids (NAO*): 

The Nereids were sea-nymphs and were portrayed at times with fish tails and at times with legs. There were 50 Nereids, all daughters of Nereus and Doris, inhabiting the Aegean Sea with their parents. A prominent Nereid was Thetis, mother of the great Homeric hero Achilles. Another prominent Nereid was Amphritite, who married Poseidon and bore Triton. 

Nereus, father of the Nereids, was one of the Titans and was the oldest son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia (the Earth).  He was considered the Old Man of the Sea, and was depicted as a human with a long fishlike tail. His wife Doris was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, both of whom were children of Uranus (the Sky) and Gaia. When the Titans were were overthrown by Zeus and his siblings, Nereus was replaced as ruler of the seas by Poseidon.

~ Ningyo (NPO*): From japanese seas. 

Ningyo are more fish than humans, with a varying level of human-like features, ranging from just an ugly, deformed fish-like face, to an entire human torso with long, bony fingers and sharp claws. They can range in size from the size of a human child to the size of a large seal. 

Ningyo sightings go back to the earliest written histories of Japan. The first recorded mermaid sightings in Japan are found in the Nihon Shoki, one of the oldest books of classical Japanese history, dating back to 619 CE. The flesh of a ningyo is believed to grant eternal life and youth to those who eat it, and thus it is the subject of many folk tales. However, it carries with it a danger that most people are not willing to risk. Ningyo can place a powerful curse on humans who try to wound or capture them, and some legends tell of entire towns that were swallowed by earthquakes or tidal waves after a foolish fisherman brought home a ningyo in one of his catches.

~ Nyi-roro-kidul (IO*): She is a indonesian sea goddess, queen of the Indic Ocean (also called “South Ocean”), native to the Javanese and Sundanese cultures. She can take a mermaid form, in which she is referred to as Nyai Blorong. She is claimed to take the soul of any who she wished for. According to local beliefs around coastal villages on Southern Java, the Queen often claim lives of fishermen or visitors that bathe on the beach, and she usually prefers handsome young men.

~ Selkie (NAO*):  Seals from Irish and Scottish coastlines. They can take the human form when they take off their seal skin. There are several versions as for how often that may happen: some stories say it occurs once a year, on Midsummer’s eve, others assert selkies transform into humans every ninth night. When they take off their skins, they dance and make merry in caves or on lonely shores. Selkie-men are unusually attractive for women of the human race. If a woman (married or unmarried) desires to meet a selkie, she has to go to the shore and shed seven tears into the sea. If a girl is missing at sea, they say that she has gone to her selkie lover.  If a man manages to steal the seal’s skin of a selkie, she cannot go back to the sea and becomes a wife to such man. According to folktales, some marriages like that are happy, some are not, even though captured selkies are always seen sitting and gazing at the ocean longingly. The moment they are able to recover their skin (always by negligence of their husbands), they put it on and rush off into the sea, sometimes taking their children with them (if they can), or having to say said good-bye to their human children.

~ Sirena Chilota (SPO*): Delicate, sweet mermaids that are said to work for a water deity. They are strong and wise, and has the task of carrying souls of those deceased on water to be happy with the merfolk. They also protect sea creatures very fondly.

~ Sinjiki (NPO*): From seas close to South Korea. They have fair white skin and long black hair. They appear mainly during bright moonlit evenings or in early mornings to warn fishermen about oncoming storms or typhoons by throwing rocks at a cliff or by making warning sounds.

~ Sirena (NPO*): Philipino mermaids. Part of the “bantay tubig”, guardians of the waters. Upper part of a human and lower part of a sea creature.

~ Sirens (NAO*): The mythology of Sirens is fairly confused, but Sirens in Greek mythology were originally women with the lower body and wings of a bird, who lured sailors to their death by singing with indescribably beautiful voices. Then at some point they lost their feathers in a singing contest with the Muses (goddesses of literature, science and the arts), and being now no longer able to fly they flung themselves into the ocean – where they either perished or transformed into mermaids, depending on which legend you read. The Romans adopted the Sirens into Roman mythology as women with a fish tail, changing the myth of Persephone (now called Proserpina) into a new version that said they already were mermaids, and that became the much preferred interpretation in later times. The Sirens were supposedly daughters of the river god Achelous, and this lends some weight to the fish-tail appearance. Later Roman mythology made the Sirens also extremely beautiful and seductive, but still equally deadly. Even later, the Greek and Roman mythologies on Sirens were mixed with local myths, legends and beliefs in other cultures, and more “new details” started to appear, changing and variyng the version from region to region and place to place.

~ Siyokoi (NPO*): Philipinne merman. Male counterparts of the Sirena. They are said to be aggresive towards humans  and have characteristic webbed hands, feet and ears.

~ Thessalonike (NAO*): She was the sister of Alexander the Great, and was immortalized when Alexander recovered a flask of water from the Fountain of Immortality and washed her hair with this immortal liquid. When Alexander died, Thessalonike was grief-stricken and jumped into the sea to kill herself.  Being immortal, she could not die and was transformed into a mermaid instead. In this form, Thessalonike roamed the Aegean Sea for centuries, often asking sailors on passing ships whether Alexander still lived. If they reassured her that he still lived and ruled she would let them pass.   If they failed to reassure her, she turned into a monster and sent them to the bottom of the sea. 

~ Wani (NPO*): Sea creatures that live in deep bodies of water. They have long, serpentine bodies, fins, and can breathe both air and water. Wani are able to shapeshift into humans, and there are even tales of wani and humans falling in love.  Wani are the rulers of the oceans and kami of the sea. They live in splendid coral palaces deep on the ocean floor. Wani have a complex political hierarchy which mirrors that of the surface world. There are kings and queens, princes and princess, courtesans, servants, and so on. Ōwatatsumi, also known as Ryūjin, is the greatest of them. He rules the sea from his palace Ryūgū-jō. He controls the ebb and flow of the ocean using the tide jewels kanju and manju.

💙 Ok, that was really long, and It’s all I have in my grimoire, and the best I could find. Tell me if you want me to add any other creatures/Kami/Gods/Goddesses that are considered part of Merfolk (Poseidon, for example, is not part nor related to merfolk) and I’ll do my research and add them! Hope this is useful, darlings. If anyone has any questions regarding the craft or any other inquiries, I’d be glad to help! You can always send me an ask or a message. 💙 

💙 With love, Nao

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