In Brief

• The Facts:

  Mermaids have been written about by several cultures across multiple time periods, from Babylon till now. There have even been claims of recent sightings. With all of the lore that exists, it's not hard to imagine these beings could be real.

• Reflect On:

  How many examples exist where ancient knowledge has turned into ancient fact? How much do we really know about our true suppressed history? Could there be a whole world we don't know about our there?

Photo credit: Ramakien Murals depicting the hero Hanuman meeting the mermaid Suvannamaccha, Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok, Thailand, 1831.

Ancient lore is fascinating to say the least, especially if you dive into mythology. What’s always attractive about mythology is that there are good reasons to believe that a lot of it isn’t actually mythological, but real in some cases.

We see this in many examples, Plato’s (among others before and after him) description of Atlantis could be one, especially when you tie in all of the evidence that’s emerged of its existence. Another example could be people with ‘superhuman’ abilities, like clairvoyance, telepathy, and psychokinesis that we find in a lot of Buddhist and other ancient Eastern texts.

Today, there are many documents and examples of people who demonstrate these types of  abilities. Another great example is Nikola Tesla, who derived his ideas of “free energy” and electrical generators from ancient Vedic concepts.  Let’s not forget about modern day quantum physics and neuroscience and their close correlation with ancient eastern philosophy and buddhism.

There are many topics to choose from, and it seems that we always place ideas and concepts that don’t fit within the frame of  accepted reality into the  ‘mythological’ category. This is obviously quite understandable, but remember that those who actually spoke about these creatures and studied the lore are certain some of these so-called mythological concepts were completely real. Why is that so?

Perhaps they were? I don’t think we should completely rule out the possibility. Mermaids are a great example, and one of many.

Mermaids

We see images everywhere today, Starbucks even uses the two-tailed mermaid as their logo. According to Greek mythology, mermaids, also known as sirens, were predatory in nature, masters in the art of seduction. They would seduce men at sea with songs and promises of sex, only to kill those who succumbed to their lure. But stories of their benevolence and malevolence differ.

One study in the Journal of Academic Study of Religion explains,

The mermaid blurs the boundary between woman and fish, femininity and carnality, land and sea, human and other. She is also held to be an astral entity in various metaphysical circles, in the mermaiding industry she is often marketed as an ambassador for marine preservation, and in the general pervasiveness of this character, competing with inhuman beings such as vampires, werewolves, and angels in the heavily mediated realm of contemporary culture, the mermaid represents an additional opportunity to invest in an other-than-human identity.

They are also depicted in ancient Vedic lore, the story of Suvannamaccha, for example, comes from the Asian versions of ancient Hindu mythology. They are not always depicted as luring, tricky beasts, some stories speak of them as protectors, falling in love, and more. They also tell of a history of capture, which isn’t surprising, reflecting a dark tendency of the human race in our current state of consciousness. It would be no surprise why these beings may not take to kindly to the race of men, and perhaps still don’t. After all, look what we’ve done to the oceans and continue to do. Look what we are doing to life on this planet…

Etheric Domain

According to one of the foremost authorities on the subject, Manly P. Hall (from his book, The Secret Teachings of All Ages), the Undines, as they were also known, were water elementals, that function “in the invisible, spiritual essence called humid (or liquid) ether.

This is particularly interesting because that’s another thing that’s been spoken of in ancient “mythology” for so long, but now physics is showing it to be true. Here’s a great quote that illustrates that:

“And they allowed Apollonius to ask questions; and he asked them of what they thought the cosmos was composed; but they replied; “Of elements.” “Are there then four?” he asked. “Not four,” said Larchas,  “but five.” “And how can there be a fifth,” said Apollonius, “alongside of water and air and earth and fire?” “There is the ether,” replied the other, “which we must regard as the stuff of which gods are made; for just as all mortal creatures inhale the wire, so do immortal and divine natures inhale the ether.” “Am I,” said Appollonius, “to regard the universe as a living creature?” “Yes,” said the other. – The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Philostratus, 220AD (source)

According to Nikola Tesla,

“All perceptible matter comes from a primary substance, or tenuity beyond conception, filling all space, the akasha or luminiferous ether, which is acted upon by the life-giving Prana or creative force, calling into existence, in never-ending cycles all things and phenomena.”– Nikola Tesla, Man’s Greatest Achievement, 1907

Other-Dimensional Visitation

This is why, in my opinion, it’s not hard at all believing that forms of life, invisible to our senses, also dwell in the ether and in realms we cannot perceive with our senses. Other beings would be nature spirits like fairies or gnomes who, according to the lore, can also appear in our ‘dimensional’ reality as well, on our frequency, if they choose to do so.

According to Hall, from The Secret Teachings of All Ages,

The Undines are able to control, to a great degree, the course and function of this fluid in Nature. Beauty seems to be the keynote of the water spirits. Wherever we find them pictured in art or sculpture, they abound in symmetry and grace. Controlling the water element–which has always been a feminine symbol–it is natural that the water spirits should most often be symbolized as female.

Hall writes about how there are many different groups of Undines; some live in waterfalls, others in fast-moving rivers or remote marshes, some in mountain lakes as well as in the ocean.

In describing them, the ancients agreed on certain salient features. In general, nearly all the Undines closely resemble human beings in appearance and size, though the ones inhabiting small streams and fountains were of correspondingly of lesser proportions. It was believed that these water spirits were occasionally capable of assuming the appearance of normal human beings and actually associating with men and women.

 He goes on to describe stories of these water spirits and their adoption by families. As far as the males, Hall does not dismiss their existence but writes that practically nothing is known about them. We do know of one, however, called Neptune. We also know of another.

The Babylonians worshipped a fish-tailed god named Oannes. John Ashton, author of Curious Creatures in Zoology, proposes that this is the first depiction of a merman. Also in ancient lore, the goddess Atargatis, chief goddess of northern Syria, was depicted as a fish-bodied human, supposedly constituting the first known representation of a mermaid.

He describes a group of Undines interestingly, and different from other mythology we see. Perhaps these ‘elementals’ differ from other creatures that are closer to our own frequency? Hall goes on to explain,

Their temperament is said to be vital, and to them has been given as their throne the western corner of creation. They are rather emotional beings, friendly to human life and fond of serving mankind. They are sometimes pictured riding on dolphins or other great fish and seem to have a special love of flowers and plants, which they serve almost as devotedly and intelligently as the gnomes. Ancient poets have said that the songs of the Undines were heard in the West Wind and that their lives were consecrated to the beautifying of the material earth.

It’s also noteworthy to mention that multiple apparent sightings have been recorded and spoken about in modern history as well, according to numerous eyewitnesses a few years ago, from a seaside shore town in Israel. They said it looked like a cross between a little girl and a dolphin, and only comes out at sunset. “People are telling us they are sure they have seen the mermaid and they are all independent of each other,” said Natti Zilberman, a local council spokesman, as she spoke to ABC News. It sparked so much controversy that the Mayor offered a million dollar reward for a photograph.

Perhaps there are many concepts of our reality that remain unknown to us? Always interesting to explore There are many truths waiting to be discovered that would completely change our perception of not only our planet but also the nature of reality itself.