Unicorns and mermaids - fact or fiction? We present a list of mythical creatures, evidence of the existence of which people continue to look for over the centuries.
water creatures
Loch Ness monster
The monster, according to legend, lives in Loch Ness, the Scots affectionately call Nessie. The first mention of this creature is found in the chronicle of the Aion monastery, dated to the 5th century BC.The next mention of the "water beast" is found in 1880 - because of a sailboat that drowned in Loch Ness. The circumstances of the crash were very unusual: according to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, as soon as the ship reached the middle of the reservoir, it was suddenly broken in half by something resembling tentacles or a tail.
This king's wife, Amosis-Nefertari, also united divinity in his name. The cult of Eeyore seems to have fallen with the New Kingdom. Meresegger or Mereseger was a goddess in Egyptian mythology. Its name means "one who loves silence" or "loves silence". She has been represented as a simple snake, as a woman with a snake's head, or as a snake with a woman's head. He sometimes had a headdress consisting of a solar disc and a horn. In more rare representations, he looks like a snake with three heads or like a scorpion with a female head.
The most early information about the goddess dates back to the time of the Middle Kingdom. During New Empire the goddess became the guardian of the tombs of the necropolis of Thebes, considering attacking those who tried to rob them. Near the Valley of the Queens there was a small temple dug into the rock, where he was adored along with the god Ptah. In Egypt, there were two types of scorpions: one darker and relatively harmless and one lighter, more poisonous. The goddess Selkis took the form of one of these animals and, despite the dangerous nature of the animal, was a protector and healing deity who defended herself from the sting of these arthropods.
Rumors about the existence of the monster began to spread widely after 1933, when the Evening Couriers newspaper published a detailed account of an "eyewitness" who noticed an unknown creature in the lake.
In September 2016, amateur photographer Ian Bremner managed to take a picture of a 2-meter snake-like creature slicing through the expanse of Loch Ness. The photo is quite convincing, but the press accused Bremner of a hoax, and someone decided that the photo depicts three frolicking seals.
This denomination also refers to the help that the goddess provided so that the newborn or the deceased, in their rebirth, could breathe. In funerary texts, she appears as the mother of the deceased, whom she nursed. As a result, she helped in the process of reviving the deceased, guided him and gave him the breath of life.
It was the Greeks who gave him the name Selkis, which also spells Serket, Serket, Selket, Selket, Selkit or Selchi. This deity can be represented in several ways. When he took the form of a scorpion, the animal was sometimes shown to have no head and no tail, because in this way he lost his poison and became harmless, being able to be presented in the grave without danger. And this was so because the Egyptians believed that all living beings represented in the tombs could come to life if the correct magical formulas were expressed.
Mermaids
It is widely believed that mermaids are girls living at the bottom of a river or sea, and instead of legs they have a fish tail. However, in the myths different peoples mermaids are the guardians of forests, fields and reservoirs, and they walk on two legs. AT Western cultures mermaids are called Nymphs, Naiads or Undines. 
Therefore, it was important to neutralize the danger of certain images, reducing them to impotence. This scorpion goddess was identified with the scorching heat of the Sun and was one of the four protective deities of the royal coffins and canonical vessels, from which she guarded the one that contained the subsoil.
It protected against poisonous bites from scorpions, snakes, or other poisonous animals and cured people who were accidentally attacked by these animals, especially when we are talking about children and pregnant women. But he could also punish the evil ones with the same poisons that brought them to death.
In Slavic folklore, the souls of drowned women turned into mermaids. Some ancient Slavic peoples they also believed that the mermaid is the spirit of a deceased child, whom death overtook on the Rusal (preceding the holiday of the Trinity) week. It was believed that during these 7 days, mermaids walk the Earth, emerging from the water after the Ascension of the Lord.
She was also the goddess of conjugal union and assisted women at birth. She was the daughter of Ra and made sure that the serpent Apophis did not leave underworld. The texts known today as the Book of Him in Hell describe what happens next. The sun god has 12 hours of the night period to be reborn. Each hour corresponds to a stage in his journey beyond. Apophis tries to swallow the sun god during this journey and poses a great threat. At the seventh hour, Selkis appears to be fighting the serpent of Apophis.
Ra in his boat watching the snake. Finally, Selkis, with the help of another deity, captures the demon and subdues the head and tail of the monster and pierces the snake's head and body with daggers. Selkis also plays important role in the legend of Isis and Osiris, because he sent his seven scorpions to protect Isis from the god Set, who was persecuting her.
Mermaids are classified as evil spirits that can harm a person, for example, drown him. It was customary to portray these creatures naked and without a headdress, less often in a torn sundress.
Sirens
According to legend, sirens are winged maidens with charming voices. They received their wings from the gods when they instructed them to find the fertility goddess Persephone kidnapped by Hades. 
The estate relations of Selkis were not clear enough. She could be considered the mother or daughter of Ra, so her anger was seen as the scorching noon sun. However, in some local legends Edfu she was taken as the wife of Horus and the mother of Ra-Harakhti, Horus on the Horizon. The Pyramid Texts state that she was the mother of Nehebkau, a three-headed serpent who changed from an evil stance into a protector of the pharaoh against snakebite, while other sources say she was the wife of this deity.
Originally revered in the Nile Delta, his cult spread throughout Egypt, and this can be considered natural, since snakes and scorpions were in abundance in the country, and people needed magical protection from them. Although she had priests dedicated to her worship, to whom she protected and delegated her magical powers, no temple has yet been found that has been consecrated to her. He figured primarily in magic formulas or tomb walls to protect the deceased from any attack.
According to another version, they became winged because they could not fulfill the order of the gods. As punishment, the Thunderer Zeus left them a beautiful girlish body, but turned his hands into wings, because of which they could no longer remain in the world of people.
The meeting of people with sirens is described in Homer's poem "The Odyssey". The mythical maidens enchanted the sailors with their singing, and their ships crashed on the reefs. Captain Odysseus ordered his crew to plug their ears with beeswax to counter the sweet-voiced half-woman half-birds, and his ship escaped destruction.
People used scorpion-shaped amulets to protect themselves from dangerous animal stings and even heal them. Selk priks were real doctors and wizards or healers dedicated to curing the bites of poisonous animals. His abilities as a scorpion and snake charmer were in demand, judging by the many spells to ward off such animals and heal their bites, which appear in Egyptian papyri. This indicates the extent of the problem, which is still prevalent in modern Egypt.
These people were called Kherep Selket, literally, one who has power over the scorpion goddess. In ancient Egypt, the reading priest and physician could also have the title Kherep Selket. Nowadays, snake charmers use practical methods to bind their prey, but they also still rely on magical songs. Anukel was an Egyptian goddess originally a goddess of water, later becoming a goddess associated with sexuality. His name means "to hug".
kraken
Kraken is a Scandinavian monster that sinks ships. A half-dragon with huge octopus tentacles inspired fear in Icelandic navigators of the 18th century. In the 1710s, the Danish naturalist Erik Pontoppidan first described the kraken in his diaries. According to legend, an animal the size of a floating island darkened the sea surface and dragged ships to the bottom with huge tentacles. 
His cult was centered on the region of the first cataract of the Nile, but especially on the island of Segel. At Elephantine he was grouped with Khnum and Satis. The goddess gained great popularity during the periods when Egypt dominated the regions beyond the first cataract.
She was depicted as a woman wearing a headdress of feathers or vegetables. In some cases, it looks like a gazelle, a holy animal associated with the goddess. The Greeks associated her with her goddess Hestia. Geb is the Egyptian god of the earth. Father of Osiris, Horus, Isis, Set and Oil and husband Nut.
200 years later, in 1897, researchers discovered the giant squid Architeutis in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, reaching 16.5 meters in length. It has been suggested that this creature was mistaken for the kraken two centuries earlier.
It is not so easy to see the kraken in the vastness of the ocean: when its body protrudes above the water, it is easy to mistake it for a small island, of which there are thousands in the ocean.
Geb is the Egyptian god of the earth, and he is also considered the god of death, as he was believed to have imprisoned evil spirits so that they could not go to heaven. It stimulates the material world of people and provides burial in the soil after death. He destroys human body on earth and seals him for eternity in the grave.
Its colors were green and black. This is the physical environment material world, which always lies under the curve of Gadget's body. He is responsible for fertility and success in collections. He is always represented with geese above his head in paintings. His representative animal was the goose. And he was usually depicted wearing a crown with a feather and a ram's horn.
flying creatures
Phoenix
The Phoenix is an immortal bird with fiery wings that can burn itself and be reborn. When the phoenix senses the approach of death, it burns, and in its place a chick appears in the nest. Phoenix life cycle: about 500 years. 
Mentions of the phoenix are found in myths Ancient Greece in the mythology of the ancient Egyptian Heliopolis, in which the phoenix is described as the patron of large time cycles.
Hathor, goddess of religion ancient egypt, which embodies the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. This is one of the most important and popular deities of ancient Egypt, worshiped as royalty, and simple people, whose graves are described as the "Lady of the West", who gets dead in her next life. Among his other functions is the goddess of music, dance, foreign lands and fertility, responsible for helping women during childbirth, as well as the patron saint of miners.
The cult of Hathor precedes historical period, and therefore the roots of goddess worship are difficult to determine, although she may have developed from pre-dicaastic cults to fertility and nature in general, represented in cows. Hathor is usually represented as a divine cow with horns on its head, including a solar disk with uraus. The two identical feathers are also frequently depicted in their later portraits, as well as in a mentha necklace. Hathor may be a cow goddess who has been depicted since archaic times on Narmer's Palmer and on a stone urn dating from the First Dynasty and offered her the role of a sky goddess and possible relationship with Horus, who, being the god of the sun, would make his "home" in him.
This fairy bird with bright red plumage personifies renewal and immortality, and in contemporary culture. So, the phoenix rising from the flame, accompanied by the inscription "The only Phoenix of the whole world" is depicted on the medals of the English Queen Elizabeth II.
The ancient Egyptians saw reality as consisting of several layers, in which the deities intermingled different reasons, keeping the attributes and myths divergent but not seen as contradictory but complementary. AT difficult relationship Hathor is sometimes the mother, daughter and wife of Ra and, like Isis, is sometimes described as the mother of Horus and associated with Bastet.
The cult of Osiris promised eternal life to all who have been deemed morally worthy. Initially, the dead, both men and women, became Osiris after the judgment, but in the early Roman period, dead women became identified with Hathor and the dead husband Osiris.
Pegasus
A snow-white horse with eagle wings is named Pegasus. it fabulous creature- the fruit of the love of Medusa Gorgon and Poseidon. According to legend, Pegasus came out of the neck of Medusa when Poseidon cut off her head. There is another legend that says that Pegasus appeared from the drops of Gorgon's blood. 
The ancient Greeks identified Hathor with the goddess Aphrodite and the Romans with Venus. The name "Nefthys" means the lady from the house, understood in a physical sense, like the house where the Sun returns at the end of its course, that is, into the night sky. It is difficult to distinguish Nephthys from his sister Isis: both are called the Mother Goddess and the Goddess of Heaven, and both use as a symbol the head of a vulture and a solar disk with the horns of the sun on its head, and those that spread all life and happiness.
However, the legends of adultery between the gods are connected with the fact that in different places the main gods had different companions, so the most important goddess of a certain tribe was called the god's wife, the rest were relegated to the position of concubines. However, Oil never had as bad a reputation as her husband Seth, the god of death: the gathering of Isis, she lamented the murder of Osiris, and she watched over the body dead god. Thus, when he is called the guardian of the dead, he has an auspicious meaning. He presides over the final moments of life, but leads the deceased to victory.
In honor of this fictional winged horse, the constellation Pegasus is named, which is located southwest near Andromeda and consists of 166 stars.
Dragon
Dragon - evil character Slavic fairy tales and epics. His feature- three fire-breathing heads. The body, covered with shiny scales, ends with an arrow-shaped tail, and on its paws it has sharp claws. He guards the gate that separates world of the dead and the world of the living. This place is located on Kalinov bridge, which is above the Smorodina River, or the fiery river. 
Mnevis was a black bull who was worshiped as a deity in the city of Heliopolis. Like Apis, Mnevis was one of the holy oxen of Ancient Egypt, associated with the god Re-Atum. He was also associated with the god Osiris. He was worshiped by all kings, including Akenatton, who declared Aten the only god to be worshiped. The reason why Akenatton continued the cult of Mnevis is due to his belief that the Aten would manifest in this bull. In artistic representations, he appears with a solar disk and urea between his horns.
The priests of Heliopolis selected a bull from the region, which led to the temple where it was worshiped. There could only be one Mnevis at a time. The movements described by the animal were used as an oracle. After his death, the bull was mummified, his organs were placed in hinged vessels and buried in a necropolis near Heliopolis.
The first mention of the Serpent dates back to the 11th century. On the harp, made by the settlers of the Novgorod lands, you can find images of a three-headed lizard, which was originally considered the king of the underwater world.
In some legends, Gorynych lives in the mountains (therefore, it is believed that his name comes from the word "mountain"). In others, he sleeps on a stone in the sea and combines the ability to control two elements at once - fire and water.
wyvern
A wyvern is a mythical dragon-like creature with one pair of legs and wings. It is not capable of spewing fire, but its fangs are saturated with deadly poison. In other myths, the poison was contained at the end of the sting, with which the lizard pierced its victim. Some legends say that it was wyvern venom that caused the first plague. 
It is known that the first legends about wyverns appeared in the Stone Age: this creature personified ferocity. Subsequently, his image was used by the leaders of the troops to instill fear in the enemy.
A wyvern-like creature can be found on Orthodox icons, depicting the struggle of St. Michael (or George) with the dragon.
ground creatures
Unicorns
Unicorns are stately noble creatures, symbolizing chastity. According to legend, they live in forest thickets and only innocent maidens are able to catch them. 
The earliest evidence for the existence of unicorns dates back to the 5th century BC. The ancient Greek historian Ctesias was the first to describe "Indian wild donkeys with one horn on their foreheads, blue eyes and a red head," and whoever drinks wine or water from the horn of this donkey will be cured of all diseases and never get sick again.
No one except Ctesias saw this animal, but his story was widely disseminated thanks to Aristotle, who included a description of the unicorn in his History of Animals.
Bigfoot/Yeti
Bigfoot, or Yeti, is a huge humanoid creature that has similar features to a monkey and lives in deserted highlands. 
The first mention of Bigfoot was recorded from the words of Chinese peasants: in 1820 they met a tall, shaggy monster with large paws. In the 1880s European countries began to equip expeditions to search for traces of Bigfoot.
The possible existence of this humanoid beast is evidenced by the footprints found, half a meter long, similar to human ones. Also in the monastery of the village of Kumjung in Nepal, an object is kept that is passed off as the scalp of a Bigfoot.
Valkyries
Valkyries are called warrior maidens from the Scandinavian pantheon of gods, who unnoticed by people watch the battlefield. After the battle, they pick up the fallen brave on a winged horse and carry them off to Valhalla, the castle in the abode of the gods, where feasts are arranged for them, praising their courage. 
On rare occasions, the maidens are allowed to decide the outcome of a battle, but more often than not, they carry out the will of their father, Odin, who decides who will be victorious in a bloody battle.
Valkyries are most often depicted in armor and helmets with horns, and shining light emanates from their swords. The story goes that the god Odin endowed his daughters with the capacity for compassion so that they would accompany the dead in battle to the “hall of the slain.”
Sphinx
Name mythical creature Sphinx comes from the ancient Greek word "sphingo", which means "to choke". The earliest images of this creature were created 10 thousand years BC in the territory of modern Turkey. However, the image of the sphinx with the body of a lion and the head of a woman is known to us from the myths of ancient Greece. 
Legend has it that a sphinx woman guarded the entrance to the city of Thebes. Everyone who met her on their way had to guess the riddle: “Who walks on four legs in the morning, on two in the afternoon, and on three in the evening?” Unguessed people died from clawed paws, and only Oedipus could name the correct answer: man.
The essence of the clue is that when a person is born, he crawls on all fours, in adulthood- walks on two legs, and in old age is forced to rely on a cane. Then the monster dropped from the top of the mountain into the abyss, and the entrance to Thebes became free.
Cerberus, more precisely Cerberus (from other Greek Κέρβερος) - in Greek mythology offspring of Typhon and Echidna (or Tartarus and Gaia). Cerberus guarded the exit from the realm of the dead Hades, not allowing the dead to return to the world of the living. However, this creature, amazing in strength, was defeated by Hercules in one of his labors.
Cerberus had the appearance of a three-headed dog with a snake tail, on the back of the head of snakes, as creepy as his mother. According to other descriptions, he has 50 heads, or 100 heads. In the works of vase painting, he was sometimes depicted as having two heads.
Before descending into Hades, Hercules was initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, then Kore accepted him as a brother. Hercules defeated him with the help of Hermes and Athena. Cerberus vomited from the daylight, and from the foam from the mouth of the Cerberus, aconite grass appeared. Hercules, when he brought out Cerberus, was crowned with the foliage of a silvery poplar. Hercules, having taken him out of Hades, showed him to Eurystheus, but then returned him back. It was after this feat that Eurystheus released Hercules to freedom.
There were several localizations of the exit from the realm of the dead. According to one of them, Hercules led him out of the gap behind the temple of Chthonia in Troezen and brought him to the temple of Artemis in Troezen. According to some poets, Hercules brought him out of the cave in the temple of Poseidon at Cape Tenar. According to other authors, Hercules brought him near Coronea (Boeotia). Also, this failure was shown in the country of mariandins on the Acherusian peninsula near Heraclea.
The priestess, descending into Hades with Aeneas, threw a cake with sleeping pills to the three-headed Cerberus and put him to sleep.
"The sound of its terrible barking, escaping from its three jaws, inspired fear even in the last of the wicked"
Seneca, Greek writer.
In Norse mythology, Fenrir is a giant wolf, the son of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. Fenrir was bound by the gods, but in the end he grew out of his bonds and destroyed Odin during the pursuit in Ragnarok. According to legend, at that time Fernir becomes so big that when he yawns, his upper jaw touches the sky, and the lower one touches the earth. He was slain by Odin's son, Vidar, who stabbed him in the heart and tore his mouth open for revenge.
According to the Welsh legend about the dog Gelert, Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd, returning from hunting, found an overturned baby cradle, the child was missing, and the dog, of noble blood, was with a bloodied mouth. Imagining that she attacked the child, the prince draws his sword and kills the dog, hearing its death screech. He then hears the baby crying and finds it under an overturned cradle next to a dead wolf that attacked the baby and was killed by Gelert. Llywelyn, who still has the dog's death screech in his ears, repents greatly and buries the dog with great honors.
Fetters of Fenrir
Six strange and wonderful things went into making the magic chain for Fenrir.
*Footprints of a cat
*Mountain Roots
*Women's beard
*Bear tendons
*Bird saliva
*fish breath
Pit and Garm dogs
The sacred book of the Hindus "Rig Veda" mentions two dogs similar to Kerberos. These were the dogs of Yama, the lord of the spirits of the dead. One of them was black, the other spotted, and both had four eyes. The deceased passed by them, heading for the ancestors, who were having fun with Lord Yama.
In Scandinavian mythology, the huge ferocious dog Garm also had four eyes. Garm lived in a cave and guarded Helheim, the abode of the dead. It was believed that Garm's howl would herald Ragnarok - the time when the universe would come to an end.
Now let's talk about the types of Phoenix
Phoenix (possibly from the Greek φοίνιξ, "purple, crimson") is a mythological bird with the ability to burn itself. Known in mythology different cultures. It was believed that the phoenix has appearance an eagle with bright red plumage. Anticipating death, he burns himself in his own nest, and a chick appears from the ashes. According to other versions of the myth, it is reborn from the ashes.
According to Herodotus, this is a bird from Assyria. Lives 500 years. Mentioned by many ancient authors
It was generally believed that the Phoenix is the only, unique individual, and not mythological view birds.
Later - a symbol of eternal renewal.
Bennu (Ben-Ben) - in Egyptian mythology, a bird - an analogue of the phoenix. According to legend, it is the soul of the sun god Ra. The name is related to the word "veben", meaning "shine".
According to legend, Bennu appeared from a fire that burned on sacred tree in the courtyard of the temple of Ra. According to another version, Bennu escaped from the heart of Osiris. It was depicted as a gray, blue or white heron with a long beak and a crest of two feathers, as well as a yellow wagtail or an eagle with red and gold feathers. There are also images of Bennu in the form of a man with the head of a heron.
Bennu personified the resurrection from the dead and the annual floods of the Nile. Symbolized the beginning of the sun.
Chinese phoenix (鳳凰, fenghuang) - in Chinese mythology a miracle bird, in contrast to the Chinese dragon, embodying the feminine (yin). Her appearance to people is a great sign that can testify to the power of the emperor or portend a significant event.
In the dictionary “Shouwen” compiled during the Han dynasty, it is said about fenghuang that this bird has “a rooster’s beak, a swallow’s crop, a snake’s neck, patterns on the body like a dragon, a fish’s tail, in front like a swan, in the back like a qilin unicorn, the back of a turtle ". Its growth reaches three meters.
According to Chinese beliefs, the fenghuang was seen before the death of the Yellow Emperor. Last time it was observed at the grave of the founder of the Ming Dynasty in 1368.
The fire bird (Chuvash. Wut kayӑkӗ) is a bird in Chuvash mythology that carries fire, a harbinger of a fire that she herself stops. She has something in common with the Phoenix bird.
and of course our own :)
The Firebird is a fabulous bird, a character in Russian fairy tales, usually the goal of finding a hero. The feathers of the firebird have the ability to shine and with their brilliance amaze the human eye.
The extraction of the firebird is associated with great difficulties and is one of the main tasks that the king (father) sets for his sons in a fairy tale. Only the good can get the firebird younger son. Mythologists (Afanasiev) explained the firebird as the personification of fire, light, and the sun. The Firebird feeds on golden apples, which give youth, beauty and immortality; when she sings, pearls fall from her beak. The singing of the firebird heals the sick and restores sight to the blind. Leaving aside arbitrary mythological explanations, one can compare the firebird with the medieval ones, very popular both in Russian and in Western European literature stories of the phoenix rising from the ashes. The Firebird is also the prototype of peacocks. Rejuvenating apples, in turn, can be compared with the fruits of the pomegranate tree, a favorite delicacy of Phoenixes.
"This creature is dedicated to the sun and differs from other birds in its head and brightness of plumage .. Most determine it (age) at 500 years, but there are those who claim that this phoenix has been living for 1461 already"
Tacitus, Roman historian
Griffins (Sukhor von Griffin) (vultures) - fictional winged creatures, half lions, half eagles. With sharp claws and snow-white wings. According to one hypothesis, the name is from other Hebrew. "kerub" (see cherub). In particular, they are associated with some images of the Scythian "animal style".
It was believed that they come from India, where they guarded huge treasuries of gold.
These mystical creatures symbolize power over heaven and earth, strength, vigilance and pride. The griffin also became an attribute of the goddess of retribution - Emesis: he turned her wheel of fortune.
Initially, Satan was depicted in the form of a griffin, luring human souls into a trap, later this animal became a symbol of the dual (divine and human) nature of Jesus Christ. Thus, the griffin also became an enemy of snakes and basilisks.
The hippogriff is a magical creature: half horse, half griffin (while the griffin itself is a cross between a lion and an eagle).
This creature was first described by Ludovico Ariosto in his poem " Furious Roland". In those days, there was a saying "to cross a horse with a griffin", meaning the impossibility or inconsistency of something, a synonym for the modern "when the cancer whistles on the mountain." The saying, in turn, owes its origin to Virgil.
According to Ariosto, the birthplace of the Hippogriff is the Riphean Mountains. In the work of the Russian writer A.F. Veltman "The Ancestors of Kalimeros" (1836), a fantastic hippogriff is described that carries the protagonist into the past - sometimes it is considered as a "biological" prototype of a time machine. Hippogriffs are also mentioned in the Harry Potter books. Another hippogriff is a combat character in the game Warcraft.
Now let's talk about the types of Werewolves :)
A werewolf (shifter) is a mythological creature that has the ability to turn into a person or animal.
In the Russian-speaking tradition, a werewolf is usually called a werewolf without specification.
Vilktaks are werewolf wolves in Lithuanian mythology, in many ways similar to Slavic wolves and Western European werewolves.
Kitsune is a werewolf fox.
In Japanese folklore, these animals have great knowledge, long life and magical powers. Chief among them is the ability to take the form of a human being; the fox, according to legend, learns to do this after reaching a certain age (usually a hundred years, although in some legends - fifty). Kitsune usually take the form of a seductive beauty, a pretty young girl, but sometimes they turn into old people. It should be noted that in Japanese mythology there was a mixture of indigenous Japanese beliefs that characterized the fox as an attribute of the god Inari (see, for example, the Legend - “Fox-weight weight”) and Chinese beliefs that considered foxes to be werewolves, a family close to demons.
Other abilities commonly attributed to kitsune include the ability to possess other people's bodies, exhale or otherwise create fire, appear in other people's dreams, and the ability to create illusions so complex that they are almost indistinguishable from reality. Some of the tales go further, talking about kitsune with the ability to warp space and time, drive people crazy, or take on such inhuman or fantastic forms as trees of indescribable height or a second moon in the sky. Occasionally, kitsune are credited with characteristics reminiscent of vampires: they feed on the life or spiritual energy of people with whom they come into contact. Sometimes kitsune are described guarding a round or pear-shaped object (hoshi no tama, i.e. "star ball"); it is claimed that the one who took possession of this ball can force the kitsune to help himself; one theory claims that kitsune "store" some of their magic in this ball after the transformation. Kitsune are required to keep their promises, otherwise they will have to suffer the punishment of lowering their rank or power level.
Kitsune are associated with both Shinto and Buddhist beliefs. In Shinto, kitsune are associated with Inari, the patron deity of rice fields and entrepreneurship. Initially, foxes were messengers (tsukai) of this deity, but now the difference between them is so blurred that Inari himself is sometimes depicted as a fox. In Buddhism, they gained fame thanks to the Shingon school of secret Buddhism, popular in Japan in the 9th-10th centuries, one of the main deities of which, Dakini, was depicted riding a fox riding through the sky.
The nine-tailed fox attacks Prince Hanzoku. Engraving of the 19th century. In folklore, kitsune is a kind of yokai, that is, a demon. In this context, the word "kitsune" is often translated as "fox spirit". However, this does not necessarily mean that they are not living beings or that they are anything other than foxes. The word "spirit" in this case is used in the Eastern sense, reflecting the state of knowledge or insight. Any fox that has lived long enough can thus become a "fox spirit". There are two main types of kitsune: the myobu, or divine fox, often associated with Inari, and the nogitsune, or wild fox (literally, "field fox"), often, but not always, described as evil, with malicious intent.
A kitsune can have up to nine tails. In general, it is believed that the older and stronger the fox, the more tails it has. Some sources even state that the kitsune grows an extra tail every hundred or thousand years of its life. However, the foxes seen in fairy tales almost always have one, five, or nine tails.
When kitsune get nine tails, their fur becomes silver, white, or gold. These kyuubi no kitsune ("nine-tailed foxes") gain the power of infinite insight. Similarly in Korea, it is said that a fox that has lived for a thousand years turns into a kumiho (literally "nine-tailed fox"), but the Korean fox is always depicted as evil, unlike the Japanese fox, which can be both benevolent and malevolent. Chinese folklore also has "fox spirits" (Huli jing) in many ways similar to kitsune, including the possibility of nine tails.
In some stories, kitsune have difficulty hiding their tail in human form (usually foxes in such stories have only one tail, which may be an indication of the weakness and inexperience of the fox). An attentive hero can expose a drunken or careless fox that has turned into a man by looking through her clothes through her tail.
One of the famous Kitsune is also the great guardian spirit Kyuubi. This is a guardian spirit and protector who helps young "lost" souls on their way in the current incarnation. Kyuubi usually stays for a short time, only for a few days, but if attached to one soul, it can accompany her for years. This is a rare type of kitsune, rewarding a few lucky ones with their presence and help.
In Japanese folklore, kitsune are often described as tricksters, sometimes very evil. Trickster kitsune use their magical powers for pranks: those shown in a benevolent light tend to target overly proud samurai, greedy merchants, and boastful people, while the more violent kitsune tend to torment poor merchants, farmers, and Buddhist monks.
Kitsune are also often described as mistresses. In such stories, there is usually a young man and a kitsune that has taken the form of a woman. Sometimes the role of a seductress is attributed to kitsune, but often such stories are rather romantic. In such stories, a young man usually marries a beautiful woman (not knowing that she is a fox) and gives great importance her devotion. Many of these stories have a tragic element: they end with the discovery of the fox essence, after which the kitsune must leave her husband.
The oldest of famous stories about fox wives, which provides a folklore etymology for the word "kitsune", is an exception in this sense. Here the fox takes the form of a woman and marries a man, after which the two, after spending several happy years together, have several children. Her fox essence is unexpectedly revealed when, in the presence of many witnesses, she is frightened by a dog, and in order to hide, she takes on her true form. Kitsune prepares to leave home, but her husband stops her, saying, "Now that we've been together for several years and you've given me several children, I can't just forget you. Please, let's go and sleep." The fox agrees, and since then returns to her husband every night in the form of a woman, leaving in the morning in the form of a fox. After that, they began to call her kitsune - because in classical Japanese kitsu-ne means "let's go and sleep", while ki-tsune means "always coming."
The offspring of marriages between humans and kitsune are usually credited with special physical and/or supernatural properties. The specific nature of these properties, however, varies greatly from one source to another. Among those who were thought to have such extraordinary abilities is the famous onmyouji Abe no Seimei, who was a hanyo (half-demon), the son of a man and a kitsune.
Tanuki (狸) or (タヌキ) are traditional Japanese werewolf animals that symbolize happiness and prosperity. It is traditionally translated into Russian as “werewolf badger”, but from a biological point of view, a tanuki is a raccoon dog. Tanuki live in Japan and on Far East Russia.
Stylized sculptures of tanuki can be found in Japan at houses, shops and restaurants - pot-bellied figures with pronounced male primary sexual characteristics. It is believed that the more pronounced these signs (the larger the size of the scrotum), the more happiness the tanuki brings. The amount of happiness is directly proportional to the size of his scrotum. Tanuki can inflate it to an incredible size - sleep under it, hiding like a blanket, or even turn it into a house. The only way to check if it's real is to drop an ember on the floor. True, after that you can not count on happiness.
Anioto are fictional creatures. In the beliefs of the indigenous population of the Congo and Nigeria, they are a kind of werewolf, with the difference that the European werewolf is a consequence of the transformation of a person into a wolf, and the "Congo-Nigerian" is a consequence of the transformation from a leopard.
The transformation of a person into an animal is a very common story in the mythologies of different peoples of the world. Thus, the Tale of Igor's Campaign describes Vseslav Polotsky's capture of Novgorod and the Battle of Nemiga. Vseslav is represented by a sorcerer and a werewolf. And in ethnic culture North American Indians turning into the animal-totem of the tribe is an indicator of the highest merging with the spirit of the ancestors. In Scandinavia, they believed that berserkers could transform into bears and wolves. The hero of Russian epics, Volga Vseslavievich, turned into a “left-beast”, “pike-fish”, “bay tur-golden horns” and “small ermine”, “small bird-bird” and other animals. In Turkic mythology, werewolves - walkers are mentioned as evil creatures that live in deserted places and frighten travelers.
In Russian beliefs, a werewolf was also called an unkind spirit, which “rushes under a person’s feet”, as a harbinger of trouble. Moreover, he always appears briefly, on the run, and it can be very difficult to see him. Unlike most beliefs Western countries A "Russian" werewolf can turn not only into animals, but also a piece of stick, a haystack, a ball, a stone. Always hits the ground before transforming. It was believed that a werewolf is a child who died unbaptized or an apostate whose soul "plays captivity." In Ukraine, a werewolf was also known as a vovkulaka, in the north it was often called a kikimora. The property of a werewolf was attributed to Domovoy and the Witch.
One of the manifestations of the werewolf habitual to us (the transformation of a person into a wolf) can be observed next to another, no less famous manifestation dark forces- vampires. It is believed that one way to kill a vampire is to bite a werewolf. Wounds inflicted on a vampire by a werewolf do not heal and are mostly fatal. But vampires themselves are also werewolves. So in the work of Bram Stoker "Count Dracula" the count appears in several guises: an old man, a young beautiful person, giant bat, fog and a big black dog.
There are two types of werewolves: those who turn into animals at will and those who suffer from lycanthropy (the disease of turning into animals). They differ from each other in that some can turn into animals at any time of the day or night, without losing the ability to think humanly rationally, while others only at night (mostly on the full moon) and at the same time the human essence is driven deep inside , freeing the animal nature. At the same time, a person does not remember what he did, being in animal form.
It is also worth mentioning that a person can keep the beast within himself throughout the entire lunar phase, in order to gain maximum strength and anger at the moment of its greatest activity (full moon) to take revenge on his offenders. However, according to legend, werewolves usually become (and these are, as a rule, witches and sorcerers) not so much for revenge, but for mischief (to scare people for their own fun). Not all werewolves show their abilities on a full moon, some can become werewolves at any time of the day.
The first film to feature werewolves was the silent film The Werewolf, released in 1913. It was followed by several more silent films about werewolves. The first film to feature voice acting was the German film Le Loup Garou. In 1935, Universal Pictures released The Werewolf of London, and in 1941, The Wolfman. These films marked many stereotypes of cinematic werewolves.
Movies that feature werewolves:
"New moon"
"Van Helsing"
"Howl"
"Werewolves"
"Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban"
"Underworld (film, 2003)"
"Underworld 2: Evolution (film, 2006)"
"Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (film, 2009)"
"Twilight (film, 2008)"
"Blood and Chocolate"
"Dog Warriors"
"Werewolf"
"American Werewolf in Paris"
"American Werewolf in London"
"Sister of the Werewolf"
"Birth of a Werewolf"
"Romasanta werewolf hunt"
"Silver bullet"
"Sinister Moon"
"Wolf"
"In the company of wolves"
"Werewolves"
"Wolf"
"Werewolves"
"Teen Wolf"
"Teen Wolf 2"
Watch werewolf movies
How to recognize a werewolf. (Wolf werewolf)
* Fear of water
* Thick unibrows
* Hair on the forehead in the form of a triangle, widow's peak
* Insomnia is a particular concern on the full moon
*Arms with hairy palms
*piercing yellow eyes
* Unusual body hair
* The habit of eating raw meat
(in general, if all this was observed in a person, the ego would have already passed into a psychiatric hospital or a menagerie :)
"His clothes turned into bristly hair, and his hands into paws. He became a wolf! But a tiny part of his previous human appearance remained."
Ovid, ancient Roman poet.
