MERCURIUS

MERCURIUS 

“The spiritus Mercuialis and his transformations represented as a monstrous dragon. It is a quaternary, in which the fourth is at the same time the unity of the three, the unity of being symbolized by the mystagogue Hermes. The three are: Luna, Sol and coniunctio Solis et Lunae in Taurus, the House Of Venus. Together They form ☿= Mercurius.” 

Carl Jung, The Collected Works Of C.G. Jung

MINOTAUR

MINOTAUR

“Minotaur, in Greek mythology, was a fabulous monster of Crete that had the body of a man and the head of a bull. It was the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, and a snow-white bull sent to Minos by the god Poseidon for sacrifice. Minos, instead of sacrificing it, kept it alive; Poseidon as a punishment made Pasiphae fall in love with it. Her child by the bull was shut up in the Labyrinth created for Minos by Daedalus.” 

Encyclopedia Britannica 

“It was built to house the fearsome Minotaur, a creature born of the union of Parsiphaneë and a white bull, a monster half man and half bull itself. Ringed by a hedge or thorns, it lived in the very centre of the Labyrinth, existing only on human flesh. It was said that no man could survive the onslaught of its scythe-like horns.” 

“He gave Ariadne a ball of silken cord with which Theseus would be able to find his way through the Labyrinth. If she tied one end of the cord to the lintel of the maze doorway, the ball would unwind itself, threading its way through the twists and turns of the passages to the spot at the very centre where the Minotaur waited for its prey.” 

Michael Gibson, Gods, Men and Monsters

CAMAZOTZ

CAMAZOTZ
“In the Quiché Popol Vuh, the Underworld Camazotz or “death bat,” cuts off the head of the Hero Twin, hunahpu.”
Mary Miller & Karl Taube, The Gods and Symbols Of Ancient Mexico and the Maya

 “Camazotz; A vampire bat god of the Quiché Maya in Guatemala. They Maya considered him a terrible god who served death and ruled twilight. He lived in the bloody caverns and other dark places that people tried to avoid for fear of disturbing him.”
 Ann Bingham & Jeremy Roberts, South and Meso-American Mythology A to Z

“He is said to have a leaf-like nose, an anthropomorphized bat whose name evoked fear of darkness and the unknown.”
Sebastian Berg, Maya Mythology

QUINOTAUR

QUINOTAUR 

“The Quinotaur has the head, chest and forelegs of a bull and the body and tail of a fish or serpent.”

Nicolle R. Murray, Naturally Monstrous and Magical Creatures of Western Europe 

“A far older legend of the Merovingian bloodline exists. Meroveus, the progenitor, was said to be sired by the Quinotaur, Neptune’s half-bull, half-fish sea-god or demigod.” 

Nialla Ni Macha, The Witches’ Almanac

AMMUT

AMMUT 

“Creature in the netherworld, usually depicted with the head of a crocodile, the foreparts of a lion (or panther) and the rear of a hippopotamus, whose principal epithets were ‘devourer of the dead’ and ‘great of death’. She is portrayed in vignettes illustrating Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead. The scenes show her waiting beside the scales in the Hall of the Two Truths, where the hearts of the dead were weighed against the feather of Maat. It was Ammut who consumed the hearts of those whose evil deeds made them unfit to proceed into the afterlife.” 

Ian Shaw & Paul Nicholson, The Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt

CHNOUBIS

CHNOUBIS

“This ringstone bears the name of the Egyptian Gnostic solar god Chnoubis, a lion-headed serpent.” 

The Penn Museum

“The lion-headed serpent was popular in magic and is often found pictured on amulets. The daimon is a syncretistic combination of the Egyptian creator god Khnum, the serpent Kneph and the star Knm.“ 

Hans Dieter Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri

“Kneph, a winged egg or globe with serpent or serpents.” 

James Stevens Curl, The Egyptian Revival

GLYCON

GLYCON
“In the middle of the 2nd century CE, on the shore of the Black Sea, any visitor could have had his future foretold by a divine snake with a human-like head, called Glycon. The serpent and his prophet Alexander were so respected, even the philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius asked them for help.”

“The serpent’s head looked out from Alexander’s beard and it bore a striking resemblance to a human face.

Viktor Susnyak, Glycon, The Fake Snake Oracle and Alexander, His Prophet

“When they went in, the thing, of course, seemed to them a miracle, that the formerly tiny snake within a few days had turned into so great a serpent, with a human face, moreover, and tame!”

Lucian Of Samosata, Alexander The False Prophet

“The next morning he leapt forth into the city’s marketplace frenziedly hailed the city as blessed for being on the point of receiving the manifestation of the god, ran to the temple side and scooped around in the mud until he dredged up the egg, breaking it in his hand to reveal the young snake, to the amazement of the bystanders, who raised a shout, welcomed the god, called the city blessed, and cried out prayers for riches and health.”

“The marble and the bronzes portray Glycon as a rampant snake with sami-humanoid face and human hair, compatibly with Lucian’s description of the god. They also tell us things Lucian does not, namely that Glycon wore his hair long in the Pythagorean fashion of his sponsor, that he boasted prominent humanoid ears with which to heed his petitioners, and a final tail that was either bifurcated, trifurcated or leonine.”

Daniel Ogden, Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult In the Greek and Roman Worlds

PAZUZU

PAZUZU

“This amulet took the form of either a grotesque head of [Pazuzu] carved in the round or a bronze or stone plaque of the whole creature, with a bird-like chest, human arms and legs terminating in talons with one hand holding a thunderbolt aloft, four wings and a curled tail.”
H.W.F. Saggs, The Babylonians

“Pazuzu is represented in statuettes and engravings with bulging eyes in a canine face, a scaly body, snake-headed penis, the talons of a large bird, and enormous wings.”

Joshua J. Mark, World History Encyclopedia

“He stands on two legs and has human arms ending in claws, with two pairs of wings, a scorpion's tail, a snake-headed, erect penis, and a horned, bearded head with bulging eyes and snarling canine mouth.“

Sarah Graff, Pazuzu: Beyond Good and Evil

LEONTOCEPHALINE GOD

LEONTOCEPHALINE GOD

“Where the lion-headed figure, 'this cruel, ugly deity, clearly appears with his serpent, his four wings, as the master of the world’.”

Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin, The Western Response to Zoroaster

“The Mithraic lion-man was usually depicted entwined by a serpent with the serpent's head resting on his leonine visage, which often appeared menacing if not infernal. The lion-man was variously portrayed with keys and scepters.”

Yuri Stoyanov, The Other God: Dualist Religions From Antiquity to the Cathar Heresy

ABRAXAS

ABRAXAS

“"The Basilidian sect of Gnostics, of the second century, claimed Abraxas as their supreme god, and said that Jesus Christ was only a phantom sent to earth by him. They believed that his name contained great mysteries, as it was composed of the seven Greek letters which form the number 365, which is also the number of days in a year. Abraxas, they though, had under his command 365 gods, to whom they attributed 365 virtues, one for each day. The older Mythologists placed him among the number of Egyptian gods, and demonologists have described him as a demon, with the head of a king and with serpents forming his feet. He is represented on ancient amulets, with a whip in his hand. Many stones and gems cut in various symbolic forms such as the head of a foul, were worn by the Basilidians as amulets.”

Lewis Spence, An Encyclopedia Of the Occult

“In describing Abraxas, C. W. King says: "Bellermann considers the composite image, inscribed with the actual name Abraxas, to be a Gnostic Pantheos, representing the Supreme Being, with the Five Emanations marked out by appropriate symbols. From the human body, the usual form assigned to the Deity, spring the two supporters, Nous and Logos, expressed in the serpents, symbols of the inner senses, and the quickening understanding; on which account the Greeks had made the serpent the attribute of Pallas. His head--that of a cock--represents Phronesis, that bird being the emblem of foresight and of vigilance. His two arms hold the symbols of Sophia and Dynamis: the shield of Wisdom and the whip of Power."

Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings Of All Things

DEMON-LIKE SEA MONSTER

 

DEMON-LIKE SEA MONSTER
"In the same year (1427), a sea monster was caught and its image was distributed in the country. The upper part up to the navel was of human shape and below it was a fish. Except that the lower part was divided in two, lengthwise. It had, above the ears two growths similar to horns. It had two large breasts and a wide mouth. From the hands to under the armpits and further to the belly it had webbing suitable for swimming. So this monster was trapped: In a city by the sea there were several women walking on the shore, and to one of them - the same cruel beast came and wanted to drag to him. But the woman resisted splendidly and asked the other women for help. These ran up and seized and slew the monster with sticks and stones and pulled it ashore. it was so ghastly to behold that many were frightened by it. Its length and size were more than that of a man. It is thought to have come to the town to eat, for many children of the town who had gone swimming in the sea were lost in it and never returned. therefore they must have been eaten by the beast.

Aesop's Fables: With Aviani, Adelfonsi and Pogii, as well as Doctor Sebastian Brant

VLÉTIF

VLÉTIF

"The vlétif/Uletif is an imaginary animal strangely resembling a sea unicorn or narwhal (Monodon monoceros). This strange animal had a gigantic fish body, a toothed whale head and above the eyes a very long saw-like bone."

"Among others the utelif, which has like a saw on its forehead, three feet long or more, and four fingers wide, and has of two very sharp edges, some of which points are in my possession."

André Thevet, La Cosmographie Universelle

SIRENA

 

SIRENA

"The sirens are deadly animals. They have from the head to the navel the shape of a woman, powerful in size, cruel face with long hair and a fine head. But they appear with their feet/flippers, which they carry in their arms, because with the feet/flippers they point to their breasts, which they have big on their chests. When the shipmen see them, they are almost afraid. So they throw her a cringle (like a sort of hoop for ropes of the sail to pass through -Imi), with which she plays until the ship can sail away."

 Conrad of Megenberg, The Book Of Nature

SIREN-LIKE DOLPHIN II

SIREN-LIKE DOLPHIN II

"The dolphin has its eyes on the back and the mouth on the opposite (on the opposite side) therefore they probably did not see their prey and food because of the clumsiness of the mouth from the eyes. Therefore they turn their mouth towards the sky, back and eyes towards the earth, so that they can catch their prey. If a thunderstorm is about, they play on top of the water, so that one sees them. One also says that they do help those who are in need in the waters. And one says that they cry when they are caught."

Hortus Sanitatis

SIREN-LIKE DOLPHIN I

SIREN-LIKE DOLPHIN I

"The dolphin has its eyes on the back and the mouth on the opposite (on the opposite side) therefore they probably did not see their prey and food because of the clumsiness of the mouth from the eyes. Therefore they turn their mouth towards the sky, back and eyes towards the earth, so that they can catch their prey. If a thunderstorm is about, they play on top of the water, so that one sees them. One also says that they do help those who are in need in the waters. And one says that they cry when they are caught."

 Unknown Author (often attributed to Johann Wonnecke von Kaub), Hortus Sanitatis

The dolphin is very fond of its children, which is why it feeds them for a long time. Alone among all fishes it gives birth to a perfect animal and has breasts and suckles its young. And when a dolphin dies, the others gather together and carry the dead one into the depths of the sea and bury him so that he will not be eaten by fish. 

The small dolphins all stay together as they take each other by the hand and two large dolphins are their guardians. And if one of them dies, they carry him on their shoulders and armpits, protecting him so that he is not attacked by other fish, and when the storm of the sea throws the dead one ashore,  they hold each other affectionately, that is why it is said (as Pliny states) that a dolphin was caught by King Carie and a great multitude of Dolphins came to the harbor where he was caught and tied up. They sobbed and mourned as if desiring mercy, so the king let him go.
Aristotle, Historia Animalium

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