Let me sing you a song - The Rusalka

Hi! Thank you for dropping in to Myth Perceptions where I'm sharing with you various myths and legends I've discovered while researching for my fantasy writing!

Right now, I'm exploring various myths about Mermaids. Having recently spent a lovely Saturday enjoying a Ukranian and a Polish Festival, I am delighted to now share a Slavic "mermaid" myth--The Rusalkas.

Rusalka

Rusalkas are the Slavic form of mermaids, or naiads. Stories say that they are not creatures of their own, but the ghosts of maidens who die a violent death or suicide. The Rusalkas are described in various ways, sometimes with tails when they are lying in the bottom of rivers or streams, but usually with legs when they leave their watery homes to dance in the fields alongside the water or sit, singing, in trees to seduce young men to their deaths. The stories give them either green eyes or white eyes and long hair of either green or golden hue that is perpetually wet. Often, the Rusalka would leave the water to sit in a tree and sing songs or sit on the dock and comb her hair. Like a fish out of water, the Rusalka cannot live long without it, and it is said that if their hair dried out they would die. Their combs are how they call water to them.

There is a Czech opera about the Rusalka, which shares some similar elements as Hans Christian Anderson's famous story. However, in the opera, it is not the mermaid who dies, but the prince.

The Rusalka are said to be their most dangerous during a festival called Semik or Green Week which occurs on the seventh week after Easter. Traditionally, women would hang ribbons a birch tree as offerings to ward off the Rusalkas and swimming was strictly forbidden during this week. Green Week was also a traditional fertility festival and the birch tree would be "drowned" at the end of the week to bring rains to the fields. A wonderful example of sympathetic magic.

I hope you'll come back next month to find out what other types of mermaids I've encountered in my research. Until then, Blessed Be.

Denise Golinowski is a reader and writer of fantasy and romance. Her newest enovella, Collector's Item, is available from  The Wild Rose Press

Her first enovella, The Festival of the Flowers: The Courtesan and the Scholar is also available  through the Wild Rose Press. You can visit her blog at Golinowski's Gambol.

One Fish, Two Fish - Two Ancient Mermaid Myths

Hi! Thank you for dropping in to Myth Perceptions where I'm sharing various myths and legends I've discovered while researching for my fantasy writing, and for you!

For the next few months, I'll be exploring various myths about Mermaids.

Last month, I talked a little about Hans Christian Anderson's The Littlest Mermaid. While I was digging around my memories of the story and researching to find more details, I discovered a reference to two of the "first" mermaid myths--The Myth of Atargatis--and another similar myth about Thessalonike.

Image by Virginia Lee

Atargatis is a Syrian or Aramaic goddess. Several sources call her the mermaid goddess. She was a fertility and protective goddess. One popular myth involves her falling in love (or being cursed to love) a human male. When he dies (or disappears), she casts herself into a lake to become half-human/half-fish. Her followers will not eat fish nor doves (doves are sacred to her daughter).

Image Source - Greek Reporter

Thessalonike is another ancient mermaid myth however my research discovered that she was a historical figure who also has evolved into a myth. Historically, Thessalonike was half-sister to Alexander The Great. During her life, she went from near forgotten daughter to sequestered princess to Queen of Macedonia. It's a very convoluted story, but a fascinating read in the Wiki. The myth is Very Different.

It is said that Alexander the Great bathed his half-sister, Thessalonike's hair with water that would make her immortal. When he died, Thessalonike was so stricken with grief, she threw herself into the sea and became a mermaid. It was her tradition to inquire of passing ships: Is Alexander the King alive? Wise sailors would reply: He lives and reigns and conquers the world. Then she would let them pass. Those who did not reply properly would face her wrath in storm and shipwreck. 

I have to wonder why she would pose a question to which she knew the answer and then punish those who spoke the truth. Not very sporting of her.

I am fascinated by the fact that both of these "original" mermaid stories are not that far from Hans Christian Anderson's mermaid story. (Obviously he did his homework too, eh?) Both cast themselves into the sea to die, or transform and the impetus--love. If I can lead you one step further, I would offer the observation that the sea these female representations are throwing themselves into can be viewed as a representation of emotions (represented by the element of water). And they all lose themselves in the sea of their emotions, becoming something else all together. I leave it to you to decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing, for them or for us.

Well, I'll end it here and welcome your comments. Please come back next month when I'll be exploring another batch of mermaid myths here at Myth Perceptions.


Denise Golinowski is a reader and writer of fantasy and romance. Her newest enovella, Collector's Item, is available from  The Wild Rose Press

Her first enovella, The Festival of the Flowers: The Courtesan and the Scholar is also available  through the Wild Rose Press. You can visit her blog at Golinowski's Gambol.

Final Stop for the Shapeshifters World Tour - Skinwalkers

Hi! Denise Golinowski here with this month's edition of Myth Perceptions.

The final stop on the Shapeshifters World Tour brings us home from Europe to explore the myth of the Navajo Skinwalker.

Skinwalkers are Navajo witches who have chosen evil instead of healing. It is said Native Americans are reluctant to talk about the skinwalker myth, perhaps for fear of retribution. The information I read revealed that a witch can only become a skinwalker through murdering a family member. The power gained enables them to change shape and use the powers of the animal. The most frequently listed forms are that of coyote, wolf, fox, crow, or owl.

If a person is foolish enough to stare into the eyes of a Skinwalkers they could lose control of their body and will. Skinwalkers seek to frighten, kill, maim, or control others. They have no other desire. They can take most any form they choose and are said to lure people away from safety using the voices and/or appearance of loved ones. Legend says that the only way to kill a skinwalker is with a bullet dipped in white ash or by saying their full name before shooting them.

The majority of articles I discovered on the web repeat the same basic information with little about motivation or intent. The one clear picture is that a skinwalker has no goal except power. The saying "power corrupts" certainly appears to apply; these witches lose or surrender their humanity in pursuit of the power of the skinwalker.

Of all the shapeshifters I've presented and researched for the Shapeshifters World Tour, the skinwalkers are the most disturbing for me. They were certainly a unsettling ending to the tour, but perhaps the cautionary tale contained within their mythos is a useful one. Power is a seductive and destructive mistress.

Well, it's been a winding road, but the Shapeshifters World Tour has reached it's final stop. I hope that it's been entertaining and informative. I know I've learned quite a lot, and I've also "unlearned" a lot of what I'd expected when first setting out on this tour.

The biggest take-away for me is the realization that most of the shapeshifter myths I'd been taught were not about humans shifting into animals, but more often of mythical creatures shifting into humans. What does it say about our ancestors or ourselves that we would think divine or magical creatures would find being human so very attractive? Of course, the intent isn't always benign, but there is a touch of ego in there, don't you think?

I haven't decided where Myth Perceptions is going to be headed next month, so all I can ask is that you come back to check and see. Please feel free to leave me your thoughts about Skinwalkers or about the Shapeshifter World Tour in general. Or just say hello.

NEWS FLASH:  Friday's the day! Collector's Item will be released by The Wild Rose Press for all eformats on May 17th. Yeppers, Release Day is almost upon us and I'm going to be celebrating with a Virtual Release Day Party! Speaking of ego, there will be a lot of tweeting and posting about the world of Collector's Item, but there will also be prizes. Drop by Golinowski's Gambol or Denise Golinowski/Author on fb to find out more.

Denise Golinowski is a reader and writer of fantasy and romance. Collector's Item is being released by The Wild Rose Press in all electronic formats on May 17th, 2013!

Her first enovella, The Festival of the Flowers: The Courtesan and the Scholar is also available  through the Wild Rose Press. You can visit her blog at Golinowski's Gambol.

Swanning About Swan Maidens

Hi! Denise Golinowski here with this month's edition of Myth Perceptions.

Continuing with the Shapeshifters World Tour, I've crossed the channel from Scotland to Eastern Europe to explore the myth of the Swan Maidens.

As with most myths we've explored before, there are a variety of swan maiden myths spread across various cultures from Scandanavia to Germany to Japan. However, the majority of myths about Swan Maidens appear to be European in origin.

Pixabay.com

The Swam Maiden myth usually involves lovely magical women wearing swan skins or robes who regularly descend to quiet, isolated pools to shed their feathers and splash about in the waters. They are discovered by a human intruder, and one is captured when the intruder takes possession of her feather skin/robe. As long as the human male holds the robe, the swan maiden must remain with him in human form. Eventually, someone spills the beans about the whereabouts of the robe or the swan maiden finds it. Once she regains possession of her robe, she flies away abandoning the man as well as any offspring they may have engendered.  Click the link beneath this image to read what I found to be one of the most popular versions of the Swan Maiden myth.

From Europa's Fairy Book

Pixabay.com

The myth is most popularly portrayed by the ballet, Swan Lake with one crucial difference. The  man and maiden in this ballet are truly in love and sacrifice themselves in order to stay together.

I especially enjoyed the variety of swan maiden stories contained on this website - http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/swan.html#contents. 

What I find intriguing about this and some of the other shapeshifting myths is how a magical creature could make themselves so vulnerable as to shed the key to their freedom and then leave it lying around where a covetous human can steal it away from them. I guess when you're a magical creature, you can be as careless as any human, but it seems odd.

If you remove the stupidity factor (sorry, shapeshifters, but I'm calling a spade a spade here), the other fact that captures my imagination is that many of these shapeshifter myths seem to feature beautiful females being captured by human males and forced into marriage/motherhood. Consider selkies, kitsunes, and now swan maidens.

In light of this forced slavery, I am hard-pressed to be upset by the fact that when these females regain possession of their stolen skins, they leave the male without a backward glance. (Okay, there is the issue of their abandonment of their children, but since they are usually magical creatures only temporarily human, the concept of human attachment cannot apply). Heck, I'm surprised the females don't turn on the males in retribution, but perhaps the small, gentle or defenseless animal personas are not pure happenstance, eh? Seals? Swans? Foxes?

What do you think? Heartless Hussies or Escaping Victims?

Well, that's all for this month. Next month will be the final stop on our Shapeshifter World Tour and will bring us back to the Americas with an exploration of Skinwalkers.

Please feel free to leave me your thoughts about some of the questions I've raised or about the Shapeshifter World Tour in general. Or just say hello.

Denise Golinowski is a reader and writer of fantasy and romance. Collector's Item has been released by The Wild Rose Press exclusively on the Kindle and will be available in all electronic formats on May 17th, 2013!

Her first enovella, The Festival of the Flowers: The Courtesan and the Scholar is also available  through the Wild Rose Press. You can visit her blog at Golinowski's Gambol.

Werewolves and Shapeshifters

The concept of shapeshifters exists in every culture around the world. They take many forms and obey a diverse set of rules depending upon the specific culture. Since my forthcoming book, "Collector's Item," involves shapeshifters, specifically werejaguars, I thought I'd share a little of my discoveries and ruminations upon the dual-natured in a series of posts.

This first post will deal with my perception of the concepts of  "were" and "shapeshifter."

There is the much discussion about difference between shapeshifters and weres of whatever animal (werewolves, werejaguars, werefoxes). To my mind, shapeshifter is a generic, major classification-type term. It describes the shared trait among the dual-natured - the ability to change their shapes. That said, the weres, selkies, kitsune, etc. are all forms of shapeshifters.

Another thing to note is that shapeshifters have two classes--those who are humans shifting to animal form or animals who shift to human form. Animals who shift into human form more often than not do so for malicious reasons, to prey upon humans in some manner. In the majority of myths involving humans changing into animals, the change has a very negative origin--curses, punishment, flight from an angry god, take your pick. In myths or stories where the change is not one-way/permanent, the "descent" into animal form is nearly always viewed as a "bad" thing.

Werewolves are the ultimate of the bad transitions, and what makes werewolves unique among the shapeshifters is their infamous connection to the moon. Of all the shapeshifters I have encountered in my research, only the werewolves are under the curse of the full moon.

It seems the rest of the shapeshifters are in control of their change, deciding  when and where they shift. Sometimes even choosing "what" they change into when they shift. Not surprising, even shapeshifters who can control their changes are not viewed with anything less than a jaundiced eye. Some are considered truly evil, such as the Native American skinwalkers and the Korean kumiho to name a few, using their abilities to prey upon others.

My werejaguars in "Collector's Item" are not your standard weres. Their transformations are not controlled by the moon and, even more unusual, the jaguar side of my weres have their own personalties and thoughts. The human side is in control, but the animal form is self-aware. Sounds a bit schizophrenic, but in my world, shapeshifters carefully nurture their young, helping them to accept their animal sides in a symbiotic lifestyle. However, the human side is ALWAYS the side in control. It's not an easy thing to accept and some do not gain control of their animal sides. Those who fail are called Unadapted and in "today's" world, they are treated with a drug that suppresses their animal selves completely, enabling the Unadapted to live normal human lives.

Next month, I will share tidbits about some of the Asian shapeshifters. Until then, be careful when you're outside on a full moon. That howl you hear may not be the neighbor's dog.

NEWS FLASH! I'm thrilled to announce that "Collector's Item" will be released by The Wild Rose Press on May 17th!

Denise Golinowski is a reader and writer of fantasy and romance. Her first enovella, The Festival of the Flowers: The Courtesan and the Scholar is available now through the Wild Rose Press. Her second enovella, Collector's Item will also be released by The Wild Rose Press May 17, 2013. You can visit her blog at Golinowski's Gambol.

Take a Moment to be Thankful--I Will

Here on the eve of that All American Food Fest called Thanksgiving Day, instead of exploring the world of myths, I'm pondering some "truths" for which I am deeply grateful.

Thanksgiving is not only an opportunity to indulge your love for all things starchy and gravy, thereby inducing the infamous "turkey coma," but also a day for which we should pause and ponder the good fortune of our lives.

This year, perhaps we can all be thankful that the election mayhem is well and truly over. The election commercials have ceased clogging the airwaves. PAC's are no longer stalking our  home phones. And everyone can resume normal life, as we know it.

Then there is our great good fortune to live in this country. All politics aside, we are fortunate to live in the ol' USofA. We can walk our streets in relative safety, no need to fear the whine of incoming missiles. We can go to the local store and are offered a variety of goods that would stagger some. We can worship our higher power of choice without fear of another groups attempting to obliterate us from the face of the earth. We can pursue whatever level of education or knowledge we choose without someone censoring our information or trying to kill us for reaching above our station/race/sex. The list in my heart goes on, but these stand out and I am thankful.

More personally, I am thankful for the multitude of blessings this year. I remain in good health as do all members of my family, far and wide. My son and new daughter-in-law will be blessing our family with a grand-daughter in the coming year. My writing continues to improve and my novella was accepted for publication - Collector's Item coming out in 2013. I have broadened my base of friends and have connected with a wonderful group of talented women to create this blog - Words, Women, Wisdom.

And I continue to have the loving support of a wonderful man, my husband of sixteen years.

So, take a moment tomorrow, before you dive into that Thanksgiving Bonanza and count your blessings. I guarantee it will make the meal all the sweeter.

Happy Thanksgiving and Blessed Be!

Denise Golinowski is a reader and writer of fantasy and romance. Her first enovella, The Festival of the Flowers: The Courtesan and the Scholar is available now through the Wild Rose Press. Her second enovella, Collector's Item will also be published by The Wild Rose Press in 2013. You can also visit her blog at Golinowski's Gambol.