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Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 8/28/2008 8:03:16 PM
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Giulia
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From: Giulia
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Not sure if anyone has ever seen one but I read an account that Christopher Columbus reported that he saw one. There are also many statues around the world of creatures with a tail so either they have come from the imagination or people have seen them. Many have written about mermaids but I tend to think these are impostors posing as an innocent in order to get the confidence of an unsuspecting victim. The bible also has an account of these creatures in Revelation. They are obviously fallen creatures which are sinister. Anyway doing some research about them anyone got any good sites or info about them?
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 8/28/2008 8:56:10 PM
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Locke
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When you claim that Revelation describes these creatures, what exactly are you referring to, both in substance and reference verse? I've read it through pretty thoroughly, and I have no idea where you're getting that from.
As long as mankind has been making up myths, there have been stories of people with animal parts. Whether it be by drug-induced hallucinations (as that's how many tribal cultures communicate with the spirit world), active imaginations, or demonic tricks, I think that it is quite safe to assume that no such creatures exist. There are really three options: either God created them (very unlikely, for many reasons), they are people who interbred with animals (impossible, says science - we can't even interbreed with similar mammals, never mind fish), or they just plain don't exist. It makes for a good Disney movie or pirate tale, but doesn't hold up if you try to rationalize it in the real world.
As for your asking for sources, there are two angles: 1) They don't exist, so you can make up anything you like about them. Who can prove you wrong? 2) You can research the common elements of mermaid myths, as a part of cultural history. I'd check out Wikipedia for that. It cross-references all sorts of related pages, and even has links to related websites at the bottom of each article.
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 8/28/2008 11:43:47 PM
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Ganheim
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I know that pre-Islamic Egyptian mythology has a plethora of half-man creatures, the most famous of which having a giant statue of its likeness: the sphynx creature (though that only had the head of a human, while most of it was like a lion). Other myths included "merfolk" which now are generally thought to be what sailors mistook animals like the Dugong, Manitee, sometimes also called Sirenia or Sea Cows.
Despite the prevalence of "half-human" (or, more often, anthropomorphized animals) in mythologies, to my understanding most scholars believe these to be metaphorical tools rather than literal depictions. That's all I have for now.
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 8/29/2008 7:44:20 PM
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Dancre
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Mmmm . . . sounds like an interesting character for a story. :)
kim
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 8/30/2008 1:17:38 PM
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Locke
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quote:
Revelation 9:7 (NIV)
The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.
Oh, so you're not talking about mermaids now - you're just talking about creatures that look part-human, and part animal?
quote:
9:11 - They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.
I think that the Bible makes it pretty clear that these are either demonic creatures or an analogous vision to represent something else. It does not seem to suggest that these are in any way a separate order of creation, or part of the animal family, but rather "angels of the abyss," which I would conclude is hell.
That's my take on that reference. 
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/5/2008 7:08:45 PM
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Giulia
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quote:
I think that the Bible makes it pretty clear that these are either demonic creatures or an analogous vision to represent something else. It does not seem to suggest that these are in any way a separate order of creation, or part of the animal family, but rather "angels of the abyss," which I would conclude is hell.
Where does it make it clear?
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/5/2008 8:12:12 PM
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Locke
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Their king is the "angel over the abyss." The word "abyss" is used in many other places in the bible to refer to hell, like in the quotation below:
quote:
"Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. And they begged Him not to command them to depart into the abyss." (Luke 8:30-31 RSV)
You might argue that the abyss in this case was merely exile from wherever they were at the time, but I think we can safely assume that is false, seeing as Legion was "begging" not to be sent there.
I found this site to be an excellent resource on this topic.
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/6/2008 6:29:33 PM
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Giulia
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I'll check it out. The Angel of Light is a real person though. Angels can take on human or bestial form.
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/6/2008 6:32:42 PM
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Giulia
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Yes. Angels take on human form, as in the person who had a legion. It has also been recorded that a donkey took on an angelic form when he spoke to Joshua (was it? Perhaps I'm wrong there). Even the pigs which they were cast into by Jesus.
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/6/2008 8:45:42 PM
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Locke
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Yes, but do angels take form by natural ability, or by God-given miracle? I would argue that regardless of form, an angel is an angel, and a demon is a demon (ie. fallen angel).
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/10/2008 11:02:15 AM
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Giulia
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quote:
Yes, but do angels take form by natural ability, or by God-given miracle? I would argue that regardless of form, an angel is an angel, and a demon is a demon (ie. fallen angel).
Never said it was natural ability that changed their form or made them like they are. Yes angel is angel and demon is demon. They both take on spiritual form and actually when I think about it the 7 demons that go into a person after they have been clean do so from their own will, it seems.
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/10/2008 1:43:54 PM
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Locke
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Ah, okay - you're post seemed to imply that was their natural ability. When you say they "both take on spiritual form," what do you mean? I believe that they are naturally in that form already.
Also, I never argued against Legion possessing people being not about their will - absolutely it was. I would argue against their ability to change form at will. Not appearance, mind you. Just physical form. Appearances can be deceiving...
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/10/2008 7:25:44 PM
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Giulia
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quote:
Also, I never argued against Legion possessing people being not about their will - absolutely it was. I would argue against their ability to change form at will. Not appearance, mind you. Just physical form. Appearances can be deceiving...
How do you know? Perhaps it's an illusory thing that they can change shape.
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/10/2008 10:56:40 PM
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Locke
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I would agree - that's what I was saying when I said that I would not argue against their ability to change appearance, just form.
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/11/2008 3:07:24 AM
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Ganheim
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Locke
I think that the Bible makes it pretty clear that these are either demonic creatures or an analogous vision to represent something else. It does not seem to suggest that these are in any way a separate order of creation, or part of the animal family, but rather "angels of the abyss," which I would conclude is hell.
That sounds like a pretty good take to me. The first part of Dante's Divine Comedy (which more people know of as Dante's Inferno) included numerous mention of half-human half-animal creatures, all used as a metaphorical device illustrating how when the natural order is twisted that something against the normal course is created.
And as for fallen angels (demons) changing their physical form, in many senses couldn't the physical form be considered little more than a shallow appearance? How much of a man's essence is shown by his skin? Okay, maybe that wasn't a fair question and I'm pretty sure that trying to answer it would throw the thread off-topic. One of my characters in Life of the Silver Tear is a demon (fallen angel) who frequently changes form, though whether it's literally changing appearance or changing the complete physical form I haven't actually dealt with - he (she? it?) has always been at a distance so to speak.
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/12/2008 7:15:04 AM
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Giulia
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quote:
That sounds like a pretty good take to me. The first part of Dante's Divine Comedy (which more people know of as Dante's Inferno) included numerous mention of half-human half-animal creatures, all used as a metaphorical device illustrating how when the natural order is twisted that something against the normal course is created.
It seems like this creature has been seen by many people because there are many statues of mermaids and other creatures with tails and there are many accounts; first of which is a creature in the bible called Appolyon. Dante's was not specifically a half fish half man creature.
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RE: Creatures which are half man and have a tail - 9/15/2008 6:36:22 AM
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Giulia
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quote:
Mmmm . . . sounds like an interesting character for a story. :)
kim
Yes Kim, I agree. Thing is it has been done so much. Perhaps one day, I know the character well. Am working on other stuff at the moment.
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