#bestiary
![bestiarium:The Chitapo [Lamba mythology; African mythology]River and lake spirits are a very common](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a9e6dc3d42b6d777ddbefa9cb139a99c/efb9b1298c53bff7-50/s1280x1920/e5f3fd3ee67602d231f127d6b0473bfc3f455470.jpg "bestiarium:The Chitapo [Lamba mythology; African mythology]River and lake spirits are a very common")
The Chitapo [Lamba mythology; African mythology]
River and lake spirits are a very common motif in myths and legends from around the world. One such example is the Chitapo from the mythology of the Lamba people, who live in what is now Zambia.
This is a female lake spirit, who resides at the bottom of a lake and hoards diamonds and emeralds. Chitapo are malicious and lure people to a watery grave, not unlike sirens and mermaids in European legends. It is also said – though this part is a bit unclear – that when a child is born under ill omens, a Chitapo disposes it the newborn baby. I am not sure how she does this, and what her motives are for doing so.
These beings are sometimes described as mermaids, with the upper body of an attractive woman and the lower body of a fish. However, this may not always have been the case, as some anthropologists propose that the mermaid-like imagery may have resulted from conflation between the myth of the Chitapo – a water spirit taking the form of a human woman – and the Funkwe – a giant water snake with the tail of a fish. The two myths do overlap to some extent, with locals claiming that the two creatures inhabit the same lakes in some instances, such as in lakes Nakamwale, Kashiba and Namulolobwe. It is also said that the Funkwe serves as a guardian for the Chitapo, and guards the latter’s treasure.
It is also possible that the Chitapo was changed into a mermaid under the influence of European colonists or travelers, who may have told stories about mermaids.
Lake Nakamwale has a different take, where the lake spirit often takes the form of a small diamond, which sits in the mouth of the giant snake, protecting it from harm.
Sources:
Spiegel, Brian, “Water Spirits and Mermaids: The Copperbelt Chitapo” (2008). Anthropology Publications. Paper 2.
(image source: Diane Özdamar, the image is a general mermaid, but I couldn’t find images of the Chitapo specifically)
Chitapo, the 206th Known One.
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Iara, the 205th Known One.
According to the oral tale, Iara is a beautiful young woman, sometimes described as having green hair, light brown or copper-colored skin (…) and brown eyes, with a tail similar as a freshwater river dolphin, manatee or fish body (…) who would sit on a rock by the river combing her hair or dozing under the sun. When she felt a man around she would start to sing gently to lure him. Once under the spell of the Iara a man would leave anything to live with her underwater forever, due to the fact that she was pretty and would cater for all the needs of her lover for the rest of his life. Other versions indicate that she slew the men and drowned them. - Wikipedia
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Mer-ant.
The missing link i’ve been searching for.. Myrmecomermaid
Original prompt by @cartoon-and-animal-lover
TheBoroboroton is a tsukumogami in Japanese mythology. A tattered futon given life through a century of use, it is considered one of the most wicked and dangerous of all the tsukumogami.
The Boroboroton will wait until someone lies down on it, and then rise up, throwing them to the floor. It will then wrap itself around their head and neck and attempt to strangle them.
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TheBlack Demon is a monstrous shark said to prowl the waters off Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. It has been described as between twenty and sixty feet in length, and is said to resemble a great white, but with unusually dark colouration.
There have been several explanations offered up for the Black Demon’s identity, from a surviving megalodon to an entirely new species of shark. The most popular theory is that it is a great white shark suffering from melanism.
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A moon boy, mum looks displeased.
PERMIAN PERIOD map (Old cartography style)
This map is inspired in old cartography, presenting the animals that lived at that time in a stylized way, just as a medieval artists would had drawn them. Two more maps for the Cretaceous, JurassicandTriassic periods are also available.
this artwork is available fopr prints, t-shirts and much more here
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Permian Bestiary
Previosly I made a series of Bestiaries including animals of the Mesozoic, along with maps for each period in a Medieval-ish style. Here is now the Permian version. Available at Redbubble for prints and more
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CRETACEOUS Period World Map (old cartography style)
This map is inspired in old cartopgraphy, presenting the animals that lived at that time in a stylized way, just as a medieval artists would had drawn them. Two more maps for the JurassicandTriassicperioids are coming after this one with same proportions, so stay tunned!
this artwork is available fopr prints, t-shirts and much more here
find me on Instagram: @mariolanarensis
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Giant animals or tiny knights?
Like this project? help me create more! Consider supporting me on Ko-fi.
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A griffon with the front half of a potoo and the back half of a loris.
I have a MIGHTY NEED to see this creature rendered in art or at least sloppy photoshop!
Radio static is still pretty cool sounding for horror ambience but I wanna hear more media where it’s just crystal clear but obviously abnormal stuff coming out of the radios or TV’s. Not too on the nose like scary demon voices just confusing weird stuff that doesn’t make sense as a legitimate human broadcast.
Anyone remember this one spooky youtube video where some guys were stuck driving a loop of the same back roads and it was associated with these bizarre repetitive music notes on their radio?? I still remember those annoying weird notes and how much creepier that was to me than the scary guy who shows up later.
Edit: yeah it was “no through road!”
I once, legitimately, heard a weird radio broadcast where a guys started singing about how turtle men were going to harvest our blood and “were working for those unseen” on a radio station that once I changed the station, I couldn’t redial back into
It all sounded liveWell wherever they are now, thank you to whoever stopped those turtle men
Encounter: Middle-Aged Radicalized Turtle Men, blood harvesters in the service of Those Unseen…
Traditional European Christmas time monsters, photographer across the Europe by Charles Fréger.
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