A Wizard's Bestiary: A Menagerie of Myth, Magic, and Mystery

361 Pages·2007·33.91 MB·English

by  Ash Dekirk

Acclaim for the work
A WIZARD’S BESTIARY is an ambitious and comprehen- the ghostly, black devil dogs of old England; the blood-
sive compilation of imaginary-animal lore. The color- sucking, vampire-like Chupacabras of Puerto Rico;
ful text and abundance of both traditional and con- or the many and mysterious long-necked serpents of
temporary illustrations capture the rich variety of an- the world’s lakes, lochs and oceans, Zell-Ravenheart’s
imal forms that the human imagination has reshaped title is one that I heartily recommend.
over millennia. A valuable encyclopedic addition to With entries on a dizzying array of beasts, such
the ever-growing shelf of books on fantastic creatures. as the terrifying, cave-dwelling Aatxe of Spain; and
—Joseph Nigg the Boroka of the Philippines—which has the unfor-
author of The Book of Fabulous Beasts tunate habit of dining upon human flesh; as well as
much welcome data on monsters of the movies; and a
This gorgeous, sumptuously-illustrated book is truly rich array of drawings, photographs, maps, and more,
a stunning contribution to the cryptozoological and A WIZARD’S BESTIARY is a book that is destined to be-
zoomythological literature, one that is destined to re- come a true monster-hunting classic.
main a standard reference work on these subjects for —Nick Redfern
many years to come. —Karl P.N. Shuker, PhD author of Memoirs of a Monster Hunter
author of The Beasts That Hide From Man andThree Men Seeking Monsters
As we stand at the edge of the vast unknown, we all Oberon Zell-Ravenheart’s stunning new work lifts the
look in to see and for some, to investigate cryptic ani- curtain allowing the reader backstage to examine the
mate enigmas. Those of us who have been doing this for elusive creatures of myths and legends. Bigfoot, Mer-
decades, as Zell-Ravenheart has, view the fantastic world maids, Dragons and more, the Unicorn information
of animal mysteries, ancient living wonders, and accom- alone is worth the price of admission. Not only a fas-
modating new species in different ways. Cultural insights, cinating read but a comprehensive reference that you
ethnic folklore, native traditions, and magical tales mix will find yourself going back to time and again. “Don’t
in and have their place in this phantasmagoria involved wait, don’t hesitate, get a copy now!”
in the study of hidden animals. This book shares over- —Rick West,Dr. West’s
looked insights and incredible clues for the casual read- Traveling Sideshows and Animal Menagerie
er or the dedicated student of cryptozoology. A valu-
able resource. Highly recommended.
Acclaim for Dragonlore by Ash DeKirk:
—Loren Coleman, co-author,
Creatures of the Outer Edge,Cryptozoology A to Z
I just received the book today, and I’ve had a hard
Lively, entertaining and informative, this is the book I time putting it down. I have never seen a more com-
wish I had when I first began researching the lore of plete discussion of dragons, from around the world,
the world’s magical creatures. No monster hunter can and through the ages. If you have any interest in the
afford to be without it. —John Michael Greer legends and lore of dragons, this book is for you.
author of Monsters: —Mark Mercier, Mobile, AL
An Investigator’s Guide to Magical Beings
Anyone with an interest in dragons will enjoy this
Oberon Zell! Who better to write such a book than book. I can think of at least two DMs who will be
this living legend from the magickal world. Here is receiving this book as a Christmas/Yule gift from me.
the man who recreated living Unicorns, who traveled Please keep more of these books coming.
to the remote South Seas in search of genuine Mer- —FrogsDancing, Quakertown, PA
maids. —Amber K, author of True Magick
There are legends of dragons all around us—and they
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart’s mighty tome is undoubt- appear in fantasy novels and games as well as movies.
edly the one book that, more than any other, I was Any fan of dragons will be thus delighted with DRAG-
hoping someone, someday was finally going to write: ONLORE, which examines the details of every species
namely, a definitive, encyclopedic study of the many of dragon, gathers myths under one cover, and con-
and varied weird beasts, fabulous monsters, and dia- siders the impact and presence of dragons in popular
bolical creatures that are said to lurk in the darkened culture. Black and white illustrations pepper an ex-
corners of our mysterious world. cellent overview that is a pick for any dragon fan, and
Whether your interest focuses upon those elu- any collection strong in fantasy.
sive, hairy man-beasts such as Bigfoot and the Yeti; —Midwest Book Review, Oregon, WI
Copyright © 2007 by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and
Ash “LeopardDancer” Dekirk
All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This
book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system
now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career
Press.
A Wizard’s Bestiary
Edited by Kirsten Dalley
Typeset by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart
Cover design by Lucia Rossman/Digi Dog Design NYC
and Ian Daniels
Printed in the U.S.A. by Book-mart Press
To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-848-0310)
to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press.
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Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon, 1942-
A wizard’s bestiary / by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Ash “LeopardDancer”
DeKirk
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-56414-956-5
ISBN-10: 1-56414-956-0
1. Animals, Mythical. I. DeKirk, Ash, 1978- II. Title.
GR820.Z45 2007
398.24’54--dc22
2007042608
A Wizard’s Bestiary
A Menagerie of Myth, Magic, and Mystery
Oberon Zell Ravenheart
-
and Ash “Leoparddancer” DeKirk
New Page Books
A division of The Career Press, Inc.
Franklin Lakes, NJ
Foreword: Creatures of the Night
by Jacques Vallee
Creatures of the Night—is it wise to force them time,about which the question is settled of whether de-
out of the gloom where they linger, like the ancient mons can procreate and exercise the work of the flesh.”
Chimaera that was part goat, part lion, and part Drag- In the present volume, focused on creatures close-
on, and presided over the passage of the evening sun ly related to animals, rather than meta-humans like
into the darkness? At dusk, like the Salamander, they elves and Cyclops, we meet beings from myth and
emerge at the intersection of magical biology and hu- legend all over the globe. Under Oberon’s gifted pen,
man imagination. Gubernatis, in his erudite Mytho- they are brought to life again and become, in more
logical Zoology, believes the Salamander represents ways than one, “familiar” to us.
the moon which lights itself, lives by its own fire, has We live in an age that claims rationality as its stan-
no ray of its own, and makes the rays (and hairs) of dard. It relegates any deviation from the academic
the sun fall off. norm to the realm of the impossible, alongside the
Before our friends Oberon and Ash, many schol- Mermaid and the Unicorn—phantasms of a bygone
ars and sorcerers of every age, in their wisdom—or era when folks were insecure and uneducated. So the
their temerity?—have attempted to catalogue and to reader should be prepared for a shock when opening
elucidate the strange beings described by their con- this book: You will learn that there is a perfectly ra-
temporaries. The monsters did not always hide in the tional explanation for Mermaids, and that Unicorns
secret convenience of the dark. Some even dared to do exist. Several of them appeared in this century and
expose themselves in full daylight, the better to scare followed Oberon and his jolly friends in their adven-
honest medieval folks out of their wits. tures. I have touched a live Unicorn and can report how
Thus we find in Schedel’s wonderful it felt to experience some-
Gessner’s duckfooted
Chronicles of Nuremberg (1493) thing that every academic knew as an
mermaid
the stupefying representation of a 1558 absolute fact to be impossible.
being with six arms, seen by as- We shouldn’t sell scientists short,
tonished townspeople. A creature however. Contemporary biotech must
observed in Rome in 1530 had have learned some of the lessons from
feet like a duck’s, an enormous oldgrimoires, because it is busy rein-
forked tail like a fish, the breasts venting the Chimaera in the lab
of a woman, and a human face through genetic manipulations that
with straight ears, like those of a hope to save lives and throw new light
deer. Gesner published an engrav- on the mysteries of biology, birth, dis-
ing of it in Zurich in 1558. ease, and the evolution of species.
Aldrovandi of Bologna relates the adventures of They could also spell danger: As scary as the
a horned hybrid in a book he published in 1642. As Gryphon may be, the chimaeras that contemporary
for Sebastian Munster, an illustration in his 1544 book labs are patenting with such entrepreneurial frenzy will
titledCosmographie clearly shows a woman kneel- be a thousand times more powerful. If cryptozoology
ing (in adoration or begging for her life—or her vir- gives any warning, it is that we only unleash such
tue) before a tall biped with three heads: one belong- beasts at our peril. All the more reason to learn about
ing to a serpent, one to an eagle, and one to a lion. He them before it is too late. If Unicorns roam the land,
grabs his genitalia while staring at her, in a manner what wonders will the Gargoyles belch out next, from
suggesting that, monster or not monster, he is not im- the lofty spires of our ivy towers? If the Kraken is
mune to desire. real, can Dragons be far behind?
Gesner also shows us an engraving of a Diable Fortunately, as ancient tradition teaches, there are
de Mer (Sea Devil), which must have been actually convenient medicines to cure the ravages of nightly
captured by brave fishermen, because he states it was monsters. Thus, against the poisonous venom of Sala-
“painted from nature.” The great Boaistuau himself manders, Pliny advises the seeds of the hairy and sting-
regales us with true accounts of “a mon- ing nettle, mixed with the
Gessner’s
ster born alive on Earth, which was of broth of a tortoise. We can
Sea Devil
human figure from the navel up, and the only wish that all human
rest a dog” (Chapter xxxvii). In an- nightmares could be healed
other part of his book (Chapter vii), with such simple remedies.
he illustrates a report with an en- —JacquesVallée
graving of “a Monster of our own San Francisco, 21 May 2007
A Wizard’s Bestiary
Table of Contents
Creatures of the Night by Jacques Vallée......iv Flights of Fantasy
Preface I by LeopardDancer..........................vi 16. Oriental Spirit-Creatures................215
Acknowledgements........................................vi 17. Fearsome Critters...........................223
Preface II by Oberon.....................................vii
III. Monsters of Mystery, Legend & History.227
Introduction: An Unnatural History by Oberon .x
Cryptozoology and Phenomenology
Aquatic Enigmas
I. The Magickal Menagerie........................13
18. Lake Monsters................................228
An encyclopedic Glossary from Aatxer-Ziz
19. Sea Serpents...................................238
20. Titanic Turtles, Fish, & Lizards......252
II. Creatures of Night Brought to Light.106
21. Occult Octopuses...........................257
Creepers
22. The Bunyip of the Billabong..........261
1. The Baleful Basilisk.........................107
Arial Anomalies
2. Cosmic Serpents............................... 115
23. Thunderbirds..................................266
3. Dragons............................................123
24. Leather Wings ................................272
Walkers
Prehistoric Puzzles
4. The Universal Unicorn.....................135
25. Living Dinosaurs............................279
5. Wonder Horses.................................146
26. Hairy Hominids & Mystery Monkeys..286
6. Holy Cows & Sacred Bulls..............161
Modern Mysteries
7. The Piasa & the Manticore...............166
27. Demonic Dogs ...............................299
Flyers
28. Phantom Felines.............................304
8. The Fiery Phoenix............................171
29. Curious Cats...................................310
9. Gryphons & Hippogriffs..................176
30. Mystery Monsters ..........................313
Swimmers
10. Merfolk ..........................................180 Appendices
11. The Kraken.....................................188 Unnatural Histories—a Timeline..............321
12. The Hippocampus..........................196 Comic Relief.............................................323
Human-Animal Hybrids Here Be Monsters....................................324
13. The Enigmatic Sphinx....................201 Magickal Correspondences......................331
14. Hoof & Horn: Satyrs & Centaurs.....206 Monsters in the Movies............................333
Animate Plants Bibliography, Citations, Art Credits ..........337
15. Plantimals.......................................209 Index.........................................................348
Preface I Leoparddancer
by
Incipit liber de naturis bestiarum. Here begins the book of the nature of beasts.
De leonibus et pardis et tigribus, Of lions and panthers and tigers,
lupes et vulpibus, canibus et similiis. wolves and foxes, dogs and apes.
—Aberdeen Bestiary (12th century)
OR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER,
I’ve been interested in creatures ow of a bird far larger than any I’ve ever seen before
regarded as mythical and legend- (or since, for that matter). I could also tell you that,
ary. My paternal grandparents in a field along a route I used daily, I saw a great
instilled in me a sense of wonder Earth Dragon basking in the sun. A second glance
regarding the world and all it con- revealed only a moss-covered boulder that had never
tains. They also imparted a love been there before, and is not there today. Then there
of reading and learning that is still with me today. At are Master Oberon’s Unicorns, and anyone who has
an age when most children are still reading children’s seen them cannot deny their existence!
books, I was engrossed in tales of Coyote and Raven, When I was still fairly young, I met those who
of Herakles’ trials and tasks, of Dragons, Gryphons, would introduce me to the Dun’marran path, the path
and Thunderbirds. I still follow today. The Dun’marra are the People of
My grandmother had a great deal of Native Amer- the Dragon. Through this connection, I became very
ican blood in her lineage. Even more, she embraced interested in the great beasts on which my path cen-
Native American spirituality, which she managed to ters. I went on to study Dragonlore from around the
blend quite well with her Christian beliefs. It was the world. Surprisingly enough, I found that Dragons exist
Native American beliefs, however, that she passed on wherever people live, from Africa and Asia to Europe
to me. These beliefs included a deep and abiding re- and even the Americas. Within these pages, you will
spect for the land and all of its creatures, be they hawk find Dragons and myriad other creatures of myth and
or Tlanuhwa, lizard or Dragon. lore—creatures such as the Gryphon, the Roc, the
Growing up, I focused more and more on myths, Unicorn, and the Yeti—that exist in many different
legends, and the creatures within. Likewise, I became cultures around the world.
more and more addicted to reading in general. Eventually I was led to the Grey School of Wiz-
Through it all, I wondered: Was it possible that these ardry, where I am now privileged to teach alongside
creatures were real? What would they be like if they some of the best people I have known. I am honored
were real? Indeed, over the years I’ve seen many things to have worked with Master Oberon on this project.
that I could not explain. I could swear that I’ve seen I would like to dedicate this work in loving mem-
the shadow of the Tlanuhwa. Certainly, it was the shad- ory of Nina “Dancing Bear” Clark (1928–2006).
Acknowledgements Oberon
by
First, of course, I dedicate this book to Morning him the first fossils of a lifetime colletion. I no longer
Glory, the love of my life and my cosmic soulmate, with remember his name, but his influence remains.
whom I have been privileged to share these past 34 I extend my appreciation to my old friend Tom
years of amazing adventures. This book has been our Williams for his contributions to this book, drawn from
dream for three decades, and finally, here it is! our mutual interests in cryptozoology, and our shared
I would also like to acknowledge a few of the adventures in pursuit of Unicorns and Mermaids.
authors and pioneer researchers who inspired me to Another dear friend who deserves mention here
begin my own explorations into the mistry realms of is Diane Darling—our partner in many adventures for
fabulous and forgotten beastes: Roy Chapman An- over a decade, and keeper of the last Unicorn.
drews, Bernard Heuvelmans, Ivan Sanderson, Peter Thanks to the talented artists who contributed
Byrne, Doc Holiday, Roy Mackel, Richard Greenwell, custom illustrations to this compendium: Joe Butt,
and Grover Krantz. Xander Carruthers, Ian Daniels, Ash DeKirk, Dana
I also thank some current researchers who have been Keyes,Tam Songdog, and Tracy & Adam Swangler.
kind enough to consult with me in various aspects of I thank my brother, Barry Zell, for his diligence
this book: Joseph Nigg, Loren Coleman, and Rick West. and recommendations in proofing the chapters of this
I thank the curator of the Field Museum of Nat- manuscript as they were being written.
sural History in Chicago, who took a young boy into And finally, I thank my dear friend JacquesVallée
the great museum’s back rooms and vaults, and gave for writing a perfect Foreword to this work.
Preface II Oberon
by
…Now I will believe were. My parents thought this was all rather amaz-
That there are Unicorns; that in Arabia ing, as they couldn’t even pronounce most of these
There is one tree, the Phoenix’ throne; names, and they’d ask me to come out at their parties
One Phoenix at this hour reigning there. and rattle off dinosaur stats for their guests.
—Shakespeare,The Tempest (3.3.21-24) This passion excited by dinosaurs naturally came
to extend to other fantastic creatures of long ago, in-
HAVEALWAYSHADADEEPFASCINA- cluding those of myth and legend. I began visiting
tion and affection for animals of natural history museums, hunting for fossils, and col-
all kinds, both real and imaginary. lecting dinosaur models as soon as they started being
Growing up in the suburbs of made, which I would carefully paint in realistic colors
Chicago, I spent as much time as and install in dioramas.
possible at the city’s zoos and
museums, visiting farms, and go-
ing on camping and fishing trips. I got all the Golden
Nature Guides as they came out, and never missed
Disney’s “True Life Adventures” movies, Wild King-
dom on TV, and now, Animal Planet and the Discov-
ery Channel. I have several sets of various animal en-
cyclopedias, the Time-Life Nature and Scienceseries,
and entire shelves full of books on dinosaurs, nature,
cryptozoology, and mythical monsters.
One of the most significant revelations of my
youth occurred in elementary school, when, in the
process of reading the World Book Encyclopedia vol- My library on these subjects grew, as did my col-
ume by volume, I turned to the entry on dinosaurs, lection of models, fossils, animal skulls, artwork, mov-
with a two-page spread of Charles Knight’s iconic ies, and other memorabilia pertaining to the prehis-
painting of a Triceratops facing off against a T-rex toric and mythical menageries. Today I have perhaps
With a thrill that still sends shivers down my spine, I one of the most extensive private collections of min-
suddenly realized that Dragons were real! Just as the iature dinosaur replicas in existence, going back nearly
stories said, once upon a time the world really was 60 years. Someday I need to open a museum.
ruled by huge and mighty reptiles. They lumbered over Since childhood, I have brought home, raised, and
the land, they churned the seas, and, with wings as wide kept all kinds of wild animals as pets and rescuees (I
as those of an airplane, they commandeered the air. They worked for many years with Wildlife Rescue), includ-
were even more immense and diverse than the most imag- ing frogs, salamanders, snakes, lizards, turtles, taran-
inative tales had portrayed—and they really existed! tulas, praying mantises, caterpillars and butterflies,
From that point on, I became absolutely obsessed ants, bats, owls, herons, opossums, deer, and wild pigs.
with dinosaurs. I learned everything I could about I have maintained multiple terrariums and aquariums,
those amazing creatures. Similar to a sports fanatic both fresh and salt water (yes, I had my “Age of Aquar-
memorizing statistics of all the players, I memorized iums”). And I have had my share of domesticated an-
every dinosaur name I could find and all their identi- imals as well, from gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats,
fying features: what their Greek names meant, when cats, and ferrets to goats and Unicorns—which brings
and where they lived, what they ate, and how big they us to the great Unicorn Adventure and the present book.
Triceratops & T-Rex by Charles Knight,
Field Museum of Natural History
viii A Wizard’s Bestiary
lost secret of the Unicorns—how they were actually
produced from ancient times to the Renaissance (see
Chapter 4). In the summer of 1977, we abandoned
our book project and moved to a 5,600-acre home-
steading community in the mountains of Mendocino
County, Northern California, to raise living Unicorns,
which we did from 1980–85. During that time, we
traveled all over North America exhibiting our Uni-
One evening, in the summer of 1975, my wife corns at Renaissance fairs, and appearing with them
and soulmate, Morning Glory, and I were sitting in countless TV shows, newspapers, magazines, and
around the living room with friends discussing myth- books. Finally, in 1984, our agents brokered an exhi-
ical beasties, and we decided to look up some of them bition contract with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum
in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Under “Basilisk” (see & Bailey Circus, and for the next four years our Uni-
picture), I found a fascinating article relating the Cock- corns became the stars of the Greatest Show on Earth!
atrice, Basilisk, Medusa, and a South American lizard
to the Egyptian spitting cobra, and we conceived the
idea of writing a book revealing the true origins and
history of various “mythical” creatures and entities.
Having just read Peter Beagle’s charming The Last
Unicorn (1968), we decided to title our proposed book
Creatures of Night, Brought to Light (as the novel’s
Mommy Fortuna refers to her little mythic menagerie),
and we began seriously and systematically collecting
and filing legends, pictures, and accounts of sightings
of everything from Nessie to Bigfoot.
Shortly thereafter, Morning Glory and I sold our
house in St. Louis, bought and converted an old school
bus, and set off across the country to find America
and visit friends and correspondents. From museums,
libraries, universities, and friends, we were introduced
to dozens of books on the subject of esoteric zoology
(or cryptozoology, as it is now called), including On
the Track of Unknown Animals and In the Wake of
the Sea-Serpent, bothby Bernard Heuvalmans; The
Great Orm of Loch Ness by F.W. Holiday; The Lore
of the Unicorn by Odell Shepard; the books of Charles
Fort, Willy Ley, Ivan Sanderson, Frank Edwards, Pe-
ter Costello, and countless others, which we devoured
and then added to our collection. In Oregon, I met
Bigfoot researcher Peter Byrne, and I became a regu-
lar contributor to The Bigfoot News.
After a few months of wandering, we came to
roost in 1976 in Morning Glory’s home town of Eu-
gene, Oregon. We lived there for a year, teaching a
course on Celtic shamanism and mythology at Lane With the money from the Circus contract, we next
Community College. We became actively involved mounted a diving expedition to New Guinea in search
with Oregonians Cooperating to Save the Whales, of real Mermaids—specifically, the unknown sea ani-
lobbying for a legislative boycott of whaling nations mals called Ri or Ilkai by the natives of New Ireland,
and urging the tuna fisheries to stop killing dolphins. where they were frequently seen. Find them we did,
Meanwhile, we continued our research in the library and, videotaping it all, we reported our findings to
of the University of Oregon. We explored arcane the 1985 annual meeting of the International Crypto-
mysteries and histories, and sought to unveil the truth zoological Society. We still have the videotapes, and
behind the legends of Sea Serpents, Gryphons, the someday we’d love to put together a documentary on
Phoenix, Bigfoot, Atlantis, Witches, Faeries, Elves, that expedition (see Chapter 10).
the Kraken, Dragons, Amazons, Mother Earth, Mag- These remarkable stories you will find in this book,
ick, ESP, and Unicorns. along with many other marvels and wonders of the
In the course of our research, we discovered the natural and unnatural world. Enjoy!
A Wizard’s Bestiary ix
Introduction:
An
Unnatural
History
By Oberon
Zell-Ravenheart