Global Mythologies

[Auleliel]

There's also Bloody Mary. If you go into the bathroom by yourself with a candle and say "Bloody Mary" three times, she'll appear in the mirror and kill you. This is a popular game during slumber parties, where your jerk friends will wait outside the bathroom and scream.

The version I know is a little bit different. If you look at any mirror (but especially a bathroom mirror) at midnight, Bloody Mary will come and kill you whether or not you have said "Bloody Mary" three times (although if you do say it she will drag your corpse into the mirror). I spent a few months after that slumber party avoiding mirrors at midnight...

[Mélusine]

... Also don't you share your name with a water spirit? It feels familiar.

We have a legend with a fairy named Mélusine, in France. There are different versions, but the one I know tells the story of a man who married a beautiful woman (they always are in fairytales...) who said yes but on condition that he never look at her every Saturday. One day, the man was too curious and took a look. He discovered her wife taking a bath and having the tail of a snake instead of their legs, and when she understood she had been seen, she disappeared, with or without their children according to the stories, and her husband never see her again.
But there are a lot of stories about Mélusine, and she has a link with water, you're right
(I swear I'm "normal" ^^ I use this name on internet since... twelve years maybe ?)

[Róisín]

I know several variants of that tale, Mélusine, including the one you cite. In all the tales she is one of the fey, often a water-spirit, a nymph or a lutine, or something like a mermaid, or with the tail of a fish or a snake. She turns up in some of the Arthurian cycle tales, too. Like the lake-fey of Wales, the French river or fountain nymphs would sometimes marry a human man, or take him as a lover. They would always bring something to the marriage, such as wealth, a herd of faery cattle, secret knowledge or an art or craft or healing spell, which might or might not go with them when they left. Likewise for any children of the union.

One of the Welsh lake-fey produced children who were healers, and even now there is a family claiming descent from her who have a large number of talented doctors among them.

There was always some condition to the marriage, too. For instance, it might be annulled if the husband struck her three times, or said three harsh words to her, or let her handle some jewel or artifact she had brought with her.... The Australian rivergirls will go back to the water if they hear the singing of their sisters, the selchie of Ireland, the Out Isles and Scotland must go back to the sea if they find their seal-skins, and so on.

[Hrollo]

The theme of "man marries beautiful woman who tells him not to do a Thing, and when he does the Thing oops she's a spirit/ghost/fey, away she goes" seems very common in tales from all over the world. There's even a Japanese version with a yuki onna (ice woman).

[Mélusine]

That's very interesting, Róisín, thank you for these informations I'm especially intrigued by this :

One of the Welsh lake-fey produced children who were healers, and even now there is a family claiming descent from her who have a large number of talented doctors among them.

(Intrigued = I'm sure I could write something with that. Or maybe also "Hey, I have written something related to a lake which...")

Rollo, I'm curious about the Japanese version now

[Shepherd]

One of the Welsh lake-fey produced children who were healers, and even now there is a family claiming descent from her who have a large number of talented doctors among them.

This is the one I'm familiar with I think, but I've heard the others as well though more in passing. And a portion of my family actually claims selkie heiratge (we have a couple family legends, that's one).

And no worries Mélusine, I was nicknamed 'Nimue' for years after the Arthurian lady of the lake, I still don't know how that one got started.

Rollo you're right that is a really common thread in myth, I know of some other ones that go the other way about a woman who marries a strange man and he turns out to be a dragon or something such, I think if memory serves there's even a few native america and Inuit versions, I know there's a version from Hawaii as well but I can't for the life remember the name of it.

[princeofdoom]

Rollo, I'm curious about the Japanese version now

There's also a variant with Japanese angels or tenshi (it comes out to maids of heaven or similar when written in kanji). At a certain lake, many tenshi would come to earth and take off their heavenly robes to wash in the pure water. A fisherman happened to spy them, and took a robe and hid it away thinking to keep one on earth, because without their robes they could not return to heaven. The one whose robe was stolen was distraught until the fisherman came and comforted her with kind words and took her in. But she kept pining to return to heaven with her sisters. Many years later, after they had been wed and had some children, the tenshi heard them singing something and realized that the song was about her heavenly robe which her husband had hidden and her children had found. She kissed her children goodbye and bid that they stay with their father, then found and donned her robes and returned home.

Still a connection to water.

[Hrollo]

Melusine > the version I know starts with two woodcutters, an old one and a young one, lost in a blizzard and finding refuse in a hut for the night. But when they sleep, they are visited by a Yuki Onna, who freezes the old man to death, but decides to spare the young one, as she finds him beautiful, but not after warning him that if ever recounts that incident to anyone, she'll kill him for good. Then she leaves.

Several years latter, the man meets a beautiful woman, marries her, and they have several children. She's a good wife, but she doesn't seem to age.

Finally, one night, the man tells his wife about the incident, because his wife's beauty keeps reminding him of the Yuki Onna. The then reveals that she is in fact the Yuki Onna, and that she should kill him now, but since they now have children, she spares him once again and leaves forever, after telling him to take care of the children.

(This is the version that was compiled by Lafcadio Hearn in his anthologies of Japanese horror tales, and which was adapted into the anthology film Kwaidan — which I have seen and recommend; it's a slow but gorgeous film)

[Róisín]

There's a Maori one in which one of the Golden People (the native New Zealand elves) takes up with a human woman, and is eventually sent away by being served some food he is not permitted to eat. I forget what it was, it's at least forty years since I was told the story, might have been sweet potato

North-Eastern Canada has the Copper Woman stories, some of which fit this pattern, some of which segue into creation myths. I've always suspected Copper Woman was an Irish castaway rather than anything supernatural.

And we probably shouldn't clog up the introduction thread with this. Does anyone know how to move it to a more suitable thread?
Edit: This is being weird and was meant to be added to the conversation in the Introduction thread? I can't get it to move. Help?

[kjeks]

Sooo, here you  find the latest mythologie discusion from the Introduction Thread *points upwards* there you go.

[Mélusine]

Thank you, kjeks

[Shepherd]

Oops, sorry about that I think I might have been the instigator of that little aside. >.>;

And I'd forgotten about the Copper Woman stories! It's been a long time since I ran across those.

[Hedge]

The theme of "man marries beautiful woman who tells him not to do a Thing, and when he does the Thing oops she's a spirit/ghost/fey, away she goes" seems very common in tales from all over the world. There's even a Japanese version with a yuki onna (ice woman).

I get the feeling these may be a type of tutelary folk tale type thing. Like how kelpies and other water horses or water spirits that drag you to your death near deep water serve to keep children away from the loch or the river etc. Or the many beasties that teach you not to approach strange animals or wander off at night.

In this case I just see a world full of annoyed mothers telling their children the tale of the husband who wouldn't listen to his wife even though she's told him a hundred darn times not to do something and then she leaves forever and something else horrible happens the end.

[urbicande]

There's also a variant with Japanese angels or tenshi (it comes out to maids of heaven or similar when written in kanji). At a certain lake, many tenshi would come to earth and take off their heavenly robes to wash in the pure water. A fisherman happened to spy them, and took a robe and hid it away thinking to keep one on earth, because without their robes they could not return to heaven. The one whose robe was stolen was distraught until the fisherman came and comforted her with kind words and took her in. But she kept pining to return to heaven with her sisters. Many years later, after they had been wed and had some children, the tenshi heard them singing something and realized that the song was about her heavenly robe which her husband had hidden and her children had found. She kissed her children goodbye and bid that they stay with their father, then found and donned her robes and returned home.

Talis Kimberley has done a lovely version of this with the selkie called "Still Catch the Tide"

[Adriano]

Hello!

I just wanted to ask if anybody here knew any kind of ritual/celebration for the summer solstice?
May it be pagan, religious, or whatever, I am interested in learning ways that people use to celebrate the longest day of the year throughout the world.

Thank you very much!