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Why are there myths/10 Mythical Creatures from North America

Why are there myths?

Myths and Mythical creatures inhabit the world. They are sweet or vicious. They are gigantic or very small. Some are young stories while others are incredibly old. They come from all different background like Greek or Christian mythologies.

Myths seem to be a part of every ones life. Whether they were handed down through the generations of your family or you are just hearing them for the first time myths are powerful stories. “Myths are not lies, nor are they detached stories. They are imaginative patterns. Networks of powerful symbols that suggest particular ways of interpreting the world.”

The psychological need for myths is just as great today as the day the stories were first told. They are stories we see ourselves in. “Mythology teaches you what’s behind literature and the arts, it teaches you about your own life.” The rich and tangible details can be molded to fit any season, culture, or individual. “A detail may be forgotten. A foreign trait may become naturalized, an obsolete modernized.” Society molds myths to give them a modern look to help us try and come to terms with the world. “A myth is a large, controlling image that gives philosophical meaning to the facts of ordinary life…”

Once shared as gifts or sold to strangers, myths are tales of creatures, hero’s, sacrifice, survival, religion, birth, and death. They are stories that stir the imagination, inspire hope, and warn us of danger or things to come. Myths and mythical creatures leave us wanting to know more. We research them, we seek them out, and we do what we can to prove or disprove their existence.

Many psychologists, such as the Swiss Carl Jung, have tried to explain myths. Many say that myths are like dreams. Carl Jung explained the phenomenon of myths with his theory of the Collective Unconscious. “In the same way that all human beings have an anatomical identical structure independently of their ethnicity and culture…human beings would also have a similar unconscious psyche structure, or, a collective unconscious.”

Whether Carl Jung had it right or not myths are here to stay. They have cultural importance. “Myths are society’s dream(s)…” They present concrete possibilities in time of hope and change. They teach and they entertain.

10 mythical creatures of North America and their stories… (Original Pictures Coming Soon)

The Black Dog: It is said that if you are traveling alone at night and see a phantom hound with a black coat, blazing eyes, and hideously long fangs, bad luck or even death is upon you. Believed to be the myth of Viking raiders, the Black Dog has been sited as early as 856 AD, in France. Many stories of the dog have come from Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Germany, and the eastern United States. In the state of Missouri, USA, a hunter saw the Black Dog, and threw his ax at it. The ax went right through the Black Dog’s ghostly body. Conan Doyle was influenced by the stories of the Black Dog when he wrote the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Hound of the Baskervilles".

The Bogeyman: One of the most common North American myths, the Bogeyman visits darkened bedrooms to scare little kids. As you travel the US the stories of the Bogeyman varies. In some regions the Bogeyman is male, in others female. In some Midwestern states the Bogeyman does not enter bedrooms but instead scratches on the windows. The most common description of the Bogeyman is taller than an adult with long, sharp teeth, toenails, and fingernails. His skin is covered with warts and boils. It is said that if you have a wart the bogeyman may have given it to you.

The Chupacabra: A fairly new myth (1995), the Chupacabra is said to have wings with a 13ft span like that of a bat. Large spines like that of a dinosaur bulging out from its head and back. It has red glowing eyes the size of chicken eggs. The claws on its hand and feet are very large, curved, and viciously sharp. It has fangs protruding from its top jaw that some say are bright red. The Chupacabra’s height is the one characteristic that varies with each account. It is reported that the creature stand anywhere from 3ft 3in to 6ft 6in. The Chupacabra is blamed for the brutal slaughter of pets and livestock by farmers. It attacks its prey at night sucking them dry of blood. The name Chupacabra means “goat-sucker.” The origin of this creature is unknown. Some speculate outer space, while others say it is the result of military experiments.

The Leviathan: The Leviathan is a prehistoric sea monster that has power over creatures in the oceans. In Middle Eastern Mythology the Leviathan is reported as far back as 5000 years ago. The Leviathan dates back to about 3000 years BC in Hebrew text where it is said that Yahweh (God) mad Leviathan and a female companion on the fifth day of creation but promptly killed the female to stop her from creating offspring that might destroy the world. Christian’s have identified Leviathan with Satan, and early sightings of this creature report a monster with seven heads. It is said that this creature’s mighty tail can cause Tsunami’s.

The Thunderbird: This 3 mile wide Eagle can absorb and carry an entire lake on its back, releasing the water in torrential downpours. Its feathers are as long as canoe paddles. The Thunder Bird can carry a Sperm Whale in its tremendous claws and has two heads. Its second head is in the stomach area and has eyes that cause boltsof lightning to flash from the sky. The Thunderbird is a common part of many different Native American stories. It is believed that in South Dakota the Thunderbird has left its huge footprints, 25 miles apart, near the source of the St Peter’s River in an area known as Thunder Tracks. It is believed that there are many Thunderbirds and that they live either in the sky or in remote mountain caves.

In September 2001 the Thunderbird was sighted in Pennsylvania. “On September 25, the witness told researcher Dennis Smeltzer, that the huge black or grayish-brown bird passed overhead at about 50 to 60 feet. "I wouldn't say it was flapping its wings gracefully," the witness told Smeltzer, "but almost horrifically flapping its wings very slowly, then gliding above the passing big rig trucks."

The Werewolf: Werewolf stories evolved from fear in areas of North American and Europe inhabited by Wolves. It is said that as the full moon rises into the sky a seemingly harmless human changes into a Werewolf. The Werewolf hungers for flesh and will take a human life or even dig up the corpse of a freshly filled grave. By dawn the Werewolf has changed back into its human form that is unaware of what took place the night before. In medieval Europe hundreds of innocent people were executed by mobs believing that they were infected with the disease. Some people really believed that they were Werewolves and would confess their crimes before execution. It is believed that these people were suffering from a madness known as Lycanthropy. The most cases ever reported were between 1520 and 1630, in France where 30,000 cases were reported. “The first recorded Werewolf sighting took place around the countryside of German town Colongne and Bedburg in 1591.” The Werewolf has found fame in movies and TV shows such as An American Werewolf in London, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Hopkinsville Goblin: These mischievous creatures like the night. They have bat like ears, eyes that glow brightly, and claws on their hands like that of an eagle. Though local Cherokee Indians describe a similar creature, there has been only one documented sighting of these Goblins, north of Hopkinsville Kentucky, USA. “Looking out through the kitchen window, Billy Ray and Elmer Sutton saw a goblin-like entity approaching the house with its hands held above its head. The three-feet-tall creature had disproportionately long arms, no visible neck, huge elephantine ears, and shining yellow eyes. It was glowing silver, as though lit from within. The men grabbed their shotguns and opened fire on the unearthly trespasser.”

The Jersey Devil: In the swamp lands of New Jersey called the Pine Barrens there lives a creature called the Jersey Devil. One version of the Jersey Devil’s conception is “that a young girl fell in love with a British soldier during the Revolutionary War. The people of Leeds Point cursed her. When she gave birth, she had a devil. Some people believe the birth of the devil was punishment for the mistreatment of a minister...” This creature has the body of either a very large dog or a horse. Its head is similar in shape to that of a donkey (also described as the head of a deformed horse) with the nose and teeth of a dog and “breath so foul that it curdles milk, blights crops, and poisons rivers and lakes, killing fish.” The Jersey Devil has wings like that of a bat used for flying off with pets, livestock, and small children. More than 2000 sightings have been reported since the first over 260 years ago. In January of 1909, there were more than 1000 sightings of the Jersey Devil in one week. This forced local and national newspapers to take the sightings seriously. The Philadelphia Zoo offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who captured the Jersey Devil. Several hoaxes emerged from this offer but the money remains, to this day, unclaimed.

Mothman: In Point Pleasant, West Virginia, USA there is a creature known as Mothman. Between 1966 and 1967 over 100 people claimed to have seen this winged creature. It is said to have a wing span of over 9 ft, and a gray body. It has big red eyes but no other facial features were reported. When Mothman takes off into flight from the ground, it unfolds its wings and shoots up into the air without flapping. Towns people say that in December 1967 when the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River collapsed killing dozens, Mothman was there and caused the collapse.

Homes throughout the little towns were plagued with unearthly noises and ghostly manifestations while mysterious aerial lights traveled silently overhead seemingly on a regular schedule. Winged monsters and frightening apparitions terrified the population as automobiles stalled and telephones and TV sets ran amok. A Red Cross Bloodmobile filled with fresh blood was pursued along a darkened highway by a weird flying machine. Domestic animals were found slaughtered and mutilated in pastoral farm fields. Innocent people lived in surrealistic horror, haunted by the fearsome demonic "Bird" and besieged by legions of strange beings (some of which arrived in ordinary-looking automobiles)."

The Reptoid Alien: This creature is either a space alien or a descendant of the dinosaurs. The Reptoid Alien feeds on animals across the US. It is speculated that the Reptoids considers a cow to be a delicacy. Reptoids have been known to abduct humans. “Abductees say that the Reptoids come from the Draco star system.”  With a tongue like that of a snake, eyes like a cat, skin that glows, and a highly intelligent brain, some people say that one day the Reptoids will take over the world.