mermaid
the domestic minx
14 Comments
Thou rememb'rest since once I sat upon a promontory
and heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
that the rude sea grew civil at her song
and certain stars shot madly from their spheres to hear the sea-maid's music?"
--From Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream
I have quite an obsession with mermaids.
I am unduly enthralled by the allure of the watery bint and have been since I was a young girl, a strange little creature who would take to the liquid sanctuary of the bath and, with long hair waving like seaweedy tendrils in the water, sing "Marinaaaaa..."
What is it about the aquatic minx that makes her so fascinating?
Throughout history mermaids have actually been depicted as quite an unsavoury lot. Although often a symbol of feminism, beauty, sexuality and fertility, legend has predominantly found the half fish/half woman guilty of many acts that are rather unpleasant.
Yet, captivated by them we remain, undone by the tales of their watery prowess.
We forgive the luring of drunken sailors to their death by drowning or devouring; Circean songs that ride the dark waves; a siren's conjuring of the lonely and confused who listen, spellbound on the hostile shore, willing to sacrifice their lives for an intimate moment with the watery jezebel.
During Medieval times, the male-dominated Christian Church used the symbol of the mermaid to turn people from sin and the temptations of the flesh. Mermaids were represented in Irish early Christian medieval and post-medieval art as a frequent warning to Christians against the sins of vanity, pride and lust. With their mirror and comb and incessant seductive warbling on rocky seaside outcrops, the idea that mermaids were "dangerous temptresses and had no souls of their own," was promoted.
Despite the obvious absence of a beguiling vagina, mermaids were used symbolically by the Church as a vivid reminder of the fatal temptations of the flesh. Men, weakened by the desire for her song and captured by her serpentine and alluring hair could expect to drown in their own juices as she sought to acquire their souls.
Naturally, all this talk of sinful sorcery, devilish temptation and a few disastrously spilled body fluids had the effect of creating an even more feverish enchantment with the temptress of the sea.
I imagine, being such a good little Catholic schoolgirl, that it was a version of this very fascination with such an alluring minx that engaged me in my own mermaid obsession.
Or perhaps it's simply because I am a Cancerian (on the cusp of Leo, Moon in Aries, Libra/Scorpio Rising) and have A Curious Affinity with The Sea.
Travel has allowed me to indulge my infatuation and an exotic and mesmerising collection of mermaids has been procured from as far as Santorini and Luxembourg to, incredibly, West Papua, where my pleading with village carvers for mermaid creatures has very likely created a whole new direction in their folk history.
Not content with mere collections, a progressively rabid mermaid obsession drove me to madness, inspiring me to paint four lifesize and enchantingly beautiful temptresses on the walls of our beach house.
Later, in a further frenzied state of mermaid madness I endured unimaginable pain to acquire upon my body an etched inking of this beguiling bint in a most sensitive zone.
She is a bewitching little minx.
A siren of the Bermuda Triangle indeed, she swims dangerously close to an area explored in one of my previous tales.
She is a dangerous little thing with her serpentine hair and her shimmering scales and alas, her muffled siren song.
Oh yes, I'm afraid this section of my collection is private.
And if mermaid lore is anything to go by, it really could be to your own detriment to suggest a peek.
A mermaid found a swimming lad,
Picked him for her own,
Pressed her body to his body,
Laughed; and plunging down
Forgot in cruel happiness
That even lovers drown.
William Butler Yeats
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Reader Comments (14)
The trouble with Mermaids is the fishy smell.
To hell, to hell, to hell
with the smell!!
No really, there is nothing quite so nasty as the fishy smell...
Perhaps that's why young and dashing male above has fainted...then again, it could be her bewitching bosom...
In actual fact, he is a fisherman...
Pull yourself together man!!
Mermaids have violette's touch, no ?
You are a bewitching minx, aren't you Violette?
Tempting and tantalizing...
...and hopefully not smelly, as Thinista has reminded us all!
xox
I'm willing to take my chances with the secretive mermaid you have hiding, Minx!!
What's the worst that can happen?
I'm already drowning in my own juices...
I find myself totally believing that too Eddie!
No peeking...
Interesting then, is it not, that the ancient Christians co-opted the vesica pecis...symbol of the fish...the ancient goddess in her sexual aspect.
I love mermaids, faeries, nymphs, nyads, dryads, muses, furies...and all such mythical, powerful, magical creatures.
Fishy?! Well...I suppose. Perhaps more ancient, primal, salt soaked, oceanic...than merely fishy.
Now it is all clear to me! I am a Leo/Virgo Cusp with Libra rising and my moon in Libra.
Sounds like a lovely tattoo.
xox,
Mistress M
The Christians have borrowed heavily from all aspects of pagan and gnostic religions...we've just recently celebrated some serious plagiarism!
I love all mythical, powerful and magical creatures too - the mermaid being my favourite, of course.
As for fishy smells. Your primal, salt-soaked and oceanic adjectives are far more kind, MM,- and appropriate - given the eminence of this magnificent, ancient and beautiful creature.
She is a lovely tattoo. My one and only venture into that artistic expression. So very very painful that I entered another level of consciousness during the exercise, which actually made it feel rather good..
No one sees her, unless I wear incredibly skimpy undergarments... shhh, it's a secret...
XOX
Ms. Minx...or shall I call you Titiana today:
Yes indeed. I'm a bit of a pagan myself, but lately have taken to calling myself a taoist. It's all illusion anyway.
I have a tattoo plan underway. My recent excursion into laser hair removal has me worried! Eek.
I survived the mid-life crisis piercings, so it's the logical next step.
xox, Margot
Like me...
You live in a world of illusion
Where everythings peaches and cream
We all face a scarlet conclusion
But we spend our time in a dream...
My head is full - there's a song lyric for every occasion in there!
I will warn you - the tattoo experience is most painful, especially down THERE, but the endorphins kick in to squash the pain and then it's all rather tripped out.
I kinda liked it...
Never did the piercings..
You must tell me of your plans for body art!!!
Titania
XOX
I couldn't even get an upper lip wax let alone a tatoo in a rather delicate place in the nether regions ;)
ah, those mermaids, they sure know how to make em swoon eh!
I want to know more about the tattoo!
If you can't post THE tattoo, perhaps a facsimile
How big is it?
How long did it take?
Was the tattoo artist so big and tough he didn't bat an eyelid?
Does she look like Neptina from Marine Boy?
I was surprised by my own inner fortitude too, Jafabrit!
You have every right to be fearful - it is much more prolonged and resultingly painful than the wax...
Thinista,
The tattoo is too cute.
From the tip of her outreached hand to her tail she is about two inches long.
She is on my right side, laying above The Holy Grail and appears to be ready to dive down for a look.
I love Neptina but she is not like her.
She is a little more "angelic" with long, snaking golden blonde hair.
The tattoo artist was tall and thin and looked like a crack head. He was surprisingly polite and took his time making sure it was all done as I wished. I was in there about an hour, although I could feel time slipping away as I tripped out big time.
Although I had her done a long time ago I still have the picture I used for her likeness somewhere and when I find it I will add it on with a post follow up.
xox
Sounds truly lovely