Terry Breverton - Brevertons Phantasmagoria: A Compendium of Monsters, Myths and Legends

BREVERTONS PHANTASMAGORIA

A COMPENDIUM OF MONSTERS, MYTHS AND LEGENDS

CHAPTER 1
Mysterious, Magical and Weird People

CHAPTER 2
Mythical Monsters, Ghosts and Things That Go Bump in the Night

CHAPTER 3
Magical Places of Legend and Reality

CHAPTER 4
Flying Monsters, Mysteries, Odd Happenings, Strange Sightings and Legends

CHAPTER 5
Mysteries of the Deep

CHAPTER 6
Strange Artefacts, Buildings, Maps and Writings

CHAPTER 7
Tales of Secret Treasure

CHAPTER 8
The Reality of Legends and Myths

In every culture across the world, we grow up believing in certain things that we gradually stop believing as we grow older. In Western culture, for example, most nations have a St Nicholas, or Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whom we only believe in as children. Other concepts, such as angels and demons, are discarded by many of us as we grow older, while friends and associates may remain believers. For some, the fear of the bogeyman and fear of darkness are correlated throughout life. Many religions share the same stories and some of them, such as a great flood, are based upon actual happenings thousands of years ago. The belief held by many gardeners that plants react to speech and music was held by our animistic ancestors. Many stories, such as the Arthurian legends and the 1001 Nights tales, cross different cultures and may recur in modern fiction as the basis for new plotlines. Some fabulous monsters were based upon travellers tales, but turn out to be real animals. Others, like giant birds, are probably based upon extinct species. Humans have always been fascinated by their forefathers, and have passed on elaborate stories from the earliest days of speech and writing. There is a cornucopia of legends about monsters, ghosts and the strange creatures which transfer across many cultures. Today, with our instant access to information and a far, far greater factual knowledge about different countries, animals and natural wonders, we can still be entertained by and learn from our forefathers.

Phantasmagoria is the art of creating supernatural illusions, the gathering of phantoms or fantasies. The name was given to a projection ghost show in the 18th century in which a modified magic lantern projected frightening images of demons, skeletons and ghosts onto walls, smoke or semi-transparent screens, sometimes using a technique of rear projection. Multiple projection devices allowed for quick switching between different images. Today we realize that some of our ghosts and demons are based on events in real life or in past experiences, and that our forebears, with less knowledge or information, rationalized things that they could not understand by means of myths, legends and religions. This book is intended to be entertaining, and is written in the full knowledge that in 3000 years time our descendants will view us as just as primitive and non-rational as we regard our early ancestors. However, some beliefs, places, people and animals are magical and mysterious in so many ways. To lose our sense of wonder at the diversity of life and how history has shaped us, is to lose sight of the purpose of life. This is a magical, exciting planet, which has always been full of wonder and it always will be.

The book firstly describes strange and interesting people who have affected our perceptions throughout history. They are followed by mythical monsters and ghosts from across the world. Then there are mysterious places that people have sought out or found especially powerful. The legends of flight, from angels to strange beings, form the next chapter, and then come mysteries of the deep seas and flowing water, followed, appropriately enough, by tales of hidden treasure. Strange and mystical artefacts of the past and present come next, and they are followed by an account of those monsters and myths which have a basis in reality. Above all, the book is meant to be entertaining. I hope that it will encourage readers to investigate further the strange world in which we live.

The zoologist Richard Dawkins, in his book River Out Of Eden used a complicated mathematical model to trace us all back to one common female ancestor, a woman who lived in Africa around a quarter of a million years ago. He noted,