Did you know that the Filipino ancestors believed many things about the unseen creatures? One of them are the " Merfolks" or creatures from the sea. Mere comes from an old English word meaning sea. It is said that the upper body of these creatures are that of humans and from waist below they have tails of a fish. According to wikipedia.org the first known story about mermaid is from Assyria 1000 BC about Greek Goddess Atargatis. In Greek mythology, Alexander the Great's sister Thessalonike was turned into a mermaid.
Although, it is said that mermaids are just a myth, there were reported sightings of these creatures from different parts of the world.
In the Philippines, people from Bicol, Ilocos and Tagalog regions call it "sirena", the Visayans called it the " Kataw ", Zambalenos call it the " mambubuno ". Their male counterparts are called ugkoy or " siyokoy.
According to old tales, they live in lakes, rivers, and at the basins of waterfalls. It is said that these creatures are fond of golds and precious stones. They do not get children to kill them but instead imprison little boys and wait till they become adult and marry them, which is similar to mermens, they wait little girls to grow up to marry them. When she sees a fisherman, she makes them row their boats near her then she sinks his boat and gets him. People do not drown when she takes them but she will if the person disobey her. They lured their victims with their beautiful voice. Legends says that you can tell it is a merfolk by their strong fish smell.
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