Land of the Beasts
Gorgon (Gor-gon)-
A Gorgon is a creature in Greek Mythology. While descriptions of Gorgons vary, the term most commonly refers to three sisters who are described as having hair made of living, venomous snakes, and horrifying visages that turned men to stone.
Kappa (Cap-Pah) –
A Kappa is an amphibious Kami found in traditional Japanese folklore. They are typically depicted as green, human-like beings with webbed hands and feet and a turtle-like carapace on their back.
Ogopogo (Oh-Go-Poh-Go) –
An Ogopogo is a lake monster said to inhabit Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada.
Chupacabra (Chup-Pa-Cah-Bra) –
A Chupacabra is a legendary creature in the folklore of parts of the Americas. The name comes from the animal’s reported vampirism—the Chupacabra is said to attack and drink the blood of livestock.
Physical descriptions of the Creature vary, with some describing it as more dog-like. In contrast, most others describe it as reptilian and alien-like. Some report it as being a heavy Creature the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.
Kalpavriksha (Kahl-Pav-Rik-Sha) –
A Kalpavriksha is a wish-fulfilling divine tree in Indian-origin religions like Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. It is mentioned in Sanskrit literature from the earliest sources. It is also a popular theme in Jain cosmology and Buddhism.
Kitsune (Kit- Soon) –
In Japanese folklore, Kitsune are foxes with paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to yōkai folklore, all foxes can shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of Kitsune employing this ability to trick others—as foxes in folklore often do—other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, and lovers.
Uchchaihshravas (Ah- Chis-Rah-Vah)-
In Hinduism, Uchchaihshravas is a seven-headed flying horse created during the churning of the milk ocean. It is considered the best of horses, prototype, and king of horses. Uchchaihshravas is said to be snow-white in color.
Griffin –
A Griffin is a legendary Creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and sometimes an eagle’s talons as its front feet.
Unicorn-
A Unicorn is a legendary Creature that has been described as a horse-like Beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead.
Dragon-
A Dragon is a reptile-like legendary Creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about Dragons vary considerably through regions, but Dragons in western cultures have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire since the High Middle Ages. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually represented as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence.
Basilisk-
A Basilisk is a legendary reptile reputed to be a serpent king who can cause death with a single glance.
Pegasus-
A Pegasus is a mythical winged divine horse and one of the most recognized Creatures in Greek mythology. Usually, he is depicted as pure white.
Witches-
Witchcraft traditionally means using magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a Witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused Witches were usually women who were believed to have attacked their own community and often communed with evil beings. Indigenous communities that believe in the existence of witchcraft define Witches as the opposite of their healers and medicine people.
Minotaur-
A Minotaur is a mythical Creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man.
Wailing Women –
La Llorona is just one of many Wailing Women from Legend. She is a Spanish American legend who is a vengeful ghost who roams waterfront areas mourning her children whom she drowned.
Many cultures worldwide have similar Wailing Women or Weeping Women stories that cry over children or lovers.
Centaur –
A Centaur is a Creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Chimera-
According to Greek myth, a Chimera was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid Creature composed of different animal parts. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat protruding from its back and a tail that might end with a snake’s head.
The term “Chimera” has come to describe any mythical or fictional Creature with parts taken from various animals, to describe anything composed of very disparate parts or perceived as wildly imaginative, implausible, or dazzling.
Cockatrice –
A Cockatrice is a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon or serpent-like Creature with a rooster’s head.
Manticore-
A Manticore is a legendary Persian creature similar to the Egyptian Sphinx. It has the head of a human, the body of a lion, and a tail of venomous spines similar to porcupine quills, while other depictions have it with the tail of a scorpion.
Shapeshifters –
In mythology, folklore, and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to transform oneself through an inherently superhuman power, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells, or inherited ability. The idea of shapeshifting is in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism and the oldest existent literature and epic poems such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad.
Phoenix-
A Phoenix is an immortal bird associated with Greek mythology that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again.
Faun-
A Faun is a half-human and half-goat mythological Creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology.
Ashley L. Castillo 