The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic. John Matthews

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СКАЧАТЬ terrified and they began to sing in order to make the Cicada sing once again. Da Tengat lit the darkness by showing his people how to make torches from resin. Finally, all their torches caused the dawn to come again. From that time onwards, day has followed night and night day. The Andamanese still dance into the night, believing that their dances cause the sun to rise again.

      CIGOUAVE

      In the Haitian Vodun tradition, the Cigouave has the body of a lion or panther with the head of a human. The story seems to have taken root in Haiti through the missionaries who transferred tales of the Manticore to this island.

      CINNAMOLOGUS

      In Arabia, the Cinnamon Bird built its nests in the tallest stems of the cinnamon tree. Men prized these nests but could not take them because the stems were too fragile, so they aimed at them with arrows loaded with lead and sold the Cinnamologus’s nest to those hungry for spice.

      CIPACTLI

      In Aztec mythology, this fish-like crocodile was the primordial sea monster out of which the gods created the Earth. The god Tezcatlipoca sacrificed his foot to Cipactli in order to help form the Earth itself.

      CIRCHOS

      In Scandinavian folklore, the Circhos is a sea creature that looks like a man with three toes on each foot. It has legs of disproportionate lengths which make its progress through the waters very difficult. It has to cling to rocks when the weather is rough and can only move when the water is calm. Its skin has black and red markings.

      CIREIN CROIN

      In Scottish folklore, the Cirein Croin (‘Grey Crest’) is a massive sea serpent, so huge that it can swallow whales. It is also known as Curtag Mhòr a’Chuain (‘the Great Ocean Whirlpool’).

      CIUDACH

      In Scottish tradition, the Ciudach was a cannibalistic monster that inhabited the deep caverns of mountains. It shares a name with a giant from Roscommon in Ireland, who may be the same being. The giant Ciudach came to Scotland following the deep declivity of the Great Glen, as did the Loch Ness Monster.

      CIVATATEO

      In Mexican folklore, the Civatateo were the deadly white vampires who served the gods. They were once noblewomen who died in childbirth and returned to Earth with all the powers of priestesses. They are recognizable by the death’s head which is printed on their clothes or tattooed on their flesh. They lurk in churches and holy places, and stalk travellers at crossroads.

      CIVET

      Lady Civet was the wife of the first man, according to the Andamanese Islanders in the Bay of Bengal. She changed some ancestors into pigs, just as Circe did to Odysseus’ men. The pigs jumped into the sea and became dugongs.

      CLURICAUNE

      In Irish folklore, the Cluricaune is a household fairy. It lives a solitary existence and shares the characteristics of the leprechaun. Cluricaunes have a wizened appearance and are dressed in green. In fact, they dress rather better than the average brownie might since they do little work and looked spruced up ready for a good weekend, with silver shoe buckles, silk stockings and a fine hat. Cluricaune has a purse full of silver and his favourite place is the wine cellar where he will sit in solitary drinking sessions until the casks are dry. He is known to harness sheep and ride them over the fields at his pleasure.

      COCA

      In Spanish folklore, Coca is the female fire-breathing dragon who is related to the Tarasque of French tradition. These days, she only makes her outings in the shape of a festival effigy carried about at fiesta time.

      COCKATRICE

      In the legends of medieval Europe, the Basilisk transformed into a new creature called the Cockatrice. Instead of having a serpent’s body, it had the yellow body and wings of a dragon, a cockerel’s head, neck and legs, a human face and the tail of a snake. In some descriptions, it had an additional head at the end of its tail, like the Amphisbaena. It was believed to live in the deserts of North Africa and the only antidote to its poison was to carry a cockerel with you. Even if you were successful in spearing it, the poison from its body could kill you by pouring down the spear on to you. The poison was so venomous that it could rot fruit off trees and pollute any watercourse at which the creature drank. Like the Basilisk, its look would kill all who gazed upon it, even for an instant.

      COCK-FISH

      In heraldic European lore, the Cock-Fish is a composite creature with the body and head of a cockerel and the tail of a fish.

      COCKEREL

      The cockerel’s distinctive and raucous dawn crowing has made it a symbol throughout the world of regeneration and return. In Japan, Shinto belief sees the cockerel’s call as the call to prayer. The bird is often portrayed standing upon a drum in temple architecture. It was the cockerel who called the goddess Amaterasu out of her cave, whence she retired as the world lost its light. Cockerels are given the run of Shinto temples as sacred birds because of this.

      In Islamic tradition, when Allah was creating the sky, he created a huge cockerel whose feet were upon the first sphere of heaven and whose head was in the seventh heaven where stands the Ultimate Mosque, Masjid al Aqsa, which is just below the throne of Allah. Every night, Allah creates 70,000 new angels to worship him in that mosque. One utters the call to prayer while it is still dark on Earth, and at the same moment the cockerel crows. This crowing is the call to prayer for all cockerels upon Earth who immediately call that the day is dawned. On the last day, the heavenly cockerel will crow for the last time and that will be the signal for the announcing angel to command that the dead rise up.

      In Christian iconography, the cockerel is the bird whose cry announces the betrayal of Christ by St Peter when he denied that he knew his Lord. But it has remained a symbol of vigilance against evil and is often found as a weathervane on church towers. In Indonesia, the image of a cock and his hen are found in every home for their presence will stave off marital disputes and ensure faithfulness. A similar tradition is found in Judaism where the cock and hen are emblems of the groom and bride at weddings. In Chinese religion, the cockerel’s name was a word signifying luck. The white cockerel protects the innocent against evil spirits and ensures the purity of new life overcoming death, while the red cock is a guardian against fire. In Scandinavian mythology, the gold cock Vithafmir lived at the top of the cosmic world tree Yggdrasil. In the underworld, the red cock Fralar lives in Valhalla ready to waken heroes for the last days of world or Ragnorok.

      The cockerel is commonly sacrificed, as in the rites of Rome where they were offered to the lares, the spirits of the house. In the rites of voudoun, СКАЧАТЬ