Comments on Pixies, Fairies, Goblins and Leprechauns - are they real?

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Ariala - that's the first time I have heard the notion of time travel in

regards to these mythical beasts but it shows to go ya, how these stories evolve. I've heard references to other dimensions, to the underworld/spirit world and the example I have used in this posting, of the Chupacabras being one of Satan's trained beasts (pet is used tongue in cheek) but now with time travel, this opens up a whole new can of worms. Whew.....I'm glad that I don't live in the Spanish speaking world.

posted by gomedome on January 1, 2006 at 7:26 PM | link to this | reply

Just last night I talked to a man who lived in Costa Rica. I asked him

about the chupacabras and he said they are entities that have come through to our dimension from another dimension through time portals.  

posted by Ariala on January 1, 2006 at 5:53 PM | link to this | reply

re: Chupacabras

posted by CunningLinguist on January 1, 2006 at 5:49 PM | link to this | reply

Hemlocker -- as I say to anyone that has a picture of a fairy or a ghost or

whatever is; let's see them. It's surprising how much of this folklore is proliferated by people that sincerely believe that anecdotal evidence of pictures that are supposed to exist is proof enough. Mind you there are many inexplicable pictures, even video tape but still nothing enywhere that someone could call irrefutable.

posted by gomedome on December 30, 2005 at 8:44 PM | link to this | reply

Hemlocker - wasn't that grilled cheese sandwich the epitome of all hype

and no substance. I saw the listings on eBay, there were a few dozen of them selling replicas of the sandwich, starting at $1,500 each. ...and to make matters even more confusing, several of the listings had bids on them. To the inexperienced eBayer this would seem that the market had lost it's mind and many people in fact left these listings believing that anything could be sold on eBay. Except for one small catch, there were no competing bids on any of the listings, all bids were from the same person. An individual trying to create a bogus market. He was eventually booted off of eBay. I don't know what happened to the original grilled cheese sandwich but I do know that even though people can be incredibly stupid, there are limits to that stupidity.    

posted by gomedome on December 30, 2005 at 8:41 PM | link to this | reply

gome--

How about faeries?  There's even some photographs of them.

posted by Hemlocker on December 30, 2005 at 8:20 PM | link to this | reply

gome--

You mean I have to get rid of my grilled cheese sandwich now, the one with the image of the Virgin Mary on it?  Heck, they wouldn't even let me sell it on e-Bay.

posted by Hemlocker on December 30, 2005 at 8:16 PM | link to this | reply

wislon - that's a perfect example of a vision being derived from info.

imprinted in the human brain.  

posted by gomedome on December 30, 2005 at 7:05 PM | link to this | reply

One thing I know for certain

is that after our cat died my wife and I both saw her around the house for several weeks after. Being logical people we both decided it was just our brains seeing what they expected to see after having her around for 19 years. Same goes for pixies etc - if you want to believe in them they are real. Just like Santa.

posted by wislon on December 30, 2005 at 6:56 PM | link to this | reply

LapisLazuli - Thank you and you make an excellent point

"...........and the existence of fabrications in that mix has endowed us with a cynicism that prevents us from any longer distinguishing between the myths and the truths."

Right on, it is very unlikely that all of the myths or legends, religious or otherwise, came entirely from human imagination. It is more likely that events and manifestations were in fact witnessed or perceived as reality, then elaborated upon within the limited abilities of the witnessing subject. Further chronicling of these events over time have added the layers of fabrication to serve human agenda, which in turn so rightly fuels our jaded perspectives.  

posted by gomedome on December 30, 2005 at 3:23 PM | link to this | reply

Excellent post...

...dude.

Extremely thought-provoking, and germaine to our day and age even (IMO). The Scriptures contribute to this body of pre-perceived entities too - from angels to demons and  jinn. I'm not however dismissing any of these per se - just trying to be objective about things. Often these facets of religion and folklore serve as a tool for maintaining control and obedience - a tool of fear often. Equally - tools of reward, and hope. As a 'believer' in at least a God - I don't have too much trouble talking even of angels as objectively as this - because in the end it could all be a metaphor. An angel coming and saving someone's life mysteriously and inexplicably - was simply God coming in and intervening directly, for example. Or who knows? Maybe some of the stories are only these because they're true - and the existence of fabrications in that mix has endowed us with a cynicism that prevents us from any longer distinguishing between the myths and the truths.

posted by LapisLazuli on December 30, 2005 at 3:02 PM | link to this | reply

Ariala - cranial divets aside, we do not know where little pixies and such

come from. These stories could well have originated with the story teller suffering head trauma, maybe some recreational pharmaceuticals were invloved as well.

posted by gomedome on December 30, 2005 at 2:38 PM | link to this | reply

MandaLee -- real to them but not necessarily real to others

and I can say with a degree of certainty that any manifestation, of any kind, be it paranormal or religious in nature, will be defined from the witnessing subject's prior knowledge. This means that any witness of such events is pre-disposed to see what their mind, through religious or cultural influence, has conditioned them to see.  Hindus do not see apparitions of the Virgin Mary for example, so it is safe to say that if this is in fact a constant, or common denominator, that the manifestation can only come from within the human mind. So yes I can say this with a degree of certainty. People not wanting this to be true does not change these facts.   

posted by gomedome on December 30, 2005 at 2:34 PM | link to this | reply

Gome, You cant say that for sure. Many have had experiences that are real

and not made up.  You are entitled to your opinion, and I respect it.

posted by Amanda__ on December 30, 2005 at 1:22 PM | link to this | reply

Gomey, what about when you hit your head and see stars and other

little gobblins of insanity?      I also think you hear chirping birds at such a time...LOL

posted by Ariala on December 30, 2005 at 12:23 PM | link to this | reply

Trevor_Cunnington - I guess it doesn't help that I spelled Chupacabras

wrong. If you punch it into Google, most images that come up are doglike. I tend to agree that a good portion of the layers of fabrication, in a lot of this type of folklore, was implemented as a means of passing along analogous stories. Some but not all, as witnessed by the recent Chupacabras sightings that saw farmers in Central America attempting to safeguard livestock and crops from this perceived menace.    

posted by gomedome on December 30, 2005 at 10:08 AM | link to this | reply

Hogs to Horses.

I thought the Chalculabra was like a bigfoot, sasquatch type creature.  I did an interdisciplinary course on Literature and Anthropology and one unit we did was on Irish folk tales.  One of the questions we asked was did the tellers of these tales believe in them.  I tend to think of these tales of fairies and pixies as being made up as morality tales for children, and that the tellers do not necessarily believe in their literal truth.

posted by Trevor_Cunnington on December 30, 2005 at 9:57 AM | link to this | reply