Among the Mermaids Facts, Myths, and Enchantments of the Sea

Q&A with Varla Ventura 

1. So why did you tackle Mermaids this time around in your new book, “Among the Mermaids Facts, Myths, and Enchantments of the Sea”?

When I was a kid, my family moved from a big city to a very rural community, Before we had a place to live we set up camp alongside a river, living like gypsies in a trailer for a summer. I spent many hours swimming in the cerulean waters of the river, diving under for rocks, my sister and I fancying ourselves quite the mermaids. During this time, my mom would read us stories at night as entertainment—she was very animated and of course we had no television or radio—and one night she cracked open the Hans Christian Anderson’s book of fairy tales. She read us the story of “The Little Mermaid” and I swear I never forgot the horrifying detail of how, when she walked upon dry land, every step was like daggers in her feet. Thus began my love affair with the dark fairy and folklore, especially of Ireland, Scotland, and old Europe.

2. Are mermaids just women or are there mermen as well? I would think so for them to reproduce and all. Just curious to your thoughts on this from the stories you’ve gathered.

There are both mermen and merwomen, and mermen do appear quite a bit in the very early folklore. But a half-naked woman is always going to be more interesting to our popular culture than a half-naked man, and that’s just a fact, so the iconic vision of a mermaid has endured. I also think there may be more mermaids in general—you often see them depicted in groups of three or more (I’m sure this has some mythological/triple goddess implications) with one brooding king-like male waiting impatiently beneath the sea for the merwomen to bring home their catch.

3. When it comes to mermaids are they usually trying to allure men into their embrace for sexual reasons in some of these stories or to drown them or why exactly?

I think for mermaids it’s all tangled—it’s a kelp bed of reasons, if you will. I believe that often the mermaids don’t realize their victims can’t be with them, can’t breathe underwater. I’m not sure what kind of deal they have with Neptune or Poseidon for the exchange of souls—perhaps they are just settling the score. But mermaids have been known to help guide sailors and save them from drowning, so I think they have some say in it after all. They also seem to serve as gatekeepers to the afterlife for those victims of shipwrecks, embracing the drowning and showering them with love, affection, siren songs.

4. Could you tell us the story of the pirate Blackbeard and his fears regarding mermaids concerning his crew?

The story is that Blackbeard, that fierce and terrible pirate, was afraid of his crew being lured into the sea by mermaids. So afraid that he actually ordered his ships to avoid certain areas that had a reputation for frequent mermaid sightings.

5. What is a story about the merfolk you’d like to share with us that you find the most interesting from your collection?

I’m terribly fond of a story by Charles Weathers Bump, a relatively obscure author from the late 1800s and early 1900s. He wrote a story called “The Mermaid of Druid Lake” and it involves a mermaid-joy-ride, fashioning a drivable aquarium tank to an old jalopy. It’s hilarious, and very fun. I’m also a fan of a story called The Mermaid of Zennor. It came from a 1900s publication by the British Railway—it was like an in-flight magazine for the Victorian train travel crowd—and there were tons of folktales published about the areas the railway traveled. Zennor is in Cornwall, which is home to the infamous Mermaid Chair.

6. Would you share with us some mermaid trivia from your book?

With pleasure:

There is a town (which the mockumentary from The Discovery channel features) called KiryatYam. It’s in Israel, and there have been an unusually large number of mermaid sightings there. A prize exists—a $1 million dollar prize—to anyone who can prove that the mermaid off their coast is real.

The Haeneyo women from Korea’s Jeju Island can hold their breath for two to three minutes under water while diving, with nothing more than a wetsuit and goggles, for depths as much as 65 feet.

The Moken people of Southeast Asia are known in Thai as Chao Ley, or People of the Sea. They have a vast knowledge of the sea flora and fauna, and have adapted extraordinary underwater eyesight.

7. What noteworthy writers had stories of mermaids?

I’ve got stories in my book from T. Crofton Croker, William Butler Yeats, and Elliott O’Donnell to name a few. I also have two pieces I’ve included about selkies—magical seal/human hybrids—that was originally published in Aleister Crowley’s occult journal The Equinox.

8. What are you up to next book wise and do you have any links you’d like to share with us? Thanks.

My next book is called Banshees, Werewolves, Vampires and Other Creatures of the Night: Facts, Fictions, and First-Hand Accounts. It will be out in October of this year. There are links to buy my books and excerpts from Among the Mermaids on my website: www.varlaventura.com