Mermaids in the Karoo

Wed, 1 Apr 2009
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Mermaids in the Karoo
Stories of fishtailed maidens have been told throughout the ages, with sailors, and people living in coastal villages,reporting sightings of these beauties that lure men to watery graves. Fair enough. But mermaids in the Karoo? Pull the other one...

 

 

Or maybe not...Local people in the Klein Karoo, South Africa''s semi-arid central region, describe a beautiful woman with blue eyes, pink cheeks and a fish-tail - seen sitting at deep mountain pools, combing her long black hair. 

 

 

 

Children are warned not to go near such places, in case the Water-meid or Water-auntie drags them in, and drowns them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This ties in with San rock paintings on the walls of caves, high up in the Little Karoo mountains which have puzzled archaeologists for years. They show creatures with a round head, arms, and a fish tail…
 

 

 

 

  • Are these paintings of mermaids?
  • Does this mean the San people saw such creatures?
  • And could this be the origin of the stories people tell today?
  • Or is this just an April Fool''s Day joke?

 

Tell us what you think...

 


 

 

 

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Ref: #337

Reader Feedback (17)

G
Galen (6 years ago)

It''s the latter :P but it''s a good one though

R
Ryan (6 years ago)

Definitely a hoax!

B
bridget (6 years ago)

I think it must be true...otherwise how do you explain all the mermaids images etc in the Owl House. The inspiration must have come from somewhere and I''ve seen the rock art and that is definately no hoax

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terri (6 years ago)

Sounds very interesting indeed. The mermaid has deep routes in psychoanalytic thinking...the San People continue to enrich us!

J
Joy (6 years ago)

Thanks for the comments! The rest of the story will be revealed later today, so check back to see where we''re going with this fishy tale :-)

K
kallie (6 years ago)

according to me, as the khoisan are my roots and my ancestors,i strongly believe in what they would draw as they draw it as a reminder or as lack of cameras (technology), they always draw what they explore and what they want the next generation to see.

A
Alexa (6 years ago)

Perhaps I seem uneducated or trivial, but I have always believed these tales, I''ve always wanted to find the truth behind legends. The San are such an ancient people, one expects them to be enlightened an truthful? Their art sealed history in stone. I believe it is true. The strangest thing is, I am writing my debut fantasy novel on the Karoo mermaids, and I only came to know of this legend now that I am nearly done. Coincidence? Perhaps.

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Rob (6 years ago)

Sounds very interesting I would like to go see if I can find her who know''s what is hiding in the Karoo....

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hilton (4 years ago)

Sorry guys- read Erich von Daneken-Charit of the Gods, the san did not draw these paintings. If they did were they in france, australia, america, russia and all over the world these paintiongs can be found. So who did really draw them. Lets just say we don''t know or that we have a theory about who executed these, some of which were done with superior artistry.I''m just saying let''s not be too sure of ourselves that they are Bushman/San paintings.

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Gerrit (4 years ago)

The truth is: These mermaids DO exist. But not as a threedimenional being like us or any other mammal. They are territorial demons that can take any shape. They also manifest as large watersnakes. They usually demand sacrifice like any other deity or spirit. No big deal. They only manifest to people of a certain spiritual profile: eg. New Agers, Satanists, Atheists, the gullible and superstitious, etc...

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T/Dr Makhosi Tshepo (3 years ago)

Thank you for calling me gullible. I am a White Sangoma and we are part of the sect that are the Mermaids at least we were back in Atlantis. I spend all day every day healing people, thank heavens I''m gullible and worship Demons.

N
Nicole (3 years ago)

I continue to dream of these creature and i have no idea why. So thing very funny thats all i can say

S
setch (3 years ago)

What I''ve heard growing up is that these things are close to the ancestors, that''s y u can neva just see them n u have to be spirituali connected with the ancestors to see them, sangomas who train in the water see them n yes it can take any shape even a human or a plastic bag n they hate noise n disturbance. They are sacred n can cause havoc wen they angry.

J
jiommy (22 months ago)

or are they spawn of dagon like in the hp lovecract stoyies or a messanger of cuthulu because the smerains in the bible woshiped dagon he was part fish part human ..some thing has to be fact ..and all the beings where from space in lovecraft

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Rosa Campay (22 months ago)

I just saw Animal Planet''s "MERMAIDS: New Evidence". It is very obvious, by the actual new footage, that we may have a distant cousin Hominid that took to the sea and adapted (evolved). I guess we should start using the working term "Homo Aquaticus".

D
donny (22 months ago)

I believe dis things exist, when u go to the waters they occupy u must ask permission first n u must b spiritualli connected to the ancestors, sangomas who train in waters see them bcos they are trained by dem, in setswana they are called mamogashwa n wen they are angry they can cause havoc, when they travel to othet waters a dark cloud will cover n suddenly it will become very dark n if u see one n live u musnt tell anyone u saw it or u will die a suddern death. These are sum of the creatures god created n I believe they exist bcos I''m summoned to become a sangoma to train in water .

M
Mpho (22 months ago)

hi i believe that they do exist.i used to dream about this creature human like fish for almost 15 years and the dreams just stopped in 1999 when i became born a gaian Christian. for what reason it stopped visiting me in drams i don''r know..