A Wizard's Bestiary - A Menagerie of Myth Magic and Mystery by Oberon Zell Ravenheart & Ash 'LeopardDancer' DeKirk (2007).pdf - Zoologia fantastyczna - Historia nienaturalna - morefaya2006

Acclaim for the work

A W IZARD ’ S B ESTIARY is an ambitious and comprehen-

sive compilation of imaginary-animal lore. The color-

ful text and abundance of both traditional and con-

temporary illustrations capture the rich variety of an-

imal forms that the human imagination has reshaped

over millennia. A valuable encyclopedic addition to

the ever-growing shelf of books on fantastic creatures.

— Joseph Nigg

author of The Book of Fabulous Beasts

the ghostly, black devil dogs of old England; the blood-

sucking, vampire-like Chupacabras of Puerto Rico;

or the many and mysterious long-necked serpents of

the world’s lakes, lochs and oceans, Zell-Ravenheart’s

title is one that I heartily recommend.

With entries on a dizzying array of beasts, such

as the terrifying, cave-dwelling Aatxe of Spain; and

the Boroka of the Philippines—which has the unfor-

tunate habit of dining upon human flesh; as well as

much welcome data on monsters of the movies; and a

rich array of drawings, photographs, maps, and more,

A W IZARD ’ S B ESTIARY is a book that is destined to be-

come a true monster-hunting classic.

— Nick Redfern

author of Memoirs of a Monster Hunter

and Three Men Seeking Monsters

This gorgeous, sumptuously-illustrated book is truly

a stunning contribution to the cryptozoological and

zoomythological literature, one that is destined to re-

main a standard reference work on these subjects for

many years to come. — Karl P.N. Shuker, PhD

author of The Beasts That Hide From Man

As we stand at the edge of the vast unknown, we all

look in to see and for some, to investigate cryptic ani-

mate enigmas. Those of us who have been doing this for

decades, as Zell-Ravenheart has, view the fantastic world

of animal mysteries, ancient living wonders, and accom-

modating new species in different ways. Cultural insights,

ethnic folklore, native traditions, and magical tales mix

in and have their place in this phantasmagoria involved

in the study of hidden animals. This book shares over-

looked insights and incredible clues for the casual read-

er or the dedicated student of cryptozoology. A valu-

able resource. Highly recommended.

— Loren Coleman , co-author,

Creatures of the Outer Edge , Cryptozoology A to Z

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart’s stunning new work lifts the

curtain allowing the reader backstage to examine the

elusive creatures of myths and legends. Bigfoot, Mer-

maids, Dragons and more, the Unicorn information

alone is worth the price of admission. Not only a fas-

cinating read but a comprehensive reference that you

will find yourself going back to time and again. “Don’t

wait, don’t hesitate, get a copy now!”

— Rick West, Dr. West’s

Traveling Sideshows and Animal Menagerie

Acclaim for Dragonlore by Ash DeKirk:

I just received the book today, and I’ve had a hard

time putting it down. I have never seen a more com-

plete discussion of dragons, from around the world,

and through the ages. If you have any interest in the

legends and lore of dragons, this book is for you.

— Mark Mercier , Mobile, AL

Lively, entertaining and informative, this is the book I

wish I had when I first began researching the lore of

the world’s magical creatures. No monster hunter can

afford to be without it. — John Michael Greer

author of Monsters:

An Investigator’s Guide to Magical Beings

Anyone with an interest in dragons will enjoy this

book. I can think of at least two DMs who will be

receiving this book as a Christmas/Yule gift from me.

Please keep more of these books coming.

— FrogsDancing , Quakertown, PA

Oberon Zell! Who better to write such a book than

this living legend from the magickal world. Here is

the man who recreated living Unicorns, who traveled

to the remote South Seas in search of genuine Mer-

maids.

— Amber K, author of True Magick

There are legends of dragons all around us—and they

appear in fantasy novels and games as well as movies.

Any fan of dragons will be thus delighted with D RAG -

ONLORE , which examines the details of every species

of dragon, gathers myths under one cover, and con-

siders the impact and presence of dragons in popular

culture. Black and white illustrations pepper an ex-

cellent overview that is a pick for any dragon fan, and

any collection strong in fantasy.

— Midwest Book Review , Oregon, WI

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart’s mighty tome is undoubt-

edly the one book that, more than any other, I was

hoping someone, someday was finally going to write:

namely, a definitive, encyclopedic study of the many

and varied weird beasts, fabulous monsters, and dia-

bolical creatures that are said to lurk in the darkened

corners of our mysterious world.

Whether your interest focuses upon those elu-

sive, hairy man-beasts such as Bigfoot and the Yeti;

Ash “LeopardDancer” Dekirk

book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or

mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system

now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career

Press.

A Wizard’s Bestiary

Edited by Kirsten Dalley

Typeset by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart

Cover design by Lucia Rossman/Digi Dog Design NYC

and Ian Daniels

Printed in the U.S.A. by Book-mart Press

To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-848-0310)

to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press.

The Career Press, Inc., 3 Tice Road, PO Box 687,

Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417

www.careerpress.com

www.newpagebooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon, 1942-

A wizard’s bestiary / by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Ash “LeopardDancer”

DeKirk

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-56414-956-5

ISBN-10: 1-56414-956-0

1. Animals, Mythical. I. DeKirk, Ash, 1978- II. Title.

GR820.Z45 2007

398.24’54--dc22

2007042608

A Wizard ’ s Bestiary

A Menagerie of Myth , Magic , and Mystery

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart

and Ash “ Leoparddancer ” DeKirk

New Page Books

A division of The Career Press, Inc.

Franklin Lakes, NJ

Foreword : Creatures of the Night

by Jacques Vallee

Creatures of the Night—is it wise to force them

out of the gloom where they linger, like the ancient

Chimaera that was part goat, part lion, and part Drag-

on, and presided over the passage of the evening sun

into the darkness? At dusk, like the Salamander, they

emerge at the intersection of magical biology and hu-

man imagination. Gubernatis, in his erudite Mytho-

logical Zoology , believes the Salamander represents

the moon which lights itself, lives by its own fire, has

no ray of its own, and makes the rays (and hairs) of

the sun fall off.

Before our friends Oberon and Ash, many schol-

ars and sorcerers of every age, in their wisdom—or

their temerity?—have attempted to catalogue and to

elucidate the strange beings described by their con-

temporaries. The monsters did not always hide in the

secret convenience of the dark. Some even dared to

expose themselves in full daylight, the better to scare

honest medieval folks out of their wits.

Thus we find in Schedel’s

Chronicles of Nuremberg (1493)

the stupefying representation of a

being with six arms, seen by as-

tonished townspeople. A creature

observed in Rome in 1530 had

feet like a duck’s, an enormous

forked tail like a fish, the breasts

of a woman, and a human face

with straight ears, like those of a

deer. Gesner published an engrav-

ing of it in Zurich in 1558.

Aldrovandi of Bologna relates the adventures of

a horned hybrid in a book he published in 1642. As

for Sebastian Munster, an illustration in his 1544 book

titled Cosmographie clearly shows a woman kneel-

ing (in adoration or begging for her life—or her vir-

tue) before a tall biped with three heads: one belong-

ing to a serpent, one to an eagle, and one to a lion. He

grabs his genitalia while staring at her, in a manner

suggesting that, monster or not monster, he is not im-

mune to desire.

Gesner also shows us an engraving of a Diable

de Mer (Sea Devil), which must have been actually

captured by brave fishermen, because he states it was

“painted from nature.” The great Boaistuau himself

regales us with true accounts of “a mon-

ster born alive on Earth, which was of

human figure from the navel up, and the

rest a dog” (Chapter xxxvii). In an-

other part of his book (Chapter vii),

he illustrates a report with an en-

graving of “a Monster of our own

time, about which the question is settled of whether de-

mons can procreate and exercise the work of the flesh.”

In the present volume, focused on creatures close-

ly related to animals, rather than meta-humans like

elves and Cyclops, we meet beings from myth and

legend all over the globe. Under Oberon’s gifted pen,

they are brought to life again and become, in more

ways than one, “familiar” to us.

We live in an age that claims rationality as its stan-

dard. It relegates any deviation from the academic

norm to the realm of the impossible, alongside the

Mermaid and the Unicorn—phantasms of a bygone

era when folks were insecure and uneducated. So the

reader should be prepared for a shock when opening

this book: You will learn that there is a perfectly ra-

tional explanation for Mermaids, and that Unicorns

do exist. Several of them appeared in this century and

followed Oberon and his jolly friends in their adven-

tures. I have touched a live Unicorn and can report how

wonderful it felt to experience some-

thing that every academic knew as an

absolute fact to be impossible.

We shouldn’t sell scientists short,

however. Contemporary biotech must

have learned some of the lessons from

old grimoires , because it is busy rein-

venting the Chimaera in the lab

through genetic manipulations that

hope to save lives and throw new light

on the mysteries of biology, birth, dis-

ease, and the evolution of species.

They could also spell danger: As scary as the

Gryphon may be, the chimaeras that contemporary

labs are patenting with such entrepreneurial frenzy will

be a thousand times more powerful. If cryptozoology

gives any warning, it is that we only unleash such

beasts at our peril. All the more reason to learn about

them before it is too late. If Unicorns roam the land,

what wonders will the Gargoyles belch out next, from

the lofty spires of our ivy towers? If the Kraken is

real, can Dragons be far behind?

Fortunately, as ancient tradition teaches, there are

convenient medicines to cure the ravages of nightly

monsters. Thus, against the poisonous venom of Sala-

manders, Pliny advises the seeds of the hairy and sting-

ing nettle, mixed with the

broth of a tortoise. We can

only wish that all human

nightmares could be healed

with such simple remedies.

—Jacques Vallée

San Francisco, 21 May 2007

Gessner’s duckfooted

mermaid

1558

Gessner’s

Sea Devil

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