Legends Of Belize: A Series About Mythical Creatures...

By Dismas and GrissyG

Legends Of Belize: A Series About Mythical Creatures That Dwell In The Jungles And Waters Of Belize by GrissyG and Dismas, GrisDismation.

In Belize, Central America, there are terrifying stories about strange creatures such as the jungle gnome called Tata Duende who has backwards feet, rips thumbs off, and has magical powers or the beautiful but deadly seductress named Xtabai who steals souls and shapeshifts into animals, people, and even someone you know. Stories of these creatures and many more are so terrifying, they are past down from generation to generation as folklore and legends.

The ancient legends are captured, documented, and preserved by Belizean Artists and Animators, GrissyG and Dismas, in a comprehensive series and book with images of fine Art, information about the creatures, a compare and contrast of the Belizean myths with other myths across the world, descriptions of the Art process, and Belizean cultural iconography that inspired the series.

Discover the cryptozoological, paranormal, supernatural, and unexplained creatures that are believed to haunt Belize.

Be fascinated, be terrified, Belize.

LegendsOfBelize.com
GrisDismation.biz

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483505602

Book preview

Dismas

Preface

Many myths and legends we hear about seem unbelievable. However, some legendary creatures that were once myth appear with compelling evidence of their existence. In the late 20th century, naturalist and explorer Okapia Johnstoni was the first to document the existence of a strange animal once considered myth to Europeans and much of the Western world. Now, the strange animal is known as the Okapi, named after the naturalist who first documented it. The strange animal is described to live in the Ituri jungle of Central Africa and is a close relative to the giraffe. Okapi has a similar face with small horns on its head, and a long black tongue like the giraffe. Okapis are known to grow to the size and body structure of a horse with dark brownish red hair combined with zebra like stripes across their legs. They are best described to look like a combination of a giraffe and a zebra. The Okapi is a very strange creature and is well connected to myths that they were once referred to as the African Unicorns and also labeled a cryptid. Unicorns are legendary horses with a single horn on the top of its head and the term cryptid is derived from the Greek word krypto, which means hide. Many creatures are hidden to the mainstream public. Also in the 20th century other legendary creatures such as giant squids the length of a school bus were believed to be myth, until they started turning up in fishing nets all throughout the world from Australia to the coasts of California.

Creatures similar to humans that are hidden from the mainstream but are well known to the public today are orangutans and gorillas. Orangutans and gorillas also have similar descriptions to some of the cryptids of today such as Bigfoot, Skunk Apes, Yeti, and others that are described to be hairy human ape-like creatures. The reddish-brown haired ape known as the orangutan grows to about four and a half feet tall and live deep in the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. Based on the language of Malaysia, the Malay and Indonesian word for orang translates to person and hutan translates to forest, in terms means person of the forest. Gorillas have thick black hair, except for the alpha male who has gray hair on its back and is known as the silver back. Gorillas grow to almost six feet tall and both the orangutan and gorilla are known to walk bipedal like humans do. In 500 BCE, Before the Common Era, on the Western African coast, a famous explorer, Hanno II of Cathaginian and his crew encountered what interpreters describe as a savage people, the greater part of whom were women, whose bodies were hairy and labeled Gorillae. In the 19th century European explorers came across what they believed to be the savage people that Hanno and his crew encountered and identified as the creatures we know today as gorillas. It still remains unknown if the creatures that Hanno the explorer and his crew encountered were actually humans, gorillas or some other type of bipedal ape. Sometimes the perception is that many creatures are too strange to exist but creatures like the okapi, giant squid, orangutans, gorillas, and many others continue to be good examples of how animals can be strange, hidden or even human-like. Although orangutans and gorillas are human-like bipedal apes that are mostly hidden, we know about them because they have been well documented and some also have been placed in zoos. The bad thing about knowing the existence of these human-like apes are that they are now endangered because of poaching and loss of habitat from human deforestation.

In 2004 scientists unearthed on the island of Flores, Indonesia, the skeletons of a small human species referred to as Homo florensiensis and also labeled Hobbits coined by famous writer John.R.R. Tolken, author of Lord of the Rings who wrote about fictional little people he called Hobbits. The Indonesian hominids known as Hobbits are described to have lived 18,000 years ago and stood to about 3 feet tall. They are now believed to be extinct. With many stories and accounts of similar like creatures all over the world we continue to wander into the unknown.

As we find ourselves in the unknown the very word Myth means that there is no true answer. Some myths fit the definition perfectly and are considered paranormal or metaphysical, something out of the ordinary or not of this physical world. Some of these myths are known as ghosts, apparitions, spirits, demons, and the supernatural. There are never shortages of photos, video footage or witnesses of encounters with the paranormal. Maybe you have had a ghostly experience. Never the less, there are still strong debates in our society that question whether or not these paranormal entities do exist.

Ideas of strange mythical creatures have not only helped shape some of the ideologies of the ancient past but are now explaining new theories of the present and future. As strange as it may seem there are modern theories that offer interesting explanations connecting ideas about extraterrestrial creatures with descriptions much like the ones told of in many ancient myths. A successful nonfiction writer, Erich von Däniken is one of the pioneers about the theory of extraterrestrial aliens visiting earth in the past. One of his books published in the late 60’s titled Chariots of the Gods? has numerous references about alien connections with the Earth in the past. There are ancient stories from the oldest recorded civilization known as the Sumerians who are believed to have invented the earliest form of writing called Cuneiform. In their writings and Art are depictions of other worldly beings, some with animal heads and others with wings. The Greeks have stories that depict god-like humans with amazing powers and some with animal features. Aztecs, Mayans, and Hopi Indians also have depictions in stories about mythic creatures that are part animal, some with serpent or reptile features and supernatural abilities like shapeshifting.

Modern theories claim that reptilian alien beings from other planets may have visited many of the ancient civilizations demonstrating and granting technologically advanced knowledge. The