PEACE AND POWER ... IN THE WATER: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Real Live Mermaid!

By Julie Peace and Loral Langemeier

Many people have dreamed about being a mermaid or merman, flitting through the water like Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid or powering through the waves like King Triton. Maybe you're one of them. But what you may not know is that it is, in fact, possible to buy, or make, a mer tail and become a mermaid or merman at your local beach or pool.

Peace and Power... In the Water! is your introduction to becoming one of the mer folk, exploring the benefits and pitfalls of this emerging and exciting world of art, fun, and exercise. It gives you everything you need to don your tail with confidence and experience the serenity and strength of the mer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781772774139

Book preview

uninhibited.

Chapter 1

What Is a Mer?

1

Merman or Mermaid

Congratulations, you’ve picked up a book on how to become a mermaid! What does that mean? Maybe you already know, and you’ve been happily mermaiding for years. Or maybe you’re wondering if this is some kind of metaphor for staying hydrated. Let’s talk about what exactly this book is about, and some of the terms that we use. As you probably know, a mermaid is a person who is half woman, half fish. Likewise, a merman is half man, half fish. Over the years, more and more different categories have been created—merking, merchild, and much more—so for simplicity’s sake, I usually use the overarching term mer, unless the context makes it obvious which more accurate word should be used.

When I talk about becoming a mer, in this book, what I’m talking about is actually putting on a fishtail costume with a giant flipper that attaches to both of your feet, and that you can swim with. The costume is called a tail and can be made of a lightweight swimsuit fabric or a heavy but 3D and often fabulously detailed silicone. The big fin on the tip of a mer tail is called a fluke, and the giant flipper that goes inside the fluke is called a monofin.

This is a homemade mer tail next to the monofin.

We’ll talk more about the different kinds of tails and monofins available, later; but for now, this will at least let you keep your head above water while you read.

A (Brief) History of Mer Folk

Where did the mythology of mer folk come from? Ancient gods have been depicted as mermen as early as 7000 years ago, such as the Babylonian god Ea (bringer of knowledge, arts, and sciences). Over time, sea goddesses were added to the pantheons, probably the first of which was the Assyrian goddess, Astargatis, who, according to legends, drove into the sea and tried to turn herself into a fish after accidentally killing a mortal shepherd, but the sea refused to hide her beauty, and only allowed her bottom half to be changed.

In Greek mythology, triton son of the Greek god Poseidon was a merman. We also see the sirens, who were originally half bird, half woman, and were known for luring sailors to their death with an irresistibly beautiful song. Eventually, the sirens came to be depicted as mermaids, part fish instead of part bird, and they were greatly feared by Greek sailors. Throughout history, different cultures have reacted differently to mermaids. Like the Greek, British sailors feared them, considering mermaid sightings to be an ill omen: a sign of storms, shipwrecks, and almost certain death for the one who saw them. On the other hand, Chinese sailors believed that mermaids’ tears form beautiful pearls, and that the mermaid herself could grant him immortality if he was worthy. The Irish also believed that mermaids were good, and that their song was a love song, calling sailors to the