savitar tour – World Travel Guide

Ancient maps marked uncharted territory with the warning: here be dragons. But what if you wanted to find a magical creature? Where would you start in these modern times (when every part of the globe has been explored and mapped)?

Some days when people are just too difficult you may start to feel a world populated by unicorns, dragons and fauns could only be an improvement. Here then, is an itinerary for visiting the dream travel lands of imaginary and mythical creatures.

In search of Pan

Pan and his damn magic flute

Where’s the best place to cross the barrier between worlds and find the land of the Fauns? The wardrobe in the back room of your great-uncle’s distant manor, of course. You can also try looking for a friendly Faun in any wooded area of England or Europe. I would happily take a cup of tea and a cosy gossip with Mr Tumnus any day, especially as played by James McAvoy (whose charms are enough to restore a girl’s faith in humanity).

Once you have located your Faun, identified yourself and started to enjoy a long chat, it may already be dark outside, so make sure to pack a torch or candle for your journey home. The Faun race of half-goat and half-human are based on the mythic figure of Pan, the horned goat who could mostly be found in the forests of Arcadia, playing his flute and luring the passing nymphs onto soft grassy knolls (all the better to indulge in wanton behaviour).

The drunken satyr figure was part of the religious pantheon in ancient Greece. I lived for a time in the Sydney suburb of Arcadia, where we kept goats, and although I don’t remember sighting any Fauns there, it’s still worth a look as you never know where they could be hiding.

There be dragons

Most castles will contain a dragon, sleeping either on the battlements or hidden in a treasure-filled cave deep underground. You could say it’s best to let sleeping dragon’s lie, although I feel that these creatures also suffer unfairly at the hands of noble knights and over-eager archers.

The Chinese dragon, with five claws, is usually seen as benevolent, and provides good luck to those who invoke their help. The Chinese proverb “Hoping one’s son will become a dragon” means to be successful and powerful. Dragons can be seen on robes, sculptures and temples across China, such as the steps of the Forbidden City in Beijing, or floating amongst the clouds in 15th Century Ming Dynasty depictions. The ancient Chang Heng Seismoscope was an earthquake warning system in a series of dragon statues, each holding a bronze ball in their mouth – the direction in which the ball fell indicates the origin of earthquake tremors.

Japanese dragons are also water gods, with widespread myths about dragons living in ponds and lakes, and are associated with Buddhist Temples and Shinto Shrines in Japan. Dragons feature in contemporary Japanese art, literature and film, such as Godzilla. The annual “Golden Dragon Dance” is performed at Senso-Ji Buddhist temple in Asakusa, and there is a festival and fireworks show at Lake Saiko Dragon Shrine at Fujizoshida, Yamanashi.

The dragon of Ljubljana

Korean Dragons are sometimes said to be capable of speech and emotion and are also related to water and agriculture, while one creation myth of Vietnam says that the Vietnamese people are descended from a dragon and a fairy.

The people of Vietnam who lived near rivers historically venerated the Giao Long (Crocodile) as the first of the Vietnamese dragons. The capital of Vietnam Ha Noi was once known as Th?ng Long; and many place-names incorporate the word Long (meaning dragon), Ha Long Bay, and Long Bien Bridge.

If you are truly dedicated to the search for dragons, I would start in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where the protector Dragon of Slovenia lives, then head north to the ancient German town of Worms (in which the slaying of the dragon by Siegfried is celebrated in the epic poem Nibelungenlied).

In case you fail to locate any remaining dragons I recommend travelling to Sweden, Denmark or Norway, where the giant sea serpent Midgardsormen surrounds Midgard, the entrance to which I believe can be crossed on any rainbow.

Beware of griffins

The griffin (or gryphon) is another legendary creature known for guarding treasure, with the body of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle. A griffin’s claw was believed to have medicinal properties and one of its feathers could restore sight. Griffins are thought to guard the roads to gold mines on the central plains of Asia, and will question anyone who seeks passage to see if their intentions were pure. You can see griffin statues where they mark the entrance to the City of London, visit a marvellous statue of an ancient Griffin at St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, or the stylized modernist guardian griffin in Washington DC.

Griffins are said to breed in the Hyperborean mountains, since the 7th century there were sightings of the fabulous creatures in Seville and Bacharia. According to Marco Polo they originated from Madagascar.

Nessie, are you out there?

The legend of the Loch Ness Monster in the Scottish Highlands is often regarded as a myth, despite anecdotal sightings and reports of a giant sea-serpent or dragon inhabiting the waters of the Loch. The first photograph of the Loch Ness Monster was published in 1933, while a sonar reading in 1954 seemed to confirm the presence of some kind of underwater creature. Scientists believe the entire story is a hoax or myth, however ‘Nessie’, as she is known, remains a popular example of cryptozoology, the search for animals either legendary or extinct.

The most famous photographic ‘proof’ turned out to be a hoax, consisting of the sculpted head atop a toy submarine, while a circus-owner claimed that the ‘monster’ was actually one of his elephants, using the legend for increased publicity. Some of the researchers who discovered the photographic hoax still believe that Nessie is real, and not a seal or walrus as is sometimes claimed. Although the BBC’s definitive search in 2003 with 60 sonar and satellite trackers seems conclusive, it’s probably best to visit the waters of the loch and decide for yourself whether Nessie exists and if she is still alive.

The lost Bunyip

I remember the Bunyip of Berkeley’s Creek as a story from my childhood, the strangely endearing hybrid monster lurking at the bottom of a billabong. Descriptions vary from a hide of fur and scales, with the head of an emu and body of an alligator, to a dog-like face with flippers, a duck’s bill and walrus-like tusks or horns.

Sightings of the Bunyip in the 1840 -50s are reported in the Barwon River, Lake Modewarre and throughout Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. These large creatures are part of Aboriginal Mythology, and the Bunyip was said to have supernatural powers, and is sometimes translated as “devil” or “evil spirit”, however the creature may also be related to the mythic man Bunjil, responsible for the creation of mountains, rivers, humans and animals.

The term ‘Bunyip Aristocracy’ refers to Australians aspiring to be aristocrats, so if you venture into Aussie High Society, you may stumble over a bunyip or two. Again there is the suggestion that sightings were actually seals travelling along the Murray and Darling Rivers, or the cultural memory of extinct Australian marsupials. If you’re still keen to find one, try the town of Bunyip or the Bunyip River, both in Victoria.

Unicorns are real, don’t you know?

Calling all virgin maidens

Finally, what magical bestiary would be complete without the Unicorn? These fantastical creatures (essentially a horse with a horned forehead – although a billy goat’s beard, lion’s tail and cloven hooves are also depicted) are mysterious, fierce, solitary and always good. They can only be tamed by a virgin woman, and their single horn is said to be both an aphrodisiac and to neutralize poison.

The Greeks believed Unicorns to be part of natural history, rather than mythology, and to originate from India, while Marco Polo’s description of the unicorn is more related to a rhinoceros. The Royal throne of Denmark is said to be made of “Unicorn Horns”, and the sailors of Norway believed that the narwhal – a species of whale – was related to the unicorn.

The Bristol City Council Buildings hold a golden unicorn on their roof; the 6th Century palace of the King of Ethiopa contained four brass unicorns; while the coat of arms for the mythical Kingdom of Scotland is supported by two unicorns.

If you wish to tame a unicorn, you will have to find a virgin to help you, as Leonardo da Vinci wrote “the love it bears to fair maidens forgets its ferocity and wildness; and laying aside all fear it will go up to a seated damsel and go to sleep in her lap”, although perhaps this noble creature is best left roaming free in its wild existence at the edge of the known earth.

-Jodi Rose

Source: Scott Mc