We are living in an age where the world is becoming more and more inundated with the imagery and symbolism of various religions that trace their origins to the very paganism mentioned in The Bible. In this message I want to deal with one of these spirits: mermaids.
Mermaids are often viewed simply as mythical creatures of the oceans and other bodies of water, depicted as being human from the waist up and fish from the waist down. In the case of mermaids specifically they are typically depicted as women, the mer in the word referring to a body of water and the word maid referring to a woman. There are also mermen in some religious mythologies that are the male versions of the mermaid.
In this message I will look at several connections that the mermaid imagery has with various pagan religions, including the modern religion of Wicca—which is the religion of real-life witches who practice literal spell casting and sorcery. This will lead to how the spiritual symbolism of mermaids is present and very much influential in modern “Christian” religion today. Addressing topics like this may seem silly to some, but it is important because most people have no idea that pop-culture trends like mermaids are actually connected to the very types of witchcraft and pagan religion that The Bible tells us repeatedly to stay away from.
Mermaids And Witchcraft
If you have read my article The Importance Of Unicorns In Witchcraft Religion, then you are already aware that popular mythological creatures from ancient religions hold an important place in the practice of actual witchcraft and sorcery today. Like the unicorn, the mermaid also has a place in the religion of Wicca, which is the religion of modern-day practicing witches. On one website where practicing pagans and witches discuss topics related to their “craft” I found the following description about mermaids and their importance to magic:
"Mermaids throughout time have been considered guardians and avengers of women and predictors of storms and future events. As true water spirits they can replenish our energy and be called upon to assist within the magick of water and Lunar energies. They refresh, clean and renew our spirits. Female Mer-people, often called water nymphs, are not always female nymphs. Mermaids, in the form of water nymphs, work to awaken our deepest emotions, stimulating our compassion and intuition. Each of us has a part within ourselves which is ruled and guarded by water spirits throughout our life."
Keep the terms “water spirits” and “water nymphs” in mind, as they will come up again in this message. Notice that the symbolism of the mermaid in witchcraft provides energy, awakens emotions, and stimulates compassion and intuition—all things that the follower of Yeshua should be receiving from God’s Holy Spirit. Look also at this description of the use of the mermaid symbolism in witchcraft taken from a website called Witches Lore:
Mer-folk work closely with the magick of the moon, their magick is at its highest power during the full moon, the energy lasts from three days before to three days after the actual Full Moon. The magick worked best within this time is divination, protection, love, healing, wisdom, shape shifting and transformation. The full moon has a huge effect on mermaids, they can become mesmerized and almost put into a trance by the full moon. The reflection of the Moon on the waves and her surface is also a point of empowerment. As true water spirits, mermaids can replenish our energy and be called upon to assist with water magick and the Lunar energies. Anything related to the sea is a source of power for mer-magick and those who call upon it.
Working with the tides of the ocean is the secret key to working with mer-magick, your magick, whatever it may be, is excellently enhanced by means of the natural rhythm of the tides.
Magick that draws energies towards you is best at high tides, like drawing love, money, strength or power into your life. This kind of magick should be worked when the tide is coming in. Banishing energies is best done during low tides, such as ridding yourself of problems, removing illness, removing unwanted people or cleansing your inner self. In this way the tide carries away all the undesired fragments of life. Magick for inner peace or balancing your life-force should be done while the waters are as calm as possible. Sand from the beach can be kept in Jars, place the jar around your house to invoke powerful water magick, the jar can also be placed on your altar to aid with your spell work. Seashells have various magical properties, including, love, fertility, dreams, intuition and healing. All seashells can be used for protection spells.
This kind of magick is also known as sea magick or sea witchery, before practicing sea magick you should sit by the ocean and meditate to establish a connection to the sea. You don’t need to be next to the ocean, a lake or river can be used as a source of energy for your spells. You can create a sea altar at home using items you find by the sea to maintain your connection to the sea. If you are working with the water entities you should also give them something in exchange for their help otherwise, they will have little interest in aiding you in your magick work. If you don’t give something willingly, they will take something of their choosing among what you have with you and you will not like it.
I find it interesting that—like other mythical creatures associated with demon spirits, the occult, and witchcraft such as werewolves—the mermaid draws power from the full moon. Contrast this with Scripture where it is the new moon that is often celebrated as the beginning of a new month on the Hebrew calculating of days, which is essential to the identification of annual biblical celebrations like Passover, Tabernacles, and other Holy Days.
Let me also point out, because there are those well-meaning individuals who would say otherwise, that sand and seashells are not evil in and of themselves simply because they are here linked to mermaid spells in witchcraft. It is the actual use of such things in spell casting that is of concern. So if you have seashells or beach sand as a decoration in your home but are not using them in the above described witchcraft practices, you are doing nothing wrong. However, since mermaids are always essentially connected to the deities of other religions the same cannot be said of them—there is no way for a follower of Yeshua to justify embracing mermaid imagery.
The religion of Wicca, much like the New Age Movement, has a tendency to pull from many world religions throughout history and apply the symbolism to their practices. Even the Star of David symbol that represents the Jewish people has been taken and appropriated into the witchcraft religion of Wicca, so some people say that you cannot write something off as “evil” on the sole basis that it holds significance to modern-day practicing witches. To an extent, I certainly agree. After all, it doesn’t take much to show that the Star of David has long been used as a symbol among the Israelite people—including a portion of a stone pillar from an ancient Synagogue in Galilee that may very well be the same Synagogue where Yeshua would have attended Sabbath Day gatherings. In Israelite use, this symbol seems to represent the pomegranate and may be what is referenced in portions of The Bible that describe the pomegranate in decorative use, such as when embroidered on the garments of the High Priest.
So clearly a witchcraft use of a particular symbol doesn’t mean that they have any real power through it, as would be the case with the Star of David. However, when you get to symbols that come out of ancient pagan religions it is different. As you will see throughout the rest of this message, mermaid imagery should be particularly concerning for any true Believer in Yahweh and follower of Yeshua.
The Merman Of Ancient Babylon
There is ancient imagery of a god connected with Babylonian religion, depicted as have the body of a bearded man from the waist up and the body of a fish from the waist down, essentially a merman figure. Some have suggested that these images are the Philistine god Dagon. In most cases I find that writers allow confirmation bias to get in their way—if they want these images to be Dagon then they find sources that support that and if they do not want it to be Dagon they draw attention to sources that say these images are of another ancient deity (Oannes, who I will also discuss).
The debate about whether the merman god depicted in many ancient reliefs from pagan religions is or is not Dagon is built in part on a debate about the actual name Dagon. In Hebrew the name Dagon is דגון. The Hebrew word for fish is דג. You will notice that this is the dag in the name Dagon. In addition to this there is a controversial application of “meaning” to Hebrew letters that is often used to come up with a type of “Bible codes”. In this belief, the letter “nun”—the last letter in the name of Dagon—is said to be represented as “a fish”. Again, this is a very controversial and seemingly much abused application of the characters of the Hebrew alphabet, but certainly a point of interest in a study like this nonetheless.
However, there is a complication in this as historical evidence suggests that Dagon was the Philistine god of grain, and the Hebrew word for grain is דגן. This, of course, is much closer to the name Dagon, and this Hebrew word is transliterated into English as dagan.
To further add to the confusion, some very credible scholars in the past suggested that the use of the name Dagon in 1 Samuel 5:4, which we will look at in more detail momentarily, in reference to the portion of the Dagon statue that remained in tact should omit the “nun” at the end of the word. This would make the word used in that part of the verse dago, meaning “his fish”, which would claim that after the statue fell in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant only the “fish tail” part of the statue was still in one piece. Many scholars today, however, do not accept this interpretation.
It does appear that the Philistine god Dagon was definitely a god of grain and fertility. So the question remains about whether or not Dagon should rightly be associated with this ancient god depicted as a merman. This is something that may never be fully clarified or determined, but let’s continue.
Some would contend that Dagon being a grain god automatically eliminates the possibility that he would be depicted as a merman or in any other way be given a “fish look” because he was not a “fish god” or “god of fish”. But I would not be so quick to draw that conclusion. Take, for example, the Hindu god Ganesha—that’s the one with the elephant head and four arms. This is the Hindu god of beginnings and is associated with intellect, bankers, scribes, and authors. Some people might say that elephants are said to be pretty smart or have a great memory, but what does an elephant have to do with banking or writing? My point is that an idolatrous image of a god can be part human and part animal and the animal part have nothing to do with what that god actually represents or is “the god of”.
I mentioned that there was another god named Oannes also associated with these depictions of this merman god we are looking at. A Chaldean priest named Berosus who lived in the fourth century B.C. and wrote extensively on the history of Babylon spoke about this god Oannes. His claim was that Babylon was founded by a race of alien amphibians of which Oannes was chief, and described the god as part man and part fish. There is some debate about whether or not Oannes was originally depicted in the merman form that is most commonly displayed today, but most agree he was part human and part fish.
Occult and paranormal writer Colin Wilson, a respected scholar in his field of study, notes that Oannes was known to the Philistines as Dagon. The late Itamar Singer, an Israeli author and historian, though not in agreement with the idea of Dagon being depicted as part fish wrote in his research for Tel Aviv University in a piece of literature titled Towards The Image Of Dagon, The God Of The Philistines: “In the study of Philistine religion there is a long held view that upon their arrival in
Canaan, the Philistines adopted the deities of their new land, or have identified their
own gods with those of Canaan.”
LLuís Feliu, in his book The God Dagon In Bronze Age Syria, notes that the proposal of Dagon as part fish has few followers among modern scholars who instead believe the merman images are solely to be attributed to Oannes. However, it seems that the idea of Dagon and Oannes being essentially the same god in different cultures or that the same imagery was used for both gods holds some merit. After all, the Greek god Triton was also depicted as a merman and there are similarities drawn between the Greek gods and the gods of older religions, which we will also look at in a moment.
Wilson also did studies into the Dogon people of Mali. These people believe in gods they call The Nommo, which are also depicted as part human and part fish. So it seems that there is a lot of potentially blended cultural influences involved in all of this—Dogon, of course, strikingly similar to the name Dagon. For this reason, and seeing as it has been generally accepted by at least a good number of scholars throughout history that the Philistines may simply have adopted the imagery of a preexisting merman god as their Dagon, it is worth considering that he was indeed associated with the images in question. It does seem it is the most modern of historians who attribute Dagon to being a god of grain, and while this is based on better evidence it also does not negate the possibility that the idol imagery of the god was still that of a merman figure. Many scholars for the longer part of history present Dagon being depicted as part man and part fish. And even if there is no association between this merman image and Dagon, it appears there is definitely some connection with Babylonian religion and a merman god named Oannes.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at three events that took place in The Bible connected with the temple of Dagon.
Now the Philistine lords gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, as they said, “Our god has given our enemy Samson into our hand.”
When the people saw him, they praised their god, as they said, “Our god has given into our hand our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us.”
Now it came about when their hearts were merry that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he did make them laugh, when they made him stand between the pillars.
Then Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the temple rests, so I may lean on them.” Now the temple was full of men and women. All the Philistine lords were there and about 3,000 men and women on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them.
Then Samson called out to Adonai and said, “My Lord Adonai, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, so that I may this once take revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Then Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the temple rested and leaned on them, one with his right hand and the other with his left. Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He bent with all his might so that the temple fell on the lords and on all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his life.
~Judges 16:23-30 (TLV)
This, of course, is the record of Samson’s death that many Christians are familiar with, but the emphasis of the story is always on Samson repenting, receiving his power back, and single-handedly destroying this pagan temple. But notice the temple that this took place in: the temple of Dagon.
Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God and they brought it from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the temple of Dagon, and placed it beside Dagon. But when the Ashdodites arose early next morning, to everyone’s surprise, Dagon had fallen to his face on the ground before the ark of Adonai. So they took Dagon up and put him back in his place. But when they arose early the following morning, surprisingly, Dagon had fallen to his face on the ground before the ark of Adonai, and the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only Dagon’s trunk was left on him. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any who enter Dagon’s house will tread on Dagon’s threshold in Ashdod.
Then the hand of Adonai was heavy upon the Ashdodites, ravaging them and afflicting Ashdod and its vicinity with tumors. When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not stay with us, for His hand has dealt harshly against us as well as against our god Dagon.”
~1 Samuel 5:1-7 (TLV)
This is another familiar story, and often people in this case emphasize Dagon, primarily because his statue fell over twice—the second time severing its head and hands. In my article The Key To Divine Health I pointed out that this event took place during a known transition period in Philistine culture, and during this time the Philistine diet converted from eating mostly sheep and goats (clean animals eaten by the Israelites as well) to pork becoming a primary food source. In that message I note how this may have certainly contributed to the tumors imposed on the people for their putting the Ark of the Covenant in the temple of Dagon.
This, of course, does not mean that it was a solely natural affliction; The Bible clearly says that God put the tumors on these people. It just means that the stage was set and God didn’t have to go out of his way to flip the switch on what was already there.
In like manner, God may not have had to work all that hard to tip over the statue of Dagon. If this rendering of the god were in harmony with other depictions of him, as some artwork of this story indicates and as some scholars have speculated (as noted earlier), then the base of this statue would have been the rounded tail of a fish. This would have made the statue already a bit unstable, which would make it easier for it to fall over.
There are also those who speculate that the Ark of the Covenant itself, by its design, held some type of ability to conduct electrical currents or emit power. Some, like the Ancient Alien theorists, even go as far as claiming the Ark was a nuclear device of some kind. That may be a bit over-the-top, but we know that when a man touched the Ark he fell down dead, so the Ark certainly had some type of power—whether it be wholly supernatural or that it really was able to conduct electrical currents. So if the Ark were emitting some type of frequencies or electrical currents and the statue of Dagon was unstable by design—possibly because the base was a rounded fish tail—it would all line up with the event described in the biblical record.
I’m not saying that it was any less of a supernatural event. But it is worth noting that sometimes “Christians” historically have had a habit of making biblical events more sensational than they actually are. The point is that this statue may have depicted Dagon exactly as other renderings of him do—as having the body of a man and the tail of a fish, a merman.
The final record of Dagon we will look at comes from the death of Saul, the first king over Israel. In 1 Samuel 28 the record is given of Saul’s consulting of a witch at Endor. In this account the medium called up the deceased Prophet Samuel at Saul’s request, which did not end well for the king.
While the story continues in the Book of 1 Samuel, it is where it picks up in the parallel record of 1 Chronicles 10 that I want to turn. Here we find the record of Saul defeated in battle and deciding he should be killed to prevent being tortured by the Philistines. He requests his armor-bearer to run his sword through him, but the armor-bearer was apparently too afraid to do this. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it and died. This, of course, took place the day after his encounter with the witch at Endor. From here we find out what happened when the Philistines found the corpse of the fallen king.
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines proclaiming the good news to their idols and to the people. They put his armor in the house of their gods, and hung his head in the house of Dagon. ~1 Chronicles 10:8-10 (TLV)
After Samson’s destruction of an earlier temple to Dagon and the situation with the Ark of the Covenant, here we have the first king of Israel dead after consulting a witch and his head and armor put on display in the house of Dagon. This is a sad end to the biblical record of Israel’s interaction with this pagan god. But it is an important end to this narrative as we continue on with the spirit of mermaids and how it continues to invade the faith of those who otherwise claim to follow The Bible.
Again, it seems undetermined if these ancient merman depictions of a pagan god are in any way connected with Dagon, but despite what some scholars have said in opposition there still seems to be enough to say maybe he is. There is no question that there was an ancient deity depicted as a merman and probably of Babylonian origin. So whether or not Dagon of the Philistines was associated with it, there is certainly an ancient spirit on the part-human, part-fish mythical creatures today most popularly depicted as mermaids that is connected with the ancient religion of Babylon, and anyone who has read The Bible knows that Babylonian religion is the last thing a follower of Yeshua should want anything to do with.
I want to hit on one more point before moving on. There are depictions of ancient pagan priests, whether of the cult of Dagon or Oannes or some other god, wearing priestly robes that looked like a fish, with the head of the fish making up the hood or hat of the garment. Some have noted a potential similarity between these priestly garments and the hats worn by higher-ranking priests in the Roman Catholic Church, such as Cardinals and The Pope. But this connection is merely speculation, as there seems to be no historical connection made to date between these two things. There are PLENTY of reasons to deem the Roman Catholic Church a corrupt and pagan entity, we don’t need to make stuff up to discredit them, as doing so actually discredits the movement to biblically follow Yeshua and Torah.
The Greek God Triton
I realize there are those who feel it a stretch to connect everything evil in the world to Babylon. But when you get right down to it, the diversity we see in society today, all around the world, seems to have its origin in the dispersion of people and confusion of languages resulting from God’s reaction to the attempt to build “a tower to the heavens” at Babel.
Great researchers from organizations like Answers In Genesis have done phenomenal work in showing how the concept of “races”, which seems to make its first appearance in ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, is a result of the Tower of Babel event. Ken Ham presents on this in a wonderful teaching titled Tower of Babel: Origin of Races. What many overlook is the fact that the roots of all pagan religion are also found at Babel. There are often similarities among the gods of various world religions outside of Yahwism (what is commonly known today as the Jewish and Christian religions).
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus draws a number of comparisons between the gods of Greece and the gods of Egypt in his Histories. Some examples are that he stated the Egyptian Horus is the Greek Apollos, the Egyptian Osiris is the Greek Dionysus, the Egyptian Isis is the Greek Demeter, the Egyptian Amun is the Greek Zeus, and the Egyptian Hathor is the Greek Aphrodite. What is more well-known is that the Greeks shared their gods with the Romans, albeit with different names—Zeus/Jupiter, Poseidon/Neptune, Aphrodite/Venus, Cronus/Saturn, Artemis/Diana, etc.
Since we have already established that there is a possibility that the Philistine Dagon may be the same as the Babylonian Oannes, and we see that the Greeks and Romans certainly drew some inspiration for their pantheon of gods from the Egyptians, it would not be unreasonable to see that there may be inspiration in the Greek and Roman pantheons from Babylon as well—whether directly or indirectly. Such is the case when we come to the Greek god Triton.
The Greek god Triton is the son of Poseidon and his wife Amphitrite. Triton is depicted as a merman, often with two or more tails. In many depictions, particularly those that are more modern, he is depicted not with a fish body for his lower half but the body of an octopus. It does appear, however, that the earliest depictions of this god show him in the traditional merman rendering.
Interestingly enough, Triton does not appear to have a Roman counterpart, however in modern popular culture the comic book character Aquaman is the son of the Roman Neptune (counterpart of Triton’s father Poseidon)—something to think about when you are contemplating some of these movies. Many of the comic book characters are essentially ancient pagan gods and goddesses updated, two others among the most popular being Thor and Wonder Woman. If you so desperately need to watch a comic book superhero movie, Superman is actually the creation of two Jewish men who gave the character a Jewish persona and modeled him, at least in part, after the biblical patriarch Moses. Still not something I’d go out of my way to watch, but at least Superman is not modeled after a god from a pagan religion and has at least some biblical influence.
Something else worth noting is that Triton appears as one of the characters in the Disney© movie The Little Mermaid as the father of the main character Ariel. Again, there are alternatives. There are cartoons, even from Disney©, that do not cross over into things like witchcraft and paganism. Many of the older Disney princess movies in particular have storylines that should be particularly concerning. With that said, I will give some props to the company for their Frozen movie, at least the first one, where they presented witchcraft as evil and as a curse. However, they seem to have even abandoned that demonizing of witchcraft, for the most part, in Frozen II. The point is that you need to be very, very careful about what you watch and fill your spirit with. However, in some cases, as with the original Frozen movie, you can use the storyline to teach your children that witchcraft is evil if you are yourself educated in these things.
Triton is a Greek god, from the pagan Greek religion that was prominent during the time of Yeshua’s earthly ministry as well as that of the Apostles. This alone should be of concern to any serious “Christian” today. Many people in “Christianity” today take an attitude of “I don’t care what the history of things like mermaids might be, that’s not what it means to me!”
I must caution you about this type of attitude, as it matters not whatever you might think something means “to you”. What matters is what it means to our Father, Yahweh. Nothing in The Bible affords you any right to assign your own cultural or “Christian” meaning to something that originates from another religion. In fact, if we consider Deuteronomy 12:29-31, an often cited passage in matters like this, “Christians” who ignore messages like this and embrace things like mermaids anyway are likely in open defiance to God’s face. If you were to study the biblical character of Nimrod, who essentially built Babylon, Assyria, and pretty much every nation that would defy God and stand against the Israelite people in Scripture you will find that his name literally means “the rebel” and the language about who he was in Genesis 10 indicates that his legacy was in defying God to His face. This is the same spirit that operates in people who embrace things rooted in the gods of pagan religions and say such foolish things as: “That’s not what it means to me!”
Having established the foundations of these half-human half-fish beings as gods from other religions, I want to turn the focus toward the mermaid, the female version of these beings. As this study looks closely at a couple of these mermaids from historical pagan mythology you are going to see some things that should be more concerning than anything yet mentioned in this message.
Circe, Perse, And The Church
Continuing in Greek mythology, there is a goddess whose cult appears to be a major influence on the way “church” is conducted in the modern age. This is the goddess Circe, whose name is associated with the word “circus”. Interestingly enough, the word etymology of “church” appears to have a shared origin with the word “circus”, and both are connected with the goddess Circe.
In Scripture the Greek word commonly used in reference to Messiah’s communities is “ekklesia”, which is wrongly translated as “church” in many English Bibles. It is, rather, the Greek word “kuklos” that provides the origin of “church”, along with the Latin “kirk”. This word “kuklos” is used eight times in the Apostolic teachings of Scripture, and not one of these uses is a reference to a what is referred to as “the ekklesia”.
These words used to develop the word “church” also translate to mean “circus” and “circle” (circus events traditionally are done inside of a circular performance area and the main persona in the circus is the ringleader). Something of potential interest in this is that a coven witches have a tendency to gather in a circle as well and Circe was a goddess that operated in witchcraft and manipulation.
Circe was the child of the Greek sun god Helios and the goddess Perse, an ocean nymph (do you remember seeing “ocean nymphs” mentioned earlier when looking at citations from Wiccan resources?). In the Greek religion an ocean nymph was sometimes depicted as fully human and other times as a mermaid figure. Either way, the ocean nymphs were absolutely of the same general category of religious mythical beings—the mermaids.
There is not a whole lot said about Perse, apart from her role as the mother of Circe. As such many would say that this makes her insignificant in the Greek religion overall. But I would not be so quick about that, as often it is the things that appear to be insignificant are actually the most significant. Consider this passage of Scripture for a moment:
Then one of the seven angels holding the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the sentencing of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. The earth’s kings committed sexual immorality with her, and those who dwell on the earth got drunk with the wine of her immorality.” ~Revelation 17:1-2 (TLV)
Am I saying that the woman described here is Perse, or even Circe? Absolutely not! But consider that this was written during a period of Israel’s history where the Apostles were taking The Gospel throughout the known world, which heavily included the Greek and Roman territories. Certainly many readers of The Revelation would have at least imagined this woman, the great prostitute, in terms of one of the Greek or Roman ocean nymphs or some other Greco-Roman deity of the seas.
There is a spirit on all of this and it is running all through the churches today with the shenanigans, gimmicks, worldliness, and even the literal embracing of paganism INSIDE OF THE SO-CALLED CHRISTIAN CHURCHES through such things as the celebration of Christmas and Easter instead of the Feasts and festivals of Yahweh that Yeshua and the Apostles celebrated. Consider what Christian author Jennifer LeClaire says in her book The Spiritual Warrior’s Guide To Defeating Water Spirits: Overcoming Demons That Twist, Suffocate, And Attack God’s Purpose For Your Life:
Marine demons are like venomous jellyfish. They release toxic imaginations as they work to wrap their tentacles around you. The attack can sting your soul or body. If you don't discern the attack quickly enough and sustain multiple stings, it could kill relationships, steal your peace of mind or health and destroy opportunities God has planned for you. You can defeat it. The battle won't be a fun memory, but the victory will be sweet.
I realize that views like this—associated with demonology—are not accepted by everyone in Messianic/Hebrew Roots or more conservative Christian circles. However, I think there is some real merit to the overall tone of this statement, even if you are not inclined to embrace a concept like “marine demons” or “water spirits” as literal demons in the biblical sense. This would certainly include the demonic spirits associated with mermaids and ocean nymphs. But think about LeClaire’s words as applied to the spirit of Circe as a stronghold over the churches that bear her name.
I do, however, want to issue a word of caution. In this message I am addressing ancient mythologies and their influence on modern beliefs as well as the actual beliefs of witchcraft religions and how things like mermaids hold importance in these beliefs. I have seen rather bizarre “Christian” teachings about “water spirits”. One I came across recently was telling people that you can have sexual intercourse with “water spirits” in your dreams, among other weird things. I am clearly not promoting such nonsense and you should not either.
Remember, all of these mythologies, while reading like science or fantasy fiction, were really the presentation of pagan religious beliefs of these ancient people. Embracing things like mermaids and other water spirits is to also embrace the religious beliefs attached to them, even if you don’t realize that’s what you are doing and even if you tell yourself “that’s not what it means to me”. You’re still filling your mind and your spirit with the philosophies and doctrines of other religions that oppose The Bible.
Water Spirits And Our Biblical Mandate
According to an answer to the question What is a Nereid? posted on the website Ask Mystic Investigations, a page where you can ask questions to “paranormal investigators”:
A Nereid is a Sea Nymph which is part of the greater group of Water Nymphs. Elemental nature spirits who locally personify aspects of nature, and perform various tasks to maintain the planet.
This tells us that the sea nymph is a part of religious beliefs that “the gods” handle the care and preservation of the natural world. Contrast this with what we are instructed by Yahweh, our God, in the Genesis record.
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
~Genesis 1:26-28 (The Message)
The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it.
~Genesis 2:15 (NET)
According to biblically-based beliefs it is the role of humanity to take care of the planet—the Creation of our God. The concept of mythical creatures like sea nymphs and mermaids that carry this role is built on pagan religions that “traded the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). Man-made religion always ends up embracing humanism that interprets “dominion” as the right to rape and pillage the earth for our own personal gain and leaving the care and restoration of the earth to “the gods”, thus worshiping the creation instead of the Creator. Sadly, this wrong view of “dominion” is also plaguing much of modern “Christianity”. Those who worship God correctly, according to the biblical mandate, are those who take up the call to be responsible for the care of their Creator’s Creation.
The thing about it, however, is that these gods of pagan religion are not real. Oh, they are real in the hearts and imaginations of those who worship them, and as such we must take serious the biblical mandate to have no other gods before Yahweh (more on that in a moment). But since these “caretakers of the earth” are not actually real, then the result of these religions is humanity abusing the earth with the assumption that someone else—the gods of their pagan religion—will make everything right. This simply is not true, but it does lead us to the passage at the other end of The Bible that contrasts Genesis 1:26-28 and 2:15.
“The nations were enraged, but Your wrath has come and the time for the dead to be judged— to reward Your servants, the prophets and kedoshim, and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy the destroyers of the earth.” ~Revelation 11:18 (TLV)
I have brought this verse up in other applications of Creation care, but it applies equally to all sides of the issue. When you are given to things like mermaids and ocean nymphs you are essentially embracing the spirit of a destroyer of the earth. I will remind you that Yeshua said it is the thief (Satan) that comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and that He came to give life abundant (John 10:10).
Something else I often remind folks of is that it is the spirit of the Edenic serpent that initiated the questioning of the commandments of God, “Hath God said?” That is his question, rolling off of his hissing tongue. In some cases, as with Triton and also with the next historic mermaid we will look at in this message, some of these water spirits are depicted with the tail of a serpent. Do you think that a coincidence?
Have No Other Gods
“I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” ~Exodus 20:2-3 (TLV)
The next mermaid figure that I want to highlight in this message is Melusine. This mermaid is typically depicted with two fish tails in place of legs, though in the German version she has the body of a snake, from the waist down and is most commonly known today as the “mascot” for the Starbucks™ coffee company.
In the past “Christians” have taken exception to the practices of this company for their stance in favor of homosexual practices, support of abortion and the Planned Parenthood organization, or their “neglect” to have Christmas imagery on their holiday coffee cups. Personally, the latter is quite hilarious seeing as Christians apparently could care less about the pagan goddess that is displayed on their cups all year long. But it is concerning that a company that funds abortion and, according to the 2018 article Now That Starbucks CEO Knows About Planned Parenthood Funding, Will He End Chain’s Support of ‘Racist Organization’? by Tony Perkins, redefining marriage is at the core of its brand7 is so beloved by the modern-day “Christian”.
The first of the “Ten Commandments” is to have not other gods before Yahweh. A major part of that commandment is to not come before God or come into His presence bearing the image of other gods. Despite this, because the modern-day “Christian” is more interested in popular culture and status symbols than holy living, they will flock to their churches, Bible studies, prayer gatherings, and every other religious function with their coffee cup that bears the image of a false deity and represents the very things they oppose—and the money they used to buy that coffee is funding those things.
Good luck to all the “Christians” who will have to explain that to God when they stand at The Judgment. Especially when they typically drove past five or ten other places that sell coffee just to get their pagan goddess coffee that funds abortion and wants to redefine marriage. It always amazes me how much “Christianity” will rail against sexual immorality and abortion, but will laugh at you when you bring up things like this because they are so deceived and delusional (those are biblical terms for it, I am not “being a jerk”) that they honestly believe “it’s just a cup of coffee”, or whatever else they bought there.
Melusine is a water spirit from pre-Christian European regions, particularly prominent among French and Celtic religious practices. According to the book Wicca Love Spells she was worshiped by the followers of medieval Love cults in southern France.
It should be shocking that today the coffee brand bearing her image has become a favorite among “Christians”. I am not sure I have ever heard of another cup of coffee that more people complain about both the taste and price of, yet it remains popular because it is a “status symbol” product. People who drink this stuff don’t even say they are drinking coffee, they say they have a Starbucks™.
Now please understand, I am not writing this to attack a corporation with slander. This isn’t about discrediting a company. There is likely not a lot of harm I can do to their business anyway, unless Christians were to actually listen to truth about the demonic spirits associated with things like mermaids. But let’s be a little realistic here, if you are truly a follower of Yeshua then why would you want to support a company that has a worldview so opposed to your God and prominently displays another deity on all of their products? The fact is, these “Christians” who do things like this are either just totally ignorant to truths like this message has presented or, much more concerning, they simply don’t care and want the cultural popularity that comes with drinking the “trending coffee” without regard for the fact that they have to reject the commandment of their God to do so.
Again, The Bible says to have no other gods before Yahweh. A major part of what this means is to not come before His presence while bearing the image of other gods (or goddesses). So what does that say of the modern Christian who attends a church service with their cup of Starbucks™ in their hand? They don’t even realize that they have failed to get past the first of the “Ten Commandments”, let alone the rest of the 613 commandments of Torah, without being in open defiance to their own God. And this is not just any defiance; this is the act of coming before Yahweh with the image of another god in their hands. Does this even make any sense?
In The Scriptures (2009) translation prepared by the Institute For Scripture Research Exodus 20:3 is rendered: “have no other mighty ones against My face.” Recall what I brought up earlier about all of these pagan religions essentially tracing their roots to the dispersion of people after the failure to complete the Tower of Babel under Nimrod, the “mighty one” whose own biblical legacy was in defying God to His face. Yet so many “Christians” today think nothing of attending a religious gathering, with the intent to enter the presence of their God, while bearing the image of other gods. The worst part is that I have literally watched leaders, including some in Torah-positive ministry, say that they have absolutely no conviction about this. To them it’s just a cup of coffee.
Consider also the prohibition in Scripture against eating that which is offered to idols. Some might argue that this applies only to meats that come from animals sacrificed to another god. While the language of Paul’s teachings on this sure does seem to hone in on this specific act, should we not take serious other foods that pay homage to other gods (or goddesses)?
“Christianity” has a long history of ignoring the commandments of God to chase after their own agendas. Much of today’s “Christian” evangelism tactics are built on blending all manner of popular secular culture into church practices to make “Christian” religion relevant to the world around us. But at what cost? What are we really accomplishing when we mix with all manner of ungodliness to build numbers? As I often say, if you need anything other than The Bible, the name of Yeshua lifted up, and the power of The Holy Spirit than you are doing it wrong. We don’t need to assimilate with secular culture and we certainly don’t need to incorporate paganism and other gods into evangelism—to do so is not only foolish, it shows that we do not think The Bible, the name of Yeshua, and the power of The Holy Spirit are good enough to draw people to faith in God.
Doing an article on mermaids may seem a little odd to some, but clearly we see that there is a lot of religious symbology in things like mermaids, as well as other mythical creatures like unicorns, werewolves, genies, vampires, and many others. So often the religious majority looks at these things and says that they just see these things today as harmless mythical creatures, but what about the spirit on these things throughout history? Much of the time these things are being marketed at children, and from my observation a lot of children raised in church but also taught to accept these as “harmless”, despite their being rooted in other religions, turn from God in their youth and embrace Wicca, the occult, or other forms of actual pagan religion. On top of that, modern LGBT+ agendas use unicorn and mermaid imagery in particular, which leads to children raised with these things to explore alternate sexual behaviors in their teenage years. These are not merely mythical creatures, they are symbols used in a demonic agenda to capture the minds of your children and lead them into lifestyles of witchcraft and gross sexual immorality. I urge you to take it serious.
Yemaya: Mother Of Life
There is one more mermaid goddess I want to present to you. This one comes from African religion and later, likely a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Afro-Caribbean beliefs. Yemaya, like Melusine, is a twin-tailed mermaid. However, in this mythology she is considered the mother of all life on earth.
This is, of course, similar to previously discussed mermaid mythologies that consider these beings to be caretakers of the earth. However, in the case of Yemaya it is more of a “Mother Earth” type of figure, much like Gaia. This, of course, is a belief found in many religions that is in direct contrast to the biblical idea that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
According to the article Yemaya, Oshun and Olokun: Water Gods of Yoruba Mythology and Their Influences by Anna Sulc, “Yemaya is the orisha of the surface of the ocean. She is the other half of Olokun, sometimes a sister and sometimes a wife (sometimes, both deities are androgynous). While Olokun is the Keeper of Secrets and rules over the depths of the ocean, Yemaya presides over the surface waters. She has great power as the Earth cannot thrive without her.”
We can also look to these words from author Raven Morgaine—a worshiper of the goddess and a practitioner of Candomblé, New Orleans Voodoo, Santeria, and witchcraft—from his book Yemaya: Orisha, Goddess, and Queen of the Sea:
Like the ocean from which she was born, Yemaya is infinitely variable and supremely powerful. Her personality has many facets, many aspects. She travels many caminos (roads) and appears with many different faces. Just as part of me is a poet, another is a painter, another a doll-maker, and yet another a psychic reader. Whenever I am completely submerged in any of these roles, I am a very different version of myself. Likewise, when Yemaya is fully submerged within different aspects of her personality, she literally becomes a new version of herself with different likes and dislikes, different practices and taboos, different responsibilities in the universe, and different names to go with each version.
In African Traditional Religions, only a priest can tell you what aspect of Yemaya is focused on your life. But in your own personal spiritual practice you can invoke whatever aspect of Yemaya you need most in your life—although I suggest sticking with the totality of Yemaya that encompasses all of these pathways.
Now, I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a whole big schizophrenic mess to me. Yahweh, the God of The Bible, is not the author of confusion and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Here we have this mermaid goddess, Yemaya, that has many faces, many personalities, and many versions of herself. And her worshipers, according to this particular one who wrote a whole book about worshiping her, conveniently get to pick whatever version of her best suits their religious pursuits.
This spirit of confusion is a major concern with embracing mythological gods and goddesses of pagan religions. I don’t know how many times I have encountered the average American “Christian” that is ignorant to these things and sees nothing wrong with them who then becomes completely confused when you try to talk to them about The Bible. You tell them that it was Hebrew people who wrote The Bible, that Yeshua was a Jewish Rabbi, that He was not born in the winter, and so many other things and they get confused. Why? Because the majority of “Christian” religion and teachings are filled with biblical passages taken out of context and mixed with mythologies of other religions. So when you present the actual truth to them, they don’t know how to handle it because it’s not what they are taught in their churches.
Simply put, most “Christians” are the most deceived people on the face of the planet. Most of what they believe is completely against The Bible, yet they believe that these beliefs are biblical. People talk about “the eighth wonder of the world”, as traditionally there are seven and the eighth always used of something people think is phenomenal enough to be the next on the list. However, I would say the biggest wonder of the world above all others is how the largest religion in the world, a religion that claims one-third of the earth’s total population, is the one that thinks they follow The Bible while simultaneously doing everything but follow The Bible. But that is exactly what “Christianity” is.
What Will You Do?
When you look into the myths and legends surrounding things like mermaids, and specifically prominent mermaid goddess figures like those I have highlighted, often they sound like fictional stories. This is where they trap people. But make no mistake about it, these mythologies that read like fictional tales are actually religious teachings, and they will lead you away from the ways of the Judeo-Christian God of The Bible. As stated earlier, when you embrace things like mermaids you are filling your mind and your spirit with the philosophies and doctrines of other religions that oppose The Bible.
In this message I have highlighted a number of ancient deities associates with the mermaid spirit, or what LeClaire referred to as marine demons. Don’t think for a minute that those toys and clothes marketed to your children or that cup of coffee bearing the image of a known pagan goddess are harmless. These things have actual spiritual powers attached to them.
Now, I am not trying to lead you to fearing the enemy. Please understand that if you have the Spirit of God living within you, then you have power over the enemy. The problem is not a matter of the devil being more powerful. The problem is that when you embrace these things you have essentially rejected that first commandment to have no other gods before the God of The Bible. This is not about being afraid of the devil and demons, it is about whether or not you love and revere God enough to obey His commandment to have no other gods before Him—to not oppose Him to His face with the images of other gods. The moment you reject the command of your God is the moment you reject the power of God inside of you, and then you open yourself and your children up to the attacks of the spirits attached to things like mermaids, unicorns, and other creatures of ancient pagan mythologies.
You see, “Christianity” often gets this wrong too. So much of the time I have heard preaching against demonic things that comes across as fear of the devil.
One time I heard a preacher tell a story. He was approaching a restaurant with a group of ministers when one of his companions, a female minister, stopped and started to freak out. “Oh, I can’t go in their, they have an idol at their entrance,” she proclaimed. The preacher, in his arrogance and ignorance, said something to the effect of, “That has no power over me, and I’m going in there to have dinner.” Both were wrong. The woman minister was wrong in being afraid of the lifeless idol, but the male preacher was also in the wrong because had he been committed to keeping the commandments he would not have wanted to go into a restaurant where he would be dining in the presence of other gods. This story actually portrays two extremes, both of which are opposed by Scripture. One preacher was expressing fear of the devil, the other defying God to His face.
Have no other gods before Yahweh—that is the commandment. If you truly believe God is God and you truly believe in having no other gods before Him, in His presence, then you would not be OK with things like mermaids with their long history as other gods and goddesses or anything else with such a history. As stated earlier, I’ve heard some people say they have no conviction in regard to these matters. That seems very concerning to me. How can you have no conviction about something that literally violates the commandment to have no other gods before Yahweh? The answer may lie in Matthew 13:15, and other related passages, where we are told: “For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.”
It is sad that people today don’t even seem to want to know truths like this. They would rather go on in their bliss-filled ignorance. But there is going to come a day when you stand before The Master. He is going to look at you with fire in His eyes. The records of your life will be brought up. What will be the result of this? Will He find that you had other gods before Him? Will He find that you disregarded His commandment and incorporated paganism into your alleged worship of Him? Do you think it would be a good idea to stand before Him with such accusations looming over your head?
I know that today people want “positive” messages that inspire them to be happy. Some people want a “fun Christianity”, whatever that may be. Others are becoming excited about learning of the Feasts and festivals of Scripture while otherwise carrying on with “Christianity as culturally normal”. But nobody seems interested in the depths of holiness. The Bible says that without holiness you won’t even see God. Why is it that holiness is so hard for people to get excited about?
I hope and pray that this message has given you something to think about. I hope and pray that you will seriously consider the roots and origins of things inundated into modern culture that are historically based in other religions, paganism, and demonic spirits. Because if you truly are serious about your faith in, reverence of, and love for God, then the absolute first thing you should want to do is have no other gods (or goddesses) before Him.
~Blessings and Shalom~ ©2022 Truth Ignited Ministry www.TruthIgnited.com Facebook.com/TruthIgnited www.youtube.com/c/TruthIgnited
