Japanese Folklore,The Kudan

 

Japanese folklore is full of interesting creatures from oni and spirits to any number of fantastic yokai..

Today we talk about the Kudan, a yokai that takes the form of a fortune telling bovine.

Thought not as old as some other yokai legends like the Nine Tailed Fox or the vicious Oni, the Kudan can be traced back at least as far as the later part  of the Edo period.

 Stories of kudan being born on rural farms where reported in newspapers all over Japan with sightings continuing through the 1940s.

 Because they have a supernatural ability to predict the future and they're predictions  always comes true, a kudan's prophecy was considered absolute truth. During the Edo period, newspaper's would try to increase the credibility of their stories by adding the words “kudan no gotoshi,” or, “as if a kudan had said it” to their articles. This phrase remains in use in the Japanese language today as a way of assuring the reader of the truth of a story.

This yokai has such a respectable reputation  for honesty that images of kudan were used as charms  for good luck, prosperity, and protection from sickness and disaster. Newspapers would tell their readers to hang the printed images of kudan on their houses for protection and good fortune. 

Kudan were such popular yokai that their mummified remains were often carted around in traveling sideshows similar to PT Barnum's sideshow and circus in America.

 These kudan where taxidermy creations made from deformed stillborn calves, or from combined animal parts stitched together to create a chimera-like stuffed animal, one popular example of these kind of creation is the "Fiji mermaid " a taxidermy monkey and fish combo.

 People would  pay a small fee to look at these specimens and hopefully receive some of their good luck. A few of these mummified remains can still be found in museums today.

According to legend, Kudan are able to speak human languages from the day they are born.

Most of them don't live for more than a few days at most, the are said too give  one or more prophecies right after birth and then sadly they die. 

Their prophecies can be any number of subjects ranging from historical events, crop harvest (good or bad), droughts, famines, war, plages or pretty much anything else and no matter what it is the  prediction of a kudan always  comes true. 

Most Kudan are human faced cows, though in very rare occasions they can be cow faced humans 

They can appear anywhere in Japan, but seem to be more prevalent in Kyushu and western Japan..

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Paranormal Folklore: The Slide Rock Bolter.

  

The Slide-Rock Bolter is a strange and massive  cryptid   that makes it's home on to of steep mountains, it was first recounted by 19th century  lumberjacks, according to folklore it lives in the mountains of Colorado, but only on mountains where the slope is at an angle greater than 45 degrees. 

It somewhat resembles a large fish, with a large head, small eyes, and a huge mouth,  Its tail ends in a fluke like a dolphin, with enormous grab-hooks that it uses to stay in place high above it's prey until it's ready to strike.

The enormous beast doesn't hunt in a typical manner, instead it's a massive ambush predator.

 It can stay completely motionless for days at a time, watching the gulch below for animals or  tourists unlucky enough to cross it's path.

 The moment it's next meal is in sight, it will lift its tail to release its hold on the crest and let gravity do it's job, sending it barreling downhill, it drools a grease like substance   from the corners of its mouth to increase the speed as  its huge body barrels down the mountain.

It's  helpless victims are scooped  into its wide open mouth as it slides down. The accumulated speed will carry the Bolter up the next slope, where it will once again grasp the ridge with its tail and wait for it's next meal to wonder into it's grasp.

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Encounters..

Whole parties of tourists are reported to have been gulped down at once. The animal is a menace not only to tourists but to the forest as well. Many spruce-covered slopes have been rendered wastelands as the Bolter knocks the trees out by their roots or mows them down as if with a scythe.

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A forest ranger, whose district included the rough country between Ophir Peaks and the Lizard Head, conceived the bold idea of deceiving a Slide-Rock Bolter to slide to its own destruction. A dummy tourist was outfitted with a plaid Norfolk jacket, knee breeches, and a guidebook to Colorado. The dummy was filled with powder and fulminate caps and posed in a conspicuous place. 

The next day the false tourist attracted the attention of a Bolter that had been hanging for days on the slope of Lizard Head. The creature attacked. The resulting explosion flattened half the buildings in Rico, which were never rebuilt. The remains of the unfortunate Bolter made many a meal for the local buzzards that summer

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This cryptid and others can be found in Fearsome Critters (1910)

1929 Dogman Encounter.

 

Happy October 1st, officially Spooky Season 🎃🦇. 

An early account of  a Dogman/Wolfman raiding a pig farm in 1929..

This creature was described as a large  black, bipedal, pointy eared Bear/ Hyena. 

The sightings took place in Valparaiso, Indiana, and was reported in the Vidette-Messenger,(local News Paper) on  February 8, 1929

The Encounter.....

Galena Indiana,  Feb. 8, 1929—

Another hunt has been started here for the mysterious black beast that raided the A. A. Akins farm just east of here, killed one pig and carried off in its “arms” another pig weighing 85 pounds, according to Leonard Akins, 20, who surprised the animal and was forced to flee for his life. 

Posse of farmers, aided by dogs which tried to trail the black animal, failed to find it and returned still in doubt as to the identity of the creature.

“I can’t imagine what it was unless it was a cross between a big bear and a hyena,” young Akins said. The hunters found one set of tracks that resembled bear tracks, Akins related, but as no one in the party was an expert on bears, the question was left open, he said.

“The critter walked on its hind legs, had pointed ears and ferocious teeth, I can say that much,” Akins declared. The youth said he ran into the animal in a barn on the Akins farm. The beast was killing a 60-pound pig.

“The creature reared up on its hind legs and started toward me,” Akins said. “My airdale dog, however, dashed ahead and barked at it and it turned on the dog.”

Akins then started to run to his home to get his gun. In running he glanced around, saw the animal seize another pig which weighed at least 60 pounds, take it in its “arms,” go across the fence and start for some woods.

“It was as big as a man and walked on its hind legs,” the youth asserted. A canvass will be made of all circuses and zoos in Southern Indiana to determine if any wild beast escaped.

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The creature was never captured, and still remains a mystery too this day 

🌕🐺

Paranormal Folklore, Korea's Blue Tiger.

Given how popular Netflix KPop Demon Hunters was last year, a large portion of you already know about the  Jeoseung Saja ( Saja boys) though unlike the movie the folkloric version is not evil they are basically underworld civil servants working for the king of the underworld, they  guide souls to the afterlife, and Huntrix, the main girls are essentially a sensationalised version of shaman/ exorcists.  Then we have a fan favorit,  Derpy the blue demon tiger.....(not actually a demon)....

But just like the rest of the characters, he and his bird companion are also based of  Korean folklore and traditional art work..The tiger in general is well regarded in Korea.

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The tiger is considered a symbol of courage and strength,  he is also revered as a guardian that drives away evil.

During New Year, people would hang paintings of tigers  on their doors to ward off bad luck and invite good fortune.

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In (Hojakdo 17th century) traditional Korean folk paintings the tiger was usually shown in a more goofy,  comical or even foolish looking  depiction. this was done  as a form of social Satir to make fun of aristocrats..

 In these minhwa paintings, its often accompanied by one or more  magpie. The foolish tiger symbolized the corrupt aristocrats nobile's or government, while the  magpie represented the common people mocking his  authority.

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Tigers and the Mountain Spirit.

In Korean mythology,  the tiger was viewed as   a companion of the Mountain God Sanshin, holding absolute authority in nature and can be found in many paintings accompanying him.

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One more fun fact, the Korean peninsula also resembles a Tiger....

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Ok, now on to today's main topic the Blue Tiger, also known as the Maltese Tiger ..

Though this blue kitty is more of a cryptid then a folkloric creature 

  Most sightings come from  the Fujian province of south east China .

Witnesses claim it  has bluish fur with dark gray stripes.

The south Chinese tiger is critically endangered today, due to its illegal and continued use in traditional Chinese medicine, and the "blue" variation  may  already be extinct .

Though most sightings have taken place in south china, the  Blue tigers have also been reported in Korea and Burma.

The term "Maltese" comes from domestic cat terminology for blue fur, and refers to the slate grey coloration. Many cats with such coloration are present in Malta hence the name Maltese, however two of the more well known blue cat breed are  the Russian Blue, and a variety of the British Shorthair, the British Blue, but blue bobcats and lynxes have also been recorded, and there are genetic mutations and combinations that result in a bluish hue, or at least the impression of a blue-gray animal. And black tigers where once considered nothing more then mythical at one point through pelts have proven this to be a real creature, Not thought it's not  actually a fully black tiger, like a panthers fur,  most of the time it's stripes are simply much wider then average which obscure most of the orange fur. Though a fully melanistic tiger isn't impossible for the same reason white tigers exist, its just a rare genetic trait.

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A mostly black tiger has been spotted in Odisha, India .......

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The first reported sighting of a blue tiger was in 1910...

In  1910, a big game hunter  named Harry Caldwell who was doing missionary work at the time,  claims to have seen and hunted a blue Tiger outside Fuzhou. He describes his encounter  in his book Blue Tiger (1924), and by his hunting companion Roy Chapman Andrews in his Camps & Trails in China (1925, chapter VII). Chapman cites Caldwell thus:

"The markings of the beast are strikingly beautiful. The ground color is of a delicate shade of maltese, changing into light gray-blue on the underparts. The stripes are well defined and like those of the ordinary yellow tiger."

— Caldwell, Chapman (1925)

A more recent report, given to Mystery Cats of the World author Karl Shuker, comes from the son of a US Army soldier who served in Korea during the Korean War. His father sighted a blue tiger in the mountains near what is now the Demilitarized Zone.  This account takes place in 1953. It is also the last know sighting of the blue tiger.

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Two apex predators used to roam the wilderness of Korea, up until the 1900s. The Amur or Siberian tiger, the largest species of tiger, which  became extinct on the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945,  during the Japanese occupation large portions of the tiger population where wiped out. Then the Amur leopard went extinct in Korea some time in 1970s. This leaves the Asiatic brown bear and grey wolf as the only two apex predators left in the Korean peninsula, both said to be found in North Korea..

Officially, there are no more wild tigers in Korea today.

The  Siberian Tiger is also critically endangered, they can still be found in  the Sikhote-Alin mountain region in the Russian Far East, with smaller numbers extending into Northeast China.

Unfortunately there are only around 500 - 750 Siberian tigers left in the wild because of illegal hunting and habitat lose ) deforestation most living in eastern Russia or Northern china, though some could still be make there way into Korea now and then.

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Paranormal Russia: The Seven Giants

 

Have you ever heard of the Seven Giants?

It a famous rock formation in Russia, the colossal rocks are also tied to a legend about a wizard.....

All seven stand between 98 and 138 feet tall...

There are a few different ways to get to them, you can go by road from the Komi Republic, hiking or skiing over the Dyatlov Pass from the Sverdlovsk region, or helicopter. 

Up until 2004, a car route from the Sverdlovsk Region was also available, with a visit to the Dyatlov Pass, the Otorten Mountain and the source of the Pechora River. It was officially banned to preserve two protected areas.

 All seven stone pillars are located west of the Ural Mountains in the Troitsko-Pechorsky District of the Komi Republic in the Pechoro-Ilychski Reserve on the mountain Man-Pupu-nyor, between the Ilych and Pechora rivers.

 They are also known as the Seven Strong Men Rock Formations and the Poles of the Komi Republic. 

These massive stones are a popular tourist destination and have  been given the title of one of the Seven Wonders of Russia.

They were even commemorated on a stamp.

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...The Legend...

The legend comes from folklore of the Mansi people.

According to myth,  the pillars were once a group of giant Samoyeds marching through the mountains to conquer the Mansi people. When the giant warriors reached the holy Mansi mountains and laid eyes upon them, a powerful shaman (sometimes called Yallingner) confronted the group.

The shaman used his ceremonial drum and magical powers to stop the invading giants in their tracks and turning them into stone. However, the shaman himself was unfortunately also affected by his own magic and turned to stone as well. Now they all stand as giant pillers of stone forever.

 This myth explains why six of the stone's stand close together in a line, while the seventh stands slightly separated from the rest, representing the petrified shaman.

In the Mansi language, Manpupuner (or Man-Pupu-Nyor) translates literally to "Little Mountain of the Gods".

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Also, in case you're wondering, these are the Seven Wonders of Russia..

1. Lake Baikal, in Irkutsk Oblast, Buryatia.

2. Klyuchevskaya Sopka and the Valley of Geysers located in Kamchatka Krai. Is a massive active volcano and  the second-largest collection of geysers in the world, right after Yellowstone in the United States.

3. Mamayev Kurgan, in Volgograd, Oblast.

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4. Peterhof in Saint Petersburg.

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5. Saint Basil's Cathedral, in Moscow.

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6. Manpupuner Roc Formation (The Seven Giants), in Komi Republic. 

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7.Mount Elbrus, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Caucasus Mountains just north of the Georgian border.

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🎃Spooky Season 🎃

 Hello, wanted to give a quick update and also a big thank you too everyone that reads and shares these post's.

Starting next week there will be new post's weekly until the end of October!!

Thanks again for stopping by and have a great Spooky Season🤩

Happy early Halloween!!!!!

🎃💀👺👻👹🧟🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️🧙 🧛‍♀️🦇🎃

Paranormal Folklore, Gomuls..

In Scandinavia Folklore Gömul refers to a river that originally comes from a spring called  Hvergelmir ( bubbling cauldron)  in Niflheim the river flowers into the land of the gods( Asgard ) and also has ties to the world tree.

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In Korea the would Gömul refers to a variety  of  decorative powders fillings toppings or dips......some common  food filling are mashed red beans, crushed sesame seeds or soybean powder..

 (konggomul), mashed red beans (patgomul), mung bean powder, and crushed sesame seeds

Also used on Rice Cake to coat the outer layers or fill spaces in injeolmi, gyeongdan, and danja.

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And in Russia's Far East the word  Gomul / Gomuls is the name of  a race of mythic giants that live in the numerus volcanoes found in the Kamchatka region.

Folklore from the Itelmen tribe,  describes a race of giants or large mountain spirits that live at the top of the volcanoes, the giants are so massive they hunt whales on a regular basis.

According to the legend, they leave they're mountain tops and fly out at night to spear whale  ( some versions of the story claim they spear whales with their finger tips)....  then carry them back home and roast them over an open fire .. in this case, the active volcano/ lava. 

The Itelmen people believed the fiery glow, smoke and occasional volcanic eruption where the results of  these  giants enjoying a feasts or bonfire atop their mountain home.

 🐋🌋👻