Monster's, Cryptid's and Yokai: The Jorogumo

 

 

 Today we talk about
Spider Woman....

aka  the Jorogumo..

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The Jouogumo is a Japanese spider yôkai  that can change its appearance into that of a attractive young woman in order  to lure in her prey, human men.

However even when she's in her human form her reflection will still show a giant spider.

She is immune to all kinds of poison and aside from shapeshifting is believed to have other magic ability's as-well...

The  Nephila Clavata, Or Golden Orb Weaver is  a real kind of spider and can get quit large.

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Stories of this lethal eight legged yokai can be traced as far back as the edo Period.

The name Jorogumo when written with kanji mean's “entangling bride.” though these characters were later added to her name  to change it from the original meaning: “whore spider.”


 
According to the myth, a beautiful woman would entice a man into a secluded shack of private room at an inn, she would then  begin to play a Biwa, a type of Japanese lute this was just a destruction.

While her soon to be victim was focused on the sound of the instrument, she would bind him in spider silk threads in order to devour the unsuspecting person as her next meal.
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The Orb Weaver spider is considered to be the spider form of this yokai.

According to most legends, when a spider turns 400 years old, it gains magical or supernatural powers.

Famous Edo period stories can be found in  "Taihei-Hyakumonogatari" and "Tonoigusa".

                                                   
In many of these accounts the Jorogumo changes its appearance into that of a beautiful young woman and would ask a samurai to marry her,
in other versions she will take the form of a young woman carrying a baby (which may turn out to be a spider's eggsack).

Drawings, like the one in Toriyama Sekien's book Gazu Hyakki Yako, depicts Jorogumo as a half-woman/half-spider surrounded by her spider children. 

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The jorogumo is the most well-known of the spider yokai.

They can be found all over the Japan, except for Hokkaido.

The golden orb weaver's body size averages between two to three centimeters long, though they can grow far larger as they age; some are so big  they can catch and eat small birds.

These spiders are well known for their large size, eye catching colors and the large sturdy webs they weave.

                             

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Her favorite prey is young men.

When a jorogumo sets her sights on a man she desires, she will invite him into her home, he is usually never seen again.
 

They can spin silk threads strong enough to trap a grown man and keep him in place.

She also has a strong venom that can slowly weaken a man day by day, allowing her to prolong her victims inevitable death  so she can savor his suffering.

In some versions she is believed to have the ability to control other, lesser spiders, even using magic fire-breathing spiders to burn down the homes of anyone
that grow suspicious of her.

If she is careful enough a  jorogumo can operate in secret  like this for years without detection, even in the middle of a busy city,  while the skeletons of hundreds of men eventually build up in her home/ nest.

They usually make their nests in old caves, forests, or empty abandon homes and buildings.

Jorogumo are highly intelligence but also very cold hearted , she see's humans as no more valuable then common insects only there to feed on.

They are powerful shapeshifters and usually spend  their lives in the form of a young attractive women.
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Jorogumo also appear in various manga and anime..

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                                                         Kirue ITOSHIGE - Yokai Girls Manga

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                                               Monster Musume/ Monster Girls Encyclopedia

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                                                  Jorōgumo from  Rosario + Vampire
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                                               Jorōgumo in NURARIHYON NO MAGO

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alright that's all for now, next post will be up soon. :)

Monsters, Cryptid and Yokai :.. Devil Monkeys

                                        .......   The Devil Monkey .........


The Devil Monkey, is a Baboon like canin cryptid, spotted in several state's through out  the United State, more recently the south...
 

The eye witness said that she noticed her dog was acting very agitated when they we're on they're hike through Mt. Elden forest trail, when she noticed a small group of primitive looking creatures scurrying through the rocks.

She described them as 4-5 feet tall, very quick and agile.

 

There have also been other sightings in other states such as New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. Unique breeds of monkey have been described as being about 3 to 4 feet tall, although some eyewitnesses have sworn that these things  can reach  a terrifying  height that is in excess of 7 feet tall.

The first reported encounter with this fast, dangerous predator occurred in 1934, in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee.


According to the reports — which were allegedly published in national newspapers — eyewitnesses described a mysterious beast that could “leap across fields” with “lightening speed.” This ability to jump great distances — up to 20 feet according to some accounts — have led some to speculate that these animals may have something in common with the Kangaroos that have been seen throughout the United States for decades.

The suggestion is that those who think they’re seeing kangaroos from a distance are, in fact, spying Devil Monkeys. While these 1934 encounters may or may not be associated with this phenomenon, the first “official” Devil Monkey sighting occurred in 1959, while a couple by the name of Boyd were driving through the mountains near their home in Saltville, Virginia.

According to their account, an ape-like animal  attacked their car, leaving three scratch marks on the vehicle.

The Boyd’s daughter, Pauline, described the terrifying attacker:  It had light, taffy colored hair, with a white blaze down its neck and underbelly… it stood on two, large well-muscled back legs and had shorter front legs or arms.” Boyd went on to describe a second Devil Monkey encounter that occurred just days later in the same region: “Several days after this incident, two nurses from the Saltville area were driving home from work one morning and were attacked by an unknown creature who ripped the convertible top from their car.” Luckily the nurses — though surely frightened out of their wits — were unharmed.

In 1969, esteemed mystery ape researchers Johnn Green looked into accounts of a long-tailed “monkey” beast that eyewitnesses claimed was lurking near Mamquam, British Columbia.

 This creature was said to have left a series of distinctive, three toed tracks — much like those attributed to Devil Monkeys as well as the legendary Bigfoot— in its wake.

In 1973, famed cryptozoologist and author Lauren Coleman investigated reports of three, black bushy-tailed “giant monkeys” that were said to have slaughtered livestock in Albany, Kentucky. Coleman mentioned the event in an interview with Animal Planet: “I investigated that case in depth. I interviewed the people, who were very sincere.

 In the whole context of devil monkey reports, it seemed extremely sincere.

 You have these reports of hairy, monkey-like creatures with tails, very different from Bigfoot.” In 1979, there was a spate of reported encounters with a bipedal, monkey-like critter known as the Bigfoot which hailed from the rural depths of Georgia. One female eyewitness described it as: “The ugliest looking thing I've ever seen… (it had a tail) like a beaver’s, but it’s bushy.” She also claimed in bore “a face like a dog.” These traits are all known to be Devil Monkey characteristics.

 There have been several  eyewitnesses that have describe this cryptid  as resembling a wild dog at a distance, which would suggests that they  may be capable of   both bipedal and quadrupedal movement...