Favorite Legendary Creature

A few days ago I posted asking about your favorite supernatural creatures.  Lhinelle responded with the Peryton - something I never knew about (although I'm reminded of something from World of Warcraft...)!  It is a stag-bird hybrid with a penchant for human flesh.

When I made the post, I never answered myself.  My favorite legendary/supernatural/mythical creature is the griffin, although the hippogriff comes in an extremely close second.   Something about the way they look...  I've always wanted to make a plush griffin.  I saw a website that belonged to a doll artist who did just that and they were so amazing...

I also have a fondness for the ever popular, horribly cliched dragon.  I know so many Pagans obsessed with them.  I wouldn't say I'm obsessed...  I just find their lore and look attractive.  I have a few dragon statues around the house and garden.  I think of them more as gargoyles than the menaces that they were to many Indo-European cultures.

Supernatural Creature

So you may remember the post I made about aliens and ghosts.  Well last night my husband and I watched a fascinating documentary about zombies, their folklore, and film history.  Obviously I'm on a "supernatural creature" kick.

What are your favorite supernatural creatures?  Zombies?  Werewolves?  Ghosts?  Vampires?  Something else?  

Ghosts vs. Aliens

Last night I convinced my husband that we should find something about ghosts to watch.  I love viewing programs about haunted houses and such things.  They do send a bit of a chill up my spine but they don't make me terribly frightened.

My husband, on the other hand, would prefer to watch shows about UFOs.  Shows like that tend to take the stance that UFOs are from other planets and thus controlled by aliens.  Something about that concept scares me more than ghosts.

I believe in both ghosts and extraterrestrials, but I've had more experience with the spiritual world.  I won't boast that I know as much or more than others - but I've had spiritual experiences that I can't explain.  I've never, to my knowledge, had experience with alien life.  Perhaps that is why ghosts are less frightening to me.  I believe that our ancestors can come back to visit us or that people who had horrible deaths can be trapped in a limbo of sorts.  Even if ghostly apparitions are ghastly or even violent, there's the understanding that they were once human or, at the very least, of this world (or a different realm in this world).  They are somewhat familiar*.

Aliens?  Not so much.  The whole abduction theme makes me nervous.  Yes there are legends of fairy abductions, but even the most chilling tales pale against the stories people tell of probings and rapes.  Perhaps those stories are just the ravings of unstable people or attention seekers...  but it doesn't make me feel any better.  Ghosts, for the most part, wander around aimlessly and occasionally whisper or stare.  The scariest things about them are that they remind us of our mortality.  Alien rape?  Now that just makes me want to curl up and rock in a corner!

Don't worry about me, dear readers.  I'm not so unstable that a belief in extraterrestrials will really disrupt my day to day activities.  This entry is merely an exploration of why I would rather watch shows about ghosts than aliens.  I'm still not sure why my husband prefers the opposite...

*This won't make me all the more willing to wander into an abandoned orphanage, though...