In the rainforests of the Amazon Basin, the native Indians tell literally thousands of legends about the mysterious pink Amazon river dolphin, also called the Boto. Stories abound of the river dolphins taking human form and wooing young girls. They are often as regarded as unlucky, as they may tempt unknowing men and women into the water, where they are taken to Encante, the underwater world of no return. Similar tales of shape shifting are told of the elusive Baiji, or Yangtze river dolphin.In Sumeria, dolphins were connected to Ea-Oannes, the deity of the sea, and sometimes with the goddess Isis in Egypt. The ancient Celts attributed the dolphin with well-worship and the healing powers of water, and the image of people riding dolphins is seen on some Celtic artefacts. Some Australian Aboriginal tribes claim to be direct descendants of dolphins, who are sometimes regarded as guardian spirits. The dolphin is also an important symbol in heraldry, the art of creating coats-of-arms, and represents diligence, salvation, charity and love.
Whales too are seen as sacred in some cultures. Russian, Slavic and Arabian mythology claims that whales support the world, and in Chinese mythology a whale with the hands and feet of a man rules the ocean. The Chinese also connected the single spiral tusk of the Narwhal, an Arctic-dwelling whale, with the horn of the sacred Unicorn. Statues of the Buddha in Tibet are frequently accompanied by whales.
The great black and white killer whale, or orca, actually the largest member of the dolphin family, is important for many native American cultures. The Tlingit, Nootka and Haida tribes in particular see the orca as one of the many animal ancestral spirits and is viewed as an embodiment of strength and speed. Orca motifs, as well as other whales, appear on many native American objects from clothes to shamanic drums, as well as items of South American origin. Like the river dolphins of the Amazon, however, native American mythology sometimes casts the orca as a dangerous being, who can take people to their realm under the sea and transform them into whales.
Whales are also sources of fear and superstition for some cultures, and are frequently regarded as monsters in myth and legend. Many sightings of sea monsters can be attributed to whales whose sheer size terrified sailors of the old world. A large number of sailors believed in a number of demonic whales, such as the Red Whale, the Horse Whale and the Pig Whale, that sunk ships and ate everyone on board. To even utter the name of these whales was considered bad luck. In Japan however, whales were connected with the more benevolent sea serpents known as Shan, who would visit the coast to play in large numbers. Norse folklore told of whales with magical powers, and cast them as the mounts of evil witches and wizards.
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