Inception of Fantastic Beasts

Mythical beasts and fantastic beings represented by supernatural animals or hybrid humans have been captivating imaginations through myths and folklore for centuries, telling tales of natural history and are symbolic of past events. In the modern period, there is a growing influence of rational scientific views of the world which can cause society to diverge from ancient storytelling and myths as they are deemed to carry “false” information when often the ideas portrayed in these narratives coincide with scientific facts. It may seem unclear as to what these mystical creatures are used for in religious culture however in many religions, these myths are of significant importance.

Taking a look at the Islamic myth of the powerful semi-terrestrial Jinn or genie, some connections can be made with other religions which can be linked to contemporary society as seen in movies like Aladdin or Jinn. One of the most significant characteristics of a genie is that they’re shapeshifters, meaning that they can inhabit a multitude of individuals and essentially be unseen to humans. This shapeshifting ability can also be interpreted as possession. Christian’s believe that when someone is acting in an ill manner, they are possessed by the devil and being manipulated to do evil deeds and an exorcism is needed to expel the evil from the possessed body. The story of Dybbuk, the possessor demon from Jewish lore also describes an evil dweller that temporarily inhabits humans. A significant point to appreciate is that possession states, acknowledged by nearly all of the world’s major religions, may have a rational basis when viewed from within Islamic narratives; these representing the doing of evil Jinn and their relation to mental illness. People have always struggled with mental illness however often without physical ailments, it is often hard to diagnose and in the years where mental illness was not openly explored, the Jinn’s power to possess a human being was seen an appropriate diagnostic.

In some cases, the idea of having mythical creatures was to connect deeper with the divine. In a sense, these myths are used to teach modesty and that there are things greater than us. Although having magical powers in some cases in contemporary time have no physical explanation, they symbolize virtues or the power of good or evil. These fantastic creatures are also used to explain previous events like the creation of the world, elements of nature and events that took place in the past that was not recorded or before the time of man. Due to large animal fossils that were discovered while tilling the land in the early centuries, the myth of the Behemoth came into being as a means of explanation from a time that was not recorded.

“The human brain is always trying to determine why things happen, and when the reason is not clear, we tend to make up some pretty bizarre explanations.” – Brian Cronk

Myths of fantastic beasts in modern society are primarily used as entertainment in books and movies but is seen through the various world religions as a means of describing the unknown. Events in the unrecorded past as well as unseen mysteries are the reasons these myths exist and are an intercut part of religion to this day.

References:

Dubois, J. (n.d.). “Myths, stories & reality”. Sacramento State. https://www.csus.edu/indiv/d/duboisj/wm/wm_msr.html

Marlet, F. (n.d.). A brief history of the world’s most storied mythical creatures. the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/mythical-creatures/ng-interactive/2019/aug/26/most-legendary-mythical-creatures-history

Mythical creature. (n.d.). Info:Main Page – New World Encyclopedia. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/mythical_creature

Kale, D. (n.d). Five Fantastic Beasts in Christian Texts. RELS 200 – University of Calgary

Kale, D. (n.d). Monsters, Demons and Other Mythical Creatures in Jewish Lore. RELS 200 – University of Calgary