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FREE: 3 Mermaid's Purse - Weird Shark or Ray Eggs

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Description

The listing, 3 Mermaid's Purse - Weird Shark or Ray Eggs has ended.

The auction is for 3 mermaid's purses. There is a lot of folklore surrounding these. Great for shark, ray, or skate fans, those who collect natural items, or those working with the energy of the sea.

On the science side, these are the egg cases for certain sharks, stingray, and skates. A live shark emberyo lives inside, eventually breaking though and then these cases wash up on the shores empty while the shark begins its life in the ocean. They were collected on the coast of Virginia in January of 2012.

As for folklore, these have been called mermaid's purse, and who knows what would wash up inside, or if its owner is dwelling just offshore, waiting for you to swim out and meet her. Mermaids are present in cultures all over the world. Here are a few of the legends:

Ben-varry: (Isle of Man) Ahe generally appears as a benevolent fish-tailed woman, though some few have been known to lure sailors to their doom.

Dinny-mara: (Manx) not normally seen or described.

Havfrue: (Scandanavian) Beautiful in appearance, long golden hair and carries a golden comb. Her appearance is an omen of poor fishing and storms. The havmand, the merman, is considered handsome with green or black hair. He is generally helpful to humans.

Merrow: (Ireland) The females are beautiful. Males are green with red eyes and pig ears. All have long fish tails and webbed fingers. They are normally friendly to humans, even intermarrying.

Merrymaid: (Cornish) Their actions depend solely on their whim at that moment. While some merrymaids rescue sailors from drowning, others encourage sailors to drown. Their siren song as they sit on nearby rocks causes ships to founder and sink.

Melusine: twin-tailed mermaid, depicted in medieval bestiaries.

Ningyo: Japanese monster. Depicted as human-headed fish. The fish-flesh grants the gift of immortality when eaten, and their blood can be used to cure all ills. Their tears form of pearls which are highly prized in magic.

Questions & Comments

It's definitely a shark egg. They are everywhere out here right now since its spawning time. What's cool is if you hold it up to a really bright light, you can see if the shark hatched or not. And if you happen to find one that's a greenish red, it means its still alive.

May 8th, 2012 at 10:20:51 AM PDT by

As far as I've read, the shark eggs tend to have strings on the corners and the skates tend to have horns. This one seems to have horns, but I am not an expert on exact identification as there are so many species and I've seen pictures that would lead me to know I really don't have the skills to say either way. But, they sure are cool!!

May 8th, 2012 at 4:09:42 PM PDT by

Cool item What do you do with them ?

May 10th, 2012 at 7:24:02 AM PDT by

If you are asking practically, i have strung them for use in art projects on nautical dream catchers, shadow boxes, and in general sea-themed items I make.

May 10th, 2012 at 2:31:38 PM PDT by

shark eggs

May 10th, 2012 at 10:57:41 AM PDT by

I still feel these are probably skate eggs and not shark, but I am not 100% sure.

May 10th, 2012 at 2:27:03 PM PDT by

cool,too!don't even wanna ask how did u get them...HOW DID U GET THEM???!!!!!

May 10th, 2012 at 10:58:27 AM PDT by

Lol no worries! These watch up on certain beaches, and up until last year I lived 5 minutes from a little beach in Virginia only locals knew about. I spent hours and hours each week combing the beach. I have a park naturalist background and lots of interest in natural things, so I collected all kinds of strange sea findings :) Now i just live in an apartment and do not have room for everything I brought with me from my house in Virginia.

May 10th, 2012 at 2:26:20 PM PDT by

the are so awesome watching for sure and starting the bidding

May 10th, 2012 at 9:04:22 PM PDT by

Neat! Until now, I had no idea these even existed!
Thanks for the sharing the mermaid legends, very interesting...
-Your Newest Fan

May 13th, 2012 at 9:29:16 PM PDT by

I'm glad you enjoy it. I'm trying to stick things on listia that make everything more fun, as this would be something I would love to find on here myself :)

May 14th, 2012 at 7:08:40 AM PDT by

I feel like Deadliest Catch, or Shark Week after reading this. :)

May 7th, 2012 at 8:19:15 AM PDT by

thats pretty cool :)

May 7th, 2012 at 1:05:57 PM PDT by

thanx for the neat little tid bit of information there, also pretty neat auction, very informative and ive never seen one of these before.

May 7th, 2012 at 6:06:32 PM PDT by

I'm glad everyone is enjoying it :) I have more of them than I need and I'm trying to streamline what I own. I think they are the coolest things, so I'm hoping someone on here will like my extra ones as much as I do :)

May 7th, 2012 at 8:18:12 PM PDT by

Absolutely different! Very awesome! :) F&W :)

May 9th, 2012 at 7:09:52 PM PDT by

If you work shamanisticly or with animal spirits, Independence, Potential, Adaptation

Fish can teach us to adapt to all environments;
they can teach us to streamline our lives;
they can give us protection when we need it;
and connect us to the creative element of life: water

Shark
Staying busy and active is very beneficial. Work-alcoholics often have Shark totems. Shark Totem people can accomplish seemingly impossible tasks.
Brings an acute sense of smell to those with a Shark totem.
Trust what "smells" right. It is also a powerful Protector Totem.

May 10th, 2012 at 2:51:55 PM PDT by

Deities associated with the ocean these mermaids purses may work well with are:

Greek mythology
Poseidon, king of the sea and lord of the sea gods; also god of rivers,storms, flood and drought, earthquakes, and horses.
Triton, fish-tailed son and herald of Poseidon
Akheilos, shark-shaped sea spirit
Amphitrite, sea goddess and consort of Poseidon
Nerites, watery consort of Aphrodite and/or beloved of Poseidon
Nereus, the old man of the sea, and the god of the sea's rich bounty of fish
Pontus, primeval god of the sea, father of the fish and other sea creatures

Celtic mythology:
Lir (Irish), god of the sea
Ll?r (Welsh), god of the sea
Manannán mac Lir (Irish), god of the sea
Nodens, god associated with healing, the sea, hunting and dogs

Fijian mythology
Daucina, god of seafaring
Dakuwaqa, a shark god

Finnish mythology,
Vellamo, the wife of Ahti, goddess of the sea, lakes and storms
Ahti, god of the depths and fish

May 10th, 2012 at 2:53:06 PM PDT by

Hawaiian mythology
Kamohoalii, shark god
N?maka, sea goddess
Ukupanipo, shark god who controls the amount of fish close enough for the fisherman to catch

Inuit mythology
Sedna, goddess of the sea
Idliragijenget, god of the ocean
Alignak, a lunar deity and god of weather, water, tides, eclipses, and earthquakes

Japanese mythology
Susanoo, Shinto god of storms and the sea
Mizuchi, Japanese dragon and sea god

Lithuanian mythology
Bangp?tys, god of sea and storm

M?ori mythology
Ikatere, a fish god, the father of all the sea creatures including mermaids
Tangaroa, god of the sea

Mesopotamian Mythology
Tiamat, goddess of salt water and chaos, also mother of all gods

Norse Mythology:
Aegir, personification of the sea
Rán, sea goddess of love who collects the drowned in a net
Njord, god of the sea, particularly of seafaring

Roman Dieties:
Neptune, king of the sea
Salacia, Neptune's queen

Slavic Mythology:
Veles, god of earth, waters, and the underworld
Rusalki, female ghosts, water nymphs, succubi or mermaid-like demons that dwell in waterways.

Santería, Yoruba faiths:
Yemaya, goddess of the ocean, the essence of motherhood, and a protector of children
Olokun, deity of the oceans often synchronized with Poseidon or Neptune

May 10th, 2012 at 2:53:36 PM PDT by

Cool! Thanks for the story! Fanned!

May 14th, 2012 at 12:45:57 AM PDT by

I remember about 17 years ago when I was at the beach doing a *Group Clean up* with my Girl Scout troop (of coarse I was a kid then) I actually found a whole cluster of them! There was about 12 with in a 10 foot radius! So cool though.... Fanned & watching!

May 14th, 2012 at 3:58:02 AM PDT by

That is a really good find. They are plentiful if you catch them at just the perfect time. There were many on the beach the day I found these, but the next week there were nearly none. Its amazing how the sea givith then takith away...

May 14th, 2012 at 7:10:09 AM PDT by

3 Mermaid's Purse - Weird Shark or Ray Eggs is in the Other Stuff | Other category