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Legends of Mermaids;

Medusa May Stem From The Demon Vepar
 
By James Donahue

What you see in the center of a drawing of the demon Vepar is a human face . . . almost feminine . . . with piercing eyes and a somewhat pronounced chin. Especially noticeable about this figure are the curving, serpentine objects projecting from the head. While not twisting like snakes on the head of the mythological Medusa, they do suggest serpents non-the-less.
 
Projecting downward, from the head of Vepar, are various circular lines, like ripples from a tiny stone dropped in a still pool of water. Does this suggest some kind of energy spreading away from the spirit, or perhaps some kind of radio beacon used for receiving information?
 
Ah, but the legends of Vepar indicate that this demonic spirit has been especially known to sailors, if not many other cultures in ancient times.
The mermaid legend obviously has its roots in this spirit. One story says: "Vephar appears as a mermaid with emerald scales trimmed in silver and seaweed tangled in her hair. She may also appear at times to be a beautiful woman, but this shape is insubstantial and is used only to lure sailors to their deaths. Her fingers are webbed and she has small gills behind her ears."
 
Yet another legend claims that Vepar: "governs the waters, guides armed warships, and can cause stormy weather for sailors."
This spirit, which may be sexless, is known to one strange cult of Vepar worshipers as "The Serpent Queen."
 
The Medusa story . . . a beautiful woman who had her hair turn to a nest of twisting snakes because she rivaled the goddess Athena in beauty . . . may well have its roots in the legend of Vepar.  The ancients said Vepar has the ability to cause horrible wounds by looking upon a man. These will appear as gashes, but will putrefy and fill with worms." It was said that any man who looked at Medusa would be turned to stone.
 
The story is that Vepar is a creature of the sea and can never leave it.
 
"Vepar cannot exit the sea. She becomes totally insubstantial and melts into her own plane if she attempts to do so. She can guide ships through any waters (even in the absence of sun and stars) and will always do so at the summoner’s request."

Vepar, the forty-second demon in the list of Goetia Spirits, is described as a duke with 29 legions of demons under her command.