Section B
BA - In ancient Egyptian belief at death a person was divided into two parts: the ka and the ba. The ka (meaning double) reflects the perishable human body. The ba, on the other hand, is a bird with a human head and represents the imperishable soul. Egyptians practiced mummification because of the belief that after 3000 years, the separate parts would be recombined leading to rebirth.
BAGINIS - Baginis are Australian and are half animal and half human. They are always female. Despite considerable beauty, they have claw-like fingers and toes. The baginis are known to capture men, but seldom kill them, usually letting them go after they rape them.
BACCHUS - Grecian Dionysus or Atys. In Roman mythology, the name of the god of wine, associated with untrammeled pleasure and licentiousness; in esoteric circles (under his Grecian names) he is regarded as a solar resurrectional god who atones for sin. Son of Zeus and Semele, at first he appears as a bearded man, but later as a handsome youth with black eyes and flowing locks, crowned with vine and ivy. In peace his robe was purple, in war it was a panther's skin. According to some accounts he married Ariadne after her desertion by Theseus. The Romans seem to have confused this god with the ancient Italic deity Liber Pater, god of wine. Bacchus, in the Lusiads, is the evil demon or antagonist of Jupiter, the lord of destiny. As Mars is the guardian power of Christianity, Bacchus is the guardian power of Islam.
BAHAMUT - This monstrous fish comes from Moslem traditions. The legend goes that it floats in a vast sea. A giant bull rides on its back and on the bull is a ruby mountain. There is an angel on the mountain over which are six hells, then the Earth, and then seven heavens. The bahamut is so huge and dazzling that human beings cannot look upon it. Its name may have lead to the behemoth.
BAKRU - Bakru are a South American race of people, approximately half the size of human child, but with oversized heads. They are half flesh and half wood. They are always seen in pairs, and are considered evil creations of magicians. Although they may bring wealth to a human owner, the gods punish anyone who tries to make use of them.
BAKU - Baku come form Japanese legends. it has the face of a lion, the body of a horse, the feet of a tiger, and the tail of a cow. It is called the 'eater of dreams', as it will devour a person's evil dreams either making them harmless or changing them into good luck.
BANSHEE - The banshee in Irish Gælic, is called 'bean sidhe', which means 'supernatural woman'. She is envisioned with a sunken nose, scraggy hair and huge hollow eye sockets. Her eyes are fiery red from continuous weeping. She wears a tattered white sheet flapping around her. She wails outside the door of someone who is about to die, but only for old families. All the best clans have their own private banshee. They are very closely related to the bean-nighe and cointeach.
BARBARY LAMB - The barbary lamb, or barmotez, is sometimes known as the vegetable lamb or tartary. According to Hebrew legend, the barbary lamb is a lamb like creature that is half vegetable. It is attached to trees by a very short stem, half hidden within the foliage. One they have eaten all the vegetation within their reach, they die of starvation. Barbary lamb is considered a delicacy as its meat tastes like fish, and its blood like honey. Its bones can be used in rituals to give human beings the power of prophecy.
BAPHOMET - A name sometimes given to a supposed demon, but almost certainly a corruption of the word 'Mohammed'. Accusations of the blasphemous worship of Baphomet were levelled at the Knights Templar — an order of Christian knights charged with protecting the lives and property of Christian pilgrims traveling to and from the Holy Land — in the fourteenth century.
BARBEGAZI - These are shy gnomes who live in the mountains of France and Switzerland. They live in caverns and tunnels that they have excavated near the tops of mountains. The French words 'barbe glacée', which means 'frozen beard' gives them their name. They hibernate all summer and emerge only when the temperature is below zero. They have very large feet which they use as a combination of ski and snowshoe. They enjoy riding avalanches. They can also use their feet as shovels to tunnel into snow drifts. They are generally benevolent to humans, warning of avalanches and digging people out after avalanches.
BAR JUCHNE - In Hebrew the bar juchne is a bird of enormous size whose wingspan can eclipse the sun. The Talmud mentions an event when an egg fell from a bar juchne nest, shattering 300 trees and flooding 600 villages. This bird, primarily because of its size, has been compared to the roc.
BAYARD - Bayard is the name of a horse found in the legends of Charlemagne. This talking horse was given to the four sons of Aymon by Charlemagne. Although looking like a normal horse, Bayard had the ability to stretch its back to accommodate all four of the sons of Aymon. Bayard was also known for possessing great speed. To win the horse, it was necessary to conquer him by force or skill, this rendering him tame and docile.
BEAR-MEN - Also known as Kung-Lu, Tok and Bear-Men. Allegedly, a Asian type of giant hairy hominid that inhabits central China. According to reports the Gin-Sung has a long and shaggy black to dark gray coat, a flat head, beetling brow with a sort of upcurled bang on it, long powerful arms and huge hands, and very human-like feet that leave imprints like those of a giant man but with two subdigital pads under the first toe just like the Sasquatch. The Sherpas of Tibet call this creature Dzu-Teh. This is the beast that Bernard Heuvelmans (famous cryptozoologist) suggested might be a descendant of, related to, or even actually a Gigantopithecus, the largest primate that ever walked the Earth which went extinct 500,000 years ago.
BEAST OF EXMOOR - Also known as Beast of Bodmin Moor. A large cat-like creature reportedly responsible for the killing of many farm animals in South Molton, Devonshire, England.
Reports of the beast begun in the early 1970's, but in the spring of 1983, local farmer Eric Ley lost over one hundred of his sheep in a period of two and a half months. Eric noticed that the killer did not attack its victims like a dog or fox would, but rather like a lion or leopard by ripping out their throats. In 1987 the creature was blamed for over 200 farm animal deaths. More recent attacks were reported in August 1995 and January 2001.
Those who have researched the Exmoor beast suggest that it is a large, cat-like animal, either black or dark gray, with a long tail. It stands low to the ground but it has been known to jump 6-foot high fences. Some speculate that there is more than one cat, and that they are the descendants of an escaped black puma, which mated with another feline, thus creating a new species of cat.
Other researchers believe something more supernatural may be afoot, because of the fact that no one has ever caught one of these reported big cats. For example, during the British army's hunt for the Exmoor beast, the creature was trapped and surrounded in a barn. When the troopers went into the building, it was found to be empty. It has even been suggested that these creatures come from a parallel universe, slipping in and out of our dimension.
BEAST OF GÉVAUDAN - Was described as being a huge wolf-like beast, which killed its victims 'by savagely tearing out their throats before devouring their bodies or simply ripping them apart'. The beast came to public attention between June 1764 and June 1767 when a large number of murders (mainly women and children) occurred in Gévaudan, a place situated in the district of Lozère in south-eastern France.
In February 1765 King Louis XV sent a famous hunter called Denneval into Gévaudan with six highly trained bloodhounds to try to track down the creature. Unfortunately they did not succeed. However after two large wolves were killed in the area the murders finally ceased. However there are some who believe that the beast was more than just a bloodthirsty rabid wolf. In the book La Bête du Gévaudan a man called Gerald Menatory suggested that the killings may have been the work of one or a number of serial killers using the reports of man-killing wolves to cover their tracks. There has even been the suggestion that the beast was actually a werewolf.
BEAN-NIGHE - This variation on the Banshee could be found in the legends of Ireland, Scotland and Brittany. The name 'Bean-Nighe' means washer woman. She was called this as she was usually seen washing bloody garments at the water's edge. her feet were webbed like those of a duck or goose. If a traveler saw her before she spied him, he would survive, however, if she spied him first, he would die. In the Scottish Highlands, it was thought that only those about to die could see her.
BEELZEBUB - Chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell.
BEHEMOTH - In the Old Testament, a powerful, grass-eating animal whose "bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron" (Job 40:18). Among various Jewish legends, one relates that the righteous will witness a spectacular battle between Behemoth and Leviathan in the messianic era and later feast upon their flesh. Some sources identify Behemoth, who dwells in the marsh and is not frightened by the turbulent river Jordan, as a hippopotamus and Leviathan as a crocodile, whale, or snake.
BELIAL - Also Beliel. From the Hebrew 'Bliol', meaning Wicked One, Belial is one of Satan's most venerable demons. In fact, before the New Testament firmly established Satan as the leader of the forces of evil, Belial was the one in charge. Created next to Lucifer, Belial was said to govern 80 Infernal Legions, and he is the Sixty-eighth Spirit listed in the Goetia. He appears as two angels sitting in a chariot of fire. According to one of the Dead Sea Scrolls (The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness) he was the uncontested ruler of the dark side.
BENDITH - Bendith and Mamau are a clan of Welsh Færies. These ugly creatures (which could be the result of interbreeding between Færies and goblins) are known to kidnap children. In doing this, they replace the kidnapped child with one of their own, called a crimbil. If a child is recovered from the Bendith Y Mamau, they do not remember anything, except notions of sweet music.
BENU - The Benu bird is another bird that can be linked to the phoenix. This Egyptian sun bird is identified with Ra the sun god. The word Benu in Egyptian means both purple heron and palm tree. Just like the phoenix, this bird was identified with the temple to the sun gods at Heliopolis. Many think that the myths surrounding the phoenix were a misunderstanding of the Egyptian myths of the Benu. This bird was also known to be a symbol of Osiris incarnate, renewing itself. The similarities with the phoenix are numerous.
THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE - A section of the North Atlantic Ocean off North America in which more than 50 ships and 20 airplanes are said to have mysteriously disappeared. The area, whose boundaries are not universally agreed upon, has a vaguely triangular shape marked by the southern U.S. coast, Bermuda, and the Greater Antilles. Reports of unexplained occurrences in the region date to the mid-19th century.
BICORNE - This creature, which is sometimes depicted as a both panther-like and cow-like, but in both cases is shown as being fat from overeating. The bicorne eats carefully selected virtuous husbands. The bicorne's counter part is the chichevache.
BIFRONS - One of the three demons that held sway over the dead, being together with Bune in charge of moving the bodies from one grave to another, while Murmur took over the souls. Bifrons had 26 legions of Hell's army under his command, and was responsible for lighting the strange corpse-lights above the tombs of the dead, besides moving their bodies from grave to grave. Bifrons was a demon of monstrous guise who often took the form of a man well versed in astrology and planetary influences, excelling also in geometry, herbology, mineralogy and botany. He is the forty-sixth spirit of the seventy-two of Solomon.
"BIG BIRD" - Big Bird.
BIMINI - A legendary island of the Bahamas where the 'fountain of youth', which gave everlasting life to all who drank from it, was supposedly located.
BISHOP FISH - In many ways, bishop fish are like mermaids. These creatures have the shaven head of a Catholic monk and the body of a fish. In some particular detail, they have been described as having a mitered head, a scaly body with two claw-like fins instead of arms, and a fin-like cloak.
BLACK ANNIS - Black Annis dwells in the moors and hillsides of the Scottish Highlands. She is witch-like in appearance with blue skin and a single piercing eye, often described as a hideous old hag. If she captures human beings, she eats them, and she is usually reported as sitting on a pile of bones outside a cave. If human beings aren't available, she will eat sheep or deer
BLACK DOGS - In Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hounds of the Baskervilles, he describes a black dog, just like the ones that appear in British legends. "...there stood a foul thing, a great black beast, shaped like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal eye has rested upon." It is said, in legend, that if one spied, or spoke to one of these large dogs (the size of a calf or larger) he was bound to die. They are also known to have eyes that shine in the dark. In Scotland, tales of the cu sith, or færie hound was also known to foretell death or illness.
BODACH - In Scottish Gælic bodach means 'old man'. This was a spirit or bogie that would come down the chimney of a house and either steal children or terrorize them, poking and pulling at the child, thus inducing nightmares. It was said that the bodach would only bother naughty children, and in defense a child could put salt in the hearth, as the bodach would not cross salt.
BOGGARD - Boggarts, in their tattered and dusty clothing, are dark and hairy household spirits. They are more bothersome than bogies. They are usually recognized due to the unusual number of mishaps that occur while a boggart is in the house. No way is known in regards to the elimination of the boggart, except leaving the house, although sometimes this doesn't even work, as boggarts are sometimes transported with household items.
BOGIE - Bogies are small creatures, sometimes spirits, that love the darkness. Often hiding in cupboards and closets, bogies are known to be mischievous and wicked. Sometimes they are known to be shape-shifters; they are depicted as large clouds of dust or dirt. Coming from English legend these underground creatures are known to be harmful in the daylight.
BOGLE - The bogle, which is closely related to the puck and the boggart. It is a Scottish hobgoblin that sometimes causes mischief to those who have committed petty crimes, on behalf of the victims.
BOTTLE IMP - The most well-known bottle imp, is the one found in the tales of Aladdin. The bottle imp is a spirit that is contained within a lamp. Some are genies rather than spirits, but all have the ability to grant the wishes of the owner of the lamp, using magical powers when the imp has been temporarily released. If the owner purposefully attempts to lose the lamp (as it has sometimes been said that the owner of a bottle imp could be condemned to hell) the lamp will return itself. The only way to get rid of the lamp is to sell it for less than than the owner paid for it.
BRAG - A brag is a goblin from England. It is a shape-shifter, but usually takes on the appearance of a horse. It then lures men to mount it. Once mounted, the brag will take the rider for a terrible ride, finally leaving him in a pond.
BROWNIE - The name brownie comes from the tell-tale brown, ragged clothes that these small hobgoblin-like creatures wear. Brownies have small, flat faces with pinhole nostrils and are known to be quite hairy. Although they are normally solitary creatures, brownies are sometimes seen in groups. Unlike many hobgolblins, brownies are generally devoid of mischief and enjoy living in harmony with humans. If a brownie is treated well, often, they will perform many tasks and chores. For these chores, a brownie is never to be repaid directly. If a brownie is given a reward, they will vanish forever. However, by leaving something like a small treat for a brownie (their favourite treat being a bowl of milk), which they could happen upon, a brownie will be most grateful. If a brownie is offended (and they are easily offended), they will leave and take with them the good luck that surrounds brownies. Sometimes, if they are greatly offended, they can become a boggart, plaguing the house for ages. Some people think that brownies and færies are from a vanishing race of neolithic people that were driven underground by armed invaders. Others think that brownies are descendants of Lar, a deity who protected hearth and household.
BROXA - A nocturne mystical entity of medieval times sometimes referred to as a witch and sometimes as a demon. Broxas supposedly could fly and change their shape at will, being also able to read the future. It was believed that they drank blood just like vampires.
BUCCA - The bucca is a hobgoblin from the legends of Cornwall. They are commonly thought to live in tin mines, and in this way are very similar to the kobold of German tales. The bucca are often associated with sailors and stories say they travel on sea breezes. They are considered useful to sailors as they are known for their ability to foretell shipwrecks, but they need to be "paid" with offerings of part of the fisherman's catch or a few bread crumbs.
BUGBEAR - The bugbear is one of the English hobgoblins. Having the appearance of a bear (hence its name), it was considered quite fierce and it was common to use the fear of it to coerce children into good behaviour.
BUGGANE - The buggane is a goblin from the Isle of Man. A shape-shifter, it is often seen in the form of a horse or a calf, although sometimes it appears semi-human, with long hair, teeth and nails. It is a water-spirit and almost always lives near a waterfall.
BUNYIP - This is a fierce creature from Australia. Amphibious by nature, it has the appearance of a giant seal or even a hippopotamus, It is greatly feared, for it enjoys the taste of human flesh, particularly the more tender flesh of women and children.
BURAK - This steed which was given to Mohammed, was a compound creature. Having the face and voice of a man, the ears of an ass, the body of a horse and the wings and tail of a peacock. Its eyes are as blue as sapphires and are as bright as the stars. In size it is larger than an ass, but smaller than a mule. It is one of few animals to be admitted into paradise, as it carried Mohammed to visit the heavens each night.
BURU - See Cryptoweb's information on the Buru.
BWBACHOD - The Bwbachod, Bwca, or Bwbach is a Welsh household spirit. In many ways, it is like a brownie, performing tasks when appreciated, but becoming mischievous and destructive when offended (and are easily offended). Bwbachods detest non-drinkers and ministers of the church.