“Cecaelia” is a term for a mermaid with octopus limbs rather than a fishtail. Another name for this creature is “octomaid.”
There are various origins for the legend of the Cecaelia. One possibility is that they originate from Native American and Asian mythologies and legends. Tsimshian, Tligit and Nootka cultures all have accounts of their existence in their legends, myths, and folklore.
1 Myths And Origination Of Cecaelia
There are many myths about the Native Americans and their connection to the Octopus-People and Raven People. One example is a story about a man belonging to the Raven tribe who saw a woman from the Octopus-tribe with long eight braids of hair. He asked her: “Octopus (Clam Digger), why do you use that stick to prod on the beach?”
The Octopus woman was bothered by the Raven’s tactics. He pestered her again and again, until she was about to explode. Her hair mysteriously turned back into big tentacles, and she seized the opponent to teach him a lesson. In order to injured him, she answered him with a smug “Yes, I am digging for them! Here are the clams! And I am harvesting them!”
As the tide rose, Raven began to back away. With the water now up to her knees, she politely asked Octopus to let her go, but she held tight and said, “Raven, you have answered my question. There’s no need for you to get more wet”. Despite his struggles and protests, the tide continued to come in until finally Octopus left Raven drowned.
Raven, who had been watching the event on the other side of the river and did not want to mix in, made Octopus promise never to ask another question. The next day, when Octopus and Raven met again, everything was back as it was and he never asked anything again to her.
Though, in some tales Octopus responds to Raven’s advances with more than just a little annoyance. In one story, for example, Raven interrupted Octopus during clam digging. Rather than act politely and ask what she’s doing, he immediately became overcome with lust and attacked her. So as revenge, she shapeshifted with her supernatural powers into a true animal form and left the opponent guy to drown.
Still, his trickster nature prevails and he escapes any serious consequences. Raven’s people approach to his support (having only watched Octopus’s retaliatory reaction, not the deed leading up to it), yet the trickster leaps back to life and begins to live his usual life.
In a story that may or may not be true according to the storytellers, a girl in the Raven clan is abducted by members of the Octopus tribe, who have “gotten” her from her boat. The shaman from their village reveals that the abducted victim is still alive and unharmed, which brings relief because no one wants to picture what could happen if she were harmed.
The Raven people only intervene at the end of the story, when some Octopus people threaten them along with their friends, humans. When peace is established, the Octopus people stop fighting and the Raven girl is promised to be returned. A banquet is held in honor of all parties involved, including her children and those who helped the Raven girl.
From this point on, the race continued to be mentioned in other pieces of aquatic fiction. This would eventually result in the famous mermaid character Ursula having her name cursed by her sister Morgana in the famous title of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”.
However, it should be noted that the term ‘Cecaelia’ has never been used in the original mythology. It’s an outcome of modern fiction that features octopus-like creatures, in order to overcome the pronunciation of the phrase ‘Octopus Person,’ which some people find awkward and hard to pronounce. Cecaelia trumps Octopus Person as an alternative to the phrase ‘Octopus Person’. The latter may be considered awkward and a mouthful.
2 Depiction Of Cecaelia In Cilia Comic Book
“Cilia” is a comic book or seven-page short story about mermaids that appeared in “Vampirella” comic magazine. The story was published in Issue 16, which hit newsstands on March 15, 1972. Nicola Cuti wrote the story, and Felix Mas was the artist. It’s renowned as the source of the word “cilophyte”, a word used to describe an octopus-based creature or octopus based mermaid which Modern Fiction called as Cecaelia.
The story follows three protagonists from different walks of life. Cilia, who is also a cilophyte and washed up on the shores of Kenya because she got separated from her family during a storm. Raymond Spike is the captain, who ended up with Cilia after their ship sank and he made it to shore. And finally, Zackery is the one protagonist who found Raymond and helped him get through his painful recovery process.
The new couple’s happiness does not last for long, as when Zackery tries to reunite the two weeks later, the local fishermen quickly spread word that Cilia isn’t human and end up attacking her just a few hours before Zackery gets there. Raymond wakes up just in time to see them take away his love–too late to save her as they had left to go find her before she disappeared forever.
3 They Are Mostly Evil
Cilophytes are sometimes called squid-based mermaids, and they’re usually portrayed as evil. It’s possible that Disney’s well-known sea witch Ursula has affected the reputation of cilophytes, or maybe it’s because of their “alien” nature.
Authors of fictional accounts of mermaids tend to vary in their description of how long the creatures can survive out of water. Some authors depict them as being unable to live on land at all, others represent them being able to stay outside of the water-world but becoming dehydrated and suffocating, and some show no qualms about leaving the sea at all, they only need to be wet to avoid drying out.
4 Abilities And Power Of Cecaelia
Cecaelia have incredible agility, as they can quickly move between different movements with little effort. This agility is what makes them so formidable in combat; they can dodge attacks, swing from things, and perform lots of complicated maneuvers effortlessly. Cecaelia have razor-sharp teeth at the front of their mouth that give them a powerful bite. Cecaelia are able to control their muscles in their limbs and digits extremely well – sometimes even better than most other beings. Cecaelia have superior reflexes which allow them to react to spells and interactive elements quicker than most people; they can also react to falling objects quickly before they hit the ground or do something else dangerous. Cecaelia are able to be physically active for much longer periods than others – making it easier for them to survive at the bottom of the ocean where there is scarce light. They also see “perfectly” in an environment that usually has no light sources at all: the sea’s deep waters. Cecaelia are fast swimmers thanks to their adaptation to ocean water, capable of moving freely without any resistance from currents while they glide through water effortlessly. The waves aren’t a problem for cecaelia either: since they’re adapted to life underwater, they are fully resistant.