Cryptozoology tells us about culture; it studies creatures about which each culture back then and now believes. It’s part of a culture’s mythology and religion, and is therefore very important, and very valid.
We don’t question whether or not it makes sense to figure out how the Sumerians or the Ancient Egyptians practiced their religions, or what gods they prayed to. The reason we don’t decide to throw that study aside is because we know understanding those religions helps us understand the people who practice them. So wouldn’t it make sense that studying what creatures they believed in provides a same understanding? Wouldn’t it make sense that doing so about the creatures we currently believe in – like bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, and the chupacabra – would help us likewise?
Every land had and has different creatures it believes in, and those beings are an integral part of the culture of that land. Homer’s writings about the gods, St.Brendan telling of the things he saw when he went around the world in a currack, all these are known to us. Many of the ideas that are shown in the mythologies of these cultures – whether Celtic, Greek, Egyptian, Sumerian, or otherwise – talk about fantastical creatures. We’ve read of Rhiannon’s giant white horse and the Minotaur, of the chupacabra and the Grays.
But, the creatures that belong in the study of cryptozoology are forever changing, as we change. Humans still believe in some things that they believed in centuries ago, but at the same time new creatures are being thought of – new mythologies created – that fit with this age. For instance, the more primitive tribes of New Guinea and Peru still believe in certain demons and devils, which their mystics must deal with, and those spirits are to the tribes important parts of their everyday lives. You and I might think that we’re immune to such beliefs, in our civilized society, but how many know what a bigfoot is? Who’s heard the legends of Loch Ness? The New Jersey Devil? All of these are part of cryptozoology – whether or not you believe in them, they are part of your culture, your own modern mythology.
So, we need to keep on studying cryptozoology, because it is a valid science, an important part of anthropology, which we just can’t ignore. Otherwise we should forget every mythology and religion of every land. Because it’s part of who we were and who we are.
