A mermaid, with a brush in one hand and a mirror in the other. Almost certainly, most medieval people would have understood this mermaid as a symbol of pride and vanity, luring men into sin and damnation. [click image for larger view]   This way of looking at mermaids wasn't just found in the Christian church. Remember the sirens, in the story of Odysseus, whose singing lures ships onto the rocks? Odysseus has his crew block their ears with wax, while he is tied to the mast. This means that they can row past the temptation, whilst he can hear the sirens' beautiful voices without throwing himself into the surging water. In many folk tales, like the story of Odysseus, mermaids are seen as rather sinister and dangerous creatures. They try to seduce young men because that is the only way they will obtain a soul - and with no soul they will wither and die. Poor mermaids! One tradition from Orkney explains the round pebbles found on beaches as the tears wept by mermaids as they begged a saint for a soul. No wonder mermaids have, in today's imagination, become creatures that deserve sympathy not suspicion. Beautiful, but soulless…. That is how some people see animals. But look closely: lions, peacocks, ant moles.. even the scraggy common pigeon when you see the sheen of its feathers… they all turn out to be gorgeous. Will all these creatures just wither and fade? Look at what Jesus said about even a single sparrow. [Matthew 10:29] What do you think this means about our fellow animals and the way we treat them?