I have just had a question put to me. A question that has been asked of me many times over the years. It is a question that should ne answered in Junior School!
"Is a Platypus a mammal?"
When a Platypus was first brought to Europe (dead) nobody would believe that it was a real animal. Most "experts" assumed that it was two or three animals "stitched together". When they couldn't find the stitches they were puzzled.It was unlike anything seen before. And what the "experts" were told was just too ridiculous!
Obviously an animal; but it had the beak of a bird,but had fur not feathers.It did not have wings, but had four legs! It had webbed feet. It laid eggs, but suckled its young!
It was a hybrid! A monster! A freak! A mistake of Nature!
So, is it really a mammal?
It has the three things needed to be classed as a mammal.Warm blood; mammary glands (nipples); and a skeleton with exactly the same number of bones, and in the same place as every other mammal.
So, is the Platypus a mammal? Yes. it is!
It always surprises children (and quite a few adults!) when I tell them that horses have the same number of fingers and toes as they have themselves.But it's true!
We are mammals; and our skeletons are the same as horses, whales, tigers, or elephants. The bones may not be the same size;but they are in the same place!
You don't believe it?
Look at the pictures of skeletons!
Sea anemones and coral polyps are classified under Kingdom Animalia. They look like flowers, but they're really animals.
Venus flytraps and pitcher plants can eat insects, so they should be animals, but they also have photosynthetic abilities. So, they remain plants.
Elysia chlorotica is the scientific name for a species of sea slug that can photosynthesize like a plant. If I recall correctly, it's classified as an animal.
The scientific method has been a marvelous way to get it all sorted out, but the truth about life is under no obligation to make any sense to us.
Still, to get on with life, people tend to make classifications of their own. With what scientists categorize as animals, the lay categories would probably go something like: "Pest, Pet, Predator, Person."
This could be why almost everybody finds that their favorite occult symbol that is an animal is a noble savage wolf or a domestic cat (especially a black cat), but hardly anybody accepts the wisdom or power of bacterium...even though that's technically an animal too.
While a reasonable man such as yourself might not be amused by animal spirituality at all, and even young people who believe in occult magic and animal symbols would be likely to think I'M trolling or gone balmy, I must say that I've developed as much of a significant relationship with the symbol of a humble fishmoth (that's Lepisma saccharina to you taxonomists) as I have with the wolf, or as some pre-Christian Celts had with the goose. (All waterfowl, actually, but swans are simply more glamorous nowadays. Nobody really respects the goose anymore as the mythological bridge between Three Realms of land, sea, and sky from Celtic cosmology. I feel it such a shame to have lost that tradition! But how can you convince a new generation that a goose is noble?)
Brysing I must say that I am most impressed about your unlimited knowledge and I always enjoy reading your post. I would like to thank you for sharing so much with me and others.
Re: Not All Animals! By: Brysing Moderator / Adept
Post # 7 Nov 24, 2015
My knowledge is far from "unlimited"! But I have lived a long time, read a lot, studied a lot, traveled a lot! But I learn something new every day. I have learnt a lot from this site!
My personal definition of magic is that which is unexplained, and lies beyond our ability to explain but still affects us nonetheless. In my opinion, biology and the platypus are mundane subjects, not magic.
