I was not familiar with the presence of mermaids in the Christian Church’s imagery before reading the Introduction chapter of Vaughn Scribner’s Merpeople: A Human History. In his book Scribner links the hybridity of merpeople with the hybridity the Christian Church used by carrying over Pagan symbols to convert more people into Christianity. With the emphasis of Christian scripture concentrating on the historical presence of a supreme being and their disciples, I had assumed that mythical creatures would have always been excluded in Christian religious teachings. Adopting other religious practices to a new religion has been an effective method of reaching and appealing to more congregants. The mermaid image kept familiarity in new spiritual ground. The predominance of images helped when literacy was not as common, so an image intertwining the spiritual worlds would make a stronger impression than words.

The familiarity which the Pagans had with mermaids might have helped with converting congregants, but the similarity ended with the Christian Church’s interpretation of them. The Christian Church used the image of the non-monstrous looking mermaid to convey warnings of deviating from the church’s teachings. Mermaids were used as an embodiment of sin, luring (particularly men) towards a life away from the Christian Church. The vanity and power in the mermaid feminine form was not to be trusted, this teaching extended to human feminine forms too.

Perhaps the more recent resurgence of mermaid depictions does stem from a desire to reclaim feminine power in present day. Policy changes and attitudes towards women have reverted to beliefs that are becoming more present in cultural conversation. Coupling this with the threat of global warming and ocean biological collapse, the mermaid seems to be a fitting figure for the movement to aid in repairing both these social and biological threats.