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Shadow on Concrete Wall

      The Mysteries of the Desert 

Travelers across the desert encountered a harsh world, one of blinding sandstorms, racing whirlwinds, and suffocating heat. People who lived in desert lands needed gods to protect them while crossing the desert and spirits to help them cope with demons that seemed to materialize before their eyes. Some desert myths explained how those barren expanses of land got there in the first place, as did the Greek myth of Phaethon who parched these areas when he steered the sun's chariot off course. But most desert myths involved images of what people thought they saw-castles glittering in the distance, pooles of water that appeared and disappeared, and horrifying demons masquerading as gigantic whirls of sand. 

           The Magic of the Mirage

     

 

A mirage is an illusion, an optical phenomenon caused by the reflection and refraction of light in unique atmospheric conditions. Most modern travelers in the deserts and navigators on the seas know the phenomenon of the mirage, as did people in antiquity. Desert travelers commonly see illusions of glittering lands and glistening water, and sailors commonly see images of sunken cities and mountains and phantom ships sailing in the distance.               - (Legends of the Earth, Sea, and Sky)

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