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| Labyrinth of the Mind |
My Day of the DeadWell thus far my Halloween has started out rather ghoulish and delightfully so, for I would not have it any other way.
Friday night I stayed at this little place called The Babbling Brook Inn, it was this rather lovely looking B&B and even though it was near by a main road and not too far from downtown it still had a quality of seclusions about it, for it was surrounded by trees and had a little garden area, and was tucked back.
It was awesome that the room I stayed in was called The Countess. I know thus far it does not sound very frightening, but my purpose there was to do a little paranormal investigating. And well I had thought originally that I was going to be staying in an alleged haunted Inn, until I found out after the fact that my mother who had told me about the place got the wrong inn and it was actually another place in the same general area which was suppose to be haunted.
But none the less I did have some curious events occur and it was a fun little experience. And Inns in general are a great place to find paranormal activity for some obvious reasons, and the place I stayed had been around a long time, so even if it was not noted for activity, there could still be things lurking about.
I had my type recorder to do some EVP work (electronic voice phenomena) in which disembodied voices which cannot be heard by the human ear are caught on tape. Also had an EMF (Electronic Magnetic Field) detector, because spirits require energy to manifest and EMF's detect energy and so if there is a sudden unexplained spike it could be the sign of the paranormal.
The Travel Channels Ghost Adventures was having a 7 hour live marathon Friday night, and more than anything I just love to watch them for the entertainment, they are the most hysterical ghost hunters show on TV and they were going to be on until midnight, so I was going to watch their show, and than at midnight, the witching hour of All Hallow's Eve, when the veil between this world and the next is thing I was going to do my own investigation.
Well while I was watching the TV I already had some curious things start to occur. First I heard something that sounded like someone walking around or moving about above us, only problem being, the room I was in, was sort of off on its own, away from the other rooms, there was not another room adjacent to it, or above it, so it couldn't be other guests.
At first the noise sounded like it was coming from the closet so I opened up the closet and looked around, and didn't see anything, but could hear this moving around above my head, and wasn't sure what it was. Than a little later the noise came again from the bathroom. I walked into the bathroom and heard like this scratching noise, and crawling around. It could have been an animal outside on the roof, but it sounded like a significantly sized animal. Possibly it was just a racoon or a opossum. So it was interesting, but potentially explainable.
And throughout the night while I was on the bed watching TV I would catch a stray sound that just stuck out from the usual sounds of outside noises. I would hear something now and than that just did not seem to match any of the typical noises and that made me give a bit of a start and look around, but nothing distinctive and again, things that could possibly be explained. One sort of weird thing when I was lying in bed at one point I heard what sounded like a cat right behind the head broad of the bed, which was pushed up against the wall. Maybe their really was a cat outside, but it was just kind of strange.
But then something really awesome happened. The highlight of the night. I was very excited about this. In the room against one wall there was a fireplace and book shelves on either side of it, with two chars one each side of the fire place with the chair backs to the fireplace so they faced out over the room. At one point I was sitting in one of the chairs cleaning my glasses when I heard a loud BOOM! right behind me. And I was like what the hell was that? I turned and looked, and this thick heavy book that had been on the shelf, had without any known reason just fallen over.
Then the show ends, and I go to do my official investigation, turn off the TV, a was a bit disappointed that the room was not darker, because the lights outside, had my recorder ready, brought my camera, just in case something really cool happened and I could try and snap a few pictures and see if I could catch anything, turned on the EMF device, and tried to make some contact with the otherside.
One thing that was kind of eerie and unnatural in its own right was how still and quiet it was, though there were still the outside noises going on the room itself was completely silent, and you know houses are given to make just regular every day noise especially old buildings, but I swear in the room there was not a creek or a pop.
During my investigation time, nothing much seemed to occur, there was one minor episode that was kind of interesting in which I heard what sounded like a footstep, as it made the exact some noise the floor makes when someone is walking on it.
Eventually I decide to go to bed, and for a while was just lying in bed listening for anything until I went to sleep, and whenever I am in hotels and such I always end up waking up several times during the night, so I did have my one last moment that was almost as good as the book.
I woke up at some unknown hour of the early morning, when I heard quite loudly what sounded like someone bumping into or thumping against the wooden cabinet the TV was in. It totally sounded just like a person had walked into it. I looked around the room half-expecting to see someone there.
So that was kind of fun, and than when I was getting ready to leave in the morning there was this owl perched up on a tree across the street which was really cool but too far away to try and get a good picture of.
And on the way home I stopped at a cemetery, which I always enjoy, and what better time to visit a cemetery? They had some interesting graves there, and this one head stone that was like the coolest headstone ever, I totally wanted to hang out with the dead person who would have that tombstone. I got a picture of that which I will post later.
Also I took a walk down Elm Street, stopped off in this little town and it just so happened to be along a road called Elm Street, so that was kind of funky, and bought a couple of awesome vampire books. I got The Vampire's Assistant in a collection that actually has the first three books of the series within it. And I got "The Vampire Book" which is a vampire encyclopedia with anything and everything you could or ever would want to know about vampires.
Than I also got a book called R.I.P that is shaped like a headstone, and has a collection of last words.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention. When I got home I listened to my EVP tape, and while there were no voices from beyond the grave, there was a strange sound which I could not account for and did not sound like any of the noises that I was aware. It did not match any of the sounds outside or anything within the room that I could think of. The best way I can explain it, is that it sounded like a person clapping once ever five seconds, and it happens periodically within the tape at long intervals.
4:13 PM - 10/31/2009 - comments {0} - post commentHeroes and MonstersIs it just me, as I know I can be quite abnormal in my perceptions, or are there other people who find themselves feeling sympathetic toward the so called monsters and beasts, over the alleged heroes in epic tales of mythology?
I rarely find myself liking the hero of the story, and I find that I am empathic toward the monsters, and a part of me even roots for them, even when I know they cannot win, but this could stem from my general preference for beasts, animals, and such creatures over human beings, but I think it is also an underdog sort of syndrome. Though the heroes might come under the facade of being the underdog, in typical David vs Goliath scenarios, in which one lone man comes to battle something that no one before could defeat, by the very nature of the fact that it is an epic story, the monster becomes the underdog, because one you know it cannot win within the story, and two because it is so much hated and rooted against by everyone.
Beowulf in particular really annoys me for some reason. He just comes off as being so arrogant and egotistical, I never could really get behind him. I have always felt sympathetic toward Grendal, for some unexplainable reason, and while yes it is true he was slaughtering people for seemingly no particular reason, and I can accept that Beowulf slaying him was more or less an act of self-defense, with Grendal it is sort of a Frankenstein syndrome.
It is not Grendal's fault that he is what he is, and that he is made different from the others, and thus outcast, and he can hear the people in the hall having a good time and longs to be a part of that, but knows he never can, so he is driven to destroy it because it torments him so, and knows it is something that he could never obtain.
But the killing of Grendal's mother really from my perspective was completely unjust and just made me mad. I mean how egotistical do you really have to be to somehow see yourself as the wronged party when a mother is retaliating against the slaughter of her child.
Medusa is another one, where the killing of her was completely unjust, and really cold blooded murder. Medusa was not going around actively attacking people, she was just chilling on her island in isolation trying to mind her own business when people kept invading her home trying to slay her for their own personal gain because they wanted her power.
For one thing, it is not as if she could control her ability to turn people into stone, and for another it was completely self-defense. If you didn't want to be turned into stone than don't go and invade Medusa's island. There was no just cause for attacking her, when she remained in exile and so wasn't really a threat to anyone outside of her island.
I just personally often find that the so called heroes in stories are really just arrogant punks that are the ones acting in the wrong, usually they themselves have done something to provoke the beast before killing it or the go off to slay it simply to fulfill a personal desire of their own. They want to gain fame, fortune, glory, or some great treasure.
The bests are just trying to defend themselves and their territories by these people who keep coming up and attacking them and harassing them.
12:18 PM - 10/23/2009 - comments {1} - post commentFreaky FelineI was out taking my walk today, and there is this field on the slope of a hill that I usually cut through when I go walking and down blow at the bottom of the slope is a little creek. Generally this time of year the hillside consists mostly of waist high dried and often prickly and thorny weeds, and there is only one narrow pathway which because it has been used a lot is all trampled down to just a dirt path, where you can really easily and comfortably walk, but last time I went out a couple days ago I noticed that apparently a fire had swept through this area, so today when I went I took my camera because I wanted to take some pictures of the scene.
Because of the fire, all the weeds had been wiped out so it was just bare flat scorched ground and it did look kind of cool in this big black wasteland so I was just exploring around finding some odd and interesting things which had survived the fire and been discarded and hidden among the weeds, for instance I found something that looked like maybe it had been a shower head still attached to the part that attaches to the wall. So I was taking some pictures of the debris and exploring the area when I saw something down by the creek drinking.
At first I really couldn't see much of it, I could just tell that it was some kind of animal, because its back was too me and it was hunched over drinking from the creek, but then after a moment it lifted its head for an instant, and I saw the tips of its ears and a glimpse of the profile of the face, and it looked to be very much a feline of some sort, but it was bigger than any house cat I have ever seen. It was at least twice the length of even a particularly large common house cat, and was approximately about the size of a gray fox. But it also did not resemble any type of wild cat I am familiar with, and besides the only type of wild cats we have around this area where I live are Mountain Lions, and well it obviously wasn't that.
I just kept watching it, hoping it would move or turn so I could get a clearer look, trying to figure out what the heck it could be, and running different species of cats I know of in my mind to see if any fitted in and just thinking over and over, there is now way that is a house cat, that is just way too big to be a house cat.
Finally I decided I had to try and get a closer look at this thing, but from where I was standing it was too steep to try and go down the slope, so I had to walk back a ways to find an easier way down, and by the time I got down (as well it probably heard me coming) it was long gone, and the ground was too hard and scorched to locate any prints, which would have given me a better idea of the animals size and species.
But there is no way it was any kind of animal that I am readily familiar with.
7:09 PM - 8/27/2009 - comments {0} - post commentEveryone Loves a CannibalI originally wrote this as an eassay for one of my other blogs, but I quite liked it. So thought I would post it up here as well.
I was inspired to write this from a story I had recently read. It was a short story, and though at my first reading of the story I felt it was mediocre, nothing really new under the sun, but had its good points, yet the more I began to think about the story, I did find it had a deep psychology to it that is to be appreciated it.
Now for those who are wondering, just what it is I speak of, it is cannibalism. The great taboo, that everyone has some secret fascination with. There is something if not appealing, almost hypnotic about cannibalism. Everyone, at least the majority of everyone fain's disgust at the idea, and tell themselves they believe it to be one of the most despicable of acts, and yet there is nothing quite as juicy as a story involving cannibalism. The Donor Party does not fail to intrigue, and we all love Hannibal Lector. Who has not at least to themselves contemplated, if they were stranded in the middle of nowhere, on the verge of starvation with nothing to eat, would they consume their companions for their own survival.
Naturally cannibalism is an age old story in the realms of horror, both in fiction and in film, how many times has that age old story been retold, in various different ways? The story of some new fabulous, savory, new dish, something that cannot be quite named, but just melts in the mouth, and is irresistible, and inevitably when the truth does come out, yet, it turns out to be human flesh.
People have a deep rooted fear of cannibalism, but more then that, they have the fear of themselves. Much like the werewolf, and the vampire to some degree, cannibalism is a representation of mans past, of the ancient days prior to so called "civilization" It is the threat, the fear, the horror, that man truly is not as civilized as he likes to think himself. What man fears more deeply then anything, most particularly in the West, is the realization, the knowledge, the line between men and beast, is a thin one, near non-existence. That man knows inside of him he has this lurking beast, is innate wildness, his true-self, the "savage" and if he does not keep it in content check, it will reveal itself, perhaps without him even knowing it.
The true fear in cannibalism, the true horror of these stories, is not the fear that some innocent bystander, might unsuspectingly become the prey, and find himself served upon the platter. The true fear these stories inspire, the real bone chilling conclusion is the idea that man may find himself consuming his fell kinship, and that there will be nothing within him to recognize this, that in truth there is no instinctual, innate mortality against the feasting upon human flesh, nothing in the body, soul, or mind, will be inherently repulsed and prevent him from doing so. And further more, that he will in fact take an almost orgasmic delight in the feasting upon the flesh of his fellow comrades. And the horror of discovering the truth of just what it was he had been served can never take away from that mouth watering taste experienced.
There is something deeply symbolic and psychosocial in cannibalism. I am sure many of us remember Sweeny Todd. In which "the butcher" began by picking off the wealthy, the ones with the power, the corrupt, the oppressors, and serving them up in the most juicy, succulent, scrumptious meat pies which were served to the common people, the masses. So the oppressed were devouring the oppressors and while they were not consciously aware of this fact at the time, they took a great delight in doing so.
I cannot forget the story which inspired this to start with, which did I think have a rooted social message in the nature of man. The story was called The Specialty of the House by Stanley Ellin. And it was all about how "unrefined" and "uncivilized" man had become, and how men give into vices that are harmful both to themselves as well as potentially others, and folly's of the modern world. There was this little known restaurant, that though was technically open to the public, people only heard about it through word of mouth, and only men were permitted, and the restaurant is seen as this place that is still refined and sophisticated.
So within this restaurant things like smoking and drinking were not permitted, the only drink available was pure clean fresh water, and there were no condiments, no salt and pepper, because part of the problem with society was man's over indulgence. So this way the patrons would focus purely on the flavors of the dish and not be distracted by anything else.
Of course even though the food is not coated in seasoning or drenched in sauces, it is extraordinarily good, because once a person eats there, they realize they really do not need all of that extra stuff, and after one visit a person becomes a life long patron. And it makes man literally salivate over his meat. It is a touch back to his true carnal nature.
There is this one dish, the house speciality that is really just the cream of the crop, but it is very rare, and you never know just when it is going to be served. It is called Lamb Amirstan. Because allegedly it is lamb that comes from this one particularly rare flock that can only be found in this placed called Amristan which is suppose to be this little unknown place.
As part of the story one of the characters remarks to himself how he notices how plumper he is starting to become, and makes some comment about his companions routoundness. So the patrons of this restaurant, are the flock who are being fattened up and when they are judged as ready, they are then taken back to be served up to the others. So they are feeding upon themselves to their own eventual doom.
It is particularly interesting when one considers the various differently symbolism wrapped up in sheep and lamb, and the conations those animals have, as they are commonly used as sacrificial animals in ancient roots, and of course have particularly symbolism in Christianity.
Which brings me to one more curious point on the ritual of cannibalism. The act of Transubstantiation. For those how do not know, it is the practice that the wine becomes the blood of Christ, and the bread becomes the flesh of Christ, while to many people this a purely symbolic gesture, there are some sects, who view this as being genuinely literally. They believe that the wine, in actuality becomes the blood of Christ, and that the bread in actuality becomes the flesh of Christ. Though of course if anyone might suggest to them they were cannibalistic, no doubt, they would be horrified by this suggestion and denounce cannibalism, and protest that they found it to be a vile practice. As curiously enough the Western world tends to link cannibalism to "heathenism" and "primitive tribes"
And yet, there it is as one of the most sacred and holy acts within their own religion. For even for those who do not believe in the literal act of Transubstantiation, they are symbolic participating in a cannibalistic rite.
Perhaps, at heart, we are all cannibals in one degree or another. We do feed off of each other and as much as some of us might try to deny the inner beast, no can fully or completely escape their true natures. We fear it, not because it is vile, or evil, but because we know that it is within us all. Because it is not indeed as fantastical as at first it might seem, but that we can reach out and touch the edges of it. And we never know just when we might at last indulge.
3:33 PM - 1/7/2009 - comments {0} - post commentWhen Something Good Goes BadDon't you hate it when you want to watching something on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, or some other such channel that is suppose to be seen as a source to give out credibility and truthful information to the viewers, and it is some subject of interest to you, and so you really want to watch it, but then they talk about something that you know is untrue or mention something that is not credible, and then you are just annoyed with it. For one, because now a particularly topic which you hold as important, is being misrepresented to other viewers who may not have the same background information you have and might trust the source they are watching, and two because you can no longer bare to watch it, because how can you trust anything else it says?
Well this is what happened to me. I was watching the Biography channel and first it had this thing about ghosts on which was kind of interesting but then after that it said this thing about witches was going to be on, and it was about both the history of witchcraft as well as modern day witches, so that sounded really interesting and I wanted to watch. When not 5 minutes into the show, they start interviewing Silver Raven Wolf, and talking about her coven. Now to the majority of the Pagan community and to most true Pagans, who really take their spirituality and beliefs seriously and to heart, Silver Raven Wolf is a joke, and has no credibility, and she is disliked by sincere Pagans and viewed as just trying to make money off her books, as well as seen as hypocritical in some the things she says and she is known as a "fluff bunny" a term used by Pagans often to refer to so called Wiccan's who treat Wicca more as a fad then taking it as a serious form of belief. So I was just so disgusted I could not bare to watch the rest of the show, because it instantly made the whole thing come off as cheesy and cheap. 9:32 PM - 12/25/2008 - comments {0} - post commentStealing My ReligionI just heard this story on the radio. Apparently there is this allegedly "new" religion in Utah, they have been around for like 30 years which for a religion is really quite infantile. And well there is this park which has this monument of the 10 commandments and this so-called new religion wants to have a monument what is known as the 7 Principles, which is the thing they believe in, in the park as well, but the city doesn't want it because they say, that is not really a part of our history and tradition sense it is knew, and there is this whole battle in the supreme court about it.
But that aside, when they were reading these 7 Principles on the radio. It was basically word for word, a total rip off of Hermetics and The Golden Dawn, so basically they are not a new religion at all, they just took an old religion and put a new name on it and try and act like they are the founders of it. And well sense there are probably not a whole lot of people out there that are familiar with Hermetics and the Golden Dawn, who is going to call them on it. They probably figured they could get away with it, if they took some archaic religion that really is not out in the open, and claimed they were a new religion, no one is going to be like. Wait a second why does this sound familiar to me? Oh yeah, because it comes out of a belief system that has been around for 100's of years. At least no one but geeks like me who have studied the occult sense I have been in high school. 9:45 AM - 11/12/2008 - comments {1} - post commentJesus committed suicideIn the eyes of Christianity suicide is a sin, because it is one playing "god" with their own life, as well as rejecting the gift of life which God had given them, and it is a sure way to earn an express pass right into hell. But if you think about it, did not Jesus himself commit suicide?
Granted he did not physically take his own life, but than the psychical act is not at the root of the sin of suicide, it is just the means to get there. As the Christians themselves are so found of saying "He died for our sins" But the thing is, Jesus knew he was going to be killed, he knew who was going to do it, he knew when it was going to happen, and he knew he was going to be betrayed and by whom. In fact he gave his betrayer permission more or less, he allowed Judas to lead the solider's right to him. As it says, he told Judas to betray him with a kiss. So, ultimately Jesus renounced his own life, he gave himself up, he accepted his death. He was not killed against his will, he gave himself up to death, he decided that his life was no longer worth living, that in death some greater good would come. Knowing what he knew, there were measures he could have taken to spare his life. He could have had Judas restrained without physically hurting him. He could have escaped, and went into hiding. He could have resisted arrest. But he gave himself up. Jesus, according the Christians own beliefs, committed and act of self-sacrifice. And what is Self-Sacrifice if not a form of suicide? It is a renunciation of ones own will to continue to live. He knowingly, and willingly went to his own death. He allowed his death to happen. He of his own free will gave up his own life.
12:46 PM - 9/16/2008 - comments {1} - post commentMy life as a horror filmI was taking a bath this morning, when I think I was moementarily entered into a Japaneese horror film. I was sitting in the tub while the water was filling up, when all of the sudden I saw this large dark object, or shadow, or something wash out of the faucet with the water, and than it was gone in like a second.
So I was sitting there thinking what it could have been. Could some hair possible have gotton in there somehow? Was there a bug in there that got flushed out. Than for some reason I thought of a dead rat, though I do not know if that would even be possible.
So I reach over to turn the waters off and I look in the tub and there is no sign of anything at all in the water. But I know just what I saw. 8:52 AM - 8/22/2008 - comments {0} - post commentPentagramI made this one the beach
6:12 PM - 8/4/2008 - comments {0} - post commentPossible ElementalI think I may have got the picture of an elmental. I was going through the pics from my vaccation, and I have this one picture that was taken in a wildlife sanctuary, and there were these three ghostly looking dead trees that were right next to each other that I thought were cool, so I was taking a picture of those, and everything else all around was all green. But later when I was downloading my pictures, I noticed in this picture in the midist of the trees a strange red-orange, spot that I could not account for. It did not seem to be part of the trees, nor did it look as if it could have been from the sunlight. So I cropped the image, and zoomed in, and well what I got was rather strange looking. Still not quite sure what it is, but it looks like it has a face and it appears to be rising up out of the trees.
Here is the original photograph:
Here is the close up. It was the best I could do, sense I do not have a bunch of high tech stuff to work it.
4:25 PM - 7/30/2008 - comments {0} - post commentA Different View of Eve
I know that Eve, is typically seen as something of a villainous figure and the one who is responsible for the fall of man and the exile of mankind from the Garden of Eden which is portrayed as a paradise of innocence and joy, and a play free of death, pain, and suffering, but I offer a different perspective on the story.
I know this is not how the Bible intended the story, but as a non-Christian, this is my own personal interpretation, and how I choose to view, though of course this is all speaking in the hypothetical sense I did not actually believe in the story of Adam and Eve and the Bible.
In my view Eve, was not in fact the bringer of sin, and I do not see her actions as being sinful. But even with ill, and negative aspects which might come, knowledge is still better than ignorance. Eve was the give of knowledge to man. She was the bringer of free will to man. Though some might choose to than act wrongly or do a bad thing, it is still better to have the choice, than to live in complete bliss like nothing more than a child, not knowing that there is the possibility of making a choice, for one to know their own mind, and to than act accordingly.
In the long run, I think when one makes the choice to act rightly, and of course by this I personally do not mean that the "right" thing to do is accept the will of God, but to simply make right and moral choices, in life in general, would mean far more if one is knowingly and willingly living their life in a way that is helpful and beneficial to fellow living creatures, and knowing they could take another path, and choose not to, opposed to simply doing the "right" thing, because one does not understand that there is anything else that could possibly be done.
I do not see the serpent in the Garden as being an incarnation of evil, but instead as the bringer of knowledge, and woman being the one to give this gift to man.
Eve is not a villain, but rather she is a heroine. 10:15 PM - 6/8/2008 - comments {0} - post commentMy AltarThis is my altar to the god Cernunnos commonly known as The Horned One, an ancient Celtic God of the wildnerness.
 4:05 PM - 1/2/2008 - comments {0} - post commentThe SaturnaliaWell I posted this on my other blog, but for anyone whom does not read it, and because I found it interesting and wanted to share a different tradition of this time of year I thought I would post over here as well.
The Romans rejoiced in this wintery festival as much as we welcome the Yuletide, and in similar ways. Libanius, a fortth-centruy writer, gives us a glimpse of the ubrane Saturnalia celebration: Saturn, the honoree of the occasion, had a dual nature. He was identified with the Greek Cronos, the surpreme Titan and the father of Zeus. The regin of Cronos was considered a Golden Age throughout Italy and the celebration of Saturnalia was meant to re-create its felicity. Battles were forbidden. Businesses closed, autumn seeds had been sown, no one worked. Slaves became giddy with tempoary freedom. They could say what they chose with no fear of reprisal, feasting with thier masters and even be waited upon by them. Gambling, usually punsisable with a fine fixed at four times the vaule of the stakes, was offically premitted. The executioner hung up his sword. 7:38 PM - 12/18/2007 - comments {0} - post commentNarwahl-Unicorn TheroyThere is something that has always sort of bothered me and I know I get obcessed with odd things at times and things that might seem irrelevent and that most do not perhaps pay attention to, but some things to me just seem so obvious that I do not know how others seem to completely miss it, or not see it.
I have heard on countless different accoutns on varrious shows on the History channel and other such soruces from different scholars, and historians, and such types, that one of the most common theories explaining the idea of the unicorn might be the narwhal. Which for those whom do not know a narwhal is a whale and it looks like this:
They live in Artica costal waters and rivers.
Now the thing that has always baffled me about this theroy and explination of the Unicorn, is the fact that the people of the Middle Ages and even pre middle ages were perfectly familar with the concept of horses, they used horses on a regular bassis and the unicorn is very clearly descirbed as being an equine, horse like create but with a horn. I perosnally find it illogical, and just generally very hard to beleive that people even living back then, happend to see a narhwal swiming in the water, and somehow got in confused with a land dwelling mamal which strongly resmebles the horse an animal they wer closely familar with.
I really do not see how they could have spotted a narwhal and then began sprending stories about some sort of horned horse running around. There is just no way a person whom as seen a horse before, can in anyway shape or form get it confused with a narwhal however strnage the creature might look.
Here are some images of the unicorn created between 1495-1505
The below image came from a very rare collection, Topsells book of The History of Foor-Footed Beasts and Serpants, it was put togethe in the 1600s
It can clearly be seen in all the above images that the unicorn was an animal the people of the day associated with the land and with horses. I do not think there is anyway that the narwhal could have been mistaken for the animal that can be viewed in the above images. 10:41 PM - 12/13/2007 - comments {0} - post commentDemeter
I thought I should talk a little bit about Demeter today for a couple of reasons. For one, she is one of the most revered and respected of the goddess for me personally. I found her to be inceridbaly strong willed which I greatly admire, and very powerful. She is a Greek earth goddess and thus is worshiped as a harvest goddess, she brings forth the fuits of the earth, particuarly grain, and it is said she tought man how to sow and plough so they could end thier nomadic ways, and thus she is heralded as the goddess who planned society.
Demeter is most well known for being the mother of Persephone, as most people proably know the story it is one of the best known of Greek myths. Persephone was kidnaped by Hades and taken into the underworld, to be forced to be his wife. When Demeter discovered her daughter missing she was deeply grivied and guised as an old woman she went to hunt for her child, when she learned the truth of her daughters dissaperance she was outraged. She demanded of the Gods that her daughter be returned to her, and she turned the land barren and would not allow any grains to grow untill the gods were forced to do something, so an arragement was made. For part of the year Persephone would be allowed upon the surface to be with her mother, and during this time the land was fertile and green, and for the other part of the year Persephone retuned back to the underworld, and for this part of the year, the land was baren and nothing would grow, and thus we have Winter and Spring.
One of the reasons I wanted to talk about Demeter is becasue I do not celebrate the "traditional" or I should say Americinize version of Thanksgiving, for one reason, becasue I do not want to honor and celebrate the genocide of a culture and people, as cyincal as a view as that may sound. History is what it is. And for another I do not want to celebrate a Puritan holiday, even though Thanksgiving is not reguarded as being religious in anyway, it was started by the Puritan settlars whom came to this country.
So instead I celebrate Thesmosphoria an ancient Greek festival that was tradionaly held every year in Autumn, and is a festival of the harvest, and thanks giving in honro of Demeter. 7:08 PM - 11/21/2007 - comments {0} - post commentMoon FestivalThis is something I saw on one of my calanders and I found it intresting so I decided to do some looking into it, and this is what I found about it.
The Moon festival (also called the Mooncake or Mid-Autumn festival) falls on September 25th in the year 2007. What is the Moon festival? Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie." Children are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. The legend surrounding the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result.
Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival.
Other Moon Festival Legends According to another legend, on this day the "Man in the Moon" was spotted at an inn, carrying a writing tablet. When questioned, he said he was recording the names of all the happy couples who were fated to marry and live happily forever after. Accordingly, just as June is the traditional month for exchanging nuptials in the west, many Chinese weddings are held during the eighth lunar month, with the fifteenth day being the most popular. Of course, the most famous legend surrounding the Moon festival concerns its possible role in Chinese history. Overrun by the Mongols in the thirteenth century, the Chinese threw off their oppressors in 1368 AD. It is said that mooncakes - which the Mongols did not eat - were the perfect vehicle for hiding and passing along plans for the rebellion. Families were instructed not to eat the mooncakes until the day of the moon festival, which is when the rebellion took place. (In another version plans were passed along in mooncakes over several years of Mid-Autumn festivals, but the basic idea is the same). How to Celebrate the Moon Festival
Today, Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with dances, feasting and moon gazing. Not to mention mooncakes. While baked goods are a common feature at most Chinese celebrations, mooncakes are inextricably linked with the Moon festival. One type of traditional mooncake is filled with lotus seed paste (see side photo). Roughly the size of a human palm, these mooncakes are quite filling, meant to be cut diagonally in quarters and passed around. This explains their rather steep price (around $5.00 in Canada). A word of caution: the salty yolk in the middle, representing the full moon, is an acquired taste. More elaborate versions of mooncakes contain four egg yolks (representing the four phases of the moon). Besides lotus seed paste, other traditional fillings include red bean paste and black bean paste. Unfortunately for dieters, mooncakes are rather high in calories. While in the past mooncakes took up to four weeks to make, automation has speeded up the process considerably. Today, mooncakes may be filled with everything from dates, nuts, and fruit to Chinese sausages. More exotic creations include green tea mooncakes, and ping pei or snowskin mooncakes, a Southeast Asian variation made with cooked glutinous rice flour. Haagen-Daz has even gotten into the act by introducing a line of ice cream mooncakes in Asian markets. Given the difficulty of making them, most people prefer to purchase their mooncakes instead of making them. You'll find them at Asian bakeries beginning around mid-August. Meanwhile, for those with a culinary bent, here are several recipes. 2:32 PM - 9/24/2007 - comments {2} - post commentMagick to MiracleWell I was just thinking, and it is never a good idea when I get alone in my head and lost in my thoughts becasue I begin to ponder upon currious things, which is what brings us to todays topic. I do not know how I first got on this train of thought but I began thinking about how funny it is, that things Christains claim are evil and bad when a non-christain preforms them, they somehow seem to make an excuse for themselves to do such things.
What I am speaking of specifally now, is magick, yes I said magick, particuarly with the whole Harry Potter thing, though I am not a fan of Harry Potter I think it is quite ridiculous how so much of the Christain community is against it.
The Bibile just happens to be littered with occurances of magick, and Christains claim they are against magick, and that those who preform magick are allinged with Satan, and there are a few passages in the Bibile that denounce the use of magick, yet at the same time, whenever a Christian preforms an act of magick they slap the word Miracle on it and call it a gift from God.
To give few examples:
First we have the Big C himself Jesus Christ (yes I am using bad rapper slang to talk about Jesus) He is going around turning water into wine, healing through the touch of his hands, and walking on water.
By the way, tranformations, healing, and walking on water, all also happen to be feats that Ancient Magicians were attributed with the ablity to preform.
Then we have Moses parting the Red Sea, and I should point out that like 99.9% of all visual images of him depict a man who curriously looks very much like a wizzard, staff and all.
The there is Noah, who if you ask me really takes the cake here. He somehow manages to build a giganitic arc that is big enough to hold a pair of each animal in the world, and yet still floats, and then he manages in a rather short peirod of time, to gather up two of a kind of every animal all acorss the world, and gets each of them somhow back to the ship, all without getting eaten or trampled upon and somehow keeping the animals from eating each other. Then he somehow gets all of these animals to board the vessal, and in the course of the journey prevents utter and total chaos from breaking out on board with all the aniamals, some of them natural enemies, jam packed together.
Then there is Necormancy (for those that do not know Necromancy is a form of magick that deals with the dead in a varity of ways) now ther is acutally passage in the Bibile the denounces the use of Necromancy, and yet at the same time thier are at least two, perfectly accpetiable occurances of Necromancy in the Bibile, the first being Lazerus rising from the Dead, and the other being Jesus himself rasing from the dead, but of course becaue they are Christian they call it Resserection and somehow turn it into a good thing.
Of course if a non-Christain were to have, or alleedgely have comitted any of the acts listed above, it would be because they were evil and mad a pact with the devil. 3:21 PM - 9/7/2007 - comments {0} - post commentMove over HarryIt is so hard listning to poeple talk about something in which they know nothing about, particuarly if you know they are of a mind set that it dosen't matter what you try to say they are not going to seriously and genuienly listen, they just rather spout out thier ignorance.
There is this show I listen to in the mornings, and usually I really like it, but today they had on this guy who is against the Harry Potter books becasue he thinks they are spreading the message of witchcraft and converting children into Wiccan's and becasue he is a Christain he has a problem with that.
But anyway, he was just an idiot, quiute lughable, but then the guys on the raido were talking about Wicca, and Harry Potter and so forth, and they do not beleive in any supernatural, or a spirit world or anything like that at all, and they were talking about how there is such a high precentage of Wiccan soliders in the army, so one of the guys in on the raido was like, well if spells were real, why don't they just set down thier guns and cast an insurgants go away spell, (or something to that effect)
Ok perhaps they have been reading Harry Potter, too much and do not understand the fictional concept of it. Realy magick does not work like it does in Harry Potter, in real magick ther is now wave your little wand around and abracadbra, that is not how it works.
True magick when it comes right down to it, is the manipulation of energy, the energy that flows through everything in the world, there is energy out there, there is energy in us, and the concept of energy in itself is nothing to do with the supernatural, and true magick and spell work, is taking that energy and focusing it to cause the effect of a particualr out come. It is based upon the intent of the will, and then rituals and spells and of the like, are more or less propes that help direct the energy to the purpose you want it, and ultimately when it comes right down to it, the way genuine magick works fits right into the theroies of metaphysics. 8:54 AM - 7/23/2007 - comments {0} - post commentLoki
I have always felt a certain draw towards Loki, and he was always the deity and turned to, when using fire, because of his connection with fire in the Norse tradition, though he is a trikster god, and often cast in the role of villan, he represents the dark side, that is imporant to the balance, and he is one of the Gods that do make up part of my own personal pantheon, so I thought I would say a few words about who Loki is.
Loki is one of the major deities in the Norse pantheon. He is a son of the giant Farbauti ("cruel striker") and the giantess Laufey. He is regarded as one of Aesir, but is on occasion their enemy. He is connected with fire and magic, and can assume many different shapes (horse, falcon, fly). He is crafty and malicious, but is also heroic: in that aspect he can be compared with the trickster from North American myths. The ambivalent god grows progressively more unpleasent, and is directly responsible for the death of Baldar the god of light.
Loki's mistress is the giantess Angrboda, and with her he is the father of three monsters. His wife is Sigyn, who stayed loyal to him, even when the gods punished him for the death of Balder. He was chained to three large boulders; one under his shoulders, one under his loins and one under his knees. A poisonous snake was placed above his head. The dripping venom that lands on him is caught by Sigyn in a bowl. But every now and then, when the bowl is filled to the brim, she has to leave him to empty it. Then the poison that falls on Loki's face makes him twist in pain, causing earthquakes.
On the day of Ragnarok, Loki's chains will break and he will lead the giants into battle against the gods. Loki is often called the Sly One, the Trickster, the Shape Changer, and the Sky Traveler. 12:33 PM - 6/21/2007 - comments {0} - post commentLost DiscoveryI had a very intresting and quite revealing exerpince today and it really has given me a lot to think about, and to really look into myself and evulatute somethings. In many ways, it has not given me anything new persae or anything I have not already known in some fasion or another, but it has deepend my prespective and has made sense of a lot of things and given me some new things to consider and take to heart.
I was just going about my daily busines when this phrase quite out of nowhere came to enter into my mind. I had no idea what the phrase meant and it came in a way as if someone else was saying it to me, not as if I truly thought it up myself. It was nothing I had heard before or read anywhere and it stuck within my mind. So I went to tell a good friend of mine about it, whom I often dicuss my unusual experinces with becasue he is very knowledgeable and I like to get his insight, and what he said was surprising and rather intresting.
First of all the phrase in question were these words
"I am the oracle who speaks only lies"
So I was telling my friend about it, when he told me that there was this deity in anceint Babylon whom was known as being the oracle of lies. He is called Narmateru, and he is the deity of Lies and Deceit, he is also a part man, part crocodile, and part ram god.
My friend suggusted to me that it may be that he is one of my spirit guides. I was quite impressed that when I quoted the phrase to him he knew it at all, and I half exepcted him to just laugh and find it nonsense so I found this all very intresting. And then my friend told me that if Narmateru was my spirt guide then the crocodile or the ram could be a totem animal for me.
This really struck me, becasue I have always ever sense I was young felt a certain draw and connection to the crocodile and when I was kid swiming in the pool I would often pretend that I was a crocodile. I do have much in common with the croc and we share the same social structure. There is a lot about the animal that explains many of my own traits.
They are solitary animals who do not care much for socilizing with others, but they do mate for life, and they are very protective of thier mates and thier brood.
Of course we all know that I am an anti-socail personalaity, but this also explains why I never had much of an intrest in dating or entering in any sort of trivail relationships or highschool flings or anything of that nature, but simply wished to find that one person whom I would spend the rest of my life with and that would be that. As well as the fact that I have always had such a staunch, strong and unwavering beleif in monogamy.
Another intresting asepct of the croc of which I can identify with is that fact that despite thier nature, and the fact that they are preadatory animals with this thick hard outer skin and instcintive killer instinct, they have another side that most do not see or are made aware of. Crocs are in fact highly maternal, they have a very tender side, and really do make very exceelent and caring gentle mothers.
In many ways I can identify with this, though for me it is more symbolic, as I do not have any wish to acutally have childern, I do have this sort of maternaly side, it is just not the litteral between mother to child, but I have had in the past a habbit of being drawn to friends whom are, what you might call broken, people that have come from shaky backgrounds, bad family life, and have a lot they are dealing with, becasue of this instinct I have had to sort of be the one to reach out to them and help guide them.
And it explains why I have always had such an affinity for the water and why I am so comftrable in the water and why I love to swim so much. 10:27 PM - 5/30/2007 - comments {0} - post comment
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 Quote of the Week: The war against death, dear Harry, is always a beautiful, noble, and wonderful, and glorious thing, and so, it follows, is the war against war. But it is always hopeless and quixotic too. ~Heramnn Hesse
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