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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books

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Aslinn Dhan
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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty It's all Greek to Me

Post  Guest Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:15 am

It's All Greek to Me By Aslinn Dhan
Since our Vampiric Lore find's it's beginnings in the Lamia/Lilith myths, I thought it would interesting to discuss some thought the Greeks had about Vampires and Werewolves. The Werewolf and Vampire legends are inextricably intertwined in their story telling. Greeks were a highly developed, well defined and structured culture and they had complex notions of the supernatural. To delve into simply the mythology of the Greek culture is to be totally immersed in complicated symbols and social nuances so delicate that one would have to be borne into the culture to truly learn them. As it is, the information I am relaying to you is simply the tip of the iceberg for more complex thought about the supernatural.

Greeks have influenced most every culture in the thinking world. The Romans adopted and renamed the gods followed by the Greeks. They were the first to write down complex governing systems, study mathematics from not only a scientific angle but a religious/philosophical one, and set down the most complex star maps the ancient world had ever known. They were the first to begin thinking about medicine and the social importance of people, not just the well to do but the common person. They were the first to impose education for the young and not just for boys but for girls as well.

Greeks were religious. They believed that man's world was ruled by the whims of the gods but man was not truly defenseless and there was no fate a man could not avoid if he was careful with his life and his death. Just as life was governed by complex laws, so was death.

If someone died, they must be taken care of as tenderly as they would have been in life. They had be given all the rites of burial. Justice must be had for the slain dead. If a man was murdered, the soul of the dead was obligated to walk around til justice was served.

One of the things that could happen would be the person who was murdered or given a careless funeral would come back as some other. These thoughts influenced the rules and rituals of death for many cultures such as the Asian and the Roma people.

Here are some factors which might lead to a person to remain on the earth as either a Vampire or a Werewolf

Persons not properly buried

To be dead and left without proper burial is to court disaster. The soul could not move on to the next world and thus they were condemned to wander over the earth as something hideous til their body was found and give a burial.

Violent or Sudden Death

Violent crime at the hands of another or a sudden death without the intercession of a priest/ess could condemn the soul from going on to the next world.

Suicides

Though some believe this component is a Christian one, it is actually pre Christian. People did routinely kill themselves because of age, infirmity, or because of political persecution in the Greek world. To take this final act was fraught with conflict. It was never entered into frivolously. The death of choice was hemlock (hence the suicide advocacy group The Hemlock Society) It is no accident this herb was chosen. It is an herb of consecration, purifying anyone who used it either as part of a ritual or as medicine or as a method of death. It prevented the soul from condemnation. Otherwise, the one committing suicide would be condemned to rise up a monster.

Children born or conceived during a feast or festival

Feasts and festivals were meant to be time of honoring the gods. To be distracted from them was to court trouble. Making love during feast time, or being engaged in the act of child birth shows your disrespect to the gods. This belief carried over into Christian tradition as well. Children born during this time or after a feast, was considered cursed and more susceptible to becoming a monster.

Still Borne Children

Many cultures have complex beliefs as to the moment a soul is acquired A still borne child among the Greeks carried the potential of becoming a shell fit for any wandering evil to house itself. Certain things had to be done to make the body safe and keep it from being inhabited and nurtured by unsuspecting parents.

Persons under a curse

If you are cursed by a power priest or priestess or by the gods themselves, you can become a monster. Lycon was changed into a werewolf, Lamia was made a Vampire, Calaban was made into a satyr simply for being in the god's disfavor.

Excommunication

Though we think of that word in terms of Christianity, all religions believe in some form of ritualistic cutting off of an offending parishioner. If you were removed from the roll of the faithful, you were cut off from the mercy of the gods and could not go into the afterlife.

Immorality

What some cultures define as a blessing, some others would see it as a sin. If you broke the the most sacred laws of the faith (whatever that may be) you were guilty of immorality. If you were an immoral person, unrepentant in your ways, you could become a monster.

Witchcraft

Again, as with immorality, the definition of Witch is based on the culture. But, for the sake of this discussion, I will say this applies to any person practicing dark arts..not a witch in general. There are witches of all faiths that work light magik (that is to say "Good" magik) and then there are those who practice dark magik ("Evil" magik) how you identify the two is based on your culture. If you practiced dark arts, you were damning your soul because you hurt people (See Immorality) and you would eventually be judged and punished.

Eating Animals killed by Wolves

As evocative as this may seem, I suspect this was to prevent people from eating meat that may be tainted with rabies. Rabies is a dangerous disease that kills off the reasoning parts of the brain and make the sufferer ( man or beast) go "insane" and act savagely.

The Corpse was jumped by a Cat.

The poor beleaguered cat. Loved by some like the Egyptians and the Norse and the Muslim world, cats also find themselves hated by other parts of the world. Nocturnal and aloof, some cultures saw the cat as dangerous and evil and if they came in contact with the dead, the dead could become a monster.

The Unmourned Dead

You had to have been a pretty evil person to go unmourned. If this is so, the gods would take no interest in you. In fact it was a thing so feared that even people not known for their compassion hired mourners to cry loudly for them in their deaths.

People who steal from Temples (Churches) or Schools

Since among the Greeks religion and education were paramount to a robust and useful life in society, to rob a holy place or a school could find you cursed and excommunicated and severely punished or victim to vigilantism, causing you to rise up a monster from your grave.

As Chief Red Cloud said: You have made us dead men in the land given to us by Wakontaonken. But do not ignore the dead. For those who do are bound to know our rightful justice. So deal kindly with my people, for the dead have a power too.

Rosemary Ellen Guiley Werewolves, Vampires and other Monsters, Paul Beryl the Complete Herbal, and Cats Among Us by Elizabeth Greystone.


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Hitler and the Occult

Post  Guest Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:16 am

Hitler and the Occult
By Aslinn Dhan

Since this has been brought up, I thought I would write up a little something about the der Fuhrer and his grand design for a re-imagined Nordic religion. Keep in mind this is in no way a genuine brand of Norse Neo-Paganism but an adulteration of the old religion designed to prop up his evil political scheme.

Hitler desired a complete re-visioning of the German people and its culture after WWI. After the war the German people were defeated and depressed economically and emotionally. The Versailles Treaty was a crippling and humiliating treaty for the Germans that it was only a matter of time til a strong and charismatic voice would shout in the wilderness.

Hitler's notion of a German Church was founded in a desire to show Germans they were a proud race, a superior race because they had descended from the gods. These gods and their children, called the Aryans were from the people of the lost continent of Atlantis, some of whom escaped their sinking island and made their way to mainland Europe and traveled as far as Tibet and eventually came back into the Nordic lands of Europe and became the noble and god-descended people of Germany.

These people were racially pure descended directly from heaven, not evolved as lesser people were. They were the Sons of God spoken of in the Bible who were to have bred up a race of giants. They had lately been diminished by their racial impurity and neglect of their identity but they were ready to reclaim their racial heritage and become favored again by the gods. To do this, they had to first reclaim themselves.

They did this by redefining the Aryan race. The true Aryan would be tall, blond, blue eyes and of high intelligence. This led to an active breeding program called Leibensbahn- the Life House. Young German girls were encouraged to become pregnant by the elite of the Nazi Party, the SS. They had 11 million children between 1943 and 1945. All the children were then property of the state and taken away and raised by SS families or in huge homes. Illegitimate children, as long as they came from a pairing of two pure Germans, they were welcomed into society as just another proud German. Polygamy was considered a viable option for SS officers to ensure there would be large German families.

To ensure there was a racial purity, you had to be able to prove your racial mix back to 1750. If there were genetic problems in the family, the young men and women were subjected to Eugenics, where they would be sterilized. The mentally ill and physically ill were Euthanized, that is they were killed. It was a capital offense to marry or even have sex with a non-Aryan. To prevent this from happening, the Final Solution began to be fomented.

But setting up the selective breeding campaign was only the first step. German SS began to actively research the religions of the world and pulled the bits and pieces that seemed to reflect their beliefs about a master or divine race. And they discovered a symbol that would replace the cross in the hearts and minds of the people.

The symbol of Nazism was the swastika. It is found in Buddhist and Hindu art and in Native American art. It is figured in Norse art as well. It symbolized the sun, the four directions, holiness, health and luck. Hitler adopted it and said it was a symbol of the struggle of the Aryan man.

The Norse myths of course figured prominently in Hitler's re-visioning of the German religion. His greatest source was the work of Richard Wagner, particularly the Ring Cycle and the Nibelung and the opera Parsifal.

Parsifal retells the Arthurian tale of the Quest for the Grail. Since race and blood purity was so important to the redesign of the German race, the notion there was a container for sacred blood appealed to Hitler, so much so, he paid for archeological searches for the Grail. Otto Rahn was Hitler's chief archeologist and he believed the Grail was in the mountains of Mont Siggur in France, the center of devotion of the Cathars who were murdered as heretics. Like the knights of Arthur, though, they never found the Grail.

There were already mystical societies who embraced the notions of the old religion joined with racial intolerance. The Thule Society, which believed wholeheartedly in in werewolves and other supernatural beings through tales of the Berserkers, also believed that the German people were the historical chosen people of mythology and they further pointed to tales in the hero tales of the Norse that spoke of a great Messiah. Hitler filled their mystical casting call.

Of Hitler's inner circle, there were four major players: Rudolph Hess, Alfred Rosenberg, and Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler were devotees of the mystical German religion. They too believed that Hitler was the Aryan Messiah of legend. Hess was a devotee of astrology and divinations. Rosenberg wrote the basic outline of the German religion. Goebbels was the grand architect of the German church along with Himmler. They practiced astrology and sun worship, believed in the religion of the blood..that is the bloodline. Racial purity was a must to be a member of the German church. The four of them rewrote the history of the German people. They believed, along with Hitler, that a sloughing off of Christianity with its Jewish roots was necessary. And they had their god, Hitler, the Messiah of the German people.

Hitler was portrayed in art as a knight. A flag stained with Hitler's blood was called the blood flag and no Nazi flag was "official" if it had not been touched to the blood flag. There were even Martyrs who were embraced. These 16 were killed during the Night of the Long Knives when the Nazis purged from within by killing off the SA or storm troopers by the SS. They were called the 16 Immortals and they were believed to have been ascended to Valhalla and were there interceding to Odin on the behalf of the German people. Each spring there was a great pageant and and pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Immortals and the procession was lead by the blood flag.

All of these massive parades and pageants were attended passionately by Germans, but especially by the youth. The youth were systematically indoctrinated into the German church. Boys joined the Hitler Youth. Girls joined the Society of German Maidens. They were taught the German history and mythology and the runic alphabet. Hitler was quoted as saying "I want to see again in the youth of Germany the gleam of the Beast of Prey," Much was made of the fact the name Adolph meant Father Wolf and the boys of the Hitler Youth called him such and referred to themselves as Hitler's Cubs.

Himmler made Bedelsberg Castle the center for the mysticism of the German church. There he consecrated twelve of his most trusted SS officers as SS Knights. They were given a dagger marked with runes, a ring with the Ben Sinister or death's head on the ring. The rituals included christenings, marriages, the May Pole, the Straw Man or Green Man, Litha (which became a feast of hate and darkness) and Yule (which became a feast of the dead) and Ostara became the time to renew loyalty to the Nazi Party and Hitler.

But, despite all of this, despite remodeling the Norse religion, creating a martyrdom, encouraging their racial pride, Germany began losing the war. Defeat after defeat began to weaken the resolve of the people. Goebbels began to use the occult more obviously. He consulted the astrologers to write astrological predictions that would rally the people. He also discovered the writings of Michel de Nostradamus and had additional quatrains written to show a German victory. British and America followed suit and did the same.

In the end, Hitler and his army lost and the Final Solution was uncovered and the re-visioning of the Norse religion exposed as a twisting of the noble legends of the Norse people.

Documentary: Nazis: The Occult Conspiracy Directed by Tracy Atkins and Joan Barron Narrated by Malcolm McDowell For the Discovery Channel.


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty HBO's Short Feature "Vampire Mythology" and "Shifter Mythology"

Post  Guest Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:19 am

Posted By Raki





Alan Ball and the cast discuss True Blood Vampire and shifter Mythology.


Aslinn / GS -If you would rather have this clip in another thread feel free to move it, just thought it might fight in here Wink


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Jason's Dream

Post  Guest Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:21 am

Jason's Dream By Aslinn Dhan
Okay, we have all had these sorts of dreams...being naked in public. And that might bother you a weenie bit if you are not Alex Skarsgard, nudie cutie that he is, but for the rest of us reluctant exhibitionists, this is what Jason's dream means:

Oracle One:

In one aspect, this is a dream of contrary, that you will have a stroke of good fortune, especially money luck. If you dreamed of someone else being naked...look out for deception.

Oracle Two:

Being naked in situations that would be deemed embarrassing or inappropriate are a sign of lack of confidence.

Oracle Three:

A desire for freedom to be self expressive. It might also indicate innocence of one thing or other in your life. It can also suggest a rebirth or new beginning.

Oracle Four:

Scandal and shame may be the reason you dream of being naked. To discover you are naked and try to cover yourself up, you are guilty of illicit pleasures.

Source: 1. The Dreamer's Dictionary by Lady Stearn Robinson 2. The Dream Bible Brenda Mallon 3. 10,000 dreams Interpreted by Pamela Ball 4. The Giant Book of Dreams by Constable and Robinson


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Werewolves of the Innu

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:55 am

Werewolves of the Inuit
By Aslinn Dhan

The Innuit people of Canada have a legend of the adlet, the dog people, the offspring of a red dog of legend and an Innu woman. She birthed 5 were dogs and 5 regular dogs and the woman set all 10 of the children adrift on a raft. The raft eventually landed in Europe and grew up to breed the European north people, the Norse, who returned eventually in the form of Vikings.

The Werewolf Book- Brad Steiger


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Gilles De Rais: The Werewolf Murderer

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:55 am

Gilles De Rais: The Werewolf Murderer
By Aslinn Dhan

In 1415, 11 year old Gilles De Rais, also known as Marchal De Rais, inherited one of the greatest fortunes in France. He married Catherine Thouars, who was an equally wealthy woman. At 20, he became a follower of the Maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc and he followed her into battle after battle, even to swearing celibacy.

When Joan was captured by the English and tried as a witch and burned at the stake, De Rais lost his faith. He renounced God and began a long career of horror and crime. Being that he was rich and of noble class, he traveled from estate to estate with his cortege and woe to the peasantry when the landlord came home.

It was the practice for the poor to stand at the gates of rich people’s houses to beg food and alms and most of the well to do did send out their servants to give out alms and bread and cheese to the poor and Giles de Rais was no different except for this one fact: Young children began to go missing whenever he visited. Parents began to clamor at the gates of De Rais estate and the gates of the law who was more than reticent about rousting a noble person who was rich and powerful.

Eventually, that is exactly what happened. In Rouen, he was arrested and his estate was searched and his servants questioned. What they found was horrifying, even in light of the horrors of the Inquisition, now active during this time.

According to his servants and from De Rais own mouth, the lord of the house became a devotee of Satan. He became depraved, craving especially children. It was said the children would be lured into the house with promises of food for their family. Once in they were dragged away into a room and tied into a chair and tormented. Once they were terrified, De Rais would come in, pretending to be horrified. He would untie the youngster, pull them onto his lap, comfort them and sooth them and then when they were calm, he would tell him what he was planning to do with them. Then he would proceed to rape and murder them, torturing them to death. He would then instruct the servants to go and get the body and prepare it for eating. The lord and his men would then feast on the flesh, drinking the blood in golden goblets.

De Rais said his appetite for torture and depravity began when he conjured the devil and the devil made him a werewolf. He said that he would become ravenous and soulless and he would find relief only through torture and cannibalism.

Though De Rais was candid about his crimes, he begged for mercy. While he was in prison, he supposedly became a shriven friar, desiring to become a priest as he had repaired his relationship with God. He asked that he be confined to a monastery. The Inquisition denied him his request. What they did do was allow De Rais to be killed humanely and though his body was meant to be burned, it was rescued by his wife and possibly the order who was allowing him to take vows. So much for crime and punishment.

Source: The Werewolf Book by Brad Steiger.


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Sawney Beane

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:56 am

Sawney Beane
By Aslinn Dhan

Historians debate the reality of this heinous family. Some say they may have been a real family who did commit crimes but not the extent they are reputed. Others believe the family was invented for political reasons, to cast an evil light on the anti- James I group the Jacobites. Others say they are simply a fanciful tale spun for the entertainment of listeners from this time to now. Whatever you think about the Beane family, their story certainly contributes to the cultural mythology we have about families who murder and kill and eat their victims.

At any rate, Sawney Beane was reportedly born Alexander Beane in East Lothian in or around the late 1500’s early 1600’s. His father was a ditch digger and hedge cutter and local handyman. Sawney was no damned good from the start. He preferred stealing and laziness rather than an honest life of poverty. It was said he took up with a woman called Black Agnes Douglas and they moved to a system of caves whose entrance was blocked by the high tides and there they began a family rumored to have numbered around fifty. Sawney was not only dishonest; he was also a pervert as he committed incest with his daughters and got his own grandchildren from them.

They made their living as highwaymen. And it was not just the men in the family who helped, the girls did too. They would set traps and waylay lonely travelers and kill them and steal their money and jewelry. As a matter of thrift, they also stole the clothes and began to cure and consume the meat.
This is not new in the annals of crime, as long pig has a forbidden allure to it and has made bad crimes heinous. Besides, the Beanes were being practical. There were many mouths to feed and no reason to throw away good meat (excusing the fact it is human “meat”). There are even some scholars who believe there may have been a famine in Scotland at the time and thus the cannibalism was a matter of necessity. Whatever the thought on it, it made the Beanes a dangerous lot.

Rumors began to circulate among the towns people, particularly when people began to turn up missing and there were the odd body parts washing up on the shore. These grisly findings led the people to suspect other things than robbers, they began to suspect Vampires, Werewolves, and witches (oh my) afoot in the town. It didn’t take long before the vicious Beanes were caught.

The down fall of the clan came when a neighboring town was having a fair and many of the town’s people went to the fair. On their way home, a couple was beset by the Beanes. What the Beanes did not know was there was another group of travelers coming up behind them and this is what the groups saw.

The couple had been horseback and the man was on his horse with pistol and sword drawn and fighting to defend himself. His wife was already down and the female Beanes were on her, tearing off her clothes and jewelry and even butchering the poor woman. Some of the Beane women were drinking her blood and others were yanking her internal organs out through stab wounds in her belly. The other party came up and attacked and the Beanes scurried into the moors and made it back to their cave dwelling. The tide hid the entrance and they were safe for a while.

King James VI, of Scotland, who would later become James I of England, led an armed search party. The hounds, it was said, was drawn to the cave, as they smelled the smoked and pickled meat. The clan was pulled into the light of day.

They were taken to Edinburgh’s Tolbooth Jail, the same jail which housed Rob Roy for a time, and depending on the version you read, they were either taken to Leister to stand trial or taken all the way to London to stand trial. This is primarily because the only historical source for the tale is the Newgate Catalogue. At any rate, they were tried for treason. Cannibalism was listed as a treasoner’s crime. They were found guilty and the men were executed by having their hands feet and cut off and being bled to death and the women and children were burned alive.

The only historical document recording the crimes and trial and punishment is the Newgate Catalogue. There it says the family killed over 1000 people and ate them and robbed them. Later, Victorian writers of tabloid like “penny dreadfuls” did their own versions of the Sawney Beane murders, often with lurid engravings and other embellishments, such as the thought they went undetected with their crimes because they were werewolves and Vampires who came out only at night. Others say they were a clan of Satanists and witches.

Sources: From Oxford Library Online: Historical and Traditional Tales of Southern Scotland by John Nicholson, The Legend of Sawney Beane by Ronald Holmes, The Flesh Eaters by LA Morse, Sweeney Todd: The Real Story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Peter Haining. Other Sources: The Galloway Gazette By Stephen Graham and Sean Thomas Nov. 28, 1994.

The Ballad of Sawney Beane

Go you not to Galloway
Come bide a while my friend
I’ll tell you of the dangers there
Beware of Sawney Beane

There’s nobody knows he bides there
For his face is seldom seen
To meet his eye is to meet your fate
At the hands of Sawney Beane

Sawney he has taken a wife
And he has hungry babes to feed
Raising them on the flesh of men
In the cave of Sawney Beane

Sawney had been well endowed
With daughters long and lean
With child they were with their father’s seed
In the Cave of Sawney Beane

Sawney’s sons are young and strong
Their blades Sharp and keen
To spill the blood of travelers
What meet with Sawney Beane

So if you ride from there to here
Be you wary in between
Lest they catch your horse and spill your blood
In the cave of Sawney Beane

18th century Ballad

Thanks so much to my lovely Sean who did all the research for me on the Beane Family.


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Afraid of the Dark

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:56 am

Afraid of the Dark By Aslinn Dhan

In this modern world we take being able to see our surroundings for granted. We walk around, interact, do all the things in the night that we do in the day. But this confidence is a fairly new one because before the proliferation of light, man lived in a world of darkness and that fear of the things in the dark are still heavily ingrained in us today.

Many of the same reasons for fear of the dark do exist. Violent crime is still likely to happen under the cover of dark. So we turn on the lights, lock our doors, pull our shades and travel in small groups. So it was for ancient man, who locked out the world the best he could and sat close to the fire.

Chores and work that have to be done, especially in agricultural places require the use of light and on modern farms, this simply means that you flick the switch and you get on with your late night or early morning work. But among some groups who eschew modern conveniences in the name of religious devotion, like the Amish and the Mennonites, the use of light at night to do chores means the use of kerosene lanterns. The risk of fire goes up considerably. Add that to the fact these groups live apart with no telephone and no electric light, you have more opportunities to be a victim of crime. The act of Shutting In is one repeated throughout the rural places where these folks live.

Every culture has or had a nomadic people. Take the Bedouins for example. These people live in the desert, grazing their goats wherever they can find a patch of grass and water. The face the unlit dark, unilluminated by modern lights. They do not have permanent shelter that would keep malevolence things outside. Their world of darkness is inhabited by evil spirits and ravening beasts that come calling.

Among these beasts are real animals like jackals and hyenas, the snake and the scorpion and the wolf.
The wolf has been well known to be bold marauders, hunting down the lonely traveler or taking advantage of the domestic animals in their pens. They have even been known to hunt for the sake of hunting, not even eating what they kill. And these predators, above all others, have been feared. But there is one other predator, even greater than the wolf and it is man.

But back to the wolves, for the story of wolf and man is intertwined. At one time wolves outnumbered men. Imagine that for a moment. As lately as 500 years ago, wolves outnumbered men in Bucharest, Romania. Bucharest was the frontier of Eastern Europe and there were many human deaths attributed to wolves. And from these tales both cautionary and reactionary sprang tales of man wolves.

Fifteenth century people began to warn people of wandering out of doors because violent monsters wandered the dark. Behind closed doors, shut against the terrors of the night began tales of werewolves, Vampires, and other supernatural creatures. And it was in this place, in Romania, we hear the story of the first Vampire: Vlad Dracul, Vlad the Impaler, Count Dracula. And his evil could only have come from the devil who made him stragoi, the undead, wampyr.

Some people were exiled from the world of light because of circumstance. In 14th century Scotland, it was illegal to be homeless. Edward the Longshanks decreed that extreme poverty was a capital offense and the poor hid in the underworld four stories below the city of Edinburgh. Called The Vaults, this place was initially designed as storage areas for shop keepers to store their extra stock of whisky and other products but they found that the storage areas were unsuitable because of the water that poured through the vaults when it rained above in their topside world. An hour after the rain came down, it would rain in the vaults as the water made its way down through the rocky soil. Here the poor of the city made their world and their world was dark.

Beggars, thieves, orphans, prostitutes all sought shelter from the long arm of the law. They predated each other to have just a little more comfort than their neighbor and among them there were wolves in people suits. The notorious resurrection men, Burke and Hare, would lure the poor into the darkest places of the vaults and kill them and sell them to medical schools where they would be dissected to further medical science. Locals feared the night because of the grave robbing resurrection men who prowled the lonely cemeteries for fresh corpses to sell, and if there were no unfortunate dead to steal, they made their own bodies.

Through the dark and down the stairs
Up and down go Burke and Hare
Burke’s the butcher, Hare the thief
And Knox the boy who buys the meat.

And the ill treated dead could come back to haunt the living. Rural people were religious people and they believe that the night was the time the veil was thinnest between the living and the dead. They also believed that evil in the form of witches and demons wandered the night. To protect themselves, they planted rowan trees in yards and around grave yards.

There are also people who were in congress with the devil. One of those was Richard Cabell. He was an evil man in life and it was said he had made the Faustian deal with the devil. The night he died, a stranger with a limp came into a local bar and ordered a pint. He was a stranger and there was something ominous about him. He took his pint and drank it down and people swore they could see steam coming up from his throat. He sat the pewter tankard on the bar and gave a belch and announced he was here to collect the soul of Richard Cabell. When the publican took the tankard off the bar, the tankard had burned a ring onto the bar. Further telling of the story added a violent storm and the body of Richard Cabell was found with a terrified look frozen on his face. The moral of the story was if you did not live right and had truck with the devil, he would come for you one night, in the dark, and take your soul to hell.

So, beware the dark, and keep a light burning and be careful of what you invite in. You never know when a monster is lurking, looking for a way to get you.

Source: Afraid of the Dark: Myths and Tales about the Night and Darkness- The History Channel.


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Santeria and Paoulo Mayombe

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:57 am

What is Santeria and Paoulo Mayombe
By Aslinn Dhan

We know a bit about Vou Dou (voodoo) and we know a little about hoo doo, but what is Jesus into? He could be into a religious system called Santeria. But what is Santeria and how is it different from Vou Dou? And is there a dark side?

Santeria is an Afro-Caribbean religion that was developed among African slaves. See, when Africans were brought to the New World as slaves, they were forced to stop any sort of native practice to break their will and to steal their identity. If they could not have an identity they would look to the guidance and authority of their masters.

And that was a cool plan until they started to take their slaves to church. Particularly if they were Catholic. One of the ways to demonstrate one's authority over another is to demonstrate their closeness and blessedness to their God. With God on their side, who can beat them. So the slaves were brought to church and the slaves marveled at the rich and colorful depictions of God and Christ and the saints and the angels.

The slaves of course were not stupid people, they were not dumb animals who would simply forget their children or their lives or their religions. But how could they do that in plain view and still be in the good books with their captors? It was simple..hide their gods in the shapes of the Christian God.

From them on, God the Father would be Eleggua the opener of the door. The Virgin would be his wife, Yemaya, and all of the saints would play similar roles. Even the Devil is given a place as Oggun....but he is not the evil doer of Christian beliefs, he is the one who over sees justice.

They celebrate the gods with food offerings and gifts of alcohol and tobacco and dancing and the most blessed thing that can happen to a worshiper is if the gods come down and possess you. They show you the future the future and the past and they reveal all secrets and do the will of the gods in their possession. Everyone is blessed and the congregation celebrates the presence of the gods among them.

So how is that different from Vou Dou? Vou Douists do not use the Christian imagery. They see themselves as purer that the Santeria practitioners because they do not hide the gods in the images of the saints. They believe that the gods are appeased only when you let them be free of the Christian influence, but they practice many of the same rites and use the same magik.

Is there a darker side of Santeria? Sure there is...Paoulo Myombe.

If Satanism is the antithesis of Christianity, then Paoulo Mayombe is the antithesis of Santeria. They believe that their chief god, a version of Oggun, can be controlled by the use of a cauldron where they create a home fit for their god. They call it an nganga. There they bless the cauldron with the organs of animals, the blood, alcohol, herbs and spices and sometimes, in the most rare cases, they use humans. They guard the cauldron and feed it and pray to it. It is the most dangerous form of black magik in the world.

So what is Jesus into? I think he is Santerian, but I think he may dabble in the darker side of the faith....Be careful Lafayette...He really could be Satan in a Sunday hat....or at least know Satan's haberdasher

The Witch Book by Raymond Buckland. The Encyclopedia of the Occult by Michael Greer and The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Who was Goody Osbourne

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:58 am

Who was Goody Osbourne?
By Aslinn Dhan

"Oh you have the wrong man; The dog ate my homework; I saw Goody Osbourne with the devil" - The Magister

The Magister mentions Goody Osbourne, so I thought I would tell you about her.

Sarah Osbourne lived in Salem, Massachusetts in Wolf Pits Meadow and was accused of being a witch by Abigail Williams. She was accused of appearing before the accusers in her spectral form and threatening them and was supposedly seen signing the devil's book at one of his bacchanals. She was also supposed to be an intimate of Tituba the slave of Reverend Parris and had done magik with her. She was an old woman, something not notably trusted in the Puritan village and had a lost a husband to suspicious causes.

This husband was Robert Prince and her in-laws were the Putnams. She was a highly favored member of the clan til she decided to wed herself to the Irish immigrant, Alexander Osbourne. When her son by Prince was in his majority, he sought to claim his inheritance and the Putnams wanted to decrease it. This led to a feud between the Putnams and the Osbournes.

She protested the accusations. She had been home sick, house bound by the illness and could scarcely have been able to cavort around with the village idiot much less the devil himself. She claimed fifty years but was actually much older. She was remanded to the village prison and was denied bail so she could at least be in her home as she was a sickly person. She died May 10 on the floor of her prison. All of her land was forfeit to the Salem Village.

The Devil's Disciples: Makers of the Salem Witch Trials by Peter Charles Hoffer


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Lafayette's Prayer

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:59 am

Lafayette's Prayer
By Aslinn Dhan

"I think over again my small adventures, my fears, These small ones that seemed so big. For all the vital things I had to get and to reach. And yet there is only one great thing, The only thing. To live to see the great day that dawns And the light that fills the world."

It comes from an Innu Song


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Near Death Experience

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Near Death Experience By Aslinn Dhan
The possibility of an existence after death fascinates us. I mean that is what fascinates up about Vampires, that they cheat death. So, what is a near death experience.

The NDE interest was sparked by a theosophist and writer Raymond Moody. He wrote that the soul is a thing that can migrate between two world, the conscious and the unconscious. Jiving with Edgar Cayce's thought, he believed there are times when we are faced with the hereafter and we can chose to either go on from this plane of existence or come back.

Some people who have this experience have total recall of the event. They reported similar experiences where they say they rise up and go through a tunnel where they see a great light and they are greeted by beings in the light. Sometimes this takes the shape of loved ones who have already made the journey, others claim they have seen angels and still others have claimed to have seen hell. Whatever it is, they come back with a sense of revelation, that death is not the end or in the case of some who see the final punishment they have time to repair their spiritual lives and have the chance to redeem the soul they nearly lost.

The Medical community, however, believes NDE to be a reaction to various chemicals released to the body after trauma. They say a mixture of endorphins, insulin and various other factors create a near death experience. The similarities of the story they say is because of shared culture or thought about the hereafter, that though a person my declare they do not believe in any religion, they have heard enough stories that have stored themselves int he collective consciousness and they emerge during times of stress.

The Spirit Book by Raymond Buckland


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty The Water of Life

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:34 am

The Water of Life By Aslinn Dhan

Sookie met Claudine in S3 E7 and she is handed a glass of water. Water is symbolic of renewal, healing, cleansing and sanctification. It is also the portal or boundary to the other world, either to the world of death or to the magikal worlds. All world religions have a special relationship with water.

I Celtic and Norse cultures, water, springs, and wells are sacred. Certain wells contain particular gifts and are visited by seekers. Some empower the user to great gifts of reason or wisdom, some heal, some go to receive beauty others are reserved for love, some are for fertility and strength, still others are for memory. To drink or bathe in certain waters is to ensure eternal life, like the Fountain of Youth. Tir Nan Og, for example is the land of Eternal Youth and Beauty and is found under the sea.

The Greeks and Romans believed in the river Styx, the river that delineates the land of the living from the land of the dead.

Ancient Hebrews connected Godliness with cleanliness and Orthodox Jews still take ritual baths called a mikvah. God caused the wicked world to be swallowed up by water save the inhabitants of the ark. (Every world religion has a story of the great flood) Moses was give power over water to help the Hebrews escape the Egyptians.

Christians also use water symbolically. Jesus was baptized int he waters of the Jordan. He turned water into wine, he was seen walking on water and water and blood mixed together comes out of his wounds.

Later, in more modern times, we have events like the Visitation at Lourdes. The Blessed Virgin appears to Bernadette Soubirous and caused a healing well to spring up and many hundreds of thousands are cured.

In Judeo-Christian prophesy, visions of heaven include the river of life. Voices of the martyrs are thought to sound like the rushing of many waters and when the apocalypse happens, the seas will be burned away by a great star called Worm Wood.

The Element of Water is one of the four elements: Earth, Air, fire and water. and associated with the four directions, north, south, east and west. West is associated with water. Water is gender feminine and sees to many of the concerns of women like love, fertility, cleansing and healing. It associated with the color blue and the elementals called undines *. It is associated with death and rebirth and initiation. It is associated in Christian magik with Gabriel thus is the element of knowledge.

In the Tarot, it is associated with the suit of Cups and the season of fall.

Every religion has a version of holy water. Sea water is considered natural holy water. Priests and Priestesses wash their hands before rituals in holy water and bless and cleanse ritual tools and sacred spaces with it.

The Holy Bible KJV, The Witch Book by Raymond Buckland, and Faeries by Brian Froud.

*Undines are fae associated with water: Neirids, Oceanides, Nymphs and Mer people


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty What are the Druids

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:34 am

What are the Druids By Aslinn Dhan

Since Denis O'Hare has told us Russell Edgington is a Celt and an Ancient Druid, I thought I would add this bit of information.

As you read about magick and the mystical arts and the Craft, you will read about the Druids. What are the Druids and how do they relate to us, the modern witches and covens of today. No one is really sure about who the Druids are. There are some who say they were some sort of ruling class, some where after the chief or king but above the ordinary citizenry. They were the wise men and women who formed the basic legal system, made decisions about crime and punishment, advised kings when and when not to make war, alliances, marry and crown heirs. They functioned also as the leaders of religion, presiding over marriages, divorces, births, funerals, coronations and religious feasts, sports, and rites.

We know this very small bit not from Druids themselves, but from the invaders of Europe, namely the Romans under people like Julius Caesar. In Julius Caesar's Commentaries, he wrote that the Druids were blood thirsty, savage men( ignoring of course the roles of women in the Druidic culture) who sacrificed humans in large quantities and ate human flesh and burned people alive in their wickerman festivals before Samhain. And following largely in this same vein, writers like Pliny the elder spoke of some elements of Druid religion, like the veneration of trees and the worship of the moon and the sun and the use of mistletoe and some meanings of the varying woods. But this is all we really know, and we should have some skepticism about histories that were not written by the people themselves either through art or written language.

Did the Druids write their own history? I'm afraid the Druids themselves wrote very little about their work and their religion or their knowledge. Most of the Druid's knowledge was oral history, told from one Druid to another, taught from generation to generation and handed down as legacy of sorts. It is thought, because no one really knows for sure, they were a culture who believed in leading strenuous lives of hard work and play. If things were written down, then no one need learn things and memorize them, they could look it up anytime. So just as there were people who did wondrous athletic feats, so too were there people who memorized millions of words of poetry and formulas and spells. This is fantastic in and of themselves, but imagine now, the death of the group of people! It would be the death of all that learning.

And that is what happened, and just all invaders do, they bring their pantheons of Gods and Goddesses to replace the native Gods. Now, does that mean the Druid religion and their magical practices are lost forever? No, but you can never call it "Druid" again. There were people who remembered little bits, a spell here, a practice there, maybe even a ritual or two and keep it in their hearts, teaching their family, celebrating with others, adding to the parts they have forgotten with some new bit they thought would enhance the rite and make it respectful and memorable for them in their time. And over time, the faith system of the conquerors become absorbed by the conquered, that is why we see Greek and Roman spirits and imagery of European Wicca and Native American imagery in North America and we are now seeing Christian and Pagan imagery in the Craft, as we have come to call it.

Commentaries by Julius Ceasar and Histories by Pliny the Elder and History of the Druids by Padraig Colm and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill.


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Celtic Astrology

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:35 am

Celtic Astrology
By Aslinn Dhan

Dec 23- Jan 1 (June 25-Jul 4) Apple Tree- Thin, charming, pleasant, flirty, adventurous, sensitive, loving, generous, scientific, philosophic, imaginative.

Jan 2-Jan 11 (July5- July 14) Fir Tree- taste, dignity, sophistication, loves beauty, moody, stubborn, modest, ambitious, talented, industrious, reliable.

Jan 12- Jan 24 (July 15-July 25) Elm Tree- pleasant shape- tasteful clothes, modest demands, unforgiving, cheerful, loves to lead, practical, noble minded, generous, humorous.

Jan 25-Feb 3 (Jul 26-Aug 4) Cypress Tree- strong, adaptable, content, optimistic, hates loneliness, faithful, quick tempered, unruly, pedantic, careless.

Feb 4-Feb 8 (May 1- May 14/ Aug 5- Aug 13) Poplar Tree- decorative, unconfident, courageous when they have to be, needs good will, pleasant surroundings, choosy, artistic, organized, and philosophical.

Feb 9- Feb 18 (Aug 14- Aug 23) Cedar Tree- of rare beauty, adaptable, enjoys good health, not shy, a bit snobby, self confident, determined, impatient, impressive, talented, industrious, and optimistic.

Feb 19-Feb 28 (Aug 24- Sept 2) Pine Tree- loves good company, robust, comfortable, active, natural, standoffish, falls in and out of love, gives up

Mar 1- Mar 10 ( Sept 3-Sept 12) Weeping Willow- beautiful, melancholy, attractive, empathetic, loves beauty and travel, big dreamer, restless, honest, demanding, good intuition.

Mar 11- Mar 20 (Sept 13- Sept 22) Lime Tree- accepts what life dishes out, loyal, jealous, hates fighting, stress and work, dislikes laziness in others, soft, relenting, makes sacrifices, talented.

March 21- Oak Tree- robust, courageous, strong, unrelenting, independent, sensible, does not like change, stable, a person of action.

Mar 22- Mar 31 (Sept24- Oct 3)- Hazelnut Tree- charming, undemanding, understanding, makes an impression, agent for change, popular, moody, and excellent sense of judgment.

April 1-April 10 (Oct 4-Oct 13)- Rowan Tree- full of charm, cheerful, gifted, loves attention, life, motion, unrest, and complications, both independent and dependent, artistic, passionate.

April 11-April 20 (Oct 14- Oct 23)- Maple Tree- no ordinary person, imaginative, shy, reserved, ambitious, proud, confident, loves new experiences, nervous, complex, good memory.

April 21-April 30 (Oct 24- Nov 11)- Walnut Tree- unrelenting, strange, full of opposites, egoistic, aggressive, noble, looking for the next horizon, unexpected reaction, spontaneous, limited, ambitious, inflexible, difficult, admired, jealous.

May 15- May 24 (Nov 12- Nov 21)- Chestnut Tree- beautiful, modest, seeks justice, vivacious, diplomatic, irritable, sensitive, low confidence, loves only once.

May 25-June 3 (Nov 22- Dec 1)- Ash Tree- attractive, vivacious, demanding, hates criticism, ambitious, intelligent, egotistical, reliable, trustworthy, faithful, prudent, and serious in love.

June 4- June 13 (Dec 2- Dec 11) Hornbeam Tree- cool beauty, takes care, good taste, makes life comfortable, reasonable, disciplined, kind, cautious, and conscientious.

June 14- June 23 (Dec 12- Dec 21) Fig Tree- strong, willful, independent, doesn’t argue, loves life, family, children, animals, social occasions. Humorous, lazy but talented.

June 24- Birch Tree- vivacious, attractive, elegant, friendly, unpretentious, modest, nothing in excess, hates vulgarity, loves nature, imaginative, but unambitious, calm and content.

September 23- Olive Tree- warmth, kindness, reasonable, balanced, loves the sun, avoids aggression, calm, just, tolerant, cheerful, free of jealousy, loves to read, and being in the company of intellectuals.

Dec 22- Beech Tree- good taste, concerned with appearance, materialistic, organized, economical, leader, no risks, friend for life, and avid health nut.


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Dream Walking

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:36 am

Dream Walking By Aslinn Dhan

Bill calls his sojourn into Faery a dream state and Lafayette and Jesus take a dream walk under the influence of V. But what is dream walking and were our friends on that voyage?

Have you ever had a dream that didn't feel like it was your own? A dream that was full of strange elements that didn't make sense to you or in which you found yourself doing things that were out of character? Or what about a dream that was full of people and places that you didn't recognize? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you may have been dream walking.

Dream walking, simply put, is the ability to enter the dreams of others or to share an experience outside the real world and in another. It is not as strange or weird as it may sound. To think of it another way it is like channel surfing in your sleep. Except that instead of changing channels on you television, you are actually hopping from dream to dream visiting the thoughts of other people as they sleep. You may be saying to yourself that if this is possible, then other people could enter my dreams. Yes that is absolutely true. They can and they do. It happens to us all of the time. It is a perfectly natural phenomenon. It is because of the simple fact that we fail to remember the majority of our dreams that most people don't realize it is happening.

The Dreaming Prophet, our friend, Edgar Cayce, believed that we lead independent lives as a spirit form in our sleep and there is no reason we can or be a part of other people's dream lives as we go on our earthbound voyages. He also believed we entered other worlds, the basic concept of altered realities and other planes of existence, entered through portals in time and space, the principals of time travel and interdimensional travel.

Shamans and witches often use the ritual of dream walking to understand and gather wisdom, to divine the future and commune with the gods and masters of their own traditions, now ascended. Using intoxicants are a small part of this ritual. Some new ritualists put far too much emphasis on the use of peyote, marijuana, or other mind altering drugs. For the ancients, the use of these gate keys was a practice that was carefully done, by only the wisest of shamans and under the strictest rules and guidelines.

Other experiences too could open the door. Sexual practitioners of Tantra and Kundilini used sex and the euphoria of arousal and climax to open the mind to other planes of existence. Sessions of sexual ritual could last for hours and allowed the shaman to disconnect form the physical world by the sensations of sexual activity and the heightened physical condition to allow the mind to roam in other planes and gain a more centered consciousness. But again, the new practitioners have distilled it to simply sex for the sake of the sexual experience and not for the deeper meanings of the voyage beyond the physical self.

Bill and Lafayette and Jesus access these other planes through the ingestion of the blood. Bill drank a lot of Sookie's blood, making him more human and fae than he otherwise might be, sort of tricking the door of Faery to open and admit him into the world of magik. Lafayette and Jesus used Vampire Blood to link them together for their shared alter state and allowed Jesus to guide Lafayette into the past and see where his magikal roots began and his connection to the supernatural world.

Have you ever had a dream that felt like someone was intruding into it? That felt like someone didn't belong or that you were being threatened or attacked? If so then you may have been experiencing someone walking through your dream. This is a common form of telepathy. It is similar to the subconscious telepathy that we experience on a daily basis while we are awake.

Sookie does this on a regular basis. She is a telepath and automatically feels the the emotions and thoughts of others in her mind. She also has the connection of blood with both Eric and Bill and she is open to their influence because of their blood ties with her. But she is not just connected to them, they are also connected to her.

Whether we realize it or not, all of our minds are constantly communicating on a subconscious level. Jung called this the collective unconscious. It is like an interlacing network of ideas and thought forms. Sometimes, when we are asleep and dreaming, we simply bump into one another's thoughts and this can be experienced as dream walking.

It is possible to do this on a conscious level. Though it is somewhat rude to do this without the other person's permission. If you meditate before going to sleep at night and summon enough will power while concentrating on the image of the person whose dreams you are wanting to enter, it is possible to visit their dreams. You can also visualize yourself entering their dreams. This is a very tricky thing to do because it can be difficult to tell whether you actually dream walked or just dreamt about dream walking. It has to be something that you strongly desire to do and it really helps to have the other person's permission. Some people are very good at guarding their thoughts even on a subconscious level and will block you at every attempt.

This is a useful skill if you encounter psychic Vampires. A psychic Vampire is one who feeds on your emotional energy rather than your blood. If you develop the ability to block yourself from the invasion of the Vampire into your energy or chi, then you can protect yourself from their psychic draining.

Because this is such a difficult thing to do with any accuracy or even a way of verifying success, it can take years of practice to master this ability. The amount of effort and will it requires also makes it difficult. As with anything else, the ability to dream walk comes more easily to some than it does for others. It helps to have a partner who is willing to practice with you. If you both keep an accurate dream journal, this can supply you with the feedback that you need to actually hone your dream walking ability.

Dream walking and astral travelling are very similar. Astral travelling tends to be something you do alone, where dream walking is a more conscious experience where you can choose who goes with you.
It is good to set your intentions when going to sleep. You can ask your Higher Self for help with a problem or you can consciously choose to go on an adventure, using your powers of visualization and imagination.

Understanding the mystical alignments of the body such as the chakras can help you relax your body, redirect your energies and focus on your intentions to dream walk. Have a clearly defined goal in mind and whatever wisdom you may be seeking.

When bedtime comes, go to bed in a relaxed and happy way and if you feel any tension in your body, just spend a few minutes releasing that consciously, becoming aware of the different parts of your body.
Breathe into these areas and relax and expand your consciousness. Feel the more subtle aspects of the physical body.

Sources: The Sleeping Prophet by Edgar Cayce, Dreaming Metaphysically by Hans Holzer, The Draming Time of the Aborigines of the Americas and Australia by John David Storm Horse


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty The Wiccan Rede : Witch's Ethics

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:36 am

The Wiccan Rede: The Witch's Code of Ethics
By Aslinn Dhan

Some people would be shocked to know that witches of all trads have a code of ethics they must follow when wielding their powers. There are consequences to every action taken in the magikal or mundane world. Some people call it kismet or karma or simply payback.

The witch believes that everything they send out into the universe by way of magik is repaid times three. Every good or evil done is rewarded/punished. And witches have a set of rules called The Rede.

Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give.

For tread the Circle thrice about to keep unwelcome spirits out.
To bind the spell well every time, let the spell be said in rhyme.

Light of eye and soft of touch, speak you little, listen much.
Honor the Old Ones in deed and name,
let love and light be our guides again.

Deosil go by the waxing moon, chanting out the joyful tune.
Widdershins go when the moon doth wane,
and the werewolf howls by the dread wolfsbane.

When the Lady's moon is new, kiss the hand to Her times two.
When the moon rides at Her peak then your heart's desire seek.

Heed the North winds mighty gale, lock the door and trim the sail.
When the Wind blows from the East, expect the new and set the feast.

When the wind comes from the South, love will kiss you on the mouth.
When the wind whispers from the West, all hearts will find peace and rest.

Nine woods in the Cauldron go, burn them fast and burn them slow.
Birch in the fire goes to represent what the Lady knows.

Oak in the forest towers with might, in the fire it brings the God's
insight. Rowan is a tree of power causing life and magick to flower.

Willows at the waterside stand ready to help us to the Summerland.
Hawthorn is burned to purify and to draw faerie to your eye.

Hazel-the tree of wisdom and learning adds its strength to the bright fire burning.
White are the flowers of Apple tree that brings us fruits of fertility.

Grapes grow upon the vine giving us both joy and wine.
Fir does mark the evergreen to represent immortality seen.

Elder is the Lady's tree burn it not or cursed you'll be.
Four times the Major Sabbats mark in the light and in the dark.

As the old year starts to wane the new begins, it's now Samhain.
When the time for Imbolc shows watch for flowers through the snows.

When the wheel begins to turn soon the Beltane fires will burn.
As the wheel turns to Lamas night power is brought to magick rite.

Four times the Minor Sabbats fall use the Sun to mark them all.
When the wheel has turned to Yule light the log the Horned One rules.

In the spring, when night equals day time for Ostara to come our way.
When the Sun has reached it's height time for Oak and Holly to fight.

Harvesting comes to one and all when the Autumn Equinox does fall.
Heed the flower, bush, and tree by the Lady blessed you'll be.

Where the rippling waters go cast a stone, the truth you'll know.
When you have and hold a need, harken not to others greed.

With a fool no season spend or be counted as his friend.
Merry Meet and Merry Part bright the cheeks and warm the heart.

Mind the Three-fold Laws you should three times bad and three times good.
When misfortune is enow wear the star upon your brow.

Be true in love this you must do unless your love is false to you.

These Eight words the Rede fulfill:

"An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will"

The last line of the Rede is the rule of thumb. You may cast any spell or any other magikal working you desire so long as you do no harm, and that means to yourself or others.

The notion that witches would give women abortions was a part of anti-witch propaganda used by the Inquisition. All life being sacred to a witch would never have given a woman an abortion. There are herbs that can induce abortions but this knowledge is for precaution, to help women avoid these herbs during pregnancy. And because the rede clearly states "harm none" this was include a growing fetus.

Another facet of witch practice is the use of the blade or athame. All tools of the witch used to direct energy or to invoke the gods is sacred. A wand, a staff, a sword or a blade is purified and dedicated. The old legends that witches routinely used daggers and swords to perform human or animal sacrifices is again a myth used by the Inquisition. The athame and sword are "virgin" blades and would not have been used to draw blood, even a small amount.

Blood in rituals is a reality. Sealing spells, using blood to send spells on behalf of the blood supplier creates the most perfect bond of a spell. But it is not paramount. It simply signifies the personal nature of the spell and the commitment of the sender to the ritual.

The Wiccan Rede by Mark Ventimiglia and Wiccan Ethics by Shelley TSivia Rabinovitch and Meredith Macdonald


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Black Cohosh and the Use of Herbs in Witchcraft

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:37 am

Black Cohosh and the Use of Herbs by Witches
By Aolani

2 weeks ago we saw Holly offer Sam some Black Cohosh for his temper. This week we saw Holly making a decoction made from herbs for Arlene to help end her pregnancy.

I truly have to preface this by saying that I don’t know of any witch who is going to start a job, and as a new hire, watch her boss flip out like that and then casually walk up to him and say : Hi! I am a Wiccan and here is some Black Cohosh to help with your temper problem! That would never happen. Most people don’t even know what a Wiccan is. You may as well say you are a Martian. Not to mention the fact that even Sam thought it was something else. The perception is that you are nothing better than a drug dealer. That isn’t true, but you can see how it can be perceived. What a way to start your new job!

The use of herbs to heal is nothing new. It has been done since before we can remember. It is how modern medicine evolved. By the year 1521 Nostradamus began studying herbal medicine for 8 years before deciding to go on to medical school. It was the beginnings of the use of modern medicine. It has evolved for as long as we can remember, a little at a time, until today we make huge leaps and bounds and use more synthetic sources. Back then however, it was how things were done. Synthetics didn’t exist and so they had to use what was available. They learned which plants did what and how they could be used and words like decoctions and tinctures and poultices were created to describe the process.
Today there is a huge resurgence in the use of going back to using natural herbs to treat problems or to ensure good health. We see that in over the counter supplements and the use of Naturopaths. Naturopathic medicine is a modern manifestation of the field of naturopathy, a 19th-century health movement espousing "the healing power of nature."

Centuries ago physicians were hard to find. They were educated and usually lived in larger cities. People in smaller towns or in the country had to rely on the same things from their local wise women. Sometimes men too, but usually women. They learned from their elders and the knowledge was passed down from one generation to another by word of mouth. People would freely come to be seen and every household had enough knowledge to take care of basic needs. Then came the Witch Trials and it began to be seen as witchcraft since it could not be easily explained. What was in high demand from a doctor became a crime from a local. It had nothing to do with religion. It had to do with the ability to control life and death. There were many other aspects to the Witch Trials, but we will concentrate on this, for this article.

One might be inclined to think it had died out as we advanced and modern medicine advanced. There has always been a section of the population that has never forgotten and still depends on it today. Not just the so called witches either. Any rural area where doctors are scarce or where people need to know how to survive away from modern conveniences they can still be found. Poorer areas abound with this knowledge and with the advent of the internet it became easier for that folklore and knowledge to be passed.

The Witches DO know about herbs. We know which ones are good for certain things and which ones to avoid. What a lot of Witches don’t know however is how much to give or with what restrictions. Most Witches won’t prescribe herbs. They know that you should be seen by a Naturopath if you want to go that route. We can do the simple stuff, like using Mugwort or Rosemary to heal a bruise and more. We just won’t go a lot further. Why? We know that people can die from its misuse and not only is it against our Laws to do harm, but it can be a crime if someone dies from it. We use herbs for incenses and teas to cure a cold or to calm us and the like. We won’t go out to the garden and harvest our foxglove to help you with your heart issues. You might feel better, but then again you might die too.

So how about Holly offering Sam Black Cohosh?

Well, Black Cohosh is known as a women’s herb. It comes from the buttercup family and it is generally used for symptoms of PMS! It has a wide variety of uses including hot flashes, arthritis, muscle pain, sore throat, cough and indigestion. The juice of the plant was used as an insect repellent and was made into a salve and applied to snake bites. Today, Black Cohosh is used primarily as a nutritional supplement for hot flashes, mood swings, night sweats, vaginal dryness and other symptoms that can occur during menopause, as well as for menstrual cramps and bloating. It usually has warnings such as do not use Black Cohosh during pregnancy, as it can cause miscarriage. Black Cohosh is a sedative and not to be taken in large amounts.

I highly doubt that Sam would have experienced a decrease in temper by using this. More than likely he might have noticed some sedation, if given too much he might expect indigestion, headache, nausea, perspiration, vomiting, heaviness in the legs, weight gain, and low blood pressure. There are far more desirable herbs to use to create the same effect for a man!

Excessive doses of Black Cohosh may cause seizures, visual disturbances and slow or irregular heartbeat. There have been a number of cases of liver damage suspected to be associated with Black Cohosh use. In most of the cases, there were other medical problems present and other medications used that may have contributed to the liver damage. Also, the quality and purity of the Black Cohosh products used isn't known.

Yes, this is serious stuff! Not just this herb, but any herb has the potential to be dangerous if not used properly. Which brings me to the next point, Holly did not ask Sam if he had any preexisting conditions. Holly followed the same lack of concern for Arlene as well.

People with allergies to plants in the buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family should avoid Black Cohosh. Black Cohosh contains small amounts of salicylic acid, so people with allergies to aspirin or salicylates should avoid Black Cohosh. People with a history of blood clots or stroke, seizures, liver disease and those who are taking medications for high blood pressure should not use Black Cohosh. Because it may act like the hormone estrogen in the body, Black Cohosh could interfere with hormone replacement therapy or oral contraceptives. Black Cohosh may interfere with the effectiveness of the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. Theoretically, Black Cohosh may interfere with the effectiveness of hormone replacement therapy or oral contraceptives. These are but a few of the warnings that come with using Black Cohosh.

All herbs have the potential to be of great use to help heal and to do good, but they can also, like any medicine do harm. Make no mistake, herbs are medicines. Even when you go to your doctor today he will ask to see a list of your current medications and any over the counter supplements you may be taking.

I think it is more than likely that the herb Holly gave Arlene to induce her miscarriage was Black Cohosh. She said she was making a decoction. A decoction is created by mashing, straining and boiling the herb of choice. There is a process, but it is using the plant and as much of it as possible to make it stronger or weaker as desired. Holly told Arlene to make sure she took the decoction 4 times a day for 5 days. If she strengthened the herb, and with that dosage and length of time, a miscarriage would be induced using Black Cohosh.

Alan Ball took some creative liberties as always with his use of specific herbs. As usual he didn’t get it quite right. If you take it in the spirit of a neat story then it does no harm. The harm comes when people begin to stop seeing the use of herbs as medicine and dabble in it. Even I, as a Witch with medical conditions don’t take herbs without the consultation and advice of my doctor and Naturopath.

As with most things, anything can be good or bad it is our intention and knowledge about them that determines if it is good or evil.

The information I give to you is the way I learned it and what I know from my teachings. I have studied and also learned from word of mouth. I am not an expert. I am not an herbalist or a Naturopath, but the information I give to you can easily be verified by simply googling the words “Black Cohosh” or “Black Cohosh-Pagan”.

Here are a few sources you can reference right away tho if you like:

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/blackcohosh/a/blackcohosh.htm
https://www.silverenchantments.com/Herbs/blackcohosh.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitalis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturopathy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostradamus

From Aslinn Dhan

Thanks Aolani for the information on Black Cohosh and the use of herbs in Witchcraft......

As with any herbal information on this thread, consult a trained herbalist on the use and contraindications of any herb or root.....These were and still are medicine, some of the oldest medicine in the world and can be as dangerous as any pharmaceutical......


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Sympathetic Magick and Voodoo Dolls and Poppet’s

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:38 am

Sympathetic Magick and Voodoo Dolls and Poppet’s
By Aolani

Sympathetic magick is one of the oldest and most basic forms of magick. It has been verified to have existed since men first drew pictures of animals on cave walls to ensure a good hunt or danced around a fire in furs. The words basically mean that like attracts like.

Definitions of Sympathetic magic on the Web:

• Sympathetic magic, also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_magic

• Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems. The practice is often influenced by ideas of religion, mysticism, occultism, science, and psychology.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_Magic

• The belief and practice that objects which have something in common with each other (eg, same shape or texture) have some supernatural connection with each other.

www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415485395/glossary.asp

• any ritual action through which one attempts to control or influence the behavior of an animal, deity, person or the outcome of a situation by imitating the likeness, character or movement of the entity(s) involved. See also Contagious Magic.

staff.jccc.net/Thoare/gl%20q%20to%20z.htm

• Magic predicated on the belief that one thing or event can affect another at a distance as a consequence of some spiritual connection between them. Early art indicates the belief in the power of man-made images to work through sympathetic magic. ...

www.studiocodex.com/vocabulary07.html

We have all used sympathetic magick at some time, including going to Church and praying to a figure on a wooden cross. We all know that the figure is NOT Jesus or God but a representation, but yet thousands go to pray before the figure in their local church and swear their prayers are answered. Who is to say they are not?

Sympathetic magick is often used with candles, such as birthdays. We put the number of candles on a cake representing the number of years celebrated, or a numbered candle. We wish them love and happiness and joy, thus setting our intention. The candle is then burned sending our intentions to the Universe to be carried out.

There have been studies done on water and the power of sympathetic magick. Water from the most polluted areas of China was used and examined under a microscope. Monks then prayed over the water. The water was reexamined under the microscope again and found to have undergone a cellular change. The cells went from being disorganized and broken to orderly and very beautifully structured. You could say this is a testament to prayer, but it is also a testament to sympathetic magick. The monks were very peaceful and loving and put that intention into the water. They prayed for health as well. As a result the cells themselves reformed to create the intention.

These are examples of how we use sympathetic magick without conscious thought and for good purposes.

You see sympathetic magick used in homeopathic recipes such as Bach Remedies. These are flower essences made with the live flower or plant and water and alcohol. The living flower or plant is never killed but set into the water in a particular way. The essence of the flower or plant has an effect on the water that lets it take the benefit. It is then preserved and consumed thus transferring the benefit of the plant to the person taking it. If you have never heard of Bach Remedies, I highly recommend googling it. It is a fascinating process that many swear by.

Another form of sympathetic magick more often thought of is the use of voodoo dolls or poppet’s. We picture a dark skin man dressed in painted face and feathers with a doll sticking pins in it. Again, the doll itself is not dark or light magick. It is the intention. A voodoo doll can be used to do harm, but also to heal or protect. In Northern Europe and North America these dolls are often called poppets. It is basically a cutout of a human form in cloth material or corn husks or some other material. Color can be used to signify the intention or not as desired. The doll can be filled with any material desired, but often it will contain corresponding oils and / or herbs to also set the intention. The use of color, scent, herbs, oils and even form are all sympathetic magick. The doll may have a face painted or drawn on it, or even a picture of the intended taped to it. Personal items such as the intended’s hair or nail clippings or a personal item may be included in the stuffing or not as available or desired. The person constructing the doll would think about what they wanted to accomplish being as specific as possible. This is intention and helps set the sympathetic magick into place. One could use a pin to draw out a pain or cause a pain. One might draw X’s or circles to designate a particular spot. One could place it into a pattern of candles or pictures and pray or do spell work over it for protection or healing. There are millions of ways, some serious, some not so serious.

Traditions often get handed down without even knowing where they came from. I remember many years ago my grandmother made and gave to me a Damnit Doll. Now I had never heard of such a thing, but when I received it I couldn’t help but giggle. One day I was really frustrated and mad and I grabbed that doll and used it. To my delight, the anger was gone and laughter took its place. I didn’t expect that to happen, having no thought beforehand of what it would or wouldn’t do.

I would like to share with all of you, how to make a Damnit Doll of your own. It is a simple bit of harmless magick that is fun and easy to do.

The basic design and directions can be found at http://www.craftbits.com/project/dammit-doll .

I am sure you are already kind of smiling or grinning looking at the poem that goes with it. When making the doll, focus on laughter. Laugh as you make it, to yourself or out loud. Imagine how silly you or the intended person will look smacking the stuffing out of the doll. Think of happy times and all that you have to be grateful for. Just take your time thinking about it and really focus as you make it.
The next time you are mad, use the doll. Smack its little head or body against a counter or desk hard! Just whack that sucker until you feel better! I bet you can’t do it without laughing after a while, no matter how mad you are. That is sympathetic magick and the use of poppets.


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty What is a Brujo

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:39 am

What is a Brujo?
By Aolani
Brujería is the Spanish word for witchcraft. Brujeria also refers to a mystical sect of male witches in the southernmost part of Argentina. Both men and women can be witches, brujos and brujas respectively.

Brujos is the plural term that can mean either a group of male witches or both male and female witches.
The brujería of Hispanophone America is a combination of Spanish and the indigenous people of those regions (predominantly Mesoamerican and other South American indigenous regions), so it is heavily influenced by ancient paganism.

Further south of that region, brujería is diverse, from a similar mix of indigenous and Spanish culture, to the European styles found in Argentina and Uruguay. In these latter countries, brujería often takes on Christian, specifically Catholic, influences.

However, the term bruja/o has just as many negative connotations as does its English counterpart 'witch'. To refer to somebody as a bruja/o is often to label them an 'evil doer'. So most South Americans of European descent refrain from using it in reference to themselves. Some of these people have adopted the term curandero (shaman), a family reference, or simply no term at all. In Spain and European descendant South Americans, the witch is considered by many to be fictional. In contrast, brujos from Central America or the north of South America are usually respected members of the community. They are sought for their powers of healing, divination and spellwork, and can often be found selling amulets and such curios openly on the street.

Curanderismo is also a practice that is totally distinctive from witchcraft, in that they do not use spells or divination but rather, work as psycho-spiritual healers doing such things as soul retrievals.

The brujos from Spain are either Christian or pagan-witches. The first group use folk magic and combine it with Catholic ritual and beliefs. This group includes priests and nuns. This group usually informs the person that they are performing a hex or, that they are responsible for the consequences of said spell. The latter group are not Christian and either practice secretly or veil their practices under Catholic ones. Non-Christian brujería from Spain is predominantly influenced by the ancients, either Greco-Roman, Celtic, Phoenician or a combination. This latter group does not tend to use folk magic, but instead practices what is commonly known to English people as traditional witchcraft.

With the large Hispanic emigration into North America, brujería has naturally gone there as well. The brujos of America are either traditionalist, combine brujería with vudú, or have reconstructed a modern style where one does not have to be of Spanish descent.

So essentially there are three distinct forms: ancient pre-Christian form, Christian or modern form, and a contemporary reconstruction.

Beliefs vary between traditional and modern brujos. Traditional brujos hold core beliefs that are similar to or identical to the witchery around the world. Modern brujos are diverse and can resemble faith healers, be shamanic, spiritualists, or pagan.

Practices are greatly diverse and are dependent upon the locale and the form of brujería. Ancient forms tend to reflect the religions of the indigenous cultures, whilst modern forms tend to be syncretic and use the current dominant religion (usually Catholic).

The most well known practices are similar to English witchcraft: spells (hechizos), charms, amulets, divination, and use of plants (usually herbs). Other practices might include phenomena similar with traditional English witchcraft; namely shapeshifting, glamoury and hedgeriding of the hedgewitch, including use of entheogens. Brujos paganos (pagan-witches) might participate in ritual or ceremonial ecstacies.

Among certain Hispanic and Native American cultures of the Southwest, the practice of brujería is feared as a manifestation of evil. Those who use rituals, spells, incantations, potions, and powders to work ill against others are known as brujas (witches), who are primarily female in number (the male witch is known as a brujo). All the negative facets of witchcraft feared by people throughout the world are practiced by the brujas: manifesting the evil eye, casting spells to cause physical or mental illness, bringing about bad luck, even death. The brujas create dolls in which they insert bits of the victim's hair, fingernail clippings, or pieces of clothing and focus their evil intent upon the miniature representative of the person to be cursed. If an Anglo doctor with modern medical techniques cannot cure someone who has fallen suddenly ill, a bruja is suspected as being the cause of the problem.

Brujas are also thought to be accomplished shapeshifters, possessing the supernatural ability to transform themselves into owls, coyotes, or cats. In the form of an animal, they may spy upon potential victims and may even administer a potion into their unsuspecting quarry's food or water or hide a bad-luck charm on his or her premises. There are certain amulets or rituals that offer some protection from the brujas, but the only sure way to rid oneself of their evil deeds is to employ the services of a curandero. Sometimes the curandero is able to contact the bruja through supernatural means and demand that the curse or spell be removed. In more severe cases, the curandero may have to direct a spell toward the bruja and defeat her on the spiritual level in order to force her to remove the evil directed toward the victim.

A curandero (or curandera for a female) is a traditional folk healer or shaman in Hispanic America, who is dedicated to curing physical or spiritual illnesses. The role of a curandero or curandera can also incorporate the roles of psychiatrist along with that of doctor and healer. Many curanderos use Catholic elements, such as holy water and saint pictures. The use of Catholic prayers and other borrowings and lendings is often found alongside native religious elements.

They are often respected members of the community, being highly religious and spiritual. Literally translated as "healer" from Spanish. Their powers are considered supernatural, as it is commonly believed that many illnesses are caused by lost malevolent spirits, a lesson from God, or a curse.

There are different types of curanderos. “Yerberos” are primarily herbalists. “Hueseros and Sobaderos” are bone/muscle therapists who emphasize physical ailments. "Parteras" are midwives.
The Moche people of ancient Peru often depicted curanderos in their ceramics.

Souces:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brujer%C3%ADa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curandero


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Wands

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:40 am

Wands By Aslinn Dhan

In the 2nd Sookie Book our heroine runs into the Maenad Callisto. She is scratched by the Maenad's wand, called a thrysis. So what exactly is a wand and how is it used?

A wand is one of the most ancient tools of magik, more so than any other tool. The wand is used to pull and direct energy. Everyone has one. The first wand anyone ever uses is their pointing finger.

Pointing is the first form of casting. To direct someone's gaze with the finger, to get their attention by pointing, to make a statement more powerful, simply point. That is why it is considered impolite to point at someone. People considered it a form of casting and it is.

The biggest thing about magik is intent. If you have a clear notion of what you wish to happen and you see it happening, that is the major ingredient in magik. To then direct that intent with your finger or wand is to focus that energy in the thing you wish to use to create change, such as a talisman or potion or person. Yes, it is that easy.

Even Sookie does it. In Book Six, Sookie and Barry are dancing. Eric becomes angry and confronts Sookie about her shaking her money maker. Sookie in a fit of rage turns around and points her finger at Eric. Her intent is to do several things: Assert her self ownership, make herself plainly understood, and to chase Eric away from her. And she does. Eric of course doesn't like it, but he bends to her will, the power of her intention and the directional energy of her wand..which is of course her finger.

Wands as we think of them, though, are usually made of wood. Different witches and trads and even intentions may require a different wood. The only wood we are asked to leave alone is the wood of the elder tree (despite the use of an elder wand by Albus Dumbledore). Elder is sacred to the earth and if you follow a Pagan Path, it is sacred to the Goddess.

Metals can be used as well. Metals are noted for conductivity. Copper and iron are useful. Be careful though, if you are using Faerie assistance, they will not appreciate your wand if it is iron.

Some wands are highly decorated and some are plain. Crystals can be affixed to your wand and symbols can be carved or burned into it and ribbons can be affixed.

The rule of thumb, the wand should be about the length of your arm from elbow to the tip of your middle finger. And please keep in mind that if you go harvesting wood for your wand, you should leave something behind to thank the tree. Bird seeds, a bit of natural fertilizer, some other token should be left to thank the tree and the earth for its gifts.

The Witch Book by Raymond Buckland, Grimoire for the Apprentice Witch by Zell-Oberon, and Wand Work by Deborah Lipp


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Original Fairy Tales

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:41 am

By Aslinn Dhan


http://listverse.com/2010/07/01/top-10-gruesome-fairy-tale-origins/


Interesting look at the original fairy tales


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Thor's Hammer

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:42 am

Thor's Hammer By Aslinn Dhan

Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 EricandThorsHammer


In this season of True Blood, we saw some of Eric's life when he was human. One of the things I noticed was Eric is wearing a Thor's Hammer...So what is Thor's Hammer and what would it mean to Eric?

In Norse mythology, Mjǫllnir (also spelled Mjöllnir or Mjölner, pronounced /ˈmjɔːlnɪər/ or /ˈmjɔːlnər/ in English) is the hammer of Thor, a major god associated with thunder in Norse mythology. Distinctively shaped, Mjöllnir is depicted in Norse mythology as one of the most fearsome weapons, capable of leveling mountains. Though generally recognized and depicted as a hammer, Mjöllnir is sometimes referred to as an axe or club. In the 13th century Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson relates that the Svartálfar Sindri and Brokkr made Mjöllnir at the command of Loki.

The Prose Edda gives a summary of Mjöllnir's special qualities in that, with Mjöllnir, Thor:

... would be able to strike as firmly as he wanted, whatever his aim, and the hammer would never fail, and if he threw it at something, it would never miss and never fly so far from his hand that it would not find its way back, and when he wanted, it would be so small that it could be carried inside his tunic.


The most popular version of the creation of Mjöllnir myth, found in Skáldskaparmál from Snorri's Edda,is as follows. In one story Loki sends up to the dwarves called the Sons of Ivaldi that create precious items for the gods: Odin's spear Gungnir, and Freyr's foldable boat Skíðblaðnir. Then Loki bets his head that Sindri (or Eitri) and his brother Brokkr would never succeed in making items more beautiful than those of Ivaldi's sons. The bet is accepted and the two brothers begin working. Thus Eitri puts a pig's skin in the forge and tells his brother (Brokkr) never to stop blowing until he comes and takes out what he put in.

Loki, in disguise as a fly, comes and bites Brokkr on the arm but he continues to blow. Then Eitri takes out Gullinbursti which is Freyr's boar with shining bristles. Then Eitri puts some gold in the furnace and gives Brokkr the same order. Loki in the fly guise comes again and bites Brokkr's neck twice as hard. But as before nothing happens and Eitri takes out Draupnir, Odin's ring, having duplicates falling from itself every ninth night.
Drawing of hammer depicted on runic inscription Sö 86 located in Åby, Uppland, Sweden.

Eitri then puts iron in the forge and tells Brokkr to never stop blowing. Loki comes again and bites Brokkr on the eyelid much harder than before and the blood makes him stop blowing for a short while. When Eitri comes and takes out Mjöllnir, the handle is a bit short (making it one handed). Yet Eitri and Brokkr win the bet which was Loki's head, but the bet cannot be honoured since they need to cut the neck as well, which was not part of the deal. So Brokkr sews Loki's mouth to teach him a lesson.
Poetic Edda

Thor possessed a formidable chariot, which is drawn by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. A belt, Megingjörð, and iron gloves, Járngreipr, were used to lift Mjöllnir. Mjöllnir is the focal point of some of Thor's adventures.

This is clearly illustrated in a poem found in the Poetic Edda titled Þrymskviða. The myth relates that the giant, Þrymr, steals Mjöllnir from Thor and then demands the goddess Freyja in exchange. Loki, the god notorious for his duplicity, conspires with the other Æsir to recover Mjöllnir by disguising Thor as Freyja and presenting him as the "goddess" to Þrymr.

At a banquet Þrymr holds in honor of the impending union, Þrymr takes the bait. Unable to contain his passion for his new maiden with long, blond locks (and broad shoulders), as Þrymr approaches the bride by placing Mjöllnir on "her" lap, Thor rips off his disguise and destroys Þrymr and his giant cohorts.
Archaeological record


Myths, artifacts, and institutions revolving around Thor indicate his prominent place in the mind of medieval Scandinavians. His following ranged in influence, but the Viking warrior aristocracy were particularly inspired by Thor's ferocity in battle.

Emblematic of their devotion were the appearance of miniature replicas of Mjöllnir, widely popular in Scandinavia.

Many of these replicas were also found in graves and tended to be furnished with a loop, allowing them to be worn. Mjöllnir amulets were most widely discovered in areas with a strong Christian influence including southern Norway, south-eastern Sweden, and Denmark. Due to the similarity of equal-armed, square crosses featuring figures of Christ on them at around the same time, the wearing of Thor's hammers as pendants may have come into fashion in defiance of the square amulets worn by newly converted Christians in the regions.

The shape taken by these pendants varied by region. The Icelandic variant was cross-shaped, while Swedish and Norwegian variants tended to be arrow or T-shaped. About 50 specimens of such hammers were found widely dispersed throughout Scandinavia, dating from the 9th to 11th centuries. A few such examples were also found in England. An iron Thor's hammer pendant excavated in Yorkshire, dating to ca. AD 1000 bears an unical inscription preceded and followed by a cross, interpreted as indicating a Christian owner syncretizing pagan and Christian symbolism. A 10th century soapstone mold found at Trendgården, Jutland, Denmark is notable for allowing the casting of both crucifix and Thor's hammer pendants. A silver specimen found near Fossi, Iceland (now in the National Museum of Iceland) can be interpreted as either a Christian cross or a Thor's hammer. Unusually, the elongated limb of the cross ends in a beast's (perhaps a wolf's) head.

A precedent of these Viking Age Thor's hammer amulets are recorded for the migration period Alemanni, who took to wearing Roman "Hercules' Clubs" as symbols of Donar.[8] A possible remnant of these Donar amulets Alpine paganism was recorded in 1897, as a custom of Unterinn (South Tyrolian Alps) of incising a T-shape above front doors for protection against evils of all kinds, especially storms.

Stones

The Stenkvista runestone in Södermanland, Sweden, shows Thor's hammer instead of a cross.

Some image stones and runestones found in Denmark and southern Sweden bear an inscription of a hammer. Runestones depicting Thor's hammer include runestones U 1161 in Altuna (Altuna Runestone), Dr 331 in Gårdstånga, Sö 86 in Åby, Sö 111 in Stenkvista (Stenkvista runestone), Sö 140 in Jursta, Öl 1 in Karlevi (Karlevi Runestone), Dr 26 in Laeborg, and Dr 119 in Spentrup. Other runestones included an inscription calling for Thor to safeguard the stone. For example, the stone of Virring in Denmark had the inscription þur uiki þisi kuml, which translates into English as "May Thor hallow this memorial." There are several examples of a similar inscription, each one asking for Thor to "hallow" or protect the specific artifact. Such inscriptions may have been in response to the Christians, who would ask for God's protection over their dead.


According to some scholars, the swastika shape may have been a variant popular in Anglo-Saxon England prior to Christianization, especially in East Anglia and Kent. While the swastika had been "vulgarly called in Scandinavia the hammer of Thor", the symbol properly so called had a Y or T shape.

Modern usage


Many practitioners of Germanic Neopagan faiths wear Mjöllnir pendants as a symbol of that faith worldwide. Renditions of Mjöllnir are designed, crafted and sold by some Germanic Neopagan groups and individuals. Some controversy has occurred concerning the potential recognition of the symbol as a religious symbol by the United States government.

Outside of Germanic Neopaganism, depictions of Mjöllnir are used in Scandinavian logos and iconography, such as the Mjöllnir logo of the Bornholm Museum in Denmark and the coat of arms for Torsås Municipality, Sweden. Mjöllnir pendants are popular in general in Scandinavia and can be seen elsewhere in heavy metal (especially Black metal and Viking metal) and "Dark" subcultures, and, to a lesser extent, among Rockers and biker subcultures.

Andy Orchard- Norse Myth and Legend



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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Mythology and Astrology

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:43 am

Astrology-Roman By Aslinn Dhan
Mythology and Astrology

Eric tells us he is a Virgo....so here is something on all of the signs of the zodiac

Whether astrology is a science or an art, or both, is an ongoing debate within the astrological community. But that discussion, important as it is, is beyond the scope of this column. However there are some indisputable facets to astrology: namely that it is both ancient and contemporary; and that astrology is a symbolic language, comparable to how mathematics is also a symbolic language. When we think astrologically, we use a systematic, descriptive, diagnostic, symbolic language. And the language of astrology is not arbitrary -- it relates to the cosmos, to mythology, to our solar system, to mathematical relationships between heavenly bodies, and to facets of human nature, human experience, and historical phenomenon. Natal astrology can also be seen as the progenitor of 20th and 21st century psychology.

But both astrology and psychology have an even more ancient lineage, and that is mythology. Jungian analyst and writer, Robert Johnson, author of popular books such as We, He, and She, wrote his autobiography Balancing Heaven and Earth in 1999. In it he tells the story of how he inadvertently became a Jungian psychotherapist. When a young man, Johnson asked his first therapist how he could learn about human nature. Johnson says that his analyst, Dr. Kunkel, provided a wonderful answer. Dr Kunkel said: "There are three ways: one way is to read all the ancient Greek mythology, because it is all right there. A second way is to read the collected works of Carl Jung. And the third way is to wait and watch -- that is really the best way."

Of course, as astrologers we know that we would add a fourth way, and that is to study astrology. As students of natal astrology, we are acute observers of human action and human nature. Astrology is able to accurately describe,diagnose and delineate how very complex we humans are, both in our individual uniqueness and our collective nature.

You cannot simply translate the use of mythology into astrology, or into archetypal psychology. The astronomical planet is one entity, the mythological predecessor or archetype of god or goddess is another being, and the astrological planets as used in the horoscope represent yet again another system of knowledge or logos. It is very important to make distinctions -- you cannot just transpose one kind of presence or energy onto the other. But, you can use the knowledge of mythology to help you understand and become more fluent in the language of astrology.

The roman horoscope is the precursor to contemporary western astrology.

Founded on the principles evolved from the Hellenistic astrology, the Roman horoscope was also a pagan religion. Once the Italians conquered the Greeks they advanced the school of thought on their theory that God equals sky.

The roman elite considered astronomy an acceptable form of science. Where the Romans advanced their thinking was, they introduced the concept of astrology as it pertained to astronomy. Astronomy predicted the movement of the heavens and astrology interpreted those movements. If a solar eclipse were predicted (astronomy); then famine and bad omens would result (astrology). The roman horoscope became the indicator of daily life for the Romans. The Roman emperor would contact the astrologer up wakening and have them review the daily chart. Is it a good day for visitors? Would travel be safe today? Do the stars foretell war?

Unexpected astronomical events such as shooting stars or eclipses could mean the difference between life and death for individuals depending in the interpretations from the stars. The astrologers held immense power over the political, social and spiritual lives of the Romans.

This uncontrolled power that the astrologers held led some Roman emperors to cast aside the use of Roman horoscopes as slight of hand technique to keep the emperors under their fist. The roman horoscope’s reputation became soiled and followers became known as Chaldeans; the charlatan’s of their age.

The philosophers of Rome included astrology into their theories. Ptolemy viewed astrology as part of the philosophy that all of nature is absolute. The stars and planets were placed in their patterns as in intentional message for the observer. This philosophy agreed with the interpretations of the Roman horoscope.

Religious holidays were honored during events cast by astronomy such as celebrating the solstice, the wavering of the moon. The Romans felt by honoring these astronomical occasions, they would be able to persuade the gods to look down upon them favorably.

The Roman horoscope interpretation of an astronomical event was not founded in a hard science. From studying the stars, twelve deities were determined from the constellations. These twelve deities later became the twelve signs of the zodiac. The Romans believed that a child born under a certain constellation was directly tied to the God that represented them. The child took on the spirit of the god. This was the inception of horoscopes astrology rather than a mythic horoscope. The locations of the planets determined the personality of the individual at the time of their birth.

The roman horoscope involved charting from a birth wheel, determining the location of the houses at the time of birth and predicting the nature of the child born with those characteristics. The differences between the Roman horoscope and contemporary horoscope is that the Roman’s also viewed direct control from the gods on the child; a puppet string was attached from the child to the stars controlling their every thought and move, yet without the influence of the Roman horoscope, western astrology would have not have evolved as it is today.

Along with literature, painting and sculpture, the art of astrology reached new heights in the rebirth of classical culture in the European Renaissance of 1450-1700. The Renaissance philosopher and astrologer Marsilio Ficino, writing in 1492, proclaimed, "This century, like a golden age, has restored to light the liberal arts, which were almost extinct: grammar, poetry, rhetoric, painting, sculpture, architecture, music...this century appears to have perfected [astrology]." Quoted in Peter & Linda Murray, The Art of the Renaissance (London, Thames & Hudson, 1963) page 7.
Several contrasting trends were manifest in Renaissance astrology. There was a tendency towards the adoption of Hellenistic astrological techniques and a new emphasis on the Greek astrologer Ptolemy, alongside a continuation of medieval astrology largely derived from Islam. There were also efforts to rationalize and improve the accuracy of astrology, although many astrologers persisted in their accustomed ways. Astrology also became more popular than ever with the adoption of printing and the dissemination of almanacs, yet it increasingly came under fire as the Renaissance gave way to the Enlightenment.



The zodiac consists of twelve Sun signs or zodiac signs, each having their own distinct characteristics. The Sun’s position in the zodiac is important because it determines the core of one's personality. The Sun sign represents a person's true colors that are displayed to the world on a daily basis. Use the following guide to determine your general disposition and the core of your personality based on your zodiac sign.

Aries Zodiac Sign
March 21 – April 19
Element: Fire
Quality: Cardinal
Ruling Planet: Mars
Symbol: Ram
Keywords: Assertive, Competitive, Independent, Energetic, Impulsive

Aries people are direct and never shy away from a challenge. This person is excellent at getting things started, however, he or she sometimes lacks the follow-through to complete projects. Aries people prefer to lead, rather than being told what to do. The tendency to be impulsive often prevents this zodiac sign from thinking a situation through before taking action. In a relationship, Aries people love the challenge as well as the chase, and are attracted to people who play hard to get. The Aries individual tends to have a sharp temper, however, he or she rarely holds a grudge.

Taurus Zodiac Sign
April 20 - May 20
Element: Earth
Quality: Fixed
Ruling Planet: Venus
Symbol: Bull
Keywords: Stable, Sensual, Determined, Stubborn, Affectionate

The Taurus individual is patient and determined. Generally easygoing, their placid demeanor rarely shows upset or anger. However, when he or she has been pushed to the limit or provoked – watch out! Taurus people are cautious and dislike change, preferring to stick with what is familiar and comfortable. There is a tendency to be materialistic and the Taurus person is sometimes too concerned with money and material possessions. The tendency to overindulge and dislike of exercise often causes the Taurus person to put on weight. In a relationship, Taurus tends to be affectionate and dependable.

Gemini Zodiac Sign
May 21 - June 21
Element: Air
Quality: Mutable
Ruling Planet: Mercury
Symbol: Twins
Keywords: Communicative, Intelligent, Fickle, Restless, Curious

Communication is important to the Gemini person. Geminis like to talk and have a quick, curious mind. Gemini rules the mind and these people may think too much or over-analyze situations. The Gemini person enjoys companionship and dislikes being alone. He or she needs constant excitement and stimulation and a has a tendency to become bored easily.

Witty and charming, Geminis make friends easily. Gemini enjoys flirtation and is attracted to people who are interesting and easy to talk to. Mental attraction is extremely important to the Gemini person.

Cancer Zodiac Sign
June 22 - July 22
Element: Water
Quality: Cardinal
Ruling Planet: Moon
Symbol: Crab
Keywords: Shy, Cautious, Homebody, Protective, Moody

The Cancer person tends to be extremely protective of his or her own feelings and retreats at the first sign of rejection. Cancers are attuned to the past and may hold on to feelings and reminders of the past which prevent him or her from moving forward in life.

Extremely family-oriented, this zodiac sign feels the most secure when they are surrounded by family and loved ones. The Cancer person also tends to be a homebody, preferring to stay at home and read a book rather than party. Cancers need a partner who is demonstrative and devoted.

Leo Zodiac Sign
July 23 - August 22
Element: Fire
Quality: Fixed
Ruling Planet: Sun
Symbol: Lion
Keywords: Warm, Generous, Ostentatious, Exuberant, Self-Centered

The Leo person is confident and somewhat self-centered. Leos need adoration and attention and enjoy being in the spotlight. This person has a magnetic personality and a sunny disposition and he or she tends to attract friends easily.

Leos have a tendency to be dramatic about everything and their emotional displays are often quite impressive. The Leo individual loves to show off and can be somewhat arrogant. Leos are romantic and need a partner who showers him or her with attention and tokens of love.

Virgo Zodiac Sign
August 23 - September 22
Element: Earth
Quality: Mutable
Ruling Planet: Mercury
Symbol: Virgin
Keywords: Critical, Methodical, Helpful, Modest, Diligent

Virgo possesses a critical, modest nature. The Virgo person is extremely hardworking and conscientious and has a tendency towards perfectionism. These unassuming people are content to live in the background and may prefer a job where they work in a behind-the-scenes capacity.

They have a tendency to want to “fix” people and are often critical of loved ones. There is also a tendency to worry too much and this zodiac sign is prone to stress-related illnesses. The Virgo person expresses affection by doing things for others, rather than actual physical displays of affection.

Libra Zodiac Sign
September 23 - October 22
Element: Air
Quality: Cardinal
Ruling Planet: Venus
Symbol: Scales
Keywords: Sociable, Pleasant, Superficial, Fair, Refined

Libras need balance and harmony. The Libra person is extremely sensitive to his or her environment and does not function properly when surrounded by chaos and disorder. These people are charming and pleasant, possessing a strong disliking for confrontation.

Libras often refrain from speaking their mind and have a tendency to say what people want to hear in order to avoid conflict. A dispassionate, detached demeanor is characteristic of this sign. Libra needs a partner who has good manners, good tastes and a romantic nature.

Scorpio Zodiac Sign
October 23 - November 21
Element: Water
Quality: Fixed
Ruling Planet: Pluto
Symbol: Scorpion
Keywords: Intense, Focused, Penetrating, Secretive, Possessive

The Scorpio person has a tendency to be possessive and secretive. This person is an expert at getting others to reveal their secrets, although he or she rarely opens up to anyone. Scorpios devote 100% of their energy to everything they do and rarely give up. The Scorpio person is critical and demanding towards loved ones and expects complete loyalty and devotion from a partner.

A lot of energy is focused on the pursuit of sex and power. The Scorpio individual needs a partner who is as passionate and willful as he or she is and finds it difficult to respect a person who is weak-willed or passive.

Sagittarius Zodiac Sign
November 22 - December 21
Element: Fire
Quality: Mutable
Ruling Planet: Jupiter
Symbol: Archer
Keywords: Adventurous, Enthusiastic, Freedom-Loving, Outgoing, Spontaneous

Gregarious and enthusiastic, Sagittarius enjoys interacting with people and making friends. Sagittarians do need their freedom, however, which is especially apparent in love relationships. There is a tendency to be blunt, which can sometimes come across as rudeness.

Their blunt nature does not come from malice or spite, however; this person simply has a strong need to tell it like it is. Sagittarius needs a partner who is as fun-loving and adventurous as he or she.

Capricorn Zodiac Sign
December 22 - January 19
Element: Earth
Quality: Cardinal
Ruling Planet: Saturn
Symbol: Sea Goat
Keywords: Serious, Cautious, Ambitious, Disciplined, Conservative

Capricorns have a serious, cautious nature. The Capricorn person is aloof and detached and may have difficulty opening up to others. These people are ambitious and status-conscious and they tend to devote a lot of energy to their career.

Capricorns have a tendency to choose friends and partners based on status or material wealth rather than compatibility. Once the Capricorn person does open up to someone, he or she is extremely loyal and devoted. The Capricorn person is attracted to people who are mature and goal-oriented.

Aquarius Zodiac Sign
January 20 - February 18
Element: Air
Quality: Fixed
Ruling Planet: Uranus
Symbol: Waterbearer
Keywords: Eccentric, Intellectual, Aloof, Progressive, Friendly

Unconventional and outspoken, Aquarius is the rebel of the zodiac. Aquarians tend to be eccentric in their speech and behavior, often drawing attention to themselves. Equality, freedom and fairness are important to this individual and he or she has a genuine interest in humankind. An aloof and detached nature is characteristic of this sign and he or she feels most comfortable relating to people on a mental level. Aquarius needs a partner who is her or her intellectual equal and who is willing to provide freedom and space.

Pisces Zodiac Sign
February 19 - March 20
Element: Water
Quality: Mutable
Ruling Planet: Neptune
Symbol: Fish
Keywords: Sensitive, Romantic, Gullible, Idealistic, Compassionate

Pisces people tend to be dreamers and often fail to see reality. Self-confidence may be lacking in this individual and he or she may suffer from an inferiority complex. Pisces individuals are extremely receptive and can sense the feelings of those around them. Pisceans are considered the psychic sponge of the zodiac, picking up on and assimilating the feelings and emotions of others. For this reason, he or she tends to be moody. This zodiac sign is extremely kind-hearted and tolerant of others. The Pisces person is attracted to a partner who is romantic, sensitive and gentle.


Johanna Wolffolk The Only Astrology Book You will ever Need


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Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books - Page 7 Empty Vampire Physiology

Post  Guest Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:45 am

By Aslinn Dhan
http://alibi.com/index.php?scn=news&story=34444

A primer in vampire physiology
By Benjamin Radford



We all know how fictional vampires attack their helpless prey, thanks to the deluge of vampires as depicted by such writers as Stephenie Meyer, Anne Rice, Stephen King and countless others. From “True Blood” to Twilight, vampires have never been hotter—nor more popular. Modern ideas of what vampires are, what they do and how they look can be traced back to Irish writer Bram Stoker, author of Dracula (1897).

Stoker is said to have modeled some aspects of his title character off Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476), the Romanian prince who fought for his country’s independence against the Ottoman Empire. Though his methods were brutal by modern standards (he is said to have impaled his enemies on stakes) they were not particularly barbaric for the time, nor were they vampiric (he didn’t drink blood).


Fictional vampires are usually depicted with permanent or retractable sharp canine teeth to pierce their victims’ veins and draw precious lifeblood. In books and in movies it seems easy, but sucking blood is not straightforward for real vampires.

In zoology, animals that suck blood are referred to as “hematophagous.” Most of the world’s bloodsucking animals are insects, such as bedbugs, mosquitoes, sand flies, fleas, ticks and assassin bugs. (The assassin bug can transmit a nasty infection called Chagas Disease, which can kill a person decades after being bitten; see Fig. 1). There are also several water-dwelling vampires.

Regardless of where they live, the animals have developed specialized mouth structures to drain blood from their prey. Leeches, for example, have strong suckers that allow them to attach to other animals. Mosquitoes have tiny, sharp proboscises that create a puncture wound from which to draw blood.

Their teeth also lack enamel and self-sharpen every time the bat takes a bite.

The best-known vampiric animal is the vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), which does not actually suck blood but instead bites its victim with sharp teeth and laps the blood as it oozes out of the wound. Special enzymes in the bat’s saliva keep the blood flowing freely and render the wound painless. Their teeth also lack enamel and self-sharpen every time the bat takes a bite.

Some animals have hollow (or grooved) teeth or tooth-like appendages, for example, venomous snakes and spiders. But those specialized dental adaptations are used to inject fluids, not suck them out. I interviewed Page Van Meter, a New York City zoologist, and asked about the possibility that blood could be sucked through hollow canine teeth. “Many reptiles have grooved teeth that act as a delivery system for poison,” she told me. “But none of these animals ‘suck blood.’ ”


Van Meter says fictional vamp biology bothers her. “Once sucked through the tooth, where would the blood go then? It’s a silly design.”

Drinking blood is one thing, but digesting it as a food source is another matter. Because blood is so rich in iron—and because the body has difficulty excreting excess iron—any animal that consumes blood regularly runs a risk of overdose. True vampires have adapted specialized digestive mechanisms to deal with iron toxicity. Leeches, for example, store consumed blood in their bodies for later digestion. This requires the leeches’ bodies to secrete specialized enzymes, as well as antibiotics, to keep the blood free of disease-carrying bacteria.

Katherine Ramsland, in her 2002 book The Science of Vampires, notes that a bat ingests more iron than it needs, so its body discards the excess. The digestive system extracts the nutrients, but a mucus membrane lining the intestinal tract prevents too much iron from being absorbed.

They don’t wear capes, but watch out for real, biologically astounding monsters this Halloween. They vaaant to suck your blooood.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Benjamin Radford has investigated mysterious and unexplained phenomena for more than a decade. He is a columnist for LiveScience.com and Discovery News, and managing editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine. His new book, Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries , is available at better Albuquerque bookstores.


Just a wee something for our database of great stuff.....



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