Mythology of True Blood and the Sookie Books

Real Vampires and Werewolves
The Dark World of Violent Crime
By Aslinn Dhan

There are a lot of people who do things based on the lives and behaviour of others. This is certainly true of criminals. In the world of humans, no myth can quite skate up to the brutality of real humans doing real things that are absolutely gut wrenching, gruesome and blood thirsty.

FBI profiler Robert Ressler was the first to coin the phrase "serial killer" he is the prototype of every FBI profiler you see on TV and the movies. Though he is the first to put a name on crimes that have a ritual or pattern to them, he is not the first to recognize them.

We have already spoken of Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bathory (whom I would call the first female serial killer) but there were others.

In 1101 Prince Vseslav of the Ukraine (called Polock) is rumored to be a werewolf. He is said to have committed many crimes as a werewolf to include cannibalism, blood drinking, rape and pedophilia. He dies in this year and is given a "heretic's funeral".

In 1440, Giles De Rais, the friend and confident of Joan of Arc, is arrested for torture, cannibalism, pedophilia and murder. He claims that he was a werewolf and could not help himself. The Church decided they could. They burned him at the stake.

1573, Gilles Garnier is arrested and tried for the rape and mutilation murder of several women in France. He said that he was endowed by the Man of the Forest, whom he said was the devil, to become a wolf and was given the right to hunt the local virgins. The Inquisition disagreed and burned him at the stake.

1603, Jean Grenier is arrested after a young sheep herder complained that Jean often appeared to her and told her how he had captured and eaten many of the small children in the area who had gone missing. Jean was the son of a drunk who often beat him, kept him from school and Church and later abandoned him. When he was arrested, the shack he lived in was searched and there the remains of several children were found. He confessed his sins and the Church determined that Jean was not responsible for his actions because he was brought up without the teachings of the Church. He died in the care of monks at monastery seven years later. This is the first recorded instance of consideration for mental impairment causing crime.

1888, Jack the Ripper commits his heinous crimes throughout London, ending with the killing of Mary Kelly which was one of the first photographed crime scenes. Her gruesome evisceration was too shocking to be believed. No one has ever conclusively discovered who was the man (men) responsible for the murders.

1924 Fritz Haarman was arrested for rape and Vampirism on young men. He then took the bodies and ground them up for sausage meat and sold them to the unsuspecting populace of Hanover, Germany. He was known as the Hanover Butcher.

1940 Harry Gordon, the Werewolf of San Francisco, is arrested for murder and cannibalism.

1942 Gordon Cummings, the London Vampire, was arrested for the murders of several women whom he raped, slashed their throats and drank their blood.

1966 Richard Speck is arrested for rape and murder of eight nurses. He said in various jailhouse confessions that he liked to drink blood and practice necrophilia.

1985 Richard Ramierez, the Night Stalker, is arrested. He raped and murdered 19 men and women and drank their blood.

1990 Andre Chikatilo is arrested for killing over 50 women and girls and boys in Russia. He raped and cannibalized the bodies and confessed to enjoying drinking their blood. He was tried and shot the following year after the trial. He was the first serial killer in Russian history. (That is if you don't count Stalin)

Sources: If You Hunt Monsters by Richard Ressler, The Werewolf Book by Brad Steiger

Living Werewolf and Vampire
The Ultimate Alternative Life Style
By Aslinn Dhan

Eccentric? Absolutely.

There are people in the world who live their lives considering themselves Vampire or werewolf. These are ordinary people who work, pay taxes, got to school, mind their own business. If you became a confident of these people, you would discover they saw life and themselves in a completely different light. And you would be surprised at their reaction to popular myth and ancient lore.

As a writer, though currently unpublished, one of the most interesting discussions I had were with people who considered themselves the children of the night. While I was in Mississippi and Louisiana doing research for a voudou sequence in my book In the Pale Moonlight I made contact with a unique group of people who I had previously only known through the Internet.

For the sake of simplicity, I will break this up into two categories, though I actually had something of a summit in a cozy saloon in Biloxi, Mississippi. The first category is the Werewolves.

Lycan'thropes

People who live their lives close to their animal selves like being referred to as Lycan'thropes (for some reason, the site speller insists on spelling lycanthrope as a contraction). Werewolf, they explained, has been annexed by pop culture, something they really desire to be far removed from.

One man, I will call Wulf, loved being a Lycan'thrope. He decided that he became a Lycan'thrope in his early teens, when he encountered a wild wolf on his father's farm in Wisconsin. He said that he was sitting up to shoot "critters" in his daddy's corn field when a wild wolf came ambling out of the nearby woods.

"I just stood there. I was fascinated with the animal. It looks so much like a dog, but it isn't. It is the way dogs were before they befriended men. They were their own selves, no one owned them, they had no master. That was what I wanted to be," he explained. Wulf has the lovely brooding face of his Scandinavian fore bearers and the traces of Native American that seem to run through most Americans in rural places. He is heavily tattooed with pictures of wolves and has a large black wolf paw on his forearm.

"So, tell me about being Lycan'thrope. Do you change? Do you experience change on the nights of the full moon?" I asked. He was patient with me.

"Yes, but I feel the wolf in me, warning me and making me alert all the time. My change isn't physical, but metaphysical. If someone said 'It's all in your head,' they would be right. But that doesn't mean it isn't real. I awaken to the night and the promises of the night, the energy and the pull of the moon," he explained.

A woman I will call Moonsinger added, "Humans have given up their animal natures for the sake of civilization, but what they forget is man learned to be civilized by watching the animals in their herds, their prides, their packs," she said. She is lovely and slim, dressed in blue jeans and a Nine Inch Nails tee shirt.

And she's right. Anthropologists have been able to determine that many tribes and races of early man learned the concepts of society and leadership and reliance on one another from animals.

"The fact that we embrace the wolf in our lives acknowledges our kinship with the wilder world. We aren't cartoon people or weirdos. I'm a teacher in an elementary school and Wulf is an accountant for a tax law firm," said Moonsinger.

"Are you pack mates?" I asked, hoping this wasn't a stupid question.

"I was alone for many years. But the Internet has made it possible for us to communicate with other Lycan'thropes all over the world and our back yard. Moonsinger and I are in a local pack who have celebrations at the full moon and we celebrate our unity," said Wulf.

"I'm going to ask some stupid questions so bear with me. Do you howl at the moon? Can silver hurt you? Are you uncontrollable at the time of the full moon?"

"I happen to have a metal allergy to everything, gold, silver, platinum, nickle, I can't wear any jewelry, all my teeth are bonded with dentist grade ceramic, but I was born this way. I don't think being a Lycan'thrope has anything to do with that?" explained Moonsinger. "As to howling at the moon, haven't you ever done it?"

I have to confess that I have, and sent the neighborhood dogs into a regular canine opera. There is something powerful about talking to the moon. I told them that very thing.

"See, did that make you Lycan'thrope?" she asked.

"As you can see, I wear silver, so silver doesn't effect me at all," he said. "And yes we all howl at the moon, but so do some non-Lycan'thropes.

"How about the movies, how do you feel about how Lycan'thropes are portrayed?" I asked.

They both smiled.

"I hate it. There was only one film I really liked and that was movie called Wolfen with Albert Finney. That really sort of did right by the way Lycan'thropy works. True, I haven't eaten any bums lately, but the movie tries to honor the notion of people who have not severed their ties with the wilder world," said Wulf.

"And I hate that flick, Underworld. The one about Vampires and Lycan'thropes hating and battling with each other. It's stupid. I did kind of like American Werewolf in London but I don't like the idea that Lycan'thropes are crazy and bloodthirsty. We aren't. We have rules. Wolves don't kill just to kill, if a wolf kills it is to protect young, to protect self and to eat," said Moonsinger.

Vampires

After a bit of silence, a young attractive red head in a Purgatory University sweatshirt and track pants and tennis shoes leaned forward. "I guess you want to ask Vampire questions now,"

"Sure," I said. "Why not?"

"My name is Melissa and I am a Vampire," she said.

"Hi. So I guess I'll start with the most obvious question. Do you really drink blood?" I asked.

"On occasion, from my boyfriend, I do drink a little blood. But never from a stranger. Too dangerous," she explained.

"Do you have fangs? Do you come out in the day? Are you religious?" I asked.

"I wear fangs at Halloween at a charity event called the Dracula Ball. Other than that, no. I do go out in the sun, but I prefer the night. I work during the day as a pediatric nurse. I am religious, I go to Church, believe in God. I don't turn into a pile of ash when I wear my crucifix. I don't go goth, though a lot of Vampires do," said Melissa.

"I have permanent dental caps," said the young guy beside her. "My name is Mike and I am Sanguine, that's the name I prefer over Vampire. I do drink blood on occasion. I am also a Pagan, so crosses don't bother me," he said.

"May I see your fangs?" I asked. He smiles and leans forward.

"You may touch them if you like, it doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you," he said. I touched the smooth acrylic fangs with my fingertips. They are strange and very real looking. They are just a little longer than natural canines.

"Very nice. So, you are both humans and you of course eat food and sleep in beds and do all that. I know these are stupid questions you get all the time," I said."What do you do Mike, for a living?"

"I am a bartender at a Goth Bar at night on the weekends and I am martial arts instructor during the day," he said. "Of course we do everything non-Vampires do."

"How do you feel about the way Vampires are portrayed in popular culture?" I asked.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer is real interesting," he says, his remark dripping in sarcasm. "Angel is only a little better. A Vampire with a soul. For real. Vampires have souls, just like you do and each and every soul is different. The way some people act, you would think that Vampires have only one soul between them and I only get it ever third Tuesday in months beginning with A," he looked at me. "Sorry, Vampires are smart *sses."

"Knock it off Mike," said Melissa. "It's that whole 'Vampires are dead' and you have to stake them in the heart and shove them kicking and screaming into the light. Most of the stuff people know about Vampires come from that stupid book, anyway. Dracula," she said.

"How do you feel about Anne Rice?" I asked.

"Dumb. What does she know about it? She doesn't live my life. She just spits out all the old stuff about Vampires," said Melissa. "No one knows what it is like to be one of us. You have to be one of us to know us, really."

"So how does one become a Vampire?" I asked.

"We have a blood ritual, it's pretty simple. But you have to show that you have always been inclined to the Sanguine lifestyle. It takes a long time to convince a Vampire you are ready to become," she said. "Interested?"

So, are they real Vampires and Werewolves? I certainly believe they think they are. They are only representative of people who say or believe they are those things. But as I walked down the dark street to my hotel I noticed that I kept my eyes wide open, looking left and right, and kept an ear peeled for a howl, and protected my purse from pickpockets because you just never know what lurks in the dark.

Sources: Audio tapes/Interviews, May 23, 2003, Biloxi, Mississippi from transcripts done August 3, 2003 : Aslinn Dhan. The Werewolf Book by Brad Steiger

The Power of Chant By Aslinn Dhan

After doing a lot of research and back tracking and conferring with the local Greek Orthodox pastor, this is the meaning of Maryann’s chant: Lo, lo, Bromios, Lo, lo, Dendrites, Lo, lo, Eleutherios, Lo, lo, Enorches.

Lo,lo, according to Father Georgios, is the same thing as saying come and listen, or hear my prayer. Bromios, Dendrites, Eleutherios, and Enorches are names and attributes of the god Dionysus. Bromios means boisterous, noisy, rowdy, which would have been the overall state of a reveler at a Bacchanalia. Dendrites denotes Dionysus connection to the trees, and with Dionysus being the god of fertility and agriculture, the call asks the god to come before them and replenish the earth and make it fruitful.

Eleutherios is freedom. The celebrants at the bacchanalia are asking Dionysus to free them from many things: hunger, infertility, and to free them from their personal restraints, making them more receptive to the god’s personal and sexual energy. To be free from social and sexual repression is to make the reveler open to physical communion with the gods and one another.

Enorches means dancer and the god would definitely love the revelers to dance. In fact the maenads have their own form of ecstatic dance, much like ritual dancing in many nature religions. This dance was meant to alter the mood and to elevate the senses and awaken the physical and spiritual self to communion with the divine and the rituals of the faith.

However, Enorches was also a character in Greek mythology who was also the son of Thyestes, a man with a deep history of incest. Enorches' mother was also his aunt, Daeta. In addition to his sister, Thyestes fathered a child with his daughter and slept with his twin brother's wife. Upon learning of this deceit, Thyestes' brother killed Thyestes' sons and served them to him as food. Does cannibalism sound familiar?

Sources: The Great World Myths by John Halstead and Father John Georgios, Pastor of St Gregory Greek Orthodox Church

Mythology: Masks and Costumes in Religious Ritual

September 14, 2009 by aslinn dhan dragonhawk

The use of masks and costumes in religious ritual are as old as mankind. Even now, priests and pastors of all creeds set aside special clothing for religious services, even if it it just the good old Sunday suit. In ancient times, the priests and priestesses donned the clothes they felt were representative of the gods. Masks were especially important because the religious leader was not just the representative of the god, but became the god himself and he was the final authority in things having to do with the health and well being of the community, spiritually and temporally.
Because early people saw their gods in animal aspects, the gods were represented by the animals they knew. And as people became a bit more sophisticated, they began to imagine that the god was both man and beast and endowed them with epic powers and abilities. To encourage the devotion of the people, the people were encouraged to don masks as well as they worshiped the divine, inviting the gods to recognize themselves in the faithful. To be recognized was to be embraced by the god and have union with him in the ritual.

Egyptians all attributed both natural and supernatural aspects to their gods and many of their gods were human with animal heads. Bastet, Anubis, Horus, Thoth, Ptah, Sekmet, they all had animal heads and all ruled different aspects of people’s lives. And during the complex rituals of fertility, birth, and death, the priests wore masks and vestments in various colors to show their devotion to the gods.

In Africa and Asia, the masks were not just to invite the gods among them but to frighten away evil spirits. There the guardians of the faithful could take on horrifying aspects, designed to put the fear of the gods into the evil around the ceremony and the participants. They were also able to frighten the less than faithful into thinking about their souls and their devotion to the gods. If you were not a good follower, you could expect to be visited by one of these guardians who would put you in your place.

In Northern Europe, masks were used as a part of rituals connected with shamanism who relied heavily on the imagery of things of nature. Because their gods reflected the forces of nature, it was not uncommon to see masks that had abstract shape representations to illustrate such forces as wind and rain and lightening and snow. The gods also represented the four seasons, the four directions and the four elements, so understanding the subtleties of the culture and their use of symbol was important to understanding their spiritual lives.

In America, the Native Americans also donned elaborate masks and regalia to commune with their gods. And the costumes and the material from which they were made were sacred. Even today, during a pow wow, if a feather falls from a ceremonial costume, the dancing is stopped until the feather can be retrieved and the audience is asked for their patience. And in North America, only Native Americans can legally possess feathers from the bald eagle. The eagle is so rare and so sacred to the native people, that each eagle found dead is carefully registered, each feather carefully numbered and evenly distributed among the principal chiefs of each tribe to be given to worthy members of the tribe. People are asked to leave foundling feathers alone or ask that they be brought to the park station for documentation and registration and distribution to the Native people of America.

In modern times, we still see vestiges of the use of mask and vestments in religion. Orthodox Jews have special shawls, robes and accouterments to distinguish themselves in the presence of the congregation. Orthodox Catholics wear habits and robes and head gear different from Roman Catholics. Certain religious fraternities don hooded masks that in other parts of the world would be quite frightening and misunderstood. And Modern Pagans, of course still honor their notion of the divine with masks and costumes and pageantry.

Source: Egypt and Ancient Religions by Hounan Answari, The Dance of the Pagans by Jonathon Leap, Pageantry and Paganism of Ancient Rome and Greece by Andrew Singleton, Religions of the World by Arthur Jennings, Judaism and Orthodoxy by Rabbi Israel Cohen.

The Food of the Gods: The Human Heart By Aslinn Dhan


Of all the organs of the body, there is not one that has been the subject of more scrutiny than the human heart. About the size of your fist, the human heart is the organ which of course pumps blood throughout the rest of the body. It is the subject of study and wonder because of its bio-mechanical intricacies, its architectural genius and its ability to beat millions of times in a lifetime.

It is also the seat of human love and compassion. The throne of the soul. The early Egyptians thought the brain as a conoptic artifact was worthless, but the heart was was held as the sacred vessel of the immortal soul and carefully preserved in oils and natron and salt. It is the metaphor for love and madness and evil.

It was used as the food of the gods. Early Aztecs were thought to have killed thousands in their worship of the sun god Huitzilopochtli. In the ritual, the vicims, usually a prisoner of war, was laid upon the altar and their bellies slit open and their hearts pulled out still beating and the the heart was crushed against a stone image of the god.

Greek and Roman gods also had a diet of human hearts and the hearts of the divine. Though cannibalism is taboo, the practice of offering a human heart to the gods was considered the highest show of respect. The exception was the feast of King Lycan, who served up a great feast to Zeus, the king of the gods, which included human flesh. For this crime, he was changed into a werewolf.

In philosophy and matters of the mind, Aristotle and the physician Galen both believed that the heart was the seat of emotions, especially the passions, which not only was the catalyst for love and compassion and desire, but for hate and war and madness. To be mad or to be murderous, was to have a shadow upon the heart. Like early Egyptians, they saw the brain as useless.

The symbol of the heart was made in reference to the vague outline shape of the heart and is also thought to be a symbol for female sex organs rather than the heart, firmly connecting the heart shape with the goddess Venus. It was first used in the middle ages as symbols of love.

Sources: Signs and Symbols by Marc O'Connell and Raje Airey, Aztec by Gary Jennings, Religion of the Egyptians by Hassuan Answari, Symbolism of the Greeks and Romans by Margret McCallahan

The Wicker Man and the Green Man By Aslinn Dhan

The Green Man or Lord of the Forest or simply the god of the pagans or the horned god is represented as a creature of nature, a fitting counterpart to the goddess, the female representation of the spirit of the earth, the eternal womb from which all things garner life. The Green Man is all the things that come from the earth. He is the lover and son of the mother. In Pagan religions, including early Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, and Celtic religions, there were no sexual taboos between the gods and they often had relations with their sons and daughters, bringing forth gods, demi-gods, and titans.

In order for the goddess mother to be fruitful, she must mate with her new born and adult son and bring forth his issue, have his child, which was the fruitfulness of the earth in the spring. Thing is, the god had to die as well, being vanquished by the act of love between the god and goddess. He would then be resurrected in the spring as the first fruits of spring, sign of his potency and fertility.

The early pagans did not record much of their practices. Druids thought it the height of laziness to write things down instead of committing it to memory. So, when the old religion was vanquished, first by the Romans, who introduced their gods and demanded they become the gods of the Celts, and then the Christians who supplanted the Roman religions, much knowledge about the religious and cultural practices of the Celts were lost.

What we know are really rather biased accounts written down by the Romans. Livy and Pliny were the few who took the time to write down some remembered rituals. One of the rituals they wrote about was the ritual of the wicker man.

Now, discard what you know about the wicker man form either of the movies bearing the same name. While we do know that pagans did perform human sacrifice it was not as common a practice as one might like you to believe. And humans were not sacrificed in or upon the wicker man.

The wicker man was a straw representation of a man, and it was dressed in greenery and vines and flowers and was anatomically correct. Maidens would dance around or upon the wicker man, sometimes even having sex with it to act for blessings in fertility. After the reveries of drink and the ceremonial mating of the human representatives of the god and the goddess, the green man would be offered libation, usually in the form of wine and meat or mead and vegetables and fruits and the whole thing would be burned, a symbolic killing of the god.

There were occasions when the human representative was sacrificed with the wicker man. These occasions were during times of famine or trouble in the community or if there was sickness or plague. But, really, all humans of a reproductive age were valuable and would not have been sacrificed as a regular occurrence. To decrease the population of a good strong and potent man was to decrease your numbers and your strength that would be better suited in working hard in the fields and being an additional guardian of the village.

Sources: The Ways of the Pagans by Deborah Martin, The Elemental Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes, The Truth about Witchcraft by Scott Cunningham.

The Goblin at the Door By Aslinn Dhan

The Goblins are a small breed of faerie that are known as the criminal element of the faerie world. Like magikal gangsters, these creatures are known to work in graft and greed in the faerie world, tricking humans and faeries alike. They are well known as counterfeiters in the faerie world, changing worthless objects into faerie coin and trading precious objects from both worlds for gold that changes back into their original form after a day.

But Goblins are also known to be helpful on occasion. One of these helpful creatures is the Tommy Knocker. Well known in Welsh coal mines, these creatures live in the ground and often work a long side human miners, digging coal or other precious ore and warning of impending cave ins and other dangers by knocking on the walls of the mines and warning them of oxygen killing gasses and explosive gasses by snuffing candles and lanterns. All they ask for in return is a share of the dinner from the miners meal buckets.

When the people of Europe began to immigrate to America, these creatures came with them and began to do their work in the mines and in the rural life of people, especially of the people of Appalachia, the coal mining belt of America. There stories abound of helpful creatures who warn the miners of impending doom and some wreak havoc in the home, stealing precious sewing goods like buttons and pins and thread, especially if it is red, which is the faerie's favorite color.

Source: Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee and Witches, Wraiths and Ghosts by Patrick Callum , Spirits of Appalachia by Thomas Hardaway, and A Field Guide of the Little People by Nancy Arrowsmith and George Moorse.

Faery Love in Myth and Lore
By Aslinn Dhan


Forget everything you know about the world of faerie, probably culled from the Disney movies and the stories your mother read to you about the fae. They are not as sweet or as prurient as you might have always thought. In fact, the fae are lusty and well known to seduce, deceive and even rape.

The love and affection side of faeries are complicated. It is not simply a matter of humans falling in love with the fae, either. Sometimes, it is the fae who do the falling in love and they are fairly ruthless about how they do it.

Take for example the story of Finnvarra, who fell in love with the mortal Ethna. Ethna was married and deeply in love with her husband, but the faery Finvarra loved her too, and told her that he would kill her husband if she did not come with him to his bride for the usual year and a day arrangement usually thought of as a fair contract period in the world of magik. She agreed and was a dutiful "wife" to the faery Finvarra, even to submitting to him in bed. When the year and day came to an end, however, Finvarra would not release her and her mortal husband had to come and rescue her and did so by digging into Finnvarra's "rade" or stronghold and exposing it to the light of day in order for him to get his wife back.

Niamh fell in love with the mortal Oisin. Oisin was taken by Niamh to the Land of Eternal Youth and Beauty and lived there with her for more than a hundred years. But he longed to visit the land of humans and she contrived to keep him with her. SHe enchanted a saddle and placed it on a magikal horse and told him the only way he would survive would be if he stayed on the horse. In his excitement of being back in the land of humans, he jumped down from the horse and as soon as his feet hit mortal soil, he turned into an incredibly old man and then turned to dust.

Finn McCool fell in love with the faery shape shifter named Sive and she went back to her people after the birth of their son, taking him with her. He spent the rest of his life loving her and looking for her and made it illegal to kill deer, his Sive's go to shift.

And who can forget the legendary faery, Morganna Le Fay, who loved Arthur Pendragon. Though Mallory cast Morganna as the daughter of Cornwall, she actually exists long before the romantic tales of Medieval times in Pagan story telling. Legend has it that she is the ruler of Avalon and when Arthur died his mortal death and was taken to Avalon, Morganna revived him and made him her champion.

Having children with faeries are often a dicey proposition as faeries are not the most successfully fertile of the supernaturals and often replenish their dwindling populations with human children they steal, leaving changelings in their place.

Source: Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee and Faeries and Elves by Time-Life Editors.

Hecate Titan Goddess of Crossroads: Queen of the Witches
By Aolani


I am Hecate, Queen of The Witches--Sorceress, Psychic, Crone, Hag.
I ride through the night sky, bathing the landscape in supernatural light.
Guardian of the Unconscious; Mistress of the Night; Holder of the Key.
I am Hecate; I command Earth, Sea and Sky;
I control the lunar cycles; I control your menstrual cycles; Goddess of Life and Birth
I am Hecate the ultimate Feminine.


Hecate is a triple Moon Goddess; skilled in the arts of divining and fortune telling. She represents feminine energy and independence from the masculine. Hecate as Queen of the Witches is the protector of women and children, in her role as Mother Goddess. As the Crone she is all wisdom, understanding and protecting the tribe (society). As the Maiden her role is that of fertility, the cycle of life, and rebirth. Hecate is the Goddess of Crossroads, and with three faces can divine past, present and future. As Queen of the Witches, she protects and guides both solitary witches and covens, and can grant great power to them and bestow upon them great gifts. As Goddess of the night and holder of the key, she is able to freely move between the worlds and guide one into or out of the darkness of intuition and self-knowlege.

Hecate is an ancient Goddess from an early, pre-Greek period of myth. It is believed she was a Titan Goddess, and was so powerful and respected by her followers that she maintained control even after the fall of the Titans to the Olympian Gods. She had dominion over sky, earth and the underworld making her the bestower of wealth and the blessings of life. Even Zeus honored Hecate in that he allowed her the ancient power of giving or denying to mortals any desired gift.

As a Triple Moon Goddess Hecate gives humans dreams and visions which, if interpreted wisely, led to greater clarity. Hecate presents the three faces of the Goddess, that of maiden, mother, and crone and she is connected to death and regeneration. Hecate is the holder of the keys to the underworld and allows hope of re-birth and transformation as opposed to Hades, who represented the inevitability of death.

It is believed that Hecate's name derives from the Egyptian midwife-Goddess Heqit, Heket, or Hekat. The hag was the tribal matriarch of per-dynastic Egypt and was known as a wise woman. Heket was connected with the embryonic state when dead grain decomposed and began to germinate. She was also one of the midwives who assisted every morning at the birth of the Sun.

In Greece, Hecate was one of the original trinity who were connected with the moon's three phases and ruled over heaven, earth and the underworld. She was worshipped at places where three roads met and was known as Hecate Trivia, Hecate of the Three ways. It is believed that Hecate's worship was recognized by the pre-Olympian divinities whom Zeus and his cohort had ousted. The newcomers also bowed to her antiquity by granting to Hecate alone a power shared with Zeus that of granting or withholding from humanity anything she wished.

Hesiod in Theogony says that Hecate was the daughter of the Titan Perses and Asteria, a star Goddess, both symbols of shining light. Asteria was a sister of Leto who gave birth to Apollo and Artemis, making Hecate a cousin to Artemis. An even older tradition saw her as a more primal Goddess and made her a daughter of Erebus and Nyx (Night).

During the middle ages, Hecate became known as Queen of the Witches. Religious authorities during this period said that the people most dangerous to the faith were those whom Hecate patronized - midwives, healers and seers. They also saw the simple peasants practicing folk religion as devil worshippers and Hecate was portrayed as an ugly hag leading covens of witches in these practices.

Hecate of the Amazons was a Moon and underworld deity. Her chariot was often pulled by dragons. She was the oldest Greek form of the triform Goddess, who ruled heaven, the underworld and the Earth. After the matriarch fell, the Greeks worshiped Hecate only as Queen of the Underworld and ruler of three-way crossroads. In Greek Mythology, when the Olympian Gods claimed fame, Zeus did not dare try to take any of Hecate's powers from her, as he knew her powers were just as great as his if not greater.

As Hecate Trivia, Hecate of the Three Ways, Her images stood at the crossroads, where offerings of dogs, honey and black lambs were left on Full Moon nights, Divination and communication with the dead were performed in these places.

She was also known as angelos (angel) and phosphorus (light). In the myth of Kore-Persephone, Hecate does not interfere when the Maiden is dragged down into the underworld. Demeter is outraged and vengeful, but Hecate remains calm, knowing that certain things in life must come to pass and there is little point in becoming hysterical about them. This inner illumination (phosphoros) of consciousness, this learning to roll with the punches and then coming back to better things is the deep wisdom taught by the Dark Mother, the dark angel (angelos) of the collective unconscious. If we do not know this aspect of the Goddess or acknowledge Her wisdom, we cannot have a truly integrated personality.

Other studies from the middle ages show Hecate with three heads and six arms. Hecate was shown holding three torches, a key, a rope, and a dagger. With the key, she unlocks the deep mysteries, the rope is a symbolical umbilical cord, the dagger, which has become the athame of Witchcraft, cuts through illusion to true power. But Hecate was also known as the most lovely one, a name for the Moon. It was said that She wore a shimmering headdress and was second to none in her powers.

Hecate was also called the Silver-Footed Queen of the Night, likely due to her connection with Persephone, who was also called by that title. In Italy at Lake Averno, an extinct volcanic crater, the thick, dark forest surrounding the lake was known as Hecate's sacred grove. Actual temples to this Goddess were rare. During the Middle Ages, Hecate became known as Queen of the Witches.

Hecate is known for her gifts of prophecy, her clear vision, and her knowledge of the magical and occult arts. Because she stands at the crossroads, she can look into the past, present and future, Her Priestesses were many, including Medea and Circe. Medea had Hecate's foresight and wisdom, Circe her gift of the magical arts.

Hecate's worshipers invoked her in ritual and placed food for her as an offering. This was known as Hecate's supper. Rituals were always in the darkest hours of the night. Worshipers gathered to study and learn occult wisdom.

Hecate is the Dark Mother, in both the positive and the negative sense. She can send demons to torment men's dreams, she can drive them mad, if they are not well integrated enough to cope with her, but to those who dare to welcome her, she brings creative inspiration.

Hecate is the ultimate advisor, as she sees clearly back into the past through the present and on into the future. She is the Keeper of the Key to the Akashic Records. The final mysteries of life and the universe are hers. She is the gentle Death Priestess who meets us at the end of our lives and guides us into the world of spirit.

Hecate, the Crone blends with the Maiden and Mother as they blend with Her. She is the greatest of Teachers and Initiator, for She leads us downward into the entrance of the labyrinth web. From that point, we have no choice but to face the cycle of life and death. We are shown past lives, the mistakes, the victories, and the talents gained. Only when we can accept and understand, at least in part, does the Crone show us the most sacred of Her Mysteries: that the labyrinth does not end but continues on, back into life, a never-ending cycle of existence.

She stands at the triple crossroads that exists at all levels of our being, manifesting as spirit, soul and body. We should recognize that the terrible, awful hag-like image of Hecate is merely a document of the unconscious fear of the feminine, the mystical, and the underworld.

Taken in its entirety from
http://www.dragonoak.com/Hecate.html

How to Make a Vampire
July 24, 2009 by aslinn dhan dragonhawk

Magister: Our records indicate that you have never been a maker.
Bill: Yes.
Magister: But you know the procedure?
Bill: Yes.
Magister: Then proceed. (S1 Ep 9 True Blood)

Being made Vampire is a fairly simple process on the outside, but what really happens when a Vampire is made? What happens to their humanity, their human soul, and their relationship with world around them? And when did it all start?

One of the most ancient texts about Vampires comes from the Greeks. Lamia was a female monster who fed on the blood of children and virgins and unfaithful men. In the Christian Bible, Lamia is mentioned many times and may refer to the Jewish legend of Lilith. Lilith was the first wife of Adam and she was created from the earth, as Adam was. Because she was created like Adam, she demanded equal rights and that included equal sexual rights. Namely that she be allowed on top when they had sex. Adam goes to God and complains about Lilith’s willfulness and the fact that he has to hold her down to have sex with her. God decides to kick Lilith out of the garden. When Lilith is exiled into the wilder world, she swears that she will revenge herself on Adam and his new wife Eve.

God hears her oath and he condemned her to live only at night and to be as the animals, to crave blood and raw flesh. When Adam and Eve are themselves evicted from Eden, Lilith goes to work on her revenge.

The Vampiric story also seems to be linked to the belief in incubus and succubus. Incubus is a male demon who preys upon sleeping women and has sex with them to reproduce. Succubus is the female version. This also draws in the sexual element of the Vampire legend. In Jewish custom, and in Christian Demonology, Incubus and Succubus were thought of as demons of lust. They were the things that cause nocturnal emmissions in men (night climaxes) and sexual aggressions in women (being forward enough to demand her husband’s sexual favors) This harkens back to the old Jewish laws of Oananism (masterbation)

How incubus and succubus come into the Vampire mythology is a little hazy. People who study the Vampire myth say that the demons enter into the Vampire story because of sexual politics. The ancient Catholic Church was very against women demanding anything. Women were the daughters of Eve, and by definition, are evil and we have to submit to the Christian will of husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. Very strict. And if a woman becomes as a man in her carnality, she will suck the sacred soul out of man right into the clutches of the devil. ( Very Vampire-like)
Then as women were being persecuted during what my witchcraft friends call the Burning Times, women were forced to confess to all sorts of crimes, most of them sexual, especially of causing impotence and of committing sexual crimes and one of those were seduction. And it was thought the women who practiced seduction were possessed by succubus. Males who were considered witches, were then considered to be incubus.

To become Vampire, one must be completely drained of their blood and have their blood replaced by the blood of their maker. This is a standard in all of the Vampire lore. The notion of choice is a bit dodgy because the choices are become a Vampire or die.

According to Montague Summers, another way to become Vampire is to die a werewolf. If you die a werewolf, after seven days you will rise as Vampire. Some details of this change is different based on culture, for example, in Eastern European legends, the dead werewolf must be exposed to moon light. In other cultures the grave must be jumped by a black cat (bringing in a mild witchcraft connection).

Many historical figures have been associated with Vampirism, like Vlad Tepes, the Impaler, also known as Dracul, which translates as dragon (a medieval symbol of the devil) and the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who believed bathing in and drinking the blood of virgins kept her young, contributing further to the belief in Vampires natural immortality and the fact they are physically frozen at the age they were turned.

The legends of Vampire may have also been cemented firmly in our psyche by reports that bodies exhumed from their graves often appeared quite healthy and even alive by those who dug them up. The bodies were often then subjected to rituals to keep the bodies in the grave: the stake through the heart, garlic in the mouth (or some other barrier), beheading and being buried head down in a vertical manner.

Blood being both sacred and taboo, is the life giving element of the Vampire. It is the blood that gives them their strength and supernatural abilities. But with the dawn of Christianity, it takes on the element of sacrilege as it seems to imitate the act of Holy Communion. In this way, Sprenger and Kramer, who wrote the Malleus Malficarum , believed that those who practiced Vampirism were damned. They cite the Old Testament decree that believers would consume no blood ( a part of Jewish Kosher laws) because blood was the life.

In the late 1700’s, a great deal of Vampire literature began to be printed. Among those who wrote some of the first Vampire literature, firmly setting the various elements of the Vampire myth was Gordon, Lord Byron who wrote Vampyre: A fragment and his friend, Dr. John Polidori who wrote his book, entitled “Vampyre”. But the most famous of the Gothic tales of the Vampire is Dracula written by Irishman Bram Stoker. When you say Vampire in today’s culture, the first name that comes to mind is Dracula.

While Stoker may have been writing a horror story, it was actually a metaphor for his difficult relationship with a a famous actor of his day, whom he worked for. This actor was a difficult man to deal with and often Stoker felt that the very life was being sucked from him when he was in the man’s company. After leaving the actor’s employ a final time, Stoker went to stay in the Stoker Hotel in Dublin and began to write a story about a man of infinite charm and the power to control those around him and the power to drain them of their very being. He enmeshed this tale with the tales of Vampires and the legend of Vlad Tepes and gave birth to the modern Vampire tale we enjoy today.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Werewolf in Lore and Legend by Montague Summers, The Werewolf in Lore and Legend by Montague Summers and Malleus Malficarum by Kramer and Sprenger and The Annotated Dracula by Bram Stoker and edited by Matthew Crum

What is Shape Shifting?
July 20, 2009 by aslinn dhan dragonhawk


Sam: I’m not the killer. I’m a shapeshifter. (True Blood: S1, E10)

There is nobility in animals that people recognize and desire to emulate. Even Alexander Skarsgard admits that he took Eric’s regal carriage from observing a piece of film of a lion stoically regarding the cameraman. But what if people could do more than just admire animal behavior but embrace it for their own.

Shape shifting is the act of causing transformation of one body into another. In the world of mythology, Werewolves and Vampires are both creatures who can shift their shape. But Shape shifting has its roots in shamanism, a form of spiritualism that causes the shaman or priest/ess to take on the spirit of the animal or being needed for a ritual, thus changing their shape.

This ritual includes the person to seek their animal totem, the animal they feel a particular affinity with. They do this through some form of dream walk, a trance like state that opens them up to the spirits of the animals who wish to place them in their particular protection. These animals appear to the dreamer and leaves them with some revelation and the shaman then fashions a fetish for the person to wear.
During certain celebrations or rituals, the person may call on their animal spirit to inhabit them and they may even feel transformed physically into the animal guiding them. In this state, the person is no longer human but is transformed into the animal totem they identify with. They may even imitate the animal’s sounds and howl or growl. Among the ancients, this ritual was as important as Holy Communion or Baptism and being chosen by an animals’ spirit was considered a rare honor.

Charlaine Harris uses the words “were” and shape shifter interchangeably, though she does try to differentiate the use of the word so that if you read about Weres, they are the packs of shifters who have one animal persona as opposed to shape shifter who can change into more than one creature.

“Were” the prefix used to create the word werewolf is Anglo Saxon for man. Werewolf, were-tiger, were-fox is thus translates into “man-wolf” and so on. The use of this prefix denotes the difference between being a supernatural creature that is led by the moon and those who practice shifting as part of a religious experience.

Sources: The Werewolf in Lore and Legend by Montague Summers, Carmina Gaelidica by Gerald of Cambresis, Malleus Malficarum by Kramer and Sprenger, and The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Animals Speak by Ted Andrews.

Letting the Right One In
July 6, 2009 By aslinn dhan dragonhawk

Bill: Someone who lives here must invite me in!
Mr. Hamby: No! Don’t do it, he will kill us all!”
Bill (to Eden): Come here, little girl. I am here to protect you and your mother and your father. I am your friend. All you have to do is invite me in and I can make it all stop.
Eden: Please sir, won’t you come in?
S2 E2 True Blood

One of the rules of Vampires among humans is the rule that they must be invited into a mortal’s home. This is designed to be a protection of the home, for your home is your castle, and to reinforce the notion that evil cannot come into your life unless you expressly invite it to do so.

The origins of Vampires having to have an invitation into a mortal’s home is not clearly recorded in Vampire mythology. There is a vague notion that early people believed that disease came into the house with the night air. Early Romans believed it came on the mists and fogs that sometimes traveled through the foul Roman streets, looking for open doors and windows to come and cause illness. And in ancient times most illness was thought to be caused by evil spirits.

In more modern times, tuberculosis, or consumption, was thought of as the Vampire disease because the patients would usually have long periods of illness followed by a short respite where the tubercular patient would have an unearthly, rosy, healthy appearance. The notion that TB was a Vampiric disease was later more firmly asserted as other members of the family and community fell ill with the disease. Especially those who had close contact with the patient.

As all myths carry some cautionary element, the notion that you do not open the door after dark, that monsters lived in the night’s shadows, may have been a concoction to make sure that no one answered the door after dark. This was a good rule to follow because not only did the children of the night walk the darkness, thieves and murderers and other human monsters did as well.

We see these vague notions really take shape in the 1700’s early Vampire literature with early Gothic stories of the Vampire entity, usually in the form of someone the person has known, asking for entrance into the house. Even Bram Stoker’s Dracula awaits invitation into Lucy Westerna’s house and into Mina’s house. Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot also works with the old belief that Vampires must be invited into the home.

The notion of rescinding the invitation is first seen here as well, as Abraham Van Helsing finds Dracula in his wolf form feeding from Lucy and he rescinds the invitation. This is a fairly new construct in the Vampire mythos and gives the human characters one more weapon in their arsenal. The only exception to this rule is it does not work in public places, like Merlotte’s for example, as Liam, Diane and Malcom showed us last season.

In the Sookie Stackhouse novels and in True Blood, we see this tradition being carried through with Sookie first inviting Bill into her house, then rescinding her invitation. And in future scenes, this rule of fang will be further applied.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Silver and Vampires and Werewolves
July 1, 2009
By Aslinn Dhan

As we watch True Blood and read the Charlaine Harris novels, we are seeing the various mythologies being used in conventional and non conventional ways. This was the inspiration behind a series of informative posts on the myths surrounding Vampires and Werewolves and Shape-shifters and the other creatures who wander around Bon Temps and in out of the life of Sookie Stackhouse.

Though the stories are ancient, modern story tellers have felt as free as their fore bearers to shape the myths to fit their own cultures and social views of the world. Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball and the wonderful team of writers of True Blood are no exceptions.

The first topic, the effects of silver on Vampires and Werewolves, examines how and why this metal is sovereign against these children of the night and why the ancients chose it above all precious metals to fight the things that go bump in the night.

Silver is supposed to react against Vampires and Werewolves because of it’s association with the moon. Ancient mythology said that silver came from the goddess of the moon and contains all the purity of the goddess. (Diana and Athena were the Roman and Greek goddesses of the moon and were considered virgins, huntresses and protectoresses)

Werewolves are controlled by the energies of the waxing and waning of the moon, being that they cannot control their change when the full moon rises. Because they become beasts of violence, creatures who hunt the helpless, they insult the goddess. The goddess sends silver to man to protect them from the creatures who hunt them. Anyone wearing silver is safe because they cannot touch them.

Presumably, this would apply to Vampires as well, as Vampire stories and Werewolf stories are inextricable. There is the strong element of the Christian influence as well (more so than with Werewolves), as silver is associated with the Virgin Mary (the woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, associating her with the goddess of the moon) So wearing silver, especially in the form of a religious medallion becomes a controlling factor in the Vampire mythos concerning silver.

In the Sookieverse of Bon Temps, Vampires exhibit an allergy to silver where they are weakened and burned by silver and whereas in mythology the werewolf can only be killed by silver, the weres and shifters can be killed with plain old bullets.
Sources:
The Vampire in Lore and Legend by Montague Summers
The Werewolf in Lore and Legend by Montague Summers
The Malleus Malficarum by Kramer and Sprenger

Upon the Altar
Altars, Sanctuaries and Circles and Other Holy Places
By Aslinn Dhan

As we travel through the mysteries concerning Maryann and see more and more of her nature and we get deeper into the Fellowship of the Sun, it seemed like a good time to discuss altars, sanctuaries, circles and other holy places of ancient and modern times.

There is a lot of symbolism in the building of an altar, regardless of tradition, era or discipline you adhere to. And man has been building altars ever since man has contemplated the notion there is something greater than himself. So no matter if you are a confirmed Pagan or a devoted Christian or somewhere in between, choosing a site, materials and deciding which rituals would be performed there is the greatest expression of faith.

In ancient times, natural structures and places that inspired the gathering of people to speak to the gods. Sites with clear view of the sun and the moon in her many phases were important. Sites with some great cultural meaning or some encounter with the unknown were coveted and protected and prized.

In early cultures, the circle was an important symbolic shape. The circle has no beginning or end, representing eternity. The moon, sun and stars circled the earth, so the shape was considered representative of the movements of the gods. Natural circular formations were best, but man would and did build structures as well to create circle sanctuaries to worship.

Of these, the most famous of course is Stone Henge. Located in the English county of Wiltshire, this prehistoric monument is most noted as an architectural and engineering triumph. What we know about it would fit in the palm of your hand. What we don't know about it, would fill a library.

We know that it seems to keep time and marks the Summer Solstice perfectly. There are numerous stone structures in what seems to be a pattern of some sort but no one really understands their function. There appears to be an altar and there seems to be areas where animals and some humans may have been buried.

We do know that some early Celtic tribes did perform human sacrifice, but since there is little in existence written about the Celts by the Celts, we have to take our knowledge of them with a grain of salt. Many of the writers were Roman conquerors of England and told embellished accounts of Celtic savagery. (Like they had a lot of room to talk)

Ireland, too has it's share of circle sites and henges and structures called dolmens which seemed to be places of worship and rituals concerning death and may even have been burial sites, but like Stone Henge, we simply aren't that sure.

Other elements found in altars are images of the gods themselves. Greek and Roman altars depicted stories from their pantheon and African altars to their gods included food offerings and exotic flowers. Altars of the Jews are clearly described in the Torah and The Holy Bible. Asian altars included incense, flowers, fruit and prepared food, perfumes and even money to the gods on behalf of beloved ancestors.

Altars can be constructed of anything. Norse tribes often used the anvil as an altar as steel and metal working was considered the craft of the gods. There have been altars built of stone, precious woods, salt, bricks, and the very ground on which both the gods and people walked.

Modern altars in Christian churches are meant to represent the communion feast instituted by Christ. In Catholic churches, small specimens of saint relics are encased in the altar.

In modern Wiccan and Pagan traditions, tables made of natural materials or tables found naturally in the environment are cherished. The shape of the altar is determined by the taste of the coven. Some prefer perfectly square tables to represent the four corners and the four elements. Everything placed on the altar is considered sacred and meaningful. This includes salt, spices and herbs, a wand, a sword or athame, a black handled ritual knife. (Contrary to popular fiction, the athame does not ever taste blood. It works as an instrument to direct magikal energies) There might also be a wand, a chalice and or a cauldron. Images representing the gods might also be present.

But the altar does not necessarily have to be a physical entity. You have heard the expression "dying on the altar of one's country". Battlefields are thought of as altars, even in ancient times. For Muslims, the act of facing east to pray is the act of kneeling before an altar.

When we think of sacred places, we might think of churches or temples but for primitive people and some modern faithful, the open fields and nature can be a sacred place. Pope John Paul II loved to celebrate in the open air. So sacred is wherever you might connect with the spirits. In my personal blog, I wrote on the subject of sacred spaces:

In the film Jeremiah Johnson, this crazy man Jeremiah encounters tells him that the hills and the forests are the cathedrals of God, that the mountains bear witness to his glory, that the prairies are the great gathering places of the angels. This is the cathedral I believe in too. Not some ugly square building. The magnificence of the sunrise, the solitude of a starry night, the choir of the winds and the thunder of God's sermon and the baptism of the rain. No sacrament is greater than the sacrament of one's own presence in the face of such beauty and power. No virgin so sweet than the unsullied stand of great cedars, no child so wondrous as a new born fawn rising up to take suck from it's mother, no saint as holy as the solitary mountain raising itself up to the glory of heaven.

The altars featured in True Blood seem to mimic the ancient henges and circular sacred places and have stones used as sacrificial altars. And though we may be shocked or even a little tired of the sex we see in the show connected to this story line, in ancient times, sex and religion were not mutually exclusive and ritual sex was a part of worship, even near or upon the altar. You were just as likely to see ritual sex as you were ritual sacrifice.

Source: Sacred Places and Sanctuaries by Deborah Lipp, Creating Monuments: Honoring the Gods by Marc Stephens, The Spiral Dance by Starhawk, Gather Round the Table: A Journey to Communion with God by Father David O'Connor, Altars, Totems and Other Sacred Spaces by Gerald Kerry, The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes.

Say What? Explanations for Lycan'thropy
By Aslinn Dhan

The belief that people can become animals has been a part of human life since the dawn of man. We see animals in the wild or in the home or on television and we are fascinated with their strength, their grace and their sense of community. We endow them with their own savage nobility and mimic their behavior as a pack, as a family, or as a solitary creature. In some ways we envy the animals who have their own own uncomplicated sense of self. We give them magikal traits and sometimes an even closer relationship with the divine.

Some people blur the line between ourselves and the animal world. We use them as reflections of our strengths and weaknesses. The animal owned by a proud, strong person is itself a proud, strong creature. The animal owned by a weak, nervous person is usually a weak nervous creature.

Then, either because we see something lacking in ourselves, or because we see something amazing in ourselves we embrace what we believe are animal qualities, present in our collective memories, called tribal memories, and explore the world of absolutes: absolute love, absolute loyalty, absolute savagery. We awaken within ourselves the man who is also the beast and become something between the earthly and divine.

Reginald Scot, in his book The Discovery of Witchcraft, believed this form of relationship with the animal self was a tragic and dangerous case of mental illness. This is primarily so because man believes he is made in the image of God and to embrace the animal is to throw away the superiority of man over animals given to us by the creator.

In a landmark book written in 1621, Robert Burton explores lycanthropy in a way that becomes the root for psychological thought about people and their relationship with the outside world. In Anatomy of Melancholy, he writes that lycanthropy is a form of deep melancholy or depression. The person affected becomes violent in response to frustration with their present lives and they retreat into the mind of the beast for solace. Think about that. How modern a thought is that statement?

In an attempt to understand what caused plagues of and witches and other creatures of the supernatural world, many theories abound. Mary Matossian, professor of history University of Maryland, writes that the cause of one such plague may be attributed to mass poisoning by eating ergot infested bread, causing hallucinations Ergot is a fungus that appears naturally in unprocessed rye. She asserts that with the dawn of modern methods of flour preparation and use of antifungals, the reports of witches and werewolves disappeared. Her assertion is not entirely true, as there are people who consider themselves witches and others who consider themselves werewolves.

Symptoms of lycanthropy include:

1. A general belief they are wolves or some other animal
2. A personal belief in physical transformation
3. Displays of basic animal behavior: running around on all fours, growling/howling, and sexual posturing like an animal.
4. Violent behavior toward others
5. Hypersexuality
6. Use of a talisman or drug to enhance transformation
7. Self imposed isolation
8. The belief that an invading spirit is inhabiting the person

Another group of researchers in Vigo, Spain believed that tales of lycanthropy was caused by people's exposure to others who were suffering from rabies.

So what is lycanthropy? Is it simple reaction to drugs or disease? Is it a part of religious thought or philosophy? Is it a reminder of our savage past and our former relationship to our animal brothers? Or are there people who talk to the full moon and invest themselves with the spirit of the beast? Who knows. But the next time you see the full moon, put your head back and howl, see how it makes you feel.

Sources: The Werewolf Book by Brad Steiger, The Discovery of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot, Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

Kung Lu
The Tibetean Werewolf
By Aslinn Dhan

Among the mysterious Tibetan people is the story of a great monster called a Kung Lu. Kung Lu is often described as a man shaped beast with a the head of a wolf or fox who attacks the goats, massacres small children and carries off young maidens from the moutainous villages of the Himalayas where the Tibetans call home.

During an Argentinean expedition of 1955, a native porter was carried off and killed by something they called a Kung Lu. They are thought to be creatures who appeared during the time of the dragon, when the great dragon of creation began the genesis of the Asian people. This creature was never meant to be losed upon the earth but escaped the place of origination and was let loose upon the earth. Ever since these creatures have been predating man as a food source and a source of reproduction, mimicking the incubus and succubus.

Early Europeans, who heard the stories from Tibetans, thought they were referring to a creature they called the Yeti, but shamans and story tellers explain that this beast is quite different, as the Yeti are solitary hunters and the Kung Lu are pack animals, that is they have a group of individuals they live with. They are said to have a hierarchy and and elect a male and female to be alpha leaders.

Some modern scientists believe they may be perpetuating a story from tribal memory of a bear-like creature that is now extinct. As the legend is told over and over and over again, the beast becomes more human and takes on a supernatural tone.

Source: The Werewolf Book by Brad Steiger and The Big Book of Tibetan Mythology by Ang Ku Chow


_________________

Tales of the Changeling Child
Faerie and Human Babies
By Aslinn Dhan

Like the story of the beauty and the beast, you have to ignore Walt Disney. Fairy Tales we tell children today are nothing like the older, preChristian tales of the world of the fae. Faeries are sometimes vicious, blood thirsty creatures who also possess a highly sexual, sometimes savagely so, nature.

Tales from the world of Faerie abound with stories of the changeling child. In these stories, because the world of faerie is now small and their ability to have children so infrequent, there are stories of faeries who steal human children and raise them as a faerie and through faerie magik change them into faeries. Ironically enough, the process is much like making Vampires, where the human blood is drained (sometimes it is consumed and sometimes it is simply taken out) and faerie blood is transfused. There are also the tales of faeries who seduce humans and then take steal these children away to be raised in the land of their faerie parents.

In mythology, the changeling was a creature left behind in the cradle of a human child who had been stolen. The changeling was usually wizened old faerie who was near death or who could escape from his human fosters at the last minute. It was thought that the faeries would do this act of replacing one for the other to keep the parents from looking for the child until it was too late to find them.

If a parent suspected their baby was a changeling, there was simple way to find out. In full view of the changeling, the mother would take a new egg and crack it, emptying it of egg and yolk and begin to brew tea. The faerie will be amazed and say "I have seen the first egg before the hen and I have seen the acorn before the oak, but never have I seen brewing in an eggshell," thus revealing it's true age and breaking the enchantment. If done soon enough, the human child is returned to the mother and father.

In the case of half fae, or children of both human and faerie stock, the child is considered beautiful to unearthliness. Other supernatural creatures and wild animals are attracted to them. They possess gifts such as ESP, Clairvoyance, and our favorite, telepathy. They are gifted with charm and grace. They also do magik, though they may not know or realize they can. They are loved and admired by humans and the fae alike.

Vampires are attracted to the fae. There is a legend among the Roma that a Vampire did fall in love with a faerie and he captured her and kept her in room sealed with iron. Because both are basically immortal, they lived together for a very long time, the Vampire sad that he had to hold her by force and the faerie sad that she was not able to be among her people. Eventually, the story goes, the faerie pined herself to death and the Vampire, full of remorse, made himself known as Vampire to a human village and the men came and staked him.

In this way, Charlaine Harris seems to be following one of the themes in Faerie lore and Vampire lore.

Source: The Vampire and his Kith and Kin by Montague Summers, The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves and Other Monsters by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes,
The Element Encyclopedia of the Undead by Judika Illes and John and Caitilin Matthews, Field Guide to the Little People by Colum McAirt

Can You Hear Me Now?
Necromancy
By Aslinn Dhan

In the book Definitely Dead where Sookie goes to see to the estate of her late cousin Hadley, the Queen of Louisiana pays Amelia and her witch friends to do an ectoplasmic recreation, a sort of sophisticated seance, where they would see what happened the night Hadley died.

Necromancy, literally dead talker, is the act or ritual of conjuring the dead to engage in conversation. One of the most famous of these is the much maligned "Woman of Endor" in the Bible. Saul is the unloved king of Israel and he needs the advice of Samuel. Thing is, Samuel is dead, so he needs to speak with a person who channel the spirits of the dead.

Folks in the Witchcraft and occult community will tell you there is a difference between someone who performs seances and those folks who through some mental or spiritual ability can "channel" the spirits of the dead. Whether the woman of Endor was a witch or simply a channeler is debatable. Most people say that she was a channeler because most channelers have a spirit guide and the Bible calls her "a woman with a familiar spirit". At any rate, she is able to channel Samuel for the beleaguered king of Israel and he doesn't like what he hears.

A seance is a highly stylised ritual where in the leader acts as a spiritual portal, calling on the assistance of the gods (or God, as some are Christians) or other protective spirits to hover around the participants to protect them from any malevolent spirits who may answer the psychical call. There have been reports that a tissue like, viscus matter can emanate from the mouth. Called ectoplasm, this material was thought to be the afterbirth or rent tissue from either the spirit themselves or from the tearing of the womb-like veil between the worlds of the dead and the worlds of the living. Though many accounts of ectoplasm has been shown as elaborate frauds, there are some reports of the appearance of ectoplasm that cannot be explained.

Channelers, on the other hand, receives spirit communications through their spirit guide, with whom they have had a life long connection, and communicates the messages to and from the spirit realm. They may even perceive a spirit impression, or the presence of the dead in the room where the reading is being held.

While people debate the reality of channelers and their ability to speak to the dead, there are hundreds if not thousands of cases where channelers have solved crimes, found missing persons, and helped people resolve their unfinished business with the dead.

One ancient way that witches have invited the dead among them is the deaf and dumb dinner. If a person seeks to speak to a dead relative, a dinner is prepared, three courses. The witch instructs the person to set the table for the number of living guests plus one. In the unclaimed chair, the hostess sets up a large mirror. The table is set counter clock-wise, putting glasses down first, then utensils, then salad plates then dinner plates. The first course is dessert, the second the dinner and the third the salad or other appetizer. The dinner is served in absolute silence. By the time the dinner has been finished, the spirit person invited to dinner should appear in the mirror.

The best time to set up the dinner is during the Celtic feast of the dead, what we call Halloween, what witches call Samhain (sow-in). During this time, the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest and communication between the two worlds are the most probable, though seances or other rituals can be performed at the full and the dark of the moon.

One of the interesting facets of the notion of Hadley's spirit being conjured by the witches has to do with something that is a subject of debate in the Southern Vampire novels and in our forum is the notion of the Vampiric soul. In order to be conjured, even as a semi-corporeal echo or what spirit investigators call a residual visitation, suggests that though Vampires may not have a soul like a human, they may have a soul that is just as Other as when they were walking on the earth. The "magik" as Bill refers to it in the show may be the signature of his Vampiric soul.

Sources: The Occult in the Bible by Hester Newman Graham, The Book of Shadows by Tarotstar, The Book of the Dead: A Guide to Spiritualism by Dennis Johns Stephens, The Dead Speak by Johnathon David Pryce

Bram Stoker's Real Dracula
Henry Irving
By Aslinn Dhan

Bram Stoker was born in Ireland in 1847 in the city of Dublin. An Anglo-Irish, he was raised in the Church of Ireland and attended Trinity College, the premier Protestant university in Ireland. In his adulthood he became a civil servant and helped his parents run the hotel which bears the Stoker name to this day. Stoker was also an enthusiast of the theatre and became fascinated with the English actor Henry Irving, so much so, that he contrived to work for Irving as a sort of personal manager. Stoker would arrange the actor's schedule, help the actor dress before and after performances, arrange supper reservations and act as Irving's procurer for female companionship.

Irving fully enjoyed his status as an acting star and used it to his advantage, particularly in matters of women. Irving dated many of the young actresses in the theatre community and became known as something of a ladies man and later as something of a cad. Yet, to Stoker's amazement, the women would not, could not stay away from his charm and seductive powers.

To a certain extent, Stoker too was a victim of the man's charisma. He left the employ of the actor many times as he became angry of one situation or another between the man and his conquests. During heated arguments, the actor would tell Stoker: "You are powerless to leave me for very long, you are like the fly to the spider." And of course Stoker always seemed to return to Irving, unable to help himself until the actor did something to disgust him.

Stoker often complained to his mother, and eventually to the woman he would marry, that Irving's antics left him drained, almost powerless and burdened him with a feeling of melancholy. He sometimes would foil Irving's attempts at seduction by dropping some hint that Mr. Irving was not at all a gentleman but more of "put out or get out sort of guy". Some of the ladies would heed his advice, most wouldn't.

Stoker stayed in the man's employ until 1905. Irving died not long after. During his time with the actor, Stoker had been writing short stories and children's books with some success. It was said that Stoker had been thinking about Irving and began to scribble down a story involving a notorious count who was evil, who could suck the life out of whomever he came in contact with. This Lothario could hypnotize and twist the thinking of some, and drive others insane. As the tale developed, the count became something of a reflection of Henry Irving.

Throughout his story, the count is human, flesh and blood, until he came upon the tale of Vlad Tepes, the Impaler. He even found a name for his count, Count Dracula. And though the character began to take on his more fanged persona, Dracula always remained, in Stoker's mind, the actor Henry Irving. He told his wife: "There, now we see Henry's true face."

Stoker died in 1912, a wasted and poor man, leaving his widow very little. She held on to the rights to Dracula with an iron grip as it was her soul source of income. When the French Director F.W. Murnau wanted to make the first film from the book, the Widow Stoker refused. So Murnau made a film loosely based on the book (supposedly) and called it Nosferatu. The Widow Stoker sued Murnau and won. All the copies of the film were to have been destroyed, but like true Vampires, they never really die. It is now considered a cinematic treasure and the source of many of our most dearly held beliefs about Vampires. Bela Lugosi made his version in 1931. It is the most adapted literary work to the screen.

Sources: The Vampire Book by J. Gordon Melton, The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters by Rosemary Ellen Guiley,The Annotated Dracula by Bram Stoker and edited by Matthew Crum

What a tale my thoughts would tell
The Power of Telepathy
By Aslinn Dhan

Throughout history and mythology there have been people who have been able to do extraordinary things with their minds. In ancient times, these people were considered blessed by the gods. In modern times people with special mental abilities have been seen as both freaks and marvels.

There are many forms of paranormal ability:

Telekinesis- the ability to move things with the mind. Think Carrie in Stephen King's novel.

Pyrokinesis- the ability to start fires with the mind. Think Charlie in Stephen King's Firestarter

Clairvoyance- the ability to see the past and future and to communicate through thoughts alone. Think King's The Shining. Let's face it. If you have a freaky power or ability, Stephen King has written about it.

Telepathy is the ability to read people's thoughts. Though it does have the element of clairvoyance to it as telepaths can read thoughts and then take action based on those thoughts, telepathy can be limited to just what people think about in that moment.

Psychology departments in most colleges conduct some level of paranormal research, trying to understand what the brain can and cannot do. The most popular method is through the use of the Zener cards, a series of five cards with different shapes on them. (Usually a circle, a star, a square, a plus sign and a series of three wavy lines). The tester mentally chooses a card and the testee has to decide which card the tester has on their mind. Most average people get the card about 20% of the time.

There is no conclusive data about true telepaths. The suggestion that people who declare they have psychic powers may have an elevated sense of people's unconscious message sending through body language, non-verbal posturing and through simple observation. Still, there are those alarming instances when some one knows exactly what you are thinking when you are thinking them.

Are there real Sookies out there, hearing the thoughts of others whether they want to or not? Who knows. Maybe the voices in your head aren't a sign that your cheese is sliding off it's cracker, maybe you are hearing the invading thoughts of others. ;D

Sources: World of the Paranomal by Jeffery Hockstetter, Zener Approach to Parapsychology by Darren Myles-Stanton, It's All in Your Mind: Exploring the powers of the brain by Melissa Jane Falk

Samhain
The Origins of Halloween
Part One
By Aslinn Dhan

Samhain (pronounced sow-win) was the ancient Celtic New Year. In pre-Christian Europe, there were two major seasons: Winter and Summer. Winter began with Samhain and Summer began with Beltaine.

Samhain marks the end of the growing and harvesting year. It was a time when family groups got together in their communtities and braced itself for the longer nights and the brutal cold. Celebrations during this time were important to mark the passage of time and reaffirm community and family connections and honor those who had left this existence and gone on to the next.

To the Celt, death was not the end, but a continuation of experience. They who have gone on are never really that far from us and there were times when the door between the land of the living and the land of the dead is open and we can commune again with our absent loved ones. They too were invited to join in in the merry making and celebration. There they would celebrate our accomplishments, console us at our losses and prepare for a new year full of promise.

Wearing costumes and masks have been a part of religious practice and celebration since the beginning of time. It was not unusual for people to wear masks representing the indigenous animals, the gods and the elements. All people dressed up, not just the children, and special treats and gifts were given. Stories about the gods, about those who are gone before, and bawdy or silly stories entertained the celebrants, both living and dead. There were even some forms of trickery and jokes during the celebration. Fear rarely played into early pagan celebrations of Samhain.

When Europe began to become Christianized, the Church sought to do away with pagan practices. They created a feast centered on the belief that the dead needed our prayers, something that would stand in place of the celebration honoring the dead. Death in early Christian thought was something to be dreaded and the dead were waiting for Final Judgment, not living on in some happy other world. To be dead without the comfort of the Church was to be a lost soul, wandering lonely and afraid. And of course any dead soul still in this world was a tormented perhaps demonic creature, much like the demons the old gods had now become.

Now, tales that had once been tales to honor those who were continuing their journey were now tales of horror. Fear was the spirit of the night and instead of beloved ancestors roaming under the starry night, the world was a world of menacing shadows inhabited by witches, Vampires and Werewolves and evil spirits.

Much to the Church's chagrin, making Samhain, now All Hallow's Eve a darker feast did not stop the celebration of the dead. It simply put on a costume. Instead of being an obvious celebration of the old ways, it was full of suspense, trickery and a new set of growing traditions.

Sources: The Witch Book by Raymond Buckland, Celebrating the Seasons: Samhain to Ostara by Ashleen O'Gaia, The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Pagan Ways by Lewis Spence.

Samhain
The Origins of Halloween
Christianizing the Pagan Holiday
Part Two
By Aslinn Dhan

Though accounts do vary, it is the well understood notion that the Christian Church did annex the dates of Pagan Holidays to replace pagan practices in the lives of new Christians. According to Father Simon McNarry in his book, Why Do We Do That?, he explains that the early church found it was simply easier for early Christians in Europe to accept the changes brought to them with the new religion by regularizing a calendar of feasts and celebrations that would mirror their native, pre-Christian practices. And Samhain was not the only holiday to get this treatment: Yule and Beltaine also got the "baptism" as well. And for me, as a Roman Catholic, I was intrigued with the way the feasts and celebrations were set in concordance with the old pagan ways how and how they actually contributed with our more modern practices.

Early Christians did still observe things that were associated with the pagan holiday of Samhain. One of these practices was the great feast. Treats and special foods were prepared and set out for the family with a chair left empty for the visiting ancestor. Legends had it that if you did not honor the dead ancestor in your home, they might play a trick on you, like hiding something you needed or stealling something you cherished. Later this evolves into the act of trick or treating, where the youngest members of the household stand in for the beloved dead and beg for treats and play tricks on those who do not give treats or do not give in the right spirit of giving.

Friends coming to the house would be greeted with a candle in the window, letting passers by know that all good people and spirits were welcome to join in on the celebrations. This evolved into the American custom of carving the pumpkin and lighting a candle inside it, representing the spirit of Halloween.

With the Protestant Reformation, however, many celebrations associated with the Catholic Church were considered Pagan mainly because the Church did annex the old Pagan calendar to regularize the Christian Calendar and to ease the new Pagans out of their old ways. This not only included All Hallows Eve, but also Christmas, with it's heavy Celto-Norse influences.

Sources: Why Do We Do That? by Father Simon McNarry, Christianizing the Pagans by Robert C. Giles, Celebrating the Seasons: Samhain to Ostara by Ashleen O'Gaia, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

Samhain
The Origins of Halloween
Tricks, Treats, and Jack O'Lanterns
Part Three
By Aslinn Dhan

The most common tradition in the celebration of today's Halloween has a wonderful history and tradition. In the days of early Christianity, after the Pagan Holiday was transformed into Christian feast day, it was a common practice of the poor to beg for alms or food in exchange for prayers for their beloved dead. Gift givers who gave with a cheerful heart were blessed, those who gave grudgingly or not at all were likely to be beset by a number of mean spirited tricks.

As the holiday became even more secularized, that is the religious meaning was lost or put aside, young people, mostly young men, would the night of All Hallows to play pranks and do mean spirited treats like deliver a light beating to the master of the house who did not supply them with food and drink or small coin. This slowly became less threatening as the tradition became simply playing pranks on fellow revelers on their way to All Hallows celebrations.

The Trick or Treating that we are most accustomed to has it's roots in rural America in the late 19th and early 20th century. After trick or treating, the people would gather together to celebrate the end of the hard work of plant, harvest and storing goods for the winter with games, dancing, feasting, story telling, mild forms of divination (fortunetelling) and contests.

Trick or Treating declined in the 70's and 80's with the fears of tainted candy and foreign objects found in treats that were home made. These stories became so prevalent that hospitals offered to xray Halloween candy for free to relieve worried families. These stories appear to be more urban legend than real fact and Trick or Treating is beginning to make a comeback.

Jack O'Lanterns also come to us from the Celts. According to the Celto-Christian myth, Jack was a miserly man who tricked the Devil into not taking him to hell. Problem was, Jack was not a good Christian, either and when he died, St. Peter refused him entrance into heaven. So Jack is doomed to roam the earth, holding in his hand a candle sitting in a turnip bowl, looking for a place to rest. When Irish immigrants came to America, they discovered that the pumpkin was a lovely substitute to the turnip and christened the pumpkin "Jack Of the Lantern" or Jack O' Lantern, the Spirit of Halloween.

In addition to the Celtic influences of the Jack O'Lantern story, it may also have Roman influences too, as Halloween corresponds with the Roman festival honoring Pomona, the goddess of fruit, and it was a practice to make lanterns of apples to light the goddess' way to the orchards for her blessings.

Sources: Why Do We Do That? by Father Simon McNarry, QuestMagazine.com Feature story by Hal Seimer

Samhain
The Origins of Halloween
Part Four
By Aslinn Dhan

Some form of Halloween exists in countries all over the world and they each have their own twists on the day.

Austria- Some people leave bread and a lighted lamp on a table on All Hallows. It was a belief that this welcomed the dead into the land of the living for one night of the year.

Belgium- The Belgians believe that it is bad luck for a black cat to cross your path, especially on the night of All Hallows. It is also customary to light a candle in memory of the dead.

Canada- They do what we in America do Grin

China- They have a festival called Teng Cheih. There they honor the beloved ancestors, setting up shrines for them in the home and putting out food offerings. Communities have bon fires and set out beautiful paper boats with candles in them adrift in ponds. The boats are eventually consumed by the flames and release the souls of the ancestors into heaven. The soul in Buddhist thought is called a pretas.

Czechoslavakia- Chairs are put by the hearth on All Hallows and the dead are invited to sit there and visit with the family on their journey through the world on this night of nights.

England- At one time, the night of the dead was called "Punkie Night". While Irish and Scottish folk used turnips, the English used the beet root and carved them and lit them with candles and went around asking for money. When Protestantism became the ruling faith in Britain, the practice was squelched as a Catholic/Pagan practice and was banned. Later, after the gunpowder plot back fired, Guy Fawkes day was initiated and effigies of Guy Fawkes (the fomenter of the plot) are made and burned (sort like a Wicker Man) and children went begging for a "Penny of the Guy". In recent years, however, familiar Halloween festivities, including trick or treating has become the vogue and is back to where it has always been. Guy Fawkes day is still a later celebration (Remember, remember, the 5th of November, the gun powder treason and plot) A side note, Dumbledore's phoenix, a bird who burns up and rises up from it's ashes is named Fawkes, after Guy Fawkes.

France- Farnce did not really have such a holiday and is one of the few countries who doesn't, at least not until more recent time. Costumes and parties are quite popular in France and they have adopted the masquerade fete as an excellent opportunity to dress up and party hardy.

Germany- The practice is to secure their cutlery, especially the knives, to keep them out of the hands of mischievous spirits.

Hong Kong- They have the feast of Yue Lan, the feast of the hungry spirits. The people gather at the tombs of ancestors and burn incense, candles, and pictures of food and money to send the essence of the things in the pictures to the afterworld to their ancestors.

Japan- While the Japanese know about Halloween and they are slowly adopting the Western style of celebration, they have a feast called Obon or Matsuri or Urabon and it is dedicated to the ancestors. They wear traditional clothes and have traditional dancing and songs and stories and plays. They have fireworks and candles and flowers and food and celebrate the spirits of the beloved dead who still protect them in the land of the living.

Korea- They have a feast called Chusok and they celebrate it in August, following along the lines many of the same customs of the Chinese and Japanese.

Mexico, Spain and Latin America- They celebrate El Dia de los Muertos. The celebrations start on Halloween (Oct 31) and end on the evening of November 2. They go to the cemeteries and clean and decorate the graves, they set up personal shrines at home. They have picnics and feasts and dancing and make candy of all kinds, especially the Macabre Candy, the skulls and cross bones and small coffins and bake bread and leave them on graves to feed the spirits of the dead.

Sources: Holidays Around the World by Stephanie Woll and The Ways of People: Celebrating Around the Globe by Daniel Michaels

Faerie Science By Aslinn Dhan
Traditional science works with solids. liquids and gases as the three states of matter. The fae work with these three states of matter as well but they also work within the esoteric states as well.

Auras: Similar to a magnetic or electrical field, it is luminous, flowing streams of energy reflecting the health of mind, body and soul.

The Etheric Double: This is the energy of the subconscious and bridges the connection between the physical and the psychial world.

Astral Plane: Also called the Collective Consciousness, this is a parallel existence between the conscious world and the unconscious world where the physical world intermingles with the psychial world.

If we understand how the mundane world works and how the estoteric world works then we can access the world of faery and find healing and insight and learn how and why we are in our present plane of existence.

Faerie Healing: From the dawn of time, healers have viewed the body as a microcosm. All the cosmic forces that effect the universe effect the body. In esoteric circles, there is a saying: As Above, so Below.

The seer and healer Edgar Cayce believed that he could do certain unintrusive things to heal people of a plethora of physical and emotional ailments. Called the sleeping prophet, he would often access the etherial world to find out what people were suffering and how to use the elements of people's own bodies to heal them.

A firm believer in the Astral Plane, he believed that truth existed in its purest forms in this plane. He also believed in the Akashic Records, a place within the Astral Plane where all secrets are known, even past lives and future lives and all the wisdom in the mundane world and the other existences. He wrote that the world of the fae and their magik was real, simply existing along side of us if we dared open ourselves up to it.

The Good Faeries/Bad Faeries Book by Brian Froud, Innerpsace: Healing of the self through psychic awakening by Andrew Woods, The Dreaming Prophet: Edgar Cayce by Simon Parker


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