Thursday, December 31, 2009

Full Moon To Ring In 2010


Some news
On this date in 1924, pioneering astronomer Edwin Hubble announced the existence of other galaxies. On December 30, 1982 a blue moon (second full moon within a month) occurred along with a lunar eclipse. This rare combination will also take place this Thursday night, on New Year's Eve.

The Blue moon pictured is from Flying Star Graphics.Is it not Great..Thanks, Luke.

MUFON investigator Chuck Zukowski talked about recent cattle mutilation cases in Colorado. He noted there were black triangle UFO sightings over Colorado Springs, on the same night in March 2009 that cattle were found with inexplicable mutilations some 100 miles away.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The 9 Strangest News Stories of 2009


By Benjamin Radford, LiveScience's Bad Science Columnist
The 9 Strangest News Stories of 2009
posted: 28 December 2009 06:05 pm ET
"Weirdness takes many forms, and 2009 had its share of weird events. Here's a look back at the strangest news stories of the year drawn from the realms of pseudoscience, the paranormal, media hype, outright lies and the just plain strange.

9. Trailcam Transforms Hiker into Bigfoot

When some hunters set up a camera to record wildlife in the Minnesota woods, they accidentally photographed a hiker or hunter on a trail. A few local Bigfoot buffs concluded that the dark figure was probably Bigfoot, much to the embarrassment of other Bigfoot researchers who claimed it was just a guy in a dark outfit—unlike the famous 1967 image of Bigfoot, which couldn't possibly be a guy in a dark outfit.

8. Turin Shroud Duplicated

A team of Italian scientists duplicated the Shroud of Turin, believed by some to be the burial cloth of Jesus. The test does not prove that the shroud was faked, merely that it could have been faked. Believers, of course, remain unconvinced, and Shroud T-shirt sales remain brisk.

7. Dogs Maul Mother Earth

According to research published in New Scientist, a medium-sized dog is more damaging to the earth than a gas-guzzling SUV, based on the amount of land and resources each uses in the course of a year.

6. Sleeping Girl Wakes Up with Star Tats

An 18-year-old Belgian girl claimed she fell asleep at a tattoo parlor and woke up to find 56 star tattoos on her face. She accused the tattooist of inking her without permission, and the girl's father threatened to sue. She later admitted that she had been awake and requested the tattoos, and lied about it because her father was furious when he saw them.

5. New Jersey UFO Hoax

When mysterious red lights appeared in the night sky over New Jersey, many people believed that extraterrestrial spacecraft were visiting the Garden State. The following day, this columnist solved the mystery, later described by the hoaxers on April Fool's Day as "a social experiment." The hoaxters were ultimately fined $250 each.

4. King of Pop Murdered

Michael Jackson, the weird and reclusive King of Pop prepared for a comeback after a decade of scandals and botched plastic surgeries — only to be killed by a drug overdose, his death ruled a homicide. Wonder how many psychics predicted that for 2009?

3. 'Chupacabra' in Creationist Museum

A scroungy-looking animal (likely a coyote with mange) was found dead in Blanco, Texas. The animal was stuffed and mounted, then displayed as the mysterious chupacabra (the legendary Hispanic vampire beast) in an upstate New York museum dedicated to proving that the Earth is only a few thousand years old. Weird with a thin glaze of crazy.

2. Balloon Boy Circus

When six-year-old Colorado boy Falcon Heene was claimed by his publicity-seeking father to have climbed into a homemade weather balloon before it took to the skies, many people smelled something fishy. Nonetheless, the police launched a search (and news media launched a circus) that ended with the boy safe at home—and charges brought against the family.

1. Old Calendar Scares People

Worrywarts grew nervous and New Age authors grew rich as concern spread that a calendar used by ancient Mayans would run out in 2012, signifying—well, maybe doomsday, or maybe nothing. Modern Mayans were annoyed by the whole thing and reported that the "end" of their ancestors' calendar was not high on their list of worries."

Benjamin Radford is managing editor of the Skeptical Inquirer science magazine. His books, films, and other projects can be found on his website. His Bad Science column appears regularly on LiveScience.
Source http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/091228-2009-crazy-stories.html

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Hiding In The Church..Pauline's Experience


"I never really believed in supernatural stuff, but this incident made me believe otherwise. This was about nine years ago in Samoa. I was playing hide-and-seek with the other little kids from my mum's village of Satua, Western Samoa. I was quite young then, so I always followed my older cousin around. It was the middle of the night, and most of the kids were used to hiding anywhere in the dark. I wasn't used to it as I was only there for the Christmas holidays. I actually live in Australia.

Anyway, we all went to hide. Since we were all hiding in the graveyard, we all found our way around in the light that the church cast onto the graveyard. We all hid in the shadows and waited for the boy. We could all hear the boy coming, so we kept quiet. The boy was pretty loud, so we watched what he was making a fuss about. He had walked into the church as he thought that his brother was hiding there.

As he walked into the church, he later told us, he saw a boy standing right at the front of the altar. He didn't know if it was his brother because the boy's back was turned. He ran up and tapped this boy on the shoulder. As soon as he did this, the strange boy disappeared! Our friend fainted!

We went home to tell his parents and we returned with the boy's parents to find him still lying there, dead still. The parents took the boy home and we never played in the graveyard at night again. We later found out that the boy's brother had been at home the whole time and he hadn't been to the church at all! What really scared us was that the boy who fainted has been ill since that night and he still hasn't recovered to this day. Whoever it was in the church must have been pretty mad that we kids had disturbed him." - Paulina T.

A good idea not to play there...Thanks,Pauline

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas To All


The time is flying by.A busy and happy time.More stories later.Have a joyful and Blessed Holiday..

Friday, December 18, 2009

Cat Senses Spirit


Derek told about strange experiences he had while living in a house in Saginaw, Michigan. On one night, Derek said he heard footsteps around his bed and remembers his cat, Isis, letting out a horrifying screech at whatever might have been in the room. About three months later, Derek claims to have seen his am/fm radio levitate, as if it had been picked up by a spirit. He said the cat would not go back into the room after that.

Thanks Derek not sure if I would either after the radio thing...

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Updates Sad State Of Affairs


This may not be of interest to many of you,but since my field was Psychiatry before retirement.I found this both interesting and distressing.

Particularly distressing to me is the relationship to the Pharmaceutical companies...Think I told you I quit my antidepressani Cymbalta when I found it cost others, not me, I am poor and get help but YOU are paying for it,Cost was %48/30 pills.. for me which I could not afford.Thus began the query with the pharmacist who at first was not in to helping find the cost...First said to my question "What would a real person pay?" "About $100" but then he actually checked and the cost was $400..Could you believe it.I had a fit and called my Doctor to have it changed...There is no excuse for that sort of price..Even if insurance covers a lot and for me Extra assistance from the State even more...CRAZY.

Anyway, I remember the wrangles when the first DSM came out and then the next one that finally excluded homosexuality as a Mental Illness.Well another is in the works and the trouble is forefront...
Editorial
"Psychiatry's civil war"
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427381.300-psychiatrys-civil-war.html


Next, remember when that article appeared about the Psychic in Saudi Arabia? well someone else is commenting as well:
"Islamic court sentences psychic to death"
http://www.paranormalreview.com/paranormal/death-sentence-for-being-psychic/

So that is it for the sad circumstances of the world today...

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Texas Couple Say "Holy Egg" Came To Them


Wow!
"There's a different type of story out of Burleson this holiday season. A couple in the city, 13 miles south of Fort Worth, believes God has given them a divine sign and it's a message spelled out in the most unusual of places.

Tracy and Pam Norrell are calling it a miracle, a gift laid before them on their small farm.

Tracy went to gather the eggs from the chicken coop Monday night, as he does every day. But this time one egg in particular caught his eye.

Unlike the others, this egg isn't smooth and a very noticeable cross is indented on the top.

The Norell's say the egg was laid 'straight from heaven' and is a message of encouragement that comes at the right time.

"This time of the year, we get so taken up with the presents and money and we forget about the reason," Pam explained. "I think he [God] was just telling us he is the reason for the season."

http://cbs11tv.com/religion/holy.egg.cross.2.1346581.html

Friday, December 11, 2009

Haunted Dolls Never Sleep


This is yet another Haunted Doll Story..
"...This story was brought to mind by Gralien Report correspondent Chris McCullom, who today sent along yet another strange story pertaining to a haunted doll. In an article appearing at the CNN website (originally from Oprah.com), the strange story of “Jessica Lynn Cohen” is recounted, better known by her familial moniker “the Christmas Zombie Doll.” The author tells the story of how his daughter received the doll as a gift on Christmas day. Removing the wrapping, he says she “immediately and inexplicably christen(ed) the doll Jessica Lynn Cohen. Why that oddly specific appellation, with its country-western triple cadence, we’ll never know. It was Christmas, and it was her doll, and it stuck.” Was this a peculiar instance of telemetry, where the young girl somehow “read” information off the doll, or perhaps even a lingering spirit which lay at hand, hovering in the astral?

The actual source for the title is less enigmatic, as this was also the name of an actress who appeared in George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” film starring actor Macaulay Culkin. The film was first released in 1993, and the author in the CNN piece mentions that the three-foot-tall Beelzebub Barbie was purchased about a decade ago (around 1999). Though this still presents a reasonable gap, it seems likely that the film would have been present and popular enough for his young daughter to have made the obvious Christmas-time association with the actress. Though unconventional, “Jessica Lynn Cohen” is actually a very fitting name for the demonic death doll.

But all name games aside, it’s what occurred after the toy’s titling that made it infamous; as time went on, the author’s daughter gets older, and the “cooling off” period occurs. “I’d go downstairs to attend to a blown fuse and there’d be Jessica Lynn Cohen in the boiler room,” he says. “We’d find her in the pantry with her arms outstretched in a sort of pious Joan of Arc gesture of supplication or in the bathroom with one leg raised high over her head like a Folies Bergère dancer. Coming upon her this way could be frightening. She had taken on the stricken phantasmal look of a ghost from a shipwreck.”

If this weren’t creepy enough, upon trying to rid themselves of the doll they began to succumb to bad luck, including health and financial problems. “We eventually had to reach an accommodation with Jessica Lynn Cohen and accept her as a permanent member of our family.”

Is there indeed some strange psychic property that affixes itself to inanimate objects, especially those with more anthropomorphic features? It’s a strange notion indeed, almost like the ancient Kabbalistic traditions that involve the creations of “golems” or non-human “robots.” It also brings to mind “noisy spirits” and poltergeist activity.

My, it’s strange the way that some humans haunt themselves!

Special thanks to Christopher McCollum for contributing to this report.

Posted by Micah, filed under Ghosts, Psychic Phenomena. Date: December 2, 2009, "

http://gralienreport.com/psychic-phenomena/attack-of-the-christmas-zombie-dolls/
Image from Dreamtime.com

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

TV Special Spiritual Encounters?


These are not necessarily among my favorite people and if I were on Facebook they probably would not be my fans either.These two stories were rather interesting though.Thought you might like to catch them if you have not all ready.

James Van Praagh Channels Farrah Fawcett for Alana Stewart
Video and story ae
http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/12/81477/


Strange Scent Haunts NBC Studio as Roker Fetes Mystery Novel
By Joseph Alexiou
December 1, 2009 | 7:41 p.m
I did not know he wrote a novel."Today weatherman and NBC broadcast darling Al Roker celebrated the release of his first murder mystery novel, The Morning Show Murders, on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 24, at SushiSamba on Seventh Avenue.

The entire cast of Today gathered to congratulate Mr. Roker and praise his untiring work ethic"
Here the debate arose..
http://www.observer.com/2009/culture/strange-scent-haunts-nbc-studio-roker-fetes-mystery-novel


It is amazing that the article focus is almost as much on what was worn as on the "ghostly" smell...

Monday, December 7, 2009

Trust Your Intuition


"A pioneer in the field of intuition development, Penney Peirce discussed the power of intuition as well as how frequencies shape our daily lives. She likened intuition to "direct knowing," where the correct answer is simply immediately known without the need of any proof. According to her, the mind often dismisses intuitive feelings in a myriad of ways, but once one begins to trust their "first impression" they will be begin to be able to glean critical knowledge from these insights.

She clarified that an intuitive decision differs from an emotional decision because the latter often involved bias such as fear of disappointing others or wanting something very badly. Recognizing the difference can be a process of trial and error, she explained, as those emotional decisions often result in negative results. On those who may be afraid to trust their intuition, Peirce observed that often they are concerned about opening themselves up to foreseeing something bad happening. However, she pointed out that, despite the more well known tales of dramatic intuition saving lives, "intuition actually fills up a lot of our daily life and it is a lot more ordinary than we might think."

Detailing her research into frequency, Peirce cited advances in science which indicate that the world is essentially made of energy. This energy includes human beings who, in turn, vibrate at different frequencies. As such, each individual has a "personal vibration" which she defined as "the energy that you give off at any given time." Much like a tuning fork, Peirce said, interacting with others can increase or decrease your frequency depending on their "personal vibration." She revealed how this concept relates to the popular notion of the "law of attraction." Contrary to the conventional idea, which suggests that one draws things they want towards them, Peirce said that it actually is a result of finding a common resonance

http://www.penneypeirce.com/
Her site.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

"I haunt Pizza Hut" -- The oddest ghostly spots on earth


Thought you would like these..

Pizza Hut --Centereach, New York, USA
As you might expect from a restaurant where the undead hang out, pots and pans fly all over the shop. And by 'fly all over the shop' we mean 'fall off their shelves'. A woman is meant to have died in the toilets some years ago (some say it was murder, some suicide) but the result is strange whisperings and a cold sensation whilst you're using the facilities.
Thorntons Chocolate Shop -- Chester, UK

Yes, a chocolate shop. A place where you buy posh chocolates, that's where this ghost hangs out – he just loves those caramel drum ones. Supposedly the phantom of a man who died in the flat above, this spectre is a fan of pushing people down the stairs, turning the lights on and off and tripping the alarm system, just to get his ghostly kicks.

Blockbuster -- Anniston, Alabama, USA

The scene of a heinous stick-up robbery gone wrong, two employees and two customers were killed in a raid gone very wrong. The spirits' 'energy' can still be felt in the form of a cold wind (our reading: in the form of some faulty air conditioning).


The Adorable Poodle Parlour -- Fresno, California, USA

A series of odd activities have occurred in this dog-washing emporium, including the more usual lights-on-and-off trick, the sensation you're being watched, and cold patches. The most unusual, however, was the ghost constantly kissing one of the staff's neck, with her shooing him away and screaming. The big flirt.

Verna's Doughnut Shop --Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Upstairs, they sell doughnuts. Downstairs, they sell... FEAR!!! Well, not really. Downstairs, down in the big spooky basement, they keep boxes. Behind these boxes lurk... BOGEYMEN!!! Or, maybe just odd-looking shadows. Who knows, really? We haven't been, and we bloody love doughnuts."

http://www.asylum.co.uk/2009/11/26/i-haunt-pizza-hut-and-other-odd-ghostly-spots/
By Alastair Plumb

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

UFO In Dealy Plaza?


A lot has surfaced recently about the JFK assassination.Some what different about the possibility or probability of a conspricy.I personally believe it was..yet to be proven.Here is a different twist from the site of CoasttoCoastam.com





Richard C. Hoagland, passed along this enhanced version of a photo which appears to show a UFO hovering above Dealey Plaza on the afternoon that JFK was assassinated. The circular object can be seen on the right-hand side of the photograph, emitting some form of exhaust. Were you there that day and did you see that object? We would like to know

Wonder if anyone really saw it?

Monday, November 30, 2009

Death Penalty For Psychics?


Wow this is spooky.
"When the popular 46-year-old Lebanese psychic Ali Sibat went on-air and made his predictions about the future, the phone lines of the satellite television station Sheherazade used to be flooded with calls.

But what the star psychic probably did not predict was that his claims to supernatural prowess would land him a death sentence.

"He was the most popular psychic on the channel," the Lebanese news agency Naharnet quoted Sibat’s lawyer May Khansa as saying. "The number of callers, including from all over the gulf, spiked in number when he appeared."

But while on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia last year, Sibat was spotted by religious police in the holy city of Medina. Their job it is to battle vice and uphold virtue in the ultraconservative kingdom. So they arrested Sibat in his room at the Medina Hotel on charges of sorcery.

On Nov. 9, Sibat was given a death sentence by a Mecca court for allegedly practicing witchcraft.

Sibat’s fate is common in Saudi Arabia.

Scores of alleged witch doctors, fortunetellers, and black magicians each year are dragged through the Saudi courts, including Fawza Falih, who’s been on death row since 2006 for witchcraft.
Her accusers include a man who claims the 51-year-old, illiterate Falih is the reason for his impotence.

The witch hunt in the kingdom and a recent rise in witchcraft and sorcery cases are causing concern among human rights groups. News reports say at least two other people have been snatched for witchcraft only in the last month.

New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the Saudi government Tuesday to overturn Sibat’s death sentence and all other witchcraft convictions for crimes the group says are loosely defined and used in an arbitrary way...."
Full article :
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/11/saudi-arabia-kingdom-steps-up-hunt-for-witches-and-black-magicians-.html

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Ghost busting Is Real. Ask Dad


The family home still is a seat of many Ghostly happenings.He came by it naturally as his father shows.
By Craig Wilson, USA TODAY
SYDENHAM, Ontario — Seems Dan Aykroyd was destined to a life haunted by ghosts.

Aykroyd is famous for starring in the 1984 blockbuster movie Ghostbusters, which he co-wrote. But before the comedy about three eccentric parapsychologists-turned-ghost-exterminators came to be, it was what he overheard here in his family's 19th-century farmhouse parlor that led him down the paranormal path.
His father, Peter Aykroyd, has now collected those once-whispered stories in A History of Ghosts: The True Story of SĂ©ances, Mediums, Ghosts and Ghostbusters (Rodale, $25.99), and Dan has written the foreword.

The elder Aykroyd is even an original source. He stood in the parlor's cellar doorway some 80 years ago, spying on a séance hosted by his grandfather, Dr. Samuel A. Aykroyd. The book is based on 83 handwritten journals left by Samuel.

"I knew something important was going on. I just didn't know what," the elder Aykroyd says.

Floating trumpets. Tipping tables. Words mysteriously written on tablets.
His father, Peter Aykroyd, has now collected those once-whispered stories in A History of Ghosts: The True Story of SĂ©ances, Mediums, Ghosts and Ghostbusters (Rodale, $25.99), and Dan has written the foreword.

Dan, no surprise, is happy that ghosts once again are getting their due.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2009-10-18-aykroyds-ghosts_N.htm

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Mysterious Amelia Earhart



As are so many, I have been fascinated for years by Amelia Earhart.All the questions about her disappearance,,Was she a spy for family friend FDR? Did she crash and where?Was she captured by the Japanese? Did she really return and live in secret in the USA? There is of course the question was she abducted by Aliens? A;though I believe in Aliens and Abductions, i have never considered that a likely option nor her returning alive.

Recently, though, I found some interesting information which I had not previously known.She had psychic abilities.Apparently she experienced clairvoant dreams and did some table tipping for communication with spirits.Apparently her famous husband also shared some of these interests or knew of her ability.For the full article check here.It also discusses a coming attempt to find more evidence related to her demise.
http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2009/11/piloting-the-astral-plane-was-amelia-earharts-last-message-a-psychic-sos/

Drew Pearson reports in the Washington Merry Go Round in 1937
"“Officials at first were inclined to laugh at Miss Earhart’s psychic messages. But her accuracy now has them mystified. When a United Airlines plane was lost just outside of Burbank, Calif. Dec. 27, Miss Earhart called the United Airlines office and told them to look on a hill near Saugus, a little town north of Burbank.

“There the wreckage was found.

“Again when the Western Air Express plane carrying Mr. and Mrs. Martin Johnson crashed Jan. 12, Miss Earhart reported the plane to be near Newhall, 15 miles north of Burbank, where it was found.

“In the earlier crash of the Western Air Express in Utah, Miss Earhart had a vision to the effect that the bodies of the dead had been robbed by a trapper. Two days later, a trapper near Salt Lake City reported finding the wreckage, but then suddenly disappeared without giving the location of the plan"

After her disapperance, hundreds of Psychics called and sent leads.Some were used in the investigation.The article includes her husband's response to one woman who was upset by receiving several messages from Amelia Earhart on the ouija board:

"George Putman responds:
...
“I gather that you regard such manifestations much as I do. That is, with open mindedness and tempered curiosity. Long ago I became convinced, as did Miss Earhart, that there is much on the borderland of things psychic about’ which we understand little or nothing. We were both always ‘ready to be shown’ I have had an extraordinary amount of this kind of communication for many months, coming from sincere people with no axe to grind, no favors to ask. I have told them what I am telling you: I honestly do not know how to explain these things….”

"
Author Susan Weiss in her book The Thrill Of It discusses the psychic powers of AErheart

Interesting.I was happy to discover this.
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Thank You To The Featured Artists.
For more Amelia Earhart items just search at Etsy

Saturday, November 21, 2009

"When ET Phones The Pope"


ROME -- A little more than a half-mile from the Vatican, in a square called Campo de' Fiori, stands a large statue of a brooding monk. Few of the shoppers and tourists wandering through the fruit-and-vegetable market below may know his story; he is Giordano Bruno, a Renaissance philosopher, writer and free-thinker who was burned at the stake by the Inquisition in 1600. Among his many heresies was his belief in a "plurality of worlds" -- in extraterrestrial life, in aliens.

Though it's a bit late for Bruno, he might take satisfaction in knowing that this(Last) week the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences is holding its first major conference on astrobiology, the new science that seeks to find life elsewhere in the cosmos and to understand how it began on Earth. Convened on private Vatican grounds in the elegant Casina Pio IV, formerly the pope's villa, the unlikely gathering of prominent scientists and religious leaders shows that some of the most tradition-bound faiths are seriously contemplating the possibility that life exists in myriad forms beyond this planet. Astrobiology has arrived, and religious and social institutions -- even the Vatican -- is taking notice...."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/06/AR2009110601899.html

Thursday, November 19, 2009

George Has A New Book


If you are a Coast To Coast AM follower, then you know the host George Noory has a new coauthored book.Here is an exerpt from the newsletter:
"Journey to the Light:

On Wednesday's show, best selling author, William J. Birnes spoke with George Noory about their new book Journey to the Light, which presents evidence that human psychic potential is real. After the response to their first book, Worker in the Light, Birnes got the idea to solicit stories of intuition, spirit, and premonition from Coast to Coast listeners, and there was such a wealth of material that he had to cut the manuscript in half. A number of the contributors to the new book joined the show to tell their story. Diane Gallagin talked about her Near-Death-Experience in which she encountered the archangel Michael. Subsequent to this episode, she gained the ability to see and hear spirits.

Joyce Barnette told a touching account of how she and her husband had agreed to communicate with each other from beyond the grave, after one of them passed. At key moments in her life, she saw her husband's name on a truck and a store sign. Robert Ingram described his life-changing experiences that occurred at a meditation retreat. "My consciousness seemed to be everywhere," and I saw the mechanics of the universe, he shared. Donna Hartley discussed surviving a fiery plane crash, cancer, and surgery, and then becoming a motivational speaker. Also featured in the book are Col. John Alexander, and Paul Smith, and they appeared briefly during the evening to discuss the government's Remote Viewing program as depicted in the new film The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Birnes said he was struck by the intensity of the stories that people shared for the book, the degree that people are communicating with the departed, and how dreams have the potential to take you into your future. He is currently at work on a new book with George Noory-- Talktown USA, which chronicles George's career as a radio host, and his efforts to bring civil discourse to the airwaves."

Quite a carrer and a most interesting program...I enjoy the newsletter also...

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Jenna Discusses White House Ghosts


Did you see Jenna Bush on The Jay Leno Show? I missed it but hear they had a discussion of some of the ghost tales at the White house.She and her sister often heard things and were frightened but never saw as I understand it, anyone there. she shared some of my favorites including Winston Churchill's naked encounter with Lincoln...( http://www.blogger.com/posts.g?blogID=2344620037289236225&searchType=CURRENT&page=3)

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Pets That See Ghosts?


Does your pet see ghosts?
Do you believe in the paranormal? Maybe your pet does. The Animal Planet network is launching a new show called 'Haunted Animals' and they're filming in Wilder Friday afternoon. The show explores how animals interact with ghosts and the paranormal. The show's producers want to see if your pet reacts to some of the reported paranormal activity at Bobby Mackey's Music World in Wilder...

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Does-Your-Pet-See-Ghosts/biUC4LmkCkmQ0MiEg5i4ig.cspx

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Celebrate "Nessie's" Discovery Day


Maybe far from her Birthday but
On November 12, 1933, Hugh Gray was walking along the shore of Loch Ness when he saw an "object of considerable dimensions, making a big splash with spray on the surface of the Loch." He had his camera with him, and captured what some believe to be the first photographic evidence of the Loch Ness Monster. Others have dismissed the image as a distortion of a dog swimming through the water.

I believe,"Happy Discovery Day."Nessie"

Earrings celebrating this and any occasion are from my shop!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Astrology And Business Trends?


Marketing and research consultant Steven Mark Weiss discussed how he uses astrology to understand demographic and societal changes, as well as cultural phenomena like food trends. "In his work he uses the planet Jupiter, which spends a year in each astrological sign, to look for cycles or trends that return every 12 years. For instance, he noted how that the electronic toy Tamagotchi (a 'virutal pet' that required near constant monitoring) was very popular in 1997, and now products like the iPhone are frequently in a person's hand.



Weiss shared his research into which types of food have an inherent appeal to specific astrological signs:

* Gemini-- like doing things fast and quick, so they may frequent fast food places.
* Aries-- are drawn to temperature extremes, such as grilled meats and ice-cold drinks. They also like to be the first to try new places.
* Taurus-- appreciate the cow, whether beef or dairy. They take their time and savor high quality.
* Cancer-- like comfort foods, and place importance on taste.
* Leo-- enjoy food at parties and celebrations, like champagne and birthday cake.
* Libra-- like food combinations such as burger & fries or soup & sandwich, as they have an affinity for balancing different elements.
* Virgo-- are healthy eaters, and focus on nutritional content.
* Scorpio-- enjoy red foods like strawberries and chili peppers, and like to make sure their money is well spent.
* Sagittarius-- are adventure-minded and like to try different things.
* Capricorn-- eat with practicality in mind, and treasure Mom's cooking.
* Aquarius-- can become excited about particular foods, and learn all they can about them. They also like food at public places such as the ballpark.
* Pisces-- can retain deep and personal associations about different food items.

Weiss recently served as a consultant for Dominos, helping them create a sandwich suggestion list based on these preferences.
Noting the importance of Neptune moving into Pisces (the sign that it rules) in 2012, he suggested this could set the stage for a new cycle filled with unpredictable or mysterious events. He also spoke about "the Transformers," the generation born between 1984 - 1995. Many of these kids are now in college, and are actively creating trends, and doing things to acquire cultural power, he said."

Well who knew?

Sunday, November 8, 2009

The Old Woman Haunting


From the scarey hauntings at AboutParanormal.com

"Some teenagers think it's fun or cool to go traipsing around disrespectfully in cemeteries on Halloween. If you've considered such an outing, consider too that you might be disturbing those who rest there... and something might even follow you home.

A 17-year-old British girl made that mistake. It wasn't Halloween, but the Spring of 1978 when a girl, identified only as Miss A by the Society of Psychical Research, and several of her friends decided to make their way through a local graveyard, trampling graves as they laughed and joked. Only Miss A and her family was to pay the price for that prank, however. Several nights later, Miss A awoke to see the apparition of an old woman sitting in a chair near her bed. The spirit was not transparent, and Miss A did not sense any harm from it. In the morning, she wrote off the experience as a weird dream.

But it wasn't. For several weeks following, Miss A repeatedly saw the ghost of the old woman - sometimes in broad daylight. It would follow Miss A from room to room, hovering less than a foot above the floor. At times it watched Miss A's every move, following her, and would freeze in place whenever she turned to confront it. And soon the encounters became more threatening.

While making tea one day, she felt an unseen force grab the tea kettle - filled with boiling water - and twist it in her hands. Miss A felt that the entity was trying to scald her. Finally, Miss A told her mother of these bizarre experiences. Mrs. A was skeptical at first - until she too saw the old woman drift across the downstairs hall and disappear into a room. The entity continued to make its presence felt. On one occasion it wrenched the vacuum cleaner from Mrs. A's hands. It would sometimes push or pull against doors that family members were trying to open or close. Miss A's father - the most diehard skeptic of the group - was even forced to believe when loud rapping noises awakened the entire household, and later when he could not explain water incessantly dripping from the kitchen ceiling. A plumber could find no leak.

The poltergeist activity escalated. Loud banging, unexplained snoring sounds, objects moved about. Then, it seemed, the entity attempted to make its identity known. Miss A was sitting with her father one day when she suddenly fell into a trance. She began to speak of another life - as the daughter of a French doctor in the 1800s. After this incident, Miss A's behavior changed noticeably and she appeared to be endowed with unexplained psychic powers: she could bend the tines of a fork just by brushing them with her fingers. Doctors and other investigators could find no rational explanation for what was happening to the A family. But they could endure no more. Miss A and her family moved out of their home of 11 years.

But the ghost was to give Miss A one last life-threatening scare. Out of a nagging curiosity, Miss A returned to the empty house one day. She found the back door broken and open. She went in. She picked up the telephone to see if it was working. Suddenly, something grabbed her by the throat. Icy, unseen fingers had grabbed Miss A by the neck and were choking her. Terrified, she managed to pull herself away and ran out the front door. Needless to say, she never returned."

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Old Folsom Prision Considered Haunted


Historic Folsom Prison
Prison guards stand watch over the dining hall at Folsom Prison in this 1892 photograph published in "Images of American: Folsom Prison" penned by Jim Brown. The guards used metal-tipped canes to help keep inmates in line, according to the book. Ghosts may haunt catwalks and corridors of Folsom State Prison. At least according to James Brown, operations manager for the prison’s museum. Brown is also a retired corrections officer, having worked many years at the prison, and author of “Images of America: Folsom Prison.” While he’s never seen a ghost while working at the prison, Brown says that he believes in them..

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

THE FREEBORN HAUNTING


THE FREEBORN HAUNTING

Among those listed in About.com/Paranormal edited by S.Wagner was this trus story.

"If a previous owner has died in the house in which you now reside, you might want to think twice before you redecorate.

After Mrs. Meg Lyons died suddenly in her Bakersfield, California house, it had remained untouched when Mrs. Frances Freeborn moved in during the month of November, 1981. Every piece of Mrs. Lyons' furniture was just as she left it. Her clothes still filled the closets and dressers. Eager to make the house her own, Mrs. Freeborn set about cleaning out the house and refurbishing it to her liking. And that's when the trouble started.

The first unsettling mystery was a loud thumping noise coming from the kitchen area, which Freeborn at first dismissed as noisy plumbing. But then there was other strangeness. Freeborn habitually closed all doors and cabinets before retiring to bed, only to find them wide open in the morning. Lights would be switched on by unseen hands while Freeborn was out of the house. She tried to take these curious occurrences in stride, but was convinced a paranormal force was at play when she tried to hang a particular picture - a triptych (three photos in one frame) of pre-Civil War women.

The morning after hanging it, Freeborn was puzzled to find it on the floor, but neatly propped against the wall. Figuring it had merely fallen (and luckily not broken), she re-hung it. In fact, five times she tried to hang the picture, and each time it was taken down and set against the wall. A week or so later, following an impulse, she hung the picture in a spare bedroom much lower on the wall and too close to the light switch than she actually preferred. But this time the picture stayed put. Why? When Luke Cowley, the dead Mrs. Lyon's son-in-law, visited the house, he remarked that Mrs. Lyon had hung a very similar picture in that very spot.

In 1982, as Mrs. Freeborn was preparing to redecorate the master bedroom, the poltergeist activity increased. Throughout the day that she shopped for paint and wallpaper, she was unnerved by the sensation of being watched. That night, crashing noises and loud banging in remote areas of the house kept Freeborn from sleeping. She arose from her bed at about 2 a.m. and walked to the bathroom. She ran some water at the sink to wash her hands. Suddenly, the bathroom window flew open. She closed it, returned to her bed and sat, frightened. Again the bathroom window opened and in the same instant the bedroom window crashed shut. The folding doors of one closet tore open as another closet door slammed closed. Her dog barked frantically at the terrifying spectacle.

Scared out of her wits, Freeborn's solitary thought was to get out of that house. She picked up her dog and fled the bedroom into the hallway and ran smack into some unseen force. "There was a zone of pressure," she later related, "a mass out in the hall, as if something ominous and ugly was concentrated there. I realized I had to get out of the house or I would die."

Three distinct forces were in that hallway, she insisted - one to each side of her and one blocking her way out. Gathering all her courage, she shouted, "Get out of my way!" and forced her way past the dark presences. Somehow she sensed that the two entities at her sides her "surprised" that she was able to do this, and she felt that the entity in front of her was knocked back. She ran out the back door and sped away in her car... still wearing her nightgown."

Can not blame her!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Have you dreamed of this man?


At least 2,000 people around the world claim to have seen this man in their dreams, though they don't know who he is, according to the website thisman.org. It began, they write, in January 2006, when a psychiatrist's patient first made the sketch and said she'd been having recurring dreams with "This Man," as he later became known
Interesting, I hear this week the number is up to 8.000.Noy me though.how about you?

Saw this the other day:

"According to several polls and surveys conducted around the world, belief in the paranormal and supernatural is at an all time high and shows no evidence of decline. In the U.S. alone, a recent Gallop poll showed that 75% of Americans have some sort of paranormal belief; a Harris poll showed that half of Americans believe in ghosts; a CBS poll showed that one in five Americans have seen or physically encountered a ghost; and still another survey taken from more than 400 college students with the highest GPAs found seniors and grad students more likely to believe in the paranormal then their “uneducated” freshman counterparts. Paranormal beliefs include such phenomena as extraterrestrial and UFO close encounters, all types of psychic phenomena, miracles and demonic possession, ghosts and poltergeists, witchcraft and metaphysics, and encounters with extraordinary life forms, including Bigfoot and the notorious chupacabra."


http://paranormal.about.com/od/paranormalgeneralinfo/a/aa102508.htm?nl=1

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween


You may have heard this on Halloween Eve on Coast To Coast AM;


"Frank from Nashville, Tennessee, remembered when his three-year-old daughter complained to him about a monster in her bedroom. Frank said he made her a 'no monster' spray from an aerosol can of Lysol and instructed his daughter to use it against the monster. According to Frank, he found his daughter asleep in the hallway the next morning (the spray having failed to work on this monster). About a year later, his daughter still sleeping in the hallway, Frank finally saw what had been terrorizing her -- a demonic, gargoyle-like creature with glowing red eyes."

Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Proctor Haunting


"Have you ever spent the night in a house reputed to be haunted? This story could make you reconsider.

It was the autumn of 1834 when the Proctors, a Quaker family, began to notice disturbances in their house near Tyneside in northern England. Every member of the family complained of hearing footsteps and whistling that could not be accounted for. The sound of a clock being wound could not be explained. Over a six-year period, the intensity of the haunting increased. The stomping of angry footsteps echoed throughout the house, contrasted by faint whisperings. And then there were the apparitions. The white figure of a strange woman was seen in a window by a neighbor, and then seen in other rooms of the house by the Proctors. A disembodied white face appeared over a stair railing, seeming to watch the family.

The Proctor's plight was known throughout the area, and then, as now, there were skeptics who were certain they could explain it all away. On July 3, 1840, Edward Drury, a local doctor, volunteered to spend a night in the house with his colleague, T. Hudson, while the Proctors were away. Dr. Drury armed himself with pistols and waited on the third floor landing, unafraid of what he was sure were mundane house noises. Less than an hour into his vigil, Drury began to hear soft footfalls, then a knocking and an echoing cough. Hudson had fallen asleep. But at about 1 a.m., Dr. Drury watched in horror as a closet door slowly swung open out of which floated toward him the ghostly lady in white. Drury screamed and charged the phantom, succeeding only in tripping over his friend Hudson. What next happened the doctor could not recall. "I have since learned," he later wrote, "that I was carried downstairs in an agony of fear and terror."

Some years later the Proctors could stand no more of the unexplained manifestations and vacated the house in 1847. The building was later torn down.

http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/aa102807.htm?nl=1

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Islamic Stigmata


This is not a Halloween ghost tale,but an interesting article I found yesterday.

",,, In the meantime I've been interested in the baby in Dagestan who is apparently running a sort of Koranic slide show on his skin. Ali Yakubov is said to have exhibited the word 'Allah' in Arabic on his chin at a few weeks of age, and subsequently entire Koranic verses have been appearing on various parts of his body, before fading and being replaced with new ones. Initially the parents did not talk about it, but then the phrase, "Show these signs to people" came into view, and now their household is being inundated with pilgrims from all over the region. Performances are twice weekly, on Mondays and Thursday nights.

There are a few other details. The child is said to have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease and cerebral spastic infantile paralysis at birth, but he recovered suddenly when the scripts started appearing on his body. When this happens, his mother says, he cries, his temperature rises and he seems to be very uncomfortable. The parents themselves are not particularly religious, but the local muftis are all aflutter and maintain the event is a "warning to all Muslims of Russia and Dagestan ... that they should turn to the wisdom of the religion of Allah, repent of their sins, and abandon their discord, conflicts, and the fratricidal confrontation that today shakes the blessed land of Dagestan and the entire Caucasus."...

Full article:

http://monkeywah.typepad.com/paranormalia/2009/10/islamic-stigmata.html

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Jenny's Halloween Ghost Experience


"Disturbing Halloween Shadow Entinty

t was Halloween, October 31, 2004. It all happened in my cousin's house at Antipolo City, Philippines. It was a nice day, and I was so excited that I would be seeing my cousins and other relati

day, and I was so excited that I would be seeing my cousins and other relatives. I have been spending my summer months with them for years, and we have this tradition of making the most out of our time together.

That day, my cousin and I went to buy music CDs, and decided to grab a DVD movie so we could hang out at home watching and enjoying R&B sounds. We decided to go straight back home to my cousin's house to listen to the CDs we bought. We took the back entrance of their house, leading to the second floor, where we saw her nanny and her niece. My cousin decided to stay in her room for a few minutes; and as for me, I started taking the stairs down to the ground floor of the house.

The ground floor part of my cousin's house had been abandoned for about three months. My other two cousins had used two bedrooms down there, but now they had to vacate the ground floor to reserve it for guests during special occasions only. The house itself has three floors, yet there are only five people who live in it.

As I took the last step of the stairs, at the side of my eyes I saw a dark, tall shadow about six feet tall pass by the kitchen door at my left. I just ignored it, though, since that I was more excited about listening to the CDs. Also, I had been seeing a lot of those shadows in the past years, so I was kinda used to it already.

I took one of the CDs and began to play it on the stereo, with just a minimal volume, just for me to relax. As I was sitting on the couch, my cousin came into the living room and turned the stereo volume up very loud. As we were enjoying the music, suddenly the volume dropped down to zero. I just stared at it, wondering how it happened. My cousin even got mad at me because she thought that I was the one who lowered the volume using the remote control. I just looked at her and pointed at the remote control on top of the stereo. Realizing that I wasn't responsible, my cousin suddenly ran upstairs, screaming, dead scared to stay in the living room.

I was left alone, trying to analyze what had just happened. A few seconds after that, I ran upstairs, too, to check on my cousin. Surprisingly, the nanny, upon seeing me, told me that she also heard strange sounds while we were down in the living room. She explained that the sounds that she heard upstairs were like humming frogs or crickets.

After an hour, my cousin and I went downstairs, again to watch a horror movie when something strange happened. While watching, we suddenly felt scared because we could hear the sounds from the previous scenes of the movie, like a long-delayed echo. It seemed like something was actually trying to mimic the movie - particularly the sounds. Finally, we made up our minds to stop watching and just listen to the CDs, this time a lot louder. We also switched on all of the lights on the ground floor. This time, my cousin even shouted to the ghost, "This is when I am able to spend my vacation with my cousin, so beat it!" From there we went on enjoying the sounds and chatting with each other.
During the height of our enjoyment, one of the figurines from the top of the stereo flew off and crashed on the floor. My cousin wasn't scared; in fact, she got mad because it was her mom's favorite figurine. At first we thought that it was the strong vibration of the speakers that caused the figurine to fall. But there were many other items on top of the speakers, some a lot lighter than the figurine, so why just that one? Also, it didn't just fall; it was more like it was thrown.

We knew we weren't welcome anymore. Something was trying to hinder us from staying in that particular part of the house. We found out that it wasn't just us who experienced weird things in that living room, but also my other cousins and most of the people who used to work there as nannies for them. These former nannies had left without a word, even without getting paid. Perhaps they were in fear of getting harmed or bothered by that same shadow entity. - Jenny C."

Thanks for the story of your unusual experience.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Another Halloween Ghost Story


Evil In The Attic

"Attics can be scary places... maybe even more so around Halloween time. Take it from Eve, who as a young girl ventured into her attic alone in search of costumes. “My mum and sister went to my neighbor's house, leaving me alone in the house,” says Eve. “It was about 4:30 and already beginning to get dark. I took that opportunity to sneak upstairs into the attic to try on some Halloween stuff. I quickly ran up the steps, knowing that if my mum came back and caught me, I would be in deep trouble. Although all the windows were shut, I felt a cold breeze pass through me, but I thought nothing of it at first because I had had no past experiences of paranormal phenomena.”

Eve rummaged through the bag of Halloween costumes and pulled out a witch’s hat, which she tried on for size. Almost immediately, some unseen force hit the hat. She dropped the bag and quickly turned around, but found nothing against which she could have knocked the hat. “As I bent down to pick up the bag, I saw the handle to the bathroom door turn and the door rapidly opened,” Eve says. “I walked cautiously into the bathroom, wondering what had caused the door to open in such a way. I had a feeling that there was another presence in the room. I looked out of the window to check if my mother and sister were still outside, and sure enough they were. Just as I was about to turn away form the window, I saw the reflection of the cupboard door sliding open. I turned around hastily to try and see what was causing these incidents, but I wasn't quick enough to catch whatever it was.”

Terrified, Eve threw the bag back into the cardboard box and ran downstairs and out into the front garden, waiting anxiously for her mum to return home. “That night, I had a nightmare about what might have followed if I had stayed up there any longer,” Eve says. “Evil, gleaming red eyes stared at me from the bathroom cupboard, locking me in the toilet and causing complete havoc all around the house. Several unexplainable things have happened up there since then, including ‘self-breaking’ objects.”

What was it, beside her own equilibrium, that Eve disturbed in that attic that evening?"

Saturday, October 24, 2009

A New Take On "Bloody Mary"?


"BLOODY MARY

It happened in London on October 31 - Halloween. I was making the rounds at my Halloween party looking for my seven-year-old son, and I couldn't find him. I went to his room and he wasn't there, but then I heard him laughing in the wardrobe. I opened the wardrobe, and he was the only one in there, laughing. I just thought he was doing what normal kids do, playing, until later on.

The party was all over and I was cleaning up. I couldn't find my son again, so I went upstairs and checked the wardrobe. He was in there laughing again. This time I asked him what he was doing. "I'm playing with Mary," he replied. I thought this time one of the kids was in there with him, hiding, so I opened the other side of the wardrobe. There was nobody there.

So I thought he had an imaginary friend. I told him to stop talking about an imaginary friend because it's not real, and then I went downstairs to clean more.

Two hours later, at 10:00 p.m., I'd finished cleaning up and my son was already in bed. I was tired, so I went to bed. When I went into my room, I found a message written in my lipstick on my mirror saying, "You're wrong. I am real. I am Bloody Mary." As soon as I saw this, I rushed to my son's room only to find him with bloody scratches all over his arms, legs and face. He shouted at me, "I hate you! This wouldn't have happened if you said that she was real!" - Geshe"

From about.com/Paranormal

INTERESTING FIND
What Really Scares People?
Top 10 Phobias
http://www.livescience.com/culture/091023-top10-fear.html

Friday, October 23, 2009

Kia's Halloween Ghost



"The Tickling Ghost

Every Halloweenlloween around midnight, in our living room, I see a white figure of a little boy just staring back at me. This first happened in 2005, the year my mom and I first moved into our apartment. I was 10 years old and my mom was sleeping. Usually I can't sleep on Halloween because I get too scared. That year, I couldn't close my eyes without feeling someone sneaking into my room.

When I first saw "it," it was about 1 a.m. and I was just lying in my bed thinking about the Halloween that had just passed. I started to drift off. Then I felt as if someone or something was tickling my feet. So I opened my eyes - and that was when I saw him. I distinctly remember that he was all the way over by the wall. I closed my eyes, thinking that it was just my imagination, but when I opened them again, he was closer than he was before.

I ran into my mom's room and told her what I saw. Of course, she didn't believe me, and she told me to go back to sleep. So I went back to my room and fell asleep. I dreamed of the boy in white all through the rest of the night and it scared me so badly. The thing about it is, as I see him every year, he gets clearer and clearer and he gets bigger and bigger, as if he is growing up with me. I'm 13 now and he looks about 13, too. - Kia"

Sounds like somethingHairy The Happy Ghost might do while he waits for you to have him the prize at your Halloween Party.He is in my shop..

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Phantom Car,..Angels or Ghosts?


An interesting experience reported on About.com/Paranormal.

" Phantom Car
It was the year 2004, in Phoenix, Arizona. I was helping out my best friend and watching her children while she worked at night. She lived almost about two hours away from me at the time. I had to borrow my mom's vehicle, since my mother had to work as well, so I had to have her car back each morning. I drove two hours there and two hours back every day for three days with my infant son. Needless to say, the last night driving home I was exhausted and constantly shaking my head and blinking my eyes to keep me awake. I debated pulling over, but didn't want to stop on the side of the highway with a baby in the car.

Finally, I got back to Phoenix. I was on a bridge on the 101 freeway when I finally nodded off for the last time. I was quickly awakened by a honking horn. I looked over to the right where the car was and saw a bunch of young teenagers in the car all waving and smiling at me. I glanced away for a second and then looked back and the car was gone. There were no exits, we were on a bridge, and there was nowhere for that car to go. There was no car ahead or in front of me. The car was gone.

I thought later how even if it wasn't an angel's car, they couldn't have possibly seen me close my eyes. It was night and they were on the passenger side. If that car wouldn't have honked its horn and awakened me, I would have crashed off a bridge, and my son and I would not be here today."
Angels? Ghosts of those killed in an accident? What do you think?

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Was A Cow Being Abducted By Aliens?


Couple In Argentina Report Seeing Cow Abduction

Recently UFO Digest, which reports world wide sightings, says a couple in Atgentina driving along in daylight in the countryside believe they wittnessed a cow being abducted by a UFO.
http://www.rosario3.com/

The abduction theory is debated even among believers and Ufologists.What do you think?

Thursday, October 15, 2009

A Miracle In 1917


This week in 1917, the Miracle of the Sun was witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people in fields near Fatima, Portugal. The sun was said to appear as a spinning disc, and moved in a zigzag pattern. Three shepherd children had predicted the miracle would take place at this date and location after their reported encounters with an apparition of the Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of Fatima.

Although the first and second were revealed,There is debate about the third.Some say it has to do with the Pope being killed.The details however are still being kept secret by the Vatican

The illustration is a print by an Etsy artist."Lady of Fatima." She says"The traveling statue of Our Lady of Fatima has been around the world more than 30 times. She came to San Diego this year and I visited and photographed her many times."
See this and other work at the shop http://ciaobella3.etsy.com

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Before eHarmony It Was Halloween


Customs most Trick or Treaters may not know about Halloween:
But what about the Halloween traditions and beliefs that today's trick-or-treaters have forgotten all about? Many of these obsolete rituals focused on the future instead of the past and the living instead of the dead. In particular, many had to do with helping young women identify their future husbands and reassuring them that they would someday--with luck, by next Halloween!--be married

In 18th-century Ireland, a matchmaking cook might bury a ring in her mashed potatoes on Halloween night, hoping to bring true love to the diner who found it. In Scotland, fortune-tellers recommended that an eligible young woman name a hazelnut for each of her suitors and then toss the nuts into the fireplace. The nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or exploding, the story went, represented the girl's future husband. (In some versions of this legend, confusingly, the opposite was true: The nut that burned away symbolized a love that would not last.) Another tale had it that if a young woman ate a sugary concoction made out of walnuts, hazelnuts and nutmeg before bed on Halloween night, she would dream about her future husband. Young women tossed apple-peels over their shoulders, hoping that the peels would fall on the floor in the shape of their future husbands' initials; tried to learn about their futures by peering at egg yolks floating in a bowl of water; and stood in front of mirrors in darkened rooms, holding candles and looking over their shoulders for their husbands' faces.


Other rituals were more competitive. At some Halloween parties, the first guest to find a burr on a chestnut-hunt would be the first to marry; at others, the first successful apple bobber would be the first down the asile.

Over the course of hundreds of years, early Christianity would attempt to suppress and replace the Celtic festival with All Saints' Day, which was celebrated on November 1, a holy day of obligation to honor saints and martyrs in the Christian faith. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. But even the powerful influence of the church was unable to squelch the supernatural festival, and Halloween endured and flourished over the centuries to become the sensationalistic celebration it is today in the U.S.


http://wilstar.com/holidays/hallown.htm


The second illustration is "Vintage PC Courting Woman With Parasol and Flowered Hat Man with Bowler Hat and Looking his best"by christmasangel
visit http://christmasangel.etsy.com

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Customs Of Halloween




CUSTOMS The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore. As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.

According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.

So, although some cults may have adopted Halloween as their favorite "holiday," the day itself did not grow out of evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new year, and out of Medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. And today, even many churches have Halloween parties or pumpkin carving events for the kids. After all, the day itself is only as evil as one cares to make it.
http://wilstar.com/holidays/hallown.htm

Customs the Trick or Treaters may have forgotten in the next post.Sort of Before E Harmony..

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Mystery And Superstition Of Halloween



Halloween has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic and superstition. It began as a Celtic end-of-summer festival during which people felt especially close to deceased relatives and friends. For these friendly spirits, they set places at the dinner table, left treats on doorsteps and along the side of the road and lit candles to help loved ones find their way back to the spirit world.


Today's Halloween ghosts are often depicted as more fearsome and malevolent, and our customs and superstitions are scarier too. We avoid crossing paths with black cats, afraid that they might bring us bad luck. This idea has its roots in the Middle Ages, when many people believed that witches avoided detection by turning themselves into cats.
We try not to walk under ladders for the same reason. This superstition may have come from the ancient Egyptians, who believed that triangles were sacred; it also may have something to do with the fact that walking under a leaning ladder tends to be fairly unsafe.
And around Halloween, especially, we try to avoid breaking mirrors, stepping on cracks in the road or spilling salt.

Hidden Spirits Game
http://www.history.com/content/halloween/hidden-spirits-game


Mote about the customs in next post.

The not so frightening ghost illustration is available in my shop"
http://nursesnaturally.etsy.com

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Origins Of Halloween


A few excerpts from The History Channel's wonderful site about Halloween.along with some information from S Wagner's About Paranormal newsletter..to tell about this second only to Christmas Holiday in favorite and Commercial recognition in America.

"
HALLOWEEN ORIGINS

Whether one is a believer or a skeptic,(regarding the paranormal) Halloween in the U.S. might be the one time of the year that both stand united in simply having a good time in the shadow of such reported phenomena.
The origins of Halloween itself lay in supernatural beliefs and an ancient Celtic festival that dates back some 2,000 years. Originally called Samhain (pronounced sow-in), the festival originated amidst the region now known as the United Kingdom and celebrated the one night each year that the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became indistinguishable. On this night, the Celts believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to Earth for good or for bad and allowed Druid priests to additionally interact with them for the wellbeing of them all."
http://paranormal.about.com/od/paranormalgeneralinfo/a/aa102508.htm?nl=1


History.com
"The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Halloween.

As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. Because of the rigid Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited there.
It was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups, as well as the American Indians, meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included "play parties," public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.
Halloween: Pumpkins on steps

In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. Young women believed that, on Halloween, they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors."

More in the next post about some of the superstitions around and about Halloween