Moons & Musings

 (Credit: Werewolf Pack Leader - Miranda Meeks, Magic: The Gathering, Wizards of the Coast) Hello all! I think it's time we revived this series and what better season to do it! This is a long one, feel free to take breaks. SQUEAMISH PEOPLE, continue at your own risk, you have been warned. We're coming back strong with Werewolves ! Werewolves can be found throughout the world in one mythology or another but, their place of origin might take you by surprise. The earliest surviving mention of a Werewolf or Werewolf type being can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh , which is from roughly 2100 BC. The Werewolf that we mostly know of however, comes from ancient Greece . In 425 BC, Herodotus wrote a tribe of nomadic men called the Neuri who were said to take the form of a wolf for several days at a time throughout the year. This actually has an explanation as the Neuri came from Scythia , which is now part of Russia. As you can imagine, the cold climate led to the use of animal skins...

  🖼️Credit - La Llorona by Leo D'Amico Hello all!! It's been a very long time since we've posted anything besides a Moon so, we're coming back with our Mythological Creature Series! So far in this series, we have covered: -  Vampire -  Goblin -  Wendigo -  Gargoyle Today, we are covering something different as the subject of this post is more Folklore than  mythological creature, but, we feel that "Creatures" like this should be included in the series.  There is a chance that you may have heard of this but if you haven't, caution is advised... DISCLAIMER: THE CONTENT OF THIS POST MAY BE DISTRESSING OR TRIGGERING. CONTAINS MENTION OF DROWNING AND CHILD DEATH. Today's Mythological Creature is La Llorona!! La Llorona (pronounced lah yo roh na ) is a Southwestern Hispanic American folk tale, dating from the time of the Conquistadors, though there is some speculation that she could have origins from the Aztec empire. La Llorona itself means The Weeping Wom...

  Credit - Gargoyle by Joseph Vargo Hi Guys, Continuing our mythological creatures series today with gargoyles! Essentially, a gargoyle is a grotesque carved figure with a human or animal face that projects from the corner of a wall or roof, typically to drain off water, specifically in Gothic architecture. The most notable examples are the gargoyles of Notre Dame. Despite their somewhat terrifying appearance, the origins of the gargoyle are not what you would expect. Created in 13th century France , gargoyles were originally designed to help drain water from rooftops as mentioned above. A trough was cut through the back of the statue which lead to the open mouth of the gargoyle. In some cases, a pipe was threaded through. It is through their original use that the gargoyle happened to get its name. The word gargoyle is derived from the French word gargouille , which came from the noise created by water and air mixing in the gargoyle's throat. The size of the gargoyle also dep...

  Hi Guys, I know I missed the crystals last week, but we're back this week. We've looked at crystal grids in the past, but I thought that we could look in a little more detail as to why there are crystals in certain shapes. Crystal shapes are carved and polished, so are highly worked stones, and some people do not like working with them. As someone who prefers raw, unworked stones, I do have an inordinate number of crystal shapes! Above is my very own sodalite angel. I also have a carnelian angel, and a large selenite one too. I have chosen to start with the angel, as this time of year is all about communicating with spirits and higher beings. So, why do we use certain shapes of crystal? Simply, to give us focus. Usually, there will be a focal stone in the centre of a crystal grid, these range from regular crystals, to towers, spheres or other shaped crystals. The shape we choose is usually indicative of the focus of the board. Of course, one does not NEED a board or grid to...

Credit - Wendigo by Hermance Bertrand   Hi Guys, Just thought I'd throw a mythological creature in this week, maybe more than one. I was always fascinated by stories of the Wendigo when I was younger, having come across the term in the Stephen King novel, Pet Semetary, so I thought that I would delve deeper into it today. I was always aware it was Native American, but this was in the days well before the internet, so research was limited!  ~ The Wendigo is a creature or evil spirit originating from the Great Lakes, Plains and many First Nations.  ~ It is mainly found in the Eastern coast forests of Canada, the Great Plains and the Great Lakes areas of the United States and Canada.  ~ The English pronunciation comes from the Ojibwe word of Wiindigoo,  In the Cree language it is wīhtikow, also transliterated wetiko.  Other transliterations include: Wiindigoo,  Weendigo,  Windego,  Wiindgoo,  Windgo,  Windago, Windiga,  Wendego, ...

  Credit - Jubokko by Julie Sakai Hi Guys, Thank you to Cat for yesterday's Flora Friday, I must admit that I didn't realise Jimson Weed had so many names!! To today's post. I was unsure whether or not to put this as a Flora Friday or not, but decided t just shoehorn it in somewhere else in the end. This tree is highly popular in Japanese culture, but it is undecided exactly when it first appeared in the consciousness. It is classed as a yokai, which is one of many spirits or supernatural entities in Japanese folklore.  So, Jubukko is a seemingly ordinary tree at first glance, except that it is vampiric! Which is why it has ended up being in our Hallowe'en section! Said to grow upon battlefields where that has been much bloodshed, and much loss of life, the tree becomes yokai by sucking up vast quantities of human blood. This makes it dependant on blood for further growth. By appearing to be an unobtrusive, ordinary tree, it can have many people pass it by. At this p...

 (Credit: Belfry Hunt by Joseph Vargo) Hi Guys, Keeping up with the Hallowe'en theme, we are moving on to some of the mythological creatures associated with this time of year, or at least, some that are represented in the costumes that are favoured around this time. I have chosen to start with the ever popular vampire. Cultures such as the Mesopotamians , Hebrews , Ancient Greeks , Manipuri and Romans had tales of demons and spirits which are considered to be precursors to modern vampires.  Use of the term vampire seems to originate from 17th Century Europe, but it has no etymology, suggesting that it was already a word in popular use. These creatures appear in various forms across folklore, and go by many different names. In the Philippines , for example, they came under the umbrella term of Aswang, which covers many and various shape-shifting evil spirits, including were-creatures, vampires, ghouls and witches among others. They are the embodiment of everything bad and an ...