A phobia is a persistent fear of an object, activity or situation.
B.F. Skinner, the founder of behaviorism, believed phobias were superstitions. In his opinion, any behavioral pattern which didn’t achieve a goal with the fewest number of actions was irrational. People who suffer from phobias often go to great lengths to avoid situations where they might encounter the source of their fear. For some, phobias require minor adjustments to everyday life; for others, fear colors every moment of their existence.
The variety of phobias is surprisingly large.
To someone who doesn’t have a particular phobia, many sound mundane or even silly.
Alliumphobia – fear of garlic.
Arachibutyrophobia- fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.
Dutchphobia – fear of the Dutch.
Allodoxaphobia – fear of opinions.
While other phobias seem fairly practical.
Ballistophobia – fear of missiles or bullets.
Dermatophobia – fear of skin lesions.
Ephebiphobia – fear of teenagers.
Zemmiphobia – fear of the great mole rat.
Some phobias seem directed at literary types.
Bibliophobia – fear of books.
Scriptophobia – fear of writing in public.
Sesquipedalophobia – fear of long words.
Symbolophobia – fear of symbolism.
And then there are a few phobias that just seem difficult to work with.
Barophobia – fear of gravity.
Lachanophobia – fear of vegetables.
Kathisophobia – fear of sitting down.
I have a few phobias myself. Any rational person would have to agree that
bustrophobia – fear of buses,
climacophobia- fear of stairs,
and
ochlophobia – fear of crowds, are fears that make sense.
Tattoos are maybe not quite as scary as they once were. Now that nearly everyone has at least a little flower on some corner of his or her body the danger factor has be reduced nearly to zero. But some tattoos are still scary.
The coyote, in Native American folklore, is a cunning shape-shifter who brings fire to humans. He also brings floods. The Trickster Coyote is often duped, but he laughs at his mistakes and teaches humans to do the same.
The audio on this post was recorded in the Sunland Tujunga section of Los Angeles. (Are these sounds reasonable to expect in the 2nd largest city in the US?) It seems a pack of tricksters are camping out across the street and laughing with much enthusiasm at their mistakes.
Illustrators throughout history have been fascinated by Christianity’s Seven Deadly Sins. Jacques Callot created an especially interesting set of drawing that would make excellent trading cards. Although, if I had depicted the majority of sins as female I would have made the effort to make Ira – Wrath a woman as well.
In southern Togo and Ghana the Ewe people fear a vampire that takes the shape of a firefly. The Adze enters a home through a keyhole while the inhabitants are sleeping. It prefers the blood of children especially infants. The Adze will also drink palm oil or coconut milk if it can’t find a supply of innocent blood. Sometimes an Adze will deplete a village’s entire supply of oil while it waits for a child to become available.
Although tiny, the Adze inflicts a great deal of damage. It often kills children by draining them completely of blood. It also carries disease that can infect the entire family.In firefly form the Adze is indestructible. No magic or net or insecticide can keep the Adze away from its victims. If captured, the Adze reverts to its human form. This is the only time in can be destroyed. The Adze, however, is remarkably agile and they are not often captured.
Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.
Nursery Rhymes are frequently based on unspeakable historical horrors. Children, I fear, may be essentially evil. They regularly and with much glee recite little rhymes filled with subject matter that would give pause to even the most graphic horror writer.
“Mary, Mary Quite Contrary” the familiar English rhyme is a choice example. The rhyme alludes to Mary Tudor, or Bloody Mary.
The daughter of Henry VII was a staunch Catholic responsible for a repressive policy against practitioners of the Protestant faith. Her ‘garden’ referred to in the rhyme was a euphemism for the graveyards which, under her harsh supervision, filled up quickly with Protestant martyrs.
Silver bells and cockle shells were colloquialisms for instruments of torture. ’Silver bells’ were thumbscrews. This simple vice with protruding studs or spikes on the interior surfaces was placed on the victim’s thumbs and slowly tightened until the victim gave a confession. The ‘cockleshells’ were supposedly instruments which were attached to the genitals and tightened in much the same way.
Beheading in Bloody Mary’s time was problematic. The one who was to be beheaded frequently refused to cooperate and had to be chased around the scaffold. Often, multiple blows were needed to sever the head. Simple executions turned into drawn out and complicated public spectacles. The guillotine solved these problems. A common nickname for the the guillotine was the maiden. The ‘pretty maids all in a row’ refers to the collection of guillotines used to get rid of the troublesome Protestants.
Mary was indeed contrary. In spite of that, children have, for generations, embraced her and sung her praises. Doesn’t this seem suspicious? I suspect those cute little cherubs are actually monsters waiting for us to drop our vigilance for just one second.
You’ve been warned.
*** Thank you to Amanda Spaid for permission to use her stunning art work. You can check out her website here
In Hindu folklore, the vetala is an evil spirit who haunts cemeteries and takes demonic possession of corpses. They can drive people mad, kill children, and cause miscarriages. Even though they are primarily evil they also do some good. They fiercely guard their villages.
Statues and images of La Santisima Muerte or The Saint of Death are common in areas where syncretic religions such as Santeria are followed. A syncretic religion combines Roman Catholicism especially the worship of saints with older pagan religions. La Santisima Muerte is syncretized with The Virgin Mary in her representation as Our Lady of Guadalupe. But she actually represents Mictecacihuatl, the wife of the Aztec god of death Mictlantecuhtli. Her husband is syncretized with Jesús Malverde. Adherents to the faith warn to never place representations of other saints on the alter with these two. La Santisima Muerte and her husband are jealous and dangerous when angered.
Mictecacihuatl and her husband live in a windowless house where they rule over Mictlan the lowest and northernmost section of the underworld. The couple are associated with spiders, owls, bats, the eleventh hour, and the northern compass direction, Mictlampa. Mictecacihuatl and her husband are aggressive dieties charged with guarding souls after death and passing them out to the living. Mictecacihuatl’s husband is depicted as a bloody skeleton with arms raised in preparation to tear apart the dead. In ancient times their ceremonies involved ritual cannibalism. Today their festival is celebrated as the Day of the Dead with feasts (non human dishes) dancing and music.
La Santisima Muerte can grant favors that no other saint can. She can make a lover remain faithful, damage property or even cause the death of enemies. She does insist that those who invoke her have the weight of justice on their side. Worship of La Santisima Muerte is banned by the Catholic Church, but her cult remains popular. Because of her affiliation with shadows and darkness she is especially popular with drug traffickers, prostitutes and those who do legitimate but dangerous nighttime work. She can be thought of as the Saint for people of the night. Because La Santisima Muerta is offten affiliated with criminals many towns on the US Mexican border routinely bulldoze or confiscate her statues.
Statues of La Santisima Muerte depict a robed skeleton holding a scythe. She hold the scales of justice (equity and impartiality) an hourglass (death as an end and a beginning) a globe (great power) an owl (her messenger) and and oil lamp (to light the darkness). The color of her robe varies depending on the type of invocation. White is for cleansing of negative influences. Red is for love, gold for money, amber for health. A green robe symbolizes justice. This is used when requesting success in court. La Santisima Muerte wears black robe when the request is for revenge or protection from sorcery. If she wears a rainbow colored robe, she is called the Santa Muerte of the Seven Powers and is even more powerful. The combinations of Aztec mythology with the African Seven Powers symbolism is evidence of the expansiveness of a religion that was for many years practiced in secret.
* Note: If La Santisima Muerte hears your invocation and decides that the balance of justice is not on your side, I’m not responsible for the consequences. Ask for favors with care.
Tasseography (tasseomancy or tassology) is the art of reading tea leaves. Fortune tellers have been earning their keep for generations with their esoteric knowledge of the meanings of the shapes in the bottom of the cup. Follow these steps and you too can see into the future.
Step one – Brew a cup of tea and have the sitter drink it.
Cover a spoonful of loose tea leaves with hot water.
Have the sitter hold the cup in the palm of his hand and think about his question until the tea has steeped.
Have the sitter drink the tea without swallowing the tea leaves.
Pass the empty cup to the reader.
Step 2 – The reader examines the leaves.
Swirl the dregs in the cup and turn it upside down on a saucer.
Wait three breaths and turn the cup upright again.
Leaves cling to the inside of the cup and form images for the reader to interpret.
The rim represents the present; the sides represent the near future and the bottom represents the distant future.
Begin at the handle and read clockwise. The closer the symbols are to the handle the sooner the events will come to pass.
Step 3 – Interpret the symbols
Observe the complete picture then concentrate on individual symbols.
Bad omens may outweigh good omens. One large distinct good omen may outweigh several small bad omens.
The small tea leaves form lines which should be interpreted as a journey. (A long line indicates a long journey, etc.)
The direction of the line determines the direction of the journey. The cup handle is south.
A wavy or broken line means delayed journeys and straight-line means quick journeys.
If the leaves form a number this might indicate the number of days or weeks for the journey. Or possibly how long until it begins.
Dots around a symbol indicate money.
If a leaf clings to the rim of the cup some an event is imminent.
Letters in the leaves often indicate the first letters of names.
For a list of tea leaf symbols and their meanings click here.
If you find you have characters who don’t have big enough obstacles to overcome, you might want to afflict them with an archaic medical disorder. Throughout history the medical profession has provided us with a wealth of colorful and gruesome sounding conditions.
Black tongue – A fever which prevailed in the western states (of U.S.) in the winter of 1842-3; probably typhoid fever.
Ictus Solis – Suntroke or inflammation of the brain or its membranes.
Worm Fits – Symptoms include variable appetite, fetid breadth, acrid eructions (?) and pains in the stomach, grinding of the teeth during sleep, picking of the nose, paleness of the countenance, emaciation of the body, slow fever, and sometimes convulsive fits.
Visceroptosis – One or more internal organ has dropped. (?) Abdominal surgery is indicated.
Sideratio – The state of one struck suddenly, without apparent cause, and as if by the influence of the stars or planets. (‘We don’t know what the hell that was’ disease)
Plague of Venus – Syphilis
Cancer Scroti – Soot wart. Cancer of scrotum due to soot. (?)
Gangrænopsis – Gangrenous inflammation of the eyelids.
