The Olmec Dragon

Icon. Drawing Olmec: dragon carved in stone found
in Chalcatzingo (Photo: INAH)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

MEXICO – In Vera Cruz, Guerrero and Morelos (states of Mexico), archaeologists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) found representations of mythical beings who were believed, until then, were ignored by the ancient dwellers of the region: dragons.

Images carved in stone, clay sculptures and paintings dating between the years 1200 and 400 BC indicate the practice of a cult of worship to this fantastic animal: the dragon Olmec. There is no mistake. This is not the plumed serpent known and called Quetzalcoatl or Kukulkan. It is another more ancient creature.

The olmec dragon is depicted as a chimera, mixing physical features of snake, bird and jaguar. It also appears like an anthropomorphic being, a dragon-man.

The images have peculiar traits of the Olmec culture: the flame-shaped eyebrows and a cross, of the type called cross of St. Andrew, located between the eyes or on the back. The chief of excavations at Chalcatzingo, in Morelos, Carolina Meza Rodriguez adds: Another interesting aspect of Olmec dragon is that his mouth emits signs that seem like combinations of commas. It is not known whether the signals represent mere fumes or they are words, names, belonging to an unknown language or writing.

The olmec dragons are always related to the cave entrances. It is speculated that they are the symbol of power of an ancient lineage of leaders who ruled the Olmec people between the years 800 and 500 BC. In some cases, the iconographic elements associated with the dragon are found in different parts of a cave. Thereby, the entire chamber becomes a dragon. The Olmec people is the oldest sedentary culture today known at Mesoamerica

SOURCE: CRUZ, Antimio. Los Olmecas también imaginaron dragones.
IN El Universal/Mexico, published in 03/27/2011
[http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/cultura/65110.html]

http://brazilweirdnews.blogspot.com/2011/03/olmec-dragon.html

Police hunt leprechaun

Tom Phillips - 1st July, 2010

Police in Colorado are looking for a man dressed as a leprechaun who was seen jumping around a car park pretending to shoot people with his fingers.

Police in the city of Boulder were called after the man was spotted in the parking lot of a local supermarket, jumping out from behind cars, doing gun-fingers at shoppers, and reportedly making obscene gestures.

Sergeant Fred Gerhardt of the Boulder police told local newspaper the Daily Camera: 'I think that's why they called us. He was acting bizarre.'

Officers who arrived on the scene were, unfortunately, unable to locate the leprechaun, who remains at large.

According to Gerhardt, this is the first time Boulder police have had to deal with a complaint about a leprechaun.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/833732-police-hunt-leprechaun

Ray's mythical monsters find a home

Wed 30 Jun 2010

The life's work of special effects animator Ray Harryhausen is to have a permanent new home.

The collection will be housed at the National Media Museum in Bradford.

Harryhausen made his name by developing animated creatures based on legends and classical mythology.

The Ray Harryhausen Collection contains drawings, paintings and storyboards, together with his animation models and the original moulds used to make them.

Examples include the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts and the Medusa and the Kraken from Clash of the Titans.

Harryhausen, who has just turned 90, said: "I am so very pleased and honoured that my Foundation will not only be looking after my collection of 90 years but will also be ensuring that it is seen by as wide an audience as possible. It is also gratifying that the National Media Museum will, in conjunction with the Foundation, be storing and preserving my Collection for the foreseeable future."

An exhibition called Ray Harryhausen - Myths and Legends has also opened at the London Film Museum and will run for 12 months.

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/film/ray-harryhausen-collection

Museum staging a monster exhibition

Saturday 12th June 2010

TERRIFYING serpents, dragons and gods will be brought to life in an exhibition on the part played by rivers in folklore.

Rivers, Myths and Monsters opens today at the Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology, in Durham City, with art inspired by chilling and exciting tales set in the world’s waterways.

Rivers have inspired myths around the world, from the local legend of the Lambton Worm, with a model of the monstrous serpent decorated by members of the 10th Durham Brownies (St Margaret’s), to pendants and plaques from China which tell the story of river carp that magically transform into dragons.

There are also tales from India, where Krishna battled the many-headed serpent, Kaliya, and Egypt, where figurines and amulets illustrate the story of the search by the goddess Isis for the body of her husband, Osiris, which had been hidden in the Nile by the evil Seth.

Madeline Betts, of Durham University, said: “Down the ages, rivers have inspired myths and monster tales around the globe. This exhibition tells their stories.

“There are games and many ways to interact with the objects on show, most of which have never been on display and are kept in the Oriental Museum’s Store, so this is a fun and engaging place to visit for all the family!”

The exhibition runs until September 5.

The Old Fulling Mill is open from 11am to 4pm daily and admission is £1 for adults, 50p for children and over-60s, or free to students and the underfives.

For more details, visit durham.ac.uk/fullingmill or call 0191-334-1823.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/durham/8216251.Museum_staging_a_monster_exhibition/?ref=rss

Snake steals Cannes limelight

Mon 17 May 2010

Indian actress Mallika Sherawat got up close and personal with a massive 22ft python as she promoted her latest movie at the Cannes Film Festival.

The fantasy/thriller Hisss is based on the Far Eastern myth of a snake woman who is able to take on human form.

Directed by Jennifer Lynch, Hisss also stars Irrfan Khan, Divya Dutta and American character actor Jeff Doucette.

Sherawat's movie Love, Barack, is also being presented at the festival. The romcom is set during Barack Obama's campaign for the US Presidency.

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/film/mallika-sherawat-hisss-cannes

Full moon brings out inner werewolf, scientists say

Some people are more violent and exhibit tendencies comparable to werewolves during a full moon, according to Australian scientists.

Published: 7:30AM GMT 14 Dec 2009

A study conducted at the Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, north of Sydney, found that in the year to July, 91 emergency patients with violent, acute disturbances comparable to werewolves were admitted.

And a quarter of these occurred on the night of a full moon, double the number for other lunar phases, according to Leonie Calver, a clinical research nurse in toxicology.

"Some of these patients attacked the staff like animals, biting, spitting and scratching," she said. The patients had to be sedated and physically restrained to protect themselves.

Miss Calver's study, reported in the Medical Journal of Australia, said: "One might compare them with the werewolves of the past, who are said to have also appeared during the full moon."

Werewolf mythology, she pointed out, included reports of people rubbing "magic ointment" on to their skin or inhaling vapours to induce the transformation from man to beast.

The main ingredients of the ointment, said Miss Calver, were belladonna and nightshade - substances that could produce delirium, hallucinations and delusions of metamorphosis.

However the "modern day werewolf" used a different 'potion' - more than 60 per cent of the patients reviewed in her study were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

"Our findings support the premise that individuals with violent and acute behavioural disturbances are more likely to present to the emergency department during full moon," she said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6806151/Full-moon-brings-out-inner-werewolf-scientists-say.html

Full moon brings out inner werewolf, scientists say

Some people are more violent and exhibit tendencies comparable to werewolves during a full moon, according to Australian scientists.

Published: 7:30AM GMT 14 Dec 2009

A study conducted at the Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, north of Sydney, found that in the year to July, 91 emergency patients with violent, acute disturbances comparable to werewolves were admitted.

And a quarter of these occurred on the night of a full moon, double the number for other lunar phases, according to Leonie Calver, a clinical research nurse in toxicology.

"Some of these patients attacked the staff like animals, biting, spitting and scratching," she said. The patients had to be sedated and physically restrained to protect themselves.

Miss Calver's study, reported in the Medical Journal of Australia, said: "One might compare them with the werewolves of the past, who are said to have also appeared during the full moon."

Werewolf mythology, she pointed out, included reports of people rubbing "magic ointment" on to their skin or inhaling vapours to induce the transformation from man to beast.

The main ingredients of the ointment, said Miss Calver, were belladonna and nightshade - substances that could produce delirium, hallucinations and delusions of metamorphosis.

However the "modern day werewolf" used a different 'potion' - more than 60 per cent of the patients reviewed in her study were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

"Our findings support the premise that individuals with violent and acute behavioural disturbances are more likely to present to the emergency department during full moon," she said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6806151/Full-moon-brings-out-inner-werewolf-scientists-say.html

Loch Ness Monster 'family-friendly' to boost tourism

Friday, 27 November 2009

The Loch Ness Monster has been "rebranded" by the film industry during the last decade, according to an expert on cinema.

Dr David Martin-Jones, of the University of St Andrews, said Nessie had changed from a beast feared by locals to a "family-friendly" creature.

He said the 1996 film Loch Ness and 2007's The Water Horse show the monster and Scotland in a positive light.

Dr Martin-Jones said the productions could be linked to growth in tourism.

According to the researcher, the first British movie to cash in the myth of Nessie was 1934's The Secret of the Loch.

He said it depicted Scotland as "a stereotypical land of monster-fearing locals" yet also as a modern nation connected to England by railway, road, radio, telephone, newspaper and cinema.

Dr Martin-Jones, a senior lecturer at the university's department of film studies, said: "Nessie became a movie celebrity by uniting Britain in its imagination of itself as a union of two distinct nations.

"Both were joined by modernity, even whilst Scotland - by virtue of the existence of its pre-historic monster - remained primitive in comparison to its southern neighbour."

But in the last decade, he said the Loch Ness Monster had gained global appeal in terms of cinema.

He said: "What is so distinctive about Nessie's cinematic incarnations since the 1990s is that the kelpie has been rebranded as a welcoming, and on occasion, a family-friendly monster, who negotiates Scotland's national position globally."

A kelpie, or water horse, is a shape changing creature from Scottish mythology.

Nessie is one of ten genres of Scottish film examined by Dr Martin-Jones in his new book Scotland: Global Cinema.

The others include comedy, Bollywood, horror, costume drama and gangster flicks.

Last month, a 1936 film that claimed to show the first evidence of the monster was among rarely-seen archive footage set to be shown in Scotland.

The material was shown at the Glasgow Film Theatre and the National Library of Scotland (NLS) as part of Unesco's World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.

A year ago, outstanding qualities that could earn Unesco World Heritage status for Loch Ness and the Great Glen were set out - but with no mention of Nessie.

Destination Loch Ness, a not-for-profit group campaigning for the designation, had secured a £25,000 sponsorship package to progress the bid.

Tourism expert Prof Terry Stevens said it was important to broaden knowledge of the area beyond "the myth".

Securing World Heritage status for Loch Ness and the Great Glen could generate £25m for the economy and 250 jobs within three years, according to research commissioned by DLN.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8382986.stm

(Submitted by Lindsay Selby)

Loch Ness Monster 'family-friendly' to boost tourism

Friday, 27 November 2009

The Loch Ness Monster has been "rebranded" by the film industry during the last decade, according to an expert on cinema.

Dr David Martin-Jones, of the University of St Andrews, said Nessie had changed from a beast feared by locals to a "family-friendly" creature.

He said the 1996 film Loch Ness and 2007's The Water Horse show the monster and Scotland in a positive light.

Dr Martin-Jones said the productions could be linked to growth in tourism.

According to the researcher, the first British movie to cash in the myth of Nessie was 1934's The Secret of the Loch.

He said it depicted Scotland as "a stereotypical land of monster-fearing locals" yet also as a modern nation connected to England by railway, road, radio, telephone, newspaper and cinema.

Dr Martin-Jones, a senior lecturer at the university's department of film studies, said: "Nessie became a movie celebrity by uniting Britain in its imagination of itself as a union of two distinct nations.

"Both were joined by modernity, even whilst Scotland - by virtue of the existence of its pre-historic monster - remained primitive in comparison to its southern neighbour."

But in the last decade, he said the Loch Ness Monster had gained global appeal in terms of cinema.

He said: "What is so distinctive about Nessie's cinematic incarnations since the 1990s is that the kelpie has been rebranded as a welcoming, and on occasion, a family-friendly monster, who negotiates Scotland's national position globally."

A kelpie, or water horse, is a shape changing creature from Scottish mythology.

Nessie is one of ten genres of Scottish film examined by Dr Martin-Jones in his new book Scotland: Global Cinema.

The others include comedy, Bollywood, horror, costume drama and gangster flicks.

Last month, a 1936 film that claimed to show the first evidence of the monster was among rarely-seen archive footage set to be shown in Scotland.

The material was shown at the Glasgow Film Theatre and the National Library of Scotland (NLS) as part of Unesco's World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.

A year ago, outstanding qualities that could earn Unesco World Heritage status for Loch Ness and the Great Glen were set out - but with no mention of Nessie.

Destination Loch Ness, a not-for-profit group campaigning for the designation, had secured a £25,000 sponsorship package to progress the bid.

Tourism expert Prof Terry Stevens said it was important to broaden knowledge of the area beyond "the myth".

Securing World Heritage status for Loch Ness and the Great Glen could generate £25m for the economy and 250 jobs within three years, according to research commissioned by DLN.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8382986.stm

(Submitted by Lindsay Selby)

Vampires not good role models for Catholics, declares Vatican

Deplores use of 'extremes' to make a point

By Joe Fay
20th November 2009

The Vatican has come out against vampirical toothy teen book'n'movie series Twilight, dismissing the epic girl loves vampire, girl loses vampire, girl becomes vampire cycle as a "deviant moral vacuum".

The Holy See's attempt to drive a stake through the heart of the burgeoning film franchise came as it took £1.8m on its opening day in Italy.

It was down to Vatican in-house mag Osservatore Romano to deliver the verdict on the movie.

According to the Daily Mail Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, of the Pontifical Council of Culture, said: "Men and women are transformed with horrible masks and it is once again that age-old trick or ideal formula of using extremes to make an impact at the box office.

"This film is nothing more than a moral vacuum with a deviant message and as such should be of concern."

The Mail added that a spokespriest said the film gives a "mixture of excesses aimed at young people and gives a heavy esoteric element."

The attack on the series - incidentally the creation of a Mormon - demonstrates the Vatican's eclectic approach to film reviewing.

The Vatican had long condemned the Harry Potter series, claiming it would corrupt impressionable young children and turn them onto the occult, or at least onto the English boarding school system. Then, it turned around and praised the film version of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for its sharp delineation of good and evil.

Likewise, the Vatican had a long-running downer on Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code - understandable perhaps given its rather anti-Vatican stance. Then, earlier this year, it faint-praisedly damned Angels and Demons as "quite harmless".

So, standby for the current condemnation of Twilight to subtly transubstanitate into polite praise for its portrayal of a young girl's spiritual journey from vampire lover to loving vampire wife and back into the arms of the one true faith. Or something. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/20/vatican_twilight/

(Submitted by Timothy Hodkinson)

Vampires not good role models for Catholics, declares Vatican

Deplores use of 'extremes' to make a point

By Joe Fay
20th November 2009

The Vatican has come out against vampirical toothy teen book'n'movie series Twilight, dismissing the epic girl loves vampire, girl loses vampire, girl becomes vampire cycle as a "deviant moral vacuum".

The Holy See's attempt to drive a stake through the heart of the burgeoning film franchise came as it took £1.8m on its opening day in Italy.

It was down to Vatican in-house mag Osservatore Romano to deliver the verdict on the movie.

According to the Daily Mail Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, of the Pontifical Council of Culture, said: "Men and women are transformed with horrible masks and it is once again that age-old trick or ideal formula of using extremes to make an impact at the box office.

"This film is nothing more than a moral vacuum with a deviant message and as such should be of concern."

The Mail added that a spokespriest said the film gives a "mixture of excesses aimed at young people and gives a heavy esoteric element."

The attack on the series - incidentally the creation of a Mormon - demonstrates the Vatican's eclectic approach to film reviewing.

The Vatican had long condemned the Harry Potter series, claiming it would corrupt impressionable young children and turn them onto the occult, or at least onto the English boarding school system. Then, it turned around and praised the film version of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for its sharp delineation of good and evil.

Likewise, the Vatican had a long-running downer on Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code - understandable perhaps given its rather anti-Vatican stance. Then, earlier this year, it faint-praisedly damned Angels and Demons as "quite harmless".

So, standby for the current condemnation of Twilight to subtly transubstanitate into polite praise for its portrayal of a young girl's spiritual journey from vampire lover to loving vampire wife and back into the arms of the one true faith. Or something. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/20/vatican_twilight/

(Submitted by Timothy Hodkinson)

Are Vampires Real?

By Stephen Wagner, About.com Guide

The enormous interest in these creatures prompts the question: Are vampires real?

INTEREST IN THE vampire mythos is at an all-time high. The recent enthusiasm for this blood-sucking immortal began perhaps with the highly popular Anne Rice novel, Interview with the Vampire published in 1976, and which she followed up with several more books about the vampire world she created. Movies and television capitalized on this popularity with such offerings as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Lost Boys, Francis Ford Coppola's film version of Dracula, Underworld, and the Tom Cruise-Brad Pitt film adaptation of Interview with the Vampire.

The genre is more popular than ever thanks to TV's True Blood and Vampire Diaries, and especially the enormous success of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series of novels, which also are getting the Hollywood treatment.

When a phenomenon like this creeps into our mass consciousness - you can barely turn around without bumping into vampire-related media - some people begin to think it's real. Or they want it to be real because they so enjoy the fantasy. So what about it? Are there real vampires?

THE SUPERNATURAL VAMPIRE

The question of whether vampires are real or not depends on the definition. If by vampire we mean the supernatural creature who is practically immortal, has fangs through which he or she can suck blood, has an aversion to sunlight, can shapeshift into other creatures, fears garlic and crosses, and can even fly... then we have to say no, such a creature does not exist. At least there's no good evidence that it exists. Such a creature is a fabrication of novels, TV shows and movies.

If we dispense with the supernatural attributes, however, there are people who call themselves vampires of one kind or another.

LIFESTYLE VAMPIRES

Largely due to the influence of vampires in the media, there is now a subculture of vampirism, the members of which seek to mimic the lifestyle of their fictional heroes (or antiheroes). There is some overlap with the Goth community, both of which seem to seek empowerment in the dark, mysterious side of things. The lifestyle vampires typically dress in black and other accouterments of the "vampire aesthetic" and favor a goth music genre. According to one website, these lifestylers take this on "not just as something to do at clubs, but as part of their total lifestyle, and who form alternative extended families modeled on the covens, clans, etc. found in some vampire fiction and role-playing games."

Lifestyle vampires make no claims of supernatural powers. And it would be unfair to dismiss them as people who just like to play at Halloween year-round. They take their lifestyle quite seriously as it fulfills for them some inner, even spiritual need.

SANGUINE VAMPIRES

The sanguine (meaning bloody or blood-red) vampires may belong to the lifestyle groups mentioned above, but take the fantasy one step further by actually drinking human blood. They typically will not drink a glass of the stuff as one would a glass of wine, for example, but usually will add a few drops to some other liquid for drinking. On occasion, a sanguine vampire will feed directly from a volunteer or "donor" by making a small cut and sucking up a small trickle of blood.

Some of these sanguine vampires claim an actual need to ingest human blood. The human body does not digest blood very well, and there seems to be no physiological condition that would account for such a need. If the craving is present, then, it is almost certainly psychological in nature or simply a choice.

PSYCHIC VAMPIRES

Psychic vampires, some of whom might also adopt the vampire lifestyle described above, claim that they have a need to feed off the energy of other people. According to The Psychic Vampire Resource and Support Pages, pranic vampires, as they are sometimes called, are people "who by reason of a condition of their spirit, need to obtain vital energy from outside sources. They are unable to generate their own energy, and often times don't have the best capacity to store the energy they do have." The website even has a section of psychic "feeding techniques."

Again, in the spirit of "keeping it real," we have to question whether this is a genuine phenomenon. By the same token, we've all been around people who seem to drain the energy from a room when they enter, and they get off on it. It could be argued that the effect is strictly psychological... but then that's why they call it psychic vampirism.

THE PSYCHOPATHIC VAMPIRE

If drinking human blood qualifies one as being a vampire, then several serial killers deserve the label. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Peter Kürten, known as "The Vampire of Düsseldorf," committed as many as nine murders and seven attempted murders. He achieved sexual arousal with the sight of his victims' blood and was said to have even ingested it. Richard Trenton Chase was dubbed "The Vampire of Sacramento" after he murdered six people and drank their blood.

Obviously, these "vampires" are criminally insane. Ironically, however, their murderous compulsions and ghoulish practices make them more like the demonic vampires of literary tradition than the other "vampires" described here.

CALLING ALL VAMPIRES

So, are vampires real? For supernatural beings like Nosferau, Dracula, Lestat and Twilight's Edward Cullen, we'd have to say no. But the lifestyle, sanguine, psychic and psychopathic vampires certainly are out there.

What about you? Have you had an experience with any kind of vampire? Are you a vampire yourself? If so, send me an e-mail about your experiences to share with other readers.

http://paranormal.about.com/od/vampires/a/real-vampires.htm?nl=1

(Submitted by T. Peter Park)

Are Vampires Real?

By Stephen Wagner, About.com Guide

The enormous interest in these creatures prompts the question: Are vampires real?

INTEREST IN THE vampire mythos is at an all-time high. The recent enthusiasm for this blood-sucking immortal began perhaps with the highly popular Anne Rice novel, Interview with the Vampire published in 1976, and which she followed up with several more books about the vampire world she created. Movies and television capitalized on this popularity with such offerings as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Lost Boys, Francis Ford Coppola's film version of Dracula, Underworld, and the Tom Cruise-Brad Pitt film adaptation of Interview with the Vampire.

The genre is more popular than ever thanks to TV's True Blood and Vampire Diaries, and especially the enormous success of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series of novels, which also are getting the Hollywood treatment.

When a phenomenon like this creeps into our mass consciousness - you can barely turn around without bumping into vampire-related media - some people begin to think it's real. Or they want it to be real because they so enjoy the fantasy. So what about it? Are there real vampires?

THE SUPERNATURAL VAMPIRE

The question of whether vampires are real or not depends on the definition. If by vampire we mean the supernatural creature who is practically immortal, has fangs through which he or she can suck blood, has an aversion to sunlight, can shapeshift into other creatures, fears garlic and crosses, and can even fly... then we have to say no, such a creature does not exist. At least there's no good evidence that it exists. Such a creature is a fabrication of novels, TV shows and movies.

If we dispense with the supernatural attributes, however, there are people who call themselves vampires of one kind or another.

LIFESTYLE VAMPIRES

Largely due to the influence of vampires in the media, there is now a subculture of vampirism, the members of which seek to mimic the lifestyle of their fictional heroes (or antiheroes). There is some overlap with the Goth community, both of which seem to seek empowerment in the dark, mysterious side of things. The lifestyle vampires typically dress in black and other accouterments of the "vampire aesthetic" and favor a goth music genre. According to one website, these lifestylers take this on "not just as something to do at clubs, but as part of their total lifestyle, and who form alternative extended families modeled on the covens, clans, etc. found in some vampire fiction and role-playing games."

Lifestyle vampires make no claims of supernatural powers. And it would be unfair to dismiss them as people who just like to play at Halloween year-round. They take their lifestyle quite seriously as it fulfills for them some inner, even spiritual need.

SANGUINE VAMPIRES

The sanguine (meaning bloody or blood-red) vampires may belong to the lifestyle groups mentioned above, but take the fantasy one step further by actually drinking human blood. They typically will not drink a glass of the stuff as one would a glass of wine, for example, but usually will add a few drops to some other liquid for drinking. On occasion, a sanguine vampire will feed directly from a volunteer or "donor" by making a small cut and sucking up a small trickle of blood.

Some of these sanguine vampires claim an actual need to ingest human blood. The human body does not digest blood very well, and there seems to be no physiological condition that would account for such a need. If the craving is present, then, it is almost certainly psychological in nature or simply a choice.

PSYCHIC VAMPIRES

Psychic vampires, some of whom might also adopt the vampire lifestyle described above, claim that they have a need to feed off the energy of other people. According to The Psychic Vampire Resource and Support Pages, pranic vampires, as they are sometimes called, are people "who by reason of a condition of their spirit, need to obtain vital energy from outside sources. They are unable to generate their own energy, and often times don't have the best capacity to store the energy they do have." The website even has a section of psychic "feeding techniques."

Again, in the spirit of "keeping it real," we have to question whether this is a genuine phenomenon. By the same token, we've all been around people who seem to drain the energy from a room when they enter, and they get off on it. It could be argued that the effect is strictly psychological... but then that's why they call it psychic vampirism.

THE PSYCHOPATHIC VAMPIRE

If drinking human blood qualifies one as being a vampire, then several serial killers deserve the label. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Peter Kürten, known as "The Vampire of Düsseldorf," committed as many as nine murders and seven attempted murders. He achieved sexual arousal with the sight of his victims' blood and was said to have even ingested it. Richard Trenton Chase was dubbed "The Vampire of Sacramento" after he murdered six people and drank their blood.

Obviously, these "vampires" are criminally insane. Ironically, however, their murderous compulsions and ghoulish practices make them more like the demonic vampires of literary tradition than the other "vampires" described here.

CALLING ALL VAMPIRES

So, are vampires real? For supernatural beings like Nosferau, Dracula, Lestat and Twilight's Edward Cullen, we'd have to say no. But the lifestyle, sanguine, psychic and psychopathic vampires certainly are out there.

What about you? Have you had an experience with any kind of vampire? Are you a vampire yourself? If so, send me an e-mail about your experiences to share with other readers.

http://paranormal.about.com/od/vampires/a/real-vampires.htm?nl=1

(Submitted by T. Peter Park)

Mythical beast is ‘spotted’ in Windermere

15:19, Wednesday, 23 September 2009

TALES of a mythical creature rumoured to be lurking in the depths of South Lakeland waters have been causing a stir.

Click here to see the footage

The so-called “Bownessie” is fast becoming part of modern Lake District folklore, as reported sightings of the fabled creature continue to be made.

Footage that some people believe appears to show the creature causing ripples in the surface of Windermere was shot by Lakes TV cameraman John McKeown on Saturday.

It has since appeared on Sky News on Sunday evening and American TV network giant CBS is also interested in the story.

People in Windermere are not convinced Bownessie actually exists.

But they believe it could be good for the town’s tourist economy if the legend can capture the imagination of visitors in a similar way to the Loch Ness monster.

Councillor Bill Smith, mayor of Windermere, said: “If they believe it’s actually there, I’m sure it will attract them to come and see.

“Anything that draws interest and awareness to the Lake District has to be a positive opportunity.

“I don’t think the term monster is the best expression of an animal living in the lake that could be of interest.

“It suggests something nasty, not something that could be attractive and positive.

“Bownessie conjures up something that’s a bit more cute.

“The people that have seen it believe genuinely they have seen something, even if there is no real proof yet.

“But let’s be honest, it’s far better for Loch Ness that they’ve never located it because it helps perpetuate the belief.”

Paul Holdsworth, Windermere town centre manager, says the Bownessie phenomenon is the latest in a long line of Lake District mythologies.

He said: “Probably the longest standing one is Tizzie Wizzie, which was first spotted by a Bowness boatman around 1900 and he used to tell stories of this extraordinary creature.

“It was said to have the body of a hedgehog, tail of a squirrel and a pair of bee-like wings and was a shy, water-loving creature.

“So, for the sceptics who think Bownessie is something to get the tourists in, this tale has already been around for over a hundred years. There is nothing new under the sun perhaps.”

Jacqui O’Connor, press officer for Windermere Lakes Cruises, said: “Our vessels sail up and down the lake 364 days a year and we have never seen anything unusual.

“However, our skippers remain alert as always.”

Windermere myth and legend

GYLPIN’S wild boar – A wild boar is said to have terrorised pilgrims who entered the woods between Kendal and Windermere in the 12th century.

Richard de Gylpin killed the boar and was rewarded with the manor of Kentmere.The white horse of Windermere – It is said a ghostly white horse walks on the water from shore to shore when harm is about to come to the homes around the lake.

The Crier of Claife – Centuries ago, ferrymen at Ferry Nab often heard strange calls for the boat to come across the water, but were too afraid to go. A monk exorcised the ghost and confined it to the quarry and woods. But there are still tales of walkers being followed by a hooded figure at Claife.

http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/mythical_beast_is_spotted_in_lake_windermere_1_614951?referrerPath=news

Mythical beast is ‘spotted’ in Windermere

15:19, Wednesday, 23 September 2009

TALES of a mythical creature rumoured to be lurking in the depths of South Lakeland waters have been causing a stir.

Click here to see the footage

The so-called “Bownessie” is fast becoming part of modern Lake District folklore, as reported sightings of the fabled creature continue to be made.

Footage that some people believe appears to show the creature causing ripples in the surface of Windermere was shot by Lakes TV cameraman John McKeown on Saturday.

It has since appeared on Sky News on Sunday evening and American TV network giant CBS is also interested in the story.

People in Windermere are not convinced Bownessie actually exists.

But they believe it could be good for the town’s tourist economy if the legend can capture the imagination of visitors in a similar way to the Loch Ness monster.

Councillor Bill Smith, mayor of Windermere, said: “If they believe it’s actually there, I’m sure it will attract them to come and see.

“Anything that draws interest and awareness to the Lake District has to be a positive opportunity.

“I don’t think the term monster is the best expression of an animal living in the lake that could be of interest.

“It suggests something nasty, not something that could be attractive and positive.

“Bownessie conjures up something that’s a bit more cute.

“The people that have seen it believe genuinely they have seen something, even if there is no real proof yet.

“But let’s be honest, it’s far better for Loch Ness that they’ve never located it because it helps perpetuate the belief.”

Paul Holdsworth, Windermere town centre manager, says the Bownessie phenomenon is the latest in a long line of Lake District mythologies.

He said: “Probably the longest standing one is Tizzie Wizzie, which was first spotted by a Bowness boatman around 1900 and he used to tell stories of this extraordinary creature.

“It was said to have the body of a hedgehog, tail of a squirrel and a pair of bee-like wings and was a shy, water-loving creature.

“So, for the sceptics who think Bownessie is something to get the tourists in, this tale has already been around for over a hundred years. There is nothing new under the sun perhaps.”

Jacqui O’Connor, press officer for Windermere Lakes Cruises, said: “Our vessels sail up and down the lake 364 days a year and we have never seen anything unusual.

“However, our skippers remain alert as always.”

Windermere myth and legend

GYLPIN’S wild boar – A wild boar is said to have terrorised pilgrims who entered the woods between Kendal and Windermere in the 12th century.

Richard de Gylpin killed the boar and was rewarded with the manor of Kentmere.The white horse of Windermere – It is said a ghostly white horse walks on the water from shore to shore when harm is about to come to the homes around the lake.

The Crier of Claife – Centuries ago, ferrymen at Ferry Nab often heard strange calls for the boat to come across the water, but were too afraid to go. A monk exorcised the ghost and confined it to the quarry and woods. But there are still tales of walkers being followed by a hooded figure at Claife.

http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/mythical_beast_is_spotted_in_lake_windermere_1_614951?referrerPath=news

Dead fairy found at yard sale

For sale recently on eBay:

A couple of months ago, I stopped in at a yard sale and came across this strange
little creature...

The apparent mummified corpse of a fairy being - or some kind of demon offspring (?) - this specimen is surreal to be around. My cat continually tries to get at the diminutive cadaver through the jar; and the thing just generally unnerves people whom have been in its admittedly creepy presence. It does have a definite Black Magick, otherworldly, Voodoo feel about it. In my opinion, the faint of heart are better off not having this thing around them.

Anyway, folks, the point has come where I feel that it is time to have another person take on the "caretaker" role for "him".

Even if this is a highly well-done sideshow gaff - which seems to be the case - this
deceased, winged entity has a "personality" all its own. Must be experienced
firsthand to fully understand what I mean.

Measures 4-inches tall w/3-inch wingspan. Comes in the jar shown in pic (kinda like a genie in a bottle, I suppose...). The weight of the fairy itself is a couple of ounces.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6189173/The-10-weirdest-eBay-auctions.html

Dead fairy found at yard sale

For sale recently on eBay:

A couple of months ago, I stopped in at a yard sale and came across this strange
little creature...

The apparent mummified corpse of a fairy being - or some kind of demon offspring (?) - this specimen is surreal to be around. My cat continually tries to get at the diminutive cadaver through the jar; and the thing just generally unnerves people whom have been in its admittedly creepy presence. It does have a definite Black Magick, otherworldly, Voodoo feel about it. In my opinion, the faint of heart are better off not having this thing around them.

Anyway, folks, the point has come where I feel that it is time to have another person take on the "caretaker" role for "him".

Even if this is a highly well-done sideshow gaff - which seems to be the case - this
deceased, winged entity has a "personality" all its own. Must be experienced
firsthand to fully understand what I mean.

Measures 4-inches tall w/3-inch wingspan. Comes in the jar shown in pic (kinda like a genie in a bottle, I suppose...). The weight of the fairy itself is a couple of ounces.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6189173/The-10-weirdest-eBay-auctions.html

Turtle will stand in for mythic creature

Associated Press
June 15, 2009, 3:11PM

CHURUBUSCO, Ind. — Crunch is no Beast of 'Busco, but he's a decent stand-in for a legendary snapping turtle purportedly the size of a rowboat.

The northeastern Indiana town of Churubusco is hosting a four-day festival this week in honor of the 60th anniversary of a big hunt for its beast.

Problem is, he hasn't been found. Ever.

That's where Crunch comes in. He's a 150-year-old, 170-pound alligator snapping turtle that will be on display instead in a 700-gallon aquarium from Wednesday through Saturday during the Turtle Days Festival.

The Beast of 'Busco has a name: Oscar, whose legend dates in various accounts to 1900. It was after reports of a sighting in 1949 that newspapers and wire services picked up on the story and hundreds of people beat a path to the town about 10 miles northwest of Fort Wayne to watch the hunt for the giant turtle.

Jim Guiff, 97, remembers the two-month turtle hunt well. He's lived since 1927 on property that borders Fulk Lake, the pond where Oscar was said to lurk. The turtle was named after Guiff's uncle, Oscar Fulk, who once owned the farm.

The 1949 hunt attracted a diver, professional trappers, zoo officials and airplane pilots who tried to spot Oscar from above, Guiff said.

"It caused a lot of publicity. We had newspapermen out here and radio people. People from Chicago and Indianapolis and all over," he said.

Gale Harris, the property's owner after Oscar Fulk, even drained the pond with pumps, but Oscar was never found.

"I was always suspicious about the turtle being as big as he was," Guiff said. "I used to hunt for snapping turtles when I was a kid, and I never saw them that big. I never disputed them, though, because maybe I was wrong."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/6479717.html

On the trail of mythical beasts

01 April 2009 by Sumit Paul-Choudhury

WHAT makes so many people want to believe in fabulous creatures? Chris Lavers and Joshua Blu Buhs set out to explore this question, and although one tackles an ancient myth and the other a modern one, they come up with remarkably similar answers.

The Natural History of Unicorns might sound whimsical, but in fact it is an erudite, scholarly book which uses the unicorn to illuminate millennia of social and geographical change. Unicorns appear in many guises in many cultures - from the ferocious one-horned ass described by the Greeks to the courtly, Christianised goat of medieval Europe and beyond. Lavers's achievement is to show how each of these is a chimera based on startlingly accurate reports of real animals, carried over trade routes stretching from the African jungle to the Arctic Circle.

The unicorn's susceptibility to virgin maidens, the curative qualities of its horn, its elusiveness and temperament: Lavers explains how these properties were shaped to suit the ideologies and beliefs of different societies, throwing up - and answering - fascinating questions along the way. For example, did khutu, a material used in ornamental knife handles, come from narwhals, giant birds, musk oxen or woolly mammoths?

For those, like myself, who always assumed that our forebears more or less made up unicorns from folk superstitions and a pinch of rhinoceros, Lavers's book offers revelations not only about mythical creatures, but about the extent and effects of globalisation in ancient times. It's eminently readable, too.

One of the themes of Lavers's book - that belief in mythical animals is a product of social change - is central to Bigfoot, an exhaustive study of wild-man myth-making in the 20th century. Buhs's book starts out in similar territory to that of Lavers, suggesting that the Himalayan legend of the yeti became "folklore for an industrial age" because it meshed well with Britain's post-colonial concerns and drew on popular fascination with far-flung places - a kind of media-accelerated version of the same processes that created unicorns.

Buhs goes on to describe how the search for Bigfoot and Sasquatch was dominated by the concerns of white, working-class men. For this disenfranchised group the quest was a validation of their lifestyle, skills and knowledge, which they perceived as being threatened by mass media, formal education and popular culture. The hunters' desire to be accepted as scientific, while simultaneously disparaging the scientific establishment, makes for thought-provoking reading: there are obvious parallels with the attitudes of intelligent-design enthusiasts and climate change sceptics.

Popular culture eventually defanged Bigfoot, and unicorn-hunting has fallen out of fashion. But both Lavers and Buhs suggest that these myths, and others like them, will persist in one form or another. Tellingly, both trace their respective subjects all the way back to Gilgamesh, one of the world's oldest fictional texts, in which the wild man Enkidu is tamed by female sexuality. If belief in fabulous beasts has such deep roots, it is unlikely to go away any time soon - although with the Earth becoming an ever-smaller place, Buhs suggests that future monster-hunters may have to turn their attention to the stars.

Sumit Paul-Choudhury is the editor of NewScientist.com

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227021.600-on-the-trail-of-mythical-beasts.html

Mythical Creatures - 16 June 2009

A set of six stamps depicting Mythical Creatures will be issued by Royal Mail this summer
Fantasy and myth are popular subjects for both films and books. Here fantasy artist Dave McKean (who worked on the Harry Potter movies) takes a look at some of the most popular and unusual creatures from legend. The UK has a rich and diverse folklore around mythical creatures: some famous nationally and others regionally. This set features: unicorn, mermaid - legends very common around UK coast inc northern isles of Scotland), Giant (inspired by Finn McCool associated with the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland), Fairy queen (in a chariot pulled by birds), Pixie (which feature in Cornish folklore), and Dragon (emblem of Wales).

http://www.norvic-philatelics.co.uk/2009/06a-mythical_creatures.htm