On a recent trip to see friends in Missouri, I challenged them to give me a bit of local folklore… This is what they, dear reader, gave… Read more “Jim the Wonder Dog! Because…People?”
Category: Folklore and Fairytale
Don’t Order the Fish: The Mermaid and the 800 Year-Old Nun
Imagine this: The place is Japan; the time is pre-10th century C.E., and you have a friend. A friend who’s a fisherman. Having a friend who’s a… Read more “Don’t Order the Fish: The Mermaid and the 800 Year-Old Nun”
Bake-Danuki: Mocked by the Japanese Racoon Dogs
Our mythologies are littered with malicious spirits and malcontent, sometimes murderous monsters. This is understandable, because life can often be terrible; the horrors of the day revisit… Read more “Bake-Danuki: Mocked by the Japanese Racoon Dogs”
Chief of Chiefs and the Mardi Gras Indians: Art Trumps Violence
Imagine this: generations ago, your ancestors were bought and sold into slavery and sent to a new world, a new world where all memories of the past… Read more “Chief of Chiefs and the Mardi Gras Indians: Art Trumps Violence”
Ask the Birds: Glenn Colcaine, the Valley of Madmen
The Madness of Suibhne, also known as Suibhne’s Frenzy, tells a fantastic tale of one Suibhne mac Colmáin, king of the Dál nAraidi
Chickens for Christ, Books Bound In Blood: The Magical, Murderous Mayhem of Mary Bateman, the Yorkshire Witch
Mary Bateman nee Harker was many things: a servant girl, a dress maker, a fortune teller… She was also a compulsive thief, a religious charlatan, and an… Read more “Chickens for Christ, Books Bound In Blood: The Magical, Murderous Mayhem of Mary Bateman, the Yorkshire Witch”
It’s a Sin! As Painted by Hieronymus Bosch…
Hieronymus Bosch is probably best known for his triptych painting (triptych=three parts), The Garden of Heavenly Delights. Painted when the artist was between 40 and 60 years… Read more “It’s a Sin! As Painted by Hieronymus Bosch…”
How (not) to Convert the Pope: the Curious Cause of Abraham Abulafia
Imagine this: the year is 1280 C.E. You are forty years old, and you’ve spent the last twenty of those years traveling and studying. And now, through… Read more “How (not) to Convert the Pope: the Curious Cause of Abraham Abulafia”
The Emperor’s Enablers
The Emperor’s New Clothes is one of the more popular Hans Christian Andersen tales, a narcissistic leader who is too self-involved in his quest for impressive attire… Read more “The Emperor’s Enablers”
Cetaceans and the City: Dapper Dolphins and Human Hotties
Imagine this: You have Magic Powers. And instead of being celebrated, you are being vilified. By whom, you ask? The WWF. (That’s World Wildlife Federation, not to… Read more “Cetaceans and the City: Dapper Dolphins and Human Hotties”
Myth Crafts 