Mesopotamia. The Land between the Rivers. The name still conjures up my schoolroom awe at this ancient civilisation, the forerunner of all civilisation, with its marvels and myths. From the fertile land between the Tigris and the Euphrates there grew Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies that are still strongly with us today. Seguir leyendo »

The Egyptians called it Reu nu pert em hru meaning The Chapters of Coming Forth by Day, for it is a book about coming forth, a book about the afterlife. It’s a set of spells, hymns, incantations, prayers and mummification techniques all designed to help the dead person resurrect into a glorious afterlife in the Hall of the Two Truths. Seguir leyendo »

Every autumn the delightful Monarch butterflies return to Mexico for the winter protection of the oyamel fir trees. Seguir leyendo »

When you see a Valkyrie before battle, know then, that you will die, for their primary duty is to choose the bravest of those who have been slain, gathering the souls of dying heroes. Seguir leyendo »

Psychopomps are Guides of Souls, Ushers of the Dead, particular spirits, angels, animals or deities whose responsibility is to escort the newly-deceased souls to the afterlife. Psychopomps appear in many and diverse forms, but no form has more impressed us than that of the Dog. Seguir leyendo »

In popular legend Fawkes was an Englishman who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament with barrels of gunpowder. He was caught, tortured, imprisoned, and finally, in a particularly grisly manner, publicly executed. Seguir leyendo »

And a dreadful thing from the cliff did spring,
and its wild bark thrill’d around,
His eyes had the glow of the fires below,
’twas the form of the spectre hound ..

One of the most chilling omens of death in English folklore is the large, spectral demon dog called Black Shuck. Seguir leyendo »

Bats are often seen as a symbol of ghosts, death, and ill fortune, but they are the blessed Bringers of Change. Seguir leyendo »