*Sendings:
In Iceland, ghosts could be made by magic from a human bone. Called Sendings, these ghosts were used as murderers, but they could be defeated. Once, for instance, there lived a handsome widow who was much sought after as a wife. She refused all her suitors, however, including one who was skilled in wizardry. After that proposal, the widow, a prescient woman, put herself on guard.
Her fears were realized one summer afternoon, when she was alone in her larder, preparing her farmhands' supper. All was still, but after a time, some sixth sense made her turn toward the door. She saw a shadow, as black and soft as smoke, save for a white spot in the center. It slid around the door and accross the wall of the larder. She knew it for the wizard's sending.
When it came near, she struck with her knife at it's one vulnerable place--the white spot. Instantly, knife and shadow vanished. In the morning, however, she found the knife in the yard, it was stuck through a splintered human bone. Bravery and a metal blade had done the trick, and the woman was disturbed no more.
From the Book:
The Enchanted World Of Ghosts
(See also "Animas Benditas"--the P.R. Sendings)
--Nina
*Zodiac:
Tidings of the Heavens;
In eariler times, the heavens seemed charged with meaning, and astrologer-wizards gazed into the star-fretted night to seek, in the orderly procession of the heavenly bodies, intelligence about what was past or passing or to come. The scholars defined the universe-whose over-arching structure was everywhere reflected in the world and in humankind-in terms of a band of constellations, a belt around the world that formed the twelve signs of the zodiac. Traveling through this slowly wheeling net of stars, the Sun, the Moon and the five planets nearest the Earth pursued their own majestic courses, guardians and rulers of the constellations they crossed. Stargazers studied the relative positions of the bodies in this cosmic dance, searching for the correspondences that gave insight into the patterns of earthly life.
Scourge of winter and source of light and life, the Sun was the biggest and most influential of celestial bodies, the glorious lamp of heaven and it's king. Appropriately, the Sun ruled that part of the sky marked by the constellation Leo, a regal exemplar of dignity, magnanimity and creativity. But all the planets and constellations came under the rule of the Sun, for it's yearly path-called the ecliptic-passed exactly through the center of the zodiacal belt. The life of the Earth came from the Sun, as well as human strength and health, which was why the Sun was depicted as shining down on sporting exercises.
After the Sun came the Moon, queen to the Sun's king, a female principle to answer the male-responsive, instinctual and so sensitive and sympathetic that it seemed almost to disolve into whatever it touched.
The Moon held sway over the constellation Cancer, the Crab-an appropriately changeable water sign-but like the Sun, the Moon brought any sign it occupied into prominence. It was associated with all things of feeling, with giving birth and with motherhood, home and family. Above all, however, the Moon was the mistress of flux, tugging rhythmically at the tides of the Oceans and those of human feeling alike.
Each planet controlled two constellations, or signs of the zodiac. Warlike Mars ruled over Ares the Ram and Scorpio the Scorpion, sharing the beast's courage and the insect's stinging intensity. Mars governed battles and all who fought them.
Wing-footed Mercucy, the fastest of the planets, had an altogether more peaceful reign, dominating the witty and versatile Gemini, or Twins, and the modest, dilegent Virgo-the Virgin. Mercury had powers over travel, the arts, comerce and agriculture.
Disasters and violent death flowed from Saturn, outermost of the five planets. Saturn stood for limitation, contraction and loss. The determined Goat, Capricorn, and eccentric Aquarius the Waterbearer were under Saturn's rule, which tended toward disorder and chaos. Huge Jupiter was Saturn's opposite. Expansive, optimistic, protective, fatherly, the planet controlled Pices the Fish and the Archer, Sagittarius, symbols respectively of tolerance and justice.
Venus ruled Libra the Scales and the persistent, possessive Bull of Taurus. Venus was a force for harmony, unison and fruitfulness; the planet's influence brought men and women together, in love, in dance and in society generally.
As the planetts governed the zodiac, so the zodiac governed the human body, that microcosm of all creation. Each sign of a constellation dominated one organ or part of the body. Appropriately enough, the butting Ram had power over the head, the Bull had power over the neck and shoulders, and the Twins, Fish and Scales-three pairs-over the arms feet and kidneys. The Lion ruled the heart. The shieldlike Crab controlled the chest, the Virgin the belly and the Scorpion the sexual organs, while the legs were governed by the Archer, the Goat and the Waterbearer.
Some seers found the heavens refigured not only in the body as a whole but also in the hands and head. Palm lines, forehead wrinkles and even facial moles were "the stars of our bodies," rich with significance for both character and destiny.
Each finger was thought to be under the influence of one planet and three zodiacal signs. The palm was divided among the planets and traversed by planetary lines governing luck, intuition and health. The longer, straighter and more continuous the line, the stronger the influence of the signs and planets on the owner of the palm.
The same applied to the forehead, which was divided into seven zones ruled by the seven heavenly bodies. And the face, forehead included, was similarly ruled by the zodiac. Thus a wrinkle in a planetary zone or a mole in a sign could be read for it's astrological meaning. For example, someone with a pronounced wrinkle in the area governed by the Sun would be likely to aquire great power.
*Tarot Cards:
Taletelling Cards;
Dealing in hopes and fears and dreams, scholar-wizards used a pack of richly suggestive cards called the Tarot as a means of telling the future. First a questioner shuffled the deck, then the wizard arranged the cards into formal patterns and meditated on their symbolism. If skillfully intrepreted, the Tarot revealed abything from the success of crops to the movements of distant armies. Most Tarot decks had seventy-eight cards: twenty-two trumps in the Major Arcana and fifty-six face cards cards and numbered cards in the Minor Arcana sparingly or dispensed with it altogether, concentrating instead on the cryptic but powerful trumps-the heart of the Tarot. Each trump had a fine and often baffling placticity in the meaning that let it shift in sense according to the reader. Vision was the essence of the process: The cards were springboards to intuition, aids to the magician, not substitutes for intuition or magic.
Still, there was a core meaning to each trump-a meaning often closely tied to an allegorical scene shown on it's face. The Fool, for example, was usually potrayed as a youth carrying a traveler's staff. He could represent either initiative or indecision, but he always had to do with a fateful choice. And so on for the other cards-the Hermit, the Hanged Man and the rest. Each added it's significance to the array and each, in turn, was influenced by the cards it joined.
The Tarot could be laid out in a variety of arrays. The cards might follow the pattern of a circle or rectangle or even a six-pointed star formed by two triangles, one inverted and superimposed upon the other.
*The types of Dragons:
Chinese Dragons:
Cosmic Division of Labor;
Celestial guardians:
The celestial dragons of China protected the heavens, supporting the mansions of the gods and shielding them from decay. Only these dragons- and their earthly likenesses on the imperial regalia- had five claws. All other dragons had only three or four.
Treasure Keepers:
Subterranean dragons had charge of all the precious jewels and metals buried in the earth. Each of these dragons bore an enormous pearl that was reputed to multiply whatever it touched, the pearl symbolized another hidden treasure, wisdom.
Weathermakers:
Floating across the sky, a changeable blue in color, spiritual dragons governed the wind, clouds and rain on which life has always depended. The Chinese took care to appease them, for if these weatherworkers grew angry or neglectful, the result was certain disaster.
River Lords:
Earth dragons determined the courses of rivers, regulated their flow and maintained their banks. Every river in China had it's own earth-dragon king, who held sway over the waters from a palace far beneath the surface.
*Habitats of Dragons:
A Diversity of habitats;
Cave Dwellers:
Wherever caves existed, there were likely to be dragons, whose serpent nature found comfort in dank, cold darkness. Such lairs were private and easily guarded, thus suited to these solitary, suspicious beasts; caves close to towns were particularly desirable, because they were convenient to food.
Mountain predators:
Craggy or cave-riddled mountains provided impregnable aeries for keen-eyed, winged dragons. These beasts, like falcons, could spy their prey from on high, rocket down for the kill and return to their dens to feed unmolested. Among the most dangerous of such mountain dwellers was the fire-breathing Tatzwurm, which fed upon the stray cattle and lost children of Alpine Switzerland and Austria.
Aquatic denizens:
The primal element, water, sheltered dragons, who were the primal beasts. They inhabited seas and rivers and lakes all over the world. Such places offered boat traffic and fish to prey on, but more than that, they provided a watery cloak that allowed dragons to approach river towns and seaports undetected.
Swamp beasts:
Marshes, like caves, made havens for dragons. The English called swamp dragons "knuckers," and the dragons' retreats, reputed to be bottomless, were knucker holes. These were small, deep pits that were cold in summer, never frozen in winter and that gave off an eerie vapor.
*Lancelot & the Dragon:
The desperate combat of Lancelot;
Lancelot of King Arthur's court once slew a dragon- and thereby set great events in motion. Here is the tale:
In a tomb in the part of France where King Pelles ruled, a dragon made it's home. Each night it ventured out to maim and slaughter. When Lancelot reached that kingdom on his travels, the people begged for his aid. The gallant Lancelot went to the tomb and opened it; the dragon surged out upon him, but he slew the beast.
Inscribed upon the tomb were these words: "Here shall come a leopard of King's blood, and he shall slay this serpent. And this leopard shall engender a lion in this foreign country, which lion shall surpass all other knights." King Pelles knew of the inscription. He had a daughter named Elaine, and he believed that if Lancelot lay with her, she would bear the child who would become the knight of the prophecy.
But Lancelot loved Arthur's Queen Guinevere and would not lie with another lady. So by means of enchantment, Pelles gave Elaine the form of Guinevere. She invited Lancelot to her chamber in the evening, and he went willingly. Nine months later, Elaine bore Galahad, who, true to the fortelling, became the greatest warrior in all Christendom.
*Of Maidens And Dragons:
-Safe in a scented palace hidden in Kiev, the Russian sorceress Marina kept a dragon for a companion and serpents for pets. It was her wont to seduce brave dragonslayers and change them into harmless magpies or pigs or oxen. Marina met her end when a hero seduced her in turn and- in the absence of her guards- beheaded her.
-In Serbia lived a fairy so powerful that she could assume the form of a golden bird if she wished. She imprisoned a dragon in her palace dungeons; but her mortal husband unknowingly released the beast. It caught her in it's talons and carried her to it's lair, and many months passed before her husband freed her and slew her captor.
-Riding high among the night stars, the seductive French spirit called Le Succube' guided her dragon across the countryside, always searching for reckless and amorous young adventurers. They became her lovers and victims. The kiss of Le Succube' was sweet, but it drained the life strength from mortal men.
-Once, on the coast of Germany, a King's daughter was captured by a sea dragon. She kept herself from harm by charming the beast to sleep until her rescuers arrived. It was said that the greatest stargazer in the world found her; the greatest thief in the world stole her away; and the greatest hunter in the world slew the dragon for her.
*The Forms of Dragons:
The Array of Classical Forms;
The Wyvern:
Feared for it's viciousness and for the pestilence it brought to northern Europe, Greece and Ethiopia, the Wyvern had a coiling trunk that bore a pair of eagle's legs, which were tucked beneath it's wings. The name derived from the Saxon word "wivere," or "serpent."
The Amphipt`ere:
A legless, winged serpent, the Amphipt`ere could be found along the banks of the Nile and in Arabia, where it guarded frankincense-bearing trees and threatened all who would harvest the precious resin.
The Heraldic Dragon:
The most widespread and formodable of it's kind, the heraldic dragon had massive fangs, four clawed legs and a ridge of sharp spines that stretched from it's spiked nose to it's barbed and stinging tail.
The Guivre:
The legless and wingless Guivre would have seemed a mere serpent, albeit an immensely powerful one, except for it's massive dragon head, horned and bearded. Guivers liked to live in forests and wells-anywhere near water.
The Lindworm:
Falling between the birdlike Wyvern and the snakelike Guivre, the Lindworm had a serpentine body with one pair of legs. It was flightless. The Italian traveler Marco Polo reported seeing some Lindworms while crossing the steppes of Central Asia.
*Where Dragons Dwelled:
From pre-Christian times until the late 17th Century, dragons roamed Europe, observed by knights errant, historians and naturalists.
1. Scandinavia: As recorded in 1572, a dragon inhabited the area north of Lapland; so desolate was the region that the creature was reduced to a diet of mice.
2. London, England: On November 30, 1222, dragons were seen over the city; the flight preceded-- and may have caused-- thunderstorms and severe flooding.
3. Henham, Essex, England: An amphipt`ere nine feet long was discovered on a hillock near the town in 1669. The terrifying serpent remained in the area for some months but inflicted no actual harm.
4. Ireland: According to legends, Tristan of Lyonesse slew a dragon here in the 11th Century. The commentator Giraldus Cambrensis, however, announced in 1188 that Ireland was free of all dragons, possibly because of the intervention of Saint Patrick in the Fifth Century.
5.Provence, France: A dragon called the Drac inhabited the Rhone River throughout the 13th Century; the town of Draguignan was named after it, although it's worst attacks seem to have occured in Beaucaire.
6. Isle Ste. Marguerite, France: This island off the French coast sheltered a dragon during much of the Middle Ages; because of the beast's ferocity, it often was confused with the Tarasque, although, unlike the Tarasque, it had wings.
7. Drachenfels, Germany: Sometime before a fortress was bulit here in the 12th Century, this mountain hid a dragon that subsisted, it was said, on a diet of young women.
8. Sanctogoarin and Neidenburg, Germany: The naturalist Edward Topsell wrote in 1608 that Sanctogoarin was plagued by a dragon whose flights caused fires; the dragon of Neidenburg poisoned wells by bathing in them.
9. Bonn, Germany: The Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi had in his collection a lindworm killed near Bonn in 1572.
10. Switzerland: Christopher Schorer, the Perfect of the canton of Solothurn, reported the sighting of a winged mountain dragon near Lucerne in 1619, as well as an encounter in 1654 between a hunter and a dragon. The latter retreated with a rustling of scales into it's mountain den.
11. Rome, Italy: The Historia naturalis of Pliny the Elder reported that a dragon killed on Vatican Hill during the reign of the Emperor Claudius (died 54 A.D.) contained the body of a child; centuries later, in 1660, the German Athanatius Kircher examined a dragon killed near the city. He commented on it's unusual webbed feet.
12. Kiev, Russia: As recorded in the byliny-legends of heroes-dating from the 11th Century, a dragon called Gorynych terrorized this region for years before the hero Dobry'nja slew it.
*Sesha, (Ananta):
A pallet worthy of a god;
All across the ancient world, people spoke of dragons when they spoke of first things- and India was no exception. Holy men of that land said that the world was supported by Sesha, an eleven-headed serpentine creature whose title was Ananta, meaning the Endless One. Far from being an agent of disorder, as most dragons were, Ananta served Vishnu, the Lord of the Universe, offering it's long back as a couch when the god chose to sleep.
* What did the Perindius and Yggdrasil trees have to do with dragons?
Perindeus:
A Perilous feasting place;
The naturalists of Europe, speculating about dragons, wrote of a wonderful tree called the perindeus, which grew in India. The tree's sweet fruit drew flocks of doves. Dragons, which had a particular fondess for the taste of doves, lurked nearby-- but not too near, for even the shadow of the tree was poision to them. When doves left the tree's protective embrace, however, they were likely to fall victim to the serpents' swift strikes.
*Mandrake:
Snaring an earthbound demon;
An aphrodisiac, inspirer of visions and aid to flying, the mandrake was the most potent of the many plants that figured in witchcraft; it's role was of such antiquity that it was sometimes called Circe's Plant, after that ancestress of witches. But in addition to it's value as a drug, the mandrake had a characteristic that gave it astonishing power-and made it's harvest a perilous task.
It was not completely vegetable, scholars said. The knobby, forked, manlike root harbored a tiny spirit or demon, thus the Romans called the mandrake half-man. Those who dared the capture of the demon could expect great reward.
What made the capture difficult was the pain it inflicted on the plant, for when it's root was torn from the ground, the mandrake gave a shriek so terrible that any creature within earshot was struck dead. Accordingly, a variety of riturals grew up to protect those who desired the mandrake.
The plant had to be harvested at night, when the babeful glow of it's leaves made it easy to find. The herb gatherer stuffed his ears with wax and dug around the plant until he had freed all but the last threads of root. Then he-or she-looped a line around the base of the root and tied that line to a collar of a dog. He placed a scrap of meat or bread just out of range of the tethered animal and ran for his life. The dog, in lunging for the food, would tear the mandrake from it's bed of earth. The plant and the demon it sheltered now belonged to the gatherer; the dog, of course, would be killed by the demonic scream.
Once acquired, the mandrake root was treasured, for if it was bathed in wine and wrapped in silk, the demon within it would speak, offering councel and prophecy.
*What is Possession? How is it believed to be cured?
*What is a Werewolf, & how can you protect yourself from one?
*ALFHEIM - OTHERWORLD OF SCANDINAVIAN LORE, home of the light elves,
ruled by the god Frey. In contrast ot that of the dark elves (Dockalfar,
often confused with the home of the dwarfs), this kingdom is located
well above ground, somewhere between earth and heaven.
*AMADAN - FAIRY FOOL OF IRISH FOLKLORE, greatly feared by humans for his
crippling touch. He is sometimes called the stroke lad: if he touches anyone's face or side that person will be paralyzed down that side or crippled for ever after. He strikes seemingly where the whim takes him, but those who have commited crimes or who foolishly linger by fairy haunts in the moonlight are especially vulnerable. June is his favorite month for mischief making. The only way to avoid harm if you see him is
to call out for protection from God.
Amadan Mor is the best know of this type, the Great Fool of the Sidhe in tales and verse. Another such figure is Amadan na Bruidne, fool of the fairy mounds.
*Evil Duppies
In West-Indian folk belief, the duppy is the part of a person that survives death. Ghostlike and evil, duppies can be awakened from the grave by their relatives and bribed to perform nefarious tasks. Such work can include spying, robbery and even murder. On the bright side, duppies are obliged to return to their graves by daylight.
*ANCHANCHU - DEMON OF THE NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN AYMARA. He is thought to inhabit desolate places, especially by rivers, and generally travels in
a whirlwind. His appearance is initially reassuring, but he deceives his victims with smiles before smiting them with terrible diseases and afflictions, sucking their blood during sleep and draining their strength.
*ANCHUNGA - SPIRIT OF THE TAPIRAPE GROUP, Central Brazil. Anchunga may be either benevolent spirits of the dead or demons intent on working harm
to humans. Ware, a great shaman and culture hero, rid the southern Tapirape of evil anchunga by setting alight their long hair, but the demons of the north survive. Anchunga are thought to appear to shamans in dreams.
*ANHANGA - DEMON OF BRAZIL, and the Amazon basin, a forest spirit much
given to tormenting travelers and hunters and occasionally to stealing children. He has no clear form, and often appears in dreams as a troublesome, shadowy presence.
*Concered Ghost:
The concerned ghost is likely one who fretted about everyone and ever thing in life - the proverbial "mother-hen" type. This spirit truly believes that the living cannot possibly get on successfully without its help. The concerned ghost may not have resolved its relationship with the person it pays such fastidious attention to. These ghosts are fettered to this world by the proverbial apron strings.
*Evolved Ghost:
The evolved ghost is a unique spirit; it is not trapped here, but stays of its own choice. During life, the evolved ghost reached a peak spiritual state. It could return to oneness with the Source, but it has postponed that reunion, for noble reasons.
*Fearful Ghost:
Some ghosts hold on to this world because they fear the transition death
brings. This seems especially common among ghosts who were the victims of sudden or untimely deaths. Ghosts who died in preventable accident's may worry that someone else will suffer their fate, and remain to watch and ward the area they died in.
*FETTERED GHOSTS
The fettered ghost attaches itself emotionally, through a line of energy, to a person, a place, or a thing. The Banshee is a fettered ghost. Scottish tradition has it that a Banshee binds itself to a family line, appearing and uttering its distinctive wail just prior to a family members death. The Banshee is fettered to ancestry and to a specific
task.
It is hardest to break fetters to people. You can change a place or object - physically or psychically - but a person might object strongly to your proposed renovation! He may be able to break the connection himself, if he tells the ghost repeatedly that it is not wanted. Rejection, as ruthless as it may seem, is a potent emotional tool to which ghosts are not immune. If a person is unable to break the link on his own, a psychic or medium can be called to help.
If a ghost is fettered to a place, ask why the location is important to the ghost. Did it live, or die, there? Did it build all or part of that structure? Did a loved one live there for a long time? If the ghost is intimately connected to a place, it may be best to let it live there in peace, so long as it lets the living do the same.
*BANSHEE - CELTIC FAIRY BEING, an anglicized form of Gaelic bean sidhe,
"woman of the fairies" (ban sith in Scots Gaelic). She is variously described as a young and beautiful or an old and haggard woman, but her function is always to foretell the death of a member of the family that hears her by the dreadful, mournful wailing. This half-human cry is unmistakable, and cannot be shut out by the softest, thickest blankets. She is said to attach herself to a particular family, whose deaths she will foretell through the generations.
*GHOSTLY ANIMALS, OBJECTS, AND VEHICLES
Apparitions of animals, objects, and vehicles can be due to energy imprints; such projections, although we observe them, are not caused by an entity interacting with this world. The regular reappearance of the Titanic might come under this category.
A nearby spirit may, however, may be fettered to a ghostly animal, object, or vehicle. Ghosts are especially likely to be fettered to pets, which are typically well-beloved companions. It is an open question whether the ghost is attached to the pet's spirit (if you believe animals have spirits) or to its energy imprint.
