The Secret Behind Christmas

🔔🔔🔔

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way.

Oh what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh, hey!

The time has come for chilly winter mornings, fog-covered skies, red and white striped sweaters with a cup of hot chocolate and freshly baked goods along with our favourite Christmas carols on loop.

No matter how old are you Christmas is the time to be a child again and spend quality time with our loved ones.

Do you know why Christmas is celebrated?

to celebrate the birth of Christ

Well, you are technically right

except a teeny tiny detail is missing that most of us don't know

December 25th is not the day Jesus Christ was born!

Shocked!

Well, I was too when I came across this fact.

According to old scriptures, the actual birthday of Jesus Christ is assumed to be the 6th of January. Then why do we celebrate the wrong birthday of the son of god?

To answer this question we have to travel back to the 4th century.

it was the time when Christianity was gaining over Europe and pagan worship was struggling for existence. As most of the pagan worshippers were killed or tortured because the church saw it as a form of satanic worship. it wasn't a favourable time for both the teams. So, to avoid more bloodshed and to unite European countries, the church started including some pagan rituals into Christianity. the rituals were so intricately interwoven in Christianity that nobody doubted it. And at that time raising questions against the church was also punishable, so ...

So, Pope Julius I announced 25th December to be celebrated as the birthday of Christ.

Why 25th December? you may ask

 

because just 3 days before, the 22nd of December is the winter solstice, a day that was widely celebrated across Europe in various forms.

The date selected was so clever that by 5th century Christianity emerged as a major religion of Europe.

Why was winter solstice celebrated?

Because winter solstice marks the end of the harsher part of winter, as the day is supposed to be the coldest and has longest night. so in one sentence it is celebrated to say goodbye to woolens and waking up before sun.

What could be the similarities between Christmas and festivities performed during winter solstice?

well, since winter solstice was performed all over the world in different forms so there are various rituals we will come across

let's start with Rome.

In Rome the festival of saturnalia was celebrated during this time, slavery was banned and everyone was treated as equal. there was also grand feasts and gift-givings. In ancient Rome the pine trees were seen as sacred and an essential part of goddess' groves and were also brought home and decorated.

In Persia, the victory of light over darkness was celebrated in form of Yalda. in this festival people use to light candles and fires to ward off darkness along with feasts.

in China, Donghzi festival is celebrated, which is one of the most widely celebrated festival by Chinese people and the significance of the festival is to celebrate the seasons turning point towards warmer and lighter days of spring.

But the most significant, of all of this is the the old pagan celebration of  winter solstice - yule

According to pagan beliefs Yule is the birthday of sun rather than the birthday of Jesus. there is a story of two twin kings Oak king and Holy king , the Holly king is considered to be the king of waning period of sun and thus he use to rule from midsummer to Yule time (winter solstice) and during Yule he would surrender his throne to his younger brother the Oak king, the ruler of waxing period. both of them are considered to maintain the harmony of seasons and fight for the love of goddess. although many researchers consider them to be the same person.

A point to be noted in this context is the western world used to follow a sun calendar , where there seasons, months days and important times wee all based  on the position of sun. that's why the zodiac symbols are also called sun signs, So the sun held a huge influence and significance in rituals and beliefs of people.

Yule was also observed in old Germany, scholars have found some connections with the historic Germanic tradition and the wild hunt of Odin.

Now, you would be surprised to know that how much of the old traditions are still followed today in Christmas.

The first one is the concept of evergreen trees, yew, iris, ivy, were seen as sacred, though there is no historic proofs, if the trees were decorated or not, some scholars believed that that Christmas tradition of decking the halls was implemented from this old pagan tradition.

the concept of mistletoe came from this old tradition along with use of wreath to protect homes from evil and keeping them warm with love.

The famous Christmas tree or Yule tree was is thought to be introduced during Victorian times by  German prince albert. It was believed that bringing live pine trees into the house and decorating them with candles kept the houses safe and warm, as the wood spirits would be pleased. ( I don't think they would be very pleased if you empty the forest in the name of festival though).

Sometimes Christmas is also referred to as Yuletide or Yuletime, due to the similarities between the two. but now we know which one originated from which one. Though it is very plesant to see how Christmas  is celebrated throughout the world irrespective of the religion of person. It has truly become a widely accepted and loved festivals of time.

🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕🎕

Merry Christmas to everyone

blue rose belles        

   (Archie)   🎕        

Durga

Durga puja is the life and soul of Bengal, a ten-day-long festival for the ten-handed goddess. Goddess Durga is like a mother figure and so calling her Ma Durga feels much warmer. She is also called Dashabhuja and Mahisasuramardini.

She is a mother, 

a warrior,

 the epitome of power, 

the power that runs the universe, 

shakti,

She has ten forms, 

some that are motherly and gentle,

 some fierce and dangerous.

And so it is said 

the same woman, 

who is gentle and calm, 

can be fierce and perilous.

So beware!

Before you call them weak.

As the puja season has begun ...

So, it is the perfect time for sitting with a cup of chai or coffee along with some pakoras and delve into the very interesting Indian mythology.

Before we begin let us know about three major gods of Indian mythology

Bramha - the god of creation

Vishnu/ Narayan- the protector of the universe

Shiva- the destroyer

According to mythology, the universe revolves around three major concepts creation, propagation and destruction. Destruction leads the path to the creation of a new era. 

Pretty simple right!

Nah ! as I try to explain the concepts you will just get caught up in a cobweb of confusion.

Before I come to the legend of Durga, let me tell you about Sati and Parvati.

Goddess Sati was the first wife of  Lord Shiva, she was the daughter of  Daksha Raj. Now, Daksha Raj was not very fond of his son-in-law. It so happened that Daksha Raj wanted Lord Shiva to bow in front of him since he is the elder in a relationship. But as Lord Shiva is one of the three main gods he refused to bow as that would be a sign of immense disrespect to the gods.

Daksha Raj's hatred towards Lord Shiva was so immense that he refused to accept Sati as his daughter. One day he organized a yajna ( a kind of puja) and invited everyone except his daughter and son-in-law.

Now, for any yajna offering tributes to Lord Shiva is important but Daksha Raj said that he will complete the yajna successfully without including Lord Shiva.

After hearing the news Sati was enraged and wanted to confront her father but lord Shiva warned her not to interfere with her father's affair, as he may insult her badly. This is the time that Sati showed Shiva her true form that she is not weak but powerful, and showed the different forms she has taken to kill numerous asuras. Lord Shiva was shocked to find out that his human wife was actually the Shakti so in the end he hesitantly accepted her request and let her go.

Now, when she arrived at her father's palace, he was in the middle of the yajna but Sati stopped him by saying no yajna can be completed without Shiva that is when everything started going downhill. The argument between father and daughter turned heated and he started insulting Lord Shiva. Sati who couldn't tolerate the disrespect of her husband decided to release her soul from her body. So she decided it was better to die than to hear her father insult her husband.

Lord Shiva felt her soul leaving her body and went ballistic. Since he is the god of destruction, you can imagine how much chaos his rage could create. Let me make the picture clearer he killed Daksha Raj with his Trishul (trident). Then took the lifeless body of his wife and started a dance of destruction ( tandrav). His emotions were storming inside grief, rage, and loss ( can you imagine a God who is immortal losing his beloved so early). His dance was so intense that the creation was on the verge of destruction.

All the gods were terrified since no one was able to stop him. At this point, Vishnu figured out that as long as he saw the dead body of his wife he wouldn't stop. So Vishu used his chakra to cut Sati's body into  52 pieces. Those pieces fell in different parts of India where according to the legend shrines were built later.

After realizing his wife's body was no longer on his shoulders lord Shiva fell down in devastation and the tandrav stopped. So the world did not end that night.

Years later Parvati was born to Himalaya and his wife, she was the reincarnation of Goddess Sati. She was a loved and cherished princess whose heart was already given to Lord Shiva. Her parents were also worshippers of lord shiva and were immensely pleased to marry off their daughter to him. But it was not easy for Parvati to be noticed by Lord Shiva. Parvati took the task of worshipping Lord Shiva wholeheartedly while he was deep in Tapasya (meditation). Now, Lord Shiva wanted to test her loyalty, so he disguised himself as a Brahmin. The Brahmin approached Parvati and said that she should marry a rich king rather than a god who lived like a beggar but Parvati replied that if she married someone it would be none other than Shiva.

 Lord Shiva was pleased with her answer and agreed to marry her and they lived happily ever after!

Nops!

Happily ever after happens in fairytales, not in mythology, at least not when you always have a bunch of asuras wreaking havoc frequently and a God who always grants amazing wishes which leads to disaster.

One of these Asuras was Mahisasura, Mahish means buffalo and asura demon. Since Mahisasur could shapeshift into buffalo and is also known as the buffalo demon.

Now Mahisasura was an immensely ambitious person, he wanted to achieve all three realms, Swarga ( adobe of gods), Marta ( adobe of humans), and Patala ( adobe of demons) and so he began to worship Brahma. 

After doing Tapasya for years, Brahma was pleased with him and decided to relieve him of his duty. So Brahma visited him and offered to grant him a wish. But there were terms and conditions, he could not wish for immortality, so Mahisasura being his smartass self asked that no man, animal, or god could kill him. His wish was granted making him ecstatic, he thought that he was immortal as no god, man or animal could harm him now, no matter what he did.

And the show begins, Mahisasura concurred the whole of Patala and Marta without any difficulty, torturing innocent souls and rampaging life. The minor gods being terrified of his power decided to approach the council.

The council now is very funny they had no idea what was going on below until the Marta was completely conquered. 

So what were they doing all this time?

Watching Apsaras dance while munching on snacks. 

Now, let me make it clear the three major are not included in the council, maybe because they are actually busy.

Coincidently, while the council was having such relaxing entertainment, after a long discussion period, Mahisasur barged in with his army and trampled the whole area. Some of the gods tried to fight him but in vain. So they fled.

Yup, you heard me right!

The gods fled from Swarga and came running to Kailash - the adobe of Lord Shiva.

Lord Vishnu and Lord Bramha were also informed of the situation and they also arrived at Kailash. Lord Vishnu found the loophole in the wish and decided to send a woman to fight Mahisasuara.

So, the three major gods created a powerful form with the Jyoti released from their third eye, the form was taken up by Parvati and the goddess Durga was born.

Each god gifted her some weapon and so in the end she had nine weapons in her ten hands and a lion.

She went into the battle like a fierce warrior, yet keeping her motherly features intact.

When Mahisasura saw Goddess Durga he laughed out loud. he couldn't believe the gods sent a woman to fight him. Goddess Durga warned him not to consider women as weak and that his death was written in her hands. Mahisasura was enraged hearing her words, when the gods and bravest of men are afraid of him what will a pitiful woman do but if she wants to fight then be it.

And so the war continued...

On the eight days, Mahisasura understood that the lady standing in front of him was no ordinary woman to mess with and his death was imminent. So, before they began fighting Mahisasur bowed in front of goddess Durga and asked her permission to worship her before fighting. The goddess was startled but nevertheless, she agreed, after doing the puja Mahisasur asked her to bless him so that he could do his best in the fight since he would be dying soon. The goddess was flabbergasted, she said that she would let him live if he gave back the Swarga and Marta, but he refused. he replied that if he had to die he would go down on the battlefield like a gallant person and by her hands. The goddess was pleased with him and said that whenever she would be worshipped by people Mahisasuara would also be worshipped with her.

On the evening of that day, Goddess Durga plunged the Trishul straight through Mahisasur's heart, ending a reign of terror.

Thus, the good won over the evil. 

Once again.

                                                                                      

blue rose belles

(Archie)       

 

THE MYSTERY OF THE LEANING TEMPLES OF INDIA

You have heard about the leaning tower of Pisa, but do you know about the leaning temples of India.

Well, then I present to you, the leaning temples of India. - Huma and Ratneshwar Mahadev Mandir 

HUMA, SAMBALPUR

There are three temples of Huma the main temple along with two small temples the main temple is dedicated to lord Bimaleswar while the other two temples are dedicated to Bhairo and Bhairavi Devi  .

Driving into a little history, the main temple was first built by Emperor Anangabhima Deva-III while it was renovated by King Ballar Singh, the fifth Chauhan king. The other two temples were built during the rule of Ajit Singh.

Now, if you notice carefully the main temple is actually tilted in one direction while the other two temples are tilted in another direction. And it is not only the temple that is tilted but also the gates and boundary.

It is interesting to note that the reason of the tilt is still unknown. There is no architectural default and the fact that the main temple was built way before the other two just elimnates the suspicion of it being a creative idea.

Some belief that the tilt happened due to the shifting of rock beds below. Which is a possible theory since the temple is situated on the banks of river Mahanadi.

But!

Let me tell you I had the luck of visiting that place and came to know some interesting facts from the locals. 

One of them is that anything that is built on that land gets tilted. 

Astonishing !

But true since, it is not only the temple that is tilted but the small shops near it are also slightly tilted. That is everything on the temple premises is tilted.

Some belief that the tilt could be because of some unknown geological factors but if that was the case then why is it that the tilt has not changed at all and not to mention the tilting at different angles.

Interesting, is the fact that even though the edifice of temple is tilted the pinnacle remains perpendicular and the centre of gravity is so well balanced that the mysterious tilting has also not disrupted the architectural structure.

But if you think that the leaning nature of temple is the only interesting thing, then you are so wrong!

The legends revolving around this temple are even more intriguing than the temple itself.

The first one is how the Huma wad found. The story revolves around a cow and milkman.

Yeah you heard me right no need to make faces.

So, this milkman was curious when he found the cow's uder dry everyday, so one day he followed his cow ( I have never heard about a cow stalker before. Well, there is always a first time right!). He saw her secreting the milk on a stone that was absorbing it. 

(Ok so now we have a milk drinking stone)

On observing further he noticed that the stone looked like a linga, ( a structure that is the symbol of lord Shiva).

After this episode everyone thought that place was holy and decided to built a shrine there. This is how the temple of Huma came into existence.

As I said before the temple is not the only attractive feature of Huma, just beyond it lies the eye capturing Mahanadi, for all the travellers here, it is a site to see.

The water is so clear that you can see the grass below and also the large swarms of fishes.

A certain type of fishes called Kudo fish are considered sacred and so fishery is completely banned here. Feeding the fishes are as seen as holy guestures.

Now, time for the second legend.

There are two abnormally large fishes in this waters. These special  fishes are said to be seen only  during shivratri. And anyone who sees at least one of them is considered to be immensely lucky and something good will happen to them while if they see both of the, one of their wishes will be granted. 

This legend somehow remind me of a story I used to hear in childhood, of three magical, colourful fishes that also use to grant wishes and were sacred but whenever they were caught for the king , they used to magically vanish from the kitchen and reappear in the pond.

Now, most of you will laugh at wish granting fishes at first I had the same thought, I mean I believe there could be those fishes but come on wish granting fishes are a little far fetched. 

But it was in the hotel that we were staying that we heard the story to be true. The manager of the hotel told us that those fishes are almost 6 feet large and there are some people who saw them , he himself had seen one. Another thing that he said was something good and unexpected did happen to those who saw these special fishes. 

I seriously don't know if the linga still drinks milk or if the fishes really have wish granting powers. But if anyone is lucky enough to see them please wish for Corona to leave us alone.

 Ratneshwar Mahadev Mandir, Varanasi

Besides being a leaning temple, it is  also partially submerged underwater for most of year. 

Unlike Huma, Ratneshwar temple is situated on the waterfront, of Mahakarnika ghat. It is the major tourist attraction of the city with a tilt of 9 degrees i.e. five degrees more than Leaning tower of Pisa.

 So, travellers this is another place to add to your bucket list after Corona is gone. 

Still not convinced to visit. 

Well, then let me tell you about the history and legend of temple.

Now there is a debate on who actually built the temple . So, it could have beern built by a servant of Raja Man Singh of Amer, or a servant of Ahilya Bai Holkar or by Baziya Bai , queen of Gwalior.

According to one of the legend it was built by a servant of Raja Man Singh for his mother. but after the completion of temple , he proudly boasted that he has repaid the debt to his mother. Since the debt of a mother can never be fulfilled so she cursed this temple and it began to fall backwards.

Well, at least we have some sort of mythical explanation about the tilt.

BUT!

Let me be honest neither you nor i believe this theory 

i don't know your reason but my reason is this picture.

It seems Ratneswar was not the ony leaning temple built on waterfront.

 There is this widely accepted theory, that the other temples were washed away by the current of Ganges and Ratneswar was the only temple to have survived.

But won't there be anything left behind, anything at all, that shows that these temples ever existed.

Not only that, in some rare early paintings the Ratneswar temple is shown uptight, suggesting that the temple may have started tilting in early tweentienth century.

So , the culprit of the tilt was some structural defect and high current of water. 

Now the question is, Why is the temple built on waterfront?

 was the temple always meant to be submerged in water? if yes then why?

Not to mention if other temples are washed away, then Ratneswar is also threatened to vanish one day without trace.

A temple is built for religious offerings but if the shrine of the temple is  almost always underwater, then how can some one do the required? Is it's sole purpose religious offering or something entirely different!

Hope we uncover the answers, one day.

 

Till then tell me your conspiracy theories about these temples, which one do you like more and would love to visit (in the comment section).

                    

                                          Archie          

( blue rose belles) 

Who was the Blood Countess? Who bathed in blood for youthness?!! ||Criminal world ep. 3||

Have you ever heard of the "Blood Countess"? 

The infamous lady who took baths in blood and had " Vampiric"  behavior? The vampire psycho lady? 

You have? Good. I think you have. She is popular. Like gossip girl popular. Read this article to reconfirm your knowledge and tell me where did I go wrong. I can be dumb sometimes( not really, shushhh... I have a small attention span. Lmao). 

You don't know who Blood countess is? Read on to find out! Might make you throw up.. So that must be fun. 

Blood countess or Elizabeth Bathory was born on the 7th  August 1560,in Nyírbátor, Hungary. She was born into the Bathory Bloodline, which was an incredibly powerful noble family of 

Hungary. 

Early life of Elizabeth Bathory was not exactly normal. Then again it was the 1500s -1600s, what can we except? Since Elizabeth was born into wealth and influence, she was given education, respect and was rich, everything girls in those (who weren't born into royalty) didn't have.

She was said to suffer for seizures and epilepsy from a very young age. For this reason she apparently used to smell and drink human blood. Yep! You read that right. Yummm...right? Now, it the 1500s, the medical or healthcare system was not at all developed. So, the doctors thought drinking human blood might cure epilepsy. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️. 

Even though the aesthetic of 1500s was pretty thank god I wasn't born in that era. God knows what the fuck they will do to you if you suffered from any disease. 

Elizabeth was engaged at the age of 11,to another very influential family of Hungary,  Nasady. 

Now something scandalous (in terms of 1500-1600s. Elizabeth Bathory is said to have given birth to a baby out of wedlock with a lower class lover at the age of 13. I mean it will still be quite scandalous right? Like sex at 12-13?!

It is said that her lover was castrated and then fed to the dogs. Talk about gruesome violence. Her baby daughter was given away to a servant who was paid handsomely to run away with the baby and never to give away this information. 

Elizabeth was married of to Count Ference Nasady two years later when she was 15 years old and her fiance was 19.

Her husband gifted her a castle for her wedding. Now it is said her husband made a "torture" Chamber in the castle just for Elizabeth so that she can implement her sadistic nature onto others. People get yourself a husband like that, who understands your needs.Every need, even if it is killing and torturing young women. It is true that the castle had a torture chamber but no evidence is found whether her husband had anything to do with it. 

 It is also interesting to note that Elizabeth didn't take up her husband's surname. Since Elizabeth was on a higher social status than her husband, she didn't take her husband's name but his husband took Bathory into his name. Girl power!! Yaay! 

Her husband was a very ambitious soldier and he used to away for most times. So, Elizabeth apparent had a series of lovers and bore her husband four children. I wonder if those lovers were castrated and fed to dogs... 

Also, why did the count accept this kids as his own? If he did, why the hell did he send away Elizabeth's first born? 

The torture of Bathory started around 1560. She started killing young peasant girls who used to work for her. She also abducted daughters of those servants who used to work for her. Maybe she chose girls at her castle so that her husband couldn't cheat on her, since most men at that were douchebags. Also not I said "most men" Not "all men".

She had around four people who were really loyal to her. They used to help Elizabeth abduct those young peasant girls. 

She used to to lock them up for days in her torture chamber without food or water. She used to beat them with leather floggers and stinging needles and of course after she stripped them naked. She used to freeze them for days. Sometimes she used to burn them and immediately used to put them into an ice bath. She used to cut off parts of there bodies and then feed it to the victim herself. She used to multilate the girls vagina and breasts making the form of torture of a sexual nature. She used to tie them up on a table and cover them in honey and left them like that. Ants used to crawl up all over there bodies along with other insects and bees. This resulted into the mutilation of the bodies. She is said to bathe and drink those girls' blood. 

On January 4,1604 , Elizabeth's husband died after years of disability. After that, Elizabeth's torture had no bounds. 

She soon got bored of the lower caste peasants girls and upgraded to the noble caste girls who used to go her gynaecium to learn etiquette. 

Around 1604 rumours about Elizabeth Bathory was spreads. Since daughters from noble families were missing, an investigation was launched. 

More and more witnesses were found. All of them sweared that Elizabeth Bathory was torturing and killing all those girls. 

In 1610, enough evidence was found and Elizabeth Bathory was arrested for the murder of 650+ girls. 

Since she was from a noble family, executing her or punishing her was off the table. 

It was later decided that she would be imprisoned in her own castle for the rest of her life. Now some sources say that she was imprisoned in a bricked room while others say she had free movement inside her palace. Nobody knows for sure. 

On the evening of 20th August, 1640 Elizabeth complained of cold hands and her guards suggested her to lie down. She was found the next morning. She was 54 at the time of her death. 

So that my friends was the tale of Countess Elizabeth Bathory aka the blood countess. 

I hope you all enjoyed this story. Please don't forget to follow us and leave me a comment telling me what you thought about this story. 

Follow us on social media!  Instagram handle :@_bluerosesociety_

With much love Anisha ❤

Lilith : The Untamed Queen

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They called her a demon 

A child-eating monster

the vampire queen

the first wife of Adam

but nobody saw her 

as who she was

nobody saw the 

real woman behind

the mask of a monster

the woman whose children

were killed ruthlessly

whose husband replaced

her almost instantaneously

and what was her fault

she didn't want to bow down

and tell me

 why should she?

when she was created as an equal.

 when she was deemed to be the queen.

             Lilith has been mentioned in many mythological stories, but there is no proof that it is the same person, Though all speak the same tongue confirming she is a demon. 

Demon, quite controversial isn't it, 

Who do you call a demon?

The one who is evil or whom you are afraid of?

Afraid of what?

Her wrath or afraid of realising the power she has over you?

Lilith's first appearance was around 3000BCE, in Mesopotamian scriptures," Lilitu" a class of storm spirits who are accused of prey on pregnant women and children. Four of these storm spirits deserve special mention "Lilu" ( a male demon), Lilitu or Lilith ( female demon), Ardat Lili ( Lilith's handmaiden) and Irdu Lili ( male counterpart of Ardat Lili). 

Ardat Lili is said to torment men in their sleep and father them with demonic children, while Irdu Lili is said to impregnate women with their class of demonic children. Lilith on other hand is accused of killing children and harming women, Lilu is often referred to as the father of Sumerian king Gilmerish, who according to the scriptures has a reputation of being cruel until he meets his friend Enkidu and becomes the hero of Uruk.

If the so-called "demonic children" were replaced by the word "illegitimate children", I think it will give a clearer view of the ancient beliefs. Throughout the years' Illegitimate children have been scorned upon by society ( even if almost all demigods were illegitimate) and addressing them as demon child won't be too much of a problem for them.

In some other scriptures, Lilith is often referred to as Innana's handmaiden( Inanna is another name of Ishtar). Who sent her to the world to lead men astray with her beauty,  more like to test their faithfulness to their beloved. Since Ishtar was the goddess of love, her test to judge the loyalty of men should be hard.

Now the next appearance Lilith makes is in ancient Hebrew text where her role is similar to Lilitu in Mesopotamian scriptures. Amulets are found with the names of three archangels Senoy, Sansenoy, Semangelof inside a circle and the name of Lilin or Lilith outside. The amulet was generally worn by newborns, it was supposed to protect them against the child-killing demon Lilin. Lilin was blamed to be associated with newborn deaths and miscarriages. 

       A manuscript regarding the amulet

But the unasked question is why would she harm innocent newborn babies?

Well, the answer is found in the most unexpected place, the bible.

We all know about Adam and Eve right! 

According to the bible, they were the first human beings created by God, who lived happily in the garden of Eden until they tasted the forbidden fruit and as a punishment was sent to live on Earth.

But what if I tell you Eve was not the first woman created by God?

According to the book of Isaiah, the first woman was created from the same dust like Adam.

But wait! didn't we hear that Eve was created from Adam's bone?

Confused!

Well, it seems after a lot of translations bible kind of erased a tiny information

Adam had a wife before Eve.

And her name was Lilith.

So what went wrong that the first woman ever created turned into a demon?

The answer is Adam.

Adam wanted dominance over Lilith, He wanted to prove that he is superior to her, but according to Lilith, they were equal. They were created by the god in the same way from the same dust, both of them held the same power and she would not bow down in front of him.

Their arguments went to such an extent that Lilith left the garden of Eden after screaming god's real name. She sought refuge in a cave near a sea where Egyptians are supposed to drown. 

Adam then complains to god that "Lilith left him", God pitied Adam and commanded his angels to bring back Lilith and if She refuses hundred of her children will die every day. So god is ready to kill a hundred children every day just because one woman didn't want to kneel in front of her male counterpart. ( how very great)

When the three angels Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof, found Lilith and told her about god's wrath,  she refused to return. According to the book of genesis, this is the reason why hundreds of demons die each day but isn't it unfair that you just categorized Lilith's children as demon's without them doing anything.

But she just traded her children lives for her independence doesn't that make her a bad person?

Does it? maybe it does? think once if she bore a girl child and saw her being treated the same way Adam treated her, would that be a nice view for Lilith to watch, her daughter being dominated by her brothers. I don't think so! 

Lilith's character is widely acclaimed now because she stood up against injustice, The injustice that still is a red flag in our society.

So did Lilith went on a killing rampage for revenge?

Maybe maybe not, if someone killed your children just to prove a point then any mother can become a psychopath and go on a killing rampage but there were also a lot of children who survived without amulet and some who died even with an amulet that proves that it was just a superstition.

There are two versions of that story.

One claims that when the angels came to get her, she said that God only made her bring diseases among newborns, if the newborn is male, she has dominion over him for the first eight days but if female it is twenty days. When angels refused her out of fear of the kids she gave an oath that she will not hurt them if they wear amulets with the name of three Angels. Now the controversy arises, if that they went to get Lilith back, so Eve wasn't made then right?!. If there was no Eve then there shouldn't be their progeny, so from where did the newborns come? 

Another story claims that Lilith after quite some time wanted to return to Eden, upon coming to the gates of Eden, she saw that God had already replaced her with another woman, was infuriated and so she sought to harm the newborns. It is also said that she stole Adam's seeds to raise a progeny of demons.

Even if Adam and Lilith's relationship went into ruins that don't mean Lilith wasn't pursued later. In some folk stories of the middle ages, Lilith has been crowned as the Queen of Demons after her Reunion with Asphodeus, the king of Demons.

In some other stories, she has often been associated with the infamous Lucifer.

Given her sense of self-respect, Lilith wouldn't submit before them which means they respected her and gave her position of their equal. Isn't it interesting that demons could understand her but God couldn't?

Some middle-aged texts claims, Lilith to be a seductress, who lure the man to their death. The texts warn that if any man falls prey to her charms they will never be free from it and never come back to light.

In Greek mythology, there is a mention of a child-stealing monster called Lamia, Who is said to have a half-human and half serpentine body, she also has a vampiric nature of drinking male blood and killing them in their sleep. Many believe that Lamia and Lilith are synonymous.

However, in neo-paganism Lilith is viewed as a goddess, Gerald Gardener affirms that Lilith has been worshipped earlier in the historic period. According to Doreen Valiente, Lilith is, " a personification of erotic dreams, the suppressed desire for delights". She is said to be connected with Ishtar, Inanna, Asherah, Anath and Isis.

In the world of literature, Lilith was always painted as a seductress luring men into her trap, witches, someone who leads men to their destruction but the victorian Poet Robert Browning saw Lilith in a different light. He saw the emotional aspects of Lilith and painted her in a different light, where Lilith always loved Adam but Eve didn't.

Interestingly, Lilith's symbols are lion, owl, eagles, vultures and snake. Though the first three symbols don't justify her demonic character, Lion has always being a symbol of strength and magnificence, Owl of wisdom and Eagle of sharpness. These three symbols bring about a character of power, strength dominance and righteousness, although the last two degrade hr character, together all of them make her the strongest woman ever created. A deadly combination of beauty, body and brain, a true figure of women empowerment.

Though there is a lot of controversy regarding the character of Lilith one cannot deny that with her Aura and Power over everyone Lilith was and will always be The Untamed Queen.

                                                                                  blue rose belles

                          (Archie)

Easter Sunday massacre

It's been about 46 years since the day of the Easter Sunday massacre. The story revolves around a man named James Ruppert. 



                                                        

                                                        The Ruppert house

James Urban Ruppert was born on 12th April, 1934 in Hamilton, Ohio. 

He is said to have a troubled childhood.  His father, Leonard had little to no affection for him and his older brother Leon repeatedly toldty, use to repeatedly tell Rupert, that she regretted his existence and wished for a daughter instead. 

In 1947,  Leonard Ruppert, James's father died and Leonard jr.  became the head of the house. It is said that James was constantly picked on by his older brother. He was apparently treated poorly at his home. 

All these left an impact on James. At school he was a poor student, he was hardly getting past. He had a few to no friends. It is known that he dated a few times in his life. 

James resented his brother. The reason behind this definitely begins when his brother used to pick on him. Later in life, Leonard jr. got a college degree on electrical engineering while James dropped out of college after two years of joining. Leonard jr. married one of James's ex-girlfriend Alma. Alma and Leonard jr. ha eight children together and were happily married. They lived in their big family house near to their parental house. On the other hand James was unemployed, sometimes did odd jobs and lived with his mother at the age of 41.

He was also an alcoholic.

His mother had expectations from him since he is a 41-year-old. His little problem with alcohol got so out of hand once that his mother threatened to get a restraining order against him. On top of all that, James owed money to his mother and brother. 

March 29th, 1975. It was James's birthday and he was witnessed practicing shooting with a. 357 magnum along the banks of The Great Miami River in Hamilton. He was later seen in a bar, where he talked to a employee, Miss Wanda. She said James seemed depressed and talked about feeling pressurised by his mother's wishes. He left the bar briefly at 11:00, saying he had a problem to solve but later came back at around 1:30 and said his problem was not solved yet. 

   

    10 of the victims of the Easter Sunday massacre. 

March 30th, 1,975. It was an Easter Sund and his wife, along with their eight children, came to visit Charity. 

While James was sleeping off his night of drinking in his room, the kids were playing around while the others prepared for there lunch. 

At around 4:00pm, James came down to the kitchen, with a loaded . 357 magnum, two.22  Handguns and a rifle. 

At that moment, Charity, Leonard jr. , Alma along  with three children David, Terresa and Carol.  James shot and killed them all. Then later he proceeded onto the living room where he killed his remaining nieces and nephews, namely, Leonard III, Ann, Micheal, Thomas,  John. 

So in total he killed 11 people. The entire massacre was done in about 5 mins. Leaving out one kid, the others where shot twice, to ensure that they are dead. 

James waited for a few moments before calling the police. 

The policy describes the scene as the "slaughterhouse" since everything was covered with blood. Blood was dripping off the wall, the carpets were soaked with blood. 

James refused to say anything to the police and was uncooperative. He made it clear he will plea for insanity. 

   James Ruppert at the time of his arrest. 

His initial trial was held in Hamilton, Ohio. The three-judge panel found him guilty of 11 murders and he sentenced to life imprisonment. 

Later a mistrial was supposed to be concluded in Findlay, Ohio as it was claimed he will never receive a fair trial in Hamilton. 

In July 1975,  a second trial started since new evJames'e and witnesses a surface drget shooting was surfacing. In that trial, he was found guilty of 11 murders and he received 11 life sentences. 

In 1982, a new trial was issued where he was found guilty of 2 murders and not guilty for the other 9 murders on the basis of insanity and was given 2 life sentences. 

In December 2019, James was held in the Franklin Medical Center in Ohio. In 1982, he was granted a hearing before the parole board but his release was denied. Later in 2015 he was again in a hearing before the parole board but his release was again denied. 

His next hearing is scheduled for 2025 when he would be 90 years of age. 

 

James Ruppert, 2015

 2025 is not far from now. Do you think he will be released? Does a evil like him deserve to get released? Do you think he was made into a devil by his own family? 

Let me know. 

I hope you enjoyed this story. Don't forget to leave a comment and subscribe to our blog for more content.

Also please stay safe and wear a mask. 

I will see you all in my next blog. 

With love, Anisha ❤❤

Criminal world EP- 1 "Youngest serial killer?!!"

           Kids are known to be the purest beings on earth. A child is known to be incapable of doing anything inhumane, cruel, or anything that might remotely hurt anybody ever. They are known to have the innocence of a rose, not tainted. 

But in this case, this information was bunked by a thousand miles, since the hands of this child were tainted with blood. 

Amardeep Sada was born in the year 1988 in the begusarai district in bihar, India. He was the older child of his parents. The family later moved to the Mushahari district in Bihar, India, where other members of the Sada family resided. The family was extremely poor and spent most there days in extreme poverty.  Sometime in late 2005 or early 2006, the family welcomed their second child, Amardeep's younger sister. Her name Or birthday is kept a secret. 

Amardeep was known to an odd duck in his village. People found his behavior to be icy. 

On May 30, 2007, a call was made to the Bhagavanpur police station in Bihar by the villagers of the Mushahari district. The villagers told the police that they have captured a deadly killer and that the police must immediately arrest that killer. 

The police went down to the village to find that the villagers captured an eight-year-old kid. 

When the villagers questioned, they said that eight years old killed a six-month-old girl named khushboo, who was Amardeep's neighbor's daughter. 

Allegedly, the mother of khusboo, Chun Chun Devi, left her sleeping six months old girl, in the front yard of a primary school. She then went home to do some chores and when she came back her daughter was missing. Some reports said, that some villagers saw Amardeep with Khushboo. Although this can't be confirmed. 

Later when the villagers asked Amardeep about Khusboo, he confessed to the crime of murdering the baby without showing any remorse. He said, that he saw khubsoo lying in the front yard of the school and he picked her up and took her to an empty field. There he strangled her and later beat her face with a brick multiple times. Then he buried her fragile dead body in the field and covered the area with leaves. 

The villagers then called the police to hand him over. 

When the police questioned him, he confessed to the police again without showing any remorse. The police arrested the eight-year boy after he confessed and took him to the police station. 

At the police station, he kept giving icy glares to the police officers. Some officers said that the glares gave them chills and it definitely didn't feel like an eight years old child's gaze. 

At the station, Amardeep confessed that Khusboo wasn't his first victim. 

His first victim was his six-month-old maternal cousin. He said that he took the baby from the house and took her to a field, killed her strangulation, and buried her body. He similarly killed his cousin as Khusboo. 

Amardeep's second victim was his eight-month-old sister. She was sleeping on her mother's lap when Amardeep came and cradled her, picked her, and went outside. Amardeep took her to the same field and bashed her face repeatedly with a brick until she stopped breathing. Then he buried her body among dirt and leaves. Later, when he returned home without his sister, the parents questioned him and confessed to killing his sister and his cousin. He even took his family to the place where he buried the body.

Amardeep's family knew about his killing spree and they didn't say this to anybody in a lousy effort to protect him and told everybody that the disappearance of Amardeep's sister and cousin was a "private family matter".

He showed the places he buried the bodies. 

By the time, the police arrested Amardeep, his parents fled the village. 

During the questioning, Amardeep showed no remorse for the killings and said that he was hungry and wanted to eat biscuits. 

The police asked a criminal psychiatrist to check on Amardeep because they suspected that he was mentally unwell. 

The psychiatrist said he was a "sadist". It basically means that Amardeep felt joy in his killings. Some other experts said that he suffered from what is known as a " Conduct disorder ", a mental state where the patients feel gratification from inflicting on others. Even though this condition could be treated with proper treatment. 

Since Amardeep was just 8 years old at that time, he was placed in a juvenile home where he was kept isolated from everybody else there. 

Amardeep Sada is known as the youngest serial killer in the world. He was only seven years old when he committed his first murder. 

Now some people said that he was released at the age of 18 from the home and he lives among us with a different name so that his new life will not be out shadowed by his past. But no information about his whereabouts is to found after his arrest. 

I hope you guys liked this story. If you guys are interested in stories like this and are a seeker of mystery and dark stories, I highly suggest you subscribe to this blog. Don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments. 

Stay safe and I will see you guys the next time. 

With love, Anisha ❤

EASTER OR ISHTAR

 

" All is fair in love and war"

Love and war are two very different yet very similar terms. But just how close are these two words?

What if I tell you that there is a goddess who represents both love and war?

Yes, you heard me correct!

 Her name is Ishtar.

She was a goddess of the very first civilization of the world, THE MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION.

She is not only the goddess of love and war but also fertility, destruction, death, justice, enmity, etc. Being the goddess of so many contradictory terms, her character is often seen as complex as that of the universe. She is also sometimes regarded as the  Queen of the Universe.

Her fierceness on the battlefield is captivating, along with her attire. It is said that even on a battlefield she used to be in her best attire like she was visiting her lover she wore a dashing and fashionable costume in form of armour, her jewellery was a part of her armour and weapons, she is always seen wearing a crown showing her superiority over others. 

You can say she was the eye-catcher of every battle. A goddess so fierce and determined to bring justice was also capable of loving so strongly that it will make you shiver with fear. Her love story was a tragedy just like all famous love stories but to think it was the first love story ever created had its own dark twist.

Ishtar's lover was Tammuz, their affectionate love and courtship was one of a kind but it was deemed to end in tragedy.

It is said that the goddess went to visit the underworld where her sister the Queen of Underworld resides, to show her compassion for the demise of her brother in law.  But her form was not anywhere near that of grief, she was instead dressed like in a battlefield. Her sister thought she was coming to conquer the underworld her ambitious nature was always feared by gods, so Ereshkigal ( the Queen of Underworld) devised a cunning plan to strip Ishtar of her power. 

According to Mesopotamian mythology, one has to pass through seven gates to enter the underworld and at each gate, she had to undressing one item of her wearing and thus gradually getting stripped of her power. In the end, it is seen that she stood completely naked in front of her sister, totally stripped off her powers and Ereshkigal took the opportunity and killed her.

No! the story does not end here.

After the death of Ishtar, the world went on a rampage with infertility, lack of intimacy and cease of a love affair. In this scenario Ea the God of wisdom made a master plan to revive Ishtar from Underworld. His plot did succeed but as the ancient Mesopotamian saying goes 

"No one comes from Underworld unmarked"

The hole created in the underworld by taking Ishtar back to the upper world needed to be filled, Ishtar chose to substitute her place in the underworld with the one who is least faithful to her.

The first person she visited was her handmaiden, but she saw her wearing rags and still grieving, so she left her and visited her two sons she was satisfied to see them both grieving like this the last person she visited was her husband Tammuz.

If you think that Tammuz was a mess and killed himself then nope you are wrong.

Ishtar was appalled to see her husband sitting on the throne peacefully with no sign of grief on his face of his clothes. She became enraged with his behaviour and order to take him as her substitute in the underworld.

Do you see why I told you there is a dark twist in her love story?

Does it make her a villain, someone who is able to sacrifice her loved ones for her sole purpose?

I don't think so, Ishtar is the goddess of Love and War, two forces so strong that they can solely destroy or build a life. She is a symbol of the balance of the universe, For her, a battle can only be just if all the warriors are loyal to their kingdoms and as the Goddess of justice, she found her own husband unfaithful.

Ishtar was the patron goddess Eanna temple of Uruk. Underworld left a mark on her but if she was evil then she wouldn't be a patron goddess. Ishtar is associated with the planet Venus ( which is also the Roman goddess of love synonymous with Aphrodite but Ishtar's character is a lot more complex than Aphrodite).  Innana and Astarte are two other names synonymous with Ishtar. 

The famous symbols of Ishtar included the lion and the eight-pointed star, a symbol that has shown its face in many other mythologies.

Ishtar's revenge has been scorned upon by many historians deeming her as a fickle-minded person but on the other side her complex character is what made her more interesting and connecting, she teaches the lesson that unfaithfulness in a bond as sacred love is a crime itself whose punishment should be as cruel as death.

 In this context, we must remember that she is also the goddess of justice and as the Queen of the universe it is her duty to maintain the harmony between good and evil and the factor she chose for her substitute in the underworld is loyalty. So Tammuz wouldn't have ended there if he had shown his grief over losing her. Thus Tammuz was not a victim just guilty.

# factopedia01- The character of Wonder woman is said to be inspired by Ishtar.

Now, many people will be thinking why I am rambling about Ishtar, an ancient mesopotamian goddess of fertility on Good Friday?

Well to answer your questions let us recall some facts about Easter.

Why is Easter celebrated?

Easter is celebrated to remember the resurrection of Christ from death. The so-called Easter egg is seen as a form of new life and has been synchronized with the Christian legend to represent new life. 

The resurrection of Christ stand victoriously as proof of him being the son of god and sends the message of the success of his faith even after his death.

In meantime, Judas the infamous betrayer was burned with guilt, he even tried to return the money back to the governor. In the end, when he couldn't carry the guilt anymore he committed suicide.

If by now you have connected the dots then bravo.

But if you haven't then let me do it for you.

Now, if you remember someone else who also came back from death. Someone who was also wronged by her loved ones. Someone who judged people on the basis of loyalty and faith. Someone who stood as the symbols of balance.

Yes, I am talking about Ishtar, the ancient goddess. 

The legend of Ishtar was moulded into Easter to create an umbrella religion for all. To unite the people of Europe with a single religion and thus Ishtar's story and resurrection of Jesus gave birth to Easter.

It is sad to see that  Goddess Ishtar's worship was later seen as satanic when it originally paved way for one of the most important faiths of Christianity "Easter". Now it's time to ask yourself will you only talk about Easter or also remember the original goddess with it.

                                Blue rose belles

                                    ( Archie)