The secret society of witches

 Witches- half of us imagine them as teens while the other half imagine them as old hags with a crooked nose.

But all of these types of witches originated from Europe around the middle ages. So what prompted these witches to sprang into existence as evil beings?

Apparently, the male-dominated society was behind spreading the concepts of witches. if you look closely, then witches were thought to be associated with evil doings like making poisonous potions, cursing people, luring souls, practicing dark magic e.t.c.but what actually the witches did?

The old hags or pretty women, all types of witches are pictured as outcasts living alone with their magical ingredients in some desolate and deserted part of the village, practicing dark magic throughout the day and roaming around on broom at night. most of the time witches didn't have any male companion with them though they were accused of salacity. What is more interesting is that while witches are considered as wicked women breaking havoc in people's life, their male counterparts i.e. wizards or warlocks were actually respected around the world. As we already know anyone suspected of witchcraft was burned on a stake, hanged to death, or drowned in water. According to the scholars, there were approximately 40,000 to 100,000 witch executions in Europe during the middle ages. What did the witches do to deserve the horrible deaths?

To answer all these questions we need to go back to the ancient times when witches didn't create such a turmoil, superstitions ruled the hearts of people at that age and many believed that bad spirits cause havoc in the night to frighten newborn babies and make them cry. nightmares were also considered as a part of their mischief. So to protect their families from the hands of these evil beings the women of the house started using protection symbols and some items that can distract these spirits enough to not cause any ill to their family. Some used to mirror and foods to distract them, while others used herbs to keep them away. during that time protection spells, enchantments and magic were not considered as something evil and malicious rather the anyone who could do magic was considered to be gifted by Hecate; the goddess of magic. Even though Hecate was one of the minor goddesses, she was respected by everyone due to her powers. Necromancy or the calling of spirits was very much practiced around the world at that time and even practiced now. I am not only talking about the plan-chit s that but also about large festivities like Halloween and the day of death ( Día de Muertos ). Both the festivals are held to remember dead people and it is even said that the souls visit the land of living during this time, good souls can bless you while bad ones can curse you, so these bad spirits are kept away with the help of jack-o-lanterns.

So, if throughout the ages everyone tried to protect their family from evil then where did those women went wrong? 

Well, the answer is simple they practiced pagan beliefs rather than Christian beliefs.

Confused!

 You see even if Europe was succumbing to Christianity some people still practiced the age-old religions i.e worshipping of roman, greek, Norse gods, and goddesses. these minority was considered as a threat to the Church and so all necessary precaution was taken to subdue them and the very first victim of this cruel discrimination became the woman of the society. Why? because women were weak! No, it was because these women were always looked like a threat to the male dominating Christian society that was beginning to rise. Naturally, they started moving away to desolate places, hiding away to avoid being executed, sometimes they used to form groups and live in a safe place where the church can't find them forming a secret society and helping other women to escape the cruel hands of the church.

Now, some women had an extremely deep knowledge about different herbs, medicinal and poisonous both. They used their knowledge in curing different ailments, going from village to village to help people. They dedicated their lives to gaining knowledge and healing people, they didn't have family and usually lived alone making different concoctions for different ailments, sometimes they were right sometimes not. Their dedication led to villagers worship them like a god because they succeeded when in so called doctors also failed to cure the people.  Now, that became a huge problem for the church and so they started giving the story a little evil twist and that did the job effortlessly. The healers were blamed to practice withcraft to heal people from near death situation and since most of the villagers were illiterate about herbology so they believed the theory and burned these well wishers on stakes claiming them to be witches. Thus began the execution of the so called witches all over Europe.

The church added fuel to the little flame of witchcraft and it soon turned into a wildfire engulfing thousands of innocent souls throughout Europe. Maybe the church didn't want it to take such a massive turn but it did and the old hag picture of witches was actually created to bring out their evil nature through their ugly looks. The images were successful in awaking fear in the hearts of ordinary people.

Urban literature has opened the path of viewing witches in another light rather than evil practitioners of dark magic.

If you think that witches don't exist in the 21st century then you are wrong some people claim to practice witchcraft,  they claim it to be their religion. Though it is not known if they can actually perform magical spells or it is just a modified version of pagan beliefs. their religion is known as Wicca.

Wicca 

The pentacle

Interestingly the symbol of Wicca is quite similar to the pentacle, the very symbol used for the protection from evil spirits. Actually, it is the same symbol. thus giving fuel to the theory that witchcraft is actually the practice of pagan beliefs.

                                                                                                                  blue rose belles

                                                                                                                           (Archie)

The apple of doom or apple of knowledge

 "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Isn't it interesting how we find an apple so useful and powerful, at the same time? but why it is an apple and not any other fruit?

Eve ate the apple from the garden of Eden and was doomed to live on earth.

 An apple fell on Newton's head, and the laws of gravity came into existence.

Do you know that in ancient Greece, you could even get engaged because of this particular fruit!

Then we have the apple of discord, the supposedly golden apple that was the cause behind the trojan war.

And of course, let's not forget snow white.

But what it is with apple that it finds it's placed in so many phrases and myths?

Every myth, every story is interconnected, sometimes we see the connection, sometimes we don't, but most of the time we choose to ignore. Sometimes we are so engrossed in our own beliefs that we fail to see the other side of the story. Just like in the case of Adam and Eve, we blame Eve to be the cause of the doom of humans when it is for her only that the human race actually began. If Adam and Eve were not punished to come to earth, then obviously they wouldn't have any descendants running about the planet. The garden of Eden is considered as a safe and happy place where everything is served on a golden platter, a state of bliss where there is no shadow of worry whereas the apple brings about the cruel reality of hardships and trouble in real life. 

Now how many of you actually knew snow white is an adaptation of Eve's doom?

Yes, my dear, the famous Disney movie is actually an adaptation of a story from the bible. Snow white is the example of the perfect princess, kind and sweet, she saw the good in everyone but after waking up from the death sleep I don't think she would have the same notions about the world that she had earlier. in the real version of Grimm brothers, the stepmother was punished to dance wearing hot iron bands around her ankles till she died, if snow white was the same innocent girl then I think she would have stopped the torture.

Not only that if you watch closely, then you will find many similarities between the Disney princesses and the age-old myths. For example, the apple of discord shares a similar storyline as sleeping beauty/ maleficient. How? Well, as you see, according to Greek mythology Eris wasn't the favorite person of anyone, being the daughter of chaos the situation was even worse but she felt extremely insulted when she was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis while every other god was (ring any bells), so she barged into the wedding throwing the apple of discord in front of the goddesses and told whoever is the fairest of them all, the apple belongs to her, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all three of them argued and no one could come to the decision as who is the fairest goddess, so Zeus appointed Paris of Troy to be the judge. now began the bribing ceremony, while Hera and Athena promised him power and wealth respectively, Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman, well I guess love conquers all just as Aurora woke with the help of true love's kiss, Aphrodite won the bribing competition and then you know the story.

Unbelievable right! a freaking epic war and the root of it is what? 

AN APPLE

An insult is what it took for the whole world to tear apart.

 wait!the apples don't stop here, there are many more stories with apples as the center of attraction like the golden apples in the garden of Hesperides.

The legends made apples to symbolize temptation, discord, vanity, beauty, desire, lust, knowledge, and obviously the doom of men.

But the great question still remains, why apple?

is it because apple was more delicious than other fruit and just by looking at the shiny red skin people could be salivating or maybe because there were more apple thieves than gold thieves. Or maybe just European people had a sick infatuation with apples.

but whatever apple is the only fruit that has so much literary importance in ancient + modern works, it is the only fruit that signifies so many things at once and I think even THE APPLE is confused in what it signifies knowledge or doom. I guess it is the most confusing fruit out there.

                                - blue rose belles

                                    (Archie)

The Mysterious Mothman

 Mothman: Though the name sounds like superman. Most people will assume it as a fictional character, but that is where they go wrong.

 Mothman is not a fictional character, it has shown his face more than once in public. So what is it actually? 

Well, those who have seen it claim it to be "a man with wings".

I am serious!

On the fateful night of 16 November 1966, two couples encountered a human-sized bird-like creature in the TNT area of West Virginia at around midnight. The incident was published in the newspaper on the following day. The four people claimed that "the man had red eyes and large wings". When asked if the couples were drunk, they denied the accusation and told that if one person saw it, it could be overruled, but all four of them saw it, hovering over the car.

The incident should have been forgotten, but Mothman continued its appearance another two or three times. The most prominent among them is the silver bridge incidence.

The silver bridge connected Point Pleasant to Gallipolis and collapsed on December 15 of 1967. It had been visited by Mothman just a day before the incident. The records say that tragedy happened due to a faulty eyebar suspension chain and poor maintenance, but suspiciously the Mothman disappeared for a long time after that incident.

Dr John Keel in his book  The Mothman Prophecies linked the appearance of Mothman and the bridge collapse.

Keel believed it to be no coincidence and in his book, he concluded the Mothman sightings by the residents of Point Pleasant was a premonition about the silver bridge accident. He even went as far as assuming Mothman to be an alien. keel's book stirred the community and the local legend of Mothman became a figure of interest, the book was adapted into a movie in 2002. both the movie and the book made the little town famous and tourism skyrocketed. the people of West Virginia started an annual Mothman Festival. The legendary Mothman had impacted the town so much that a 12-foot metallic statue of Mothman and Mothman museum and research centre was also established.

Some people claim that Mothman also made his appearance at Chernobyl before the disaster while some claim he visited the twin towers before 9/11.

Over the years Mothman has become a figure of catastrophe, his story has grown and turned into a legend but the question remains.

 Is he real?

The shadowy legend of Mothman seems too absurd to be real, some researchers claim the Mothman is nothing but a large Sandhill crane, a large bird with a 10-foot wingspan and red markings around its eye.

The theory of it being a bird is one of the most accepted ones. Though the bird is not native to the lands, it had been spotted many times in and around the lands, thus, solidifying the belief. But its mysterious appearances at the spot of destructions still can't be solved, and the photographs captured doesn't quite really help!

According to the reports the residents claimed it to be a human-like figure and some even went further to say it lived at the nuclear plant. Since it was first seen in the TNT area so the fact is not completely throwable. 

Could it be a result of radioactive mutation or some crazy experiment that went wrong or it is actually some extraterrestrial being? Whatever it is the creature has surely made a prominent place in modern myths and pop culture. 

What do you think the creature really is? feel free to leave your views in the comment section. ( you can also comment anonymously) .

                                                                                               - blue rose belles

                                                                                                (Archie)

Murder Mystery : "Who put Bella in the Witch Elm"

 Crimes.It reminds us of how dark the world really is.Some people find true crime stories to be disturbing(no hate). I, on the other hand like those stories. 

So, today I would like to share a true crime story that I know. It is popularly known as "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm"

This incident took place at the background of England during 1943, During World War II.

On one fateful evening, in the month of April, right when the sun was setting, Four teenage boys were roaming in the Hagley woods, near Wychbury hills.

They were looking for rabbits or something like that which would feed their families and also take their mind of the German bombing raids.

They spotted at weird looking tree named "The witch elm" due to it's weird shape. One of the boys named Bob Farmer, decided to climb that tree.

As he sat up on the tree and looked down in the hollow of the tree he noticed something being inside it. As he grew curiouser and curiouser, he plunged his arm inside the hollow. To his utter Disbelieve he found a skull. Like a real skull.

At first, he and his friends thought it was of an animal or something, but apparently they saw something stuck to the skull which resembled human hair. (I wonder how they knew it was human hair! I must be really dumb)

So, they dropped the skull, like any normal human would , and ran back home. At first they decided that they will not tell about this to anyone ever. 

But later they confessed it to it their parents.Keeping the skull a secret was getting hard for them, understandably.

Their parents informed the local police, like any normal parents would.

The police went to the tree and investigated the area and the tree properly.

The police found a woman's skeleton inside that hollow. A entire freaking skeleton!

A cheap gold imitation ring was found on her left hand, indicating that she was married. The police also found cheap clothes and a crepe soled shoe of size five and a half.

Disturbingly, the right hand of the dead women was completely sawed of and a few other bones of the skeleton were scattered.

The body or the whatever remained of the body of the poor woman was taken under for medical examination.

The medical examiner, Professor James Webster said that, the found woman was around 35 years old, with irregular teeth on the upper jaw, lightbrown hair and around 5 feet tall. She gave birth once in her life. She had been dead for about 18 months or more at the time of discovery.

He also said, it was impossible for the woman to have slipped in the hollow of the tree or to have crawled in the hollow of the tree. Someone put her there. Professor Webster also mentioned that the body was put there before rigor mortis set in.Rigor mortis is the phenomena when the body starts becoming stiff after death. He concluded that she must have been killed near the tree, for the killer set the body there "warm".

There was a piece of taffeta fabric found stuffed inside the mouth of the skull.

The police tried to identify the body. They tried to trace the shoe to it's manufacturer but the trail died cold with them tracing it to a small shop in Dudley.

There was practically no information to be found so the case was deemed a cold case.

Then in the year 1943, a weird message was seen chalked on a house near Old Mill. The message read "Who put Lubella in the Wych Elm?"

For the first time, the police had a name to work with. Lubella. Who was Lubella?

The police did not find huge leads on this but over the months more graffiti es started showing up.

Those read "WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WITCH ELM?" 

The change in name was something the police couldn't understand. 

The police came to the decision that the artist behind the graffitis knew something about "Bella".

They tried to trace down the artist but failed.

New messages started popping up around in the late 1940s again.

Each message reading the same "Who put Bella in witch elm?"

No one could figure out who "Bella" was.

The theories regarding the death of murder of "Bella" range from crazy to ballistic.

The 'fan' favorite theory is "Bella" as an victim of black magic.

According to anthropologist Professor Margaret Murray, the death of "Bella" might be an activity of Black Magic.

The severed hand suggested an occult practice called "Hand of Glory".

The scattered bones, the stuffed taffeta also suggested an involvement of occult practices.

The fact that she was "entombed" in a tree also suggested a type of "ritualistic" slaying. 

A herb commonly known as 'Witch's hazel" which is commonly used in the practice of witchcraft was found in Hagley woods.

The theory states that, "Bella" probably pissed over a coven of witches and the witches killed her in a "witchy" manner as a punishment. Ironically, the tree she was entombed in was also called "Witch elm". 

The next popular theory is that "Bella" was a spy.

I know. The jump between the two theories is a bit much......to say the least.

This theory starts with the discovery of an woman named "Anna". She allegedly wrote an letter to a few newspaper houses claiming that she had information about "Bella". 

She was later interviewed and she revealed that "Bella" was a part of a German spy circle and she was supposed to find the location of the local munition factories.

"Anna" later was identified by as Unna Mossop. Her husband was allegedly an RAF pilot and he witnessed the murder of "Bella". 

She stated that her husband and another spy named Van Rault went drinking to a pub and "Bella" got drunk and passed out. The two men then put her inside the tree, just to teach her lesson. When she woke up in the tree, she was unable to get out and died there. But this theory has a plot-holes according to me, I mean who cut her hand? who stuffed taffeta in her mouth? Who scattered her bones?

Then in later years, in some classified MI5 files, a spy named Josef Jacob, who was caught, had a picture of a German actress named Clara Baurele. She looked a lot like "Bella" and she was allegedly also a German spy.  It could be possible that Clara was actually "Bella".

But this theory was later debunked since Clara was taller than "Bella".

This case remains unsolved till date and many facts and information have been perished by time. 

This intriguing case might probably never get solved. Maybe the fact that this case is unsolved makes it more intriguing.

Thank you all for reading!