You've met Krampus and Belsnickel, now meet...

One of the Perchten!

Last weekend, my mom and I went to German Fest in Milwaukee. We had a lot of fun. There were many sights to see, but one thing stood out as prime blog material!

This figure is one of the Perchten. His fur is blowing in the wind. A little girl who seemed strangely unafraid walked up and started petting the fur.

So here's the full Perchten standing in front of his creator's work area. I took one of the sculptor's business cards, so I could give you guys his information and a link to his online gallery of work: Bryan T. Berenson, Master Sculptor

www.btbsculptor.com

Check out his "gallery" link to see some of the awesome masks he has carved.

The artist at work:

So, who are the Perchten? Well, this brief article with some information was sitting near the figure. So I took a photo of it. There was no way I was going to remember this creature's name if I didn't take a pic of it!

The "Perchtenlauf" is the procession the Perchten walk in. There is a folk custom in the Tyrol region of Central Europe called Perchtenlaufen. (If you follow that link, you'll read some wild stuff.)

The Perchten appear in December to banish away winter and any evil spirits hanging around at that time. These creatures look almost scary enough to intimidate an entire season. The Perchten are the entourage of Perchta.

Perchta is a goddess in German folklore. She can look pretty (this gif is the image that came to my mind) or really creepy and craggy. I'm not going to get into too much here, but she's worth reading about. You can read a little about how the Perchten are connected to her in the "related beings" section:

Perchta's Wikipedia Page

It's worth visiting that page, if only to see the picture of another Perchten mask. That's one of the scariest yet!

These parading Perchten are similar to some other German creatures that come out in groups, wearing bells and carrying sticks, clubs, or in this picture, some kind of wooden farm tool. Hairy, menacing creatures.

So, of course I wanted to see a modern celebration of people in these costumes. There were plenty of videos to choose from on YouTube. I managed to find one without blinky strobe lights and flames or intense Metal music. This video shows a parade with many kids in the audience. The Perchten here are shaking hands or posing for photos. That's different from the other videos I watched where they were more or less attacking or chasing people. This is the tamest I could find:

There are also what appear to be interviews with the mask makers/sellers in this video. I don't know, it's all in German. I couldn't help noticing that some of the masks in the beginning of this video very strongly resemble the head witch in that 1990 movie The Witches. Do you remember that one? Angelica Houston is in it. And that movie has a strong German vibe. Just listen to Angelica here. So... someone was influenced character design-wise. Here's a clip of what I'm talking about (warning: big time spoilers and ickiness)

It's funny, how in so many of the comments under this movie clip people are saying how they were "traumatized" by watching The Witches, and yet I just watched a bunch of little kids at that Perchtenlauf event acting totally calm. And they were face to face with these things! I think culture plays a role here...

Speaking of witches, we saw one at German Fest. This was more of the Kitchen Witch variety! It was funny walking behind this witch, watching even the grumpiest of faces start smiling when they looked at her.

I'd been spotted!

The witch then (grossly enough) starting twanging this booger looking thing on a spring next to her nose. This was probably a photo op she was trying to provide for me, but I was too busy laughing to take a picture.

It turns out this witch was quite masculine, complete with a full mustache. I saw him later in the day sitting at a bar with his mask off. 😁

Irish Ghosts, Witches, and Scary Fairies

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I've been saving a few cool Irish themed videos for today. The first are a look at monsters and death myths in Celtic folklore. I know all of you Halloween people are going to love the intro to this show as much as I do! There's some really cool art in it. If you watch nothing more, watch the intro!

Celtic Monsters - Witches:

Celtic Monsters - Fairies:

These aren't the only Celtic Monsters videos. There's a series of six episodes as far as I know. It was hard to choose which ones to share. They're all so great. Here's the playlist if you'd like to see more:

Celtic Monsters YouTube Playlist

I really like the narration and storytelling in these videos. The storytellers come across as authentic, as if they're telling a story of something that really happened. It's possible some of these stories were passed down through families. It's just an elegantly put together show!

The next videos are from a paranormal investigation show called Northern Ireland's Greatest Haunts. This research team is fun to watch and I love the psychic! Wait until you hear the music that plays when she makes an appearance! Talk about an entrance. Here are a few of my favorite episodes:

Cooneen:

Cooneen House has that beautiful decay thing going on.

Prehen House:

... and again here's a playlist with a whole bunch of them, in case you'd like to binge-watch this whole show the way I did!

Northern Ireland's Greatest Haunts YouTube Playlist

There are a few other paranormal shows on that playlist which also look pretty entertaining!

My Review of The Devil and Daniel Webster

I recently watched The Devil and Daniel Webster after having it recommended to me by Diggs. I'm not sure why I hadn't seen it before. This was a really excellent movie! It feels like it should be a classic, but it appears to be one of those under-appreciated movies. The Devil and Daniel Webster came to theaters in 1941. It was made by people who would have just survived The Great Depression, and it shows. It shows in the script, it shows in the poverty of the farmers, and it shows in the attitude towards the loan sharks and rich businessmen that take advantage of those with less. There is an evil in this movie which is shown through the "oppressor" or rich jerk. Oddly, the devil and his demon friend are some of the more likable characters! It is said during the commentary on the DVD that one of the reasons audiences didn't connect to the movie at first was the idea of evil characters being likable or seductive. I don't understand what's not to connect to. If the devil isn't likable, if he doesn't manipulate you into making a deal, who'd sign their name on that wicked line?

I'll give you a brief background on the characters. Jabez Stone lives with his new wife and religious, no-nonsense mother in a simple farm shack in New Hampshire. (There is a lot of New Hampshire pride in this story.) The Stones have a few animals and not a lot of money. What they do have is a lot of love for one another and their lack of money doesn't seem to matter all that much. They just need to scrape enough together to pay a loan shark so they can stay on their land. The Stones decide to sell some things to get the money but problem after problem occurs. Their pig is injured, and then their seeds all fall in the muck. Jabez becomes so angry that he announces that he'd make a deal with the devil to improve his situation.

Then on cue, he appears - Walter Huston as the devil, out of a bright, hazy light in the barn. He's amazing in his role. He's a folksy, funny old huckster with some of the best lines. As I said before, you'll actually like the guy! If you're wondering if Walter Huston is any relation to Angelica Huston, yes - he's her grandfather.

The devil introduces himself as Mr. Scratch and hands Jabez his card. Jabez doesn't take it and the card lights into flame and disappears. You will see some pretty impressive special effects for 1941 in this movie. Heck, they're impressive now. In a way, I prefer them to some of the modern, overblown, computerized special effects seen today. Mr. Scratch does a little convincing and it doesn't take much to get Jabez to sign his contract. Mr. Scratch's attitude is pretty much "Soul, Shmoul. You don't need one of those!" After he gets the signature he wants, Mr. Scratch (in another piece of movie magic) writes Jabez's name and the date seven years from then into a tree. Smoke flies from the tree as the devil writes his evil date into it. Jabez has a bit of a wake up call at this point, as he sees that he only has seven years until he has to pay off his bargain.

Jabez and his newfound wealth

During this time we also meet Daniel Webster, a local politician and lawyer who would like to become president. Daniel Webster was an actual man, but it sounds like he was embellished a bit in fiction. In reality he didn't come through for the common people, but he's a very cool character in this movie. The movie version of Daniel Webster would have my vote! He is clearly the smartest one in the story. He's cool, calm headed, able to give a convincing argument or the perfect speech. He cares about the people, he respects those from other political parties for standing up for different views, he loves America and will stand up for his friends. Mr. Scratch would like to have a part in writing Daniel Webster's speeches, but Daniel pretty much tells him to buzz off. At one point he says to Mr. Scratch "I'd rather see you on the side of the opposition." and Mr. Scratch replies quietly "Oh, I'll be there too..."

Daniel Webster writes a speech while being pestered by the devil.

The next seven years go well for Jabez in some ways. He becomes extremely wealthy. He is able to pay off the loan shark and then some! By the way, the actor who played Miser Stevens, the loan shark is one of the best actors in this. I loved watching his smarmy, twitchy, jerky performance. It was so mean and creepy that it was funny. After Miser Stevens is paid off, he notices that Jabez has given him the exact gold coins he already has plenty of. These are unusual coins, and we realize the loan shark is also in league with the devil.

The creepy Miser Stevens

So Jabez becomes wealthy. He also loses his character as he mistreats his fellow farmers. When the other farmers have a bad growing season, they are forced to take unfair loans from Jabez. He's worse than the loan shark, because he pretends to be their friend and gives them an even worse deal. Then Mr. Scratch creates a massive hail storm, ruining the other farmers' fields. Jabez's wife Mary cries for the other men and their misfortune. Jabez just laughs in their faces and brags about his own "good luck". The other farmers have to suck up their dignity and work for Jabez in hopes of staying afloat.

It's around this time that Jabez and Mary have a son. It looks like Jabez might turn around his evil ways for a brief moment. The devil sees this and decides to up the ante by inviting one of his
"friends" to be a maid for the family. His friend is a female demon named Belle Z. (As in Beelzebub). Belle is played by Simone Simon, who is pretty darn sassy in her role. She was probably walking the line of getting censored for sexiness for a 1941 movie.

Belle and Jabez start their flirty ways

Anyone can guess what happens next. Jabez and Belle have an affair and don't even try to hide it. He and his mistress move into a giant mansion up on a hill, while his wife Mary and his mother live in the old shack below. Jabez and Belle dress in fancy clothes and shove their wealth and relationship in everyone's faces. Jabez is mean to his wife, he's mean to his mother, and he raises his son to be the brat of the century.

Jabez and Mary's son is named Daniel in tribute to Daniel Webster. Mary admires Daniel Webster and asks him to be her son's godfather. You get the feeling that she's known the politician for some time. Mary ends up reaching out to Daniel Webster in an act of desperation. She tells him how her husband has changed and he tells her he will help. As it happens, Jabez has invited Daniel to his house for a party, but I think it was mostly just to make himself look important. Daniel Webster visits Jabez in his grand (almost tacky) mansion and sets him straight. Jabez yells at both Daniel Webster and his wife and continues to make a fool of himself. At that point, Daniel, Mary, and Mary and Jabez's son decide to leave.

Poor Mary, who is completely innocent through this entire movie.

Jabez angrily sits down and of course Belle is there to comfort him. She's just been dancing what could be called a "dance of death" with Miser Stevens, the loan shark. It would seem Miser Stevens' seven years were up. Then the devil appears with a moth that has a tiny little voice that sounds like it belongs to Miser Stevens. Jabez now sees what happens to your soul if you sign it away to the devil. He freaks out and runs to Daniel Webster and Mary. He apologizes and Daniel agrees to help him out. Daniel will act as Jabez's attorney against the devil in a desperate fight for Jabez's soul.

Thus begins a classic scene that was even parodied on The Simpsons! At the end of "The Devil and Homer Simpson" there is a scene with "The Jury of the Damned". There are some pretty funny parts in that clip.

Back to the movie... The devil calls his jury, full of ne'er-do-wells, like Benedict Arnold and a whole pack of pirates. The judge presiding will be Judge Hawthorne of The Salem Witch Trials infamy! The judge doesn't allow much out of Daniel Webster, but in the end Daniel gives an awesome speech. It amounts to this - You were all once Americans, like Jabez. Your freedom was taken from you by the great oppressor - the devil. No one deserves to be oppressed like that. Give this fellow American another chance. It's a really stirring speech, filled with history. Here it is:

Spoiler Alert.... Even these wicked men are impressed by Daniel's speech. Mr. Scratch makes a confused expression that is hilarious. Jabez has his life back. His tacky mansion on the hill burns to the ground. We end with Daniel Webster sitting down with Jabez and his family for dinner, along with all the other farmers. Jabez's mom comes out with a peach pie made especially for Daniel Webster. Ah, but when she lifts the pie lid, it's gone! It appears the devil has been at work again.

The Devil and Daniel Webster is the best movie I've seen in a while! See if you can find it. I had some luck finding it at a local library. It will make you think, it will make you mad, and it will make you laugh. I just know you'll appreciate the Hitchcockian style shadows and excellent music too!

Speaking of the music, I'll end with one of the songs from the movie. This song, "Sleigh Ride" is what got the initial conversation going about The Devil and Daniel Webster. Never mind the sweet Christmas images in this video. The song is actually kind of frenetic and unnerving!

There'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tonight's blog post is a celebration of Christmas Eve as it would have been celebrated in the early to mid 1800s. Telling ghost stories was a Christmas Eve tradition at that time. I learned this in the process of the Christmas card and story/poem exchange I planned this year.

I hadn't been aware of the ghost story tradition, aside from that part of the Andy Williams song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year".

There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories
Of Christmases long, long ago 

I learned a lot more in the process of this exchange.  While looking for a poem to share, I learned a new one. The title of the poem I chose is "Haunted Houses" and it was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I've read the poem to myself several times, because I like it so much. That and I wanted to analyze it. I'm wondering how I'd never read it before!

I also practiced cutting snowflakes for the exchange and learned some new designs, like this cobweb:

Yay! I did it!

Cutting these took a lot of practice! This tutorial and video helped:



You might want to stop and start the video as you try the steps. I decided to cut curves along the outside of my webs after I was done.

On to the Christmas Eve reading!

Longfellow wrote "Haunted Houses" in 1852 so it is in line with the time ghost stories were shared for Christmas. Perhaps someone even read this poem aloud to their friends and family on Christmas Eve long, long ago. I'm going to read it for you now. I made another recording like the one I posted for Halloween. Like last time, you'll only hear me. Come sit by the virtual fire and pretend that it's 1852. Help yourself to some roasted chestnuts and hot cider. I'm going to read you a little poetry!

For those who would like to read along with me, here is "Haunted Houses" in its entirety: 

 

Haunted Houses

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

All houses wherein men have lived and died

Are haunted houses. Through the open doors

The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,

With feet that make no sound upon the floors.

We meet them at the door-way, on the stair,

Along the passages they come and go,

Impalpable impressions on the air,

A sense of something moving to and fro.

There are more guests at table than the hosts

Invited; the illuminated hall

Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,

As silent as the pictures on the wall.

The stranger at my fireside cannot see

The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;

He but perceives what is; while unto me

All that has been is visible and clear.

We have no title-deeds to house or lands;

Owners and occupants of earlier dates

From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands,

And hold in mortmain still their old estates.

The spirit-world around this world of sense

Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere

Wafts through these earthly mists and vapours dense

A vital breath of more ethereal air.

Our little lives are kept in equipoise

By opposite attractions and desires;

The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,

And the more noble instinct that aspires.

These perturbations, this perpetual jar

Of earthly wants and aspirations high,

Come from the influence of an unseen star

An undiscovered planet in our sky.

And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud

Throws o'er the sea a floating bridge of light,

Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd

Into the realm of mystery and night,—

So from the world of spirits there descends

A bridge of light, connecting it with this,

O'er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,

Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.

More of this year's snowflake designs

This poem taught me a new word - equipoise which basically means a balance.  So when Longfellow writes:

Our little lives are kept in equipoise

By opposite attractions and desires;

The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,

And the more noble instinct that aspires.

 
He means we find a balance in our lives between doing what's fun at the time and working towards a better future. That's how I interpret it anyway.

My little German Santa candy holder looking spooky

I love so many parts of this poem, but this is my favorite section:

The stranger at my fireside cannot see

The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;

He but perceives what is; while unto me

All that has been is visible and clear.

We have no title-deeds to house or lands;

Owners and occupants of earlier dates

From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands,

And hold in mortmain still their old estates.

The stranger can't see or sense what the writer is describing - he only perceives "what is". While the writer is aware of everything past and present in that room. There are no "title-deeds" - We own a house as much as the previous owner does. Longfellow is saying that we are shared owners of our property even if we can't sense who else is there. I think this is a sweet sentiment, especially around Christmas. The ghosts of Christmas past are always with us. By the way, mortmain was another new word for me. It basically means a legal landowner. 

What do you think of this poem? Do you have any favorite parts? 

Santa Spider has a wish for you.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy 2014!

Haunted Houses

Haunted Houses   by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow All houses wherein men have lived and died Are haunted houses. Through the open doors The harmless phantoms on their errands glide, With feet that make no sound upon the floors. We meet them at the door-way, on the stair, Along the passages they come and go, Impalpable impressions on the air, A sense of something moving to and fro. There are more guests at table than the hosts Invited; the illuminated hall Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts, As silent as the pictures on the wall. The stranger at my fireside cannot see The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear; He but perceives what is; while unto me All that has been is visible and clear. We have no title-deeds to house or lands; Owners and occupants of earlier dates From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands, And hold in mortmain still their old estates. The spirit-world around this world of sense Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere Wafts through these earthly mists and vapours dense A vital breath of more ethereal air. Our little lives are kept in equipoise By opposite attractions and desires; The struggle of the instinct that enjoys, And the more noble instinct that aspires. These perturbations, this perpetual jar Of earthly wants and aspirations high, Come from the influence of an unseen star An undiscovered planet in our sky. And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud Throws o'er the sea a floating bridge of light, Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd Into the realm of mystery and night,— So from the world of spirits there descends A bridge of light, connecting it with this, O'er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends, Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.  55  9 StumbleUpon0 Google +1 Reddit0  15

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19993#sthash.dSgvSGu4.dpuf

Haunted Houses   by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow All houses wherein men have lived and died Are haunted houses. Through the open doors The harmless phantoms on their errands glide, With feet that make no sound upon the floors. We meet them at the door-way, on the stair, Along the passages they come and go, Impalpable impressions on the air, A sense of something moving to and fro. There are more guests at table than the hosts Invited; the illuminated hall Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts, As silent as the pictures on the wall. The stranger at my fireside cannot see The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear; He but perceives what is; while unto me All that has been is visible and clear. We have no title-deeds to house or lands; Owners and occupants of earlier dates From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands, And hold in mortmain still their old estates. The spirit-world around this world of sense Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere Wafts through these earthly mists and vapours dense A vital breath of more ethereal air. Our little lives are kept in equipoise By opposite attractions and desires; The struggle of the instinct that enjoys, And the more noble instinct that aspires. These perturbations, this perpetual jar Of earthly wants and aspirations high, Come from the influence of an unseen star An undiscovered planet in our sky. And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud Throws o'er the sea a floating bridge of light, Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd Into the realm of mystery and night,— So from the world of spirits there descends A bridge of light, connecting it with this, O'er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends, Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.  55  9 StumbleUpon0 Google +1 Reddit0  15

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19993#sthash.dSgvSGu4.dpuf

Krampus goes Grimm

I was so excited to watch the Christmas special of Grimm last Friday! I always look forward to watching Grimm, but this episode had Krampus! For those who don't follow the show, it involves a lot of different creatures. Some are based on old Grimm's fairy tales, some are creatures designed especially for the show, and others are cultural legends. Grimm has recently been doing the cultural legend thing and I love it! A few weeks ago, I learned about El Cucuy, a boogeyman type creature told of in some Hispanic countries. The Krampus episode had some similarities, because he is also a creature creating a form of justice.

Many of the people who read this blog are well familiar with Krampus, but I'll give a quick explanation for anyone who isn't. In some Alpine and Northern European countries, the Krampus follows St. Nicholas around to meet with the children. While St. Nicholas is the giver of gifts, Krampus is more the giver of swats with the sticks he carries around. If you've been really awful, he'll load you into his sack and carry you off as a snack for later. Krampus is a horrifying devil-like creature who is often depicted with hooves and a long, red tongue. Here's how he looked on Grimm:



Pretty cool, hey? I couldn't have been happier with how he was represented! Here's Krampus with his switch and bag for collecting naughty kids:



In this plot, Krampus takes the kids and hangs them from the tallest trees in baskets. I'd never heard that part of the legend.



This Krampus not only looked scary, but he also had a scary voice. It was used sparingly, which I thought was perfect. I found a video full of Krampus moments. You will definitely get the idea! (There's a short advertisement before you see Krampus.)



What do you think? I think it's amazing how far mask making has come. Today, Krampus can be ultra scary with the use of silicone masks and contact lenses. I saw some modern Krampus get-togethers on YouTube recently and it's really spine-tingling now. I'm sure it always was, but now Krampus is like something from a Horror movie. This 2012 Krampus parade video was taken in Austria:



I find this video fascinating but I don't know if I'd be up for attending one of these parades in person. There's always that potential for people to get extra aggressive when they're wearing masks, carrying sticks, and probably fueled with a little beer! Still, I liked the creativity of the costumes, that red fire, and the way that one Krampus got lifted up.

I found a series of postcards and a few photos to give you an idea of what Krampus looked like back in the day:

Krampus postcards

The first two photos are of traditional Krampus costumes

You've come a long way Krampus!

Well of Doom

Last night, I caught a few episodes of the old TV show Thiller. The shows were part of Sunday Night Noir on MeTV. If you get MeTV in your area, you can catch marathons of your favorite old crime and mystery shows each Sunday night. Thriller ran from 1960-1962 and was hosted by Boris Karloff. He really sets the scary-story-on-a-dark-and-stormy-night mood with his introductions to the stories.

My favorite of last night's episodes was titled "Well of Doom" and for good reason. A good reason I won't be sharing, because I don't want to give anything away. The basic skeleton of the plot is that a young man is kidnapped on the night before his wedding by a man claiming to be the devil and a giant named Styx.

The kidnapped man is played by Ronald Howard who you may or may not know from the 1950s Sherlock Holmes TV series. I loved him on that show and he was pretty good in this! Another Sherlock connection is the show's devilish villain played by Henry Daniell.

I knew I recognized him. He was Professor Moriarty in the Sherlock movie, The Woman in Green, that time with Basil Rathbone playing Sherlock.

You may recognize Styx the sidekick as a young Richard Kiel. You probably know him better as "Jaws" from The Spy Who Loved Me.

Here is the entire Well of Doom episode, which aired in 1961. I think many of you will like it. It's a little dark, and a real nail-biter near the end! Those of you who read my blog in email form can click here to watch the video. Videos don't seem to appear in the email form of my blog.



What did you think of that episode? I'd be curious to hear what you predicted was going on with our villain as you watched this. Did you think he was the devil, a ghost, or something else? I'd like to discuss the plot a bit in the comments, but I'm not going to write any more about it now. Otherwise I might spoil a few plot twists!

P.S. ~ I've ordered some supplies for one of the book projects I mentioned in my last blog post. I have a pretty clear idea of where it's going and can't wait to share the final result! As usually happens with me, I'm going in a different direction from the initial inspiration.

My first tea leaf reading

The weather has become very cold in Wisconsin over the past few weeks. We have been lucky to have temperatures in the double digits! One way I've been trying to stay warm is to drink a lot of tea. For those who are interested, I've been drinking a lot of Stash MerryMint tea and Stash Licorice Spice tea.

Drinking all this tea inspired me to write something tea related. I've always been intrigued by people who read tea leaves, but have never had this done for me. Sometimes, as I finish a cup of tea, I will look in the bottom of the cup and think about the shapes I see. I've never taken it any further than that.

Trying to read my tea leaves (or whatever is left in the bottom of my cup) sounded like a fun experiment and good blog material. Aside from thinking I needed loose tea, I didn't know much about the process.

To help myself along, I decided to find some YouTube tutorials. Every time I need to learn how to do something, I head to YouTube. There are endless videos on how to read tea leaves there. The first video I ran across showed how to do this by tearing a regular tea bag. These instructions involved a lot of symbolism. I found it comparable to reading Tarot cards, with different placements for past, present, and future. I had always thought of just one design or shape showing up.




The shapes seemed somewhat open to interpretation, like looking at a Rorschach Test or clouds in the sky. So I looked up a series of charts so I would have help in deciphering what I was seeing. Here are a few of them:

Glossary of Tea Leaf Symbols & Meanings

Tea Leaves - Tea Leaf Symbols

Tea Leaf Reading

Tasseography

This woman gave a really nice overview of the process too. I know this video is kind of small, but it's worth watching:




You'll notice that she had a cool Victorian style teacup with symbols printed right on it. Here's a close-up photo of a similar teacup:

It would be awesome to use one of those, but I had to stick with what I had. Luckily, I found another video with instructions on how to choose the right teapot, teacup, and tea type for the process:



So the first thing I did was to choose a tea cup. It turned out that I had a teacup in just the right shape, complete with a saucer:

I chose to go with Stash Double Bergamot Earl Grey for my tea reading. I'm suddenly realizing how much I like the Stash brand. I chose this one, because it's a black tea and would therefore show up in the cup. Then I went through the process, hoping to see something like this:

Here's what I did see:

As the woman in the first video said, the image to the left of the cup's handle is past, middle is present, and right is future. So, I'll show you a close-up of each.

Left:

What I see in this is a curled animal or snake.

Center:

This could be a question mark or a hook.

Right:

I see a crown.

These are totally up for interpretation, but the one on the right looked clearly like a crown to me. After studying the shapes and interpreting them, I consulted the online symbol dictionaries. According to those:

1) Snakes are about as unpleasant as you'd imagine. Luckily, the coiled snake is in the past postition.

"This is an unpleasant sign of treachery, disloyalty, and hidden danger, sometimes caused by those whom you least suspect"

Sadly, that's spot on.

2) Hooks are an addiction or obsession. Question marks are the symbol of hesitancy or caution. The question mark definition makes a lot more sense than that of the hook, so I'm going to say that's a question mark. I have been hesitant/cautious in starting some new projects, and I'm not addicted or obsessed with anything as far as I'm aware!

3) Crowns symbolize the attainment of your highest ambition. Hey, you can't beat that! I do have some goals that I'd like to attain (the ones I'm being hesitant about starting), so that's a nice positive image to see.

This process wasn't at all difficult, so why not give it a shot? I'd be curious to hear about what you see, or even better, see a photo of it. What I saw actually made a lot of sense for my life.

I'm open to any other interpretations of what was in my teacup. If you're used to doing tea readings, and have experience in recognizing these symbols, I'd really like to hear from you! 

Midway Memories and Associations

Does anyone else feel like there's a dark underbelly to carnival midways? If I feel that way, I certainly have some good reasons. Actually, three reasons are coming to mind right now! I'll explain what's going through my head when I visit a midway, while showing you some photos I took at The Wisconsin State Fair's midway a few days ago.

This clown was part of a fun house I walked past at the midway. Looking at him, my mind instantly went to something scary from my childhood. That "something scary" was this guy:

As any faithful reader of this blog knows, I loved the show Are You Afraid of the Dark? when I was young. A very memorable episode of the show involved a spooky fun house and the legend of a ghost clown. That episode still spooks me even though I'm now an adult, and I've never had a fear of clowns!

If you're in my relative age group, you probably know about Zeebo the clown. If you aren't familiar with him, here's a trailer for the episode "The Tale of Laughing in the Dark"

When I was in high school, I first read what was to become my favorite book: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I've never read any other book that painted such clear images in my mind. There's a definite darkness behind the carnival in that story! If you've read that book, you know why I think of it every time I see a carousel. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't read the book, since the carousel is central to the plot.

I also first watched one of my favorite movies as a teenager: The Lost Boys. I'm sure most of you have seen that movie, so I won't be spoiling anything by saying that I also think of it when I see a carousel. When watching kids circle around on bright, colorful horses, my mind is filled with images of young, 80s vampires!

Why are carousels never this cool in real life?

I may not have seen Kiefer Sutherland on the midway, but I did run into a few other interesting characters...

I found Cousin IT airbrushed onto the side of a fun house. Another cool find were the pirates painted on the side of The Ghost Ship ride.

This guy was standing in front of the ride.

I have no idea what this next creature was supposed to be. Maybe he was an evil gargoyle. Whatever he was, I thought he was cool! This creature's eyes shifted back and forth as he made low, grumbling noises. He was sitting outside the midway's haunted house.

Nice hairy belly, hey? Here's a close up of his face:

This hairy gremlin had a little friend who was sitting on top of the haunted house.

Does he remind you of anyone? He reminds me of...



Do any of you have some childhood associations with carnival midways? I mean, are there any movies, books, or TV shows you've come to think of every time you're at a midway? Maybe some of you even have my same associations.

Well, tomorrow I'm going to our local Renaissance Faire. You might remember my Ren Faire blog post from last year. I hope to get many more pictures to share with you this year!