The Jul Goat.

 

The origins of the  Yule Goat (Christmas goat) are lost to history at this point, but one of the main  theory is that the celebration of the goat is connected to worship of Thor the Norse god of thunder, who rode across the sky in a chariot pulled by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr;

Another one is that  it goes back to common Northern European beliefs. The last sheaf of grain bundled in the harvest was credited with magical properties as the spirit of the harvest and saved for the Yule celebrations, called among other things Yule goat (Julbocken).

This connects to ancient proto-Slavic beliefs where the Koliada (Yule) festival honors the god of the fertile sun and the harvest. This god, Devac (also known as Dazbog or Dažbog), was represented by a white goat, consequently the Koliada festivals always had a person dressed as a goat, often demanding offerings in the form of presents.

A man-sized goat figure is known from 11th-century remembrances of Childermas, where it was led by a man dressed as Saint Nicholas, symbolizing his control over the Devil.

In Sweden, people believed the Yule goat to be  an invisible spirit that would travel from home too home some time before Christmas to make sure that the Yule preparations were done properly.

Small goat figures made out of straw or wood could also be called the Yule goat, and in older times people would play  a popular Christmas prank by hiding one of these mini Yule goats in a neighbour's house without them noticing; the family successfully pranked had to get rid of it in the same way.

The function of the Yule goat has changed over time , In a Scandinavian custom similar to the English tradition of wassailing (singing Christmas carol's), held at either Christmas or Epiphany, young men in costumes would walk between houses singing songs, enacting plays and performing pranks. This tradition is known from the 17th century and still continues in certain areas. 

The group of Christmas characters would often include the Yule goat, a rowdy and sometimes scary creature demanding gifts...

...........

Ever wish you could trick or treat in December? If you live in Scandinavia you can,kind of..

Norway Julebukk -Julbok - Julebukking is basically a Christmas version of trick-or-treating the tradition dates back centuries.

During Julebukk people dress up as goats, trolls, or other mythical creatures to sing and perform for their audiences. And gain rewards ( candy or other sweets). The old notes version of this was a man dressed in goat skins caring a goat heat and crashing other people's party's...today's version is much nicer.

The origins of Julebukk can be traced back to pre-Christian times, when goats were associated with the Norse god Thor and were thought to have magical powers. The tradition was also a way to celebrate the winter solstice and a way to engage and wish good luck and happiness to the community.

Today, Julebukking tradition is still popular in Norway, and many families and communities participate in the practice during the Christmas season. The performances typically involve singing, dancing, and storytelling, and often include traditional Christmas songs and folktales. The Julebukk costumes can be elaborate and creative, with participants dressing up in goat masks, horns, and other goat-like attire... Sometimes the people visited are supposed to join in the singing as they visit the next house, though this is optional...

.....

Yule Goat and Santa...

During the  1800's the Yule goat's became more like a Scandinavia Santa, bringing presents on Christmas.

Usually one of the men in the family would  dressing up as the Yule goat. (Modern day celebration Still dose this but as Santa)

Another old Norse version of Santa was the all father(Odin) riding around on his multi legged horse leaving gifts for good kids, this also ties into the wild hunt.

The goat was  eventually replaced by the jultomte (Sweden)  or julenisse (Norway) during the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century, although he is still called the Joulupukki (Yule goat) in Finland, and the tradition of the man-sized goat is no longer used now .

........

Swedish Yule Goat celebration..

This modern version of the Yule goat figure is a decorative goat made out of straw and usually bound with red ribbons, a popular Christmas ornament often found under or on the Christmas tree or larger visions used as laws decor for the holidays. 

Large versions of this ornament are frequently erected in towns and cities around Christmas time; a tradition started with the Gävle goat in 1966.

Though people often try to damage or burn it prevent this the ornament is often  guarded. This has resulted in more creative attempts to burn it down.

The town has tried lots of different ways to protect their goat. They’ve had guards stationed, security cameras put up and fences raised. And the goat itself has been sprayed with water and flameproof chemicals. Some years the goat even survives the whole holiday season! But most years … it doesn’t.

In 2005, a group dressed as Santa and gingerbread men fired flaming arrows into the goat. Hackers in 2009 disabled the security cameras and set the goat on fire. An American tourist was arrested for burning down the goat in 2001. He said he’d been told by his Swedish friends that burning the goat was OK. He ended up spending two weeks in jail.

And several other attempts, unfortunately trying to destroy it had become somewhat of a Tridition as well..

🎄Merry Christmas 🎄

And Happy New Year

🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆

Serbian Vampire Petar Blagojevic 🧛‍♂️

Petar Blagojevic.

1662 -1725

The Vampire of Kisiljevo Village 🦇

In 1725, a Serbian peasant named Petar Blagojevic from the village of Kisiljevo  died. 

Soon after a series of unexplained deaths occurred.

A short time after his funeral, several villagers died suddenly under mysterious circumstances

......

He became known as The Vampire of Kisiljevo and was also one of the first documented cases of vampire hysteria in 18th-century Europe. 

After his death, a series of mysterious deaths in the village led to the exhumation of his body, which villagers found to be unnaturally preserved, with blood on his teeth and mouth. This led to fears that Blagojevic had returned from the dead as a vampire, resulting in his body being staked and burned. 

The case was reported by Austrian authorities and published in a Viennese newspaper, contributing to the global circulation of the word "vampire" and helped further the belief of vampires.

.......

People suddenly dieing soon after Petar raised suspicion in the village leading to them  exhuming his body only to find it still very well-preserved, with signs of fresh blood on his teeth and mouth. 

Now convinced he was in fact a vampire, the villagers drove a wooden  stake through his heart and  burned his remains. 

........

Petar Blagojevic is one of the first well-documented instances of vampire hysteria. 

Officials from the then-Habsburg monarchy, who administered the area, documented the events. 

The report on this event was one of the first documented testimonies about vampire beliefs in Eastern Europe. It was published by Wienerisches Diarium, a Viennese newspaper, today known as Die Wiener Zeitung. Along with the report of the very similar Arnold Paole case of 1726–1732, it was widely translated in West and Northern Europe, heavily contributing to the vampire craze of the eighteenth century in Germany, France and England. 

The village of Kisiljevo is now a modern tourist destination for people interested in supernatural/ vampire lore and history.

.........

According to a Belgrade newspaper Glas javnosti, which cites local official Bogičić, the villagers are unable to identify Blagojević's grave and don't know whether the local family with the same surname are in fact  related to Petar.

 One person recalled stories of a  female vampire by the name of Ruža Vlajna, who was believed to haunt the village in more recent times, in the lifetime of her grandfather. She would make her presence felt by hitting pots hanging from roofs and was seen walking on the surface of the Danube, but it is unknown whether she was ever staked or not.

In De masticatione mortuorum in tumulis (1725), Michaël Ranft attempted to explain folk beliefs in vampires.

 He writes that, in the event of the death of every villager, some other person or people most likely a person related to the first dead who saw or touched the corpse, would eventually die either of some disease related to exposure to the corpse or of a frenetic delirium caused by the panic of merely seeing the corpse. 

These dying people would say that the dead man had appeared to them and tortured them in many ways. The other people in the village would exhume the corpse to see what it had been doing. He gives the following explanation when talking about the case of Petar Blagojević.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

This brave man perished by a sudden or violent death. This death, whatever it is, can provoke in the survivors the visions they had after his death. Sudden death gives rise to inquietude in the familiar circle. Inquietude has sorrow as a companion. Sorrow brings melancholy. Melancholy engenders restless nights and tormenting dreams. These dreams enfeeble body and spirit until illness overcomes and, eventually, death.

)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Other accounts on this case.

After Blagojević  died in 1725, and his death was followed by a spate of other sudden deaths (after very short maladies, reportedly of about 24 hours each). Within eight days, nine people perished. On their death-beds, the victims allegedly claimed to have been beaten by Blagojević at night. Blagojević's wife had even stated that he had visited her and asked her for his opanci (shoes); she then moved to another village for her safety  In another version, it's said that Blagojević came back to his house demanding food from his son and, when the son refused, Blagojević brutally murdered him, probably via biting and drinking his blood.

..

Korean Urban Legend: The Jangsan Tiger 🐯

 

🇰🇷The Jangsan Tiger 🐯

Korean mythology often depicts the tiger as a guardian or protector, especially a white tiger which is seen as a a symbol of bravery and wisdom.

However there is nothing benevolent about the tiger in this urban legend .

The Jangsan tiger, or Jangsan beom, is an Urban Legend about a frightening supernatural tiger or tiger like creature that originated in  South Korean in 2010.

It was first reported in September 2010. It has  been sighted multiple times in Busan. Other sightings in the Haeundae District of Busan were reported in June 2012. Sightings have also been reported  around, or near Gyeongju, Gyeongsan, Changnyeong and Incheon.

According to the legend,  it  lives on or near Jangsan mountain in Busan. 

It's most well know for it's ability to perfectly mimic human voices, especially a woman's cry/scream, to lure it's victims into the mountains then attacking them. In some versions it can mimic a person's appearance as well as they're voice. 

This cryptid walks on all fours and can move fast on most terrain even steep hills, it has long, white fur, very sharp teeth, and claws,  longer front legs, short back legs and depending on which version of the story you hear it can  resemble a tiger, dog, sloth or lion.

It's main hunting strategy is  its vocal mimicry to used to trick people and lure them into the forest so it can  attack. 

The legend is specifically tied to Jangsan mountain in Busan, Though it's not an actual cryptid as there are no sightings or mention of it before 2010 so as of this writing it's considered an Urban Legend.

The story has gained enough popularity to become an movie....

"The Mimic" (2017).

Fairy Lore, the will o the wisp.

 

Happy October 1st 🎃

The Will o the wisp .ignes fatui or ignis fatuus.

For centuries people have seen odd lights from the swamps or marsh. Though the name may very the most well known term is will o the wisp. Other names, for this phenomena including jack-o'-lantern, friar's lantern, and hinkypunk it is one of the more well know legends throughout Europe. Other names include the Paulding Light in Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the Hessdalen light in Norway or the Spooklight in Southwestern Missouri and Northeastern Oklahoma, the Naga fireballs on the Mekong in Thailand, and St. Louis Light in Saskatchewa.

The  Bridgewater Triangle, a swampy area of Massachusetts has local folklore of ghostly orbs of light, and there have been modern observations of these ghost-lights in this area as well.

The fifollet (or feu-follet) of Louisiana derives from the French settler's according to legends the fifollet is a soul sent back from the dead to do God's penance, but instead attacks people for vengeance. While it mostly takes part in harmless mischievous acts, the fifollet sometimes sucked the blood of children. Some legends say that it was the soul of a child who died before baptism.

In Mexico they are believed to be witches that transformed into  lights. Another explanation refers to the lights as indicators to places where gold or hidden treasures are buried which can be found only with the help of children. This version is called luces del dinero (money lights) or luces del tesoro (treasure lights).

....

The light of a will o the wisp is said to mislead travellers by resembling a flickering lamp or lantern.

In literature, will-o'-the-wisp metaphorically refers to a hope or goal that leads one on, but is impossible to reach, or something one finds strange or sinister.

For the most part the Wills-o'-the-wisp is a strange erie light usually seen around a forest, swamp, marsh or even  grave yards often witnessed by travelers.

The most common belief is that these lights are a type  of fairies, ghosts or elemental spirits. Modern explorations for  the light is that it's a natural phenomena most likely some kind of  bioluminescent swamp gas or possibly ball lightning.

Bunnyman : Cryptid or Urban Legend.

 

              Bunnymany: cryptid or urban legend

Depending on what version of the story  you hear, The Bunnyman is ether a crazy mann in a white bunny suit with an ax or a large white  rabbit like cryptid with a penchant for murder

the Bunny Man has been reported in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. (DC) He appears infrequently and usually in secluded locations.


Most often described as a figure dressed in a white bunny suit armed with an ax threatening children or vandalizing property. By the 1980s the Bunny Man had become an even more sinister figure with several gruesome murders to his credit. Although he has been reported as far south as Culpepper, Virginia. his main haunt has been the area surrounding a railroad overpass near Fairfax Station, Virginia frequented by party goers, the now infamous "Bunny Man Bridge."


Original story.

Halloween night in 1905, a group of teenagers went to the Colchester Overpass, near Clifton Virginia, also known as the Bunny Man Bridge  the teens would later be found dead, their throats slashed, and with long cuts up their abdomens as if they’d been gutted like a rabbit.


The story caused an uproar at the time, with parents warning their kids not to go anywhere near the bridge.



Halloween the next year, the Bunny Man struck again. This time, seven teens went to the bridge  to party while one of them, a young woman by the name of Adrian Hatala, was scared and a little apprehensive because of the stories and decided to keeping her distance. According to her account, there was a dim light which approached the bridge, followed by a blindingly bright flash of light emanating from under it at around midnight, after which she could hear the terrified and pained screams of her friens wafting towards her through the chilly night air. When she went running to investigate, she found the bodies of all of her friends hanging under the bridge, mutilated in a similar manner to the teens that had been found the previous Halloween. According to the story, she would was eventually charged with the murders and locked away in a mental institution.

The murders happened again and again, In 1913, 1949, and  1976 the bodies of several teenagers were allegedly found hanging under the bridge, murdered and mutilated in a similar brutal manner.


.,.....

Other versions



One Urban legend says  he's the spirit of an escaped mental patient that now  haunts the railroad bridge. He escaped hell bent on avenging the murders of his wife and child, who were slain nearby. Living in the woods near the bridge, he killed and ate rabbits, wearing their skins and leaving their mutilated bodies hanging in the trees. One Halloween night, taunted by some town children, he killed and mutilated them, too, hanging their corpses from trees around the bridge.

In another spin on the same theme, he’s the ghost of an escapee of a long-closed nearby asylum. Dressed in a rabbit suit, he throws axes (or chainsaws or hatchets) at the cars of young couples who park by the bridge late at night.

other say he can be summoned in a similar fashion to Blooby Mary,. by saying his name three times, Bunnyman Bunnyman Bunnyman.👻💀👻

The most recent sighting was in 2013 .

🐰🪓🌉

Yokai Myths: The Harionago or Barbed haired woman

 

 

                                             ---Harionago---

                       -- Barbed Haired OR Hook Haired woman--

                     ----------------------------------------------------------------
My first post of 2021, this month's posts will mostly be Yokai :)

============

Japan the Land of the rising sun, is full of fascinating  myths and legends with yokai of all shapes and sizes.

Today's post is about a long haired fem-fatal called the Harionago.

She's a Human like yokai that is considered very dangerous.

---------------
Alternative spellings...
 

Harionago, and in some areas  Harionna ...

This long haired vixen  is as dangerous as she is beautiful, those unfortunate enough to encounter her

often meet an unfortunate and painful end..

 

The Harionago is believed to resemble  a beautiful young woman with very long hair..

However, unbeknownst to her potential victims her hair is tipped with extremely sharp thorn-like barbs.

She has full control of her hair, and she can use it to lash out like a whip, wrap around a foot
to trip you or simply use it to ensnare her target.

She is believed to wander the roads of the Ehime prefecture in Japan on the island of Shikoku.
When she finds a young man to her liking, she will laugh at him, and if the man laugh back,
she will drop her barbed hair and quickly attack. 

                    
 

--------------------------

She is a fast and rather fearsome yokai, not only for the speed f her attack's but also for the
fact that at first glance she looks just like any other girl with long hair.

Her favorite haunts are the dark road of Shikoku late at night, She looks like young woman
with loose and somewhat disheveled hair.

However with a closer look, the tip of each of her hairs are  fitted with a needle-like
barbed hook , unfortunately  if you are close enough to her to to notice the hooks, it is
probably already too late for you.

==========
She wanders the streets always in searching of new victims, her favorite victim is usually young
single men walking home alone late at night.

If she takes an interest in a passerby, she smiles at him. (or sometimes giggle) If the smile
back or acknowledges her, she will attacks... she lets  her hair down, and the barbed ends
lash out with unimaginable speed and seemingly a will of their own though she can control them at will.
 

The barb's begin  sinking deep into her victim’s flesh.

Her hair strength is  said to be comparable to steel cables, it is so strong that even the
strongest man can be easily overpowered by her hooks.

Once her victim is ensnared and rendered helpless, she rips him into pieces with her hooks
and then eats the remains.

===

If you are relatively fit, and your home is VERY close to where you encounter the Haironago, you
may have a very slime chance to escape her.

If you do manage to somehow escape her grasp, she will still chance you and continue to try and break into your home.

Like most Yokai she will vanish at  sunrise, so if you can survive her attack until then you will be safe.

However you may need to buy a new front door as the old one will have large gouges and slashes taken out of it from  her vicious attack.
 
======

So the next time your out late be cautious of whom you interact with, and maybe don't try to pick up strange girls you just meet lol.