American Cryptid: Evil Gnomes

                              ==========Evil Gnomes===============



Today we take a trip to sunny California, beach's sun tans and surfing.

But California is also home to some odd and sometimes not so friendly cryptids, we all know of Bigfoot and a lot of you have probably heard of the Fresno Night Walkers(strange alien like cryptids with very small body's and really long legs - post on them soon)

But what's the first thing you think of when you hear the word Gnome?

For most of us it's those strange little men on your neighbors front lawn keeping a watchful eye on the garden.

But what if that creepy little figure wasn't so inanimate, what if by some slim chance, you happen too see it move....or even worst it tries to attack you.

Gnome's much like fairy's have been seen all over the world in some form or another, there were a few videos from Mexico that appear to show a gnome (duende) or at least a diminutive human like creature, You can still find them on  youtube.

                                                                   ---Duende---


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Gnome's are thought to dwell deep within the forests and mountains, making there homes underground or in caves and abandon mine shafts.

Though they have been known to frequent old abandon homes and buildings.

Most are thought of as kind or at least reclusive enough not to be a threat to humans, but just like humans there are good and bad gnomes.

==========================================================================================English Legend's about a vicious and even murderous gnome called a red cap, (They are Very similar to Goblins) this is a gnome you definitely don't want too meet!In the midelages  they would make there homes in old abandon castles and towers and would kill anyone that entered there territory.

They look like a little old man. Are short in stature like all gnomes, have red eyes, sharp teeth and long finger nails and of course a long pointy red hat. the hat's are red because this  vicious  little creature has a nasty habit of dyeing there hats with the blood of there victims.American Indianans speak of legends involving a small and fierce tribe of little people.

                                                ===The Redcaps Gnome-===
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A burial site unearthed in Tennessee was said too contain at least 100,000, yes -- One Hundred Thousand, full grown body's no more the 3 feet or so in height.

                                            ===Tennessee Fairy Remains===

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There have been several sightings along the Tully river in California.

These creatures for the most part seem too be some what foul tempered or even malevolent.

One California family experienced this terror first hand.

In 1999 a woman named Tammy Thomas and her family moved into an old farm house with an old unused shed in the back,at one point she began to notice a few of her duck's and other small animals go missing.

She believed there was something in the old shed, but never approached it out of fear of what was possibly inside.

Then one night after returning home from  a trip to the store with her grandson, she was terrified too see what she describes as an "Evil Garden Gnome" cackling in the dark.she grabbed her grandson and and ran to the house, once inside she could still hear noises on the porch and when she opened the curtains and to her horror the creature was staring back at her.

This incident frightened her, and fearing for the safety of herself and her grandchildren she eventually moved to a new home.

However people in that area still claim too see this odd little man from time to time, he is sometimes spotted moving lawn ornaments around in peoples yards, or catching and eating fish from the river or local ponds.

Some even say they hear him singing late at night. Another evil gnome like creature in California is called a Water Baby, it's a water dwelling creature, gnome like in appearance and if angered will sneak into your home and smother you.

They are said to live in the Tully river.California also has sightings of small hairy human like creatures that have been seen running across the road at night, So the next time you take a scenic hike through the forest of the golden state just remember Bigfoot may not be the only cryptid roaming the woods


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On a side note California has one of the largest clusters of missing people in the country, Yosemite national park seems to be a real active location for disappearance, stay safe and hike/camp responsibly and always ALWAY's let some one know were you are planning on going. For more information on the strange disappearance check out The Missing 411 series by David Palides, very informative and well researched
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American Cryptids: Oklahoma Octopus

American lakes and river's seems to be full of odd creatures...

From serpent's to aquatic humanoids, but is it possible that there my in fact be an octopus
or at least an octopus like creature stalking it's prey in Oklahoma..

Sounds far fetched i know, but is it really more outlandish then people claiming  that there are sharks
in the Mississippi river or lake Michigan (There actually is)


Bull sharks have been 'know to swim up river from the golf of mexico and some smaller one's have even be caught in Lake Michigan.

When you mention the word Giant octopus most people probably thing of The Kraken, but the Oklahoma octopus is often described as being roughly the size of a horse, that may not exactly be a giant but its still a very large predator.

Its said to have  a thick reddish brown leather like skin.

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                                    ----The Legendary Giant octopus.--- The Kraken------


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The beast seems to be very reclusive, and is rarely seen, People do go missing in state parks and lake's but keep in mind there are some very large alligators in lakes and rivers in the south that could contribute to at least some of the missing or drown swimmers....


As far as cryptids go the Oklahoma Octopus is not all that remarkable, it's basically just a very large octopus.


Similar to the Lusca or monster of the blue holes in the Caribbean. normally octopus in that area only grow to  around three feet, however in 2011, the body of what appeared  to be a giant octopus was found washed ashore on Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas.  if fully intact would have been over twenty feet long, many times the average length of a Caribbean octopus.



                                              .... Lusca home the Caribbean Blue Holes....

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The Oklahoma Octopus according to legend can be found in these tree lakes....

Lake Tenkiller, Lake Thunderbird, and  Lake Oolagah, which are all fresh water man-made lakes . But  they also seem to have a high number of drawing deaths for some reason....

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In 2003 a man named John Mazurek captured a live octopus at the Lake Conway Dam just outside of Mayflower Arkansas.

Well not as large as it's Oklahoma cousin is reported to be, it's at the very least proof that there was a  smaller variations living near the area....


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Next time you visit Oklahoma keep a watchful eye on the water alligators may not  be the only thing you have to worry about...

Fairy Myths: The Dullahan

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This will by my last Fay/ Fairy post for now, my next post will be Paranormal..Cryptid's and Monsters at least until  Halloween. anyway Enjoy :)
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                                            monster musume - lala by angellmoonlight on Deviantart

                                                  The Dullahan: Ireland's Headless Rider.



The Dullahan  is a type of fay from Irish Mythology it's  often seen as a harbinger of death.

This creature is depicted as a headless rider usually on a black horse or is some versions riding in a black horse drawn coach. The Dullahan is also refered to as Gan Ceann which means "Without a Head".



The headless rider is known too carries their own head under one arm. typically the Dullahan  is described as male, but there are some female versions.


The Dullahan has limited  speech capability's.

Its disembodied head is permitted to speak just once on each journey it undertakes, after that it only the ability to call the name of the person whose death it heralds.

A dullahan will stop its snorting horse at  the door of a house and shout the name of the person about to die, drawing forth the soul at the call.

 He may also stop at the very spot where a person will die.

On nights of Irish feast days, it is advisable to stay at home with the curtains drawn; particularly around the end of August or early September when the festival of Crom Dubh reputedly took place. If you have to be abroad at this time, be sure to keep some gold object close to hand.


The origins of the dullahan are unkown, but he is thought to be the embodiment of an ancient Celtic god, Crom Dubh, or Black Crom.

Black Crom was worshiped by the prehistoric king, Tighermas, who ruled in Ireland about fifteen hundred years ago and practiced human sacrifice.

Unlike the banshee, the dullahan does not follow specific families and its call is a summoning of the soul of the dying,  rather than a death warning.

 There is no real defense against the dullahan because he is death's herald. However, an charm or trinket made of gold may frighten him away.

 The  Dullahan's mouth is usually seen  in a sinister or hideous  grin that stretches from ear to ear. Its eyes are constantly moving about and can see across the countryside even during the darkest nights.

The flesh of the head is said to have the color and consistency of moldy cheese.

In some tales the Dullahan is believed to use the spine of a human corpse for a whip, and it's ghostly wagon is adorned with funeral objects: it has candles in skulls to light the way, the spokes of the wheels are made from thigh bones  and the wagon's covering is made from a worm-chewed pall or dried human skin.

The ancient Irish believed that where the Dullahan stops riding, a person is going  to die.


 The Dullahan calls out the person's name, drawing away the soul of his victim, at which point the person immediately drops dead.

Some legend's say that golden objects can force the Dullahan to disappear.These tales are coming from ancient times, where gold was very valuable and most commoner's / villagers did not have it.




It was thought that by .leaving  behind the gold as a sort of sacrifice  the soul could be spared.



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Dullahans have also been main charterers in modern anime and manga's...




Durarara, Interviews with Monster Girls and Monster Musume to name a few.

Fairy Myth: The Banshee

                                              ~~~~Scarah Screams by ashiori_chan ~~~~

                                                          Banshee from Monster High..


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The Banshee / Bean Si or Wailing Woman is seen as a harbinger of death, and is often said too haunt specific Irish family's though this is not always the case.

The legends  of the banshee can be traced back at least  as far as the early eighth century.

These story's  were based on an old Irish tradition where a women would sing a lament to signify a persons death.


In Scottish Mythology there is also a similar creature it's known as a the Bean nighe or ban nigheachain (little washerwoman) or nigheag na h-àth (little washer at the ford).

In Welsh mythology, She is  called the Hag of the mist.



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There are even stories of banshee's or banshee like creature in  America dating back to as early as the late 18th century.

 The most common area for the American Banshee is the Tar River in Edgecombe County, North Carolina .

Though unlike her Celtic counterpart,  this version of  the banshee is more like  a ghoul, as opposed to a spirit or messenger of death.

In one version of this legend a man named Dave Warnen was killed by the British and on his final breath cured them, as the  legend goes a banshee soon appeared and lead his killers tohe river were they drowned. She is said to still haunt the area.
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Another version of the American  Banshee can be found in the badlands area of South Dakota, where  people claim to hear a banshee's wail from a hill near Watch Dog Butte.

                                                            Banshee of the Badlands
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Many people in our modern time see the myth of the banshees as little more then entertaining Folk lore, something akin to campfire tales  while others believe wholeheartedly  in their existence.

Do Banshee's cause  death or simply foretell it, there have been reports of heart attacks or drowning and other sudden deaths of otherwise healthy individuals within  weeks following what was thought to be the sound of a banshee’s cry.

One of the most famous example of this is King James I of Scotland who was murdered soon after he reported having been approached by a strange Irish seer. 
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---King James 1 Banshee encounter------
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 In 1437,King James 1 of Scotland was approached by an Irish seer or fortune teller who was later identified as a banshee She foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl.
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There are records of several prophets believed to be physical  incarnations of  banshees attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings.



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-----Family said to be haunted by a Banshee----------------
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A banshee’s cry is often believed to predicts the death of a member of one of Ireland’s five major families: the O’Grady’s, the O’Neills, the O’Briens, the O’Connors or the Kavanaghs. Over time as families blended, it was said that most Irish families had their own banshee.

It is also said that the banshees followed their families as they emigrated from Ireland to other places across the globe, though some stayed behind to grieve at the original family estate.

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The Banshee that haunt's the O'Brians Family's was believed too be go by the name of Eevul, and was the apparently the leader of of at least  25 other banshees who would always be at her attendance. .

In later versions, the banshee might appear before the death and warn the family by wailing.

When several banshees appeared at once, it would  indicated the death of someone great or holy.

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In some versions a Banshee is a type of fairy,  in other story's she  was a ghost, often of a specific woman that had been murdered, or a mother who died during childbirth.

Banshees are usually described as dressed in white or grey, often having long, pale hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local mermaid myths. This comb detail is also related to the centuries-old traditional romantic Irish story that, if you ever see a comb lying on the ground in Ireland, you must never pick it up, or the banshees, having placed it there to lure unsuspecting humans, will spirit  you away.

Other stories describe the banshees as being dressed in green, red, or black and often with a grey or dark cloak.
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In traditional Scottish Gaelic mythology, the banshee is known as the bean sìth or bean nighe and can be  seen washing the bloodstained clothes or armor of those who are about to die. Similar beings are also found in Norse, and Welsh mythology.
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..Other Media ...

The America paranormal drama Teen Wolf

                                               Teen Wolf --  Lydia Martin the Banshee
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Monster High resident banshee named Scarha Screams..

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 and another well know charter the villain know as Silver Banshee from DC Comics

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Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers had a banshee in the Episode called "The Last Leprechaun"

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and

Tiny Toon Adventures had an ep featuring a banshee as well . "Pluck of the Irish"

Hope you all enjoy these post's, starting next week i will be doing mostly Cryptid/ monster post  until Halloween or a little after. Happy early Halloween lol

Fairy Myth : Leanansidhe - the vampier fairy

                                          ~~Irish Myths and Legends...The Leanansidhe~~




The Leanansidhe

Leanansidhe (Lhiannanshee) Leanan Sidhe: The Lhiannan Shee of the Isle of Man is said to be a vampir like  fairy who attached herself to one man, to whom she appeared irresistibly beautiful, but invisible to everyone else. If he yielded to her, he was ruined body and soul.

She is both a muse and a demon of sorts,  In Celtic lore the Leanan Sidhe is one of Ireland’s mythological vampires.

The fairy was a beautiful woman who was said to give inspiration to poets and musicians – but at the price of their lives.




She can often be found around wells or natural springs.

According to some legends she would make an artist her lover, sharing with them her intelligence, creativity and magic, but when she left, the men would be so depressed, they'd die. Leanan Sidhe would then take her dead lovers back to her lair.


Rather than directly suck the blood of her victims, Leanan Sidhe got creative, and collected their blood in a giant red cauldron, which was the source of her beauty, youth and artistic inspiration.

In other versions of this myth she takes is energy, like a type of energy vampier, ether way he die's..

As with Dearg-due, to prevent the undead Leanan Sidhe from rising, one must put a cairn of stones over her resting place.


The Irish Leanan Sidhe is known as the inspiration of poets and minstrels. She would roam the night, searching for romantic men to inspire with eloquence of word and beautiful music while in her embrace, and would draw from their life force until he would die.

Both names mean "fairy Sweetheart". In Scotland, the Leannan Sith was a term used to denote a fairy lover of either sex. In fact, the translators of the Bible into Scots Gaelic used this term, and the Scots took this as Biblical proof of the existence of fairies.

The Lhiannan Shee of Ballfletcher was the tutrelary fairy of the Fletchers, and gave them the fairy cup, which was drank from every Christmas in her honor.

Blessed Mabon..

  

Well the fall leaves are starting to show in some place more the others Autumn is upon us..



Blessed Mabon..

Maybon begins Seoptember 21st and ends September 29th this year.


For those of you unfamiliar Mabon is a wiccan holiday in celebration of the Autumn Equinox.


Mabon celebrates  the autumnal equinox,  think of it as a sort of  wiccan thanksgiving

Mabon also called Meán Fómhair or Alban Elfed  is a Neo Druid tradition, it hones the harvest and the bounty it bestows on us with the  fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and the God during the coming winter months.


 The name Mabon was first coined by Aidan Kelly around 1970 as a reference to Mabon ap Modron, from Welsh mythology.

 Mabon ap Modron is a prominent figure from mythology and ties into the Legend of King Arthur  Mabon was said to by  the son of Modron  and a member of Arthur's  war band.

                                        Arthur's court at Celliwig, 1881

 
Both he and his mother were likely deities in origin.

 His name is also related to the Romano-British god Mapanos, whose name means "Great Son"

To modern Wiccan / Withes  who follow the cycle of the seasons it is a way of combining , both ancient and modern triditions.

Contemporary Pagan festivals that rely on the Wheel are based to varying degrees on Folk traditions  from many different pagan and Celtic custumes regardless of actual historical pagan practices.

Among modern witches, each festival is also referred to as a sabbat.

Among the sabbats Mabon, is the second of the three Pagan harvest festivals, preceded by Lammas or Lughnasadh and followed by Samhian or Halloween,..

The third and final harvest festival "Samhain" is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the "darker half" of the year. Traditionally, it is celebrated from 31 October to November 1st. it is also a time when the vail between the living world and the spirit world is thinnest, it is the time of the year to honer the spirits and your ancestors.

Fairy Myth: Brownies

                                                            ~~~~~~Brownie's~~~~~~~



A brownie is a type of house elf.

In Scottish folklore brownies  are small human like, benevolent fairies (pronounced broony).

They appear to humans as small dwarve like beings  with dark black eyes.

There clothes are usually colored with different  earth tone colors.

They have pointed ears, big eyes, and long fingers.

They often explore a village finding homes of good, honest, and humble people.

 Once they find a good person's house, they set about, cleaning it, organizing it, and even adding new things. They don't like cats, and won't clean houses that have them.

If one were to leave food (preferably milk, honey, ale, porridge, and cake), that person would have a greater chance of receiving a nighttime visit from the Brownies.

Brownies despise liars, murderers, crooks, or any other immoral person, and will actively prank them, steal things from, or just mess up the person's house. Sometimes, a brownie will like a particular house, and will decide to stay there. They will probably stay in the attic, cellar, or woodshed.

They will only work during the nighttime hours, because they don't like to be seen.

Brownies do not like to be referred to as fairies, and may cause physical harm if someone where call them fairies.

All Brownies sometimes have meetings to catch up and discuss things (kind of like family reunions), usually on a rocky cliff or someplace really desolate  out of human sight.

 Brownies have been seen in modern day movies and games as well.

The card game Magic: The Gathering has a couple cards that are brownies, the Flyndhorn Brownie, and the Shelkin Brownie

 In the book Dragon Rider, there were brownies throughout the story, the main one was named Sorrel

 and

Probably the most well know house elf, Dobby from Harry Potter was based off of Brownies..


There is another type of brownie called the ùruisg or urisk.

 It is usualy seen near streams and waterfalls, not houses. And while it's still kind and sociable, it won't help out with the chores.

During spring and summer, it's somewhat  reclusive, but around the end of the harvest season, it opens up and will actually talk to humans.

It likes dairy products, and was said too  pesters milkmaids into giving him more milk.

 It's always seen carrying a walking stick with it, they have  long yellow hair, and sometimes wears a blue bonnet.