A busy time here at Sorchia’s Universe. I’ve missed a couple of letters but plan to finish strong–with a BIG announcement coming soon. Here’s the thing about Voodoo dolls–they are not really Voodoo after all. Many religions use dolls or human figures in rituals–including Voodoo. The association, however, is mostly pure Hollywood. Ancient Greeks called them Kolossoi, and used them to protect a village by binding the deity and preventing harm from that source. Native Americans and other agricultural cultures […]
Magic
296 posts
We are in the last half of the A-Z Blog and I’m getting my second wind. Since I write about this kind of stuff all the time, it isn’t unusual to find similar posts. Be sure to click the link at the end of this short post to read more about werewolves. Rougarou is the Louisianan or Cajun French version of Loup garou, a French term for werewolf. The story is the same except that the rougarou prowls the swamps […]
The Questing Beast is one of those critters who seem to only exist in literature—but it starts with Q so . . . . . It appears in Arthurian legend as a dragon-like creature with the head of a snake, the body of a leopard and the haunches of a hart. Its bite is poisonous with no antidote save intervention by one who knows the ancient religion. The curing spell requires a sacrifice of a life to save […]
Most of the creatures we’ll look at during this A-Z blog have their roots in ancient history. Except this one. According to the story, an Arab sheik released a Djinn sometime in the 1970s. The sheik planned to use the Jinn to take vengeance on the sheik’s neighbors, but Djinns being Djinns and sheiks being sheiks, nothing worked out as planned. The Djinn escaped from the sheik’s power, but continued to wreak havoc. Popobawa is a fairly local phenomena, causing […]
A short and sweet post today. Exciting Times are coming to Sorchia’s Universe after this April Blog Challenge. Stay Tuned. Giants, ogres, and trolls have certain things in common. They are large, not too bright, and have a penchant for eating children. Orcus was an Estruscan and later a Roman god of the underworld—not the main god, just a lesser one. He was also the god of broken oaths. From Orcus, one theory goes, came the word ogre and, in Tolkein’s […]
Those of you who frequent Sorchia’s Universe—I like to call you Sorchialites––know that I am obsessed with Scotland and all things Scottish, not least, the beverage known as Scotch. And you will not be surprised that I am compelled during this Things That Go Bump in the Night series to mention the Loch Ness Monster. As it happens, a new development hit the headlines only a few days ago. Breaking News—Loch Ness Monster FOUND April 13, 2016. Kongsberg Maritime, a […]